***************************************************************** 06/29/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.162 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Plan for six nuclear stations 2 NRC Staff Proposes $55,000 Fine Against Michigan Nuclear Plant 3 AEA in talks over £75m sale 4 Van carrying nuclear materials stolen 5 Cleanup at Maine Yankee nears halfway mark The decommissioning of 6 30 Greenpeace Protesters Held 7 Editorial: Nuke dump fight heads to court 8 County's nuke waste watchdog leaving public service 9 Effort to expose nuke waste routes defeated 10 Reactor innovation nets workers patent 11 Building Solid Foundations For A Strong Future': BNFL Announces 12 BNFL: Exceptional Items 13 Finance - BNFL's 200 million pound losses prompt audit call 14 BNFL rules out new nuclear plants 15 Greenspan urges nuclear growth -- 16 Studsvik strengthens German nuclear decommissioning business 17 BNFL losses -- National Audit Office must step in 18 What about liabilities for nuclear power? 19 JCO Criticality Accident and Local Residents: Damages, Symptoms 20 More Doubts Over MOX 21 Coalition requests EPA sampling 22 Nuclear plant gets high marks 23 Maine Yankee security questioned 24 Plan to study Yucca routes fails 25 NRC approves Indian Point 3 sale to Entergy 26 DOUNREAY yesterday confirmed that 90 radioactive particles had 27 NRC refuses to stop sale of Scriba plant 28 BNFL loses £210m after breakdowns 29 Privatisation of BNFL ruled out for three years NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 $16 million awarded in uranium suit 2 Bush seeks advice on nuclear tests in Nevada 3 Raised Kursk May Leave Questions Unanswered 4 Bush hints nuclear test moratorium may end 5 Hanford funding looks better; more work left 6 Experts Criticize Bush Missile Defense Plan 7 U.S. Studying Nuclear Test Site 8 Ex-nuke workers vent as claim forms explained 9 U.S. probes beryllium plant as health risk 10 N-TESTING TO RESUME? 11 Concern expressed over sick worker plan 12 DOE review a boost for plants 13 House bill for plant cleanup falls short ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Plan for six nuclear stations Guardian | Special report: Britain's nuclear industry Paul Brown, environment correspondent Friday June 29, 2001 The Guardian British Nuclear Fuels is to put forward plans to the government to build at least four, preferably six, new nuclear stations on the same sites as its existing ageing Magnox power plants that are closing after 40 years of service. The plan will be put to the government's energy review announced by the prime minister this week and chaired by the pro-nuclear energy minister, Brian Wilson. BNFL's plans, if accepted, would be a radical shift in British policy. The country's last new nuclear station, at Sizewell, was an expensive one-off which opened in 1996 in Suffolk at a cost of £2.3bn. Not only would the new reactors be cheaper, the company believes it could build a new station in 36 months, a record for a nuclear station. The one at Dungeness in Kent took more than 10 years. The prime minister's review and the pro-nuclear Bush administration are likely to rescue the company, which yesterday announced record operating losses of £210m. BNFL believes it can revive its fortunes by building a series of nuclear stations on both sides of the Atlantic. By building six stations in the UK BNFL will tell the government it can compete with gas on price and achieve the "diversity" of electricity supply Mr Blair is seeking. Costs will be cut because the new reactors could be plugged into the existing grid lines that serve the Magnox reactors. One of the sites mentioned by BNFL's chairman, Hugh Collum, yesterday was Oldbury in Gloucestershire, where the Magnox station has already closed. Work could begin almost immediately. But the company emphasised that the plan would only work if the planning system was altered so a series of stations could be build on a "production line basis" one after another. Currently, nuclear power provides 25% of the country's energy supply but this will reduce to 3% by 2020 as nuclear stations close. BNFL believes it could get that back up to 20%. Norman Askew, the company's chief executive, said: "We have a new design, the AP600 ... but we could not build a one-off and expect it to be economic. We need a proper agreed plan, four to six, or more stations if possible and build one after the other, to get economies of scale. "We would need to build two series of AP 600s on both sides of the Atlantic of slightly different design." Mark Johnston, of Friends of the Earth, said: "We will fiercely oppose any new proposals for nuclear power stations. Renewables can already deliver more power for less subsidy and will overtake natural gas as the preferred power producer. "The two hurdles the nuclear industry has to get over are cost and what to do with the waste. They appear to be unsurmountable by BNFL in the current circumstances. It would need the government to reinstate a substantial public subsidy regime to make it work." Interactive guide Interactive guide - How nuclear reprocessing works Explainer Sellafield: The issue explained Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 2 NRC Staff Proposes $55,000 Fine Against Michigan Nuclear Plant for Failure to Provide Complete and Accurate Information Region III -- 2001 - 27- UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 No. III-01-027 June 29, 2001 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630)829-9663/e-mail: rjs2@nrc.gov Pam Alloway-Mueller (630)829-9662/e-mail: pla@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $55,000 fine against Nuclear Management Co., operator of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, for failing to provide complete and accurate information when it requested a regulatory change at the plant in February of last year. The Palisades plant is located at Covert, Michigan. The information was submitted when the plant staff requested authorization to permanently close off one of two steam lines connected to an auxiliary feedwater pump, which is part of a backup system to remove heat from the reactor if the normal feedwater system is lost. (The Palisades plant, formerly operated by Consumers Energy Company, is now operated by Nuclear Management Company.) On February 5 of last year, while the plant was shut down for planned maintenance, an underground steam pipe to a steam-driven pump ruptured. The pump was shut down and the leak terminated. The ruptured pipe was replaced, but the remainder of the underground steam line could not be fully inspected to verify its integrity. The utility decided the steam line was not needed because a second steam pipe was available to provide steam to the pump. Since the line was no longer considered necessary, the utility requested the NRC eliminate a requirement that it be tested periodically. In its request, the utility said its past safety analysis had considered the steam line as available for use in just one situation, that of an unlikely fire in one room containing electrical cables. Other means of maintaining the reactor in a safe condition were available without using the steam line in question, the utility indicated. Based on its review of the information supplied, the NRC granted temporary authorization to not comply with the testing requirement. Later, the agency approved the closing of the steam line and permanently eliminated the associated testing requirement. The NRC resident inspectors, in an inspection earlier this year, found a second fire scenario in which the steam line might be needed to maintain the reactor in a safe shutdown condition following a fire. The company had not included this scenario when it requested the testing requirement be removed. The company and the NRC staff extensively evaluated this second fire scenario and concluded that the steam line in question would not be needed to maintain reactor safety. As a result, there was no change in the agency's decision to permit elimination of the steam line and the associated testing requirement. In notifying the company of the proposed fine, NRC Regional Administrator James E. Dyer said, "The failure to provide complete and accurate information affected the NRC's ability to perform its regulatory function." Had the agency received complete information, it would "have had substantial further inquiry or considered additional compensatory actions before making a regulatory decision," he added. The plant staff is being cited for its failure to identify and evaluate the second fire scenario when it requested the change in NRC requirements for the steam line. Dyer noted that the agency was satisfied that the failure to provide complete information was an oversight and not a deliberate act to withhold information. Nuclear Management Company has until July 27 to pay the fine or to protest it. If the fine is protested and subsequently imposed by the NRC staff, the company may request a hearing. ***************************************************************** 3 AEA in talks over £75m sale Ananova AEA Technology is planning to sell its nuclear consulting business to Serco as part of its restructuring. It hopes to agree a deal within the next three months for close to £75 million. Serco says the move will add "outstanding" expertise to its own work in the science sector. AEA's consulting business, AEAT Consulting, provides technical and safety advice to the Ministry of Defence, BNFL, and British Energy. It employs 450 staff across the country, with 280 based at BNFL's sites in Risley, near Manchester. Serco currently manages and operates the Ministry of Defence's Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and the DTI's National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Its chief executive Kevin Beeston said: "This acquisition provides an opportunity for mutual benefits between the scientists employed in AEAT Consulting and our current operations at AWE and NPL." AEA, formed by the privatisation of the UK Atomic Energy Authority's commercial arm, is selling off a number of businesses to concentrate on its rail and environmental arms. It has already agreed the sale of its nuclear engineering business and hopes to sell off Hyprotech - its engineering software division - within the next three months. In a separate announcement AEA said it would be teaming up with environmental tourism programme Green Globe - which runs a certificate scheme similar to the Blue Flag Award won by clean beaches. A new venture, Agenda, will help tourism operators boost their environmental credentials, beginning with pilots in the UK and Spain. Copyright © 2001 Ananova Ltd Terms and ***************************************************************** 4 Van carrying nuclear materials stolen by Laurel J. Sweet BostonHerald.com - Local & Regional by Laurel J. Sweet Friday, June 29, 2001 Police arrested two youths yesterday afternoon who allegedly stole a courier van that was delivering radioactive medical supplies to Boston hospitals. The van's contents never threatened public safety, said Steve MacDonald, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. The department's hazardous materials company ``came down and checked it with meters and determined that none of the contents were disturbed,'' MacDonald said. ``They were low-level nuclear medical products used by area hospitals.'' Neither the arresting officers nor the suspects - Daniel Christopher, 18, of Charlestown and John Wrenn, whose age and address were unavailable last night - were exposed to any radioactive materials, said police spokesman David Estrada. The Associated Courier van was reported stolen from a Boylston Street gas station about 3 p.m. The van's driver was ``gassing it up. When he went into pay, two men stole the van,'' MacDonald said. Christopher and Wrenn, who were both charged with receiving a stolen motor vehicle, were caught on Boylston Street almost immediately, police said. Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems, ***************************************************************** 5 Cleanup at Maine Yankee nears halfway mark The decommissioning of the former nuclear power plant is expected to be finished by late 2004. --> Friday, June 29, 2001 By DENNIS HOEY, Portland Press Herald Writer Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. WISCASSET — Maine Yankee officials said Thursday that they are about halfway through the $508 million process of decommissioning the former nuclear power plant. Officials, during a media tour, also unveiled a new dry cask storage facility, a 6-acre field of concrete casks built to last as long as Egypt's pyramids. Paul Plante, a project manager for Maine Yankee, shows a model of a fuel rod assembly. The spent fuel rod assemblies eventually might be sent to a site in Nevada. The $60 million Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation is a critical component of the decommissioning project, because it will allow Maine Yankee to move 1,432 spent nuclear fuel rod assemblies, which contain high levels of radioactive waste, from the plant's reactor pool. The reactor will then be demolished and taken to a site in South Carolina. Thursday's presentation was part of a series of tours that Maine Yankee plans to give this month to state officials and interested residents. Eric Howes, spokesman for Maine Yankee, said the company wants to keep the public informed about what it has done to close down what was once one of the region's most closely watched industrial facilities. About 500 construction workers are on the site daily. Maine Yankee's staff, meanwhile, has shrunk from 500 employees to 60. Maine Yankee began decommissioning the nuclear power plant in 1997. The project, which Howes said is on schedule, is expected to be finished by late 2004. Eventually, none of the buildings at the Maine Yankee site – not even Frank's Fission Chips, an employee snack bar – will be standing. "When we're done, the only building left will be the spent-fuel storage facility," Howes said. Maine Yankee plans to begin moving the spent fuel rod assemblies from the reactor pool to the storage installation, which resembles a prison yard, by early September. Paul Plante, manager of the dry cask storage facility, said each fuel assembly contains uranium pellets that spent about five years in the reactor's core. They have been cooling in the reactor's 40-foot-deep reactor pool. In its 25 years of operation, Maine Yankee produced more than 1,400 spent nuclear fuel assemblies. Each assembly is about 12 feet long. Plante said that stainless steel containers will hold the fuel assemblies. The containers will be dropped into 28-inch-thick, steel reinforced concrete casks – each cask is 17 feet tall – before they are placed on concrete pads surrounded by razor wire fences and surveillance cameras. A staff of about 15 workers will monitor the temperature of the casks from inside an adjacent security building. Bill Odell, Maine Yankee's director of operations, said the monitoring room has bulletproof glass. Odell said the facility had to be designed to withstand earthquakes and, if necessary, a terrorist attack. Security alarms will warn operators of an intruder. "We suspect most of the alarms will be set off by woodchucks and owls," Odell said. Howes said the fuel assemblies eventually will be removed to a storage site approved by the federal Department of Energy. The DOE is evaluating a site in Nevada – Yucca Mountain – as a national storage site for spent nuclear fuel. Howes said it is likely that Maine Yankee's spent fuel will remain in Wiscasset through 2023. "It's really a political decision, but so far they haven't identified any scientific showstoppers." Maine Yankee is marketing 600 acres around the power plant for commercial development, according to Howes. The remaining 200-acre Eaton Farm will be preserved for conservation. Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 725-8795 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com Copyright© Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 30 Greenpeace Protesters Held Friday, Jun. 29, 2001. Page 3 The Associated Press Police breaking up Thursday’s Greenpeace protest on Red Square against government plans to import spent nuclear fuel. Thirty Greenpeace activists were detained Thursday for protesting on Red Square against legislation that would allow Russia to import spent nuclear fuel for processing and indefinite storage. The legislation, which critics say would turn Russia into the world's nuclear dump, was approved by the State Duma earlier this month, despite broad public opposition. The Federation Council is to consider the bills Friday. On the eve of the parliamentary review, some 100 environmental activists from Greenpeace Russia gathered on Red Square to urge President Vladimir Putin to reject the bill. Thirty activists were detained and held for four hours at a police station, before being told to show up in court the next morning, said Greenpeace Russian nuclear campaigner Ivan Bokov. ***************************************************************** 7 Editorial: Nuke dump fight heads to court June 29, 2001 Last month Nevada officials mostly were pleased when the Bush administration signed off on Clinton-era proposals that set tougher safety standards than the nuclear power industry had wanted for a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Still, Nevada officials believe that the regulations in some areas aren't strict enough, prompting the state this week to sue the Environmental Protection Agency in a bid to reverse some of the recommendations. Specifically, state officials contend that the 10,000-year time frame for the standards to be in effect isn't long enough, especially since this waste still will be deadly long after that period. Nevada officials also note that the boundary at which radiation would be measured starts at 12 miles from the dump's center. In contrast, a repository in New Mexico that handles military nuclear waste measures radiation starting three miles away. Both of the state's objections to the regulations are reasonable and should be adopted. Nevada has established an excellent case over the years as to why Yucca Mountain should be disqualified, but the Department of Energy has been reluctant to listen. So one of the key fights will be over the establishment of safety standards that a repository would have to meet before it could be built. Nevada wants standards that in a fair way ensure that its residents couldn't be harmed if radiation was released during an accident. Indeed, standards that would guarantee the public's safety would disqualify Yucca Mountain. The nuclear power industry realizes this and has filed a lawsuit itself, asking a judge to overturn some of the EPA's radiation guidelines, standards that the industry believes could rule out Yucca Mountain. The bottom line is that nuclear waste is man's most lethal substance. It would be unconscionable to relax radiation standards at all in light of the stakes involved. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 8 County's nuke waste watchdog leaving public service June 29, 2001 By Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN After 30 years doing everything from defending the Las Vegas Wash to managing Clark County's nuclear waste program, Dennis Bechtel leaves government service today and said he plans to return to school. The 57-year-old Bechtel, director of the county's Nuclear Waste Division for 13 years, said he has accomplished what he set out to do: raise the credibility of such local issues as nuclear waste to a national scale. The Las Vegas Valley may be 90 miles away from a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, but people are afraid of a permanent burial ground that close to home, Bechtel said. Congress selected Yucca Mountain as the only site for the Energy Department to study in 1987. It has cost ratepayers and taxpayers $7 billion so far. Waste is not expected to arrive, if scientists find the mountain sound, until 2010. Yet people from across the country are concerned about five truckloads per day carrying 77,000 tons of commercial spent fuel and military wastes rumbling through Southern Nevada for 24 years, Bechtel said. "We've had people calling our office and saying they will not move here because of nuclear waste," Bechtel said. And the irony of it is, the Department of Energy has not recommended the site yet. Bechtel said he has been committed to break bureaucratic walls down so technical people listen to the public's fears. "If we can chip away at that, we can break down some of those barriers and get them to understand how the public feels," he said. "When I first started, there was no acknowledgement of effects on the community from a project like Yucca Mountain," Bechtel said of the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "They thought Las Vegas is 90 miles away (from Yucca Mountain) so what's the big deal?" When he joined the county Comprehensive Planning Division in 1980, Bechtel put his environmental background with the Aluminum Company of America of Cleveland to good use. In Ohio, Bechtel worked to stop chemicals from polluting Lake Erie in the 60s. One of his first duties with Clark County was working on the Las Vegas Wash, a 15-mile stretch of green marshes threatened by increasing growth and runoff from the valley. As Bechtel leaves, federal, state and local scientists are cooperating in studies of the water quality and the environment. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 Effort to expose nuke waste routes defeated June 29, 2001 By Benjamin Grove LAS VEGAS SUN WASHINGTON -- The House on Thursday shot down an amendment designed to pressure the Department of Energy to finalize transportation routes for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The measure, introduced by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., failed 102-321. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., voted for the amendment. The DOE has proposed routes. But it has not finalized exactly which roadways and rails would be used to haul 77,000 tons of nuclear waste from the nation's 103 nuclear reactors to the desert site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The effort would take several decades. Berkley tried to attach her amendment to an energy and water projects spending bill. Her legislation required a $500,000 study of the routes, which could publicly pressure the DOE to finalize them, Berkley said. Nevada lawmakers oppose the Yucca plan and aim to build opposition in other states by publicizing the routes. They say the potentially dangerous waste shipments, at least 40,000 by some DOE estimates, would haul waste over 43 states within a half mile of 50 million Americans. Several lawmakers who objected to the bill said there was plenty of time to map out the routes. Yucca hasn't even officially been selected as the nuclear waste repository yet, Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., argued. Berkley said the routes should be published before Yucca approval, calling Callahan's argument "back-asswards." "We raised the issue of publicizing transportation routes, and saw the beginnings of an issue that can be a winner for us," she said later in a written statement. "This is a subject that's going to get some traction, and I'm going to keep raising it every chance I get." All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 Reactor innovation nets workers patent HoustonChronicle.com June 28, 2001, 8:50PM Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle WADSWORTH -- Three South Texas Project nuclear plant workers have received a patent on an invention that cleans the massive bolts that hold the head of a nuclear reactor in place between refuelings. Each of the 72 bolts, which previously had to be manually cleaned, is 8 feet long and weighs 1,500 pounds. John Griffin, 51, a maintenance supervisor, conceptualized and designed the 12-foot-tall device. Mechanic-welder William Mikulenka, 40, and machinist Alan Plunkett, 46, designed, fabricated and machined its components and controls, and assembled and tested the invention. The patent is just the second issued to the plant since it began operations in 1988, plant spokesman Ed Conaway said. ***************************************************************** 11 Building Solid Foundations For A Strong Future': BNFL Announces Preliminary Thursday June 28, 07:59 AM This press release is transmitted on behalf of BNFL. BNFL today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2001. During the year we have accelerated change throughout the company and made real progress in a number of key areas. The poor operating and financial performance is due mainly to major losses in Magnox Generation. Underperformance in the Spent Fuel business was due to an extended outage of downstream waste treatment plants. They are now back on stream and performing well. 2001 2000 Turnover #2,146m #2,064m Profit/(Loss) from operations before tax before (#210m) #74m exceptional items Exceptional Items #144m (#411m) Profit/(Loss) before tax after (#66m) (#337m) Exceptionals Retained loss (#46m) (#262m) Shareholders funds #251m #310m Total undiscounted nuclear liabilities #34.8bn #34.2bn Total provision for discounted nuclear liabilities #16.1bn #15.8bn BUSINESS SUMMARY The significant outage at Wylfa led to a poor performance in Magnox Generation - 40% of output lost The operating difficulties in the Spent Fuel businesses have now been rectified and Thorp is progressing well with delivery of the #12bn order book There was a good performance in the Fuel Manufacture business and much improved operational performance in the Decommissioning and Clean-up business The successful closing off of two key HSE reports and we are on target to meet the recommendations in the third There has been significant success in rebuilding customer confidence: New commitments for the Sellafield Mox Plant mean it is already at break-even. Following this vote of confidence by our customers we are now awaiting Government approval Fuel transport from Europe has re-started US clean-up contracts operationally have been turned around. src=http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/uk/g/new3.gif] Copyright © 2000 newprovider. All rights reserved. Republication ***************************************************************** 12 BNFL: Exceptional Items Yahoo! Finance - Exceptional Items Thursday June 28, 08:07 AM A #216 million gain resulting from an agreed reimbursement of payments made by BNFL, on behalf of MOD, to Nirex for deep storage work. 2. A #51 million provision for foreseeable losses relating to the US Nuclear Decommissioning and Clean-up operations. 3. A #40 million cost associated with the fundamental reorganisation and rationalisation of parts of the newly acquired ABB business. Hugh Collum, Chairman, commented: "It has been a year of substantial progress during which we have accelerated change throughout the company. We are rebuilding customer confidence and significant progress has been made in addressing the issues raised in the three reports by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). This provides a solid platform on which to build but there is still more to do. "Although there has been significant improvement in operating performance in some parts of the business, there are areas where performance was unacceptable. This was particularly true of our Magnox business, which had a pre-tax, pre-exceptional loss of #199m that has significantly affected the financial results for the company overall. The Spent Fuel business broke even which was a significant adverse swing from last years' record output. "The outlook for our business is encouraging. We are operating at a time when the prospects for a renaissance in nuclear power are brighter than for many years. In December I called for an informed and open public debate on the future for nuclear energy. There are clear signs that this is underway. The announcement by Government of an energy review is both timely and an excellent opportunity for the nuclear energy industry to put its case across. "It is imperative that in the UK we have a balanced energy policy that takes account of the role that nuclear energy can and must play. If the full potential of the changes in favour of nuclear energy is realised we will be well positioned to provide the technology, services and equipment needed. "The Board has a very clear aim - to build a company with a strong future in a sector with increasingly positive prospects. We have taken major steps to re-shape the company and will continue to build on this solid foundation." Commenting on the business performance, Norman Askew, Chief Executive, said: "We are focused on serving our two major customer groups - nuclear utilities and governments - and on managing the programme of closing our Magnox stations. The performance of Westinghouse was good, and the operational performance of our clean-up contracts in the US is improving. However, our results are adversely dominated by the poor financial performance of Magnox Generation. The poor performance of the downstream waste treatment plants at Sellafield also illustrates the need to continue to raise the standards of operational delivery. "Our operational priorities remain as follows: Continue the drive towards achieving world class safety and environmental standards Focus on the remediation of the old nuclear facilities and legacy waste at Sellafield Improve output and throughput in all our plants Manage the cost base and improve efficiency through our quality programmes Grow profitability "We are determined to keep raising our game. It is vital the changes we make throughout the company become permanent. I am pleased that we have made substantial progress but we cannot afford to become complacent about the challenges that lie ahead. "BNFL has an important strategic role to play in the UK energy market and we are determined to turn the business around as swiftly as possible. A good start has been made. The company is also a major employer and many thousands of jobs depend on its success. This is particularly true of Cumbria in the UK and is another important reason why agreement to open the new Mox plant at Sellafield is vital." Business Performance Fuel Manufacture and Reactor Services Business Group The financial performance of the business group showed continued progress. Following the acquisition of the nuclear businesses of ABB, completed in April 2000, turnover rose from #730 million last year to #1,048 million in 2000/01. Pre-tax, pre-exceptionals profit rose similarly from #6 million, to #52 million. We will look to build on the opportunities and synergies that this acquisition may bring. The successful integration and rebranding of the ABB nuclear businesses and UK fuel business at Westinghouse was a further step in our drive to strengthen and consolidate our market position. During the year, we continued to focus on enhancing the quality of our technology and our service to customers. Whilst our core business continued to be centred around plants supplied by Westinghouse or our licensees, we successfully expanded our customer base internationally with new contracts at non-Westinghouse plants. Magnox Generation Business Group The financial performance for the Magnox Generation Business Group was disappointing, mainly because Wylfa, our largest station, was off line most of the year for necessary engineering work. This lowered our annual capacity by about 40%. This significant loss is a major factor in the Company's disappointing overall performance. Our #372 million turnover was down from #568 million, and we incurred a pre-tax, pre-exceptionals loss of #199 million (2000: loss of #109 million). Total generating output for the group for the year was 13TWh, which included record outputs for two power stations - at Oldbury and Sizewell. Spent Fuel and Engineering Business Group Spent Fuel and Engineering Business Group produced a significantly worse financial performance in comparison to the previous record output year. The main drivers were low throughputs in the key Thorp and Magnox Reprocessing plants caused by technical difficulties in the downstream waste plants. Turnover at #549 million was #50 million down on the prior year and a pre-tax, pre-exceptionals profit of #3m was achieved (2000 pre-tax profit, excluding the credit on nuclear liabilities, #126m.). All plants are now back in operation and have given us a good start to this financial year. Customers have expressed their confidence in the future of the Mox plant. A key to this confidence has been the successful closing off of two of the three HSE reports and the good progress made on the team inspection report. The restart of spent fuel transportation in Europe provided good news. Highlights include the work to enable the restart of spent fuel transports from Germany in April 2001 and the resumption of spent fuel transports from Dodewaard in Holland. In Switzerland, meanwhile, we successfully completed enough work to enable restart of transports from there to Sellafield. Nuclear Decommissioning and Clean-up Business Group Turnover within Nuclear Decommissioning and Clean-up increased marginally to #177 million (from #167 million) and a pre-tax, pre-exceptional loss of #66m was incurred compared to a loss of #89m in the previous year. In the US, the on-going activities have been stabilised and refocused and produced improved operational results. Our European activity is mainly in the UK where we are working for UKAEA and Ministry of Defence as well as on decommissioning our three Magnox nuclear power stations. We are delivering a management and operations contract for the MoD at the Aldermaston Weapons Establishment, as part of a consortium which includes Lockheed-Martin and Serco and have so far met or exceeded every milestone agreed with the customer. Hugh Collum commented: "With the longer term picture for the global nuclear industry brightening, the future of the business is encouraging. In the short term, as we build on more robust foundations we must continue to improve our operating performance and agree the way forward. "We look forward to an early decision on the Sellafield Mox Plant, which is critical to our future." more/mw src=http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/uk/g/new3.gif] Copyright © 2000 newprovider. All rights reserved. Republication or Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 Finance - BNFL's 200 million pound losses prompt audit call Thursday June 28, 12:17 PM LONDON (Reuters) - State-owned British Nuclear Fuels has posted pre-tax losses of over 200 million pounds because of poor performances at the Magnox power stations and its showcase THORP reprocessing plant. The results prompted environmental group Friends of the Earth to call for the National Audit Office (NAO) to investigate the running of the nuclear group. "BNFL is losing money like a Soviet steel works", said Mark Johnston in a statement criticising the government for failing to supervise BNFL on behalf of taxpayers. The audit office last investigated government supervision of BNFL in 1989. For the year ended March 31, BNFL reported a pre-tax loss before exceptionals of 210 million pounds against a profit of 74 million pounds for 1999/2000. Exceptional gains shaved the 2000/2001 pre-tax loss to 66 million pounds from 337 million in 1999/2000 when the company was hit by exceptional charges of 411 million. BNFL Chief Executive Norman Askew said the results reflected the closure of the Wylfa power station for most of the year and difficulties at a downstream treatment plant at its Sellafield site which hurt operations at the THORP reprocessing plant. "The loss from the Magnox power stations (of which Wylfa represents 40 percent) accounted for a loss of nearly 200 million pounds. If this loss were stripped out it would give a clearer picture", he said. Askew added that although THORP had been out of commission for about six months it returned to service in April while the 980 megawatt Wylfa power station was expected to start producing electricity again sometime this summer. "We are in a better position for this year", he said. Turnover rose slightly to 2.146 billion pounds from 2.064 billion pounds. Askew said he was encouraged that nuclear power might see something of a revival. In May U.S. President George Bush announced plans to increase nuclear power production and this week Britain declared it was undertaking a review of the country's energy policy including looking at nuclear power. "We have got the best portfolio of new reactor designs (via subsidiary Westinghouse) anywhere in the world. If demand for new nuclear build comes, we are ready to go." Askew added the group was eagerly awaiting a government decision on whether it could start up its 482 million pound Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) built four years ago to make reactor fuel from combination of uranium and plutonium oxides. The government is set to make a decision sometime this summer after it considers a report by independent consultants on MOX's economic viability. src=http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/uk/g/new3.gif] Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or ***************************************************************** 14 BNFL rules out new nuclear plants Friday June 29, 10:57 AM In the LONDON story headlined "UK BNFL says has no plans for new nuclear plants" please read in second paragraph "...the Guardian newspaper...instead of...the Daily Telegraph newspaper... . A corrected story follows LONDON (Reuters) - State-owned British Nuclear Fuels says it has no plans to build new nuclear power stations to replace its ageing Magnox stations that will be phased out over the next 20 years. A report in the Guardian newspaper said the company is putting foward plans to the government to build four, possibly six new nuclear stations. "There are no plans to build new plant and we have submitted no plans and do not intend to do so", a spokeswoman for BNFL said on Friday. "Any discussions about a building programme are hypothetical, although the argument of building several new power stations is valid because it would give economies of scale", she said. On Thursday BNFL announced annual pre-tax losses of 210 million pounds largely because of the poor performance of the Magnox power stations. Despite the poor results, which will not have helped in the government's quest to sell off 49 percent of the group within the next few years, chief executive Norman Askew was upbeat about prospects. He said the group will be well placed to take advantage of any nuclear renaissance whether in Britain or the United States. "We have got the best portfolio of new reactor designs (via subsidiary Westinghouse) anywhere in the world. If demand for new nuclear build comes, we are ready to go", he told Reuters. Government plans for a 1.5 billion pound ($2.1 billion) partial privatisation of BNFL were shelved in early 2000 after a data falisification scandal and a highly critical report by the country's nuclear watchdog on the way the company was run. Then energy minister Helen Liddell said a flotation could not take place before the latter half of 2002. On Thursday BNFL chairman Hugh Collum said 2004/2005 was a more likely date. src=http://eur.i1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/i/uk/g/new3.gif] Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 Greenspan urges nuclear growth -- The Washington Times June 29, 2001 By Patrice Hill Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday urged Congress to consider ways to expand nuclear power and expressed optimism that the marketplace is resolving the nation's energy problems without legislative action. In a speech to the Economic Club of Chicago last night, Mr. Greenspan strongly advocated free-market policies like those pushed by the Bush administration over the price controls and other government-induced solutions pushed by Democrats as the best way to break up bottlenecks and bring down energy prices. Nuclear power is "an obvious major alternative to coal" that has "obvious environmental advantages" because it generates no emissions, he said. "The time may have come to consider whether we can overcome the impediments to tapping its potential more fully." Before nuclear power can be expanded, however, the country must find "an acceptable way to store spent fuel and radioactive waste," he said, and it must be made more economical. With nuclear and other energy sources, Congress and the public face some "trade-offs" between expanding development and protecting the environment, he said. "But those concerns should be addressed in a manner that, to the greatest extent possible, does not distort or stifle the meaningful functioning of our markets." Mr. Greenspan was optimistic that high prices for gasoline, oil, natural gas and electricity in the past year already have produced the desired effect: a dramatic increase in drilling and huge amounts invested in new power generation. In recent weeks, the increased development activity has worked dramatically to lower high prices, he said, and that's good news for pinched businesses and consumers as well as the economy. "Overall energy prices paid in April and May were down from the levels of the first quarter, suggesting some easing in pressures on profit margins" for businesses, he said. The drop in the last month of the run-up in gasoline prices should help to boost the purchasing power and confidence of consumers, he added. Despite extensive efforts to control power prices in California, Mr. Greenspan said that even there the market signal sent by higher power rates instituted since the beginning of the year has spurred increased generation and started to lower prices. While the retail power rates paid by consumers and businesses are set to rise as much as 50 percent by December, the skyrocketing wholesale power prices paid by the state recently have fallen to their lowest levels of the year. All site contents copyright © 2001 News World ***************************************************************** 16 Studsvik strengthens German nuclear decommissioning business Source: M2 Communications Ltd. Story Filed: Thursday, June 28, 2001 5:10 AM EST Jun 28, 2001 (NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT via COMTEX) -- SINA Industriservice GmbH Co KG, a German subsidiary of the Swedish high-technology group Studsvik's strategic business unit Industrial Services, has entered into an agreement to acquire the operations of Baumann Nuklear-Service GmbH. Baumann Nuklear-Service is a leading German company in the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The company has 45 employees and is expected to record a turnover of SEK25m in 2001. After the acquisition Baumann Nuklear-Service will be part of SINA. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. Copyright 1998-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD ***************************************************************** 17 BNFL losses -- National Audit Office must step in FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: [M2 Communications Ltd.] Story Filed: Thursday, June 28, 2001 8:20 AM EST Jun 28, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Friends of the Earth today called on the National Audit Office to launch an urgent enquiry into the financial management and 'shareholder' supervision of state-owned British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) after the company reported huge losses for the second year running. Mark Johnston, Energy Analyst at Friends of the Eart, said: "BNFL is losing money like a Soviet steel works. Disastrous results two years running show that company finances are spiralling out of control and that the Government has failed in its duty to supervise BNFL on behalf of the taxpayer.There is an urgent need for an independent appraisal by the National Audit Office of where the company is going wrong, financially and strategically. "BNFL's core reprocessing business is in terminal decline. These losses could easily be repeated in future years if the company's strategy is not properly evaluated. There is a growing worldwide market in the clean-up,decommissioning and long-term management of old nuclear facilities worth hundreds of billions of dollars. BNFL could secure a profitable future for itself if it used its engineering expertise to exploit these commercial opportunities further than it has to date. "These disastrous results provide a timely reminder to those carrying out the Government's energy review of the economic folly of nuclear power. We need to invest heavily in energy conservation and renewables rather than wasting billions of pounds of taxpayers money on producing more highy dangerous nuclear waste that we don't know how to deal with." 1. The National Audit Office last investigated the Government's supervision of BNFL in 1989 (HC295, 88-89).The Government announced in July 1999 that it intended to partially privatise BNFL and restated the plan in its 2001 Manifesto. 2. Friends of the Earth is currently challenging in the High Court the Government's handling of the licensing process for BNFL's Sellafield MOX 'Plutonium Fuel' Plant. See press statements on 24 May and 21 June 2001 archived at www.foe.co.uk. At the heart of the zcase is the question of disregarding the GBP300M construction costs from the economic justification for the plant. M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.neton the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com. Copyright 1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD ***************************************************************** 18 What about liabilities for nuclear power? Letters [Christian Science Monitor] Story Filed: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 4:42 PM EST Jun 28, 2001 (The Christian Science Monitor via COMTEX) -- What about liabilities for nuclear power? Bryce Johnson wrote in his June 12 letter that those who fear nuclear waste are idiots and that he is baffled by how this fear has run rampant for decades. Let me remind "nuclear safety analyst" Johnson that for decades the nuclear industry has been protected by Congress with extreme limitations on the industry's financial liability for any nuclear disaster. If the industry won't put its money where Mr. Johnson's mouth is, perhaps the industry is the one perpetrating the hoax about the extent of risk. It is time to educate the public with the truth about "minuscule risks" that the industry has, due to its sweetheart deal with Congress. Raymond Myers Nashville, Tenn. (c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor SUBJECT CODE: OPINION ***************************************************************** 19 JCO Criticality Accident and Local Residents: Damages, Symptoms and Changing Attitudes cnic.jca.apc.org Transport Watch Jinzaburo Takagi [JCO Criticality Accident and Local Residents: Damages, Symptoms and Changing Attitudes] Koichi Hasegawa&Yuko Takubo Citizens' Nuclear Information Center 52 pages PDF version[2.7MB] for free down-loading! PDF uploaded on 29 June[1.2MB] had font problems. This new PDF, though with larger file size, might be improved by embedding fonts. If there still be problems, please order hard copy [free of charge for people outside Japan] from here. [30 June 2001] free of charge for people outside Japan, though donations are very welcome!!You can order Hard Copy from here Contents + Foreword + JCO Criticality Accident and Local Residents: Damages, Symptoms and Changing Attitudes + Afterword + Survey on Impacts of JCO Criticality Accident on Nearby Citizens + Appendix CNIC has recently published an English translation of a field study conducted on the local residents living in the vicinity of the JCO plant. The study was conducted in February 2000, and was reported in Japanese in September 2000. This English version of the report includes up-dates, as well as graphs, tables, maps, and photos to supplement the findings. The study consisted of multiple-choice questions, open questions, and a follow-up interview upon the collection of the survey forms by volunteers. Responses to the open questions and the interviews are referred to in the main article preceding the survey data section, which documents the full results of the multiple-choice questions. The main results were: (1) Residents experienced physical abnormalities and mental symptoms. At the time of the survey, 35% of respondents living within a 2 km radius of the JCO plant complained of physical symptoms. (2) Residents had strong anxiety over the future effects from radiation on themselves and their family members. In addition, residents had concerns over future indirect effects from the accident. For example, a resident of Tokai Village living within a 350~500 m radius of JCO, stated: "I am worried that even if there were no physical damage, my children will be discriminated against in the future just because they lived near the JCO plant ... and will not be able to get married." (3) The lack of information was a factor of anxiety and dissatisfaction during and after the accident. Only 14.1% had accurate knowledge about the JCO plant, and 37.1% were not even aware of its existence. (4) On one hand, about 2/3 of the residents became critical of nuclear power. (5) But on the other hand, about half saw Tokai Village's future as "co-existing with the nuclear industry." (6) Even so, local residents are no longer interested in blindly accepting the national nuclear development plans. Over 60% of the residents felt that the siting of nuclear power facilities should be decided by referenda. 3F Kotobuki Bldg., 1-58-15 Higashi-nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003 Japan Tel: 81-3-5330-9520; Fax: 81-3-5330-9530 http://www.cnic.or.jp/
cnic-jp@po.iijnet.or.jp (C) Citizens' Nuclear Information Center ***************************************************************** 20 More Doubts Over MOX The Whitehaven News Thursday, June 28, 2001 Hopes of a post election green light for the Sellafield Mox plant were dashed after the government conceded it would have to hold another round of public consultations. The environmental group Friends of the Earth succeeded in a High Court action that BNFL had not shown all the economic costs of Mox in the consideration of the plant's viability. It has been four years since state owned BNFL invested over £480 millions on the Mox plant and seen it lie idle awaiting endless consultation hearings. The latest High Court ruling will delay it another three months, and according to anti-nuclear group CORE will show the controversial plutonium Mox fuel plant is uneconomic. Martin Forwood for CORE said: "This ruling means that BNFL will not be allowed to disregard the £482 million cost of the project in trying to prove it makes economic sense. They had to take into account the huge cost of building Thorp when trying to justify that project...they had hoped to keep the huge cost of Mox as a "sunk cost" but the courts have quite rightly said it has to be considered...I would say Mox is sunk as a result.'' Solicitors acting for the government agreed last week to publish the report, by Arthur D Little Consultants, minus any information that would "cause unreasonable damage to BNFL's commercial operation or to the economic case for the plant itself". The public will have four weeks to study the document and make further comments. BNFL has warned that any slippage on the decision beyond midsummer would place pressure on existing contracts for Mox fuel with a Swiss customer. Peter Roderick, FoE legal adviser, was "delighted" that ministers had agreed to publish the report but also "startled" that they had excluded some financial information. A BNFL official said the plant had already gone through four public consultations and the group needed a decision from the government "with some urgency". BNFL said: "We look to the government to bring this uncertainty to an end as soon as possible. The operation of the Mox SMP is crucial to BNFL and to the future of West Cumbrian economy, supporting nearly 2000 jobs.' ***************************************************************** 21 Coalition requests EPA sampling Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:36 p.m. on Friday, June 29, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff In hopes of unearthing toxicants responsible for off-site exposures, the Coalition for a Healthy Environment has requested the Environmental Protection Agency conduct soil and well water sampling in three Roane County communities. Janine Voner, outreach coordinator for the coalition, said she was the one to contact EPA about conducting the sampling in the Sugar Grove Valley, Dickey Valley and Dyllis communities. The coalition serves as a support and research group pertaining to the illnesses of workers at Department of Energy facilities and the citizens of Oak Ridge and the surrounding areas. "Those three communities border the back side of [the Oak Ridge K-25 Site]," Voner said. "We are very, very concerned about the contamination that has migrated off-site into these communities. "These people were unaware of what was getting into their soil and well water. They are innocent citizens that very well could have been affected by off-site contaminations." K-25, which is a Superfund, or contaminated, site, falls under EPA's scope for sampling, Voner added. She added the coalition hopes the sampling can be done without a massive number of meetings and paperwork. The proposed sampling effort is important for Voner, a Maryville resident who used to live near the three locations and work at K-25. She says she was exposed to a number of toxins at her former workplace and suffers from neurological damage, thyroid disease and numerous other health problems. When Voner contacted EPA, she spoke with Elmer Aiken, who also serves as a liaison between the agency and the Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee. "We've not said yes or no," Aiken said Thursday afternoon. Though it's not his decision to make, Aiken said he has talked to other EPA officials about the matter. Aiken did point out that the EPA is considering two sampling procedures in the Oak Ridge area, including a resampling of the Scarboro neighborhood. The other project is more "broad-based," according to Aiken, and could possibly include the Roane County communities. Aiken did not have any specific dates for these two proposed projects. K-25, a former gaseous diffusion plant, occupies 4,689 acres (7.6 square miles) or 14 percent of the Oak Ridge Reservation and is located in the Roane County portion of Oak Ridge. In October 2000, DOE's Office of Environment, Safety and Health issued a report based on independent investigations of three gaseous diffusion plants that stated employees were exposed to hazardous materials while working at K-25. So, Voner said it makes sense that people living near the facility could have also been exposed. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 22 Nuclear plant gets high marks azcentral.com - Max Jarman The Arizona Republic June 29, 2001 The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station turned in a stellar performance during the past 12 months, passing with flying colors a battery of inspections and performance evaluations conducted by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC oversees the safe operation of Palo Verde and 103 other U.S. nuclear power plants. Throughout the year, the agency evaluated the plant's performance using data provided by the company and the results of 39 reviews conducted by a team of on-site NRC inspectors. The results of the plant's annual review were released Thursday at a public meeting in Avondale. Routine inspections found six violations, none resulting in safety concerns or citations. They were: • Use of inadequate pressure to test containment spray pumps. • Failure to identify and correct an inadequate high-pressure safety injection system venting procedure. • Inadequate procedure to prevent spent-fuel pool overfill. • Equipment room isolation valve found closed. • Failure to wear required radiation exposure indicators. • Failure to conduct adequate radiation surveys. "They've done as well as they can," said Linda Smith, the NRC regional supervisor in charge of the inspections. "It's something to be proud of." Gregg Overbeck, the Arizona Public Service Co. senior vice president in charge of the plant, said the company takes safety seriously and was pleased with its high marks. Copyright 2001, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 Maine Yankee security questioned Lincoln County Weekly By: KRIS FERRAZZA June 28, 2001 WISCASSET - Some Lincoln County residents are feeling insecure about security at Maine Yankee. The issue surfaced at a June 21 meeting in Wiscasset, and led to spirited debate among company representatives, state officials and members of the community about topics ranging from terrorist attacks to political battles. At the crux of the issue is Maine Yankee's plan to move its spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste out of the plant to allow the buildings to be demolished and the site decommissioned. As soon as next month, workers will begin relocating the hazardous material from a pool of water inside the nuclear power plant building to a prepared site out on the Maine Yankee grounds, where it will be stored inside concrete and steel casks. Engineers have been planning the details of the move for years. The plan to move the waste caused members of Friends of the Coast, an Edgecomb-based nuclear watchdog group, to raise security questions. Claire Johnson, president of the organization, wrote a letter to the Maine Yankee Community Advisory Panel (CAP) several months ago requesting a public meeting be held to discuss the security in place to protect the public from acts of terrorism and the like. Until last week, that letter had gone unanswered. But during the June 21 meeting, CAP vice president Don Hudson suggested the panel should respond to Johnson's request. Hudson questioned the merits of such a meeting, noting it is frustrating that most of the details of the company's security plan cannot be made public for security reasons. Maine Yankee executive Michael Meisner agreed. "A forum on security can only go one way and that is to increase anxiety," he said, calling it "a fruitless exercise in my mind." He gave assurances that the company has an adequate security plan in place that will guarantee the public's health and safety. Meisner added the company has been taking state officials and members of the Maine State Police on tours of the new fuel storage station, and shown them "all the security features they're privy to, but no one else is." He said those officials also seem comfortable with the security in place. CAP member Ray Shadis, who is spokesman for Friends of the Coast, said he was not at all comfortable with Maine Yankee's plan, or with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) ability to oversee the issue. He reminded the group that when NRC has tested the security of nuclear power facilities nationwide, would-be invaders often have been able to breach security. "We're not convinced," he said, adding, "And we have no confidence in NRC." Shadis said NRC regulations no longer require guards to be armed at a fuel storage facility, and pointed out vehicle barriers have been removed at Maine Yankee. He told his fellow panel members that NRC is in the process of reviewing its own security regulations, and reexamining whether they are stringent enough. He insisted it is unacceptable to have unarmed guards at the fuel storage site, when at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., "they have armed guards to protect the staff and the commissioners and the office furniture." Take it away State Nuclear Safety Advisory Paula Craighead said the state does not want the high-level waste to stay in Maine under any circumstances. She said the federal government must take it and get it out of here, but if they do not do that immediately, armed guards are not enough. "The state is not going to settle for just guns out there. You're not asking for enough," she told Shadis. "We're not going to be Yucca Mountain without the mountain." Yucca Mountain is a site in Nevada being developed and studied as a potential U.S. Department of Energy high-level radioactive waste repository. If approved by Congress and the president, it eventually would be the disposal site for waste from Maine Yankee and many other reactors. Nevada public officials and residents have voiced strong opposition to the plan. Craighead said Gov. Angus King Jr. continues to push to have Maine Yankee's spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste removed. In a March 28 letter to Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Gov. King joined four other New England governors in urging the federal government to complete the review of the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada and provide interim storage of the fuel outside its home states. "The New England States require an expeditious resolution that avoids the undesirable - and, ultimately, untenable - long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel...at fully decommissioned nuclear plant sites," the letter states. "It is unacceptable to the state for an ISFSI to be here," Craighead said, referring to the fuel storage site, which is called an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). Public interest CAP member Ralph Keyes, a science teacher at Wiscasset High School, said a public meeting to discuss the security and circumstances surrounding the fuel storage facility might be worthwhile. "We may be tired of it, but I think the community interest is increasing as things take shape out there," he said of the new facility. Others, including Hudson and Meisner, suggested a meeting would be unproductive because the public would not be allowed to know the details of the security plan. Shadis answered that "anxiety might be the right response" to the situation, given that federal regulations are in flux, and the public is being told the site is safe. He suggested Maine Yankee is doing a disservice to local people. Craighead said there are two types of safety to consider: radiological safety and psychological safety, and suggested CAP members use care when discussing nuclear security and terrorism. "We have to be careful," she said. The state official also commented that some people have political motives for wanting the waste to remain in Wiscasset. She suggested they want it to stay in town so they then can point to the local waste repository as a "scary" example of how nuclear power has failed the public. After discussing the topic for nearly half an hour, members took no action on calling a public meeting. Hudson suggested it should be discussed with Sen. Marge Kilkelly, who is chairperson of the CAP but was absent from the meeting. Other business In other news, CAP members heard: * the decommissioning has reached the halfway point and employees will celebrate with a picnic July 19. * an incident NRC had considered to be a "deliberate" violation of regulations by a worker on the Maine Yankee site was found to be not deliberate. * and Friends of the Coast plans to pursue and fund a health study to see if there are an unexpected or excess number of selected health effects, such as cancer, in the area surrounding Maine Yankee. "We are concentrating on it and we fully intend to go ahead," Shadis said, suggesting it would cost between $40,000 and $300,000 depending on the type of study undertaken. ©Lincoln County Weekly 2001 ***************************************************************** 24 Plan to study Yucca routes fails [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Friday, June 29, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Leaders say it's too soon to focus on shipping DONREY WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A Nevada effort to draw attention to routes where nuclear waste might be shipped for burial at Yucca Mountain failed on Thursday when the House of Representatives killed a call for transportation studies in the next year. An amendment setting aside $500,000 for highway and rail studies was defeated 321-102 after a 15-minute debate. Several influential leaders said it was premature to focus on nuclear waste shipping when the government has yet to recommend a repository. Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas is the only place being studied. Ninety-two Democrats, nine Republicans and Vermont independent Bernard Sanders voted for the amendment. It was sponsored by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., who tried to attach it to a $27.3 billion energy and water spending bill. Reps. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., and Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., leaders of the energy and water subcommittee, urged its defeat. If Yucca Mountain is recommended, "we'll have six, seven, maybe nine years, ample time to advertise and study the transportation possibilities," Callahan said. "It seems to me that doing it that way is bass-ackwards," Berkley responded. She said people should know before a repository is designated whether nuclear waste might be shipped through their communities. "This is an issue of the public's right to know," she said. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., voted for the amendment. "People have not been apprised of routing through their cities and they need to be," he said. Among other programs, the energy and water bill adds more than $141 million to renewable energy development programs cut by President Bush, including a $13.1 million increase for geothermal energy over the president's request and $19.5 million more for wind energy. Nevada is home to nine geothermal power plants that provide about 200 megawatts of electricity to 200,000 homes in the state and California. The energy and water bill contained other Nevada projects, including: • $400,000 for a feasibility study to restore the lower Las Vegas Wash wetlands. An additional $1 million was earmarked for the Bureau of Reclamation for resource management at Lake Mead and the Las Vegas Wash. • $25 million for on-going stabilization of the Tropicana and Flamingo washes west of Las Vegas. • $500,000 for planning at Truckee Meadows. • $200,000 for a Walker River Basin conservation study. • $6 million for resource management and $2 million for facilities maintenance within the Bureau of Reclamation for Lahontin Basin. ***************************************************************** 25 NRC approves Indian Point 3 sale to Entergy ENVIRONMENT By ROGER WITHERSPOON THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: June 28, 2001) The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the sale of the Indian Point 3 and James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plants to the international power conglomerate Entergy Nuclear Inc. The agency's 80-page decision rejected a host of objections raised by the Citizens Awareness Network about the ability of the for-profit company to safely run the plants. The objections have tied up the sale of the two plants, as well as the pending sale of Indian Point 1 and 2 in Buchanan, for the past eight months. In an unusual step, the commission notified Entergy and Citizens Awareness Network officials of its decision on June 21, but has not publicly announced the ruling. Officials from the commission, Citizens Awareness Network and Entergy confirmed the decision to The Journal News yesterday. The commission said a date has not been set for public release of the ruling. The agency also imposed a gag order on Citizens Awareness Network officials until it works out arrangements with Entergy to release an edited form of the decision, which would not disclose the private company's financial data. Tim Judson, head of Central New York Citizens Awareness Network, called the commission's conclusions unreasonable. "This is the case that would determine if the NRC would ensure nuclear safety or if they would let safety go down the tubes with deregulation," he said. "Unfortunately, we feel that in order to keep the nuclear industry in business, they are willing to abdicate their authority to regulate and protect the public health." Entergy is buying Indian Point 3 in Buchanan and the FitzPatrick plant in Scriba from the New York Power Authority. The company is seeking to purchase Indian Point 1 and 2 from Consolidated Edison. That purchase is still pending while the commission and the New York Public Service Commission review questions raised by Citizens Awareness Network about the safety of the troubled Indian Point 2 plant. Indian Point 1 is no longer operating. "The NRC is validating Entergy's position that we can operate Indian Point 3 and James A. FitzPatrick safely, reliably, and economically," said Mike Kansler, chief operating officer of Entergy Nuclear Inc. Entergy, the nation's third-largest power generating company, is paying about $967 million for the two plants, said Entergy spokesman Larry Gottlieb. The sale by the state power authority had been approved by the commission last fall, and Entergy has been operating the two plants since then. The license transfer was held up pending a review by the agency's five top commissioners. Marilyn Elie, head of Westchester Citizens Awareness Network, said the commission's decision "allows Entergy to have an enormous slush fund that goes back to their stockholders instead of rate payers. It encourages Entergy to decommission in a way that is quick and cheap." Copyright 2001 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper. ***************************************************************** 26 DOUNREAY yesterday confirmed that 90 radioactive particles had been found by divers surveying the seabed below the Pentland Firth, just offshore from the nuclear plant. It brought the total found on the foreshore and seabed to around 600. Meanwhile, two miles to the west on the public beach at Sandside, another particle was found, bringing the total there to 17 since 1984. Many others have been found on the site itself. The UK Atomic Energy Authority, Dounreay's operators, have already sealed an old diffusion chamber in the seabed 600m offshore which the authority has long suspected of being the source of the particles on the shore and below the sea. Seabed surveys began in August 1997 and two months later the Scottish Office announced a 2km fishing exclusion zone off Dounreay until the particles were explained. The 90 particles were found within the zone. But Dounreay's own monitoring methods have been questioned recently, and Geoffrey Minter, owner of the Sandside Estate, earlier this year hired his own independent expert, Dr Philip Day, of Manchester University. Dr Day said that Dounreay's monitoring of Sandside beach was "totally inadequate" and it could only find a fraction of the particles likely to be there. Lorraine Mann, of Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping, said last night "I think it is appalling that this work is going so slowly. Dounreay and everybody involved believes that there could be tens or even hundreds of thousands of particles on the seabed. "At this rate it could be several thousand years before we get them cleared up." -June 28th ***************************************************************** 27 NRC refuses to stop sale of Scriba plant Syracuse.com: News [The Syracuse Newspapers] Anti-nuclear group had sought to prevent Entergy's purchase of FitzPatrick. Thursday, June 28, 2001 By Chris Iven The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected the claims of the sole remaining group trying to block Entergy Nuclear's purchase of the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Scriba. The Citizens Awareness Network had argued Entergy failed to set aside enough money to safely run the plants. Entergy took possession of FitzPatrick and Indian Point 3 in Westchester County on a provisional license in November after agreeing to pay the New York Power Authority $967 million. The NRC allowed Entergy to run the plants while it reviewed the anti-nuclear group's claims. The commission's rejection of those claims this week removes "the asterisk" from the NRC's previous approval, said Neil Sheehan of the commission. Entergy Nuclear is pleased the license transfer is official. "The NRC is validating Entergy's position that we can operate (Indian Point 3 and FitzPatrick) safely, reliably, and economically," said Mike Kansler, chief operating offer of Entergy Nuclear Northeast. As part of the proceedings, the NRC allowed members of the Citizens Awareness Network to review internal Entergy financial documents. Because some of the information is proprietary, the NRC is prohibiting group members from speaking publicly about the ruling until Entergy and the NRC discuss what information can be released, Sheehan said. In January, Tim Judson, leader of the Central New York chapter of the citizens group, said tight profit requirements will push plant workers to skimp on maintenance. Entergy gave each plant access to $70 million in credit, but that's not enough to safely last through a shutdown of more than six months, according to Judson and Edward Smeloff of the Pace Law School Energy Project. Although Smeloff said the plants require a $200 million reserve to run safely, Entergy officials said $70 million is enough. © 2001 The Syracuse Newspapers. Used with permission. ***************************************************************** 28 BNFL loses £210m after breakdowns The Times FRIDAY JUNE 29 2001 BY ANGELA JAMESON BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS incurred £210 million losses last year, partly because of breakdowns at its Magnox generating plant, and problems in its Spent Fuel business. The results prompted Friends of the Earth to call for the National Audit Office to investigate the nuclear group. A spokesman for BNFL said the results reflected the closure of the Wylfa power station for most of the year and difficulties at a downstream treatment plant at its Sellafield site which hurt operations at the THORP reprocessing plant. BNFL reported pre-tax losses of £210 million for the year to March 31, against a profit of £74 million last year. Exceptional gains shaved the loss to £66 million. Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided ***************************************************************** 29 Privatisation of BNFL ruled out for three years © 2001 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd 02 July 2001 06:31 GMT+1 By Michael Harrison, Business Editor 29 June 2001 Privatisation of British Nuclear Fuels, the state-owned reprocessing company, has been ruled out for at least the next three years because of the £210m bottom-line loss it suffered last year. The Government had hoped to resurrect the public private partnership (PPP) for BNFL next year, after being forced to abandon the partial privatisation after a safety scandal at its Sellafield plant in Cumbria. But Hugh Collum, BNFL's chairman, said yesterday that a PPP would probably not be feasible until 2004 or 2005 because of its financial performance. BNFL has embarked on a three-year recovery plan aimed at winning back customer confidence after revelations that quality control records on shipments of mixed oxide (mox) fuel bound for Japan had been falsified. Norman Askew, BNFL's chief executive, said the company had since complied with the recommendations of two highly critical Health and Safety Executive reports into Sellafield. Mr Askew also said the economic case for its £460m mox plant was now "as plain as a pike staff" and urged the Environment Minister Michael Meacher to approve opening the plant this summer. BNFL already has orders for 40 per cent of the plant's capacity from German and Swedish customers but cannot open the plant until a further four-week consultation has been carried out by the Department of the Environment. The slump into the red last year was caused mainly by a £199m loss in BNFL's Magnox electricity generation division, which followed the extended shutdown of the Wylfa nuclear reactor in Wales. But profits from the Sellafield's Thorp reprocessing plant also collapsed, from £126m in 1999-2000 to just £3m last year. Losses in the largely US-based nuclear decommissioning business were cut from £89m to £66m, and there was a sharp jump in profits from fuel manufacturing and reactor services to £52m. Mr Collum said BNFL now had "a solid platform on which to build" and added: "We are operating at a time when the prospects for the renaissance in nuclear power are brighter than for many years." Mr Askew said BNFL would be interested in offering its Westinghouse design for pressurised water reactors, which has been licensed in the US, to help to reduce both Britain's dependence on imported gas and oil and its greenhouse gasses. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 $16 million awarded in uranium suit Denver Post.com Mike McPhee Denver Post Staff Writer --> Friday, June 29, 2001 - A federal jury Thursday ordered a uranium-processing company to pay $16.3 million to 32 people who suffered radiation poisoning and other ailments while living near a mill outside Can~on City. The amount does not include interest or future medical costs awarded to 30 of the plaintiffs who first filed suit against the Cotter Corp. in 1991. Attorney Rebecca Lorenz said the total will exceed $30 million. Three of the plaintiffs have died in the decade since the suit was filed. "I'm elated. Finally, the Cotter Corp. is being held accountable," said Joe Dodge, 67, whose wife, Thelma, died of radiation-induced leukemia. Thursday would have been their 48th wedding anniversary. Dodge, who owned a thoroughbred ranch next to the Cotter mill in Lincoln Park outside Can~on City, was the original plaintiff in the lawsuit. His daughters, Rhonda Butson and Yvonne Pegoraro, could barely speak through tears of joy. "This is justice for the death of our mother," Butson said. "Cotter has been terrible. They still don't think they've done anything wrong." John Watson, Cotter's lead attorney, said the case will be appealed. "They will never see this money," Watson said as the courtroom cleared. "We feel completely confident that the 10th Circuit (Court of Appeals) will overturn this verdict." This is the fourth trial involving pollution claims against the Cotter Mill, which was declared a Superfund site in 1984 and closed three years later. A 1998 trial, which gave 13 plaintiffs roughly $5 million, was overturned on appeal and was retried as part of this case. Both trials were presided over by U.S. District Judge Zita Weinshienk. One case in 1992 was settled and a case in 2000 is being appealed. Denver-based Cotter processed uranium ore at the mill starting in the early 1950s, grinding it into a powder and forming it into "yellowcake" biscuits for shipment elsewhere. Testimony during the seven-week trial showed that the fine, yellow radioactive dust drifted across Dodge's horse farm, clotheslines, houses and into the soil and water. The mill also handled heavy metals such as arsenic, cobalt, nickel and lead. "People lost everything," said Suzelle Smith, one of three lawyers from Los Angeles with expertise in uranium pollution brought in to try the case. "Joe Dodge lost his wife and his horses. He lost his farm. People lost vegetables. They had birth defects, disfigurements." Sonja and Don Luna's son Brett, 28, was born with a cleft palate, respiratory problems and mental retardation. "I thought my heart was going to burst when they announced the verdicts," said Don Luna. "This is for Brett. We won't be around forever to care for him. He will have to have help all his life. He doesn't deserve what he has." Jury forewoman Mary Crawford of Denver said, "This was the hardest thing I've ever done. It was long and complicated." "I cried for two days," said juror Sandy Todd. "We just tried to do the right thing." All contents Copyright 2001 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 2 Bush seeks advice on nuclear tests in Nevada Thursday, June 28, 2001 By JONATHAN S. LANDAY Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has asked U.S. nuclear-weapons scientists to examine ways that test explosions beneath the Nevada desert could resume more quickly if the government decides to end a nine-year moratorium on such exercises. It would now take one to three years to prepare a test, and a recent study concluded that such long lead times could allow political opponents to block any resumption of nuclear testing. Nuclear-weapons scientists are looking at "what it would take to do various kinds of tests on various time scales," said C. Bruce Tarter, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Tarter and others said the administration hasn't decided to resume testing. Nevertheless, the review is likely to add to fears that Bush might end the moratorium and push for developing new "low-yield" nuclear warheads, which some weapons scientists and conservative lawmakers advocate. Bush has said he has no plans to end the U.S. moratorium. But Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have argued that the safety and potency of the American arsenal can be assured only by periodically detonating randomly selected warheads underground. "This is all part of a well-coordinated effort inside and outside the government to basically resume production of nuclear weapons," said Stephen Schwartz, publisher of the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an arms-control journal. "If you are going to do that, you are going to need to test, and this is what this exercise is all about." Schwartz said the readiness review of the Nevada Test Site could provide "cover to China and Russia, and maybe even India and Pakistan," to begin preparations to resume their own nuclear tests if the United States abandons its self-imposed moratorium. Tarter dismissed such concerns: "Understanding the state of readiness, I think, is a non-provocative activity." The test site-readiness study comes as the Pentagon conducts a separate review of U.S. nuclear strategy and forces ordered by Bush. The issues include radical cuts in America's nuclear arsenal and the future of the testing moratorium. Bush supported the Senate's 1999 rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, saying a permanent global ban on nuclear testing would be unverifiable. His refusal to call for a new Senate vote on the treaty provoked a rare diplomatic protest by the European Union. Britain, France, and Russia are among 76 nations that have ratified the 1996 treaty. Like the United States, China has signed but not ratified the pact, and is observing a test moratorium. Many experts say returning to underground tests is unnecessary and could undermine the international nuclear arms-control system and provoke a new nuclear-arms race. These experts contend that the United States can continue to rely on the so-called Stockpile Stewardship Program to ensure that its estimated 10,500 warheads remain defect-free. The program uses experiments, computer simulations, warhead inspections, and tests of non-nuclear components. The Nevada Test Site readiness review was requested by retired Air Force Gen. John Gordon, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is the Energy Department agency that manages U.S. nuclear-weapons programs. The site is spread across 1,350 square miles of desert northwest of Las Vegas. The main U.S. nuclear proving ground, it was site of 100 atmospheric and 828 underground tests between 1951 and 1992. "Subcritical" tests of nuclear components still take place there, and the site must remain prepared to resume full-scale testing if required. Copyright © 2001 North Jersey Media Group Inc. ***************************************************************** 3 Raised Kursk May Leave Questions Unanswered ABCNEWS.com - updated 6:39 PM ET Jul 1 By David Ruppe Attempts to recover the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Kursk ( - ) begins in the coming days. But the recovery mission will still leave many questions unanswered. On the Russian nuclear submarine Oryol, docked at Russia's Northern Fleet's home base, Russian and Norwegian deep-sea divers recently finished rehearsing their complex and dangerous mission to salvage the sunken Kursk from the floor of the Barents Sea. In an Amsterdam shipyard, meanwhile, a massive pontoon is being modified for use in transporting the sub to a dock once it's lifted. And in Rotterdam, a special chain saw is being tested prior to being used to cut into the Kursk's hull. The operation to raise the Kursk is scheduled to begin in about two weeks. Russian officials say it could help put to rest some of the rumors surrounding the mysterious explosion that sank the submarine last year, killing all 118 people on board. At least 200 journalists have applied to be on the scene when the submarine is expected to be pulled from its watery Arctic grave in September. But don't expect many of the persisting questions surrounding the Oscar II-class sub's sinking to be answered when that happens. Secrecy Will Be Order of the Day The Kursk's estimated 20,000-ton hull will be missing the key nose section, which includes the torpedo room where its fatal damage occurred nearly a year ago, according to Russian officials. The heavily damaged bow, containing the surviving nine or so of the boat's 18 torpedoes, will have been sheared off and left for retrieval later by Russia, without foreign assistance. The bulk of the sub, which will be raised by a foreign crane ship, along with its two nuclear reactors and presumably its 24 Granit cruise missiles, will never even break the sea surface. According to the salvage plan, it will be secured beneath a number of specially designed pontoons to be ferried to a dry dock in Murmansk, the base of Russia's Northern Fleet, for examination. Secrecy will be the order of the day. Russia plans to charter a ship to ferry journalists "as close to the scene as possible," according to presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky. But access will be restricted, he said. So, for many, lingering questions about the cause of the Kursk's tragic sinking and allegations denied by Russia that two of its Granit cruise missiles were carrying nuclear warheads, may never be answered satisfactorily. Key Section to Be Lifted One of the largest and most advanced submarines ever built, the nuclear-powered, guided-missile Kursk has been lying under some 350 feet of near-freezing Arctic water off the coast of northern Russia since it struck the bottom Aug. 12, 2000. An 18-day Russian rescue effort was launched days after the Kursk sank. The bodies of only 12 of the 118 sailors were recovered. Russia now is planning to recover most of the hull with the aid of a Dutch heavy-lifting company, Mammoet; the Dutch company Smit International, which is upgrading a giant pontoon for its transport; and other European contractors. Work is under way to construct the heavy-duty grappling devices for raising the sub and to modify the giant pontoon. Deep-sea drilling and cutting on the submarine is scheduled to begin sometime mid-July. Holes will be drilled into the hull, so heavy-duty steel cables can be attached to haul it to the surface. As for the bow: "We'll cut it off and leave it there," says Mammoet spokeswoman Larissa Van Seumeren. "What the Russians further do with it, we don't know." The Russian state news agency RIA Novisti reports the much lighter nose section will be lifted — without foreign assistance — sometime after the main hull is raised. Cause of Accident Remains in Question The still unexplained cause of the sinking, along with the secrecy surrounding its recovery, and the choice of Mammoet — which has no experience raising vessels — to lift the submarine have spurred rumors and conspiracy theories in Russia, including speculation the vessel was sabotaged. Russian officials say recovering the Kursk could help them learn the cause of the accident. Senior officials in May said they believe the initial damage to the submarine probably came when one of its torpedoes activated without leaving the sub. But investigators have not settled on a reason for why the torpedo went off in the first place. Some favor a theory that a collision with an unidentified foreign submarine set off the powerful blasts. But a Russian government commission tasked with investigating the incident has not ruled out the possibility of a malfunction, or some human action on board the Kursk. Another explanation under consideration is a collision with a stray, uncollected World War II sea mine. The Kursk was believed to be only at a depth of about 60 feet when the first explosion occurred, sending it to the bottom. Raising the sub could also help the Russian navy draw lessons for improving submarine safety, and allow the burial of the bodies remaining in the submarine, officials say. Preserving Secrecy Russian authorities also appear concerned other governments may attempt to access the Kursk's technological and other secrets if it remains on the ocean floor. Since the moment the sub went down, a group of Russian Northern Fleet ships — including an anti-submarine warfare ship and a nuclear powered missile cruiser — has patrolled the waters above the Kursk. Security will continue to be tight during and after the salvage operation, officials say. "The secrecy regime will be observed in full. It is an inalienable part of the activities of the navy of any country," Igor Dyagalo, assistant to the Russian navy commander, recently told reporters. Coverage of the operation "will be a balance between openness and secrecy," according to Yastrzhembskiy, who was called in to run press relations for the operation. But he assured, "We will try to tilt the information element of the operation in the direction of openness." Nukes on Board? A Norwegian TV news station reported in April that two of the Kursk's missiles carried nuclear warheads. Russian officials have denied the allegation. The Russian commissioner quoted in the television report subsequently denied the statements attributed to him, calling the story a provocation "possibly aimed at disrupting the international project to lift the submarine." Phillip Bleek of the Arms Control Association in Washington said the presence of tactical nuclear weapons — such as nuclear-armed cruise missiles — onboard the Kursk would have violated a 1991 pledge between Moscow and Washington. "That said, the pledge carries no legal weight, and it is in fact unclear to what extent the Russians have implemented it," Bleek said. Igor Kudrik of the Bellona Foundation in Norway says his group doubts the sub's Granits would have been nuclear armed. "We don't think there are any nuclear weapons on board." "Everything is leaking out these days and that would be such an embarrassment. We don't see why they would have done that," Kudrik said. Safety Concerns Critics have charged the Russian government, in its eagerness to raise the submarine, is ignoring some safety concerns. At the last minute, in late May, negotiations were canceled with a consortium of Dutch and Norwegian companies over the cost and payment plan of the operation and Russia's unwillingness to compromise on an aggressive summer salvage schedule. "Heerema, Smit and Halliburton would not make concessions [on international safety standards]," said a statement, released by Heerema. "The companies would not compromise the safety of its crews and equipment nor of the wreckage, its victims or the environment in order to rush for this year's completion." A contract with Mammoet and Smit instead was signed, because of "the time problem," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov reportedly said, citing the consortium's proposed timeframe. Environmentalists are concerned the submarine's missiles may go off or its nuclear reactors may leak when they are lifted to the surface. "They don't know enough about the condition of the reactors, or the torpedoes, or the missiles," says Kudrik. Some Russian officials have expressed similar concerns. "You know — considering what a sub with cruise missiles is, anything can happen," Russia's navy commander-in-chief, Vladimir Kuroyedov, told reporters last month. Leaving the reactors in the water could also pose a hazard of eventual radioactive leakage, Russian officials have noted. Weather Could Be a Factor Leonid Yashenkin, deputy head of Russia's Institute of Emergency, Rescue, Diving and Deep-Water Operations, told the Russian daily Izvestiya last month officials believe the Kursk's reactors will pose a danger as they are lifted. But he said they have felt pressure to do so because of a growing impression Russia had something to hide. "The submarine represents a nuclear danger. In order to stop the impression spreading in the West that Russia has something to hide, we are obliged to lift it," he said. Russian authorities have assured they are taking all possible precautions, including constant monitoring of the reactors. The success of the salvage could also depend on the weather. The Heerema statement questioned whether the two major sections of the submarine could be lifted this year, before the usual rough weather sets in this fall. Mammoet's Van Seumeren is confident they can, barring bad weather: "If the weather is really going bad, then we can't do our job. If the weather is good, then we suspect we'll have it done within the time schedule." ABCNEWS' Sergiusz Morenc in Moscow contributed to this report. - ***************************************************************** 4 Bush hints nuclear test moratorium may end [Thestar.com] Jun. 28, 2001. 01:30 AM U.S. president asks weapons scientists for `readiness review' of Nevada desert site Jonathan Landay SPECIAL TO THE STAR WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has asked U.S. nuclear weapons scientists to find out how quickly they could restart nuclear test explosions under the Nevada desert if the government decides to end a nine-year moratorium. At the moment, it would take one to three years to prepare a test. That long lead time could allow political opponents to block any resumption of nuclear testing, a recent study concluded. Nuclear weapons scientists are looking at ``what it would take to do various kinds of tests on various time scales,'' Bruce Tarter, the director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, told Knight Ridder. Tarter and others said the administration hasn't decided to resume testing. Nevertheless, the review is likely to add to fears that President George W. Bush might end the nuclear testing moratorium and push for developing new ``low yield'' nuclear warheads that some weapons scientists and conservative lawmakers advocate. Bush has said he has no plans to end the U.S. moratorium. But Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have argued the safety and potency of the American arsenal can be assured only by periodically detonating randomly selected warheads underground. ``This is all part of a well co-ordinated effort inside and outside the government to basically resume production of nuclear weapons,'' charged Stephen Schwartz, publisher of Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists, an arms control journal. ``If you are going to do that, you are going to need to test, and this is what this exercise is all about.'' Schwartz said the readiness review of the Nevada Test Site could provide ``cover to China and Russia, and maybe even India and Pakistan,'' to begin preparations to resume their own nuclear tests if the U.S. abandons its self-imposed moratorium on testing. Tarter dismissed such concerns. ``Understanding the state of readiness, I think, is a non-provocative activity,'' he said. The test site-readiness study comes as the Pentagon is conducting a separate review of U.S. nuclear strategy and forces ordered by Bush. The issues being examined include radical cuts in America's nuclear arsenal and the future of the testing moratorium. Bush supported the Senate's 1999 rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, saying a permanent global ban on nuclear testing would be unverifiable. His refusal to call for a new Senate vote on the treaty provoked a rare diplomatic protest by the European Union. Britain, France and Russia are among 76 nations that have ratified the 1996 treaty. Like the U.S., China has signed but not ratified the pact, and is observing a test moratorium. Many experts say returning to underground tests is unnecessary and could undermine the international nuclear arms-control system and provoke a new nuclear arms race. These experts contend that the U.S. can continue to rely on the so-called Stockpile Stewardship Program to ensure its estimated 10,500 warheads remain defect-free. The program uses experiments, computer simulations, warhead inspections and tests of non-nuclear components. The Nevada Test Site readiness review was requested by retired Air Force Gen. John Gordon, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the energy department agency that manages U.S. nuclear weapons programs. ``During this year, we will look hard again at improving test site readiness, and will review whether an appropriate level of resources is being applied to this vital element of Stockpile Stewardship,'' Gordon said yesterday in testimony submitted to a House of Representatives subcommittee. The Nevada Test Site is spread across 3,500 square kilometres of desert northwest of Las Vegas. The main U.S. nuclear proving ground, it conducted 100 atmospheric and 828 underground tests between 1951 and 1992. It must remain prepared to resume full-scale testing if required. Darwin Morgan, a spokesperson for the Nevada Test Site, said the thrust of the examination is determining the most valuable test to conduct if the U.S. decides to resume testing. ``The question is . . . what information do you want back from the test?'' he said. ``If it were to rattle a sword, we could do that fairly quickly. If you need good diagnostic information . . . that's where you get the time.'' Tarter said the examination of the site's readiness to resume full-scale tests involves experts from the site, the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national laboratories and a commission Congress appointed in 1999 to examine the nation's ability to maintain safe and reliable nuclear warheads without test explosions. In a Feb. 1 report, the commission expressed grave concern about insufficient funding, crumbling infrastructure, and low morale at the nuclear laboratories, weapons-production plants and the Nevada Test Site. KNIGHT RIDDER Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Distribution, ***************************************************************** 5 Hanford funding looks better; more work left Published June 28, 2001 The future is looking brighter for Hanford - at least in terms of better chances to get close to full cleanup funding for 2002. The House Appropriations Committee has approved a spending plan that promises to come close to fully funding the federal government's cleanup obligations at Hanford. The House is expected to approve the budget today for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. It still must be approved by the Senate and the president, who earlier proposed a nuclear cleanup budget proposal that all but flouted those obligations. The House proposal would boost the president's 2002 national cleanup budget by $700 million to $6.613 billion. Hanford's share would go from $1.4 billion under Bush's plan to about $1.761 billion. That, together with about $180 million for Hanford in Bush's 2001 supplemental budget request, which is expected toward the end of this year, would put the Energy Department's Hanford 2002 budget at about $1.814 billion. That would be just $18 million short of what regulators say is necessary for the Energy Department to meet deadlines mandated by a federal-state cleanup pact. Sharing the credit for this development is U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, who early on criticized the Bush nuclear cleanup proposal as inadequate and has strived to educate his House colleagues about Hanford and nuclear cleanup issues in general. Hastings is co-chairman of the House's Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress formed in January 2000. The group played host to a series of eight briefings on nuclear cleanup that attracted as many as 50 people, including members of Congress and staffers. The group has been lobbying for the cleanup budget increase and played a role in getting the Bush administration to come through in its supplemental budget proposal. Earlier this year, Washington's senior senator Patty Murray formed a similar 15-member Senate caucus, which includes Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, on the theory that there is strength in numbers. In the past, the House cleanup budget often was below adequate funding, but the Senate - with help from former Sen. Slade Gorton and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, also from a state with cleanup challenges - would boost it higher. When the House approves the budget proposal, Democrats Murray and Cantwell already have a solid budget to start with but will have to work hard to keep it intact in the now Democrat-controlled Senate. Even if the Senate concurs, however, the proposal must pass muster with the president, whose administration so far has been, at best, indifferent to the federal government's obligation to clean up nuclear waste sites. Observers are taking heart in Bush's supplemental cleanup budget of $180 million as a sign the administration might be understanding the gravity of nuclear cleanup obligations and changing its approach. Helping Hanford's nuclear cleanup case is unanimity among Washington and Oregon members of Congress. All 14 House members signed a letter to the House Appropriations subcommittee urging full funding. Clearly, Hastings and other representatives concerned about cleanup have been making some headway - and they should be commended. But until the president signs a bill with adequate nuclear cleanup funding, the work is not done. What's your opinon? Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 6 Experts Criticize Bush Missile Defense Plan U.S. Newswire 28 Jun 17:37 Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers Experts Criticize Bush Plan to Deploy Rudimentary Missile Defense by 2004 To: National Desk Contact: D. Kimball of the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, 202-546-0795, ext. 136 WASHINGTON, June 28 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Responding to reports that President Bush will ask Congress for funds to facilitate the deployment of rudimentary national missile defense (NMD) system by 2004, experts from an alliance of Washington-based nuclear arms control organizations warned that such a proposal would be vigorously opposed at home and abroad. They charged that it would decrease rather than increase national and international security because a crash NMD deployment will not provide an effective and reliable defense against long-range missile attack and will precipitate a counterproductive and unnecessary diplomatic showdown with European allies, as well as Russia and China. "The Bush administration's scheme for deployment of a rudimentary missile defense by 2004 would provide only the illusion of protection from potential long-range missile threats. At the same time, such a 'scarecrow' missile defense would eventually violate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and could set off a dangerous action reaction cycle, involving the United States, Russia, and China," said John B. Rhinelander of the Lawyers Alliance for World Security. "The true purpose of such an action seems to be to shoot down the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty rather than incoming ballistic missiles. It reminds me of the poetry line, slightly rephrased, 'I shot a missile in the air, and it came to earth I know not where -- except the Treaty was there,'" said Rhinelander. Today before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld outlined the Bush Administration's fiscal 2002 defense budget request proposed a substantial increase in spending on missile defenses. The Bush budget calls for fifty-seven percent more spending on missile defense, from $5.3 billion in fiscal 2001, to a proposed $8.3 billion for fiscal 2002. "Throwing money at missile defense in order to carry out a campaign pledge to deploy as soon as possible is a dangerous waste of money," argued Carlean Ponder of the Women's Action for New Directions, a Coalition member organization. While Secretary Rumsfeld said that the budget request does not contain funding for NMD deployment, the DoD budget request for fiscal 2002 would provide funds for a new anti-missile "test bed" in Alaska, which could serve as a prototype system. And, according to a report in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon is readying a contract for construction of a ground-based NMD interceptor site at Fort Greeley in Alaska. Construction could begin as soon as August if the President so orders. Legal opinions differ on when construction of the site would constitute a violation of the Treaty, but testing and deployment of anti-missile interceptors from that site would constitute a clear violation of the ABM Treaty. "There is no quick, easy or cheap national missile defense technology. The Bush administration should be careful not to give the false impression that it can develop an effective national missile defense in the near future," said Tom Collina of the Union of Concerned Scientists. At least 20 or more flight intercept tests, plus hundreds of component and subsystem tests will be needed before the Pentagon will be ready to attempt realistic operational testing of such an NMD system, according to the June 2001 report entitled, "NMD Development is Not Hostage to the ABM Treaty," written by Phil Coyle, former head of DoD's Operational Test & Evaluation and currently at the Center for Defense Information. "The ABM Treaty remains important to arms control as well as nuclear nonproliferation because it promotes stability and facilitates offensive nuclear weapons reductions. We must work with Russia, China, and others to accomplish our global security goals and not act unilaterally," added Rhinelander, the former U.S. legal advisor for the Nixon Administration's ABM Treaty negotiation team. "Secretary Rumsfeld's announcement that he would seek to retire the 50 remaining MX nuclear-armed strategic missiles is an important -- though insufficient -- step in the right direction," said Victoria Samson of the Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers. "Rather than rush toward deployment of an unproven NMD system, President Bush should pursue deep, verifiable, U.S. and Russian nuclear arms reductions, elimination of dangerous, Cold War launch-on-warning and targeting plans, and pursue a comprehensive nuclear proliferation effort, including the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and a verifiable freeze of North Korea's ballistic missile program," concluded Samson. The Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers is a non-partisan alliance of 14 national nuclear non-proliferation organizations dedicated to the pursuit of a practical, step-by-step program to address the threat of nuclear weapons. For further information on national missile defense and nuclear reductions, visit http://www.crnd.org ***************************************************************** 7 U.S. Studying Nuclear Test Site June 29, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department is studying ways to improve the Nevada Test Site's readiness to resume nuclear weapons trials in case the Bush administration decides testing is needed, officials said Friday. Joe Davis, a department spokesman, said there has been no change to the requirement, set in 1994, to be capable of resuming testing within 24 to 36 months of a presidential decision to test. He said the department is reviewing whether the readiness level can be improved, for the sake of efficiency. Some have concluded from reports on the review that the administration is contemplating resuming nuclear testing. "It would be wrong to interpret it that way," he said. Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense, on Friday said the administration does not plan to order a resumption of testing, which was halted in 1992. He could not rule out that it might one day be necessary. "I'm not aware of a need to resume testing at this time," Wolfowitz said in an interview with radio reporters. If questions arose about the reliability or safety of nuclear warheads and underground blasts were required to resolve those questions, the administration would contemplate testing, he said. That also was the policy of the Clinton administration, and it is the reason why the Energy Department is required by Congress to maintain the scientific and other capabilities to resume testing. Prior to the U.S. decision in 1992 to place a moratorium on nuclear testing, it was the Pentagon's view that periodic testing was an indispensable tool in ensuring that nuclear weapons were reliable. But rapid advances in computer simulation and other technologies have made it possible to collect vast amounts of safety and reliability data without testing. Asked about the matter on Thursday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the review of the Nevada Test Site's readiness was strictly a technical matter. "It does not have anything to do with resumption of nuclear tests," Fleischer said. "The president is going to continue the moratorium." The secretaries of defense and energy are required by law to certify to the president each year whether there are nuclear weapons safety or reliability concerns that would require a return to nuclear testing. John Gordon, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, an arm of the Energy Department, said in testimony to a House Armed Services subcommittee on Wednesday that the most recent assessment confirmed that the nuclear weapons stockpile is safe and reliable and that no nuclear testing is needed. Gordon said confirmation was possible because of technological advances, which can also help maintain the readiness of the Nevada Test Site, a protected federal range of 1,350 square miles situated 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. "We are conducting an internal review on how we can improve significantly our readiness posture to conduct a nuclear test, should we ever be so directed," Gordon told the panel. "This is not a proposal to conduct a test, but I am not comfortable with not being able to conduct a test within three years." An Energy Department spokeswoman, Lisa Cutler, said Friday the current 24-36 months standard for readiness "may be inadequate," but the department has not made a final decision on reducing it. Darwin Morgan, a spokesman for the Nevada Test Site, said the readiness of the site is under constant review to ensure that the lead time for nuclear testing does not exceed the 24-36 month standard. "If we can reduce the lead time, great," but it would be done for the sake of improving efficiency, not in anticipation of a presidential decision to resume testing, Morgan said. On the Net: Energy Department's Nevada operations office at http://www.nv.doe.gov/ All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 8 Ex-nuke workers vent as claim forms explained June 29, 2001 By Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN Radiation claims Where to send claims for nuclear workers exposed to beryllium and dust and radiation in Nevada Test Site tunnels: + Write: U.S. Department of Labor Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation P.O. Box 77918 Washington, D.C. 20013-7918 + Call: Labor Department toll-free 1-866-888-3322 + Internet: www.dol.gov Former workers who may have been exposed to radiation while employed at the Nevada Test Site as a result of nuclear weapons experiments vented decades of frustration during an information hearing Thursday night at Texas Station. Survivors of test site workers who also attended the hearing said they fear government benefits may never relieve the losses of their husbands, fathers and sons. Officials from the Departments of Labor and Energy tried to sort through the three key benefits available to an estimated 30,000 workers who may have been exposed to radiation, beryllium or dust during Cold War nuclear weapons experiments at the Nevada Test Site from 1951-1992. In October Congress passed the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, appropriated $250 million and sent the package to the Department of Labor, which will distribute the benefits. The program covers workers exposed to beryllium, dust in underground tunnels and those with radiation-induced cancer. "You don't need a lawyer, you don't need an accountant, all you have to do is fill out three simple forms," said Harold Glassman, Labor Department project director. A similar hearing is scheduled today from 1 to 4 p.m. at Texas Station. Because Southern Nevada is home to so many former Test Site employees, the Labor Department is scheduled to open a resource center at 11:30 a.m. July 5 at Flamingo Executive Park, 1050 E. Flamingo Road, Suite W-156. A telephone number is not yet available. Many who attended Thursday's hearing wondered whether they would survive long enough to fill out the forms. Las Vegas Councilman Gary Reese arrived with his 83-year-old mother Lula, who is in a wheelchair. Nine years ago Jack Reese, Gary's father and Lula's husband, died at Desert Springs Hospital after working from 1964 to 1973 at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Reeses have a death certificate that shows Jack Reese died as a result of silicosis, a lung disease caused by exposure to dust. Gary Reese asked officials what would happen if a family cannot locate a test site worker's medical records. "We'd like to know in case they don't have them. Are we shut out?" he asked. The Labor Department has been processing claims for almost 100 years, Glassman said, so if the Reese family files a claim immediately they may be eligible for a $150,000 benefit. Claims can be filed today with the Labor Department in Washington, D.C. The Labor Department is teaming with the Department of Energy and the Health and Human Services Department to help former workers and survivors locate records of radiation exposure and medical documents. However, those who have already filed claims under the 1990 Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which pays $75,000 per worker, cannot apply for the new benefit. A third avenue open to Test Site workers is to apply for state unemployment benefits for injuries not related to radiation. The key to applying for any government benefit is to document as much employment history as it relates to the Nevada Test Site as possible, Kathleen Carlson, DOE's manager, said. The DOE needs copies of death certificates, badge numbers, newspaper clippings, or anything that shows the worker was at the Test Site, Carlson said. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 U.S. probes beryllium plant as health risk 06/29/01 ELMORE - Federal investigators are interviewing neighbors and officials of a beryllium plant this week to try to determine if the metal is making residents sick. Investigators from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry also talked with an environmental group that says it found beryllium dust outside the Brush Wellman plant and in the homes of workers. The Cleveland-based company processes beryllium, a metal long used in nuclear weapons and in cars, cell phones, computers and golf clubs. Beryllium dust, when inhaled, can cause a fatal lung disease. About 1,200 people nationwide have contracted beryllium disease since the 1940s, including current and former workers at the Brush Wellman plant near Elmore, about 20 miles south of Toledo. The company is confident that the study will find there is no danger, said spokesman Patrick Carpenter. Peter Kowalski said he and the other health investigators are at the plant to gather information and have not made any recommendations. "We're concerned," he said. "We understand this is a disease that has caused a great deal of tragedy and it's still occurring." The investigators want to know whether people living near the beryllium plant face harmful exposure from the plant's air emissions and whether people were exposed to beryllium carried off the site on workers' clothing. U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, Republican of Ohio, requested the investigation in January. A final report isn't expected for several months. © 2001 cleveland.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 N-TESTING TO RESUME? Banebury, NTS, Dec. 18, 1970. Not all underground tests have successfully contained the radioactive products. The release of 80 kilocuries of I-131 was the worst accidental release at NTS. June 28, 2001 Opinion/Editorial N-TESTING TO RESUME? Is the Bush Administration preparing to break out of the nuclear weapons testing moratorium? Recent statements and actions by top players within the Administration and its shadow cabinet of unreconstructed Cold Warriors may just be trial balloons to test the waters to see if anyone will object to a resumption of testing and abbrogation of treaties subscribed to by the U.S. If these are only trial balloons, they must be pierced now before they take flight, and the Utah congressional delegation has a moral responsibility to wield the pins. In the last week of June, the Bush team ordered nuclear weapons scientists to study a range of options to "reduce lead times" to resume nuclear bomb explosions at the Nevada Test Site. The weapons laboratories argue that testing is needed to assure that the stockpile is reliable, and some fear that the long lead times to prepare tests give political opponents opportunities to prevent renewed testing. A February 1 report commissioned by Congress bemoaned the deteriorating state of nuclear weapons testing and production facilities, leading the Administration to consider a six-year, $2 billion initiative to up-grade the weapons programs. Frank Gaffney, a former defense official and prominent conservative analyst and advisor, stated in May that "we're going to have to resume on a limited basis underground testing of our nuclear arms". In a March 12 letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms called on the Administration to repudiate the signed but unratified Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The New York Times reported May 9th that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seems more inclined to deploy missile defenses and develop nuclear forces than negotiating with Russia or China. "Before taking office Mr. Rumsfeld argued that the U.S. should not ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty because it might need to develop new nuclear weapons," the Times reported. So far, President Bush has refused to place the treaty before the Senate. "'This is a paradigm shift,' said a senior Pentagon official. 'We are probably not going to be hampered by arms control agreements.'" (NYT 5/9/01) In April and May, the U.S. accused the Chinese of preparing for a nuclear weapons test (Washington Times 4/9/01, 5/11/01), and similar accusations have been leveled at the Russians (NYT 3/4/01). In the meantime, the Bush Administration is putting on the diplomatic pressure to dismantle the ABM Treaty to pave the way for ballistic missile defense. Secretary Rumsfeld has stated that there may be a dozen different components to BMD, including the stationing of weapons in space. Not only would this constitute a unilateral abbrogation of the Outer Space Treaty, it would likely involve a resumption of nuclear testing to complete development of Nuclear Directed Energy Weapons (NDEW) projects the national weapons labs have experimented with for two decades. Other darlings of the weapons labs, new "low yield" warheads and the earth penetrating "bunker busting" nuclear warhead, are in favor with the hawks in ascendance within this Administration. These too will require nuclear tests to perfect. Taken together, these developments lead to an inescapable suspicion - that the U.S. is preparing to unilaterally jettison a less than perfect arms control regime fostered by every President since Eisenhower that has kept Armaggedon at bay. These policy maneuverings threaten a costly and dangerous new arms race and are alarming to our allies as well as our adversaries. Most alarming to the constituents of Utah's congressional delegation is the prospect of more nuclear tests upwind, especially those who have suffered painful losses and grievous wrongs from being unwitting "active participants in the nation's nuclear weapons program". Despite the commendable efforts of Utah's congressmen to achieve a greater measure of justice for the downwinders, uranium miners, atomic veterans, and defense workers exposed to radiation in the name of national security, allowing testing to begin again promises new generations of victims even as the those sick and dying from the last round hold their government- issued IOU's. We know now that 58% of the more than 900 underground nuclear tests conducted over 33 years leaked radiation, many of those exposing citizens far from the Nevada Test Site borders to harmful doses. Resuming the bomb blasts after a nine year hiatus further increases the risk of Baneberry-like catastrophic leaks, as it will take the bomb testers time to re-learn the techniques for containing the blasts underground. More nuclear tests means more leaks, more victims, and less security. The people will not tolerate being bombed again! No political spin, no tortured logic, no fear mongering that the Russians or the Chinese or the North Koreans will be here in the morning, no assurance that "THERE IS NO DANGER" will suffice this time. The assurances we need are that our elected representatives will do everything in their power to prevent a resumption of nuclear testing. Utahns must demand this now! Steve Erickson Director Citizens Education Project 961 East 600 South Salt Lake City, UT 84102 (801) 359-4929 Email: slceric@concentric.net Preston J. Truman Director Downwinders, Inc. P.O. Box 111 Lava Hot Springs, ID 83246-0111 (208)-776-5903 Email: hermit@downwinders.org ***************************************************************** 11 Concern expressed over sick worker plan Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 10:37 a.m. on Friday, June 29, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Those people who fall under the "other toxic exposures" category of the compensation plan for job-sickened nuclear weapons workers may be in for some trouble, one sick worker warns. Janine Voner, a Maryville resident and member of Coalition for a Healthy Environment, says the state workers' compensation program, which will be used to possibly compensate people in this category, won't be able to handle illnesses related to exposures at Department of Energy facilities. "If you have a broken back, they can deal with it," she said. "If you lose an eye, they can deal with it. But what about someone like me?" Voner, who worked at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site, says she was exposed to a number of toxins at her former workplace and suffers from neurological damage, thyroid disease, chronic bone and joint pain, and numerous other health problems. The sick-worker compensation plan, or the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, covers radiation-induced cancer and beryllium disease for Oak Ridge workers. It provides a $150,000 lump-sum, nontaxable payment as well as related medical expenses. However, people who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to other toxicants will have to settle for possibly getting state workers' compensation. That's not good, though, Voner said. As evidence, Voner cited reports released in March 2000 by the National Economic Council, which was created by President Clinton to coordinate economic policy issues. She said the report examined the link between exposure to occupational hazards and illnesses in the DOE contractor workforce in addition to reviewing benefits available to those people under state workers' compensation programs. The reports, according to Voner, indicate that state workers' compensation programs are not equipped to deal with the multiple illnesses that many DOE workers have. The Department of Labor, which is running the compensation plan, recently held four meetings in Oak Ridge to discuss various aspects of the program. Glenn Bell, who suffers from chronic beryllium disease, attended three of those meetings and views them as positive. "This is law now; we and [DOE and the Labor Department] have to do the best we can to make it work," he said. "This is not the bill we hoped for, but it's the one we got. We have to make it run as well as possible, and immediately turn our efforts to improving it to include others who deserve it." Bell said those who don't agree with the compensation plan should contact their elected officials and send written comments to the Labor Department. "I did both three weeks ago," he said. "I think this should be given a chance, then if it doesn't work right, we will again hit the activist trail," he added. "There seems to be a willingness to accept anything the workers or survivors have, even if it's hearsay, and at least consider it. How all this comes together, time will tell. The past distrust of DOE and contractors Š is the major obstacle. I hope it works." Sherrie Farver, who used to work at K-25 and says she suffers from work-related exposures, attended one of the meetings. Though she's not entirely happy with the compensation plan, she said the meetings did serve as an educational tool to some of the other community members who did not know much about the program. "It's a starting point," she said about the program. But one of her problems is that a $150,000 value should not be placed on someone's life. Anyone interested in obtaining more information about the compensation plan can contact the Department of Labor at 1-866-888-3322. People can use the toll-free number to ask questions about the compensation program or request application forms. More information is also available at the DOE Office of Worker Advocacy Web site at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/advocacy/laws/laws.html. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 12 DOE review a boost for plants The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, June 29, 2001 The review will define long-term nuclear energy policy for the USEC and Honeywell plants, including plans for a research park. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 Paducah and Metropolis, Ill., which now provide the sole work for two major parts of the domestic nuclear fuel cycle, are at the core of a major national policy review on nuclear energy. Spurred by Kentucky's Capitol Hill delegation, the review by the Department of Energy and National Security Council is key to the economic viability of the Paducah area, said Ken Wheeler, chairman of a task force wanting to transform the Information Age Park into a national laboratory for energy-related research and development. "The purpose of the review is to define a long-term uranium fuel cycle policy for the country that surely doesn't exist now," said Wheeler, a retired Paducah businessman. "That entails a terrifically broad scope of things that have to be considered." Atop the list is survival of the Honeywell specialty chemicals plant at Metropolis and the USEC uranium enrichment plant west of Paducah, collectively employing more than 1,800 people. Honeywell supplies raw product to USEC, which enriches uranium hexafluoride (UF6) used in 103 nuclear power plants that supply 22 percent of the nation's electricity. The Metropolis and Paducah plants are the only facilities in the United States that perform their respective steps in the nuclear fuel cycle. Their future is jeopardized by a glutted uranium market and low prices. "The fact that our delegation has seen fit to raise the question and DOE has acknowledged they need to do this (policy review) is very encouraging," Wheeler said. "I think what this policy will stimulate — not from the standpoint of building new nuclear power plants — is a decision on what plants are to remain." Wheeler and four other members of the task force held a series of high-level meetings Wednesday in Washington. Joining them were University of Kentucky President-elect Dr. Lee Todd and Tom Lester, dean of the UK College of Engineering. Todd flew from the West Coast to be involved. "Having Dr. Todd there was a terrific asset for us," Wheeler said. "It added a lot of credibility. It certainly meant a great deal more than just coming from us." Todd wants the university to establish a major presence in western Kentucky in research and development. On June 1, Lester wrote retiring Paducah Community College President Dr. Len O’Hara — a longtime advocate of the research park idea — saying UK would help the PCC College of Engineering regarding environmental cleanup and advanced uses of discarded resources at the USEC plant. Other task force members in Washington were Firstar Regional President Bill Jones, Paxton Media Chairman Fred Paxton, local neurosurgeon Dr. Bob Meriwether and Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce President Elaine Spalding. Meriwether, a UK graduate, is on the university's board of trustees. The group held a joint meeting with Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning, 1st District Rep. Ed Whitfield, and their staffs. McConnell and Whitfield said they spend more time on production, environmental and worker-health issues at the uranium plant than anything else, Wheeler said. Separate discussions were held with 5th District Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky; USEC Chief Executive Officer William "Nick" Timbers and his staff; Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's staff; and officials of Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International. The USEC-run plant is owned by the Energy Department, which oversees massive cleanup work. The energy workers union represents more than half the plant's 1,500 employees. The task force was formed to give the community a unified voice toward converting the information park into a national research and development complex focused on energy and environmental cleanup, keying on plant resources. Research by task force member Stuart Gilbert, president of the Greater Paducah Economic Development Council, suggests that a laboratory and other plant-related endeavors are worth nearly $7 billion to the local economy. UK, the Energy Department and USEC are among the businesses and institutions that have expressed interest in the park’s resource center, which Gilbert’s council wants to sell for $3.5 million. Wheeler said the Washington meetings established it is "mutually beneficial" for the government and community to make better use of plant resources. All the people who met with the task force complimented the concert local support for the plant, he said. "I think we tried hard not to just sound like we were a bunch of 'poor-me's' looking for a handout," Wheeler said. "We expanded on ... turning this thing into a possible asset, instead of just being a sinkhole for funds." The task force wants the park and engineering school to have an major role in developing technology to replace outdated gaseous diffusion, clean up the plant, and recycle and commercialize depleted UF6, metal and other waste. ***************************************************************** 13 House bill for plant cleanup falls short The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, June 29, 2001 The bill is more than $50 million short of the $125 milllion the gaseous diffusion plant needs to keep cleanup on schedule. By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 The U.S. House has approved a bill that includes funding for cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant that is more than $50 million short of what plant officials say is needed. U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield said he will continue to work with U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning to increase funding as the bill moves toward final congressional approval later in the summer. The bill includes $72.2 million for environmental management, which is $10 million more than what President Bush had proposed. "Getting any increase over the president's request was a worthwhile accomplishment, given the cuts at other DOE facilities," Whitfield said. Last week, Don Seaborg, the U.S. Department of Energy's manager in Paducah, said revised estimates and new priorities have increased the cleanup costs by at least $380 million over the next eight years. To meet new priorities and to keep the cleanup timetable on schedule, he released figures which indicate at least $125 million would be needed next year. Without that level of funding, Seaborg said DOE won't meet the 2010 deadline for completing most of the cleanup work. Failing to meet the deadline could result in legal action by the Kentucky Natural Resources Cabinet, which regulates environmental conditions at the plant. The bill includes funding for other projects at the plant, including $34 million for further work to recycle almost 40,000 cylinders of uranium hexafluoride. That project includes $10 million from the general fund and $24 million from a fund that was created when he plant was privatized. Also in the bill is $13.3 million from a special fund to build an on-site low-level waste disposal cell. Seaborg said those funds won't be needed next year because a feasibility study and other paperwork will not be completed in the 2002 fiscal year. The bill also provides $2.4 million for security and other safeguards, and $15.4 million for medical monitoring of current and former workers at plants in Paducah, Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Portsmouth, Ohio. The plant funds were included in the $23.7 billion Energy &Water Development Appropriations Bill, which passed by a vote of 405-15. It now goes to the Senate and eventually will be decided in a House-Senate conference committee. The bill also includes $20.4 million for the Kentucky Lock project, $40 million for the Olmsted Lock and Dam, and $460,000 for dredge work at the Elvis Stahr Harbor in Hickman. Whitfield said he also will work to increase funding for the Kentucky lock project because the amount approved is less than half of what could be used next year. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************