***************************************************************** 08/29/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.208 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Reid gains more exposure for final Yucca Mountain hearings 2 New Nuclear Waste Transport Starts 3 Envirocare Jurors Hear Secret Tape 4 Goshute Rivals Stake a ClaimTo Leadership 5 Reports: Bush may cut use of MOX fuel 6 Nuclear Waste Contaminates Lake Ontario 7 Reid gains more exposure for final Yucca Mountain hearings 8 Summit fixture fuels nuclear power hopes 9 Daily Events Report 10 NRC Staff Approves Transfer of Operating Licenses For Indian 11 IAEA Daily Press Review 12 NRC cites Illinois nuke for emergency drill errors 13 Texas 1,150-MW nuke unit at 2 pct in startup 14 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Wednesday, August 29, 2001 15 NRC Cites Clinton Plant for Emergency Preparedness Violation of 16 Nevada officials' angry demands met 17 Yucca hearings to be televised NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 ITN - Baghdad mission seeks uranium facts 2 He's celebrating a nuclear victory 3 India and the Bomb 4 Bush Wants to Delay Payment To Ailing Uranium Workers 5 Mystery surrounds Kuwaiti fish deaths 6 Kazakh president seeks help over nuclear legacy 7 USS Vincennes visits Hyogo, asserts no N-weapons aboard 8 Brownback hopeful of sanctions being lifted very soon 9 Hotel won't host DOE 10 Nuclear accelerator requires $6 million to operate 11 DOE plans land use 'roadmap' 12 S.C. company to help kick off ORNL modernization 13 DOE Should Cancel "Kangaroo Court" 14 Site plan cuts costs of cleanup 15 Kursk Work Approaches Next Stage 16 WHO investigates Iraqi claims of cancer from depleted uranium 17 Flats delays plutonium shipment to Savannah 18 The shaft for uranium workers? 19 Closure of Plutonium Plants Delayed ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Reid gains more exposure for final Yucca Mountain hearings Las Vegas SUN August 28, 2001 LAS VEGAS (AP) - U.S. Sen. Harry Reid spurred federal Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Tuesday to broaden the reach of final public hearings before deciding whether a nuclear dump should be located at Yucca Mountain. Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called three, three-hour hearings inadequate to address what he called "intense public interest and concern" about the proposal to entomb 77,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste beneath a volcanic ridge about 90 miles north of Las Vegas. "Remote video sites should be provided around the state of Nevada for interested members of the public, local governments, and other affected parties to participate," Reid said. He suggested the hearings be teleconferenced to Reno, Elko and Carson City. "These are the last public hearings scheduled before the secretary of energy's recommendation to the president," Reid said. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said Tuesday the agency was making plans for two-way video conferencing to the three cities and also hopes to provide an Internet webcast of the proceedings. Davis said he wasn't sure if Internet viewers would be able to pose questions or participate via e-mail. "We're also going to ask C-Span to attend," Davis said, referring to the gavel-to-gavel public service television network. Yucca Mountain, at the western edge of the Nevada Test Site, is the only site in the nation being studied as a repository for the nation's nuclear waste. The Energy Department has since 1982 spent about $7 billion studying the site, drilling and testing methods to store spent fuel pellets in specially designed canisters some 1,000 feet underground. The storage site would remain radioactive for more than 10,000 years. However, Energy Department studies concluded that no more than 4 millirem of radiation would leak per year into area groundwater and overall radiation from all sources from the site would not exceed 15 millirem. A standard chest X-ray uses 10 millirem or less. Last week, the Energy Department announced it would hold three hearings - Sept. 5 in Las Vegas; Sept. 12 in Amargosa Valley near the site; and Sept. 13 in Pahrump. Abraham will consider the testimony before recommending to President Bush by the end of this year whether the site is suitable to begin accepting nuclear waste in 2010. The project is expected to cost $58 billion over 100 years. The Energy Department said it extended to Sept. 20 the date it would accept public comment on the proposal. If Abraham recommends the dump be built and Bush gives the project the go-ahead but Nevada opposes it - as expected - the decision will be sent to Congress for debate and a vote. Reid aide Nathan Naylor pointed Tuesday to the technical complexity of the 1 1/2 -inch-thick Yucca Mountain Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation and said the Energy Department should provide more notice before the hearings. Naylor said Reid was marshaling support from U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. The four-member Nevada congressional delegation and almost all state lawmakers are united in opposition to the Yucca Mountain proposal. In a statement, Reid focused on what opponents say is one of the project's Achilles heels: transporting spent nuclear fuel by rail and truck from more than 100 commercial, industrial and military reactors to Nevada. The Energy Department has said that since Yucca Mountain has not been selected as the repository site, it cannot address transportation concerns. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 New Nuclear Waste Transport Starts Las Vegas SUN Today: August 29, 2001 at 3:35:35 PDT FRANKFURT, Germany- A transport of nuclear waste set out by rail from western Germany for reprocessing in France Wednesday morning without any disturbance from anti-nuclear protesters, police said. The shipment from the Biblis plant in Hesse state was expected to cross the border later Wednesday, bound for France's La Hague reprocessing plant in Normandy. Greenpeace protesters had blocked rail tracks heading out of the Biblis plant Tuesday evening by chaining themselves to the rails. Police ended that protest after several hours. Protests regularly mark transports of atomic waste out of Germany by anti-nuclear activists, who argue that shipping the nuclear material endangers the public. Germany sends spent nuclear fuel from 19 power plants abroad for reprocessing under contracts that oblige it to take back the resulting waste for storage. After a break of several years, waste shipments resumed in March. In June, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and leading energy companies signed an agreement to shut down Germany's nuclear power plants. The pact limits nuclear plants to an average of 32 years of operation, with the first plant scheduled to shut down in 2003. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 3 Envirocare Jurors Hear Secret Tape The Salt Lake Tribune -- Wednesday, August 29, 2001 BY JUDY FAHYS The half-pleading, half-outraged man heard on the courtroom loudspeaker seemed unlikely to be the same poised businessman telling a federal jury Tuesday how a state regulator threatened to destroy his name and his company unless the businessman paid millions of dollars. More than six years after the alleged extortion conversations were taped, Khosrow Semnani told a jury about the decay of his relationship with Larry Anderson, Utah's former top nuclear regulator. "His demands had become outrageous -- I couldn't deal with it," Semnani testified during the second day of Anderson's trial in Utah's U.S. District Court. "Now he was talking about millions of dollars." The dramatic conversations, secretly taped by Anderson in early 1995, were played for jurors in U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell's Salt Lake City courtroom. At one point on the tapes, Anderson exclaims: "I'm the last one to want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg; I just want a piece of it." Anderson is on trial for extortion, mail fraud, tax fraud and tax evasion stemming from $600,000 in cash, gold coins and real estate he took from Semnani between 1987 and 1993, while Anderson oversaw radioactive waste facilities as director of Utah's Radiation Control Division. The former regulator insists the two jointly built what is now Envirocare of Utah, a radioactive and mixed-waste landfill in Tooele County. The federal government's star witness, Semnani says he paid Anderson to avoid trouble for his company and public embarrass- ment. Anderson, who has only listened so far, was set to accept a plea bargain two months ago that would have had him spend a year in jail and surrender illegally obtained assets. By opting for a trial instead, he faces extortion-related charges with penalties of up to 37 years in jail and $3 million in fines. Several state officials are expected to testify today, including Radiation Control Division employee Dane Finerfrock, who processed the original Envirocare permit in 1987; Hazardous and Radioactive Waste Division attorney Ray Wixom and Air Quality Compliance Manager Jeff Dean. Ken Alkema, Anderson's former boss and current director of regulatory affairs for Envirocare, also is set to testify. On the witness stand Tuesday, Semnani described how the alleged shakedown began with a couple of $1,500 loans in 1987 and climaxed in 1995 with a written demand for $7.6 mil- lion. During that period, Envirocare obtained its operating permit and even branched out into new business lines, almost always with Anderson's approval and, in some cases, with Anderson's active intervention. Testifying as part of a 1998 plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Semnani portrayed himself as becoming captive to the regulator's continual requests for money and valuables. In 1989, Anderson and his wife found a 4,000-square-foot condominium they liked on the Park Meadows golf course in Park City. Anderson asked Semnani to buy it. The businessman made the $295,000 purchase and deeded it to Anderson, warning him not to let it slip into the public eye by filing a quitclaim contract with the county clerk. Semnani also recalled phoning his stepfather in Paris in 1990 and asking him to dispatch money to "a friend in Geneva" who had no money to pay his hotel bill. That person was Larry Anderson, who had telephoned with a request for the $2,500 minimum needed to open a Swiss bank account. The stepfather obliged. Semnani, who repaid his stepfather, later sent $150,000 to his stepfather's brother in France. Two payments of $50,000 eventually went into Anderson's Geneva account. "I was fearful of him because of his threats," Semnani testified. "He had become more vocal about it." Anderson would say "he would take me down, he would destroy me; he would destroy my business; we would play tennis together in jail," Semnani told jurors. In 1995, the year after Anderson retired from state government, the regulator began pressing the businessman to make good on a deal Anderson claimed they had made in 1987 with plans for a radioactive waste business. Anderson wanted 5 percent of Envirocare's gross revenue, along with $100,000 paid after Envirocare got its license. Anderson totaled his share at $7.6 million and detailed his demands in a letter placed on Semnani's desk at Envirocare on Feb. 17, 1995, according to Tuesday's testimony. "I was shocked," said Semnani -- and terrified that an Envirocare employee might have discovered his secret from the opened letter. "I was scared. I was panicked." Anderson referred in the tapes to "our agreement." In one snippet of tape played for jurors Tuesday, Semnani protests shrilly when Anderson tells him he filed a quitclaim deed and sold the Park Meadows condo for $480,000. "But you didn't pay for it!" Semnani exclaimed. "Khos, you've got to get this thing taken care of," said Anderson. "It's been eight years." In the background, the sounds of passing cars could be heard as the two talked on the street. Sometimes the bustle of the lunch hour at the Lamb's restaurant downtown made a din behind their voices. "The point is, I can't rely on you for what I need," Anderson says to Semnani in one tape, referring to how he and his wife needed large sums of money to fulfill their retirement plans. "You are right," Semnani responds, his voice urgent and angry. Any allegations of extortion against the former regulator, Anderson warned Semnani, could be spun around into charges of bribery against the businessman. "If we get crossways with one another," Anderson says in one tape," things are going to get really bad in a hurry." "You could not have done it alone," he goes on to say, adding that Semnani "didn't even know how to spell radioactive. . . . Somebody fixed it for you. Somebody fixed your application, Khos." In cross-examination, defense attorney Jerry Mooney inquired about other financial dealings Semnani had with local bigwigs. They included the late Sen. Stephen Rees, to whom the businessman lent $108,000, and former Utah Gov. Norm Bangerter, to whom Semnani lent $65,000. Both took the loans after leaving public office. Contacted at home late Tuesday, Bangerter noted he took the loan 3 years after leaving office and paid it back in full at 12 percent interest. "I never had anything to do with that permitting or anything else," the former governor said, ". . . that anybody is even trying to impugn my reputation on this is offensive to me." Rees also repaid the loan with interest, Semnani testified. fahys@sltrib.com Tribune reporter Greg Burton contributed to this story. © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on ***************************************************************** 4 Goshute Rivals Stake a ClaimTo Leadership Wednesday, August 29, 2001 BY BRENT ISRAELSEN (c) 2001, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The leadership of the small American Indian tribe seeking to store hundreds of thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste in Utah's west desert is in turmoil. Opposition members of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes have circulated resolutions to recall tribal Chairman Leon Bear and Vice Chairwoman Lori Skiby. Tribal Secretary Rex Allen this week sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) claiming he is the new leader. But Bear, who on Monday changed the locks on the door to the tribe's office in South Salt Lake, said he is still in power. "There's always something going on calling for my dismissal," Bear said. "There was a resolution, but I don't know what it was. Until there is a document presented to me calling for my resignation, I will not step down." Nevertheless, the tribe probably will hold an election Sept. 22 to let its 73 adult members choose their leaders, said David Allison, a BIA superintendent present Saturday at a tribal meeting in which the resolutions calling for Bear's ouster were circulated. Asked on Tuesday who was in charge of the Goshute tribe, Allison said: "I have no idea." Bear has incurred the wrath of some Goshute tribal members for several years, primarily because of his dealings with Private Fuel Storage (PFS), a consortium of eight out-of-state utilities that operate nuclear power plants. Under Bear's leadership, the tribe in 1997 signed a lease with PFS that would allow the company to store up to 40,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel on Goshute land in Skull Valley about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The plan, vigorously opposed by the state, must be approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Goshute tribal member Margene Bullcreek, a Bear opponent, said she and other tribal members do not want the waste on their reservation. They also say Bear has not been forthright about the millions of dollars the tribe has received from PFS. During the past four years, Bullcreek's faction has tried repeatedly to remove Bear in hopes of nullifying the PFS-Goshute lease. Last fall, Bear was re-elected to a four-year term, although voter turnout was low. Opponents boycotted the election, accusing Bear of bribing or threatening tribal members to gain support. Tribal leaders are elected by signatures, not by votes cast in a secret ballot. Last week's coup attempt was orchestrated by Allen, a signatory with Bear on the PFS-Goshute lease. Recently, Bear and Skiby have alienated Allen in executive decisions, Bullcreek said. Allen, who has an unlisted phone number, could not be reached for comment. Allison is the federal liaison to the tribe but has no authority over its internal affairs. He said he hopes the tribe can function smoothly until there is a legitimate determination of power. In addition to tension, paranoia seems to be running high in the tribe. Bear changed his office's locks after reporting to police that someone had tried to break in. South Salt Lake police spokesman Darin Sweeten said an investigation showed no evidence of mischief. © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on ***************************************************************** 5 Reports: Bush may cut use of MOX fuel heraldonline - Rock Hill, SC Thursday, August 30, 2001 3:00 AM EDT [Local News Stories] By James ScottThe Herald LAKE WYLIE - Duke Energy Corp. and its partners are pushing forward with a controversial plan to fuel the Catawba Nuclear Station with re-processed weapons-grade plutonium, despite published reports that the Bush administration might scrap the program. Officials with Duke Cogema Stone &Webster (DCS), the three companies that have teamed up to design and convert Duke's two nuclear plants in the Carolinas, say they don't give much credence to a New York Times report in which Bush sources said the plan was too expensive. The program, which involves mixing 100 tons of Russian and American plutonium with uranium to create mixed-oxide fuel - or MOX fuel as it is commonly called - has been challenged by both environmentalists and politicians. "DCS has been contracted to do the design, fabrication and operation work for the MOX fuel project," said DCS Communications Manager Todd Kaish. "We are moving forward with that design"" Under the plan, MOX fuel would be manufactured at the Savannah River Site in Aiken and then burned starting in 2007 at both the Catawba station on Lake Wylie and the McGuire Nuclear Station on Lake Norman, north of Charlotte. While MOX fuel has been billed as a way for the United States and Russia to dispose of some of their nuclear weapon arsenal, environmentalists have rallied against it, arguing that America's nuclear power plants are not designed to process the experimental fuel. In addition, many are concerned about having the fuel transported across the state, opening the possibility of accidents. "Canceling MOX is great idea, because it's a boondoggle, and it has been from day one," said Don Moniak, an anti-MOX activist. "If it gets canceled, we will breathe big sigh of relief." Duke officials, however, say the program will serve an invaluable service. "There is weapons-grade plutonium out there in the world sitting in buildings right now," Kaish said. "This project is good for the world because you are reducing the amount of weapons-grade plutonium and rendering it unusable for weapons. That " speaks volumes." Contact James Scott at 329-4068 or jscott@heraldonline.com. Copyright © 2000 The Herald. Rock Hill, South Carolina ***************************************************************** 6 Nuclear Waste Contaminates Lake Ontario Ontario NewsMax.com Wires Tuesday, August 28, 2001 TORONTO -- An environmental group based in Toronto said Tuesday that nuclear waste leaching into Lake Ontario from a dump near the city was so dangerous that most of the aquatic insects exposed to the water for 48 hours died from radiation poisoning. Tom Adams, of the Lake Ontario Keeper, said the group performed tests on water samples taken from the lake near Port Granby, some 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Toronto. The test results were sent to Environment Canada, but there has been no response from the federal department so far. The dump near Port Granby contains waste material from a uranium refinery that operated in the area between 1955 and 1988. The waste material was carried to a ravine in dump trucks and tipped over into a ravine, then covered with layers of sand and gravel. Much of the dumping took place when little was known about the dangers of nuclear waste, and no concrete structures were built for the waste. The waste was left exposed to the elements and radioactive material seeped into the ground water. The refinery was closed in 1988 and management of the waste was handed to a private company, which began treating the ground water before allowing it to flow into the lake. But the company removes only about 85 percent of the radioactive material and the rest flows into Lake Ontario. The company used standards set by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, rather than those set by environmental safety laws, Lake Ontario Keeper said. Mark Mattson, executive director of the group, said the commission apparently applied standards by which "as long as there's no dead fish floating" on the surface of the water, "everything is fine." Adams said that under Canada's environment safety laws, everything is not fine if aquatic organisms exposed to the water for 48 hours died of gamma radiation poisoning. Lake Ontario Keeper deliberately bypassed the commission and sent its report directly to Environment Canada, Adams said. Karen Murray, a spokeswoman for the department, declined to comment or to confirm that the government has received the report. The beach near the nuclear waste dump near Port Granby is closed to the public, but researchers from Lake Ontario Keeper were able to take water samples from the lake near the site. Besides uranium, they also found radium and thorium, both radioactive materials, in the samples. In addition, there were high levels of arsenic and cadmium present, Adams said. These are not radioactive, but are toxic. Adams told United Press International that though the gamma radiation levels from the Port Granby samples were high, the group had reason to suspect that even higher levels of radiation could be found in water being released into the lake at two nearby power facilities, the Pickering and Bruce nuclear plants, which use water from the lake as a coolant. But security measures prevented the group's researchers from getting near enough to the two plants to obtain water samples. There were no such security measures in place near the Port Granby dump. Undaunted, the group is collecting sediment samples from the lake bottom to test for radioactive materials, Adams said. The high levels of coolant water being released by the plants was causing too much turbulence to allow sediments to settle just outside the security limits, but Lake Ontario Keeper researchers are planning to take sediment samples from points further away where the sediments will have settled. As the material gets caught up in the lake's currents and carried out toward the sea, the radioactivity gets diluted, but close to the sites it is still dangerously high, he said. Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights ***************************************************************** 7 Reid gains more exposure for final Yucca Mountain hearings RGJ.com - By Ken Ritter Associated Press Wednesday August 29th, 2001 LAS VEGAS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Harry Reid spurred federal Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Tuesday to broaden the reach of final public hearings before deciding whether a nuclear dump should be located at Yucca Mountain. Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called three, three-hour hearings inadequate to address what he called “intense public interest and concern” about the proposal to entomb 77,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste beneath a volcanic ridge about 90 miles north of Las Vegas. “Remote video sites should be provided around the state of Nevada for interested members of the public, local governments, and other affected parties to participate,” Reid said. He suggested the hearings be teleconferenced to Reno, Elko and Carson City. “These are the last public hearings scheduled before the secretary of energy’s recommendation to the president,” Reid said. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said Tuesday the agency was making plans for two-way video conferencing to the three cities and also hopes to provide an Internet webcast of the proceedings. Davis said he wasn’t sure if Internet viewers would be able to pose questions or participate via e-mail. “We’re also going to ask C-Span to attend,” Davis said, referring to the gavel-to-gavel public service television network. Yucca Mountain, at the western edge of the Nevada Test Site, is the only site in the nation being studied as a repository for the nation’s nuclear waste. The Energy Department has since 1982 spent about $7 billion studying the site, drilling and testing methods to store spent fuel pellets in specially designed canisters some 1,000 feet underground. The storage site would remain radioactive for more than 10,000 years. However, Energy Department studies concluded that no more than 4 millirem of radiation would leak per year into area groundwater and overall radiation from all sources from the site would not exceed 15 millirem. A standard chest X-ray uses 10 millirem or less. Last week, the Energy Department announced it would hold three hearings — Sept. 5 in Las Vegas; Sept. 12 in Amargosa Valley near the site; and Sept. 13 in Pahrump. Abraham will consider the testimony before recommending to President Bush by the end of this year whether the site is suitable to begin accepting nuclear waste in 2010. The project is expected to cost $58 billion over 100 years. The Energy Department said it extended to Sept. 20 the date it would accept public comment on the proposal. If Abraham recommends the dump be built and Bush gives the project the go-ahead but Nevada opposes it — as expected — the decision will be sent to Congress for debate and a vote. Reid aide Nathan Naylor pointed Tuesday to the technical complexity of the 11/2-inch-thick Yucca Mountain Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation and said the Energy Department should provide more notice before the hearings. Naylor said Reid was marshaling support from U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. The four-member Nevada congressional delegation and almost all state lawmakers are united in opposition to the Yucca Mountain proposal. In a statement, Reid focused on what opponents say is one of the project’s Achilles heels: transporting spent nuclear fuel by rail and truck from more than 100 commercial, industrial and military reactors to Nevada. The Energy Department has said that since Yucca Mountain has not been selected as the repository site, it cannot address transportation concerns. © Reno Gazette-Journal ***************************************************************** 8 Summit fixture fuels nuclear power hopes telegraph.co.uk - By Sophie Barker (Filed: 29/08/2001) THE Government is to hold a nuclear summit in October as part of its energy review, further bolstering industry hopes of a nuclear power revival in the UK. A "workshop involving all key stakeholders where views on the key issues can be exchanged and debated" was announced yesterday in a Cabinet Office document, which also highlights the advantages of building nuclear power stations. This comes a few days after the Department of Trade and Industry, whose energy minister Brian Wilson is chairing the review, admitted the economic case for new stations. In its "scoping note", the Cabinet Office, which is officially conducting the review, points to the financial and environmental benefits of modern nuclear power stations. These generate "considerably less high-level radioactive waste than existing UK stations", meaning that "the marginal cost of dealing with extra waste are likely to be small compared with the costs of dealing with unavoidable waste," the note says. Two prime examples of these "third generation" power stations are the Westinghouse AP 600 and AP 1000 models, designed by the American division of British Nuclear Fuels, neither of which has yet been put to commercial use. The document also raises the prospect of Britain's 16 nuclear power stations closing earlier than scheduled because of "significant refurbishing or fault repair". Government forecasts suggest that the proportion of British electricity generated from nuclear stations will fall from 25pc to 3pc by 2020 if its unofficial moratorium on new nuclear build is maintained. The Cabinet Office note highlights public acceptance of nuclear power as "the main constraint on the scale of the nuclear resource". It suggests solutions such as compensation for affected communities and greater consultation. A nuclear industry insider said: "The fact that they have raised all these issues is interesting. The note raises a number of questions which beg answers, so you have to wonder why they have been raised." Mr Wilson's spokesman said: "It will be up to the review to reach a view on the issue of nuclear power. The views of all stakeholders will be important." ***************************************************************** 9 Daily Events Report Daily Events Report U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Operations Center Event Reports For 08/28/2001 08/29/2001 ** EVENT NUMBERS ** 38240 38241 38242 38243 38244 38245 38246 Power Reactor Event Number: 38240 FACILITY: OYSTER CREEK REGION: 1 NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/28/2001 UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: NJ NOTIFICATION TIME: 02:10[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] GE 2 EVENT DATE: 08/28/2001 EVENT TIME: 01:50[EDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: JERE FREEMAN LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/28/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY DAVID LEW R1 10 CFR SECTION: APRE 50.72(b)(2)(xi) OFFSITE NOTIFICATION UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 N Y 100 Power Operation 100 Power Operation EVENT TEXT OCEAN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT NOTIFIED Oyster Creek Generating Station notified the Ocean County Sheriff's Department of a failure of six (6) out of 42 emergency notification sirens. Repairs to the sirens are underway. A thunderstorm passed through their area before the emergency sirens were found to be inoperable. The NRC Resident Inspector will be notified of this event by the licensee. * * * UPDATED AT 1306 EDT ON 8/28/01 BY DAVID PIETRUSKI TO FANGIE JONES * * * The licensee has restored all sirens to operable. The NRC Resident Inspector will be informed. The R1DO (David Lew) has been informed. Power Reactor Event Number: 38241 FACILITY: PEACH BOTTOM REGION: 1 NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/28/2001 UNIT: [2] [] [] STATE: PA NOTIFICATION TIME: 13:14[EDT] RXTYPE: [2] GE 4,[3] GE 4 EVENT DATE: 08/04/2001 EVENT TIME: 23:47[EDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: BILL CAMPBELL LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/28/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY DAVID LEW R1 10 CFR SECTION: AINV 50.73(a)(1) INVALID SPECIF SYSTEM A UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 2 N Y 42 Power Operation 42 Power Operation EVENT TEXT 60 DAY REPORT PCIV OUTBOARD ISOLATION VALVE CLOSURE "This 60 day optional report, as allowed by 10 CFR 50.73(a)(1), is being made under the reporting requirement in 10CFR50.73(a)(2)(iv)(A) to describe an unplanned, invalid actuation of a specified system, specifically Primary Containment Isolation Valve (PCIV) Group 2 outboard valves. "On August 04, 2001, a spurious audio tone transfer trip caused a loss of an offsite electrical source which resulted in 4KV emergency buses automatically transferring to their respective alternate power supply. During the power transfer, the PCIV Group 2 outboard valves isolated due to a momentary loss of power to the valve logic. "The PCIVs isolated as expected for the given conditions and the valves were subsequently reopened when power was restored. No deficiencies or abnormalities were noted during valve operation. "This event has been entered into the site specific corrective action program for resolution. "The resident has been informed." General Information or Other Event Number: 38242 REP ORG: ILLINOIS DEPT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/28/2001 LICENSEE: CROMPTON CORP. NOTIFICATION TIME: 15:27[EDT] CITY: MAPLETON REGION: 3 EVENT DATE: 08/21/2001 COUNTY: STATE: IL EVENT TIME: [CDT] LICENSE#: IL 01314 01 AGREEMENT: Y LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/28/2001 DOCKET: PERSON ORGANIZATION ROGER LANKSBURY R3 JOHN HICKEY NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: TOM SEIF HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NAGR AGREEMENT STATE EVENT TEXT AGREEMENT STATE REPORT GAUGES CONTAINING Cs 137 DAMAGED IN FIRE A fire occurred late on 8/22/2001 at the Crompton Corp. facility at Mapleton, IL potentially involving 17 gauges containing from 50 to 1200 mCi of Cs 137. The fire involved Aluminum Alkyl which is used as a catalyst and burns (at 1800 þF) when exposed to air and can explode when exposed to water. This type of fire is typically allowed to burn itself out, but can be contained with dry chemical agents. After the fire was out, the gauges were surveyed for damage and leakage. Seven of the 17 gauges were damaged, but there was no indication of leakage. The damage was mainly to the lead shielding. The 7 gauges were removed and shielded, then shipped to the manufacturer (Ohmart/Vega) for examination. The manufacturers examination found that none of the sealed sources were damaged. Power Reactor Event Number: 38243 FACILITY: KEWAUNEE REGION: 3 NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/28/2001 UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: WI NOTIFICATION TIME: 17:42[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] W 2 LP EVENT DATE: 08/28/2001 EVENT TIME: 12:02[CDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: GARY HARRINGTON LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/28/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY ROGER LANKSBURY R3 10 CFR SECTION: HFIT 26.73 FITNESS FOR DUTY UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 N Y 96 Power Operation 96 Power Operation EVENT TEXT POSITIVE TEST ON RANDOM DRUG TEST FOR CODEINE A non licensed supervisor tested positive on a random test for codeine. The employee's access to the plant and clearance was suspended for a minimum of 14 days. The employee is being referred to the Employee Assistance Program. The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector. General Information or Other Event Number: 38244 REP ORG: ARIZONA RADIATION REGULATORY AGENCY NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/28/2001 LICENSEE: LAW ENGINEERING & ENVIRONMENTAL SERVINOTIFICATION TIME: 19:53[EDT] CITY: PHOENIX REGION: 4 EVENT DATE: 08/28/2001 COUNTY: STATE: AZ EVENT TIME: 14:00[MST] LICENSE#: 07 326 AGREEMENT: Y LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/28/2001 DOCKET: PERSON ORGANIZATION DALE POWERS R4 JOHN HICKEY NMSS NRC NOTIFIED BY: AUBREY GODWIN HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY 10 CFR SECTION: NAGR AGREEMENT STATE EVENT TEXT AGREEMENT STATE REPORT STOLEN TROXLER GAUGE "At approximately 2:00 PM, August 28, 2001, the Agency received a report advising that a Troxler Model 3411B moisture/density gauge was missing. This information was supplied by the LICENSEE Radiation Safety Officer. The information supplied indicated that the LICENSEE was unsure when the gauge was taken. It was last seen on August 28, 2001 at approximately 3:00AM in a pickup truck at 1976 North Lemontree, Chandler, AZ. The gauge contained [an 8 millicurie cesium 137] source and a [44 millicurie americium 241:berylium] source. The serial number for the gauge is 17677. The retaining cable in the truck had been cut. Phoenix PD is investigating this matter, report # 0176390. The LICENSEE is offering a $500.00 reward. The LICENSEE will be issuing a press release. "The LICENSEE and the Agency continue to investigate this event. "The states of Utah, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada together with the U.S. NRC, the U.S. FBI, and Mexico are being notified of this event." Power Reactor Event Number: 38245 FACILITY: HADDAM NECK REGION: 1 NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/28/2001 UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: CT NOTIFICATION TIME: 21:26[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] W 4 LP EVENT DATE: 08/28/2001 EVENT TIME: 20:23[EDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: MIKE HEYL LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/28/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: FANGIE JONES PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY DAVID LEW R1 10 CFR SECTION: ACOM 50.72(b)(3)(xiii) LOSS COMM/ASMT/RESPONSE UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 N N 0 Decommissioned 0 Decommissioned EVENT TEXT LOSS OF OFFSITE COMMUNICATIONS The licensee reported that ENS and local phone service was lost at 2023 EDT when a thunder storm went through the area. Communications are available via cellular service and radio communications with the state police. * * * UPDATED AT 2342 EDT ON 8/28/01 BY MIKE HEYL TO FANGIE JONES * * * The phone services have been restored. Power Reactor Event Number: 38246 FACILITY: GRAND GULF REGION: 4 NOTIFICATION DATE: 08/29/2001 UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: MS NOTIFICATION TIME: 06:25[EDT] RXTYPE: [1] GE 6 EVENT DATE: 08/29/2001 EVENT TIME: 04:04[CDT] NRC NOTIFIED BY: FRANK WEAVER LAST UPDATE DATE: 08/29/2001 HQ OPS OFFICER: LEIGH TROCINE PERSON ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY CLASS: NON EMERGENCY DALE POWERS R4 10 CFR SECTION: AESF 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A) VALID SPECIF SYS ACTUAT UNIT SCRAM CODERX CRITINIT PWR INIT RX MODE CURR PWR CURR RX MODE 1 M/R Y 27 Power Operation 0 Hot Shutdown EVENT TEXT PLANNED MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM TO REPAIR A REACTOR RECIRCULATION PUMP FLOW CONTROL VALVE The following text is a portion of a facsimile received from the licensee: "Grand Gulf Nuclear Station manually scrammed from 27% [core thermal power] in preparation to repair reactor recirculation pump 'A' flow control valve B33F060A. All control rods fully inserted, and all other safety systems responded as designed. Condensate booster pump 'A' tripped for no apparent reason. Investigation into why the 'A' condensate booster pump tripped is underway." The licensee notified the NRC resident inspector. ***************************************************************** 10 NRC Staff Approves Transfer of Operating Licenses For Indian Point 1 and 2 to Entergy Corporation U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. 01-106 August 27, 2001 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved the transfer of the operating licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units 1 and 2 from Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., to subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation. Indian Point 1 and 2 are located in Buchanan, N.Y. As provided by NRC regulations, the staff's approval of the license transfers becomes effective immediately, even though the Commission granted hearing requests on August 22, from the Citizens Awareness Network and jointly from the Town of Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., and the Hendrick Hudson School District. The groups sought hearings regarding Entergy's financial ability to operate and maintain the Indian Point plant safely. The Commission's August 22 order lays out a schedule for the hearing which could result in a Commission decision in early 2002. The Commission's decision could reverse the action now being authorized by the staff. On December 12, 2000, Consolidated Edison and Entergy jointly submitted an application to the NRC requesting approval for the license transfers. The key issues considered by the NRC included the prospective licensees' technical and financial qualifications to maintain Indian Point 1, which shut down permanently in 1974, and safely operate Indian Point 2, as well as decommissioning funding assurance. A copy of the NRC staff's approval letter and accompanying safety evaluation report will be available on the NRC's web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/IP/index.htmlunder the heading "News & Correspondence." ***************************************************************** 11 IAEA Daily Press Review IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2001-08-29 Number 164 1. Non-proliferation Report warns of increase of medium-and long range missiles world-wide. While Bush administration considers lifting military and economic sanctions on India, editorial suggests US should find new, more effective ways to urge India to curb its nuclear ambitions. (IHT - 29/8) India; United States of America 2. Nuclear power Committee of European Parliament discusses calls for EU to show ‘realism on the nuclear issue’ and to maintain ‘essential’ funding of research into new technologies such as nuclear fusion. Leading German power utility executive indicates that he believes "nuclear renaissance" in Europe is now distinct possibility. More on Temelin NPP: pressure tests reveal leaky water tubes; Upper Austrian Greens tell journalists that they are preparing "autumn offensive" against plant. Russian Atomic Energy Ministry to sign memorandum with India on construction of Kudankulam NPP: to be subject to IAEA safeguards agreement. (INT; NUC; R - 28/8) Austria; Czech Republic; EU; EUROPE; Germany; IAEA; India 3. Radiation, health Victims of last year's cobalt-60 radiation leak in Thailand rally in front of Government House to demand urgent help. According to report, decade after Kazakhstan decommissioned Semipalatinsk nuclear complex health and environmental problems are still being felt. (BAN; R - 29/8) Kazakhstan; Thailand 4. Radwaste, fuel High levels of radioactive waste and arsenic allegedly leaking into Lake Ontario from abandoned nuclear-waste site. Katco joint venture between Kazakhstan, France and Switzerland plans to produce its first yellowcake in October. Transport of nuclear waste in Castor flasks resumes in Germany. (INT; NZZ; R - 28, 29/8) Canada; France; Germany; Kazakhstan; Switzerland 5. Energy, environment UK farmers and landowners offered income by providing small plots for wind turbines. (G - 29/8) United Kingdom 6. UN US to attend upcoming UN General Assembly session on children despite abortion concerns; controversy over UN World Conference Against Racism. (BBC; G - 29/8) UN; United States of America 7. Miscellaneous Divers working to salvage "Kursk" finish key stage of operation; Norwegian experts to monitor radiation levels in area. (BBC - 28/8) Russian Federation ***************************************************************** 12 NRC cites Illinois nuke for emergency drill errors Yahoo - Tuesday August 28, 6:15 pm Eastern Time SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said Tuesday that the 950-megawatt Clinton nuclear power plant in Illinois violated NRC rules during emergency drills. The plant, located in Clinton, Illinois, is operated by Exelon Nuclear Generating Co., a unit of Exelon Corp. (NYSE:EXC - news) of Chicago. The NRC said in a statement that it inspected the plant in May and June this year and found the company had not corrected ``deficiencies'' in the work of control room operators during safety drills in late 1999 and August 2000. The operators, part of the plant's technical staff, were to feed power plant information to government agencies during mock emergencies. The NRC said 11 workers failed drill requirements in 1999 and 10 in 2000. The nation's nuclear power plants are required to hold regular drills which simulate plant emergencies to test the effectiveness of emergency response workers. The NRC issued a so-called white finding for the Clinton plant, which it described as an issue of ``low to moderate importance to safety.'' The NRC uses a four-color system for increasing levels of safety problems, beginning with green and progressing to white, yellow or red. Exelon, which did not contest the NRC's finding, has strengthened its emergency response training program, the NRC said. Three of the operators were removed from the emergency response group. Jan Strasma, a spokesman for the NRC, said the Clinton plant will conduct another NRC-graded drill on Wednesday and Thursday. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 13 Texas 1,150-MW nuke unit at 2 pct in startup [Reuters] Wednesday August 29, 7:40 am Eastern Time NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - TXU Corp's (NYSE:TXU - news) 1,150-megawatt (MW) Comanche Peak 1 nuclear unit in Texas was operating at 2 percent of capacity in a startup as of early Wednesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said in its daily plant status report. The unit, in Glen Rose, Texas, was in a startup early Tuesday but was not producing power, The NRC said in a previous report. Comanche Peak 1 has been shut since August 18, when the company manually tripped the unit due to a water leak on the non-nuclear side of the plant. It was not known when the unit would reconnect to the power grid. Meanwhile, the adjacent 1,150-MW Unit 2 continued to run at full power, the NRC said. ***************************************************************** 14 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Wednesday, August 29, 2001 State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Wednesday, August 29, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC PERR web site -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item ID: 012400403 Accession Number: ML012400055 Document Date: Title: 07/30/2001 - Summary of Emergency Preparedness Counterpart Meeting. Author Affiliation: Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400388 Accession Number: ML012390209 Document Date: 8/22/01 Title: 07/30/2001 - Summary of July 30, 2001, Emergency Preparedness Counterpart Meeting. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RGEB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400343 Accession Number: ML012400086 Document Date: 8/13/01 Title: 08/13/2001 memo to Charles L. Miller from Melanie Wong; re: National Historic Preservation Act Consultation Process for the Proposed Private Fuel Storage Facility with the Advisory Council on Historic preservation. Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/DWM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400345 Accession Number: ML012400112 Document Date: 8/27/01 Title: 08/27/2001 Meeting with CE Owner's Group Regarding Bulletin 2001-01. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400398 Accession Number: ML012400178 Document Date: 8/27/01 Title: 09/04-06/2001, Public Meeting Notice, IMPEP Lessons Learned Working Group Meeting. Author Affiliation: NRC/STP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400338 Accession Number: ML012350082 Document Date: 8/27/01 Title: 09/13/2001- Meeting Notice- meeting with BWR Owners Group and NRC. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400051 Accession Number: ML012290430 Document Date: 8/10/01 Title: Comment (141) submitted by Esther Daniels opposing Proposed Rules PR-1, 2, 50, 51, 52, 54, 60, 70, 73, 76 & 110 regarding Changes to Adjudicatory Process. Author Affiliation: - No Known Affiliation Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400134 Accession Number: ML012320082 Document Date: 8/14/01 Title: Dresden, Units 1 and 2, Registration of Use of Cask to Store Spent Fuel. Author Affiliation: Exelon Nuclear Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400393 Accession Number: ML012400093 Document Date: 4/10/00 Title: E-mail regarding Fwd: NRC Request for FEMA Assistance - Spent Fuel Accident Risk. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400394 Accession Number: ML012400096 Document Date: 5/1/00 Title: E-mail regarding Spent Pool Accident. Author Affiliation: Argonne National Lab Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400040 Accession Number: ML012220376 Document Date: 8/20/01 Title: IR 05000020/2001-202, MIT Research Reactor, Inspection on 06/25/2001-06/19/2001 related to the onsite review of selected aspects of the radiation protection program, effluent control program, and environment monitoring program. No violations noted. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/REXB Document/Report Number: IR-01-202 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400409 Accession Number: ML012400277 Document Date: 8/13/01 Title: IR 07200037/2001-002 (DNMS), Dresden, Inspection on 06/22/2001 related to preparations for spent fuel loading into dry storage casks. Violations noted. Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-III/DNMS Document/Report Number: IR-01-002 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400001 Accession Number: ML012390250 Document Date: Title: NUREG-1747, "Overview & Summary of NRC Involvement with DOE in Tank Waste Remediation System-Privatization (TWRS-P) Program." Author Affiliation: Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012400260 Accession Number: ML012340398 Document Date: 8/16/01 Title: STATE OF UTAH'S RESPONSE TO APPLICANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY DISPOSITION OF UTAH CONTENTION W Author Affiliation: State of UT Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 15 NRC Cites Clinton Plant for Emergency Preparedness Violation of Low to Moderate Safety Significance Region III -- 2001 - 042 -- UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 No. III-01-042 August 28, 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 determined that a violation of NRC emergency preparedness regulations at the Clinton Nuclear Power Station near Clinton, Illinois, should be characterized as "white," meaning that it is an issue of low to moderate importance to safety. The plant is operated by Exelon Nuclear Generating Co. During an inspection in May and June of this year, NRC inspectors found that the company had failed to promptly correct deficiencies in the performance of control room communicators during drills in late 1999 and in August of last year. The role of the communicators is to provide information to offsite governmental agencies during a possible emergency. Eleven members of the plant staff failed to meet the drill requirements in 1999, and ten failed to meet the requirements in 2000, including three who had failed in the previous year. Under its safety significance determination process, NRC officials classify certain conditions at nuclear power plants as being one of four colors which delineate increasing levels of safety significance, beginning with green and progressing to white, yellow or red. A preliminary "white" finding was described in an inspection report issued June 29 of this year. The letter transmitting the report provided the company with an opportunity to either request a regulatory conference to discuss this issue or to respond in writing. Exelon sent a written response, indicating the company did not contest the characterization of the safety significance of this finding. In February of this year, Exelon determined that it had not taken sufficient action to address the previous drill failures. The workers were retrained and retested. All but three successfully demonstrated they could make the required notifications. Those three were removed from the emergency response organization. These actions were reviewed during the NRC's inspection. The company has increased the depth of its training program and increased the frequency to semiannual training to preclude future drill failures. and the company revised its notification procedures. A white finding may result in future NRC inspections, but sufficient information was gathered in the June inspection at the Clinton plant to determine that the corrective actions were effective. The performance of the control room communicators will be reviewed in future emergency preparedness inspections. ***************************************************************** 16 Nevada officials' angry demands met Wednesday, August 29, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Yucca hearings to be televised By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL With their confidence in "sound science" all but evaporated, Nevada officials have fired off a flurry of letters that call for televising next month's Yucca Mountain hearings and that set the stage for the state to file another lawsuit over federal plans to bury nuclear waste there. "I request that you provide video conferencing at the Sept. 5 public hearing," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote in a letter Tuesday to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "Remote video sites should be provided around the State of Nevada for interested members of the public, local governments, and other affected parties to participate in the hearing and to comment on this very important decision which impacts all citizens of the state," Reid's letter said. Three hearings are scheduled to field comments on the recently released Yucca Mountain Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation and related federal documents. The first one is Sept. 5 in Las Vegas. Late Tuesday, an Energy Department spokesman said the agency would grant Reid's request and go beyond what the senator asked by providing live, Web camera coverage on the Internet. "We are going to do videoconferencing in Reno, Elko and Carson City and we're also going to try to do the Web cam," said Yucca Mountain Project spokesman Allen Benson. Meanwhile, State Nuclear Projects Agency chief Bob Loux has written the Energy Department's waste-manage- ment head, Lake Barrett, arguing that the public participation process is flawed. The evaluation of the Yucca Mountain site should be conducted under existing guidelines, not ones that haven't been finalized, he said. The Energy Department in 1996 proposed amendments to make the siting process consistent with current scientific knowledge in assessing how the repository would perform, according to the site evaluation document. But Loux's letter argued that "changing regulations for the Yucca Mountain site at the eleventh hour not only violates the public trust, but it also shows the lengths to which the department is prepared to go in attempting to salvage a project that, under any truly objective and scientific criteria, would have long since been abandoned." "They're denying the public meaningful opportunity to participate," Loux said in a telephone interview from Carson City. He said under existing guidelines the site would be disqualified. "We believe these hearings legally can't take place until after the final environmental impact statement is out and the final guidelines are published," he said. Loux said state lawyers have sought answers from federal officials about whether next month's public hearings will be the final opportunity to comment on the government's plans to entomb 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste in Yucca Mountain. "Depending on what those answers are, we may or may not litigate. If we're right about our belief and successful in a court case, that could force DOE to do this (public hearing) process over in the future," Loux said. Benson said the DOE intends to have its siting guidelines published "in the next couple weeks," preceded by final siting guidelines from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that would conduct a licensing review. He said the process being followed is consistent with federal nuclear waste laws. The volcanic-rock ridge, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site federal scientists are studying to dispose of the nation's most lethal radioactive waste, most of which are rods of spent nuclear fuel pellets currently stored at commercial power reactor sites across the nation. Abraham is expected to decide late this year or early next year whether to recommend that a repository be constructed at Yucca Mountain. But Loux said if the Energy Department follows its current course for public participation, the state could sue in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on grounds that Abraham's expected recommendation is based on a faulty environmental impact statement, faulty siting guidelines, faulty radiation protection standards "and hearings that were done prematurely." Nevada's Nuclear Projects Agency and a consortium of environmental groups filed separate federal lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency in June challenging the adequacy of the EPA's standards for the proposed repository. Anti-nuclear groups Tuesday called the scheduled hearing in Las Vegas "a kangaroo court" and said it should be canceled because citizens don't have enough time to prepare for it. "The Department of Energy has abandoned all pretense of integrity and objectivity in announcing these crucial hearings at such short notice during a holiday season," according to Wenonah Hauter of Citizen Alert, a Washington, D.C.-based government watchdog that released a statement. webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 17 Yucca hearings to be televised LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: THREE MEETINGS ARE SCHEDULED Three public hearings have been scheduled to field comments on the Yucca Mountain Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation and related Energy Department documents. The hearings on the proposed nuclear waste dump, scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. each day, will be Sept. 5 in Las Vegas at the Suncoast; Sept. 12 in Amargosa Valley at the Longstreet Inn; and Sept. 13 in Pahrump at the Ruud Community Center. The site suitability report evaluates how a system of engineered barriers, such as double-lined metal waste canisters and titanium shields to deflect downward moving water, would perform in a maze of tunnels inside the mountain over 10,000 years. -- REVIEW-JOURNAL ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 ITN - Baghdad mission seeks uranium facts [Uranium shells: Cancer link?] Baghdad insists it has evidence to show that cancer and birth defects have increased recently and that this is linked to depleted uranium [WHO: WIll seeks facts of uranium/cancer controversy] A team from the World Health Organisation has arrived in Baghdad to begin research on a possible link between cancer and depleted uranium used by US-led forces in the Gulf War. The five-day mission will investigate claims by Baghdad that there has been a significant rise in cancers and birth defects since 1991. The six-member team arrived in Baghdad and met Health Ministry officials and viewed documents supporting Iraq's claims. The team leader, Abdel Aziz Saleh, an Egyptian doctor working for the WHO in Cairo, told reporters that the mission would pursue the causes of concern Iraqis raised earlier this year in Geneva. He was asked if he thought the depleted uranium used in allied shells against Iraqi forces during the Gulf War was responsible for a higher level of birth defects and cancer. "We haven't yet reached the evidence or the data that can answer this kind of question," Saleh replied. "Actually, the project proposals are meant to develop the information, the data, that is reliable to answer these kinds of questions." Baghdad insists it has evidence to show that cancer and birth defects have increased recently and that this is linked to depleted uranium. On Tuesday, Saleh said that for Iraq's findings to prove valid, "more comprehensive" research needs to be carried out with the help of international experts and the latest equipment. Saleh said Iraq also needs to improve its cancer registry programs, raise awareness about the disease and encourage prevention education. He said the high rate of Iraqi smokers impacts on the number of cancer cases in the country. Iraq says sweeping UN trade sanctions imposed since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait have severely impaired its health services. The WHO team is studying proposals submitted by Iraq for the research project. Last month, Iraq accused the United Nations of trying to postpone the WHO visit for "security reasons," adding the organisation had "bad intentions." But UN-Undersecretary-General Benon Sevan, who is in charge of the world body's Iraqi program, rejected the Iraqi allegation as casting "aspersions against United Nations personnel." The team is expected to stay five days in Iraq. A seventh member is due to arrive shortly. ***************************************************************** 2 He's celebrating a nuclear victory Bill seeks to protect Russian materials from terrrorists 8/29/01 By RHONDA PARKS MANVILLE NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER In op-ed pieces and research papers, Santa Barbara policy wonk Brett Wagner has warned of the dangers that Russia's nuclear materials pose to the U.S. and he has extolled the possibilities of transforming nuclear weapons into nuclear energy. This week he had reason to celebrate, as legislation bearing the imprint of his advocacy work was introduced in Congress on Wednesday by Sen. Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico. "I felt like opening a bottle of champagne," said Mr. Wagner, 41, who runs a nonprofit think tank based here, the California Center for Strategic Studies. "This is a great first step." A graduate of UCSB and a former national security specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Mr. Wagner has been working on U.S. nuclear arms reduction policy since 1995. Among his chief concerns is that the United States take immediate steps to secure the hundreds of tons of excess weapons-grade uranium and plutonium scattered throughout Russia, so that the materials do not end up in the hands of terrorists. "When the Soviet Union collapsed, they had nothing in place to secure and safeguard these scattered stockpiles," Mr. Wagner said. "The warehouses that contain them are sometimes unattended (because) soldiers (are) wandering off to find food. The sad and ironic thing is, we were probably better protected when the missiles were in silos pointed at us, than we are now, because at least they were in the protective custody of the military. The safeguards today are minimal at best." It would take less than 20 pounds of weapons-grade uranium or plutonium to level an area the size of Manhattan, said Mr. Wagner, adding that officials from Iraq and the terrorist group Islamic Jihad have allegedly offered Russian nuclear workers millions of dollars for small quantities of the materials. Under Sen. Domenici's legislation, the Russian Fissile Materials Disposition Loan Guarantee Act of 2001, the U.S. government would guarantee loans to Russia in exchange for placing nuclear materials into a mutually agreed upon, safeguarded facility. The materials would serve as collateral for the loans, and would remain in secured facilities until they are disposed of or used as fuel. It is Mr. Wagner's hope that the U.S. eventually succeeds in buying the nuclear materials directly from the Russians, to produce energy using a new nuclear reactor core -- developed by the U.S. firm Thorium Power Inc. -- which is safer and creates less waste than nuclear power plants currently operating. Thorium Power is working with the Russians and the U.S. Dept. of Energy to establish commercial uses for the new technology in both countries, Mr. Wagner said. Sen. Domenici's legislation has the potential to evolve into policy which turns Russian stockpiles into a source of U.S. nuclear power, Mr. Wagner said. His privately funded, tax-exempt think tank, drawing on the expertise of 25 volunteers around the world, aims to elevate this issue and assist members of Congress, businesses and the diplomatic corps in resolving the logjams that have prevented such a proposal from taking place. Mr. Wagner believes that the public's low level of awareness of the issue is part of the problem. His think tank (www.thecaliforniacenter.org) is committed to "creating the momentum necessary to purchase Russia's excess nuclear stockpiles and resolving forever the issue of whether these stockpiles are safe and secure. We will not rest until these goals are achieved and the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War is put to rest once and for all," he said. Although the proposal to buy nuclear materials from Russia has been around a few years, it initially was stymied by the budget deficit, he said. Then the surplus emerged, and the issue remained low-priority. "There was a fragile bipartisan coalition dealing with these issues, and when Russia collapsed, the coalition fell apart, right when we had an opportunity to do something," he said. Whether the Bush administration will support the Domenici proposal remains to be seen, especially since the president is currently focused on a missile defense proposal. Growing up, Mr. Wagner watched the Vietnam War unfold on television. At UCSB he studied political science before heading to Georgetown University for its program in National Security Studies. "I saw nuclear weapons as the greatest threat of all time," he said, noting that the book, "Avoiding Nuclear Anarchy" was pivotal in inspiring his work. "I had never been a fan of nuclear energy, but the idea of taking the nuclear weapons supply and turning it into energy seemed like one of the most promising ideas in arms control," he said. ***************************************************************** 3 India and the Bomb August 28, 2001 The Bush administration will reportedly soon ask Congress to lift the ineffectual American military and economic sanctions imposed on India after it tested a nuclear weapon three years ago. While this step may be warranted to encourage already improving relations between the United States and India, it should not be done in a fashion that suggests that Washington has lost interest in trying to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to nations that have not had them. That must remain a bedrock American policy goal. It is clear that New Delhi cannot be pressured by sanctions into giving up its new status as a declared nuclear weapons power. The sanctions bar American military exports to India and exports to companies involved in nuclear weapons development. Washington should, however, find new, more effective ways to urge India to limit its nuclear ambitions. India is the world's largest democracy and second most populous country. During the cold war, New Delhi looked to Moscow as a strategic counterweight to China and to an American-supported Pakistan. More recently, it has shifted its diplomacy toward Washington, while instituting economic reforms that have made it more receptive to American trade and investment. In this improved climate, India may be more willing to consider American appeals to restrain its weapons program. India's 1998 weapons test directly led to Pakistan testing its own nuclear bomb just two weeks later. Indian nuclear developments also affect China. New Delhi and Beijing fought a brief war in 1962 and have eyed each other warily ever since. By encouraging India to behave responsibly, Washington can diminish the risk of a nuclear clash between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and can discourage a nuclear arms race between India and China. To this end, the Bush administration should urge India not to mount nuclear warheads on its missiles and to keep all of its nuclear weapons under civilian rather than military control. To slow the further spread of nuclear weapons, Washington should urge India to maintain its current restraints on exporting nuclear materials and technologies. At this point, Congress ought not to ease nuclear sanctions against Pakistan. The military government there led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf has followed less responsible weapons export policies, has refused to sever its links with international terrorist groups and has not yet taken adequate steps to restore electoral democracy. But while it is appropriate for Washington to develop more cordial relations with New Delhi than with Islamabad, it must be careful not to be so punitive that it drives Pakistan's military leaders into even more destructive policies. The Bush administration has given less attention than it should to limiting the further spread of nuclear weapons. It has unwisely abandoned the nuclear test ban treaty and wrongly seems to view missile defense as an adequate alternative to arms control. In the case of India, the administration is right in concluding that sanctions have not been effective. But Congress should insist that America's new engagement with India be accompanied by forceful lobbying for nuclear restraint. Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 4 Bush Wants to Delay Payment To Ailing Uranium Workers The Salt Lake Tribune -- Wednesday, August 29, 2001 [PHOTO] A Navajo miner stands with his family outside their home near a uranium mine in 1952. Compensation to miners and others who became ill from working with uranium has been congressionally authorized, but President Bush wants a last delay. (Associated Press file photo) BY ROBERT GEHRKE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration wants to remove some people from a compensation program for workers who contracted illnesses after working in Cold War-era nuclear weapons programs. The administration says more study is needed to determine if some workers who helped mine uranium actually qualify for compensation. Critics say further delay means more eligible workers will die before getting any money. "They've been stonewalling and it's a crying shame," said Ed Brickey, president of the Colorado Uranium Workers Council. "We have people who are dying because of where they worked." "It seems President Bush is kind of thumbing his nose at Congress on this one," said Alyson Heyrend, spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah. "A delay is not acceptable, and we would fight for the compensation to be paid." The administration wants to delay the payments until the completion of three ongoing studies, said Chris Ullman, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget. William Lambert, an epidemiologist at the University of Oregon working with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said the studies are looking at whether exposure to uranium and silica dust in the mines caused the illnesses. It could be six months to a year before the studies are finished, Lambert said. "The administration is shirking its moral and legal responsibility to a segment of society that is powerless because they're old and sick. It's a total disgrace," said Lori Goodman, spokeswoman for DinŽ CARE, which represents Navajo Indians who worked in the uranium mines. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was passed by Congress in 1990 to compensate below-ground uranium miners and people exposed to radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons tests. Aboveground uranium miners, ore-haulers and millers were added to the program last year and could begin applying for $100,000 payments in January. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was a sponsor of the bill to expand the compensation program. At least 141 ore-haulers and millers applied for compensation, but none have been paid. Heyrend said she doesn't know how many of these people came from Utah, but said it is a "substantial number." Now the administration wants to remove those workers from the program until the studies are finished. OMB officials met with staffers of several senators earlier this month, briefing them on the administration's position. Wayne Hill, 69, of Grand Junction, Colo., is among those affected by the move. He worked for nine years hauling uranium from the mines to the mills in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. He said he has photos of himself standing on loaded trucks and in the mines, covered in uranium dust. The government "wasn't about to tell us what we were doing to ourselves," Hill said. "We were up there committing suicide and we didn't even know it." Three months ago Hill completed radiation treatments to shrink the cancer in his brain that had spread from his lungs. He said the $100,000 would help him pay medical bills. Steve Bell, chief of staff for Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Domenici and other supporters of the sick workers plan to fight the Bush administration effort. "We have told [the administration] that we're not going to delay anything," Bell said. "These miners are going to get every dime they're entitled to and sooner than the administration thinks." Tribune reporter Jim Woolf contributed to this story. © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on ***************************************************************** 5 Mystery surrounds Kuwaiti fish deaths BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Tuesday, 28 August, 2001, 12:20 GMT 13:20 [Volunteers cleaning up Kuwait's beaches] Kuwaiti volunteers are brought in to clean up the fish An official investigation in Kuwait has been unable to determine the cause of death of 1.000 tonnes of fish washed up on its shores. Environment officials have suggested that a heat wave which has sent temperatures soaring to more than 50C in the shade might be to blame. [Dead fish float on Kuwait City's shore ] The cause of death remains unknown Water temperatures in the Gulf have reportedly risen as high as 36C. The government responded to the sudden influx of dead fish by imposing a ban on fishing in Kuwaiti waters and setting up a committee to examine the issue. But the committee has admitted its failure to discover the cause of the phenomenon. "A thousand tonnes of dead fish have been found (since mid-August)," the committee headed by health minister Mohamed Ahmed Al-Jarallah said in a statement carried by the official Kuna news agency. Foreign aid The interim head of the emirate's living resources department, Rasheed Al-Rushud, said that foreign experts might be brought in to help with the enquiry. He was quoted as saying that oil minister Adil Al-Subih had assured the health ministry the country's oil firms were not the source of the problem through any chemical discharge in the water. On Monday, a Kuwaiti newspaper report cited other possible causes including dumped toxic waste, radioactive sediment or contaminated material from Iraq or Iran such as depleted uranium. ***************************************************************** 6 Kazakh president seeks help over nuclear legacy August 29, 5:59 PM ALMATY, Aug 29 (AFP) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appealed for international aid Wednesday to help his Central Asian state overcome the disastrous legacy of Soviet-era nuclear weapons testing, and warned that a "nuclear third world" was being created. "I hope once again for your support in liquidating the consequences of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan," Nazarbayev told an audience of academics and political figures, including former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. For more than 40 years, from August 29, 1949, the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in the vast Kazakh steppe was used to conduct some 470 nuclear tests. Prior to 1962 tests were carried out on or above ground, causing untold damage to communities in the region, local officials believe. Citizens were not warned about the consequences of the tests on their health and some 1.6 million people were estimated in 1992 to have been exposed to radiation in the area around the site. "We have practically been left alone to deal with the problems," the Kazakh leader said. According to Nazarbayev, some 300,000 square kilometers (116,000 square miles) of territory suffered ecological damage as a result of the site's operation, and will take 300 years to recover. The Central Asian state has received 20 million dollars in aid to deal with the after-effects of the test range over the years, and more than one billion dollars is needed to recultivate the area, he said. "It is very difficult for us to bear this expense alone to solve a problem which is of global significance," he added. Over the past decade the world had failed to become a safer place either in a "normal or a nuclear context," Nazarbayev said, warning that a "nuclear third world" was being created. The world could find itself in a situation where the erstwhile threat of a global nuclear conflict had been transformed into the threat of regional wars involving tactical atomic weapons, he said. During the Soviet era Kazakhstan had the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world, but it opted to become a non-nuclear state after it gained its independence in 1991. Nazarbayev was addressing a conference called to mark the day 10 years ago when he ordered the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site to be closed. Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved. All information ***************************************************************** 7 USS Vincennes visits Hyogo, asserts no N-weapons aboard Daily Yomiuri On-Line Yomiuri Shimbun A U.S. Navy vessel entered Himeji Port in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, on Tuesday after giving assurances that it was not carrying nuclear weapons. The visit by the Vincennes is the first to the prefecture by a U.S. warship since 1975, when the Kobe municipal government began demanding that foreign naval vessels provide documents proving they were not carrying nuclear weapons. About 500 people gathered nearby to protest the visit. A U.S. official said the Vincennes was stopping at the port to strengthen ties with the local community and to give the crew a rest. The Hyogo prefectural government had demanded written proof that the 9,100-ton Vincennes was free of nuclear weapons, but permitted the vessel to dock after receiving verbal assurances. Copyright The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 8 Brownback hopeful of sanctions being lifted very soon rediff.com: August 27, 2001 Feedback Aziz Haniffa in Washington Influential US Senator Sam Brownback is hopeful of US sanctions on India and Pakistan being lifted very soon, irrespective of how peace talks progress between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Brownback, a ranking member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview: "First, I would like for US to lift a bunch of sanctions on India and Pakistan as a statement of our willingness to work with the two countries." "But also as an encouragement to the two countries that we want to have a good relationship with both and we want to encourage the sorts of talks that can ultimately lead to better relations." Brownback, a Republican, is well known in South Asia circles for authoring amendments after the May 1998 tit-for-tat nuclear tests by India and Pakistan to lift sanctions against both countries. "I think it's high time -- or well past time -- that sanctions were lifted against both countries regardless (of how their bilateral dialogue proceeds). I don't think they've been useful in any regard." On whether Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had held out the sanctions like a carrot, saying the US would be watching how India-Pakistan talks go, Brownback said: "I don't know that either nation necessarily reacts to that sort of carrot on an issue that's really so personal to each nation." He did not agree with the view that sanctions should not be lifted on Pakistan because it was being ruled by a military junta that deposed a democratically elected government and because India would consider it insulting. "Well, there is constantly that sort of duel going on. But I would hope both sides would look and say it's a positive if the United States is more engaged and here is a way for the United States to be more engaged in the region and let's encourage the lifting of sanctions, as much as we can." On the recent India-Pakistan summit in Agra in July, Brownback said: "First, I was delighted that the meeting took place and I thought that by itself was a very positive step." "So I think it was a good thing and especially the fact that Prime Minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee accepted the return visit to Pakistan. I think these are all very positive." "I think we've been asking a lot to have had a joint communique come out, at this point of time when they are just starting to establish a rapport. So I consider this (the summit) really quite a success. Not as much as it could have been, but a success nonetheless." As for a US role to help resolve the differences between India and Pakistan, he said, "Well, I don't want to invite us into the region without both countries being absolutely sold that the United States should be involved in the discussions between the two of them." "But I have been advocating that the United States develop a much more vigorous relationship with India and a much more vigorous relationship with Pakistan, but separate and distinct. Now if both nations would seek for us to be involved, then there's a possible US role. But absent that, I think our role is to build a relationship with each separately." On whether the recent India visit of Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was a good beginning for a US-India strategic partnership, he said, "I am delighted that he has visited." "And my private discussions with the administration about a strategic relationship (with India) has been very encouraging. So I think what's taking place is (movement) toward such a relationship and discussions necessary on how to build such a relationship up." He added that such a relationship ought to be developed with Pakistan too. "Because otherwise you are going to build a mistrust and the United States has to be involved both ways if we are going to have both these relationships developing." Indo-Asian News Service © 2001 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Hotel won't host DOE Las Vegas SUN: Today: August 29, 2001 at 11:29:44 PDT By Mary Manning Hearings The Energy Department has scheduled public hearings on the possible recommendation of Yucca Mountain as a high-level nuclear waste repository. The deadline for written comments is Sept. 20. HEARINGS: + Sept. 5 -- Suncoast hotel-casino, 9090 Alta Drive. CANCELED + Sept. 12 -- 5 to 9 p.m., Longstreet Inn and Casino, Amargosa Valley. + Sept. 13 -- 5 to 9 p.m., Bob Ruud Community Center, Pahrump. WRITTEN COMMENTS: Address written comments to Carol Hanlon, U.S. Department of Energy, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office, (M/S #025), P.O. Box 30307, North Las Vegas, NV, 89036-0307, or by electronic mail to YMP]SR@ ymp.gov.Written comments should be identified on the outside of the envelope and on the comments themselves with: "Possible Site Recommendation for Yucca Mountain." To submit by FAX: 1-800-967-0739. The Suncoast resort has canceled its contract with the Energy Department to host the first of three scheduled public hearings next week on a proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The hotel's cancellation could force the delay of the first meeting in order to meet the federal public notice law. Federal and state officials said this morning that they were unsure of the required notice time and that they are researching the law in order to meet the regulations. The hotel does not have enough space to accommodate the number of people who are expected to turn out for the hearing at 5 p.m. Sept. 5, an attorney for the Suncoast said. Attorney Barry Lieberman confirmed that the resort had canceled the hearing because of limited space. "The room they had reserved did not have enough capacity, based on the amount of interest shown," he said. DOE spokesman Allen Benson said this morning that the hearing will be Sept. 5, but in a new location. "We will not be having a hearing at the Suncoast," he said. The DOE's Nevada Operations Office in North Las Vegas is one site being considered. However, that site presents a forboding appearance and could discourage the public from attending, said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects. "If it is the DOE North Las Vegas facility, there is barbed wire fencing and guards," Loux said. "How is the public supposed to access it?" The DOE should delay the hearing, Loux said. But Benson said that an official notice will appear in the Federal Register and the location is expected to be confirmed later today. The agency may have to give only three working days notice, some officials say, however others said this morning that they believe 10 days is required, which would delay the meeting. Earlier Loux called for a delay in the public hearings and a suspension of the studies of the Yucca project because he says a preliminary study to be aired at the meetings is flawed. Loux said Tuesday that the DOE's Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation report, released last week, has "no legal or substantive basis" for evaluating Yucca Mountain as the national repository for 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste. "We think that the DOE's evaluation disqualifies the site," Loux said, adding that DOE's guidelines for protecting the public from radiation have not been approved and are therefore "illegal" as well, Loux said. The state is considering suing the DOE in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal because the final environmental impact studies have not been released by the agency and because the public hearing are being held prematurely. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will ultimately decide the fate of the Yucca project, has yet to approve rules that the DOE must follow to protect the public from radiation exposure. The DOE's basis for approving Yucca Mountain revolves around the preliminary report, which has not been approved by the NRC, Loux said. "Changing regulations for the Yucca Mountain site at the 11th hour not only violates the public trust, but it also shows the lengths to which the department is prepared to go in attempting to salvage a project that, under any truly objective and scientific criteria, would have long since been abandoned," Loux said. During the rescheduled meeting, DOE officials are expected to outline the project, and residents will have the opportunity to testify. Residents' comments will be recorded, DOE spokeswoman Gayle Fisher said Tuesday. The state's objection to proceeding with the hearings lies in DOE's apparent rush to conduct them, Loux said. The DOE announced the hearings Aug. 21. The public hearings have also been scheduled Sept. 12 and 13 in Pahrump and Amargosa Valley, respectively. Those meetings will remain on schedule, DOE officials said. "Fifteen days' notice of the Las Vegas public hearing does not provide adequate time for review and travel arrangements to be made by citizens and public officials to attend the hearings in person," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. Nevada's congressional delegation also asked the DOE to push the public comment deadline, set for Sept. 20, to Nov. 20. The move would allow residents more time to reply to the preliminary study. Fisher said that the DOE was following a strict and fair procedure for the hearings, which are being conducted to provide residents with as much information and opportunity to comment as possible. Complaints from Reid prompted DOE officials to broaden the scope of the public hearings by offering the proceedings to three Nevada cities -- Reno, Elko and Carson City -- via teleconference. An Internet webcast of the proceedings also is in the works, DOE spokesman Joe Davis said. "We're also going to ask C-SPAN to attend," Davis said. C-SPAN provides 24-hour coverage of political events and congressional hearings on two separate national networks. Opponents of Yucca Mountain are wary of the DOE hearings. Las Vegas businessman Steven Cloobeck, who launched a grass-roots campaign -- dubbed Save Nevada -- to stop the dump, said he is concerned DOE officials will not listen to Nevada residents, 80 percent of whom oppose the repository, according to a recent poll administered by the state. A coalition of national environmental groups also denounced the hearings. "Contrary to its mandate, the agency seems intent on minimizing public participation and is turning the process into a kangaroo court," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. The DOE wants to finalize the site while many unresolved issues remain, Judy Treichel, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, said. "The DOE's Aug. 21 Preliminary Site Suitability Evaluation of the Yucca Mountain site is premature at best," she said, referring to NRC concerns over missing data and a lack of a final environmental impact report. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham could decide whether to recommend Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste repository to President Bush as early as December. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 Nuclear accelerator requires $6 million to operate Jordan Times (Home News Section) By Ruba Saqr AMMAN — A nuclear accelerator to be set up in Jordan for regional scientific research is short of funds necessary for jumpstarting it, a European nuclear scientist said on Monday. The Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Appliances for the Middle East (SESAME), a regional research centre for peaceful purposes, requires $6 million for the project to become operational, said Herwig Schopper, former director general of the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN). “We need the money for installation and modernisation of a [German-donated] machine,” BESSY I, Schopper told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the Sixth Meeting of the SESAME Interim Council held here. According to Minister of Education Khalid Touqan, the Balqa University for Applied Sciences is expected to host the project and has already prepared a “complete architectural plan and structural design calculations” for the laboratories that will accommodate BESSY I, a 10-year-old synchrotron source. However, Schopper said financial resources are needed to upgrade BESSY I in order to realise a CERN-inspired scientific centre in the region, specifically in the Shafa Badran area around 30km from Amman. By donating the BESSY I, Germany has helped ease expenses on member states because the machine's original cost is around $100 million, experts said. Member states on the council governing the project are Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Cyprus, Greece, France, Germany, the EU, US and Sweden. Their meeting here was held under the patronage of HRH Prince Ghazi Ben Mohammad. CERN was established after War World II to bring together European countries to work for peace, said Schopper. Likewise, SESAME will be used to “promote the enhancement of `Science for Peace' [in the Middle East] and a new level of scientific progress in the area,” according to Touqan. The facility is expected to bring about major advances in the fields of water desalination, pharmaceutical industries and nuclear medicine, experts said. SESAME is slated to become an independent research laboratory operating under the auspices of UNESCO. As part of Jordan's preparations to host the project, Jordanian legislators in February endorsed amendments to the country's existing Nuclear Law that allowed for the establishment of a “financially and administratively independent” body to monitor and oversee radioactive activities in the country. Regional countries to benefit from SESAME are Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian National Authority, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Cyprus and Greece. Syria and Lebanon did not take part in the project. It was not clear if it was for political reasons, although Schopper said: “Some countries that would want to join SESAME say that they cannot because of Israel's presence.” He declined to comment further. ***************************************************************** 11 DOE plans land use 'roadmap' Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:52 a.m. on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff A new process is expected to be instituted for land use planning for the Department of Energy's 34,242-acre Oak Ridge Reservation. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, who has been following the effort closely, said this morning that DOE has formed a focus group with the goal of drafting a "roadmap for development on the reservation." Wamp said he hopes the plan will be released within a year. "This process will focus on the environmental assets of Oak Ridge," said Wamp. He added that this process will allow for the identification of properties which should be off limits to development. Wamp said the focus group will include representatives from the city of Oak Ridge, the Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation, Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Nature Conservancy, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, among others. ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division is providing technical assistance for the effort. Wamp said Leah Dever, manager of DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office, deserves a lot of credit for the focus group. DOE was expected to make a formal announcement today regarding the focus group. The Oak Ridger requested an interview with Dever prior to today's announcement, but a DOE spokesman said that she would be unavailable. This year alone, a lot of issues pertaining to land use have been raised. In January, DOE held a public meeting regarding land issues. That meeting primarily focused on the proposed development of a residential/commercial community on 1,200 acres of property then owned by the Boeing Co. and the transfer of ownership for a nearby 180-acre flood plain. Representatives for elected officials and members of Oak Ridge's business community voiced support for the development. However, not all of the 300 people that attended the meeting were in agreement with the proposed development. Several people urged DOE to protect biologically significant areas. Shortly after the January public meeting, DOE scheduled and then quickly canceled a press conference for today at which Dever was expected to announce plans to require an environmental impact statement on the entire reservation. A DOE spokesman said at the time that the environmental impact statement was canceled because Dever had not had a chance to meet with senior-level officials at DOE headquarters on the matter. The site-wide study would've adhered to a request made by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the Tennessee Conservation League. The center is a nonprofit organization that works through legal advocacy to protect natural resources in the Southeast region of the United States. Concern over a reservation-wide study spread through the business community. If done, it could have tied up local industrial development for a number of years. Wamp said the land use group is a "compromise approach" rather than doing an "extensive and complex" environmental impact statement on the entire reservation. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 12 S.C. company to help kick off ORNL modernization Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:53 a.m. on Wednesday, August 29, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff UT-Battelle Development Corp. has selected the Colliers Keenan development firm of Columbia, S.C., to design and construct the first three facilities of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's modernization plan. Colliers' contract is valued around $65 to $70 million. Work on the three new facilities, which will replace a former parking lot at ORNL, is expected to begin in November and take 18 months to complete. The three new facilities will be a historic landmark for ORNL and the Department of Energy, according to Bill Madia, director of ORNL and chairman of UT-Battelle Development Corp. The buildings represent the first privately funded facilities constructed on the ORNL campus. "The new facilities are a goal we have worked toward every day for the last 16 months," said Madia. Seven entities submitted proposals for the new ORNL facilities. Madia said Colliers Keenan was chosen because of the team's strength and experience in several categories. He said the company has a history of success with large projects involving public-private partnerships. Similar projects led by Colliers Keenan are facilities for the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Aviation Administration, located in Atlanta, Ga. The Colliers Keenan Oak Ridge team includes Walker Electric Co. and the Stanley Jones Corp., both of Nashville. Once completed, the three new facilities will be leased to ORNL and will replace existing buildings more than 50 years old that are expensive to operate and outdated for modern research. These buildings will be adjacent to two other new facilities. Together, the five buildings will form the center of a campus designed to provide a modern image for ORNL. In addition to the private funding, backing for the lab's modernization includes $125 million in federal support and $26 million from the state of Tennessee. Recently, DOE issued a finding of "no significant impact" regarding the modernization of ORNL, which will take place on "brownfield" sites -- previously contaminated and/or developed areas. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 13 DOE Should Cancel "Kangaroo Court" Aug. 28, 2001 Yucca Mountain Hearings Unjust, Unfair, Unacceptable NOTE: The U.S. Department of Energy is holding a Sept. 5 hearing in Las Vegas on the government’s intention to establish a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Public Citizen will issue "Kangaroo Court Countdown Alerts" each day until the hearing. For more information about Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste, visit www.citizen.org/cmep. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Denouncing the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) attempt to limit public participation in its efforts to establish a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, national public interest organizations joined citizens’ groups in Nevada today in calling for recently announced hearings to be cancelled. The DOE gave Las Vegas residents only nine business days notice of a critical Sept. 5 public hearing on the proposed site, which the groups say should not be turned into a nuclear waste dump. No other sites are being considered. Residents in Amargosa Valley and Pahrump didn’t get much more notice than Las Vegas residents; those hearings will be held Sept. 12 and 13 respectively. The DOE announced the hearings in the Federal Register on Aug. 21. A 30-day public comment period extends to Sept. 20. "This is disgraceful," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The Department of Energy has abandoned all pretense of integrity and objectivity in announcing these crucial hearings at such short notice during a holiday season. Contrary to its mandate, the agency seems intent on minimizing public participation and is turning the process into a kangaroo court." Anna Aurilio, legislative director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group, agreed. "The Department of Energy has consistently ignored sound science when it comes to Yucca Mountain. It is outrageous that DOE is now ignoring the public when making this critical decision." The Nuclear Waste Policy Act requires the DOE to hold hearings in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain before recommending that the site be developed as a nuclear waste repository. The Secretary of Energy is expected to make a formal recommendation later this year in favor of the proposed nuclear dump. This recommendation would be transmitted to the president, then referred to Congress for final approval. "The DOE and its friends in the nuclear industry might think that they can sidestep the overwhelming opposition to the repository project by downplaying the significance of these hearings, but we will be there to say in no uncertain terms that Nevada is not a wasteland," said John Hadder, northern Nevada coordinator with Citizen Alert, a member organization of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. The DOE is trying to finalize the site while many unresolved issues remain. "The DOE’s Aug. 21 preliminary site suitability assessment of the Yucca Mountain site is premature at best," said Judy Treichel, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force. "In addition to longstanding technical uncertainties about the repository project, a safe transportation scenario has not been identified, the required environmental impact statement has not been released, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not issued licensing regulations, and the DOE is relying on proposed siting guidelines to fit the site." Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist with Nuclear Information and Resource Service, emphasized the need to address transportation concerns. "When DOE tried to ship radioactive plutonium through Michigan in recent years, then-Senator Abraham called the absence of meaningful hearings ‘irresponsible and offensive to Michigan residents,’ in consideration of the serious ramifications of an accident. Tens of thousands of shipments through 43 states to the proposed Yucca Mountain dump would be much more dangerous, but ironically Energy Secretary Abraham is ignoring the transportation issue." Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Women’s Action for New Directions, Citizen Alert, Nevada Desert Experience and the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Forceare calling on the DOE to extend the comment period and postpone hearings in Nevada and consideration of site recommendation until these critical issues are satisfactorily resolved. The Sept. 5 hearing is scheduled to take place from 5-9 p.m. at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino, 9090 Alta Drive, Las Vegas. The other hearings will be held from 5–9 p.m. on Sept.12 at the Longstreet Inn and Casino, Highway 373, Amargosa Valley, and from 5-9 p.m. on Sept. 13 at the Bob Ruud Community Center, 150 Highway North #160, Pahrump. Written comments can be submitted to Carol Hanlon, DOE, Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office (M/S #025), P.O. Box 30307, North Las Vegas, NV 89036-0307; e-mail: YMP_SR@ymp.gov;fax: 1-800-967-0739. The DOE’s Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office can be contacted by phone at 1-800-967-3477. Public Citizen Home Page ***************************************************************** 14 Site plan cuts costs of cleanup Augusta Georgia: Technology: Officials say their new proposal will save millions in treatment of 3,500 gallons of plant's most dangerous waste Web posted Wednesday, August 29, 2001 By Brandon Haddock Staff Writer A new plan for treating some of Savannah River Site's most radioactive waste should be millions of dollars cheaper than the previous proposal, according to SRS officials. It will cost from $24 million to $33 million to make improvements to SRS plants needed to treat 3,500 gallons of solution containing americium and curium, said Sachiko McAlhany, the program manager for the project at the federal nuclear-weapons site. Ms. McAlhany spoke to members of the site's Citizens Advisory Board during a meeting at the South Carolina Advanced Technology Park in Snelling. The previous plan would have cost at least $129 million, according to estimates. Under that proposal, the site would have built a new plant to treat the waste inside the existing F-Canyon facility. Work on the F-Canyon plan was suspended in May. Under the new plan, engineers would neutralize and dilute the solution. The liquid then would be transferred from a tank inside F-Canyon to a feed tank for the site's Defense Waste Processing Facility. That facility would turn the solution, already mixed with liquid wastes generated by other SRS activities, into a radioactive glass suitable for long-term burial. The U.S. Department of Energy has committed to treating the solution by 2005. The federal Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has deemed the solution a ''high radiation and contamination hazard.'' Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com. All contents ©1996 - 2001 The Augusta Chronicle. All rights ***************************************************************** 15 Kursk Work Approaches Next Stage Aug. 29, 2001. Page 4 The Associated Press Divers working on the sunken Kursk submarine began piercing the last of 26 holes in the vessel's hull Tuesday, as a barge carrying equipment for the next phase of the salvage effort neared the disaster site, officials said. For several weeks, the international team working in the Barents Sea has been cutting holes that will be used to attach steel cables to the vessel to hoist it to the surface. Meanwhile, the Carrier barge, bearing equipment needed to separate the submarine's first compartment from the rest of the vessel, was making its way from the Norwegian port of Kirkenes and was expected to arrive at the Kursk site Wednesday, navy spokesman Igor Dygalo said in a statement. The first compartment — mangled by the explosion that sank the Kursk last August, killing all 118 crewmen — will be left behind when the Kursk is raised. Russian officials say it could contain unexploded torpedoes. Once the Carrier arrives, preparations for severing the fore section are expected to take about a week and the cutting should take two days, Vyacheslav Zakharov, spokesman for the Dutch company Mammoet, said in an interview posted on the official Kursk web site. Zakharov said the navy had ruled out the possibility of an explosion in the first compartment during the cutting phase. Foul weather has caused delays in the operation recently, but officials maintain they are sticking to the original schedule, according to which the Kursk should be lifted Sept. 15 and then towed to harbor. In an interview that appeared Monday on Time.com, retired Vice Admiral Yevgeny Chernov, who spent 33 years working on nuclear submarines, said the rescue operation was based on "hasty decisions" and called it the work of "incompetent conmen" who want to cover up the cause of the accident. "They can't even have their equipment moved to the place on time. But the weather in the area will get prohibitive within a couple of weeks. … I can only suspect that they never intended to raise the Kursk at all," Chernov was quoted as saying. www.themoscowtimes.com ***************************************************************** 16 WHO investigates Iraqi claims of cancer from depleted uranium Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Special report: Iraq Waiel Faleh in Baghdad Wednesday August 29, 2001 The Guardian A team of experts from the World Health Organisation began investigating yesterday whether Iraqis have suffered increased levels of cancer and birth defects as a result of the depleted-uranium munitions used in the 1991 Gulf war and the enforcement of no-fly zones. The six-member team arrived in Baghdad on Monday night and met health ministry officials who showed them documents supporting Iraq's claims. The WHO team leader, Abdel Aziz Saleh, an Egyptian doctor, told reporters that the mission would pursue the concerns that Iraqis raised earlier this year in Geneva. Baghdad insists it has evidence to show that cancer and birth defects have increased recently and that this is linked to depleted uranium. The team is expected to stay in Iraq for five days. AP Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 ***************************************************************** 17 Flats delays plutonium shipment to Savannah Rocky Mountain News: Local S. Carolina guv wants assurances material won't be there forever By Berny Morson, News Staff Writer The first shipment of plutonium from Rocky Flats will be delayed as the Department of Energy negotiates with South Carolina officials, who have balked at accepting the deadly material. But the Energy Department Tuesday assured Colorado officials that the delay will not affect the goal of closing the defunct nuclear weapons plant by 2006. South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges has threatened to block trucks carrying plutonium to the Energy Department's Savannah River Site, where it will be stored in vaults. Hodges wants assurances that his state won't become the permanent repository for the material. The first shipment from Rocky Flats to South Carolina was scheduled for October. But in a letter Monday to Hodges and other South Carolina officials, Energy Department Undersecretary Bob Card said the shipment will be delayed while the parties continue "good faith discussions" to resolve the impasse. Card's letter sparked phone calls from Gov. Bill Owens and Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. They sought assurances from Card that the delay would not become permanent. "I'm going to try to provide some countervailing political pressure so the Department of Energy knows some other states want the (Rocky Flats cleanup) process to continue," Owens said. "We're trying to keep the pressure on," Allard said. Owens and Allard said Card reassured them the Rocky Flats closure will not be delayed. "I have assurances and have no reason at this time to doubt what he tells me," Allard said. Card is the former head of Kaiser-Hill, the company that is cleaning up Rocky Flats. He could not be reached Tuesday. In his letter, Card told the South Carolina officials that the Energy Department "is committed to a pathway out of South Carolina" for the Rocky Flats plutonium and for other nuclear material at Savannah River. Card said he has a strategy to accomplish that goal. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said the strategy will be explained: Jessie Roberson, the former Rocky Flats manager who now works with Card, will be in South Carolina today to meet with officials. Cortney Owings, a spokeswoman for Hodges, said because of Card's agreement to delay the plutonium shipment, South Carolina will not practice a strategy to block the trucks that had been planned for today. Owings said South Carolina does not view Card's letter as an agreement to delay the shipments indefinitely. Contact Berny Morson at (303) 892-5072 or morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com. August 29, 2001 2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 18 The shaft for uranium workers? Rocky Mountain News: Politics Activists decry changes in compensation numbers By News staff and wire reports WASHINGTON -- Activists are vowing to fight the Bush administration's plans to reduce the number of former uranium workers who qualify for payments under a financially strapped compensation program. The Department of Justice has signaled in budget documents that it plans to delay amendments Congress approved last year to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The program originally provided up to $100,000 in compensation to former uranium miners, nuclear-test participants and downwind residents. In the spring of 2000, Congress increased compensation to $150,000 and expanded the program to include above-ground uranium miners, millers and ore transporters. Workers are waiting for the Bush administration to implement the law by approving applications. In the meantime, according to budget documents, "The administration is working on legislation for later transmittal that will limit the eligibility of those downwinders who contracted lung cancer who were also heavy smokers, and would postpone awards for millers, ore transporters and above-ground miners, pending the outcome of ongoing studies." Workers advocates are outraged, saying they were misled about the reason new regulations had not been implemented. "Obviously, they're shirking their moral and legal responsibility to the ill people," said Lori Goodman of Durango, spokeswoman for Dine CARE, which represents Navajo miners from Colorado and the Four Corners region. Steve Bell, chief of staff for Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Domenici and other supporters of sick workers plan to fight the Bush administration's plan. "We have told (the administration) that we're not going to delay anything," Bell said. "These miners are going to get every dime they're entitled to." August 29, 2001 2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 19 Closure of Plutonium Plants Delayed Aug. 29, 2001. Page 4 The Associated Press A long-discussed U.S.-Russian plan to stop production of weapons-grade plutonium in Russia has been stalled by funding shortages, and the government said Monday it had asked the United States to postpone its implementation. The agreement — signed in September 1997 by then-U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin — was hailed at the time as a historic event and a big step in U.S. efforts to ensure that Moscow safeguards and reduces its vast nuclear stockpile. But it already has faced delays because of disagreements over audit schemes that should ensure that the U.S. money committed to the project is spent properly. The latest plan envisaged that two nuclear reactors in the Siberian city of Seversk, formerly a closed city called Tomsk-7, were to end plutonium production in 2002 and 2003, Itar-Tass reported. The third reactor in the Siberian city of Zheleznogorsk, or Krasnoyarsk-26 in Soviet times, was supposed to stop producing plutonium in 2004. The cities, as their former names suggest, are located in the Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk regions, respectively. The money crunch has continued, and the Cabinet's information department said Monday that Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov ordered the Nuclear Power Ministry to negotiate an amendment to the deal with U.S. officials. It argued that the Seversk reactors would have to keep working until the end of 2005, and the one in Zheleznogorsk until the end of 2006. The military reactors also provide electricity and heat for the cities' residents, and the U.S.-Russian agreement called for the two countries to share the costs of building replacement power facilities. The agreement would convert the plutonium-producing plants to production of uranium for civilian power plants. The proposed amendment, authorized by Kasyanov, said that the United States would help modify reactors or build alternative power facilities if funds are available. The government statement did not say when the amendment is expected to be signed. Meanwhile, U.S. Republican Senator Richard Lugar was visiting Severodvinsk, a military port on Russia's northern coast that is the focus of efforts to dismantle scores of aging nuclear submarines with the help of U.S. funding. Lugar, who arrived in Russia on Sunday, has complained of massive cuts in the programs designed to help Russia secure its vast cache of nuclear weapons and material, which environmental groups have said pose a major threat to the surrounding area. He was inspecting a maintenance plant, U.S.-financed disposal projects and the shipyard before heading back to Moscow, then to Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, cities on the Volga River, on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Ukraine, according to the U.S. Embassy. www.moscowtimes.ru ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************