***************************************************************** 07/26/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.182 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Waste mistakenly sent to landfill for 2 years 2 Faults At Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant Do Not Cause Radiation 3 REID TO HOST SILVER STATE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2001 4 Abraham vows to keep Yucca on track 5 Letter to editor: Yucca 6 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 01.30 | 18 - 24 July 2001 7 DOE drops nuclear scrap consultant 8 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Thursday, July 26, 2001 9 Anger At BNFL Pay Offer Prompts Ballot 10 NRC Announces Availability of License Renewal Application for 11 Victory! Nuclear power is OUT of the Kyoto Protocol, ruled out of 12 Energy Dept. Drops Scrap Contract NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Hanford to build tank simulator 2 Army, EPA to survey drinking wells 3 Mending Sino-US ties bring relief to Asia 4 Letter: Radiation Exposure Compensation 5 After 56 summers, two men recall a fiery moment in history 6 Upgrade of Y-12 is wasteful, says Peace Alliance 7 Recovery work under way at K-31 8 Nuke benefits causing confusion 9 Opinion - More on Mrs. Graham, Y-12 history; 50th firefly hunt 10 Fire at K-25 site causes little damage 11 Claims office to open Monday 12 Leaky package forces evacuation at Hanford 13 Loosened lid blamed for Hanford leak ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Waste mistakenly sent to landfill for 2 years This story was published Wed, Jul 25, 2001 By John Stang Herald staff writer Problems with key Hanford equipment caused radioactive wastes earmarked for deep burial in New Mexico to be mistakenly sent to a Hanford landfill for the past two years. Hanford's experts still are sifting through a series of glitches, trying to figure out how to fix the trouble. So far, no threat to human health or the environment seems likely, Hanford officials said. But they are disturbed that incorrect readings on plutonium concentrations in Hanford wastes went undetected for two years. "How we can go for two years and not detect this analytical problem? The analytical work is sloppy at best," said Doug Sherwood, the Environmental Protection Agency's Hanford site manager. George Jackson, Fluor Hanford's vice president for nuclear materials stabilization, said: "All those (involved in the glitches) feel bad about the mistake. "It was an honest mistake," he said. "It's embarrassing." Fluor experts are voluntarily putting in numerous hours of unpaid overtime on weekends and evenings because they feel responsible for fixing it, Jackson said. The mistakes concern the radioactive potency of Hanford's transuranic wastes -- vast amounts of radioactive equipment, clothes and junk that must be analyzed, cataloged and disposed of. If the radioactivity in the wastes is classified as low-level, the material is supposed to be buried in a huge, specially designed landfill in central Hanford. But if the material is classified as more dangerous "transuranic wastes," it's supposed to be sealed in special barrels and placed deep underground at a storage site in New Mexico. Transuranic wastes are the longer-lived, more potent radioactive substances -- such as neptunium and plutonium. However, these substances -- including plutonium -- can be classified as low-level if the concentrations are low enough. The problem is that two portable detectors -- about the size of big bread boxes -- were improperly calibrated before they were used to determine where wastes should be sent for final disposal. It is too early to tell if any fines or disciplinary action will be levied against Fluor or individual Fluor employees involved, said officials from Fluor, Bechtel Hanford, the EPA and Department of Energy. It also is too early to tell if any wastes will have to be dug up, they said. Bechtel, which cleans out contaminated buildings around Hanford, hired Fluor to analyze materials it removed so the transuranic wastes could be separated from the low-level radioactive wastes. Fluor has six portable detectors for that job. To make sure the detectors are correctly measuring the materials' gamma ray emissions, the equipment is calibrated with a piece of plutonium whose emissions are known. Fluor calibrated two detectors in May 1999. But a pair of mathematical errors at that time -- including one case of two numbers being mistakenly reversed -- led to the two detectors not being properly set. Every time the detectors are moved to analyze a new bunch of materials, they're supposed to be recalibrated. Such recalibrations occurred perhaps 10 times or more during the two years, Jackson speculated. But each time, the equipment was recalibrated against previous incorrect readings. Also in some cases, the technicians used radioactive europium instead of plutonium as the substance providing the base readings. Europium is appropriate for some calibration tests, but not in this case, officials said. Fluor doesn't know yet why its employees didn't use the plutonium called for in Hanford procedures. The calibration problems did not become apparent until May, when Bechtel hired another company to do some radiation checks and the results didn't jibe with Fluor's readings. Bechtel has determined that 232 pieces of contaminated equipment -- all of it from 200 West Area's defunct 233-S plutonium processing plant -- could have been misread by the miscalibrated detectors, said Todd Nelson a spokesman for the company. Bechtel has tracked 108 pieces to 14 buried boxes in central Hanford's huge landfill. Another 50 potentially misread items are in the 200 West Area, waiting to be sent to New Mexico. The final 74 pieces still are at the plutonium plant. Although the mishandled wastes identified so far are from one building, the problems raise questions about the validity of tests made elsewhere, Hanford officials said. Hanford officials plan to keep a closer eye on the Plutonium Finishing Plant, where 4.4 tons of scrap plutonium is stored. Sherwood also worries about the K Basins Project, where spent nuclear fuel is being removed from water-filled pools. Some debris from the K West Basin is scheduled to be removed soon, and will have to be checked to see if it can be sent to the Hanford landfill. The EPA has stepped up its oversight of materials going to the central landfill. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 2 Faults At Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant Do Not Cause Radiation Problems Pravda.RU Jul, 25 2001 The Rosenergoatom concern's press service told RIA Novosti Tuesday that technical malfunctions occurred twice in recent days at the Balakovo nuclear power plant (the Saratov region on the Volga river). Fortunately, they neither damaged the equipment nor increased the radiation background. On July 22, one out of the three water supply pumps for turbine condenser cooling turned off, and the 2nd power unit of the Balakovo nuclear power plant was automatically discharged down to 540 MW. Technical investigation revealed that the pump turned off because its bearing had got heated. Despite this failure, no equipment damage, increase in radiation or violation of operation security conditions were detected. According to the international scale of estimation of NPP incidents, the failure does not affect security and can be gauged as "beyond the scale." On July 23, the personnel had to switch off the first power unit after a spontaneous closure of protective reinforcement on the line of oil supply to the main circulation pumps. This did not result in equipment damage, increase in radiation or violations of operation security conditions either. In accordance with the international scale, the malfunction does not affect security and can be gauged as zero level one. The radiation background at the Balakovo NPP and the adjacent territory is at a level corresponding to the station's normal operation and is not over background, reported the Rosenergoatom press service. RIA 'Novosti' Copyright ©1999 by "Pravda.RU". When reproducing our materials ***************************************************************** 3 REID TO HOST SILVER STATE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2001 Las Vegas Event to Include Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta July 24, 2001 WASHINGTON - On the eve of the passage of the Transportation Appropriations Act, Nevada Senator Harry Reid announced that he will host a summit to address concerns of airport overcrowding, traffic delays and access to mass transit in Nevada. The Silver State Transportation Summit will be held in Las Vegas on Monday, August 20, and will feature an aerial tour of Southern Nevada roadways, railways, and airports with meetings and workshops designed to address Nevada's growing transportation needs. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta will attend, along with other state and local dignitaries. "Traffic jams and flight delays have a direct impact on the quality of life of every Nevadan," said Reid. "Our state cannot afford to take our transportation systems for granted. They are the life blood of Nevada's tourism industry and of our state's economy. Nevada's rapid growth has been a mixed blessing, because many of our transportation systems are now stretched to the limit. This summit will address the transportation problems in Nevada today, and help create a blueprint for a better future." The summit will begin with a helicopter tour of Las Vegas and Clark County roadways. The helicopter will land at the future site of Ivanpah Airport for a walking assessment of planned facilities. The tour will also include flights over Hoover Dam and portions of the area's current and proposed railway system. It will conclude at McCarran International Airport, where Reid host a series of meetings in the Clark County Department of Aviation offices. The meetings will involve federal, state and local officials who will discuss the state's transportation accomplishments and challenges. Participants will work to create a long range plan for Nevada's transportation goals and projects over the next decade. The Silver State Transportation Summit will follow several success stories of the past month. Reid secured more than $59.5 million in funding for Nevada projects during the Senate Appropriations Committee's markup of the FY 2002 Transportation Appropriations bill. The bill also includes a Reid amendment that will help protect Americans from the dangers posed by the transportation of hazardous materials on U.S. roads and railways. As Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, Reid also convened mayors from around the country – including Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman – to testify on Capitol Hill about the infrastructure needs of American cities. ***************************************************************** 4 Abraham vows to keep Yucca on track Today: July 26, 2001 at 11:22:55 PDT By Benjamin Grove LAS VEGAS SUN WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Wednesday again pledged to keep a plan to bury the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada "on track." Finalizing that plan is vital to the future of nuclear power in America, Abraham told members of the media during a National Press Club luncheon. And an expansion of nuclear power output is necessary to avoid future energy shortages, Abraham said, sounding a familiar Bush administration theme. "My hope is we can keep the nuclear power component of our electricity generation -- which is now about 20 percent -- on line," Abraham said during a question and answer session after a speech on the nation's energy policy. The DOE is managing studies at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, to determine whether the site is suitable as a national nuclear waste dump. It is the only site under consideration. Abraham said he will review scientific analysis of the site and decide whether to recommend it to President Bush. "I can't predict what that outcome will be," Abraham said. Some owners of the nation's 103 operating nuclear power plants have sued the DOE for breaking a contract to haul their waste to Nevada by 1998. The waste, mostly radioactive, spent uranium-pellet fuel rods, is piling up in storage areas at each of the plants. Strong opposition by Nevada officials and other snags have delayed a possible Yucca opening until 2010 at the earliest. Nuclear power is a key part of the nation's energy mix, which includes natural gas, coal and limited use of solar, wind and geothermal sources, Abraham said. Earlier this year Bush released a 105- recommendation National Energy Policy, a plan to increase conservation and power generation. Building new nuclear power plants is one goal of the plan. No new plants have been commissioned since the late 1970s due to public anxiety and the high cost of new plants. When asked if utility companies would construct new nuclear plants within five years, Abraham said, "I don't know about five years, but in the future." Abraham stressed the importance of other recommendations in Bush's report: Don't tax funds set aside by utility companies to decommission plants, create insurance protection for new plants in case of a catastrophic accident and expedite the process for old plants to get re-licensed. Abraham, beleaguered by problems ranging from California energy shortages to high gasoline prices, said dealing with the nation's nuclear waste was one of his toughest tasks. "It's a tremendous challenge for me," Abraham said. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 5 Letter to editor: Yucca [tahoe.com] VIEWS Thursday, July 26, 2001 Re your recent article "Experts: Volcanic activity no threat to Yucca." The Department of Energy once again has misled the public about the dangers of a Yucca Mountain high-level nuclear waste repository through a mathematical slight of hand. DOE geologist Eric Smistad stated that the probability of a volcanic event erupting into the buried waste and spewing radionuclide contaminated volcanic ash out of Yucca Mountain onto the nearby residents of Amargosa Valley is about one chance in 70 million per year. Granted, this is a small number that translates to a probability of one chance in 7,000 that such an event will take place during the 10,000 year period that EPA rules require DOE analyze in a Yucca Mountain safety evaluation. Smistad also states that the radioactive release from such an event would result in "maybe one-tenth of a million dose to the nearest person downwind," representing only a small fraction of the 15 millirem per year maximum dose permitted by the EPA safety standards. This is a grossly incorrect statement of the results of the DOE's dose calculation for such an event. According to DOE's calculation, the actual radiation dose to an individual exposed to the contaminated ash, at the EPA allowed 11-mile distance downwind, would be approximately 1 million millirems (one thousand rems, or about twice an immediately lethal radiation dose). The tricky math that gives the one-tenth of a millirem dose involves modifying the 1 million millirem-calculated dose with the one chance in 70 million probability that such an event would happen. This begs a gaming analogy here in the Silver State. You win a $1 million jackpot, but you only get paid a dime (actually about 12 cents) because the odds were 70 million to one against you winning the jackpot this year. Moral? Don't play in DOE's casino if you want an honest game. STEVE FRISHMAN Yerington tahoe.com ***************************************************************** 6 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 01.30 | 18 - 24 July 2001 World Nuclear Association | News Briefings | Nuclear Energy News | News Briefing 01.30 A weekly summary of international news relevant to the nuclear energy industry. [NB01.30-1] Environment ministers meeting at COP6 part II in Bonn agreed upon a text that proposes some of the rules necessary for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on Monday 23 July. In reaching a compromise, it was agreed to exclude nuclear power in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). The decision came about following the European Union's (EU's) relaxation on many of the issues to which they showed previous commitment, which greatly benefited the countries that strongly supported the inclusion of nuclear in the deal. One of the issues involved in the trade-off was the extent to which forests and agricultural land (sinks) could be used by Parties to achieve their Kyoto targets. Canada and Japan were allowed especially high sink allocations, which will greatly help them to reach their greenhouse gas emission commitments. Nuclear power will continue to provide reliable, cost effective and emission-free electricity thereby improving the likelihood for countries with nuclear power to attain the greenhouse gas reductions required by the Protocol (WNA, 23 July). Following President Bush's abandonment of the Protocol in March, the US did not partake in discussions. By getting commitment of all of the Parties to the Convention other than the US, the EU hopes that Monday's success will encourage the US to re-engage in the process. For further details of the meeting, refer to the WNA website (). (Daily Telegraph, 24 July, p1; Financial Times, 24 July, p1; see also News Briefing 01.29-1) [NB01.30-2] The external costs of nuclear power are far lower than those for fossil fuel power generation, and about the same as hydropower, according to the findings of a major European Commission (EC) study. The ExternE study - which began in 1991 - determined the average external costs of nuclear energy are just under 0.4 euro cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 4.1-7.3 cents/kWh for coal and 4.4-7 cents/kWh for oil. The average external costs of gas are put at 1.3-2.3 cents/kWh. External costs of power production total as much as 1-2% of the EU's total gross domestic product (GDP), the EC estimates. A follow-up project - known as NEWEXT (new elements for the assessment of external costs from energy technologies) - was also announced. (NucNet Background, 10/01, 24 July) [NB01.30-3] Australia: Uranium production at the Ranger project totalled 973 tonnes U3O8 (825 tU) during the second quarter of 2001, according to Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA). This was 7% higher than the 911 tonnes U3O8 (772.5 tU) produced in the second quarter of 2000. Total production in 2001 is expected to be about 4250 tonnes U3O8 (3604 tU), while output in 2002 is forecast to be between 4000 and 4500 tonnes U3O8 (3392-3816 tU). (ERA, 19 July; FreshFUEL, 23 July, p5; Nuclear Market Review, 20 July, p3; see also News Briefing 00.29-4) [NB01.30-4] KEPCO Nuclear Fuel Co (KNFC) of South Korea recently announced the development of an improved nuclear fuel design. It will be subjected to testing by Westinghouse in the US for loading in a Korea Electric Power Co (KEPCO) reactor in November 2002. KNFC officials are optimistic that the new fuel design will result in substantial cost savings for KEPCO and may eventually lead to nuclear fuel exports. (FreshFUEL, 23 July, p4; see also News Briefing 99.19-14) [NB01.30-5] A Generation IV International Forum (GIF), whose aim is to develop 'new generation' reactors and fuel cycle technologies by 2030, has been launched. Participants include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US. The move follows an international workshop to discuss new reactor technology and potential multilateral cooperation. (NucNet News, 237/01, 24 July) [NB01.30-6]: Czech Republic: A 'technical document' detailing Germany's 'concerns' about the safety of the Temelin nuclear power plant, as well as a request to consider closing the plant, has been received from Germany's federal environment ministry (BMU) by the Czech government. A meeting was held on 18 July to discuss the Czech government's response to the statement. Temelin plant director Frantisek Hezoucky strongly criticised the 'gross technical errors' present in a 'distorted form' in the document. (NucNet News, 228/01, 18 July; FreshFUEL, 23 July, p2) John Ritch, Director General of the World Nuclear Association (WNA), called for Germany's environment minister, Jurgen Trittin, to get his facts straight and stop trying to impose a minority German ideology on others. Mr Ritch said that Czech officials had invited repeated inspections of the plant by the IAEA, WENRA and a special delegation from the European Union (EU). None of these groups has identified any problem with the plant that cannot be satisfied by normal safety procedures. The full statement by John Ritch is available on the WNA website (). (WNA, 19 July; see also News Briefings 01.16-12 and 00.45-4) z[NB01.30-7] US: Only 38% of Californians consider nuclear power should be used to help alleviate the country's energy problems, while 55% think nuclear power is too dangerous, according to a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. Some 57% of respondents said they would oppose a proposal to construct a nuclear plant in their region. The results conflict with the finding of a recent poll by the Field Institute, which found 59% of Californians in favour of nuclear power. Unusually cool summer weather and increased electricity supply in recent weeks have led to fewer blackouts, which may have influenced opinion. (Ux Weekly, 23 July, p3; Guardian Online, 20 July; see also News Briefing 01.22-4) [NB01.30-8] UK: Nine of the 12 spent fuel elements that fell 25m down a discharge shaft into a water-filled flask at Chapelcross-3 had remained intact, British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) reported. The other three elements had broken into two or three pieces. Operators at the plant capped the flask and moved it to a cooling pond. Its lid was removed under water and the resulting air bubble was tested for the presence of various radionuclides, particularly iodine-131, to assess the state of the fuel. 'Nothing significant' was found, a BNFL spokesman said. (Nucleonics Week, 19 July, p3; BBC News Online, 18 July) BNFL managers and the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) formally declared the Chapelcross incident 'closed'. As a result, units one and four will now remain online. A specialist team of engineers is being put together to retrieve the other 12 fuel elements from the defuelling machine. (NucNet News, 227/01, 18 July; see also News Briefing 01.29-4) [NB01.30-9] France: A request to extend the operating licence of the Phenix fast reactor has been received by the French regulatory authority, DSIN, from the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). The reactor, which is shut down for inspections and repairs, will not restart until 2002 at the earliest, instead of 1999 as the CEA originally expected. DSIN is expected to approve the extension, and one official speculated that the 28-year-old reactor could operate until 2008-2010. (Nucleonics Week, 19 July, p6; see also News Briefing 98.48-18) [NB01.30-10] German utility E.On said that it would not bid alone for Czech utility CEZ if its nuclear assets remain in the privatisation package. However, a consortium bid with another partner, willing to take over the nuclear assets, might still be possible. (East European Energy Report, July, p26) Meanwhile, British Energy (BE) is reportedly interested in buying the Dukovany and Temelin nuclear power plants as part of a consortium with E.On and RWE. The Hospodarske Noviny newspaper reported that BE would be interested in buying the Temelin plant alone. (Ux Weekly, 23 July, p4; see also News Briefing 01.23-8) [NB01.30-11] UK: The refurbishment of the closed Dounreay reprocessing facility has been ruled out by energy minister Brian Wilson. Reprocessing at Dounreay was halted in 1996 after a radioactive leak was detected. The 25 tonnes of experimental fast breeder reactor (FBR) fuel still at the site is now likely to be reprocessed at BNFL's Sellafield plant or overseas, or to be put in storage. (Nuclear Market Review, 20 July, p2; NucNet News, 230/01, 19 July; Financial Times, 19 July, p7; see also News Briefing 00.41-8) [NB01.30-12] Germany: The transport of up to six flasks of spent fuel from the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant to the Sellafield reprocessing plant in the UK has been approved by the German federal radiation protection authority (BfS). (NucNet News, 234/01, 20 July; see also News Briefing 01.18-13) [NB01.30-13] Kazakhstan: The government is considering importing and storing low-level waste (LLW) in order to raise funds for the country's own radioactive waste management. Muhtar Dzhakishev, president of KazAtomProm, told the national parliament that radwaste management needs far more than the US$1 million in the current state budget. He said that US$20 million was needed for research to identify nuclear hazards in the country and to develop laws for their management. A further US$30 million is needed to maintain storage of high-level waste (HLW) in the Mangyshlak nuclear complex. About US$700 million is needed to clean up the country's uranium mines. A change in Kazakh law would be needed in order to start importing LLW. (Nucleonics Week, 19 July, p1; see also News Briefing 01.25-5) [NB01.30-14] US: A fiscal 2002 energy appropriations bill that includes a diminished US$275 million funding level for the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) high-level waste (HLW) programme was approved by the Senate on 19 July. The Bush administration had requested US$445 million in funds for the Yucca Mountain project. (SpentFUEL, 23 July, p3; Nuclear Energy Overview, 23 July, p1; Nucleonics Week, 19 July, p2) Following protests from the Bush administration, industry and lawmakers, the Senate agreed to a 'Sense of the Senate' amendment which pledges to bring funding more in line with the level approved by the House of Representatives (US$443 million). Further details on WNA website (). (Nuclear Energy Overview, 23 July, p2; see also News Briefing 01.29-13) [NB01.30-15] A comprehensive review of US non-proliferation programmes in Russia has been completed by the US National Security Council (NSC), which is expected to recommend a major revision of the US-Russian plutonium disposition programme. (SpentFUEL, 23 July, p1; Nucleonics Week, 19 July, p1; see also News Briefing 01.20-12) Previous News Briefing NB01.29 Prepared by the WNA Information Service. All news and views are ***************************************************************** 7 DOE drops nuclear scrap consultant Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:09 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, 2001 by Nancy Zuckerbrod The Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department said Wednesday it has canceled a contract with a company hired to study the impact of recycling scrap metal from nuclear facilities in Oak Ridge. Environmentalists and an influential lawmaker had raised concerns of possible bias, citing the company's previous work involving recycled scrap metal. Those critics contended San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp., has profited from the scrap metal recycling business. "To avoid any impression or appearance of conflict, because of the seriousness of the issue, both SAIC and DOE have agreed not to move forward" on the study, department spokesman Joe Davis said. A company spokesman offered no immediate reaction Wednesday, and a later message was not returned. The company had worked on a large recycling project as a subcontractor at the department's Oak Ridge nuclear reservation. Its job was to help the primary contractor navigate the regulatory process involved in recycling scrap metal before the Clinton administration imposed a ban on that practice last year. While the ban remains, the department announced this month it was studying that policy. It hired the company to conduct an environmental impact statement looking at the effects of both maintaining and lifting the moratorium on sales of scrap metal left at nuclear weapons facilities. Supporters of recycling scrap metals from the nation's nuclear complex say it is a useful way to dispose of materials as the Cold War-era plants are decommissioned. They argue levels of contamination are too low to pose a health and safety threat. Critics of such sales have argued that metals with any trace of contamination should not go into general commerce. "It's good that DOE is rethinking this," said Dan Guttman, an attorney who has represented nuclear workers. "It shows that the contract award process requires public visibility to ensure public integrity." A leading Capitol Hill opponent of the contract was Rep. John Dingell, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In a letter Tuesday to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Dingell wrote that the company would be preparing a study "on a matter it has been promoting for almost two decades." Dingell, D-Mich., also noted that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year dropped the company as a contractor on a project in which the company was helping the NRC write rules dealing with recycled scrap metal. Dingell said the NRC cited an "organizational conflict of interest." All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 8 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Thursday, July 26, 2001 ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Thursday, July 26, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC Item ID: 012060291 Accession Number: ML012040205 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:16:55 AM Title: 03/16/90 Memo to J. Hoyle re Five Year Planning for NRC's LSS Related Activities. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060420 Accession Number: ML011380019 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:16:16 PM Title: 04/07/1965 Ltr to C Skillern from D Nussbaumer re: Request for Amendment to License SNM-338 to Transport Saxton Fuel Rods and Assemblies, dated 03/08/1965. Author Affiliation: AEC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060018 Accession Number: ML012050034 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:11:46 AM Title: 04/18/1988 Meeting of the HLW Licensing Support System Advisory Committee. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060019 Accession Number: ML012050076 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:12:03 AM Title: 05/18/1988 Meeting of the HLW Licensing Support System Advisory Committee. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060020 Accession Number: ML012050110 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:12:41 AM Title: 06/29/1988 HLW Licensing Support System Advisory Committee Meeting. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: nxp _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060278 Accession Number: ML012060021 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:14:41 AM Title: 07/11/01 Meeting Summary With Westinghouse To Discuss Risk-Informed Reactor Trip Systems And Engineered Safety Features Actuation Systems Surveillance Test Intervals And Reactor Trip Breaker Test And Completion Times. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD4 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060373 Accession Number: ML012040431 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:11:21 PM Title: 07/18/01 House Energy and Commerce Committee Markup of "Energy Advancement and Conservation Act of 2001." Author Affiliation: NRC/OCA Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060316 Accession Number: ML012050555 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:31:46 AM Title: 08/01/2001, Meeting with Nuclear Management Company, LLC Re Pressure Housing of Control Rod Drive Stalks at Palisades Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD3 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060023 Accession Number: ML011920350 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:13:08 AM Title: 08/06/2001 Meeting with Saxton Nuclear Experimental Corporation Re Status of the License Termination Plan Review. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/REXB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060460 Accession Number: ML012060231 Date Added: 7/25/01 5:11:14 PM Title: 08/07/2001 - Notice of Public Meeting with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and Other NRC Stakeholders on the Implementation of the Electronic Fingerprint Submissions. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RGEB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060429 Accession Number: ML012060335 Date Added: 7/25/01 4:11:06 PM Title: 08/22/2001 to 08/23/2001 Meeting with NRC and all Region I Licensees (MANTG Conference). Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-I/DRP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060292 Accession Number: ML012050296 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:17:02 AM Title: 1/7/88 Minutes Of HLW Meeting Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060344 Accession Number: ML011780585 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:35:29 AM Title: 10/15/1998 Meeting with The Public re a direct final rule which will be promulgated as part of the resolution of a petition for rulemaking submitted by the Nuclear Energy Insitute. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060293 Accession Number: ML012050223 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:17:22 AM Title: 10/16/1987 Meeting with Committee Members regarding HLW licensing support system Advisory Committee. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACRS Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060339 Accession Number: ML011780555 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:34:35 AM Title: DENIAL OF NEI PETITION FOR RULEMAKING -- LICENSEE CHANGES TO QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMS, AMENDMENTS TO 10 CFR 50.54 (PRM-50-62). Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060338 Accession Number: ML011780544 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:34:31 AM Title: DENIAL OF NEI PETITION ON STANDARD FOR CHANGES TO QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAMS. Author Affiliation: NRC/OGC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060287 Accession Number: ML012010255 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:15:53 AM Title: Department of Energy - Idaho Operations Office. Shipment of Samples for Intercomparison Test 58 (TPO-RESL-01-091). Author Affiliation: US Dept of Energy (DOE), Idaho Operations Office Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060321 Accession Number: ML011780476 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:32:19 AM Title: Letter to John C. Hoyle from William H. Rasin (NEI) Regarding Petition for Rulemaking. Author Affiliation: Nuclear Energy Institiute Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060387 Accession Number: ML012060179 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:13:57 PM Title: Letter to Traci Kime from Carl Trump, Jr. of Maryland Department of Environment. MD-497-D-104-S. Author Affiliation: State of MD Dept of the Environment Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060388 Accession Number: ML011370776 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:14:01 PM Title: Ltr to AEC from C Skillern - Amendment to SNM-338 for Shipment of UO2 Fully Enriched in U-235. Author Affiliation: Westinghouse Electric Corp Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060276 Accession Number: ML011990069 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:14:27 AM Title: NRC Inspection Report Nos. 45-23645-01NA/01-01 and 45-23545-01NA/01-02. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-I/DNMS/MLIB2 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060329 Accession Number: ML011780483 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:33:20 AM Title: NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE'S PETITION TO AMEND 10 CFR 50.54(a). Author Affiliation: Nuclear Energy Institiute Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060327 Accession Number: ML011780526 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:33:00 AM Title: NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE; RECEIPT OF A PETITION FOR RULEMAKING. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060482 Accession Number: ML012060392 Date Added: 7/25/01 5:13:13 PM Title: NUREG-1801, V1, Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report, Summary. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR, NRC/NRR/DRIP Document/Report Number: NUREG-1801 V1 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060155 Accession Number: ML011980478 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:50:29 AM Title: Paducah and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plants Response to Preliminary Compliance Evaluation Report (CER) for the Additional Criticality Accident Alarm System Coverage Exclusion. Author Affiliation: USEC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060323 Accession Number: ML011780499 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:32:40 AM Title: PETITION FOR RULEMAKING (PRM-50-62) FILED BY THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE. Author Affiliation: NRC/ADM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060212 Accession Number: ML012050333 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:00:49 AM Title: Press Release-01-084: NRC Proposes Amending Skin Dose Limit for Workers at Nuclear Facilities. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-01-084 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060213 Accession Number: ML012050347 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:00:56 AM Title: Press Release-01-085: NRC Schedules Public Workshop on Possible New Reactor Applications. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-01-085 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060214 Accession Number: ML012050365 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:01:04 AM Title: Press Release-01-086: NRC Approves Power Uprate for Susquehanna Facility in Pennsylvania. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-01-086 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060448 Accession Number: ML012060340 Date Added: 7/25/01 4:12:28 PM Title: Press Release-01-091: NRC to Meet with Public On July 31 to Discuss Use of Risk Information in Regulating Nuclear Waste and Materials. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA Document/Report Number: Press Release-01-091 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060211 Accession Number: ML012050448 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:00:42 AM Title: Press Release-I-01-048: NRC To Meet With Dominion Nuclear Connecticut To Discuss Performance At Millstone Units 2 And 3 Nuclear Power Plants. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-048 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060461 Accession Number: ML012060257 Date Added: 7/25/01 5:11:18 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-029: NRC to Meet With TVA Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-029 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060462 Accession Number: ML012060299 Date Added: 7/25/01 5:11:21 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-030: NRC to Meet with Southern Nuclear Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-030 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060408 Accession Number: ML012060314 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:15:31 PM Title: Press Release-II-01-031: NRC to Meet with SCE&G Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Summer Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-031 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060426 Accession Number: ML012060326 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:17:00 PM Title: Press Release-III-01-038: NRC to Meet with Nuclear Management Company to Discuss Safety Performance at the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-III/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-III-01-038 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060427 Accession Number: ML012060331 Date Added: 7/25/01 3:17:08 PM Title: Press Release-III-01-039: NRC to Meet with Exelon Company to Discuss Safety Performance at the Quad Cities Nuclear Station. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-III/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-III-01-039 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060452 Accession Number: ML012060383 Date Added: 7/25/01 4:12:46 PM Title: Press Release-III-01-040: NRC Names New Senior Resident Inspector at Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA/RGN-III/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-III-01-040 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060437 Accession Number: ML012060394 Date Added: 7/25/01 4:11:42 PM Title: Press Release-III-01-041: NRC Staff Proposes $3,000 Fine Against Midwest Testing, Inc. of Missouri for Failing to Control Licensed Material. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-III/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-III-01-041 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060209 Accession Number: ML012010358 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:00:31 AM Title: Press Release-IV-01-034: NRC To Meet With Entergy To Discuss Safety Performance At River Bend. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-IV/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-IV-01-034 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060428 Accession Number: ML012060333 Date Added: 7/25/01 4:11:02 PM Title: Press Release-IV-01-038: NRC to Meet with Ameren/UE to Discuss Safety Performance at Callaway Nuclear Station. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-IV/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-IV-01-038 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060210 Accession Number: ML012040191 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:00:36 AM Title: Press Release-IV-01-039: NRC Monitors Ammonia Leak Near Waterford 3 Nuclear Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-IV/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-IV-01-039 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060170 Accession Number: ML011780178 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:53:05 AM Title: Request for Publication in Biweekly FR Notice - Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment to Facility Operating License, Proposed no Significant Hazards Consideration Determination and Opportunity for a Hearing Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060179 Accession Number: ML012050120 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:54:59 AM Title: SECY-88-0028 - Change in Composition of the High-Level Waste Licensing Support System Advisory Committee. Author Affiliation: NRC/OGC Document/Report Number: SECY-88-0028 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060180 Accession Number: ML012050086 Date Added: 7/25/01 10:55:04 AM Title: SECY-88-0221- High-Level Waste Repository - NRC Interface with the State of Nevada during the prelicensing phase. Author Affiliation: NRC/EDO Document/Report Number: SECY-88-0221 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060319 Accession Number: ML012050375 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:32:04 AM Title: Speech-01-018: Radiation Protection Policy and Planning for the 21st Century. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/GJD Document/Report Number: Speech-01-18 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060320 Accession Number: ML012050391 Date Added: 7/25/01 11:32:12 AM Title: Speech-01-019: Sharing Ideas And Information For New Regulations. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/GJD Document/Report Number: Speech-01-019 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060480 Accession Number: ML012060466 Date Added: 7/25/01 5:12:36 PM Title: Transcript of 05/22/2001 Public Meeting to Discuss the Hearing Process for Judging the Safety of the Potential High-Level Waste Repository, in Pahrump, Nevada. Pages 1-112. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012060481 Accession Number: ML012060483 Date Added: 7/25/01 5:12:52 PM Title: Transcript of 05/23/2001 Public Meeting to Discuss the Hearing Process for Judging the Safety of a Potential High Level Waste Repository, Las Vegas, Nevada. Pages 1-139. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 9 Anger At BNFL Pay Offer Prompts Ballot THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, July 26, 2001 The threat of rare militant action hangs over Sellafield if the 4,000-strong manual workforce votes against BNFL's latest two-year pay offer. Workers are already said to be angry and upset that BNFL has failed to deliver what it promised two years ago in the single contract deal. Sellafield union officials are about to put the company's pay offer out to a secret postal ballot among their membership. A "no" vote is likely to lead to another ballot on whether to take industrial action. Papers leaked to The Whitehaven News about difficult pay negotiations during the past two months came with a scribbled message: "It's time to take them on, the last thing BNFL want is strike action with the Japanese order in the balance." The threat comes at a time when loss-making BNFL is desperate to regain the confidence of customers and get the government to licence the Mox plant. Staff throughout BNFL have agreed to accept an improved offer and, in a dramatic turn of events this week, national union officers decided to recommend acceptance to the industrials at all four of the company's sites. But shop stewards at Sellafield say they are still unimpressed by the deal on the table and a straw poll among the workforce has come up with an overwhelming rejection. One of the shop stewards who declined to be named said: "There is a lot of unhappiness at Sellafield. We are going into a third year's pay deal when the company have failed to deliver what they promised in the previous two. "There is also dissent over the single contract. The workforce was promised benefits which they are still waiting to see." The leaked documents were copies of letters sent to shop stewards spelling out a worsening industrial relations situation. Signed by Jack Dromey, the London-based trade union secretary for the BNFL Joint Industrial Council, one of the earlier letters accuses BNFL of "abandoning partnership in favour of treating a loyal workforce with contempt" by tabling the lowest pay offer in the public sector. He went on: "The trade union side believes it to be without precedent that BNFL should table a poor first and final offer, saying like it or lump it." Mr Dromey said yesterday: "The trade union side representing all four sites is recommending a final improved offer for acceptance as the best that can be achieved by negotiations. "Crucial to this is an agreement that BNFL will honour the new company contract obligation to end the second-class status of industrial employees, including equalisation of shift payments. A timetable has been agreed." He claimed that BNFL had "torn up" a pledge in the contract to end unfair and out-dated discrimination against industrial employees but the company now promised full implementation of the contract. "We can settle now from a position of strength otherwise the only way to make further progress would be sustained and effective industrial action," said Mr Dromey. l The improved offer accepted by staff but not manual workers gives a 2.75 per cent rise on basic pay and allowances, £200 on shift allowances plus increased bonuses and agreement to hold talks on other cash issues. ***************************************************************** 10 NRC Announces Availability of License Renewal Application for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Press Release 2001 - 092 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. 01-092 July 26, 2001 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is announcing the availability for public inspection of an application for a 20-year renewal of the operating licenses for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3. Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon), operator of the units, submitted the application on July 2. The Peach Bottom Station is a two-unit boiling water reactor located in York and Lancaster Counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. The current operating licenses for Units 2 and 3 expire on August 8, 2013, and July 2, 2014, respectively. Copies of the application are being made available electronically. They are located on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/index.html, and are also available through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room staff at 301-415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209, or by sending a message to pdr@nrc.govvia e-mail. The application is available for public inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. In addition, copies of the license renewal application for the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station are available to local residents at the Collinsville Community Library in Brogue, Pennsylvania, and at the Harford County Public Library in Whiteford, Maryland. The NRC staff is currently conducting an initial review of the application to determine whether it contains enough information for the required formal review. If the application has sufficient information, the NRC will formally "docket," or file, the application and will announce an opportunity to request a hearing in the Federal Register, in about a month. ***************************************************************** 11 Victory! Nuclear power is OUT of the Kyoto Protocol, ruled out of both Joint Implementation and the CDM. July 24, 2001 The text is BETTER than we got at the Hague, as it includes JI and covers unilateral CDM projects. It's an excellent outcome! The language is in two parts, one in JI, one in the CDM. It reads: "Article 6 (JI) The Conference of Parties agrees: 2. To recognise that Parties included in Annex I [ie industrialised countries with emissions reduction targets] are to refrain from using emission reduction units [carbon credits] generated from nuclear facilities to meet their commitments under Article 3.1 Article 12 (CDM) The Conference of Parties agrees: 2. To recognise that Parties included in Annex I are to refrain from using certified emission reductions [carbon credits] generated from nuclear facilities to meet their commitments under Article 3.1" Explanation: in normal language this means that the Parties have agreed that nuclear power plants won't be used to generate carbon credits, and as a result there will not be JI or CDM nuclear projects. Simply stated, if the credits can't be used by Annex I countries, then there is no point generating them. They have zero value. And if their value is zero they cannot be used to reduce the cost of a new reactor. I've put a small Q&A at the bottom which provides more information on this. Why is the language framed this way? The language is indirect because Japan and India didn't want to include direct exclusion language that could be seen as a criticism of their domestic programs. So text was drafted that achieves the result we wanted (nukes out) without actually saying it explicitly. A journalist here was told by the Japanese that they didn't want to give green groups a weapon to use against them! (although this text is) Thus, the onus for not using nuclear power was put on Annex I Parties. Some here have noted that the language actually refers to "carbon credits generated from nuclear facilities" and asked us if that means that there will be such projects. The answer is no, that the language was phrased this way to appease India, but in reality it means that there will not be CDM or JI nuclear projects because the carbon credits they would emit if built would be worthless. Sorry if this is a bit byzantine and difficult to understand, but be assurred the bottom line is that the Kyoto Protocol will not subsidise nuclear power, and the industry's attempts to portray themselves as a solution to climate change have suffered a serious setback. Congratulations and thanks to all of you who have made this victory possible over the past couple of years!!!! No nukes!! Ben Pearson (Greenpeace) Petr Hlobil (CEE Bankwatch) Corine Veithen (FOE Austria, GLOBAL 2000) Jason Anderson (CAN Europe) Questions and Answers about the Kyoto Protocol nuclear text What does this decision mean? This decision is a rejection of the nuclear industry's argument that it is a solution to climate change. The 186 countries who have negotiated the rules of the Kyoto Protocol have made it clear that nuclear power is not part of the solution by refusing to allow nuclear projects to be subsidised by the Kyoto Protocol's "mechanisms" - the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI). The industry lost its attempt to create a new subsidy for reactor construction in developing countries and eastern europe. How would the CDM and JI have benefited the nuclear industry? The high capital cost of reactors is one of the biggest barriers to new construction, and it was hoped that carbon credits would bsring the price down. For example, a 700MW coal fired power station emits about 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 a year. If a nuclear reactor was built instead, it could be claimed that it offsets this amount of CO2. Estimates of the value of CO2 per tonne vary but nuclear projects would likely have realised a large amount of credits (due to their large size) which could have been worth up to hundreds of millions of dollars. An agreement between the western supplier of the reactor and the developing country in which it was being built to subtract the value of the carbon credits from the capital cost of the reactor could have greatly improve the economics of new construction. There would have also been a political benefit in being able to claim nuclear projects as "clean development" projects that were being used to fight climate change. How will the text prevent this? The current text states that Annex I countries won't use credits from a nuclear project to help them meet their emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol. This means these credits will have zero value and thus cannot be used to reduce the cost of new reactor construction. What is article 3.1? Article 3.1 of the Kyoto Protocol commits industrialised (Annex I) countries to meet the emission reduction target set for them in the Kyoto Protocol. The language means that they cannot use nuclear credits to do this. What about Parties not included in Annex I? Can they use nuclear credits? Parties not included in Annex I do not have a reduction commitment and as a result have no need for carbon credits. Credits only have value if they can be sold to Annex I countries for use in meeting their emission reduction target. The language says that Annex I countries cannot do this. ***************************************************************** 12 Energy Dept. Drops Scrap Contract July 25, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department said Wednesday it has canceled a contract with a company hired to study the impact of recycling scrap metal from nuclear sites. Environmentalists and an influential lawmaker had raised concerns of possible bias, citing the company's previous work involving recycled scrap metal. Those critics contended San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp., has profited from the scrap metal recycling business. "To avoid any impression or appearance of conflict, because of the seriousness of the issue, both SAIC and DOE have agreed not to move forward" on the study, department spokesman Joe Davis said. A company spokesman offered no immediate reaction Wednesday, and a later message was not returned. The company had worked on a large recycling project as a subcontractor at the department's Oak Ridge, Tenn., nuclear reservation. Its job was to help the primary contractor navigate the regulatory process involved in recycling scrap metal before the Clinton administration imposed a ban on that practice last year. While the ban remains, the department announced this month it was studying that policy. It hired the company to conduct an environmental impact statement looking at the effects of both maintaining and lifting the moratorium on sales of scrap metal left at nuclear weapons facilities. Supporters of recycling scrap metals from the nation's nuclear complex say it is a useful way to dispose of materials as the Cold War-era plants are decommissioned. They argue levels of contamination are too low to pose a health and safety threat. Critics of such sales have argued that metals with any trace of contamination should not go into general commerce. "It's good that DOE is rethinking this," said Dan Guttman, an attorney who has represented nuclear workers. "It shows that the contract award process requires public visibility to ensure public integrity." A leading Capitol Hill opponent of the contract was Rep. John Dingell, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In a letter Tuesday to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Dingell wrote that the company would be preparing a study "on a matter it has been promoting for almost two decades." Dingell, D-Mich., also noted that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last year dropped the company as a contractor on a project in which the company was helping the NRC write rules dealing with recycled scrap metal. Dingell said the NRC cited an "organizational conflict of interest." On the Net: Science Applications International Corp.: http://www.saic.com/ Energy Department: http://www.energy.gov/ All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Hanford to build tank simulator This story was published Wed, Jul 25, 2001 By John Stang Herald staff writer A life-size mockup of a million-gallon Hanford waste tank is to be built next to the site's HAMMER training complex. In this case, "life-size" means 75 feet in diameter with 25-foot-high walls and up to 600,000 gallons of sludgy, chunky fake radioactive wastes inside it. Hanford's underground tanks are that wide but actually are much taller. The mockup is to allow workers to test and practice ways to remove wastes from Hanford's 177 underground tanks, which hold 53 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes, said Joe Cruz, a Department of Energy Office of River Protection retrieval program engineer. The mockup tank also will be used for workers to practice inserting and replacing equipment inside the tanks. "We'll be able to train our operators on the actual equipment they'll be using," said Rick Raymond, vice president of projects for CH2M Hill Hanford Group, which manages Hanford's tank farms. CH2M Hill recently awarded a $2.4 million contract to a team led by Los Alamos Technical Associates to design and build the mockup tank site, CH2M Hill announced Monday. LATA's other team members are Thompson Mechanical Engineering, Mid-Columbia Engineering and Morse Construction Group. Two other teams also bid for the job. Construction is supposed to begin this fall and be finished next summer. Cruz said the mockup tank and its support facilities will cover almost 10 acres next to the HAMMER complex in southern Hanford. The simulated tank will be open at the top with one side in an earthen berm while the rest will be above ground. Two pairs of steel bridges will crisscross above the tank like X's -- one pair 35 feet from the tank's bottom and another pair 55 feet above the bottom. The bridges simulate the real tops of Hanford's older single-shell tanks and newer double-shell tanks. The simulated wastes will be kept in storage tanks to be added and removed from the mockup as needed, Cruz said. The simulated wastes will include sand, clay, soluble salts and liquids containing sodium nitrates -- all to portray sludges, saltcakes and liquids inside the real tanks. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 2 Army, EPA to survey drinking wells The Hawk Eye Special: IAAP Thursday, July 26, 2001 [Unknown dangers at IAAP] By Dennis J. Carroll The Hawk Eye Officials want to know of any new wells drilled since 1993 switch to rural water service. The Environmental Protection Agency and Army officials will interview about 200 residents south of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant next week to map the area's drinking wells. Rodger Allison, environmental projects manager at the Middletown munitions plant, said cleanup officials want to know whether any new wells have been drilled in the area since 1993. At that time, the Army paid to connect about 150 property owners to Rathbun water services after wells in the area were found to have been contaminated with TNT from operations at the plant. In decades past, some streams in the area ran blood red with contaminants. Allison said the area of concern is generally south of the plant, north of the South Skunk River between Spring Creek on the southeast corner of the plant and the small stream on the southwest corner. The interviews were prompted by the EPA. "We think we have a good handle on where the contamination exits, but we want to go out and tightly define it," said EPA project manager Scott Marquess. "We want to make sure that everyone in those areas are already hooked up to alternate water supplies." Allison said the Army also wants to know what wells are being used to water livestock. Superfund cleanup officials are trying to pin down the exact boundaries of a giant plume of contaminated groundwater south of the plant. The worst contamination appears to be between 20 and 60 feet below the surface. Officials believe the contamination is not recent, but flowed down Brush Creek as long as 40 years ago. They have long advised residents in the area not to use water from their wells. "We believe there are very few people immediately at risk because of the limited scale of the plume and of the lightly populated area, although we don't want to diminish the concern of the people who live there," said Kevin Howe, the Army Corps of Engineers project manager for the cleanup. In April, plant commander Col. Bruce Elliott, who has since been reassigned to the Pentagon, said homeowners with wells found to be contaminated will be offered bottled water and a connection to a safe water supply. John Glenn, executive director of Rathbun Regional Water Association, said there are only about 30 homes in that area not hooked up to the Rathbun system. Despite protests from some residents, the Army has refused to pay Rathbun's monthly water charges. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin has called on the Army to ensure that all residents near the plant are drinking safe water. 800 S. Main St., Burlington Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 Front Desk ' ' '| ' ' '319-754-6824 FAX ' ' '| ' ' ' 1-800-397-1708 Outside Burlington [this is a line and that's all that it is] ©' 2000 The Hawk Eye, all rights reserved. ' ' Updated daily ' 'Questions? - ***************************************************************** 3 Mending Sino-US ties bring relief to Asia -DAWN - International; 27 July, 2001 By Paul Eckert HANOI: China's release of jailed scholars days before Secretary of State Colin Powell visits Beijing is the latest sign of improving Sino-US ties and has brought relief to a region that fretted about the downward spiral in their relations earlier this year. "I think the signs are good that there is an improvement taking place in the Sino-American relationship," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters in Hanoi on Thursday on the sidelines of Asia's most important diplomatic gathering. "A good Sino-American relationship is good for Australia, so we're glad to see that," he said. Downer was commenting on the absence of an expected showdown between Washington and Beijing at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) over US plans to build a missile defence shield. But that was only one issue where Asia's top diplomats welcomed signs of better China-US relations after a bumpy first half of the year. Thailand's Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said THAT he was "glad that the tensions didn't last long" over the collision on April 1 of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea, which resulted in a tense showdown. "I'm encouraged that both sides have the will to get back to the normal diplomatic channels," he said. "When two elephants dance we all are affected." Analysts say that "normal" US-China ties will still mean deep divisions over Beijing's human rights record, Taiwan, arms proliferation and strategic issues. But movement on the scholars after Powell and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi cooled a dispute that would have dominated the US diplomat's meetings in Beijing on Saturday. Powell's one-day trip to Beijing is designed to prepare the way for President George W. Bush's visit to China in October. China deported scholar Li Shaomin on Wednesday, and on Thursday paroled Gao Zhan and Qin Guangguang. Li, a US citizen, and US permanent residents Gao and Qin were convicted this month in Beijing trials of spying for China's rival Taiwan. "I think the relationship is on an upswing now, now that the irritations are behind us and I know that they are anxious to move forward," Powell said after meeting Tang on Wednesday. Asked to characterize China-US ties, Tang said: "Relations are facing a new opportunity for progress and development and also new challenges." He did not elaborate, but analysts say China could raise fresh criticism of Bush's robust arms sales to Taiwan, his vow to defend the island and the high-profile reception Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian received in New York in May. China muted its attacks on those issues while emotions were raw from the spy plane incident, but the US moves still rankle Chinese hardliners who think Beijing is too soft on Washington. "If US President Bush changes his hard tone about helping Taiwan defend itself and clearly expresses that the US doesn't support Taiwan independence, relations will be stabilized," said Guo Xiangang of China's Institute of International Affairs. On the US side, China's critics in the US Congress will not be mollified by the release of scholars they believe never should have been arrested. Several other cases remain unresolved. But many analysts predict both sides will build on the scholars' release to shore up bilateral ties. They see economics and the shared project of completing China's entry into the World Trade Organization as major lubricants in relations. "Barring the unexpected, their target will be to work things out before Bush meets Chinese President Jiang Zemin in October," said a Beijing-based Western diplomat. "Jiang needs to do that quite badly and I think Bush wants it, too," he said.-Reuters The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2001 ***************************************************************** 4 Letter: Radiation Exposure Compensation VIEWS Thursday, July 26, 2001 Did you know that Congress passed a bill called "Radiation Exposure Compensation?" In this bill people who lived in certain areas of Nevada, Utah and Arizona during 1951-58 and later suffered from or died from cancer are to be compensated due to the atomic testing that was being done in Nevada. In the process of trying to find out why seven of my family members died from or endured through cancer, I found that the one common element was that they all lived in Mineral County from 1951-58. My mother, who at the young age of 46 was diagnosed with uterine cancer, attended Hawthorne Elementary School during the period that the atomic testing was being conducted. She remembers going to school and seeing the sky lit up in orange and red. Five other family members worked on the military base in Hawthorne, three of whom have died from cancer, one is dying from cancer and the other one has had a brain tumor. My uncle's wife died many years ago from leukemia. The problem that I have found is that Congress not only did not include many counties that should have been included, but I was hard pressed to find anyone who even knew that this compensation (which came into effect in 1990) existed. What I did find was that this compensation has a deadline, which is 2012. If the victims do not file their claim by this date, the money will be absorbed back into the government. I believe that there are many people who lived, or know a loved one who lived in Nevada during this time and later died from or has been diagnosed with cancer. It is bad enough that our government told the innocent people of Nevada that this testing was safe, but to keep this fund so carefully hidden is, in my opinion, an outrage! It is my goal to reach as many of these innocent people and their families as I can, so that we can begin the process to pursue compensation. Believe me, I know that money cannot in any way take away the pain of losing a loved one or take the suffering away from someone who has cancer, but I do believe that our government does have a responsibility to acknowledge that more than just a select few counties were exposed to the harmful radiation fallout. In order to impact our legislature, we need many people to come forward and join in this pursuit for just compensation. For more information, please contact Paula Honess, PMB 36, 5820 W. Peoria Ave., Ste. 107, Glendale, AZ 85302. PAULA HONESS Glendale, Ariz. Copyright tahoe.com. ***************************************************************** 5 After 56 summers, two men recall a fiery moment in history Thursday, July 26, 2001 [Photo] By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr. SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST Let it be known that history was made yesterday morning at precisely 7:17 a.m. when Ken Nakano walked into a room in Redmond and embraced Eugene Morgan. It was the first time they had met face-to-face. But the two men from the Seattle area are linked forever by an indelible wrinkle in time -- the detonation of the atomic bomb in Japan 56 summers ago. Morgan was a Navy sailor aboard the USS Indianapolis, the heavy cruiser that secretly ferried the bomb to a strategic Pacific island during World War II. Nakano, just 14 years old then, was digging soil in a sweet potato field in Hiroshima. He looked up, saw a B-29 passing overhead and swallowed. Hard. The plane was the Enola Gay. Seconds later, Nakano's world was blitzed by shaking earth, glaring pink light and infernal heat. Two men. One delivered the bomb. The other received its fury. Both born in the United States. Both military veterans. Both Americans. [Indianapolis] Ken Nakano, in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb exploded, greets Eugene Morgan, who served on the Indianapolis, which took the bomb to the Pacific. Phil H. Webber / Seattle Post-Intelligencer Click for larger photo Yesterday, the two peered through eyeglasses at each other, relived their shared history and expressed hope that future leaders will stake out peace and forsake war. "Ken, this is ... unique, you and I," Morgan said. Morgan stood behind a lectern at an early-morning gathering of the Redmond Rousers Rotary Club. He paused. He gazed at Nakano, and said, "I hope you forgive me ... for ... taking the bomb over." Silence. Nakano nodded. Several times. "I hope," Morgan said, "it never, never happens again." Later, Nakano said: "I'm so glad now. I do not want to see it happen anymore." What makes life wondrous is the uncertainty of things that lie around the bend. The little surprises. Before last weekend, Morgan and Nakano were strangers, living separate lives chock-full of children and grandchildren. Before last weekend, the Rotary Club had something else slated for the meeting. "Soccer," laughed Greg Gourley, a Rotary member. He was referring to a discussion about an international effort that encourages young guerrillas in poor places to put down their guns and kick soccer balls instead. Gourley hustled to change the agenda after he read Saturday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer and saw my column about Morgan, an 80-year-old West Seattle resident. Morgan survived the worst disaster at sea in U.S. naval history when a Japanese torpedo sank the USS Indianapolis after the ship delivered the bomb to the island of Tinian. More than 800 crew members out of 1,196 perished. The 316 survivors of the sunken vessel clung to rafts and floating objects while battling off sharks for four days and five nights. Then, a passing military plane spotted them. But the ship's captain, Charles Butler McVay III, was court-martialed for failing to zigzag away from the enemy. That blame calcified for decades until earlier this month, when the U.S. Navy exonerated him. The captain committed suicide in 1968. With the July 30 anniversary of the sinking days away, Gourley thought something special was fitting and proper. So he looked up Morgan. He also called on Nakano, a brave person who stood equally tall in harm's way. A circuitous route brought Nakano to Hiroshima. He was born in Portland, Ore., in 1931, and his father died soon after his birth. Nakano's mother arranged for him to be adopted by a family in Tacoma -- the Nakanos. In 1937, Nakano moved with the family to Japan so that he could get a classical Japanese education and escape growing anti-Asian sentiments in this country. When war broke out, he could not leave Japan. On Aug. 6, 1945, Nakano and about 360 other middle school students were in a field tending crops, just over a mile from what would be the target. Bombers flew overhead. "Few seconds later, tremendous explosive sound and wind knock everybody," Nakano wrote of the experience. "Slowly, open eye and saw we are surrounded by smoke and fire curtain. ...We stood up and found out our left face was black and 2-inch square skin is peeled. A little hurt. Also, my left hand was burned." Nakano did not merely survive -- he prevailed. He completed high school in Japan and enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He got an engineering degree from the University of Washington and later designed cockpits of commercial aircraft for The Boeing Co. He retired in 1995. Nakano also gave back, helping link thousands of Pacific Northwest residents -- Hanford downwinders, who were exposed to radioactive emissions from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation -- with medical experts treating Japanese who were exposed to atomic bomb radiation. He married Ruth, a former flight attendant, and had three sons. Now 70, he and his wife live in Kirkland. Morgan also kept a full plate. After surviving the close call at sea -- a shark once tried to bite him but got only a mouthful of underwear -- Morgan joined the Seattle Fire Department. He played semi-pro baseball and married his sweetheart, Wavel, who gave him five children. Wavel died two years ago. Morgan also took on causes bigger than himself, joining dozens of other Indianapolis survivors who worked to help clear McVay's name, in part, because the captain was never told about the presence of enemy subs in the area. The campaign got support from an unexpected source -- Mochitsura Hashimoto, the commander of the Japanese sub. "(Forgive) Capt. McVay for the humiliation of his unjust conviction," he wrote in 1999. These stories brought tears to many eyes yesterday. Stories of two men. Morgan and Nakano. One who saw trial by water. The other by fire. Both living and towering figures of history. P-I columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. can be reached at 206-448-8125 or robertjamieson@seattlepi.com Story last updated at 12:09 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, 2001 Calling a $4 billion modernization of the Y-12 National Security Complex "an enormous waste of taxpayers' dollars" and a threat to nuclear nonproliferation goals, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance is urging Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to redirect Y-12's mission consistent with a more realistic assessment of the future role for nuclear weapons production. "In Oak Ridge," Ralph Hutchison, coordinator for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, writes in the July 24 letter to Abraham, "where the thermonuclear secondary of every U.S. nuclear weapon was produced, we have decaying facilities and a 10-year backlog of retired weapons awaiting dismantlement. "DOE's blueprint for the future should be based on a real-time/real-world statement of purpose and need: What we need is a state-of-the-art, completely transparent, safeguarded facility dedicated to the dismantlement of nuclear weapons and the safe storage of weapons materials pending their ultimate disposition and disposal." Specifically, the Alliance asks the Department of Energy to withdraw the Y-12 Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement and update it to reflect the pursuit of nuclear non-proliferation. The letter quotes President Bush as telling Newsweek in the magazine's June 25 issue that he had "no idea we had so many weapons. What do we need them for?" Additionally, it notes that at the more recent G-8 summit, Bush and Russian President Putin agreed to dramatically reduce nuclear arsenals. Hutchison also cites a remark by Richard Perle, a Bush adviser on nuclear weapons, as telling Newsweek that he saw no reason the United States "can't go well below 1,000 (nuclear weapons). I want the lowest number possible, under the tightest control possible." "This reality exposes the fundamental and fatal flaw in the Y-12 EIS," Hutchison said. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 7 Recovery work under way at K-31 Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:42 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, 2001 from staff reports Recovery work is under way at the K-31 building at the Oak Ridge K-25 site after a fire early Wednesday morning. According to information from the Department of Energy, no injuries were reported and all personnel were evacuated from the building Wednesday morning, but bioassays of employees will be done to confirm the initial readings that employees suffered no contamination. Monitoring and sample analysis conducted in the building detected no evidence of radiological contamination above normal working levels, according to the release. Samples collected outside the building registered at or below background levels, the release stated. The recovery phase will involve cleaning up the site and determining the cause, according to the release. Specific work in the recovery includes taking and evaluating more air quality samples inside the work area; cleaning up water used in fighting the fire, analyzing and managing that water; limiting access to affected areas; and cleaning up residues. The fire was reported at 6:32 a.m. and was out by 7:54 a.m., a DOE spokesman said Wednesday. Spokesman Walter Perry said three people were working on disassembling equipment when the fire started. About 50 people were evacuated. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 8 Nuke benefits causing confusion by Eric Convey BostonHerald.com - Business Thursday, July 26, 2001 While the U.S. Department of Labor plans to meet today with former nuclear-weapons workers or their survivors in Boston, a debate is under way in the federal government over who should get benefits. Congress last year authorized up to $150,000 and reimbursement of health costs for Cold War workers who became seriously ill due to exposure to materials used in the country's nuclear program. The Labor Department is holding sessions around the country to solicit applications. Among potential recipients are Massachusetts workers, many of whom helped develop the country's nuclear arsenal from the 1940s through 1960s. Though the compensation program has drawn muted praise from activists, there's been confusion regarding assistance for the children of deceased workers. The department's position is that survivors are eligible if they were either married to someone who died from radiation exposure, they were under 18 years old when a parent died, they were between 18 and 23 and a full-time student when a parent died or were older but still a dependent. Sue Blumenthal, a Labor Department spokeswoman, acknowledged that there's been confusion at meetings elsewhere in the country. ``There have been a lot of people who showed up at meetings who were under 18 when their parent became ill, and over 18 when their parent died,'' she said. They are not eligible, according to the agency. But Richard Miller, of Springfield, a labor organizer, said, ``There's a significant dispute over whether the Labor Department has properly interpreted the statute on survivors.'' Some members of Congress, especially from states with big nuclear-weapons programs, are pushing to change the regulation. Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive ***************************************************************** 9 Opinion - More on Mrs. Graham, Y-12 history; 50th firefly hunt for science? Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, 2001 Editor's License Dick Smyser Following up three recent columns, other briefs as they prepare to paint this fall's Oak Ridge High Wildcat football and soccer schedules on the ladder sign at Blankenship Field: Addenda on Katharine Graham and the U.S.-U.S.S.R. journalist exchange in June 1984. The Soviets came to Washington loudly protesting an anti-Russian speech by then Secretary of State George Shultz delivered at their New York hotel at the very time of their arrival. They were deeply offended and were canceling the appointment we -- the American Society of Newspaper Editors -- had arranged for them with Shultz. They'd been invited to dinner that night at Mrs. Graham's house in Georgetown and, to our great relief, the dinner went on as scheduled. Cordial and convivial as the evening proved to be -- lots of toasting -- Mrs. Graham's hospitality got what had seemed a possibly mortally wounded exchange back on track. What the Russians apparently didn't know, and what I didn't know either until reading a column by William Safire in Thursday's New York Times: that Secretary Shultz was one of Mrs. Graham's closest personal friends and her partner in weekly tennis games. Mrs. Graham writes in her Pulitzer-Prize-winning "Personal History": "Once he (Secretary Shultz) was involved in some heavy negotiations having to do with the Middle East, and I assumed he would skip tennis but he insisted on playing. Wondering how he had gotten out of his meetings, I asked him what he had told Yitzhak Shamir, with whom he had been talking. It didn't surprise me to learn that he had said, 'I'm going to play tennis.'" And now I'm wondering if, on that happy evening, the Russians knew that they were dining with the tennis buddy of their nemesis and if Mrs. Graham knew of their outrage at her tennis buddy's remarks of just the night before. Whatever, the exchange went on well not only in Washington for the rest of that week, but later that summer in Russia too. Bill Wilcox has been flooded with requests for copies of his "An Overview of the History of Y-12, 1942-1992," the subject in this space two weeks ago (July 12). People have called, people have e-mailed -- scores of them -- and Bill is pleased. But originally he had only a limited number of copies, all more or less preassigned, and there are no more available now. But he's exploring some options and we'll hear from him when and if he gets more. Whatever, Y-12 history obviously has a following. Re columns here on June 28 and July 3 about York, Pa., city of my birth and boyhood that has been rocked by recent arrests of nine men, including the mayor, for a killing during race riots 32 years ago: A week ago today about 350 mostly children paraded through the very areas where the 1969 violence occurred. Their message: equality, nonviolence, diversity -- songs, signs, prayers. "Equality is when nobody should be different from anyone else," said Vanessa Grove, 8, according to an account in The Baltimore Sun. "And you shouldn't make fun of anyone because we're all made from the same person and that's God," added Jazzlynn Zellers, also 8. For a city whose origins go back only to 1942, there have been, understandably, a lot of 50th anniversaries in recent years. But we may have missed a big one: the 50th anniversary of the annual summer "Firefly Hunts for Science," collections which have earned Oak Ridge the title of "Firefly Catching Capital of the World." I know all too well that the first firefly collection was during the summer of 1950. And there have been successive hunts virtually every summer since -- maybe every summer. The Oak Ridger promoted the first hunt at the request of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Biology Division. The initial collection was at The Oak Ridger office, then on East Tyrone Road. So many kids showed up with their jars full of the blinking bugs on that hot, humid afternoon (no air conditioning at the Ridger then) that the ORNL paymaster ran out of money and we had to stake him until he could send for more. Later collections for the different scientific laboratories seeking the fireflies have been brokered by local young people including, early on, Marc and Don Cohn, sons of Charmian and the late Waldo Cohn. Currently "The Firefly Project," with an address on Wiltshire Drive, is the collection agent. A comprehensive year-by-year history of the hunts -- those in charge, prices paid, totals collected, outstanding collectors, laboratories involved -- would be a valuable addition to local archives. By way of Carol Oen and Ruth Gove: "The Sunday Denver Post, Dec. 31, front page, features '16 People to Watch in 2001.' "Among those 16 is Martha Ketelle, supervisor of the 2.3-million-acre White River National Forest in Colorado. Ketelle's challenges in her position are detailed along with her background. They describe her as 'an avid skier and canoeist and a former Girl Scout from Oak Ridge, Tenn.' "Her parents, Bruce and Marge, are Oak Ridge residents. Steve Lipsher, Post writer, wrote the article. * * * Jim Bowers, with Union Carbide Nuclear Division management during its decades as plant operating contractor here, recalls how K-25's early lighting supervisor -- he doesn't remember his name -- designed this big board with multiple sockets. He would test bulbs from all manufacturers to determine which lasted the longest -- which would be the best buy? One morning the bulb tester came to work and found a note from the night electrician: If the night man found a bulb burned out, did the supervisor want it changed? -- RDS Richard D. Smyser is founding editor of The Oak Ridger. You can reach him by e-mail at rdsandmps@aol.com All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 10 Fire at K-25 site causes little damage KnoxNews: Local By J.J. Stambaugh, News-Sentinel staff writer An early-morning fire at the former K-25 site in Oak Ridge led to the evacuation of approximately 50 workers, but the blaze was contained before causing serious damage, authorities said. According to U.S. Department of Energy spokesman Walter Perry, the blaze began at about 6:30 a.m. while a trio of workers was using a torch to cut up a container shell to remove it from the building, which is in the East Tennessee Technology Park. The fire affected only "a small area, maybe one-fifth the size of a small van or bus," Perry said. No one was injured in the fire at Building K-31. The blaze was extinguished shortly before 8 a.m. "We are getting ready to enter into a recovery phase, and we are going to look at damage to equipment and facilities," Perry continued, adding that it didn't appear that any smoke or contaminants were released outside the structure. All three workers were employed by BNFL, which has contracted with the federal government to clean up the facility. The building was used during the Cold War to enrich uranium for the nation's nuclear energy and nuclear weapons programs, Perry said. There are 1.5 million square feet enclosed in the building, he explained. "We are cleaning up the facility for future use by private industries," Perry said. J.J. Stambaugh may be reached at 865-342-6307 or stambaugh@knews.com. Copyright 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 11 Claims office to open Monday Ill nuclear workers, survivors can file papers in Kennewick This story was published Tue, Jul 24, 2001 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer A Kennewick office to help ill nuclear workers or their survivors file federal and state claims is to open Monday at 1029 N. Kellogg St. People who want to meet with one of the office's case workers may schedule an appointment now for the coming weeks by calling 783-1500 or toll-free 888-654-0014. The office also will have forms available for filing federal claims. Under the new Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, $150,000 will be paid to nuclear workers or certain of their survivors if the worker fell ill because of workplace exposures. Workers and former workers in construction and production also could receive medical care for an illness. At Hanford, workers with any type of cancer will be considered for compensation. They'll be required to file medical information and as detailed a work history as they remember. Then, the government will consider whether their exposure to radiation at Hanford or other Department of Energy nuclear sites may have caused the cancer. Nuclear workers with chronic lung disease from breathing small particles of beryllium, an exotic metal used at Hanford, also are eligible for medical coverage and a $150,000 payment. Workers in Alaska and Nevada also may have lung disease because of silica exposure, which also is covered. July 31 is the first day that the program, run by the departments of Labor and Energy, will accept forms. That's also the deadline given by Congress for the Department of Labor to have the Kennewick office open. There is no deadline for filing claims. "We will be there as long as they need," said Eunice Godfrey, resource center manager. However, claims that are approved for medical coverage will be paid retroactively to the day they are filed. That means people now paying medical expenses out of pocket would benefit by getting their claims filed as soon as possible, but Godfrey expects those to be a small percentage of claims. The office will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. Appointments are recommended because the office is expected to be very busy initially. About 700 people attended meetings in Richland last month to learn more about the program. Some people have requested forms by calling a national toll-free number, 866-888-3322, but that office has been swamped by requests. Forms are being sent out, but more slowly than expected. Some people calling Washington, D.C., have been given a Clearwater Avenue address for the Kennewick resource center office, but Godfrey said that is incorrect. The Kennewick office also can help workers and former workers file claims for state workers compensation, both for conditions covered under the federal program and conditions not covered federally, such as lung disease caused by asbestos. People who have had a state claim denied previously may consider filing again under a new federal directive ordering Hanford and other contractors not to fight claims that appear to have merit. The Kennewick office still is waiting on information on filing state claims but can take initial information from workers and former workers starting next week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned at the new office at 10 a.m. Saturday, but services will not be available that day. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 12 Leaky package forces evacuation at Hanford This story was published Tue, Jul 24, 2001 By the Herald staff An apparent leak of a potentially harmful gas forced the evacuation of a Hanford building Monday. No one was hurt, but three Hanford employees were checked as a precaution and allowed to return to work, said Fluor Hanford spokesman Michael Turner. The incident occurred at 2:15 p.m. at Hanford's 1162 Building -- the site's shipping and receiving center in north Richland along Stevens Drive. Two DynCorps Tri-Cities Services clerks noticed a strange odor coming from a cardboard box. About 100 people were evacuated from the building for about 90 minutes, Turner said, while a Richland Fire Department crew removed the package. The box contained a 1-liter bottle of carbon disulfide, a toxic liquid used at Hanford to dissolve materials. It can harm people if inhaled, digested or absorbed through the skin. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 13 Loosened lid blamed for Hanford leak This story was published Wed, Jul 25, 2001 By the Herald staff A jostled lid on a glass bottle is to blame for the leak of a potentially harmful chemical Monday, causing the evacuation of a south Hanford building. Investigators don't know yet why the lid came off a 1-liter bottle of toxic carbon disulfide liquid in a cardboard shipping box at the 1162 Building on Stevens Drive, said Michael Turner, a Fluor Hanford spokesman. Two DynCorp Tri-Cities Services clerks smelled an odor, and Richland's hazardous materials team responded and put the package in a sealed container. Carbon disulfide is used in Hanford labs to dissolve materials. Exposure to the chemical can cause heart, respiratory, nervous system, eye and other internal problems. Turner said only a whiff of an odor escaped, but 100 people evacuated the building for 90 minutes as a precaution. The bottle was shipped properly under federal rules, Turner said. Further investigation is planned. Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************