***************************************************************** 05/28/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.133 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Attorney chosen to fight nuclear waste 2 Japanese village rejects recycled nuclear energy 3 Niigata village says no to MOX fuel use at nuke plant 4 Kariwa villagers say 'no' to MOX fuel plan 5 Japan's nuclear industry in shock after 'no' vote 6 Japan offensive on nuclear power 7 PM pleads for nuke future 8 Time for a review of nuclear policy 9 Sellafield plant dealt blow by Japanese village 10 Is radiation healthy? (the good old hormesis spin) 11 Japan Seeks Support for Nuclear Fuel NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Pakistani military ruler tell's country's nuclear scientists to expand work 2 Policymakers asked to protect people's interest 3 Appalachian town braces for uranium plant closing 4 Unveiled Kursk Plan Details Risks of Lift 5 Vanunu faces internal exile 6 Experts discuss threats of nuclear trafficking 7 Island 'paradise' rising from fallout 8 Health tests for all exposed at Maralinga 9 Depleted uranium used in Maralinga and Christmas Island blasts ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Attorney chosen to fight nuclear waste HarkTheHerald.com Orem-Geneva Times The Associated Press on Monday, May 28 SALT LAKE CITY -- A man who grew up in the shadow of nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s will lead Utah's effort to keep high-level nuclear waste out of the state. Monte Stewart, a Brigham Young University law professor, was picked by Gov.Mike Leavitt to defend a state law that prohibits waste storage in Utah. The law was written in response to a plan by the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians to allow a consortium of nuclear utilities to store their waste on tribal land. The tribe and the company, Private Fuel Storage, sued the state in federal court over the new law. Stuart was raised in Alamo, Nev., closest town to the Nevada Test Site, where nuclear bombs were set off. As a child, he wore a "radiation badge," and government officials recorded the amount of radiation he was exposed to. "The people of this state, more than almost any other, have good reason to be skeptical when hearing the soothing assurances of technocrats of 'no safety concerns' regarding highly radioactive material," Stewart said. Stewart has not yet filed a response to the Goshute's lawsuit, which claims existing federal laws on nuclear storage trump the state's legislation. He met with attorneys from Private Fuel Storage on Friday to discuss the case. The nuclear storage suit is not Stewart's first foray into high-profile cases. He also was a prosecutor on the team that won a bigamy conviction against Tom Green, a western Utah man who has five wives. This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A2. © 2001 by HarkTheHerald.com HarkTheHerald.com is a product of dhwebmaster@heraldextra.com. ***************************************************************** 2 Japanese village rejects recycled nuclear energy [Chicago Tribune] *Referendum is gauge of public opinion on plans* By Uli Schmetzer Tribune foreign correspondent *May 28, 2001* TOKYO Voters in a small farming village that is home to the world's largest nuclear power plant rejected a government plan Sunday to use recycled nuclear fuel for future energy production. In a non-binding referendum considered a barometer of public opinion on plans to introduce the use of recycled plutonium in Japan, 53.4 percent of the 3,458 voters of Kariwa village, about 160 miles north of Tokyo, cast ballots against the use of the fuel known as MOX, or plutonium-uranium mixed oxide. Those supporting the plan accounted for 42.5 percent, while 3.6 percent were undecided. Sixteen votes were disqualified. Nearly 90 percent of all eligible voters cast ballots in the village on Sunday. In one in four Kariwa households, someone works for the company that runs the power plant or a related business. Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s giant Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant already produces one-fifth of Tokyo's power supply. With one-third of Japan's energy derived from nuclear plants, spent fuel would be transported to Europe to be reprocessed into MOX and returned to Japan. What to do with waste Although the process is considered more expensive, it solves the problem of what to do with nuclear waste. Japan had intended to introduce MOX in 16- to 18-nuclear reactors by 2010. Environmentalists say MOX is more volatile than conventional fuel. In September 1999, two workers died and hundreds were exposed to radiation during an uncontrolled nuclear reaction in a town 70 miles from Tokyo. Other accidents exposed the almost casual way in which power plant workers often handled the fuel and the installations. It remains to be seen whether the relatively close vote would influence the government of reform-minded Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has said he wants to give local residents a larger say in the construction or expansion of nuclear plants. In the past, such plants were more or less imposed on local populations, despite protests of anti-nuclear groups. On Monday, Koizumi told a parliamentary budget panel, "It is vital that the government and industry make even more strenuous efforts to win the people's understanding for nuclear energy." Anti-nuclear lobbyists didn't see it that way. "Though this may be bad news for European nuclear [reprocessing] companies, it is definitely wonderful for the people of Japan," said Kazue Suzuki of Greenpeace Japan, which opposes the use of MOX. An Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry official said last week that the use of MOX would go ahead whatever the result of the vote. However it is rare for the government to proceed in cases of clear local opposition, and the Koizumi government has made it a point of honor to seek public debate for important decisions. Natural resources lacking Japan is poor in natural resources and dependent on imports of raw materials, particularly petroleum. Nuclear power became a burgeoning source of energy for the national power grid until a string of accidents in recent years eroded the trust of the public. Japan's power industry first intended to begin commercial use of MOX fuel in 1999 but postponed it because of a controversy over a processing company that falsified safety data on MOX fuel shipped from Britain to Kansai Electric Power Co. in west Japan. Japanese energy planners consider wider use of nuclear energy a solution to the growing demand for power as oil prices rise. Anxious to expand the number of nuclear power plants, the government last week took the unprecedented step of issuing a letter explaining to people living near nuclear power plants the importance of nuclear fuel. Anti-nuclear activists have been concerned for some time about the safety of the Kariwa plant, built in 1985. Payments help village Some locals, however, consider it a windfall for this small farming community. "We were able to build nice roads and schools for our children because of the special payments the village receives for having the plant," said Yukio Irisawa, a former village executive. Kariwa village chief Hiroo Shinada, a MOX fuel supporter, said he would weigh the vote carefully before making a final recommendation to the government. "I think the people made a severe and heavy judgment," he said after Sunday's balloting. "Though the figures show that the opposition has won the majority ... I would like to take into consideration various factors before making a final decision on the matter." ***************************************************************** 3 Niigata village says no to MOX fuel use at nuke plant [The Japan Times Online] May 28, 2001 KARIWA -- A majority of residents of the village of Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture objected Sunday to a plan to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a local nuclear power plant, in Japan's first plebiscite on use of the controversial fuel, early returns showed. Although the referendum is not legally binding, the residents' opposition to the plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to introduce the fuel at the No. 3 reactor of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is expected to have a significant impact on the government and power companies' policy of promoting nuclear power. The plant is the world's largest in terms of nuclear power generation, producing 8.21 million kilowatts a year and meeting 20 percent of the total electricity demand of TEPCO, which serves the greater Tokyo area. A village ordinance that set the plebiscite stipulates that the village mayor and village assembly must respect the outcome of the poll. In the referendum, residents were asked whether they approve of, oppose or have reservations about use of MOX fuel at the plant, which straddles the village and neighboring Kashiwazaki city on the Sea of Japan coast. Voter turnout for the poll was a high 88.14 percent, according to the village election committee. The village announced on May 17 that it would hold the plebiscite, and eligible voters as of May 16 numbered 4,092. Under Japan's so-called "pluthermal" project, the government and power companies want to use MOX fuel in common light-water reactors. The fuel is made by mixing uranium with plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel. The method has been the mainstay of Japan's policy for recycling plutonium since a December 1995 sodium coolant leak leading to a fire at Japan's prototype Monju fast-breeder nuclear reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. The reactor was to have used MOX fuel. Japan needs to dispose of plutonium, produced as a byproduct from uranium in nuclear power plants, to allay international concerns about the possibility of the country developing nuclear weapons, since plutonium can be used to build nuclear bombs. Power companies such as TEPCO and Osaka-based Kansai Electric Power Co. plan to start using MOX fuel by 2010 in 16 to 18 reactors. MOX fuel, however, has so far not been used at any of Japan's nuclear plants because of the discovery in 1999 that British Nuclear Fuels PLC falsified data on MOX fuel for shipment to Japan. TEPCO aims to introduce MOX fuel at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in mid-June, TEPCO officials said. Kariwa Mayor Hiroo Shinada gave the plebiscite the green light in late April after the village assembly passed an ordinance for it April 18. In March 1999, the village assembly rejected a petition calling for a plebiscite but then agreed to one in an ordinance adopted in December last year. Shinada, however, vetoed the plebiscite plan at that time, claiming that the issue pertains to the central government's energy policy and is therefore not a subject for a plebiscite. The Japan Times: May 28, 2001 ***************************************************************** 4 Kariwa villagers say 'no' to MOX fuel plan asahi.com news *Mayor Hiroo Shinada might have to change his stance on the pluthermal project in Niigata Prefecture.* The Asahi Shimbun May 28, 2001 KARIWA, Niigata Prefecture-In another blow to Japan's beleaguered nuclear-power policy, residents of this remote village voted against a plan to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a local power plant, early results showed Sunday. More than 50 percent of voters opposed the plan in the nation's first referendum on the issue. Turnout was 88.14 percent in this village of 4,090 eligible voters. At issue was the pluthermal project at the No. 3 reactor of the nuclear power generation plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) near the border of Kariwa and the city of Kashiwazaki. Kariwa Mayor Hiroo Shinada has already told TEPCO the pluthermal plan is acceptable. The referendum is not legally binding, but opposition expressed by the villagers Sunday could force him to change his stance. The Niigata prefectural government also voiced support for the plan in 1999. Sunday's referendum, in which residents were asked to approve, oppose or withhold judgment, was the focus of nationwide attention because the vote could affect the nuclear power generation policies of power companies and the central government. It also comes after Fukushima Prefecture Governor Eisaku Sato in March froze the pluthermal plan at a TEPCO-run nuclear plant in that prefecture. Safety was the main concern of Kariwa residents. Opponents insisted that the safety of using MOX fuel in conventional light-water reactors has not been established. Such concerns heightened following news in 1999 that a British producer of MOX fuel had falsified quality-control data on shipments bound for Japan. And in perhaps the biggest setback for central government's nuclear-power plans, the nation's worst nuclear accident rocked a uranium-procession plant in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sept. 30, 1999. Two workers died from exposure to massive amounts of radiation. The accident revealed slipshod practices at the plant and shattered public confidence in the government's nuclear policy. Safety concerns have also been echoed in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, home to a number of nuclear reactors and whose residents in January 2000 submitted a request for a referendum on the pluthermal plan. But the city assembly rejected the request. ``Regardless of the outcome of the referendum in Kariwa, we would like the government and power companies to ensure safety at nuclear plants so that residents can feel comfortable,'' said Jokichi Kubota, a Takahama town assembly member who opposed the referendum. The pluthermal plan has been at the center of the central government's power generation policies because it is an alternative means of using up plutonium, a by-product of nuclear power generation. Japan originally had a long-term policy of reprocessing spent uranium fuel from nuclear plants into plutonium for use at fast-breeder reactors. Fast-breeders run on plutonium and also produce plutonium in the process, thereby forming a nuclear recycling program. Japan had considered fast-breeders the energy answer for a nation lacking in natural resources, and promised not to stockpile plutonium, a potential weapon, to fend off concerns of other nations. But the fast-breeder plan stalled after a sodium-coolant leak sparked a fire at the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, in December 1995. MOX fuel was to be used in reactors at TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Takahama plant in Tsuruga, starting in 1999. The government planned to expand the program to about 16 to 18 nuclear plants around the country by around 2010. The plans, however, were postponed after the Tokaimura disaster and the faked reports. Other nations have abandoned fast-breeder projects because of high costs and the risk of handling plutonium. Copyright 2001 Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No ***************************************************************** 5 Japan's nuclear industry in shock after 'no' vote May 28, 6:55 PM *By Miho Yoshikawa* TOKYO (Reuters) - Shock waves rippled through Japan's energy industry on Monday after a small village voted to reject the use of a controversial recycled nuclear fuel in the latest blow to the nation's nuclear ambitions. Senior government and industry officials were quick to repeat their commitment to the use of the recycled fuel -- known as MOX -- adding in the same breath that they would strive harder to gain the public's understanding for nuclear fuel, something that has been sorely missing in the wake of a series of accidents at nuclear facilities. In a relatively close vote, 53.4 percent of the 3,458 votes cast in the village of Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture, on Sunday went against the use of MOX fuel in the local 8.2-megawatt Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO). TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world's largest nuclear power plant, provides 20 percent of the capital's power supply. Takamitsu Sawa, Director at Kyoto University's Institute of Economic Research said that although Sunday's vote was not binding, the government cannot force its decision to use MOX on the local inhabitants. "I personally think this vote is very significant...and that the government will be forced to make a major revision in Japan's nuclear policy," Sawa said. "It is a vote of historic proportions," he said. MOX SEEN AS ENHANCING ENERGY SECURITY TEPCO President Nobuya Minami told a news conference on Monday that it would further strive to gain the public's understanding on MOX and nuclear energy, although he was unable to elaborate on what those steps would be. However, industry watchers were sceptical on what else the industry and the government could do to win back public trust. "There is a limit to the understanding you can hope to win (from the public) given that you cannot guarantee that nuclear energy is 100 percent safe," Sawa said. Energy policy makers say MOX provides resource poor Japan with an efficient means of reducing new uranium consumption while at the same time making effective use of the plutonium that is produced by the nuclear power generation process. The plutonium that is blended with uranium to produce MOX, or plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, comes from recycling spent nuclear fuel. The crux of Japan's energy policy has always been targeted at trying to secure a stable supply of energy for the island nation, which is heavily dependent on imports for its energy needs. Nuclear policy makers say MOX fuel will significantly enhance Japan's energy security once planned facilities are operational and Japan begins to produce its own MOX fuel thus creating a domestic nuclear fuel cycle. Sawa said: "But the use of MOX should be on condition that there is public acceptance for it." Japan currently has a contract with European firms to recycle its spent nuclear fuel and produce MOX, however Japan's nuclear plan aims to undertake the process in Japan. Construction for Japan's first plant to reprocess spent nuclear fuel is already underway in Rokkasho-mura, Aomori Prefecture at the northern tip of Japan's main island, and is due to be completed in 2005. Moreover, power industries decided last November to go ahead with plans to build Japan's first processing plant to produce MOX fuel, which is due to be operational also by 2005. Sunday's vote casts a shadow over the future of these plans, although the power industry vows to stick to its nuclear policy. "As we have said many times in the past, the use of (MOX fuel) is important in terms of the nation's...energy policy...and we must move ahead with its implementation," TEPCO President Minami said. NUCLEAR PLANS FACE SETBACKS Initial plans had called for the fuel to be loaded at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa's No. 3 nuclear reactor during current maintenance that started on April 17. Minami told reporters that TEPCO would make a final decision on whether to load MOX or conventional nuclear fuel at the reactor by mid-June. He also said TEPCO would set up an in-house committee to promote the use of MOX fuel. Japan's nuclear industry was forced to postpone an initial plan to begin using MOX fuel in commercial nuclear reactors in 1999, after British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) admitted in September of that year that it had falsified data on MOX fuel shipped to Japan's second largest utility, Kansai Electric Power Co Inc. Public trust in nuclear energy was dealt another blow when a few weeks later Japan's worst nuclear accident at a uranium processing plant exposed hundreds of people including plant workers, emergency personnel and residents to radiation. Two of JCO Co Ltd's plant workers later died. MOX fuel has yet to be loaded at a Japanese commercial nuclear reactor. Japan's nuclear industry has faced numerous setbacks to its plans in the wake of these nuclear incidents. In February last year, the outspoken governor of Mie Prefecture said that Chubu Electric Power Co Inc's 37-year-old plan to build an electric power plant should go back to the drawing board. Governor Masayasu Kitagawa said his action took into account the fierce conflict over the plant that had divided the local community since the project was first unveiled. Nuclear power provides a third of Japan's electricity supply Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 6 Japan offensive on nuclear power BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Monday, 28 May, 2001, 07:47 GMT 08:47 UK [Anti-nuclear demonstrators march outside the Tokyo Electric Power Company's plant in Iwaki, northeast of Tokyo] Protests against the use of MOX and pluthermal facilities Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said his government will make more strenuous efforts to win the public's understanding of the need for nuclear energy. Mr Koizumi was speaking after residents of the village of Kariwamura in north-western Japan voted in a referendum to reject plans by the giant Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to use recycled plutonium fuel at a local plant. Both the state and the operators need to make further efforts in seeking the public's understanding on nuclear energy Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Critics have said the proposed use of the controversial fuel, known as MOX, is dangerous and more expensive than conventional nuclear fuel. Correspondents have said the vote in Kariwamura - although not legally binding - has put the Japanese Government in a dilemma because it wants to make the use of MOX a cornerstone of its energy policy. Mr Koizumi told the country's lower house of parliament: "Both the state and the operators need to make further efforts in seeking the public's understanding on nuclear energy." [Police officers wear protection suits against radiation in 1999 after a leak at a uranium processing facility in Tokaimura] Previous nuclear accidents are one reason the Japanese are sceptical about government nuclear power Tepco's plan was to convert what is an existing nuclear reactor to a pluthermal (plutonium thermal) plant. Pluthermal facilities are power plants that use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in light-water reactors. Of the 3,605 votes cast in Kariwamura, 1,925, or 53.6%, rejected the use of MOX fuel. Japanese newspapers said the vote dealt a severe blow to the government's plan to promote the method of power generation as an answer to the needs of the resource-poor nation. The decision (to accept such a plan) is up to the local community. But we will continue to seek understanding about the necessity of pluthermal facilities Tepco spokesman Takashi Kurita Japan relies on 51 nuclear reactors to provide about one-third of its electricity. A spokesman for Tepco, Takashi Kurita, said the company would not continue with its plan to introduce MOX fuel against local residents' wishes. But Tepco would keep trying to win them round he said. Perhaps the government needed to explain more about the plan, although it had taken considerable pains to do so Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda "The decision (to accept such a plan) is up to the local community. But we will continue to seek understanding about the necessity of pluthermal facilities," he said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda gave no hint that the government would be swayed from its nuclear power plans. "Perhaps the government needed to explain more about the plan, although it had taken considerable pains to do so," he told a news conference. "(Plans for new pluthermal plants) are a very important part of Japan's energy policy. "Considering the future energy needs, I feel we must seek better understanding not just from the residents (in Kariwamura), but also the entire Japanese public." ***************************************************************** 7 PM pleads for nuke future Mainichi Interactive - Top News Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi asked Japanese to understand the country needs nuclear energy Monday, the day after residents of a Niigata village dealt a savage blow to the government's energy policies. During a Sunday plebiscite, voters in Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, ruled out permitting the use of plutonium-uranium mixed (MOX) fuel in the reactor located within their municipality. Power companies and the government have been seeking for the past few years to use MOX fuel to power light-water nuclear reactors. MOX is a fuel created by mixing uranium and plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel. Japan needs to get rid of plutonium, which explains Koizumi's urgency in pushing for its use. "[Sunday's vote] reflected people's feelings toward the safety and necessity of nuclear energy, I think. The government, and companies, must once again think deeper about how we are going to get people to understand the need for nuclear energy," Koizumi said Monday. Although Sunday's vote is not legally binding, a Kariwa Municipal Government ordinance requires the village mayor and assembly to respect the decision. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which owns the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant and wanted to use MOX there, was upset by the result. TEPCO President Nobuya Minami called the result "regrettable." (c) 2001 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Under the copyright law of ***************************************************************** 8 Time for a review of nuclear policy asahi.com news The Asahi Shimbun May 28, 2001 Sunday's referendum in Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, puts the central government in a difficult position. Voters rejected the government's policy on recycling nuclear fuel-extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel and reusing it in uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for normal light-water nuclear reactors. The process, which is known as the plutonium-thermal project, or pluthermal plan, was to be used at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). But the government will have a tough time pursuing its project in the face of strong opposition in Kariwa. In addition, the referendum results signal a need for energy policies that do not rely on the use of plutonium-mixed fuel. Japan's policy is to recycle nuclear fuel. Uranium fuel is used and spent fuel is reprocessed to extract plutonium, which in turn can be reused in nuclear reactors as MOX fuel. The government initially planned to use MOX fuel at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture, as well as in Fukushima and Fukui prefectures. But no date has been set to start operations at the three locations. If MOX fuel is not used at any nuclear power generation plant, the entire fuel recycling plan will not work. To prevent that from happening, experts have noted the need for alternatives, including a plan to dispose of spent fuel. Another option would be to store spent fuel in storage facilities and decide what to do with it decades later. Many nuclear experts, regardless of where they stand on the issue, note that the use of MOX in reactors does not make sense cost-wise. In addition, the issue highlights the fact that Japan has not made efforts to prepare storage grounds for spent fuel in case the plutonium-thermal project fails. The central government should, therefore, use this occasion to devise plans for spent fuel with consideration for both safety and costs. In Kariwa, the village mayor has given TEPCO the go-ahead to use MOX fuel at the plant. But the central government and the power company must take into account Sunday's rejection of the plan. The parties concerned are now under more pressure to ease residents' concerns about nuclear power. Copyright 2001 Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No ***************************************************************** 9 Sellafield plant dealt blow by Japanese village Guardian | Special report: Britain's nuclear industry Jonathan Watts in Kariwa, Japan Monday May 28, 2001 The Guardian The future of British Nuclear Fuels' controversial plant at Sellafield for recycling nuclear fuel was cast into doubt yesterday by residents of a Japanese village next to the world's largest nuclear power plant. Residents of Kariwa, 180 miles north of Tokyo, rejected plans to use Mox, or mixed oxide, fuel at the nearby Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant. The result is a heavy blow to BNFL. It had been relying on orders from Japan for Mox, a mixture of uranium and plutonium recycled from spent nuclear fuel, to ensure the £400m Sellafield plant became viable. Although the 54% to 43% vote is non-binding, the local mayor and the head of the Tokyo Electric Power company have said they will not proceed with the Mox programme unless they have the cooperation of local people. Further referenda are likely, but with no prospect of positive results. Anti-nuclear campaigners were jubilant. "This is great news for the Japanese people, and very bad news for European nuclear companies that supplied the fuel. The government should now suspend and review the entire Mox programme," said Kazue Suzuki of the environmental group Greenpeace. Japan was to provide more than 40% of the Sellafield plant's revenue, but Japan's Mox programme has been repeatedly delayed by accidents and scandals. Sellafield cannot get an operating license from the government until doubts about its economic viability are removed. Public trust in the nuclear industry, which Japan depends upon for almost a third of its electricity, hit a low when an accident at a reprocessing plant in 1999 killed two workers and exposed hundreds to abnormal levels of radiation. Doubts about the safety of Mox were raised in 1999 by revelations that BNFL workers fabricated quality control data for shipments of fuel for Japan. The UK company made matters worse by trying to cover up this fact, and also the discovery of alien objects, such as screws, inside fuel rods. BNFL has pledged to ship the fuel back to Britain and pay compensation, but Japanese power companies have yet to restart negotiations with the British firm and public opinion is still against it. Kariwa ought to be a stronghold for Mox. One in four of the 1,400 households depends on the nuclear industry for an income. The government has paid 22bn yen in grants to the village in return for hosting the facility, and its acceptance of orthodox nuclear power is reflected in the names of the Atomic restaurant and the Uranium hostess bar. "It's one thing living with a nuclear plant, but another altogether to have Mox. There is no way I can trust that it is safe after what BNFL did," said Kuniko Shinoda, a resident who voted against. The government has said it will adopt Mox despite the vote, but Tokyo Electric will come under pressure to delay loading its first batch of fuel, in this case from Belgium, at Karita next month. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 10 Is radiation healthy? (the good old hormesis spin) *May 27, 2001* WHAT do the following things have in common: alcohol, sunshine, iodine, iron, copper, sodium and cholesterol? All of these agents are beneficial in low doses but harmful to humans in very high doses -- a characteristic known as "hormesis." Some researchers believe that the list of hormetic agents includes nuclear radiation, as well. Nuclear radiation is, of course, harmful in high doses. It can cause death in the short run, and cancer many years after high exposure. But no increase in cancers have ever been demonstrated in animals or people after very low doses. The problem is that the "signal" (the cancers caused by radiation) gets lost in the "noise" -- the random fluctuations in the natural cancer rate. In fact, some studies have shown that at low doses the relationship between radiation and cancer may operate in reverse. For example, according to physicist Bernard Cohen of the University of Pittsburgh, people living in counties having above average amounts of radon (a radioactive gas that seeps up from underground) have lower than average lung cancer death rates. That doesn't prove that radon is beneficial at low doses, since other things besides radon could explain the lower lung cancer death rates in the higher radon counties. But if nuclear radiation were ever proven to be beneficial at low doses, this finding would have enormous policy implications: You might even pay a premium to have a nuclear waste dump in your back yard. My rating: 6. NewsChoice.com ***************************************************************** 11 Japan Seeks Support for Nuclear Fuel Monday May 28 1:47 AM ET By Linda Sieg TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government, in an energy policy pinch after a small village rejected the use of recycled nuclear fuel in its massive power plant, said on Monday it would have to try harder to win public support for the plan. ``It is vital that the government and industry make even more strenuous efforts to win the people's understanding for nuclear energy,'' new Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told a parliamentary budget panel. In a relatively close vote, 53.4 percent of the votes cast in the farming village of Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture went against the use of recycled fuel, known as MOX, in Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which provides 20 percent of Tokyo's electric power. Those backing the plan accounted for 42.5 percent, while 3.6 percent were undecided. There were 16 invalid votes. Turnout was high at over 88 percent of eligible voters. TEPCO said on Monday it remained committed to the use of MOX -- a blend of uranium and plutonium recycled from spent nuclear fuel. But the vote, while non-binding, has created a dilemma for the government, which wants to make MOX use a cornerstone of its energy policy. Anti-MOX campaigners argue the fuel is dangerous and does not make economic sense because it is more expensive than conventional nuclear fuel. And a series of nuclear power-related accidents has hurt public faith in the industry. Koizumi, elected last month on a groundswell of grass-roots support within his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has shown himself keenly sensitive to public opinion -- not surprising since he needs to keep his record-high popularity to succeed in his battle for reforms over objections from the LDP Old Guard. WAITING, WATCHING Just last week, the popular prime minister surprised the media and the public when he overrode bureaucratic recommendations and decided not to appeal a landmark court case mandating compensation for former leprosy patients incarcerated for decades after it was no longer medically necessary. Takeo Hiranuma, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) told the same panel that the vote was ``unfortunate'' but that the government would wait to see how Kariya, its sister village Kashiwazaki, and Niigata Prefecture responded. ``From now on, both the government and the industry must make maximum efforts to achieve better understanding by the people, since that is the first priority,'' Hiranuma said. A METI official said last week the use of MOX will go ahead in any event, but it is rare for the government to proceed in cases of clear opposition. Kariwa village chief Hiroo Shinada, a MOX fuel supporter, was set to give a news conference later in the day after saying late on Sunday that he would take the result into serious consideration before making a final recommendation to TEPCO and the national government, which have the final say. ``I think the people made a severe and heavy judgement,'' he told a news conference on Sunday, adding he would take various factors into consideration in making a final decision. TEPCO President Nobuya Minami told a news conference on Monday the company was still committed to using MOX, but added a final decision on whether to load it or conventional nuclear fuel at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant would be made by mid-June. ``As we have said many times in the past, the use of (MOX fuel) is important in terms of the nation's...energy policy...and we must move ahead with its implementation,'' Minami said. PAST PROBLEMS Resource-poor Japan depends on nuclear power for a third of its needs and recycling helps avoid the thorny issue of what to do with nuclear waste. Japan's power industry had intended to begin commercial use of MOX fuel in 1999 but was forced to postpone the plans after a controversy surrounding stated-owned British Nuclear Fuels Ltd's (BNFL) falsification of data on MOX fuel shipped to Kansai Electric Power Co Inc in western Japan. The MOX fuel to be used at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, if approved, is made from nuclear waste from Japan which was processed by Belgian firm Belgonucleaire. Public support for nuclear power took a hit after the nation's worst nuclear accident occurred in September 1999 at a uranium processing facility run by JCO Co Ltd in Tokaimura, 140 km (90 miles) northeast of Tokyo. Plant workers, emergency personnel and hundreds of residents were exposed to radiation and two workers later died. Since the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant was built in 1985, it has brought concerns about its safety but has been seen by some residents as the rescuer of the small farming community. Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Pakistani military ruler tell's country's nuclear scientists to expand work World - Ottawa Citizen Online [The Ottawa Citizen Online World News Page] May 31, 2001 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, urged nuclear scientists on Monday to expand their research and vowed that "nothing at all will distract us from fortifying national security." The call came on the third anniversary of Pakistan's controversial nuclear bomb testing. Musharraf called Pakistan's successful nuclear tests on May 28, 1998, "momentous events in the history of our nation." He also said the country's nuclear scientists should "further broaden the base of scientific research so that their work in the future is more scientifically advanced, technologically innovative and economically cost attractive." While Musharraf was referring to peaceful uses of nuclear power as well as weapons, his comments were a pointed reminder of Pakistan's determination to develop its nuclear capabilities amid its volatile relations with neighbouring India, another nuclear power. Yet the statement comes just days after a significant peace breakthrough between the two rival countries. After a two-year lull in high-level contacts, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee last week invited Musharraf to visit India for talks over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Musharraf, through intermediaries, has accepted the invitation. While announcing the peace invitation, India at the same time said it was ending a six-month ceasefire in Kashmir, a move that drew sharp criticism from Pakistan. In a statement Monday, Musharraf said the 1998 nuclear tests "restored the strategic balance in our region which had earlier been disturbed by our neighbours." Pakistan's nuclear tests were preceded by similar explosions by India. The testing provoked international condemnation and sanctions against both countries by the United States. India has pledged no first use of nuclear weapons and promised to conduct no more tests. But it rejects the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which it says does not eliminate nuclear weapons, only restricts them to certain countries. It's not known how many or which nuclear weapons Pakistan possesses. Most analysts do not believe either country has yet deployed nuclear weapons or developed nuclear warheads for their missile systems. But both have tested medium- and long-range missiles capable of hitting deep within each other's territory. Pakistan and India have gone to war three times since British rule of the Asian subcontinent ended in 1947. Their development of nuclear weapons raised fears among the international community that another war in the region could result in the use of nuclear weapons. Both countries have been pressed by a worried world to halt their nuclear program. The two say they want a minimum nuclear deterrent, but neither country has spelled out what that would mean and how many weapons that would involve. © The Canadian Press, 2001 ***************************************************************** 2 Policymakers asked to protect people's interest -DAWN - Top Stories; ISLAMABAD, May 30: Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday has advised policymakers to protect common man's interest in formulating policies. Presiding over a briefing on macro-economic framework and emerging challenges by the ministry of finance , he said, measures should be taken to encourage the agriculture sector, said an official statement. IT sector and the construction industry also needed encouragement, he said. Dr Ashfaque Hasan, the Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance in his presentation stated that the medium-term framework had been prepared with a view to improving the country's macro- economic environment which was essential for promoting investment and growth. He identified five key elements namely, low inflation, low budget deficit, appropriate exchange rate, real interest rate and consistency of policy which form the macro-economic environment. He also explained the current year's developments including the impact of drought on agriculture. He informed the meeting that inflation had been below the target and the country's exports had grown. And there had been an improvement in the Trade and Current Account Balance, he added. Finance Secretary Yunis Khan in his presentation gave an overview of the economy and the confidence building measures that had been initiated by the government. He also gave a brief review of the medium and short-term development scenario. In this context, he outlined a wide range of measures that had already been taken by the government which include, abolition of wealth tax, reduction in number of taxes; promulgation of anti-dumping law; removal of restrictions on export of agricultural products; enactment of privatization law; strengthening of regulatory role of State Bank of Pakistan. -APP ***************************************************************** 3 Appalachian town braces for uranium plant closing [enquirer.com] Monday, May 28, 2001 By John Nolan The Associated Press PIKETON, Ohio — In the coming months, hundreds ofworkers at one of the nation's last two uranium-enrichment plants are to be laid off from some of the best-paying jobs in an Appalachian region long plagued by unemployment. It will be the second time Marybeth Hamel has been laid off in a decade at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, built by the government in the 1950s to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and submarines. This time, Ms. Hamel, 35, isn't waiting for another job to open up. She already has been accepted into a nursing program in Nashville, Tenn. She expects to be laid off this summer and will start school in September after selling her house and moving with her 14-year-old daughter from the place they have always called home. “The first time I was laid off, I had Tums on my desk and Zantac,” Ms. Hamel said. “This time, I look at it as a temporary transition.” U.S. Enrichment Corp. says it can no longer afford to operate the plant because of a glutted world market for uranium available for nuclear plant fuel. The former government-run entity — which became a private company in 1998 — stopped production at the plant on May 11. Beginning on June 1, about 375 of the plant's 1,700 employees — who have average annual wages of $40,000 with $20,000 worth of benefits — will be laid off in phases through October. At its peak in the 1980s, the plant employed 3,200 workers. The region, with rolling green hills and sweeping views of the Ohio River to the south, historically has the state's highest unemployment. Pike County, home to the plant, had a 6.9 percent unemployment rate in April, compared with the 3.9 percent statewide rate. Copyright1995-2001. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a Gannett Co. ***************************************************************** 4 Unveiled Kursk Plan Details Risks of Lift May. 28, 2001. Page 5 By Simon Saradzhyan Staff Writer At least half of the powerful torpedoes and all the cruise missiles aboard the Kursk remained intact when the nuclear submarine sank last August, but the vessel will be lifted this fall, possible risks notwithstanding, Russia's navy chief told a press conference Friday. "Anything is possible," Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov said when asked if any of the weapons could detonate as the sub is lifted from the bottom of the Barents Sea in September. Under the first part of the costly two-stage lifting plan, which Kuroyedov and Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov detailed at the conference, the sub's mangled front compartment, which holds the torpedoes, will be cut away from the rest of the hull. This could prove risky, as a shift in position could theoretically trigger the detonation of some of the torpedoes. Kuroyedov said all of the Kursk's 24 Granit cruise missiles and "50 percent or more" of its unspecified smaller number of torpedoes survived the two blasts that sank the sub with all 118 crewmen on board. He also said both the sub's nuclear reactors shut down automatically during the accident and "all safety precautions" would be taken to ensure they would not leak during the lifting. Because President Vladimir Putin vowed that the Kursk would be lifted this year, the navy and the St. Petersburg-based Rubin design bureau, which developed the Kursk, walked out of talks with an international consortium earlier this month after its participants said lifting the 18,300-ton nuclear submarine this year would be too risky. The consortium, which included the Norwegian arm of U.S.-based Halliburton and the Netherlands' Smit International and Heerema, suggested the operation be postponed until 2002 due to insufficient time for preparations, Smit spokesman Lars Wolder said in a recent telephone interview. But Rubin chief Igor Spassky terminated months of talks and signed a deal with the Netherlands' Mammoet Transport, which specializes in lifting heavy objects, but has never raised a sunken vessel. Since then, Mammoet has been courting the original consortium members. The company contracted Smit, which has extensive salvaging and towing experience, to participate in the operation, and Klebanov said Friday that Halliburton would also rejoin, providing its divers. Mammoet spokeswoman Larisa van Seumeren declined to comment Friday, and officials at Smit and at Halliburton's Norwegian office could not be reached. It remains unclear why Smit has agreed to participate, since the current plan differs little from the one it deemed too risky earlier this year. Thomas Nielsen of Norway's Bellona Foundation, which monitors nuclear issues in the Arctic region, said in a telephone interview Friday that Smit and Halliburton agreed to participate because they would act merely as subcontractors and, thus, would bear no responsibility if anything goes wrong during the planned operation. Under the existing plan, to be implemented from July to September, after the sub's front section is severed, 20 holes will be drilled in the Kursk's hull and fitted with steel cables. Hydraulic lifting devices will then be used to bring the sub close to the surface before attaching it to a massive barge and towing it to the port of Murmansk. It has yet to be decided whether divers will try to retrieve the remaining bodies while preparing the lift, or once the submarine is placed in a dry dock — scheduled to happen by Sept. 20. Russian divers will also participate in the operation, estimated to cost up to $80 million, which the Russian government has said it will pay without outside aid. Moscow has yet to determine whether lifting the sub's torpedo compartment would be safe, Kuroyedov said. Klebanov said investigators have concluded that the sub sank after a practice torpedo's fuel tank exploded, but it remains unclear whether a defect in the torpedo itself or a collision with another submarine caused the initial blast. Kuroyedov reiterated Friday his support for the collision theory, but said he lacked conclusive evidence, although more than 23 tons of debris have been lifted from the Kursk and video footage of the front compartment has been closely examined. ***************************************************************** 5 Vanunu faces internal exile May 27 2001 MIDDLE EAST Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv THE ISRAELI defence ministry is considering preventing Mordechai Vanunu jailed in 1986 for revealing his country's nuclear weapons programme to The Sunday Times - from leaving Israel when he completes his 18- year sentence in 2004. Yehiel Horev, the head of a special security department, suggested in secret this month that Vanunu would have to stay and would risk rearrest if he talked to the media. Israeli security sources said Horev, a shadowy figure named only two years ago, had lobbied hard for Vanunu to serve his full sentence rather than receive parole. Horev's department, which is responsible for protecting secrets, especially those relating to the nuclear programme, has been taking a harder line than Shin Beth, the internal security service. Emergency regulations dating back to the British mandate rule of Palestine allow the state to bar a citizen from leaving if it believes he or she is a security risk. Vanunu has said the only Israeli road he wants to see when he leaves his high-security prison is the one to the international airport. Avigdor Feldman, his lawyer, said: "The state can do this, but I don't think such a decision would survive an appeal to the high court." The Sunday Times ***************************************************************** 6 Experts discuss threats of nuclear trafficking Article last updated: Monday, May 28, 2001 2:57 AM MST By Glenn Roberts Jr. STAFF WRITER International smuggling of radioactive materials is on the rise, with 370 confirmed cases since 1993, and nations must do more to stop the illegal trade, experts said at a conference in Sweden this month. "While most of these incidents do not involve material that can be used for making nuclear weapons, the high number of events shows that we have reason to be concerned," said Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in his opening address. About 300 experts, including Lawrence Livermore Laboratory researchers, participated in the agency's International Conference on Security of Nuclear Material and Radioactive Sources. Researchers for the energy agency reported at the conference that a database of nuclear trafficking has recorded about 550 reported incidents from Jan. 1, 1993, to March 31, 2001, and two-thirds of the incidents have been confirmed. "The frequency of confirmed incidents has grown in recent years," the researchers reported, and the number of cases per year in 1999 and 2000 was about double the amount in 1996. About 9 percent of the cases involved highly enriched uranium or plutonium, according to the report. These materials could be useful to the manufacture of nuclear weapons. In one of these incidents, about 2.2 pounds of highly enriched uranium was seized. Stanley Erickson, who works in Livermore Lab's Nonproliferation, Arms Control and International Security program, attended the conference to present possible strategies for protecting against nuclear smuggling. "The smuggling of nuclear materials is a matter of grave consequence, and if allowed to occur in sufficient amount could lead to nuclear terrorism or nuclear proliferation," Erickson stated in a paper that he prepared with a U.S. Energy Department expert. Informants can be very useful in tracking illegal nuclear trafficking, the paper states. And disinformation campaigns intended to thwart would-be smugglers can also prove effective. "What deters is perception. If the perception that nuclear smuggling is unlikely to succeed is spread to potential smugglers, deterrence will be achieved," the paper states. Establishing radiation-sensing equipment at the "least risky smuggling routes" should be a priority, and conducting specialized training for law enforcement and transportation workers could curb nuclear trafficking, the paper also states. Sidney Niemeyer, a Livermore Lab researcher, discussed the expanding focus of an International Technical Working Group, formed in 1995 to foster cooperation in combating illicit nuclear trafficking. While the group initially concentrated on developing laboratory methods to help pinpoint the source of smuggled nuclear materials, its mission now includes the detection of nuclear materials during transit. According to a paper prepared by Niemeyer and a collaborator who works for the European Commission Joint Research Centre in Germany, many of the group's members "are directly involved in detecting transit of material" for their respective governments, and "this topic frequently arises" during the group's meetings. Friedrich Steinhausler, a physicist at the University of Salzburg in Austria who has served as a visiting expert at Stanford University, concluded in a paper presented at the conference that even in the highly regulated United States, "about 200 radioactive sources are reported lost, stolen or abandoned every year." And "internationally, customs officers and border guards are facing an increasing illicit flow of nuclear material." The materials can be difficult to detect, he states in the research paper. Conference participants concluded that nations must do more, both individually and cooperatively, to improve security for nuclear materials. ©1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 7 Island 'paradise' rising from fallout May 27, 2001 9:41 AM MST LAWRENCE LIVERMORE LABORATORY Richard Giles (left), a Bechtel Co. researcher, monitors radiation levels on Rongelap Island as Ericson Arelong, a health technician on the island, observes. Lab plays vital role in reclamation of Rongelap By Glenn Roberts Jr. STAFF WRITER JAMES MATAYOSHI said he wants to live on Rongelap Island, the ancestral land his mother and 63 others were forced to leave in 1954 after the most powerful U.S. nuclear bomb test went awry. Rongelap received heavy fallout from a massive hydrogen bomb test on neighboring Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954. Rongelap's residents were evacuated after the blast, but returned in 1957. Fearing health dangers from lingering radiation, the people left again in 1985. For 16 years, Rongelap Island has been deserted, save for the construction workers who are preparing the island for resettlement and the researchers, led by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory experts, who continue to monitor the radioactive contamination. Matayoshi, mayor of the Rongelap Atoll Local Government, said the island may soon be safe for residents to return again. "The island is really beautiful. Sandy and like paradise. I really want to have a house there and live there. That is one of my dreams," said Matayoshi. Workers are busy spreading crushed coral over Rongelap's dark soil to prepare home sites. This coral will provide a buffer to the slight amounts of radiation still emanating from the ground. Workers are also paving an airstrip and constructing docks. They will spread potassium into the soil in some vegetated areas to limit the amount of radioactive cesium in the island's food sources. Homes and schools will be constructed, perhaps within a few years, and the residents will soon be able to return, say researchers. Today, the lush, tropical vegetation has grown untended around the fruit trees. An aged white church stands amid a grove of coconut trees at a planned housing site. And the dwindling population of coconut crabs -- rare coconut-eating creatures considered a delicacy by islanders -- has begun to rebound. The island has a few modern buildings, including a radiation-monitoring health center, a power plant and a water purification plant designed to filter out radioactive particles. Though fears remain among some Marshallese residents about lasting radioactive contamination, Livermore Lab researchers concluded in a 1999 report that "the total radiation dose on Rongelap Atoll is expected to be no different than that of people living in most other parts of the world." Terry Hamilton, who leads the Marshall Islands research program at Livermore Lab, said, "Rongelap Island itself is really not that heavily contaminated." In 1996, the federal government approved a $45million grant to pay for cleanup and construction efforts on Rongelap Island, the largest island in the Rongelap Atoll of the Marshall Islands. The Marshalls are a former U.S. trust territory and were the site of several military battles between the United States and Japan during World War II. The islands are now autonomous, though the United States provides defense. The island chain, about2,300 miles southwest of Hawaii, was ground zero for 66 atmospheric nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958. Those tests were conducted on Bikini and Eniwetok atolls, west of Rongelap Island. Rongelap is about 125 miles east of the most massive nuclear test, dubbed Bravo, which rained unexpectedly heavy fallout in 1954. Though scientists at Los Alamos Laboratory who prepared the experiment expected a yield of about 5 megatons -- the equivalent of 5 million tons of TNT -- the blast had a yield of 15 megatons. Scientists miscalculated the magnitude and fallout pattern of the nuclear device. Rongelap residents watched as more than an inch of powdery ash collected on the island on the morning of the Bikini test. Children played in the fallout of the explosion, and within two days about two-thirds of the residents had nausea and diarrhea. Many suffered itching and burning of the skin. They were evacuated by the U.S. government two days after the fallout and taken to Kwajalein Atoll for medical care. After a brief stay on Kwajalein they were taken to Ejit Island in Majuro Atoll. Within two weeks of their exposure, many of them suffered skin lesions and hair loss, according to a report in the July 1997 edition of Health Physics journal. Tom Kunkle, a staff member at Los Alamos Lab, said that a radiation-monitoring aircraft was flying the wrong route and missed Rongelap Atoll in its aerial surveys at first, causing a delay in detecting the emergency there. "There was a lot of confusion about what the conditions were on the inhabitated islands," he said. Many health studies have been conducted on the population of 64 Rongelap residents exposed to the fallout, and on other Marshallese people who were exposed. Sometimes the reports have had conflicting conclusions. The Bravo test affected an estimated 241 Marshallese, including 64 residents on Rongelap Island, an additional 18 Rongelap residents who were temporarily staying on Ailinginae Atoll during the blast and 159 people at Utrik Atoll. Also, 12 women were pregnant in the affected group and their children are considered to be part of the group. About 250 people returned to Rongelap Island in 1957, including original inhabitants and new family members, and all 327 residents moved away from the island in 1985. Livermore Lab researchers began radiation studies in the Marshall Islands in the 1970s, focusing on those atolls most affected by nuclear tests. Small, northern islands in the Rongelap Atoll received far heavier fallout than Rongelap Island, at the southern end of the chain, say researchers, with radioactive contamination similar to that in parts of Bikini Atoll. Those islands will not be off-limits to residents who resettle Rongelap Island, at the southern end of the atoll, though residents will be advised to limit the amount of food they consume from those islands. Lab studies have found that cesium-137, a radioactive element, is the major source of nuclear test-related radiation on the island. Cesium in food will contribute an estimated 60 percent of the nuclear test-related radiation dose to residents, and most of the remaining dose is from cesium in the soil, a leftover trace of nuclear fallout. But the total annual doses of radiation residents will be exposed to are well within limits set by the U.S. government, researchers have concluded. Hamilton said the fruit produced on Rongelap Island already is safe to eat, although the application of potassium to the soil will help to further reduce the radiation levels. "Even without the potassium treatment there doesn't seem to be a problem on Rongelap Island," he said. "We don't really see the need for any restrictions in terms of diet. They can consume what they would normally consume." During regular visits to Rongelap Island, Hamilton and other researchers use radiation detectors and collect samples of fruits for analysis at the lab. During these trips, lab researchers arrived in a military landing craft, hauling refrigerated freight containers there to preserve the samples. In a vegetation processing lab at Lawrence Livermore, samples of coconuts, breadfruit, pandanus (a sweet fruit) and other food products are diced, freeze-dried and then ground into a powder for radiological analysis. Livermore Lab also operates a training center for Marshall Islands residents to teach them how to operate equipment that measures radiation doses. A health center has been constructed at Rongelap Island to monitor radiation levels in workers and those who will eventually resettle the island, and another center has been built at Eniwetok. Local people will conduct the health screening. Simon Langinbelik, one of three Marshallese residents who completed six weeks of training at Livermore Lab on May 4, will work at the Rongelap health center. Langinbelik's mother was 12 when she was forced to leave Rongelap after the Bravo nuclear test. She now resides on Majuro, the island capital of the Marshall Islands. He said he doesn't know whether she will want to go back to Rongelap. He said not all of the former residents plan to return to Rongelap. "Some will stay (where they are), some would like to go back," he said. Langinbelik said the experience, for him, "is an adventure." The local government, which represents Rongelap, Rongerik and Ailinginae atolls, has approved the resettlement plan. The first phase of the program is about 80 percent complete, Matayoshi said, and if all goes as planned the island will be ready for permanent residents within two to three years. Scientific studies have shown it is possible to live safely on the island, he said, and the local government has worked to build consensus and confidence among the Marshallese people in the resettlement plan. "We made it clear that this is not only a matter of science that we are dealing with -- it is also a matter of trust," he said. "What we have done is establish a framework where (U.S.) studies are being conducted, and at the same time we have reviews by independent scientists." Steven Simon, who conducted several radiation studies for the Marshallese government in the 1990s, said his own studies concluded that Rongelap Island was safe for resettlement. "(The people) wanted to know if there was consensus among the scientific community that they could return. So we went to great lengths to obtain consensus. We had some very elaborate studies ... and came up with the same conclusions." Fear over a 1982 Energy Department report on high fallout levels in the northern islands of Rongelap Atoll led, in part, to the residents' decision to leave Rongelap Island, Simon said. It's uncertain how many residents will want to return, he said -- perhaps 100 people or fewer. "Returning is mainly an ambition of the people who remember the island." Some residents surely have grown accustomed to the amenities of their current homes and will want to stay where they are. "They are used to television and running water now," he said. Hamilton, too, said the number of people who will settle on Rongelap "is somewhat of an unknown quantity -- we've heard estimates of up to 500." Matayoshi agreed that the number is unknown. "The answer is in people's heart. Our obligation is to create an opportunity -- at least an opportunity that would attract them to look at the option of resettling. The whole concept of successful resettlement should not be in the context of forcing people to return. "We're starting slowly. We're planning to build about 50 houses." In addition to housing, the local government is also interested in economic development on the island. "We're thinking about creating some wildlife sanctuary. We're interested in applying for some grants. We are using the assets we have," he said. Job creation is vital to sustain the planned community on Rongelap, he said. At the health center on Rongelap Island, Langinbelik and another researcher will sample cesium-137 levels in residents using a sensitive whole-body detector called a Masse Chair. Residents must sit still in the chair for about 15 minutes for an accurate reading, and a computer workstation prints out a report in both English and Marshallese. Today, a team of lab researchers is embarking on a trip to Eniwetok Atoll to deliver another Masse Chair for use by the 900 residents there. Lab researchers have collected urine samples from workers at Rongelap Island to determine whether they have been exposed to higher-than-average levels of plutonium, another radioactive element. Reseachers have found no elevated plutonium exposure. The U.S. government is mandated to provide medical care for all of the Marshallese people exposed to heavy fallout from the Bravo nuclear test. Military personnel and Japanese fishermen were also exposed to the fallout. Distrust has abounded among some islanders because of worries about radioactive dangers. Livermore Lab researchers noted in a 1999 Earth and Environmental Sciences annual report that "the Marshallese people have struggled to come to terms with the technical and health-related information presented to them and have developed a societal fear of radiation." Some Marshallese residents have suggested that islanders were perhaps used as guinea pigs to test the effects of nuclear weapons. But the U.S. Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, in a 1995 report, "found no evidence to support the claim that exposures (to radioactive fallout) of the Marshallese, either initially or after resettlement, were motivated by research purposes." The report did cite "a climate of distrust" because of an inaccessibility of records and "a history of inadequate disclosure of hazards known to U.S. researchers." Matayoshi said there are still some unresolved issues facing the future residents of Rongelap, such as the more heavily contaminated northern islands in the Rongelap Atoll. But he said those issues can be dealt with in time. "My aspiration is that one day I at least will have a house and have an opportunity to live a good livelihood." And Rongelap will be home once again. RELATED SITES AND INFORMATION: + Information about the Bravo test that spread fallout on Rongelap Island and about military personnel who were exposed to radiation from the test. From the Atomic Veterans History Project, affiliated with the National Association of Atomic Veterans. + Health Physics: The Radiation Journal Special issue on Marshall Islands nuclear testing impacts, including history, radiological monitoring, dose assessment, health effects and environmental studies. + Information about nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. Details information about resettlement, cleanup and compensation efforts. + Energy Department site with information about studies scientific studies conducted in Marshall Islands. Includes historical documents and current events. + Information about whole body counter for monitoring radiation levels in residents of the Marshall Islands. + Information about the Marshall Islands Dose Assessment and Radioecology Program at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. ©1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 8 Health tests for all exposed at Maralinga - smh.com.au - News Update May 28, 2001 Home > News Update By Greg Rule *The Federal Government will conduct a health study of Australian volunteers in the 1950s British nuclear tests after confirming today up to eight tonnes of deadly depleted uranium was blasted into the air during the trials. Federal Veterans' Affairs Minister Bruce Scott said use of the deadly DU during the Maralinga nuclear tests was identified by a royal commission 14 years ago, but the then Labor government failed to act on the information. "I can confirm that (DU) was used in part of the atomic tests at Maralinga," Mr Scott said. "That information was also available to the ... royal commission that was conducted while the Labor Party was in government." DU is an extremely dense metal used in shells which can pierce the armour of a tank. On impact, it vaporises into a gas which scientists fear can be inhaled or ingested by people nearby. The toxic radioactive metal has been blamed for higher rates of leukaemia among Italian peacekeepers in Kosovo, and was previously thought to have been first used in the Gulf War in 1991. Mr Scott today said the government next month would release a nominal roll detailing all Australians involved in the 1950s British nuclear tests, with the numbers expected to be in the thousands. As well as soldiers, the list would also include Aboriginal and other civilian populations in the testing area at the time. The government would then undertake a health study of all participants, including the causes of death of those who had since died, he said. "You've got to have the nominal roll of the people who were there so that then you can establish the cancer incidence rate or any other element that might come to light during the health study," he told reporters in Melbourne. The study could include blood and urine testing of all participants, and those found affected would all be eligible for compensation under military or safety stipulations. Mr Scott said federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley should have ordered the roll and the health study when he was a senior Labor minister. "We have got to condemn the Labor Party for their lack of action in relation to royal commission findings ... " he said. "This should have happened 14 years ago." The health study would follow the same path as similar surveys of Vietnam War veterans. The news follows revelations that the British government planned to put hundreds of British and Australian troops as close as possible to nuclear explosions at Maralinga in 1959, and that two dozen soldiers tested protective clothing by crawling, marching or driving through a fallout zone three days after a nuclear test at Maralinga in 1956. AAP ***************************************************************** 9 Depleted uranium used in Maralinga and Christmas Island blasts ABC News - 28/05/01 : Tonnes of depleted uranium (DU), the toxic radioactive metal blamed for higher rates of leukaemia among Italian peacekeepers in Kosovo, were blasted into the air above Maralinga and Christmas Island during British nuclear tests in the 1950s, reports say. Australian officials confirm that more than eight tonnes of DU, which was thought to have been first used in the Gulf War in 1991, was dispersed in test explosions at Maralinga, in the South Australian desert. [Video] As Israel mourns the dead from Jerusalem's building collapse, two car bombs have exploded in the city hours apart. [Audio] Further details have emerged about the extent of nuclear testing on British and australian servicemen at Maralinga and Christmas Island in the 1950s. The British Ministry of Defence has also admitted DU was used in weapons tested at Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean. The admissions will add weight to calls for blood and urine tests for tens of thousands of servicemen from Australia, New Zealand and Britain who may have been exposed to radiation during the tests in the 1950s and 1960s. Both Australia and Britain have already offered urine tests to soldiers exposed to DU in the Gulf and the Balkans Wars following scientific studies which found a slightly higher risk of lung cancer among veterans exposed to the element. But so far no similar study has been proposed for the test veterans. "It beggars belief," Sheila Gray, the secretary of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans Association, told Scottish newspaper *The Sunday Herald*. "They gave us the impression that DU had never been used before the Gulf War and now it turns out it was used in the 1950s," Ms Gray said. "It's yet another hazard our men had to face." Depleted uranium is an extremely dense metal used in shells which can pierce the armour of a tank. On impact, it vaporises into a gas which scientists fear can be inhaled or ingested by people nearby. Maralinga The newspaper quoted from an email sent to Australian test veteran Major Alan Batchelor by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. In the email, agency head Geoff Williams says that more than eight tonnes of uranium was dispersed by explosions at Maralinga. That consisted of 7.4 tonnes at Kuli, 47.3kg at Taranaki and the rest at a series of 'minor trials'. "These materials, when vaporised in the fireball, would condense out as finely divided invisible oxides of these metals, potentially lethal or capable of causing cancer in the lung, liver, kidney or blood-forming bone marrow," Mr Batchelor said. If DU had harmed soldiers in the Gulf, "this could have been worse for servicemen working in areas close to ground zeros [the sites of nuclear explosions], and with no follow-up action would have gone unnoticed", he said. Christmas Island The paper also quoted from a private letter from the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) to Bob Brown, a Scottish veteran of tests at Christmas Island, in which the Ministry admitted that quantities of depleted uranium were used in the weapons tested at the island. "But they have kept it under wraps until now. I believe the MOD knew about the effects of the weapons, including DU, long before the Gulf War but they kept it quiet," Mr Brown said. The Ministry says there is no comparison between the DU used during the Gulf and Balkan Wars and that used during the 1950s, with a spokeswoman saying the metal posed no significant threat to human health except in the most extreme cases. But Malcolm Hooper, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Sunderland, disagrees. "You can't distribute small aerosol particles of DU and then deny there is a hazard," he said. The news follows revelations that the British Government planned to put hundreds of British and Australian troops as close as possible to nuclear explosions at Maralinga in 1959, and that two dozen soldiers tested protective clothing by crawling, marching or driving through a fallout zone three days after a nuclear test at Maralinga in 1956. © 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************