***************************************************************** 7/31/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.185 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Nuclear waste truck being checked for leaks at Nevada border 2 'The biggest fear is radiation or an explosion' 3 BODY TOXIC: An Environmental Memoir 4 Nuclear waste truck under investigation 5 Debate explosive over nuclear waste disposal 6 Editorial: Conflict of interest inexcusable 7 DOE investigates low-level nuke shipment in Wendover 8 Watchdog: House bills give billions to energy firms 9 Michael Meacher announces new review of radiation risk models 10 Protesters fail to block German nuclear shipments 11 HOT SEAT / Spencer Abraham / Love energy, hate how it's produced 12 Officials: State ready for nuclear waste shipment 13 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Monday, July 30, 2001 14 Nuclear waste on way to UK 15 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Tuesday, July 31, 2001 16 U.S. News: Pricey life support for a nuclear reactor 17 Several S.C. towns finding radioactive pollutants 18 Energy Department Drops Contract to Perform Environmental Impact 19 Cabinet decides against holding nuclear power plant referendum 20 Nebraska Ready For Nuclear Waste Shipment 21 DPP caucus leader calls for shelving referendum on nuclear power 22 NRC Holds Public Meetings at Global Nuclear Fuel Plant August 7 23 SELLAFIELD MOX PLANT - GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES CONSULTANT'S REPORT 24 NRC Announces Opportunity For Hearing For License Renewal 25 NRC Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel to Meet 26 Firefighters train for the big derailment NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Vieques Residents Hope Bush Heeds Call 2 White House Stands Firm on Vieques 3 Vit plant fines highlight need for Bush's support 4 BSU scientists to study contaminants 5 Nevada wants Yucca lawyers probed 6 Industrial use of beryllium poses dangers 7 Mothballed Nuclear Subs Create Environmental Disaster, Says 8 CIA Role May Grow in Preventing Terror Attacks 9 Torpedoes may hamper Kursk recovery 10 SNS' Target Building substructure contract let 11 Compensation begins for workers sickened at nuclear facilities 12 Oak Ridge resource center is already busy 13 Coalition questions DOE safety officials' trustworthiness 14 Processing starts today on sick workers' cases 15 Fate of two K-25 buildings examined **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Nuclear waste truck being checked for leaks at Nevada border Today: July 31, 2001 at 11:40:44 PDT LAS VEGAS (AP) - A shipment of low-level nuclear waste headed for southern Nevada was being inspected Tuesday in West Wendover after foam was found around a container on the transport truck bed. Authorities said the truck, which had been on the way from upstate New York to the Nevada Test Site, was parked at a truck stop off Interstate 80. The federal Energy Department and a radiological health manager with the Nevada State Health Division said there didn't appear to be an immediate danger to the public. They said there was no sign that radioactivity had been released. "We tested for radiological leaks and didn't find anything," federal Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said Tuesday. Davis said technicians were taking precautionary steps to secure the shipment. "They're rewrapping it, repacking it and trying to figure out where this foam came from," he said. In a statement, the Energy Department said, "There is, apparently, no breach of the container containing the low-level waste and there have been no indications of any radiological release associated with the material and its container." The International Waste Removal truck departed West Valley, N.Y., near Buffalo, on Friday with a contaminated cargo of pipes, valves and packing material from a dismantled nuclear-waste reprocessing project, according to the Energy Department. Seven waste containers were destined for disposal at the Nevada Test Site, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Some 20 million cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste from Energy Department facilities is buried at the Test Site in 22-deep pits. Energy Department spokeswoman Ellen Doherty told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the foam could have come from a mixture of diesel fuel and water or from a reaction with a packing material called Waterworks. It keeps radioactive waste dry by absorbing condensation and foams in contact with water. Davis said the driver accidentally overfilled the truck's tank while refueling at West Wendover, on the Nevada-Utah border. He tried to wash spilled diesel fuel off the side of the truck and notified authorities early Monday after finding foam on the bed of the front trailer. Davis said the container around which the foam was found will be sent back to West Valley, near Buffalo. The other six metal containers will go back to the Test Site. Nevada lawmakers were seeking more information about the episode. Nathan Naylor, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the incident underscores a need for Congress to take a closer look at the transportation of radioactive materials. The Senate last week approved a Reid amendment to study the matter. In 1997, low-level nuclear waste shipments to the test site from a dismantled plant in Fernald, Ohio, were suspended for 18 months after a truck stopped in Kingman, Ariz., was found to have a leaking container. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 'The biggest fear is radiation or an explosion' BBC News | UK | Tuesday, 31 July, 2001, 10:47 GMT 11:47 UK Mark Girdlestone: A life in the ocean waves Diver Mark Girdlestone is taking part in one of the most ambitious salvage missions ever - to raise the Kursk submarine. At home, his wife is keeping a keen eye on developments. The mission to raise the Kursk submarine has provoked a mixed response from the wives of those who were killed in the disaster. But someone else keeping a close watch on the work is also experiencing a conflict of emotions - Jane Girdlestone, whose husband Mark is one of the team of divers sent down to recover the vessel. An experienced "saturation diver" Mark is spending up to a month working 100 metres below sea level, on the floor of the Barents Sea, off northern Russia. And although at the end of each day's work he will be hoisted up to the support ship which sits on the water's surface directly over the nuclear-powered Kursk, he remains a prisoner of the extraordinary atmospheric conditions in which he works. At the bottom of the sea Mark's body experiences the pressure of the water around him, which is about 10 times the pressure at sea level. If he remains in these conditions for more than a few minutes his body tissue becomes saturated with nitrogen. Were he then to rise to the surface unaided, he would suffer decompression sickness, also known as "the bends". [Mark Girdlestone in diving gear] Mark in his work "uniform" So when he is not working, Mark is confined to a sealed pressurised chamber that is attached to the side of the support ship. He shares the chamber, which is about the size of an average bathroom, with two Russian divers. The three are lowered to the sea floor daily in a pressurised diving bell and at the end of their mission will undergo a four to five-day decompression. The cramped accommodation and heavy work sound unpleasant and uncomfortable, but Mark, 42, is used to it. For several months he build and maintains oil rigs, platforms and pipelines on the bed of the North Sea. Although there are similarities, Jane says that in some ways the mission to recover the Kursk is like nothing he's ever done before. While Russian officials have been playing down the potential for danger, others are more sceptical. The Kursk, which sank after an on-board explosion, went down with 18 torpedoes and 24 Cruise missiles on board. There are fears these could still explode. [Jane and Mark Girdlestone] Jane hugs Mark who is posing in an old diving suit There are also fears the nuclear reactors which powered the submarine could leak radiation if disturbed. But everyone accepts that this is one of the most ambitious deep-sea salvage missions ever. The plan is to saw off a mangled section of the hull, which was severely damaged in the explosion last August, and leave it at the bottom of the sea. Divers will then fix 26 steel cables to the main part of the hull so it can be hoisted to the surface using hydraulic cranes. Usually this sort of wreck would be left undisturbed. But Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has staked his credibility on recovering the bodies of the 118 crew who died in the disaster. Jane says the offer of a place on the Kursk mission led to some tough questions for Mark, a father of three. "After he probably caught his breath, part of him said I really want this because it's ground-breaking engineering. Part of him, I think, thought yes this really is quite dangerous - I don't want to come back with two heads," says Jane. [Diver entering bell] A diver enters the bell that transports them to and from the sea floor "And part of him said he would be very proud because he wanted to actually try and help the Russian families as best he could. "He also knows that it's not the wish of all the families to raise the Kursk but it certainly is the wish of some of them. Unfortunately, with this type of job, it's all or nothing." "The biggest fear, for me, is radiation and the second biggest fear is that something goes wrong and there's an explosion. If there was, they would certainly lose their lives." But the team's expertise inspires confidence in her. Mark is a practised diver who spent seven years learning his skill in the Royal Navy. In 1982 he took part in a mission to recover the navy's first submarine, HMS Holland 1, which sank in 1913. Things have progressed greatly in the intervening 19 years and, thanks to e-mail, Jane is able to keep in daily contact with Mark while he is working. "These days Mark can write a letter, put it in the airlock for the operations room and they will then transcribe it into e-mail form and send it to me. I can e-mail that ship back and they can send my message back down to him. "It's fantastic. It's really kept us together," says Jane, who recalls how even a few years ago Mark lived in a news vacuum. "Mark must have been the only person that didn't know Princess Diana had died," says Jane, recalling how, at the time, he had been on an underwater maintenance task. So how does he while away the hours when he is not working? Mostly eating and sleeping, she says. "They will be performing heavy tasks so they will be getting dehydrated. [After a shift] they will want to get back into the bell [and] immediately want something to drink. Back in the chamber they have their meals passed to them through the airlock. The conditions and nature of the work mean that Mark will sleep up to 12 hours after an eight-hour shift. Mark has books and might even attempt to play cards with his Russian companions, although it could be difficult since he doesn't speak Russian. All three of them have to be vigilant about cleanliness since bacteria can multiply quickly in those conditions. And if one becomes ill, the other two will also have to be decompressed So far though, the mission seems to have gone without a hitch. From her home in Brightlingsea, Essex, Jane Girdlestone is hoping things stay that way. ***************************************************************** 3 BODY TOXIC: An Environmental Memoir Bookreporter.com - by Susanne Antonetta ISBN: 1582431167 Read an Excerpt The poisons come from within and they come from without. Susanne Antonetta's BODY TOXIC: An Environmental Memoir is a disturbing and haltingly readable book about some true-life horrors that most of us would prefer not to think about on a regular basis. Growing up in a polluted New Jersey beach town, Antonetta has suffered the emotional as well as physical ramifications of poor waste management and weak federal regulation against such things. The book has a strange shape to it. Antonetta, with her poet's sensibility, bounces around between her grandparents' immigrant tales to her self-medication and drug problems as a wild teen in the '70s to her attempts to overcome the infertility in her later life that most likely is a result of the summer days she spent swimming in a Jersey Shore town that was situated next to a Ciba-Geigy plant. The Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant released more radiation into its neighboring section of New Jersey than Three Mile Island did upon its breakdown. The larger pattern of health problems stemming from this situation affected Antonetta's family in many ways --- the hazardous waste that made its way into their drinking, bathing and recreational swimming waters makes the laundry list of medical ailments they fell victim to too long even to abridge here. Sometimes it is difficult to catch the flow of stories from one to another as they might fit into the bigger picture, but the bigger picture is really just about the tragedy that comes from without when the environment on which you depend for your survival is wrecked by those who don't care about consequences. You don't have to live in New Jersey yourself (although I do, and so the book made me more than appropriately wary about my family's health and safety in the Garden State) to wonder how your friends and relatives may have been affected by similar goings-on wherever they live. Antonetta sounds her siren by holding up the multiple tragedies and problems of her own life as examples of how the lack of environmental safety has affected her existence. She is still alive and that, perhaps, is the miracle of this memoir: it is hard to believe that, with all she did to herself and all that was done to her and her family without their knowledge, she has managed to survive, with a healthy combination of irony, fact-finding, and a mere nip of humor. It's not a funny book, BODY TOXIC, but there are moments where the elemental unforgiving of the horrors almost makes you laugh for joy that Antonetta's book is not your own story. This is a strange and disconcerting book, as much for its theme as for its presentation. The style of the book, the jumping back and forth, will make readers feel as if they are in the presence of a friend who is in the manic stage of manic depression and has the energy to keep talking, even if the stories don't jive together. This makes BODY TOXIC hard to take at first, but eventually you settle into Antonetta's hopping --- by the end of the book, it all adds up into one tragic horror that you won't soon forget. If you think our environmental problems in this country are getting better, read this. --- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano (c) Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 Nuclear waste truck under investigation Tuesday, July 31, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL A truck hauling low-level nuclear waste from upstate New York to the Nevada Test Site was detained Monday in West Wendover while inspectors determine if a foaming compound leaked from a container onto the truck's bed, authorities said. "I do not believe there is any danger at this time," said Stan Marshall, radiological health manager of the Nevada State Health Division. Department of Energy officials said radiation measurements taken by an agency team from Idaho that arrived at the scene late Monday confirmed there was no danger to the public. "There is, apparently, no breach of the container containing the low-level waste and there have been no indications of any radiological release associated with the material and its container," according to the Department of Energy's first statement that said "precautionary steps" were being taken. In a second statement, Energy Department officials said experts would "inspect and mitigate further loss of the absorbent, non-toxic material and prepare the shipment for a full safety review." Nevada lawmakers were seeking more information Monday night on the episode after being notified of it earlier in the day by Department of Energy officials. The International Waste Removal truck had departed West Valley, N.Y., on Friday with its contaminated cargo of pipes, valves and packing material from a dismantled nuclear-waste reprocessing project, according to the Energy Department. The seven containers holding the waste were destined for disposal at the Nevada Test Site, where some 20 million cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste from Energy Department facilities is buried in 22-foot-deep pits. In a telephone interview from West Wendover, Energy Department spokeswoman Ellen Doherty said equipment would be brought in today to lift a container off the truck "so we can look at the bottom to see if there are any leaks." "We're under the impression it's a reaction of the diesel fuel. It could be diesel fuel because diesel fuel when sprayed with water will foam," she said. Marshall said the driver had stopped to refuel in West Wendover. He said the driver accidentally over-filled the truck's tank and then tried to wash some of the spilled diesel fuel off the side of the truck. That's when the driver noticed what appeared to be a foaming compound on the bed of the front trailer and reported his discovery to local authorities about 9 a.m., Marshall said. Energy Department officials said the waste containers are packed with a sandlike material, called Waterworks, that keeps radioactive waste dry by absorbing condensation. It turns into a foam when it comes in contact with water. They said the driver presumed the material might have escaped from a container and followed safety guidelines by contacting the local fire department. "As it sits, the truck is off the interstate and is sequestered and secured at the truck stop," Marshall said. Nathan Naylor, a spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the incident underscores a need for Congress to take a closer look at the transportation of radioactive materials. The Senate last week approved a Reid amendment to study the matter. "Clearly this is exactly the kind of stuff our amendment goes to, taking a look at all the hazardous material and accidents waiting to happen," Naylor said. In 1997, low-level nuclear waste shipments to the test site from a dismantled plant in Fernald, Ohio, were suspended for 18 months after a truck stopped in Kingman, Ariz., was found to have a leaking container. Donrey Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report. webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 5 Debate explosive over nuclear waste disposal Volume: 2 Number: 24_monday July 30, 2001 By AMY L. BERNSTEIN Daily Record Business Writer The very notion that spent nuclear fuel rods from the could one day travel along Maryland’s highway and rail network may be chilling and even far-off — but to some experts, it’s also plausible. [Calvert Cliffs] Spent nuclear fuel rods from Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant could one day travel along the state’s highways and rail network. The U.S. Department of Energy is currently evaluating at least two possible sites for building a nuclear fuel storage facility in the Western United States. By year-end, the department is expected to issue a recommendation on whether to pursue one of them, in Yucca Mountain, Nev. Thus far, “the science looks pretty good” at , said Steve Unglesbee, a spokesman for Constellation Nuclear Services, which owns and operates the Calvert Cliffs plant. If and when such a storage facility is built — and it is by no means a political certainty — then Calvert Cliffs would use rail to ship up to 110 casks, each containing two dozen fuel assemblies, from its Calvert County plant over a period of several years. Moving that material, now stored onsite at the power plant, is the right thing to do, says Unglesbee. “A centralized facility that consolidates the fuel is better than storage at many [separate] sites,” he said. And according to Constellation, it’s safe. Within the last 30 years, just eight highway accidents — none involving a release of radiation — have occurred in connection with 3,000 shipments of nuclear fuel in the United States, Unglesbee says. Moreover, the casks designed to transport have been tested under severe conditions to withstand temperatures between 1,500 and 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or more, depending on conditions, says the Nuclear Energy Institute. “You don’t need a major release to have a serious contamination accident.” - Marvin Resnikoff “It’s phenomenal what they go through,” said Rose Clark, a hazardous materials expert in the Maryland Department of the Environment. “They’re better protected than anything that’s out there.” Though some radiation continues to leak while these casks are in transit, the exposure to humans is far less than that received by chest X-ray, nuclear experts say. What’s more, the material is encased in several protective layers and would be buffered by extra train cars. Still, the prospect of transporting nuclear waste through populated areas troubles some scientists and environmental activists. “You don’t need a major release to have a serious contamination accident,” said Marvin Resnikoff, a senior associate and physicist with Radioactive Waste Management Associates, a New York consulting firm. Each nuclear fuel assembly on each cask holds “10 times the amount of cesium and strontium released by the Hiroshima [atom] bomb,” Resnikoff said. “I’d be concerned” if such shipments were ever to traverse the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, or other aging rail infrastructure, he said. Some observers also question the ability of the casks to withstand a real disaster, despite their rigorous testing. “Regular diesel fuel burns at over 1,800 degrees, so you don’t need to have exotic chemicals to burn [more intensely] than the casks are designed to withstand,” said Diane D’Arrigo, a project director with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, an anti-nuclear nonprofit group. And the accident rate is bound to rise, D’Arrigo says, since moving spent fuel to Nevada or elsewhere would entail more than 20,000 shipments. Even if these threats appear unreal, the low-level radioactive material moving through Baltimore on a regular basis is very real. This year, the Port of Baltimore has issued 41 permits so far allowing “radioactive fissible material” to be moved by truck or rail from the docks, said Linda McCarty, a port spokeswoman. Last year, 70 permits were released. “Most of this stuff is not on a controlled route,” McCarty said. And it could, in theory, move through the Howard Street Tunnel, she says. McCarty could not identify either the exact nature of the cargo or its destination. But two years ago, she said, 1,800 tons of the stuff left the port. The state monitors only those radioactive shipments moving by highway, not rail. And the only authority to get a heads-up when such a shipment is about to move is state police headquarters in Pikesville. [Calvert Cliffs Map] An early draft of recommended routes for transporting nuclear waste cuts through Baltimore and other parts of Maryland. The heavy line is truck routes; the crossed lines are train routes. The black dots are locations of nuclear facilities. Copyright © 2000 The Daily Record. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 6 Editorial: Conflict of interest inexcusable Today: July 31, 2001 at 9:26:03 PDT Las Vegas SUN It is outrageous that the U.S. Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project has retained as its legal counsel the same law firm that for six years has been a lobbyist for the nuclear power industry. The DOE by law is supposed to be making an unbiased, independent assessment to see if Yucca Mountain is safe to bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste. It should have been patently obvious to the DOE that it was unethical to hire a firm that also was advocating that the dump should be built. How could a law firm possibly be trusted to provide untainted advice and alert the agency to possible flaws in the project at the same time it was representing a client that has such a huge interest in the outcome of this matter? But then again this is the same department that has been notorious for its lack of scientific rigor and that often does the bidding of the nuclear pow er industry. As the Sun's Benjamin Grove and Mary Manning reported Sunday, the DOE in 1999 needed outside legal expertise to help it prepare a license application for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission if Yucca Mountain eventually was found suitable. The DOE awarded a $16.5 million contract to Winston &Strawn, one of the nation's biggest law firms. It just so happens, however, that Winston &Strawn also were lobbyists for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear power industry's principal trade group that vigorously has sought the construction of a nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Winston &Strawn suddenly ended its representation for the industry on July 11, according to congressional records. Not so coincidentally the severing of ties happened shortly after the Sun had started digging into the relationship and had sought comment from the law firm. Now that Winston &Strawn's conflict of interest has been exposed, what should be done? For starters, the firm should no longer be allowed to do work for the DOE on the Yucca Mountain Project. For that matter, this latest example of bias demonstrates why this project should have been dismantled some time ago. Over the years DOE officials have told residents of Nevada not to worry, that they should trust that the agency will do a fair and impartial job regarding Yucca Mountain. Despite their proclamations of propriety, the department has proved time and again that it can't be trusted. The hiring of Winston &Strawn shows yet again that the DOE doesn't give a whit about protecting the health and safety of this area's residents. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 7 DOE investigates low-level nuke shipment in Wendover Today: July 31, 2001 at 10:43:26 PDT By Mary Manning LAS VEGAS SUN A container holding scrap metal contaminated with low-level radiation has been repacked and is being inspected today after white foam was discovered on a truck bed. The foam was found under the container Monday after the driver parked to refuel in Wendover on his way to the Nevada Test Site. The International Waste Removal Inc. truck was carrying the containers, filled with low-level nuclear waste from a defunct DOE West Valley, N.Y., reprocessing plant, to the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. West Wendover firefighters were called when the driver of the truck reported that he had spilled diesel fuel about 9 a.m. Monday, state officials said. DOE spokesman Joseph Davis said the foam appeared after water was used to wash away the diesel fuel. DOE experts suspect the water flushed out a nontoxic absorbent material, called Waterworks, that is packed around the containers, he said. The truck will remain in Wendover as DOE inspectors continue their investigation. Department of Energy and Nevada experts will ensure there is no radiation leaking from any of the containers before the truck continues to the Test Site, where the containers will be buried, said Stan Marshall, director of the state's radiological health division. No elevated radiation levels were detected on the container or the foam. "There is no radiological problem," Marshall said. "The DOE is responsible for the cleanup." DOE spokeswoman Ellen Doherty said the agency suspects the foam had been under a shipping box since it left New York. The latest incident was similar to a mishap in December 1997, when a truck carrying low-level nuclear sludge from a Fernald, Ohio, uranium processing plant stopped in Kingman, Ariz., after the driver noticed about two gallons of liquid running from a container. The liquid was not radioactive, but the incident resulted in a move by the DOE to improve the makeup of shipping containers that are sent to the Test Site. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 8 Watchdog: House bills give billions to energy firms Doug Abrahms/Gannett News Service BostonHerald.com - National Sunday, July 29, 2001 WASHINGTON - A package of House energy bills scheduled for debate next week contains more than $40 billion in tax breaks and subsidies for the oil, gas and coal industries over the next 10 years, an environmental group said. Oil and gas companies alone would receive about $24 billion in various forms of tax breaks, royalty relief and subsidies, according to an analysis by Friends of the Earth of three energy bills that passed House committees last week. This comes at a time when many energy companies have reported record profits, said Erich Pica, an economic policy analyst at the environmental group. ``They're maximizing their profits and maximizing their take from the taxpayers,'' he said. The industry breaks were contained in three separate energy bills that passed in the Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Science committees last week. The House Republican leadership plans to assemble the bills into an omnibus energy package for a vote on the House floor expected next week. The Joint Committee on Taxation, which reviews how much bills will cost, has estimated the bill approved by the Ways and Means Committee would provide $33.5 billion in tax credits, but the estimate did not break them down by industry. The committee has not yet analyzed the other two bills. Proponents say the bills give energy producers incentives to keep supplying oil and natural gas even when prices are low to reduce the price swings that consumers have faced recently when buying gasoline or paying their utility bills. The legislation also includes billions in incentives for electric vehicles, fuel cells for vehicles and buildings, and making homes and offices more energy efficient. ``These provisions are all differing ways of lessening our dependence on foreign oil,'' said Mark Gundersen, a Ways and Means spokesman. But environmentalists say the legislation focuses too much on production and not enough on conservation. Friends of the Earth calculates that the biggest beneficiaries include: Coal producers, who would get $13.5 billion for, among other things, developing clean-coal technology along with tax breaks for coal-burning power plants. Oil and gas industries, which would get $24 billion in incentives, including suspending some royalties paid to the federal government to drill offshore. The bills also offer tax credits to marginal wells when prices are low and could be carried back 10 years, so some companies could get refunds on taxes paid earlier. Nuclear operators, who could pick up $2.7 billion. Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive ***************************************************************** 9 Michael Meacher announces new review of radiation risk models UK Government: [M2 Communications Ltd.] Story Filed: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 10:12 AM EST Jul 31, 2001 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Environment Minister Michael Meacher today announced that the Government's independent advisory Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) has been asked to establish a new broad based working group to review the risks associated with internal radiation emitters and the need for further research. Membership of the working group will be announced soon and its remit will be "To consider the present risk models for radiation and health that apply to exposure to radiation from internal radionuclides in the light of recent studies and any further research that might be needed." The working group is the outcome of recent discussions between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Health and COMARE about the best way to evaluate the risks from radiation to ensure that the most valid risk models are used in radiation protection. The Working Group will produce and publish a report that will be considered by COMARE who will then advise the Government. Michael Meacher, Environment Minister, said: "There are significant differences of view among experts about the precise impacts of the internal ingestion of radionuclides and these need to be resolved. "This new Working Group will reach across all parties in the debate on risks of radiation, to assess the impact and reach a consensus on whether the current risk models continue to be valid." Professor Bridges, Chairman of COMARE welcomed the exercise. He said: "The Government has recently given Chairmen of Scientific Advisory Committees the responsibility of ensuring that all views are heard and taken into account when Committees formulate their advice. The risk from internal radioactivity is an area where, despite broad international consensus, there are several dissenting and sometimes mutually opposed viewpoints. "The working group will provide a real challenge to the holders of all viewpoints to argue their case and try and reach agreement. COMARE regards this as an important consultative exercise and will be listening carefully to the proceedings." Notes to Editors 1. The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) was established in November 1985 in response to the final recommendation of the report of the Independent Advisory Group chaired by Sir Douglas Black (Black, 1984). The Black Advisory Group had been commissioned by the Minister of Health in 1983 to investigate reports of a high incidence of leukaemia occurring in young people living in the village of Seascale, 3 km from the Sellafield nuclear site and the suggestion that there might be an association between the leukaemia incidence and the radioactive discharges from Sellafield. COMARE is an independent expert advisory committee with members chosen for their medical and scientific expertise and recruited from Universities and Research Institutes. Members are appointed by the Chief Medical Officer, but the Committee advises all Government Departments not just the Health Departments. The Committee offers Government independent medical and scientific advice on the health effects of ionising and non-ionising radiation in the environment, whether natural or man-made. COMARE's terms of reference are "to assess and advise Government and the devolved authorities on the health effects of natural and man-made radiation in the environment and to assess the adequacy of the available data and the need for further research". 2. Radionuclides are radioactive elements, some occur naturally but others are produced in processes such as nuclear power generation. People may be exposed to radiation from external sources, however radionuclides can also be ingested and inhaled. 3. Estimates of risks from radiation exposure are based mainly on the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These survivors include large numbers of men and women of all ages, who received a wide range of radiation doses and whose health has been studied over many years. The risk estimates also incorporate information from some groups of people who received radiation for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes; for example, those exposed to diagnostic x-rays in the womb. The atomic bomb survivors and some of the medically-exposed groups were exposed to external sources of radiation. To estimate risks for internal exposures due to intakes of radionuclides, doses are usually calculated to various parts of the body and combined with information on risks from the studies of external exposure. However, for some types of cancer, risk estimates are based directly on studies of people exposed internally to radionuclides. For example: - lung cancer from studies of uranium miners who inhaled radon; - liver cancer from studies of patients injected with Thorotrast, an x-ray contrast medium that contained thorium; and - bone cancer from studies of patients and dial painters exposed to radium. M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com. Copyright 1994-2001 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD ***************************************************************** 10 Protesters fail to block German nuclear shipments Protesters have tried to block a shipment of nuclear waste from southern Germany to the UK's reprocessing plant at Sellafield. Police said about 35 protesters tried to block the three containers as they headed by road from the plant at Neckarwestheim, Baden-Wuerttemberg, to a nearby depot to be loaded onto a train bound for Britain. About 700 officers were in place to secure the transport, carrying 21 spent fuel rods, and demonstrations along the route had been banned. The last shipment of German waste to Sellafield, in April, was marked by a sit-down protest at Neckarwestheim. Thousands of police prevented demonstrators from blocking that transport, which was the first to the British plant in almost three years. Germany halted all nuclear shipments in 1998 after radiation leaks were found in some containers. It also suspended dealings with the British plant last year in the wake of a scandal over fake records. Germany sends spent nuclear fuel from 19 power plants abroad for reprocessing under contracts that oblige the country to take back the resulting waste for storage. Waste shipments resumed in March with a train from France. 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 32 years of operation. Anti-nuclear activists want the plants shut down faster and say waste shipments are unsafe. Story filed: 09:13 Tuesday 31st July 2001 CHECK FOR MORE ON: Protests Environment Nuclear power UK Germany World INTERACTIVE: E-mail this story to a friend Copyright © 2001 Ananova Ltd Terms and conditions of use - ***************************************************************** 11 HOT SEAT / Spencer Abraham / Love energy, hate how it's produced Spencer Abraham Sunday, July 29, 2001 Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham came to the Bay Area recently to barnstorm on behalf of the Bush administration's much-besieged energy plan. Here are excerpts from his conversation with Chronicle reporters and editors: On conservation: California is the best example of great performance on conservation. But that alone is not able to sustain the economic growth that you've enjoyed and that we hope the country will enjoy. I don't think you can get much more in terms of conservation unless you're willing to impose significant lifestyle changes on the American people. On natural gas: The Energy Information Administration suggests that over the next 20 years, electricity demand is likely to increase about 45 percent. That's in no small measure a function of the information technology revolution. Almost all new electricity generation is fueled by natural gas. That's an untenable dependence on one fuel. We also have a growing infrastructure challenge. Our transmission system is not up to the load that we envision over the next 20 years. On alternative fuels: We're excited about new opportunities with respect to renewable and alternative fuels. Our plan is to concentrate resources on hydrogen, fuel cells and distributed energy. We must also keep hydropower in the mix and invest more in some renewable energy areas. There has been a fixation in the last 20 years on wind, geothermal and solar. We've spent about $6 billion on research in these areas. Today those three combined do not supply even one percent of our energy. On fights with California politicos: We came into office two years after Gov. Davis. He claims he inherited the problem, and yet somehow we're to blame. We responded to every one of his requests within the Energy's Department's purview, whether conservation, permit-expediting or almost anything else - except, obviously, for clear disagreements on price controls. While California advocates of price controls were in Washington demanding that something be done, no action was taken here to try to curtail prices charged by entities over which California has authority but over which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has none. The same is true with respect to refunds. FERC, to my knowledge, has no authority to order refunds from municipals or cooperatives. On gouging: If unreasonable rates have been charged, then they need to be refunded. I fully support FERC's efforts to seek refunds. But there's a big difference between that approach and the idea of arbitrarily setting $150 or a cost-based price cap, assuming that it would make blackouts no more likely to happen. The temperature, the economy and conservation have averted the blackouts (this summer). I don't think price mitigation has played much of a role. On price controls: Our (opposition) was premised on the notion that if you put price controls in place, you'd have the potential of a doubling or more of blackout hours. The price cap argument would fall apart instantaneously if, perish the thought, during a rolling blackout, a tragedy resulted. Price caps are always popular. If you ask people whether they're for price caps on 49ers tickets, I bet they'd be for them. On nuclear power: Right now nuclear energy supplies 20 percent of our electricity. Forecasts foresee nuclear declining over the next 20 years because of plants going off- line because of uncertainties over what to do with nuclear waste. One of the biggest challenges I'll have this year is receiving the final site science study for the Yucca Mountain, Nev., repository and to determine whether I can recommend that we go forward and seek a license, which means whether I believe we can safely store waste in that fashion. We want to keep nuclear in the mix. Nuclear plants in this country have become far more safe. In an ideal world, we'd be able to expand the role of nuclear for a lot of reasons. It is very clean. As we concern ourselves with greenhouse gas emissions, there is no better electricity generation in terms of mass quantity than nuclear. On energy policy critics: We are getting a bum rap. Our projections are not tilted in the direction of just more supply. We envision most of the gains over the next 20 years through conservation. The goal is to increase the supply and increase the competition in the markets for energy. That would drive down prices and benefit consumers ? as opposed to the scarce, very tight markets we have in California and elsewhere. Americans love energy. We just hate the way we produce and distribute it. We've got people who don't like nuclear energy and people who don't like coal. We have a strong contingent opposed to hydropower. I've been amused by the anti-wind power community now, who feel that it's unsightly and endangers animals. Spencer Abraham ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle   Page D - 4 ***************************************************************** 12 Officials: State ready for nuclear waste shipment theIndependent.com News: 073001 news 3 The Grand Island Independent LINCOLN (AP) -- Environmental officials are confident Nebraskans will be safe when a shipment of nuclear waste crosses the state on a train later this summer. --> Published Monday, July 30, 2001 Fuel rods to be shipped on U.P. line this summer Last modified at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, July 30, 2001 LINCOLN (AP) -- Environmental officials are confident Nebraskans will be safe when a shipment of nuclear waste crosses the state on a train later this summer. The time the waste will pass through will not be released for security reasons, but Nebraska residents would have little to fear even if they knew when the material was in the state, officials said. The waste, radioactive fuel rods from West Valley, N.Y., is heading to a disposal site in Idaho. The 40-ton shipment on the Union Pacific rail line will travel through Southeast Nebraska near Fairbury, up to Interstate 80 and through Kimball to the Wyoming state line. The fuel rods are sealed tight in casks that the U.S. Department of Energy has tested for high-impact crashes. "I don't feel there is any hazard because the casks are well-built," Jon Schwarz of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said. "The anti-nuke people say they are not adequately tested, but they are wrong." A truck shipment of nuclear waste passed through Nebraska earlier this summer without any problems. Similar shipments could be common occurrences if plans proceed to open a new nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Not everyone thinks that's a good idea. Kevin Kamps, a leading opponent of shipping nuclear waste, said the shipments are disasters just waiting to happen. He said it would only take one small accident to turn into a catastrophe. State officials have safety routines for such shipments, which Schwarz said have never leaked radioactive material in Nebraska. Last year, DOE shipped 26 trains carrying radioactive material through Nebraska to dumping grounds in Idaho, Utah and Nevada. Trucks carried 528 DOE shipments of hazardous materials last year along Interstate 80. "We haven't had any problems, and I feel the coordination of efforts has paid off with a very good system," said Nebraska State Patrol Major Bryan Tuma. "We could be seeing up to 80 percent of all the rail shipments of nuclear waste and 60 percent of all the highway shipments of nuclear waste coming through the state in the years to come," he said. "We are as ready as we can be." Chris Peterson, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Johanns, said the state is aware of the route and has security measures ready if there is a problem. Nebraska has been in training for the high-level radioactive waste shipment for two years. "We have done training across the state, with local officials, hospitals and other first-response personnel. We believe we are ready for any problems," Schwarz said. On The Net: Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory: http://www.inel.gov/ © 2001 The Grand Island Independent AP materials © 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Monday, July 30, 2001 State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Monday, July 30, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC PERR web site ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item ID: 012080168 Accession Number: ML012070420 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:36:22 AM Title: 07/26/01 Letters to Senators Jeff Bingaman and Murkowski Enclosing Responses to Questions Asked at the June 26, 2001, Hearing on Price-Anderson Act. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCA Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080291 Accession Number: ML012070154 Date Added: 7/27/01 4:12:27 PM Title: 07/30/2001 - 09/03/2001 Commission Meetings - FRN. Author Affiliation: NRC/SECY Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080243 Accession Number: ML012080038 Date Added: 7/27/01 11:12:13 AM Title: 08/08/2001 - Notice of Meeting Between the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on Fire Induced Circuit Failures. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RGEB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080021 Accession Number: ML012040279 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:12:33 AM Title: 08/29/91 Letter from John W. Bartlett to Honorable Ivan Selin, Chairman, regarding civilian high-level radioactive waste management program. Author Affiliation: US Dept of Energy, Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Mgmt (OCRWM) Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080188 Accession Number: ML012040364 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:39:01 AM Title: June 12-13, 2001 Summary-Meeting on PBMR Author Affiliation: NRC/RES/DRAA Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080144 Accession Number: ML011870186 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:23:47 AM Title: NRC/NEI/Stakeholder Meeting on Risk From Spent Fuel Pools at Decommissioning Reactors, November 19, 1999. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DSSA/SPSB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080191 Accession Number: ML012040570 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:39:14 AM Title: PCE REPORT - 7/16/2001 - Ltr. plus Attachment 1 - Preliminary Compliance Evaluation Reports for Safety Analysis Report Upgrade for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/FCSS/SPB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080193 Accession Number: ML012010137 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:39:30 AM Title: PFS - NRC Staff's Response to Applicant's Motion for Summary Disposition of Utah Contention DD - Ecology and Species. Author Affiliation: NRC/OGC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080098 Accession Number: ML012010178 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:19:46 AM Title: PFS - NRC Staff's Response to Applicant's Motion for Summary Disposition of Utah Contention O - Hydrology. Author Affiliation: NRC/OGC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080194 Accession Number: ML012070212 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:39:35 AM Title: Press Release-I-01-047: NRC to Meet with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company to Discuss Performance at Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-I/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-I-01-047 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080195 Accession Number: ML012070305 Date Added: 7/27/01 10:39:40 AM Title: Press Release-II-01-022: NRC to Meet with Duke Energy Officials to Discuss Safety Performance at Catawba Nuclear Power Plant. Author Affiliation: NRC/OPA:RGN-II/FO Document/Report Number: Press Release-II-01-022 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012080241 Accession Number: ML011870129 Date Added: 7/27/01 11:12:05 AM Title: Viewgraphs: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Briefing on Draft Final Technical Study of Spent Fuel Pool Accident Risk at Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plants. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 14 Nuclear waste on way to UK Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Limited WWW.BELFASTTELEGRAPH.CO.UK INTERNET PUBLICATION DATE:Tuesday, 31 July 2001 THREE containers loaded with nuclear waste left a power plant in southern Germany under heavy security early today, bound for Cumbria's Sellafield reprocessing plant. Police said about 35 protesters tried to block the shipment as it headed by road from the plant at Neckarwestheim, in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, to a nearby depot to be loaded onto a train for the journey to Britain. But the demonstrators were quickly cleared from the road and the shipment was able to continue, police said. About 700 officers were in place to secure the transport, carrying 21 spent fuel rods, and demonstrations along the route had been banned. The last shipment of German waste to Sellafield, in April, was marked by a sit-down protest at Neckarwestheim. Germany sends spent nuclear fuel from 19 power plants abroad for reprocessing under contracts that oblige the country to take back the resulting waste for storage. Telegraph Newspapers Ltd. > TEXT-ONLY EDITION < ***************************************************************** 15 ADAMS: Items of Interest - Tuesday, July 31, 2001 State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects ADAMS - Items of Interest Recent Released Documents Added - Tuesday, July 31, 2001 These documents and others may be retrieved at the NRC PERR web site ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Item ID: 012110008 Accession Number: ML012010414 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:21:15 AM Title: "Ground-Water Hydrology at the White Mesa Tailings Facility." Author Affiliation: Hydro-Engineering, L.L.C. Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110232 Accession Number: ML012050415 Date Added: 7/30/01 1:15:50 PM Title: 06/21/2001 Summary of LR meeting between the U.S. NRC and the NEI license renewal working group; Entergy for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1 (ANO-1); SNC for Hatch Nuclear Plant (Plant Hatch), 1 and 2; and for Turkey Point, 3 and 4. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLSB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110153 Accession Number: ML012010225 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:15:56 AM Title: 06/22/2001 New Mexico Integrated Materials Performance Evalution Program Questionnaire for Reporting Period August 1997 to May 2001. Author Affiliation: NRC/STP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110233 Accession Number: ML012080059 Date Added: 7/30/01 1:15:57 PM Title: 07/12/2001 Public Meeting with Duke Energy Corporation on the License Renewal Application for McGuire, Units 1 and 2 and Catawba, Units 1 and 2. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLSB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110155 Accession Number: ML011690328 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:16:23 AM Title: 07/20/01 Letter to Congress provides the May Report on NRC's Status of Licensing and Regulatory Duties Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM/RAM Document/Report Number: CORR-01-0094 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110239 Accession Number: ML012110067 Date Added: 7/30/01 1:16:38 PM Title: 07/26/01 Letter to the Honorable Frank Murkowski Enclosing Post Hearing Questions from the May 24, 2001, Hearing on Price-Anderson Act. Author Affiliation: NRC/OCA Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110016 Accession Number: ML012010342 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:24:39 AM Title: 08/04/87 - Ltr to Library of Congress re NRC Charter for the HLW Licensing Support System Advisory Committee. Author Affiliation: NRC/SECY Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110148 Accession Number: ML012080313 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:13:43 AM Title: 08/07/01 - Meeting Notice: Holtec International to discuss issues associated with the use of Holtec's NRC-approved Quality Assurance (QA) Program Attachment: Agenda. Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/SFPO Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110363 Accession Number: ML012110338 Date Added: 7/30/01 6:11:35 PM Title: 08/29/2001 - Notice of Meeting with Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) on NEI 97-06, "Steam Generator Program Guidelines." Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DRIP Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110030 Accession Number: ML012040292 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:26:55 AM Title: 7/23/2001 Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Certificate Amendment Request: Review of Technical Safety Requirement 2.6.3.5 (TAC No. L32169). Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/FCSS Document/Report Number: ML012040292 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110031 Accession Number: ML012050573 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:26:59 AM Title: 7/24/01 Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Certificate Amendment Request Technetium Traps in the C-360 Toll Transfer and Sampling Facility (TAC No. L32167). Author Affiliation: NRC/NMSS/FCSS Document/Report Number: ML012050573 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110273 Accession Number: ML011900105 Date Added: 7/30/01 4:12:45 PM Title: Additional Comments Concerning Seismic Screening & Seismic Risk of Spent Fuel Pools for Decommissioning Plants. Author Affiliation: Structural Mechanics Consulting Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110358 Accession Number: ML012110177 Date Added: 7/30/01 4:22:23 PM Title: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Meeting on Materials & Metallurgy/Thermal Hydro Relaibility & Probabilistic Risk Assessment, July 9, 2001, pages 1-158. Author Affiliation: NRC/ACRS Document/Report Number: ACRS-3163 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110046 Accession Number: ML012010278 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:28:25 AM Title: BWX Technologies, Inc. - request for additional 30-day extension to 30-day for completion of receipt measurements & distribution of DOE/NRC Form 741. Author Affiliation: BWX Technologies, Inc. Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110299 Accession Number: ML011900049 Date Added: 7/30/01 4:14:45 PM Title: E-mail regarding NEI Response to Our Proposed Meeting Agenda. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110163 Accession Number: ML011590406 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:18:43 AM Title: G20010207/LTR-01-0258 - Rep. Price Ltr re: OSRE Program Author Affiliation: NRC/Chairman Document/Report Number: CPRR-01-0095 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110165 Accession Number: ML011970156 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:19:28 AM Title: G20010293/LTR-01-0347 - Sen. Strom Thurmond Ltr. re: NRC's activities in support of National Energy Policy Author Affiliation: NRC/OCM Document/Report Number: CORR-01-0101 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110064 Accession Number: ML012010068 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:30:11 AM Title: International Uranium Corporation Appreciation Letter for Comments Recieved from Utah Department of Environmental Quality Division of Radiation Control Transmitted by Letter Dated 3/20/01. Author Affiliation: International Uranium (USA) Corp Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110325 Accession Number: ML011860303 Date Added: 7/30/01 4:18:39 PM Title: Items from Last Week's Meetings on TWG Report. Author Affiliation: NRC Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110211 Accession Number: ML011870539 Date Added: 7/30/01 1:13:56 PM Title: July 19, 2000 Public Meeting Agenda. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110169 Accession Number: ML012010352 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:19:58 AM Title: NASA - Amendment No. 28 Author Affiliation: NRC/RGN-IV/DNMS/NMLB Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110095 Accession Number: ML012010185 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:32:45 AM Title: NRC Actions and March 22-24, 1988 Meeting. Author Affiliation: The Conservation Foundation Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110096 Accession Number: ML012000481 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:32:59 AM Title: NUREG/CR-6698, "Guide for Validation of Nuclear Criticality Safety Calculational Methodology." Author Affiliation: NRC, Science Applications International Corp Document/Report Number: NUREG/CR-6698 _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110195 Accession Number: ML011870394 Date Added: 7/30/01 1:12:11 PM Title: Public Comments/Staff Commitments. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110100 Accession Number: ML012010247 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:33:24 AM Title: Quality Assurance Program for Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials. Author Affiliation: Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110208 Accession Number: ML011870533 Date Added: 7/30/01 1:13:36 PM Title: Spent Fuel Pool Accident Consequences Tables. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110261 Accession Number: ML011860278 Date Added: 7/30/01 4:11:41 PM Title: Spent Fuel Pool Boxes, Draft Final Report said (Conclusion are based only on decay of spent fuel). Author Affiliation: - No Known Affiliation Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110173 Accession Number: ML012070032 Date Added: 7/30/01 11:20:35 AM Title: Tennessee Valley Authority Prehearing Statement of Facts and Issues to be Litigated Author Affiliation: Tennessee Valley Authority, Winston & Strawn Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110119 Accession Number: ML012010037 Date Added: 7/30/01 10:35:34 AM Title: Transmittal of Meeting Handout Materials for Immediate Placement in the Public Domain, Scheduled for 07/17/01, to Discuss Control Room in-Leakage Testing to be Performed at Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2. Author Affiliation: NRC/NRR/DLPM/LPD2-1 Document/Report Number: _________________________________________________________________ Item ID: 012110338 Accession Number: ML011860192 Date Added: 7/30/01 4:20:14 PM Title: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Information & Analyses, "Assessment of Spent Fuel Cooling." Author Affiliation: NRC/AEOD Document/Report Number: ***************************************************************** 16 U.S. News: Pricey life support for a nuclear reactor Business &Technology 8/6/01 By Samantha Levine RICHLAND, WASH.–From a distance, the white dome floats in a sea of cheatgrass and sagebrush, with only Rattlesnake Mountain providing visual relief. Few vehicles roam the narrow road leading to the fenced-in complex. The inactivity, oddly, is apt. This is the location of the nation's largest and latest nuclear test reactor, a multibillion-dollar venture that for a decade has been a monument to inertia. The 20-year-old Fast Flux Test Facility isn't running so much as it's idling. Since 1993, it has been in standby mode, at a cost to taxpayers of $40 million a year, a textbook case of how the federal government can spend millions to avoid making a decision. The dogged persistence of local politicians, nuclear research companies, and local interest groups has led to a series of reviews that have sustained the project, which has now outlasted four presidents and cost taxpayers $474 million. Environmentalists, politicians, and antinuclear groups–who think enough is enough–are pressing for it to be shut down for good. "People don't realize how much money has been chewed up," says Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has long fought against the facility. "There is no case for the FFTF. They have been out there for years looking under every possible rock trying to find anything that would pass the smell test." There was a case, once. The U.S. energy crisis of the mid-1970s was a boom time for the nascent nuclear industry. Fast breeder reactors, which produce plutonium to be used as nuclear fuel and can serve as a long-term energy source, were seen as the best answer to the problems of a nation wedded to oil for its energy needs. The FFTF was the prototype for the breeder program and, in the end, was the only model ever built. President Carter deferred the breeder initiative in 1977, citing fears that plutonium production would fuel nuclear weapons proliferation. But the FFTF went online anyway in 1982, as other missions were found for it. For years it produced medical isotopes, tested materials used to build other U.S. reactors, and served as a national nuclear research study center. But relying on a state-of-the-art nuclear reactor proved an extravagant, and inefficient, way to accomplish tasks that could be done elsewhere. So in 1990, the Department of Energy decided to start shutting it down. Local politicians and corporations such as Westinghouse, which built the reactor, moved to find new missions for the facility and marketed it to overseas research programs. In 1993, the reactor was placed on standby, running at half staff with 230 workers and just enough juice to live in limbo. Some think it's time to move on. Says A. David Rossin, who served as DOE's assistant secretary for nuclear energy from 1986 to 1987: "We have gotten along for 10 years without [the reactor], and we could continue to do so." The end nearly came last year. Then Energy Secretary Bill Richardson decided that the test reactor should be permanently shuttered. But before he could carry out the execution, he was out of office. The Bush administration wants nuclear power to play a substantial role in its national energy strategy. Spencer Abraham, the new Energy boss, kept FFTF alive by ordering a 90-day review at the request of Rep. Doc Hastings, a Republican who represents the reactor's home district. "The story of FFTF is a prime example of local interests showing their power in Washington," says the Public Education Center, a nonprofit information clearinghouse. Has- tings's rationale? "It's the most advanced nuclear reactor in the U.S. arsenal," he says. "If we are going to have a nuclear policy, it seems to me that an FFTF should be part of that." Once and for all. A final verdict will still be hard to reach. Once the core's liquid sodium coolant is drained, the plant can never again be restarted. "There will be no resurgence in nuclear energy research in this country" if the FFTF is shut down, says Walter Apley, associate lab director of the Environmental Technology Division at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Restarting the reactor isn't the cleanest answer, either. Aside from the cost, a big problem facing the FFTF is its location on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The site was home to the Manhattan Project during World War II and is now one of the world's largest environmental cleanup challenges. There are nearly 54 million gallons of highly radioactive waste buried in hundreds of leaky underground tanks at the 560-square-mile site along the Columbia River in south-central Washington. Firing up a waste-making reactor, when the only mission at Hanford is cleanup, is "asinine," says Hyun Lee, an attorney with Heart of America Northwest, the environmental health group helping to lead the fight against FFTF. Abraham's turn to decide comes in the next few weeks. Will inertia prevail, again? SPECIAL REPORT Access our full coverage on the energy crunch. For more energy news, visit our briefing book on the politics of energy You are leaving a nuclear-free zone: New technology promises safer nuclear power. (5/21/01) Burn, baby, burn: There's no secret to this energy plan. (5/14/01) The nuclear wasteland: Russia's plan to import spent nuclear fuel risks making a bad situation worse. (2/26/01) Power surge: Do nuclear reactors have the juice? (2/12/01) Fast Flux Test Facility. Read more about the future of the nuclear test reactor–and the future of nuclear power. © 2001 U.S.News &World Report Inc. All rights ***************************************************************** 17 Several S.C. towns finding radioactive pollutants Two towns in Aiken County have found radium in water By SAMMY FRETWELL and JOEY HOLLEMAN Staff Writers Wells in parts of central South Carolina are threatened by radioactive pollutants like those found in the Upstate's groundwater. Earlier this year, state regulators discovered elevated levels of radium in wells that supply the towns of Jackson and Perry in Aiken County. All told, the towns' water systems serve nearly 5,000 people, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control says. DHEC also has included parts of Richland, Lexington, Newberry, Fairfield and Kershaw counties on a list of 22 counties vulnerable to uranium contamination in groundwater. Uranium can damage people's kidneys. Radium, formed as uranium breaks down over time, can cause bone cancer. It would take years of exposure to create health problems for most people, but federal and state health regulators say the potential is nothing to dismiss. Joe Rucker, an assistant water bureau chief at DHEC, said anybody drilling a private well in northwestern Richland, Kershaw and Lexington counties, as well as all of Fairfield and Newberry, should have the water checked for uranium and radium. The area's geology, which is similar to that of the Upstate, makes it susceptible to uranium pollution, experts say. Radioactive pollution of drinking water is a hot issue these days in the Upstate. There, about 90 people with polluted wells showed elevated levels of uranium, according to urine tests conducted earlier this year. Radiation-tinged water in the Upstate and the Midlands is believed to be naturally occurring, a product of groundwater's rushing over rocks that contain radioactive elements. Scientists don't suspect man-made pollution as a source in most cases. Geologists say uranium is more likely to be a widespread problem in the Piedmont, or Upstate, because the area contains more granite and metamorphic rocks, where radioactive materials would be concentrated. Still, in the Columbia and Aiken areas, some groundwater is tainted because natural radioactive elements filtered down from the Upstate over millions of years, say geologists at DHEC and the University of South Carolina. "We know these rocks in the Piedmont can have (radioactive material) in them," said Brent Allen, DHEC's district geologist in Aiken. "The material has just weathered into places like Aiken County over the years." Near Columbia, those most affected by potentially tainted groundwater are those who use private wells. People have installed more than 6,600 wells in Richland and Lexington counties since the state began regulating them in 1985, the agency reports. Much of the rest of the area is served by public water systems that draw from rivers or Lake Murray, which are surface-water bodies. Statewide, about 40 percent of South Carolina relies on wells for drinking water, DHEC reports. In the early 1980s, tests identified high levels of radioactivity in some wells used by the town of Leesville, west of Columbia, Rucker said. Elevated levels of radioactive contaminants forced Leesville to abandon its well system and begin buying water from nearby Batesburg. The towns have since merged. Also in the 1980s, high levels of radioactive pollution showed up in the Oak Grove area of Lexington County, Rucker said. Wells there were deep, dug into the bedrock. The area's water company had to use more shallow wells to avoid the problem and now buys water from municipal providers. These days, Aiken County has the most notable problem with radioactive pollutants in central South Carolina. But state officials say it's not because of contamination from the nearby Savannah River Site nuclear weapons complex. Myra Reece, DHEC's district director in Aiken, said the agency found no evidence in test wells that radiation-tinged groundwater was flowing from SRS to Jackson or Perry. Wells placed between the site and Jackson showed the groundwater between them was not tainted, she said. "We feel it is naturally occurring, as it is in other parts of the state," she said. Regardless of the source, both towns have a problem they must resolve. "Once we get to the point where we know what remedy to use, we'll use it," Reece said. "The hard part is trying to come up with the best remedy." The wells in Jackson and Perry are still being used for drinking water because the concern with radium is long-term exposure, she said. Someone who drinks from these water systems for a relatively short period of time isn't likely to get sick, DHEC officials say. Jackson exceeded the federal radium limit of 5 pica-curies per liter of water when it registered levels ranging from 6.2 to 6.58 in the past year. Jackson has 3,942 customers. Within the last year, samples from Perry registered levels ranging from 6.63 to 8.5 pica-curies per liter of water. Perry has 875 customers. For now, the towns are exploring the possibility of drilling new wells or treating the water to cleanse it of radium. One treatment process would involve softening the water to filter out radium. "We're going to do whatever it takes to bring our water back to within federal standards," said Bill Dennis, a Jackson councilman who oversees the water system. ? Copyright 2001 The State-Record Company ***************************************************************** 18 Energy Department Drops Contract to Perform Environmental Impact Statement for Radioactive Metals Recycling July 30, 2001 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Responding to scrutiny from public interest organizations and a lawyer who has represented nuclear workers, the Department of Energy (DOE) last week revoked its contract with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to evaluate plans to release and recycle radioactive metals from DOE facilities. At a meeting with DOE officials last Monday, Public Citizen and other citizen organizations raised questions about the process that led DOE to hire SAIC to perform a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for the proposed recycling. The DOE canceled the contract on Wednesday. The DOE's choice of SAIC earlier this year followed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) termination of another SAIC contract – also related to radioactive waste recycling – upon the discovery that the company had a conflict of interest within its regulatory agency contracts. The conflict stems from SAIC’s role as a "regulatory compliance" partner with British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL), which in 1997 was awarded a quarter-billion dollar DOE contract to recycle radioactive nickel at the DOE’s Oak Ridge, Tenn., facility. The NRC subsequently awarded SAIC a separate contract to provide independent expertise as part of its effort to establish standards for the recycling. SAIC prepared the NRC's NUREG 1640, the official NRC report that "documents the technical basis for the [NRC] to use in developing regulatory standards for clearing equipment and materials with residual radioactivity from nuclear facilities." In effect, while profiting from the BNFL project to recycle radioactive materials from DOE facilities, SAIC was hired by the NRC to write the standards that would regulate recycling at commercial nuclear power facilities. In early 2000, following citizen complaints that SAIC had a conflict of interest, the NRC terminated this SAIC contract. Citizen groups raised the same conflict-of-interest objections about the subsequent DOE contract with SAIC to perform the environmental assessment. In September 2000, the DOE's Inspector General reported that the BNFL activities had actually increased risk to the public, stating that "BNFL did not perform accurate surveys of contaminated metals before the contractor released the metals for recycling on the open market. … As a result, there was increased risk to the public that contaminated metals were released from the site." In last Monday's meeting with DOE representatives, the concerned groups demanded to see various documents regarding the SAIC contract award, including the contract itself and all conflict-of-interest disclosure materials that SAIC should have provided to the DOE. "While this contract withdrawal is a small step in the right direction, the DOE still needs to do much more to guarantee that its radioactive waste and materials won't end up in commerce or the general environment," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The DOE's contract with SAIC was either a horrible lapse in judgment or a slap in the face to Americans who do not want to be exposed to additional radiation. In any case, it's ridiculous that this PEIS is even being performed. The current suspension on recycling metals should be made permanent and should be expanded to all other radioactive materials." Dan Guttman, a Washington, D.C. attorney who has represented nuclear workers, said: "It is critical for the public to understand that responsible DOE officials evidently did not red-flag the conflict-of-interest and responsible contractor issues raised by the award. The good news is that they were responsive to citizens who pointed these red flags out. This situation just demonstrates how crucial it is to have citizen involvement in every step of the process. Transparency is key in demonstrating contract award responsibility." The DOE has no plans to cancel or postpone its public meetings on radioactive recycling, which currently are slated to begin on July 31 and will be held primarily in locations and venues that are typically friendly to the nuclear industry. For instance, the meeting in Oak Ridge is to be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy – previously known as the American Museum of Atomic Energy, which is part of the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory nuclear complex. "The release of radioactive metals into public commerce is of national concern, " said Trisha Christopher, program assistant for Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. "Public hearings should accurately reflect those communities that will be directly affected. The SAIC documents, as well as the contract for the company that is approved to perform the PEIS, should be made public to allow concerned citizens to study those materials well before any public scoping meetings occur. The selection of a PEIS contractor can say a lot about the agency's actual goals." Added Public Citizen policy analyst David Ritter: "The only acceptable outcome to this PEIS – one that prioritizes public health over the desires of the nuclear industry – will be a permanent and unambiguous ban on the release or recycling of all radioactive materials and contaminated property. To legalize the recycling of radioactivity into consumer products indicates a callous disregard for public health." Public Citizen ***************************************************************** 19 Cabinet decides against holding nuclear power plant referendum The Taipei Times Online: 2001-07-31 July 31st, 2001 STAFF WRITER The Cabinet has decided against holding a non-binding referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant when voters go to the polls at the end of this year, the Chinese-language media said yesterday. Cabinet Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (ªô¸q¤¯) is expected to formally announce the decision today, after a meeting of a five-member evaluation panel. "The Executive Yuan will give everyone a clear answer [today]," reports quoted an unnamed official as saying yesterday. Officials from the Presidential Office and the Cabinet have been seeking the understanding of former DPP chairman Lin Yi-hsiung (ªL¸q¶¯), who had been pushing for a referendum. Earlier this month, Lin harshly criticized the DPP government over the issue, saying anyone opposed to the referendum wasn't qualified to hold office in a democratic nation -- whether president, premier or a legislator. Legally, any referendum during the year-end polls would be non-binding, as the nation has yet to enact a public referenda law. The Cabinet will continue educational programs on the hazards of nuclear power, reports said yesterday. Officials at the DPP's headquarters refused to comment on the news. The party is also expected to make an official response to the announcement. The DPP came to power on an anti-nuclear platform. In October last year, the Cabinet's decision to halt construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant triggered a backlash from the opposition parties, which rallied to form an alliance and threatened to recall President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó). The Cabinet resumed construction of the plant in February after the Council of Grand Justices ruled that its earlier decision to scrap the project was procedurally flawed. The DPP is now seeking to decommission the three nuclear plants presently operating in Taiwan within 10 years. This story has been viewed 154 times. Copyright © 1999-2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 Nebraska Ready For Nuclear Waste Shipment Press &Dakotan - 073001 news 1 2 yankton.net Environmental officials are confident Nebraskans will be safe when a shipment of nuclear waste crosses the state on a train later this summer. --> Web posted Monday, July 30, 2001 LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Environmental officials are confident Nebraskans will be safe when a shipment of nuclear waste crosses the state on a train later this summer. The time the waste will pass through will not be released for security reasons, but Nebraska residents would have little to fear even if they knew when the material was in the state, officials said. The waste, radioactive fuel rods from West Valley, N.Y., is heading to a disposal site in Idaho. The 40-ton shipment on the Union Pacific rail line will travel through Southeast Nebraska near Fairbury, up to Interstate 80 and through Kimball to the Wyoming state line. The fuel rods are sealed tight in casks that the U.S. Department of Energy has tested for high-impact crashes. ''I don't feel there is any hazard because the casks are well-built,'' Jon Schwarz of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said. ''The anti-nuke people say they are not adequately tested, but they are wrong.'' A truck shipment of nuclear waste passed through Nebraska earlier this summer without any problems. Similar shipments could be common occurrences if plans proceed to open a new nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Not everyone thinks that's a good idea. Kevin Kamps, a leading opponent of shipping nuclear waste, said the shipments are disasters just waiting to happen. He said it would only take one small accident to turn into a catastrophe. State officials have safety routines for such shipments, which Schwarz said have never leaked radio active material in Nebraska. Last year, DOE shipped 26 trains carrying radioactive material through Nebraska to dumping grounds in Idaho, Utah and Nevada. Trucks carried 528 DOE shipments of hazardous materials last year along Interstate 80. ''We haven't had any problems, and I feel the coordination of efforts has paid off with a very good system,'' said Nebraska State Patrol Major Bryan Tuma. ''We could be seeing up to 80 percent of all the rail shipments of nuclear waste and 60 percent of all the highway shipments of nuclear waste coming through the state in the years to come,'' he said. ''We are as ready as we can be.'' Chris Peterson, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Johanns, said the state is aware of the route and has security measures ready if there is a problem. Nebraska has been in training for the high-level radioactive waste shipment for two years. ''We have done training across the state, with local officials, hospitals and other first-response personnel. We believe we are ready for any problems,'' Schwarz said. The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan . ***************************************************************** 21 DPP caucus leader calls for shelving referendum on nuclear power plant The Taipei Times Online: 2001-07-29 July 29th, 2001 By Stephanie Low STAFF REPORTER Before the end of this month, the Executive Yuan is expected to announce the results of its research into holding a non-binding referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant project during the year-end legislative elections. While it is unclear what those results may be, the public and many DPP politicians have already expressed disapproval of the idea. Tsai Huang-liang (½²·×·ã), chief executive of the DPP's legislative caucus, said yesterday that party headquarters had recently surveyed the party's candidates for December's legislative election and the heads of local divisions. He said this survey -- and public opinion polls -- showed little support for the referendum. The outcome of the polls was sent to the Executive Yuan for its reference, Tsai said. The results were consistent with those of a recent survey which revealed that, out of 66 DPP lawmakers, only 18 supported the referendum. Tsai, who opposes holding the referendum, said the DPP should put aside any debate on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and focus on maintaining political stability. While holding the referendum will inevitably trigger a fresh round of confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties, the result of the referendum, without the support of a law, will be insufficient to change the existing nuclear policy, Tsai said. He said giving up the idea of holding the non-binding referendum would not mean the DPP is abandoning its pursuit of building a nuclear-free country and effort to push for the enactment of a referendum law. The Executive Yuan should continue to search for alternative energy to replace nuclear power, so that the three existing nuclear power plants could be decommissioned earlier, Tsai said. Holding the non-binding referendum is widely considered a tactic to secure the support of traditional anti-nuclear DPP supporters. DPP politicians from Taipei County, where the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is being built, tend to support holding the ballot, mainly because of pressure from their constituents. This story has been viewed 189 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2001/07/29/story/0000096195] Copyright © 1999-2001 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 NRC Holds Public Meetings at Global Nuclear Fuel Plant August 7 to Discuss Plant Performance And Revised NRC Oversight Program Press Release Region II - 2001 - 33 - UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov/OPA No. II-01-033 July 30, 2001 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404)562-4416/e-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov Roger D. Hannah (404)562-4417/e-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will hold public meetings on August 7 in Wilmington, North Carolina, to discuss the agency's latest review of safety performance at the Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas plant and to provide information on revisions and improvements in the agency's oversight program for nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The Licensee Performance Review, which covers regulatory safety compliance at the plant for a period from May 16, 1999 through May 12, 2001, indicates that the facility continues to operate safely and adequately protects special nuclear material against theft and diversion, NRC officials say the plant demonstrated a number of regulatory safety strengths during the period of review and cited the plant's "proactive efforts" to clean up settling ponds located on the plant site and to properly dispose of stored radioactive waste materials. NRC officials pointed out, however, that improvement is needed in attention to details during management reviews, in emergency procedures, and in configuration control used in processing radioactive material. NRC officials said that, based upon the plant's "demonstrated performance strengths," the agency has decided to maintain a reduced level of inspection at the facility and will continue to focus inspections on various waste reduction processes at the site. Copies of the Licensee Performance Review can be obtained on the NRC Internet web page at www.nrc.gov/OPA/reports/fuelrevs.htm. Revisions to the NRC oversight program are intended to make it more risk-informed and performance-based. Other goals of the revised program are to provide earlier and more objective indications of facility performance in the areas of safety and national security, to increase stakeholder confidence in the NRC and to increase regulatory effectiveness, efficiency and realism. The public meeting will focus on the revisions, and those interested can offer suggestions. The proposed revisions are described in NRC documents SECY-99-188 and SECY-00-0222, located on the NRC Internet web page at www.nrc.gov/NRC/COMMISSION/SECYS/index.html. A general review of the proposed revisions is available at www.nrc.gov/NMSS/FCSS/FCOB/INSP/REVISED/fcindex.htm. The meeting on oversight program revisions will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the plant site at 3901 Castle Hayne Road, followed immediately at 10:30 a.m by the meeting on plant assessment. Both meetings are open to observation by the public, and NRC officials will be available at the conclusion to answer questions from interested observers. ***************************************************************** 23 SELLAFIELD MOX PLANT - GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES CONSULTANT'S REPORT DEFRA, UK: 2001 News release: Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR Tel: 020 7238 5609 Out of hours: 020 7270 8960 Fax: 020 7238 5529 27 July 2001 The Government today published for consultation the latest report on the economic case for the operation of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd's Sellafield MOX plant. Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, and Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, are asking for public comments on the report by Arthur D Little Ltd (ADL) on the economic case for operating the Sellafield Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication plant. Comments are invited by 24 August 2001 . This follows an earlier eight week consultation which began on 28 March 2001. When the Secretary of State for DEFRA and the Secretary of State for Health have considered all relevant information, including the ADL report and public comments on it, they will decide whether BNFL's proposed MOX manufacture is justified. BNFL submitted a revised economic case for the MOX plant earlier this year. The Government launched a consultation into this case on 28 March. It also commissioned ADL in April to evaluate the economic case, taking account of public comment. The ADL report, published for consultation today, says that the MOX plant, if allowed to go into operation, would give a financial benefit with a "net present value" of over £200m to the UK over its lifetime "Net present value" represents the value of a project in today's money, calculated from its expected future costs and revenues. The published version of the ADL report excludes information that the Government judges would cause unreasonable damage to BNFL's commercial operations, or to the economic case for the MOX plant. Notes for editors 1. The MOX Plant at Sellafield is valued by BNFL at a cost of around £460 million. Its purpose is to manufacture a mixed oxide fuel for use in nuclear power stations. The fuel would be made from uranium and plutonium material separated from spent fuel which is reprocessed mainly at the THORP (Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant) plant at Sellafield. 2. Before the plant can start operations it needs to pass a test of justification required by European law: the benefits of a practice involving ionising radiation need to outweigh any environmental or other detriments. BNFL applied to the Environment Agency in November 1996 for approval to operate the plant. The Environment Agency, after two rounds of public consultations, concluded its consideration in October 1998. 3. The Agency published draft decisions at that time that uranium commissioning, plutonium commissioning and the full operation of the plant should be given the go-ahead. The issue was referred to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in November 1998 because of their statutory responsibility to consider requests that had been made to them to decide the application themselves. The Government's provisional view, in a consultation paper published in June 1999, was that full operation of BNFL's MOX Plant would be justified, but a final decision would depend on the outcome of further consultation on the economic assessment of the practice and on the market for MOX fuel. On that occasion too, a report by PA Consulting on the economic case was published excluding commercially sensitive information. 4. A data falsification incident at BNFL's MOX Demonstration Facility in 1999 led to an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive and a loss of customer confidence in BNFL. BNFL submitted a revised economic case in 2001 and the Government invited views on this on 28 March in its consultation paper British Nuclear Fuels PLC - Sellafield MOX Plant. (DETR press notice 193). It appointed Arthur D Little on 23 April to review the economic case (DETR press notice ENV-009). 5. Ministerial responsibilities have changed during this period. In 1999 the Food Safety Act established the Food Standards Agency and amended the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. And in June 2001, the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) was reorganised with responsibility for environmental protection passing to the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). As a result justification decisions that would have been taken jointly by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Minister of Agriculture are now taken jointly by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Health. 6. Media copies of the documents are available from the DEFRA press office on 020 7238 5337. Other copies are available from Radioactive Substances Division, DEFRA, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6DE. The consultation paper is also available on the DEFRA website at: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/consultfrm.htm Press Enquiries: 020 7238 5337; out of hours: 020 7238 8960 END ***************************************************************** 24 NRC Announces Opportunity For Hearing For License Renewal Applications for North Anna, Surry Press Release 2001 - 093 - 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. 01-093 July 27, 2001 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced the opportunity to request a hearing on an application for renewal of the operating licenses for the North Anna Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, and the Surry Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2. Virginia Electric & Power Company (VEPCO), operator of the four units, submitted the application on May 29. The deadline for hearing requests is August 27, 30 days after publication of a Federal Register notice on this subject. By that time, petitions must be filed by anyone whose interest might be affected by the license renewals and who wishes to participate as a party to the proceeding. The North Anna nuclear facility is located 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Virginia, in Louisa County. The current operating licenses expire on April 1, 2018, for Unit 1 and August 21, 2020, for Unit 2. The Surry nuclear facility is located 17 miles northwest of Newport News, Virginia, in Surry County. The operating license for Unit 1 expires on May 25, 2012, and the license for Unit 2 on January 29, 2013. VEPCO submitted applications for 20-year extensions to the operating licenses for all four plants on May 29. A notice of receipt was published by NRC in the Federal Register on June 28. The staff has determined that VEPCO has submitted sufficient information for the NRC to formally "docket," or file, the applications. Petitions for a hearing must be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. They may also be delivered to the NRC Public Document Room in Rockville, Maryland. A copy of the petition should also be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and to David A. Christian, Sr. Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, Virginia electric Power Company, Innsbrook Technical Center, 5000 Dominion Boulevard, Glen Allen, VA 23060-6711. Additional information about the opportunity for hearing may be found in the Federal Register notice. Copies of the application are available on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/REACTOR/LR/index.html, and are also available through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room staff at 301/415-4737 or 1/800/397-4209, or by sending a message to pdr@nrc.gov via e-mail. The application is available for public inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room. In addition, a copy of the license renewal application for the North Anna plant is available at the Alderman Library of the University of Virginia, and a copy of the Surry application at the Swem Library of the College of William and Mary. ***************************************************************** 25 NRC Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel to Meet August 8 in Las Vegas Press Release - 2001 - 94 - 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. 01-094 July 31, 2001 A Nuclear Regulatory Commission advisory review panel will meet August 8 in Las Vegas to discuss an Internet-based system, known as the "Licensing Support Network," that will contain information related to a potential hearing on a possible high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The meeting is open to members of the public for observation, and time will be set aside at the end of the meeting for the public to ask questions or make brief statements regarding the network. The meeting of the Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 4255 South Paradise Road. NRC regulations require all potential participants in the license application hearing process for a potential high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain to make their documents available in electronic form through participants' individual web sites on a Licensing Support Network (LSN). The documents that will have to be made available on this network will consist of the information that a party, potential party or interested government participant intends to rely on in the licensing proceeding, and certain other relevant information. The web sites will be accessible to members of the public. The Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel was established by the NRC in 1989 (under a slightly different name ) to provide advice to the agency on issues relating to LSN design, operation, maintenance and compliance monitoring. Members of the panel are representatives from the NRC; Department of Energy; State of Nevada; Nye, Churchill, Clark, Esmeralda, Eureka, Inyo, Lander, Lincoln, Mineral and White Pine Counties; the National Congress of American Indians; the Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force; the Nuclear Energy Institute; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Chairman of the panel is Andrew L. Bates of the NRC's Office of the Secretary of the Commission. A copy of the agenda for the meeting is attached. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel Open Meeting August 8, 2001 Meeting Agenda 8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Opening Remarks and Introductions 8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Progress Report of the LSN Administrator 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. LSN Basics and Overview of the Rule, Including Most Recent Revisions 10:15 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Break 10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. LSN Administrator Guidelines & Functional Requirements 11:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Guideline 14: Clarification on Updating Documents 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Hardware, Software & Cost Profile for Small Participant Systems 1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Demo of the Website 2:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. NRC Project for Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) of Adjudicatory Documents 2:45 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Break 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. DOE Strategic Approach to Meeting LSN Requirements 3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Roundtable Discussion Items/Participant Items 4:00 p.m. - Close Public Comments and Questions on LSN-Related Matters ***************************************************************** 26 Firefighters train for the big derailment By Frank X. Mullen Jr. Reno Gazette-Journal Monday July 30th, 2001 As investigators probe a fiery train derailment in Baltimore, firefighters in Reno say they could handle an accident downtown and train for such possibilities as hazardous materials poisoning the Truckee River, the release of toxic fumes or fires that burn for days. Bisected by a major cross-country rail line, acids, toxic chemicals, solvents, military explosives and nuclear materials routinely roll on steel rails within a few feet of high-rise casinos and hotels. “Just about every hazardous substance you can name goes through here by rail and things happen,” said Reno Fire Chief Charles Lowden. “In the case of a hazardous waste derailment, there are evacuation plans in place for casinos and hotels based on wind directions,” Lowden said. “We use computer models and have plans to do environmental sampling and a broad spectrum of things.” Although there has never been a major derailment within the Reno-Sparks corridor, freight trains frequently have left the tracks in Nevada’s rural areas. A month ago, a Union Pacific train jumped the tracks near Battle Mountain, sending 41 freight cars spilling into the desert. The train near Battle Mountain was traveling at 55 mph when it hit a broken rail as compared to the 25 mph train speed through Reno and Sparks. Even so, officials said, a downtown Reno or Sparks derailment would be a major disaster. Lowden said he fears shipments that might seem innocent, such as freight going to grocery and department stores, more than obvious hazards such as tankers full of acid or boxcars containing explosives. “You get these shipments to supermarkets that have all kinds of household chemicals in the same boxcar,” he said. “When those things get mixed up or are in a fire, anything can happen.” Lowden said while the fire department knows hazardous materials travel through the area daily, it doesn’t have a waybill or manifest for each train. Instead, firefighters would have to contact the engineer or call the railroad office to determine what is on a given train. “In Baltimore, the train was in a tunnel, so I imagine it wasn’t easy to get the manifest,” Lowden said. “But that’s the way the system is set up.” Other cities with derailment emergency plans have watched them descend into chaos during real disasters. In Baltimore, emergency crews extinguished a railroad train fire burning for six days in an underground tunnel. The blaze sent smoke across the city, halted traffic, disrupted communications, ruptured a water line, and spilled acid in the tunnel. Lowden said his department and other Truckee Meadows emergency response officials will study the Baltimore disaster in the coming months. “You can always learn something about how we’d handle a derailment here,” he said. No one was killed in Baltimore, but the derailment and fire spawned confusion among residents compounded by a lack of information among firefighters and other disaster officials, according to stories in the Baltimore Sun. “Everyone is going to do Monday-morning quarterbacking on how this can go better,” Quentin Banks, spokesman for the Maryland Emergency Management Agency said Monday. Reno is part of the “Triad” hazardous response team, which includes specialists from the two cities and the county. The team was most recently called out last week during an acid spill at Sierra Chemical in Sparks. The county has an overall response plan and each jurisdiction conducts training scenarios alone and with other agencies, officials said. “It’s a regional response,” said Press Clewe, Washoe County emergency program manager. “The jurisdiction where the disaster happens is the lead agency and the other agencies help out as needed. The hazardous materials team would call in outside resources as needed.” In a major disaster, Carson City firefighters could be called to Reno and Sparks to cover neighborhoods while local firefighters were busy with the major incident. Agencies such as the district health department and state agencies are also part of the regional plan. “In Baltimore, the entire city, everybody from highway workers to street sweepers had to rally round to get things done,” Clewe said. “In a major disaster, the same sort of coordination would have to happen here.” He said the county’s plan isn’t specific to derailments, but covers all general disasters including floods, earthquakes and fires. The Union Pacific Railroad also has derailment and hazardous materials response plans. The city fire departments and hazardous materials team train for specific scenarios and develop specific plans for them. He said with all the hazardous materials going through the cities, anything can happen at any time. “That’s why we train so hard on it,” Lowden said. © Reno Gazette-Journal ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Vieques Residents Hope Bush Heeds Call July 30, 2001 VIEQUES, Puerto Rico- Islanders hope President Bush will heed the latest referendum that called for the U.S. Navy to immediately stop bombing its range on Vieques. To make the case further, the mayor of the Puerto Rico island readied an eviction notice and warned of massive disobedience. Sixty-eight percent of nearly 5,000 voters in Sunday's nonbinding referendum supported an end to the bombing and the Navy's withdrawal from the island that is home to its prized Atlantic range. Fewer voted for the two choices to be offered again in a legally binding federal referendum scheduled for November: 30 percent supported the Navy remaining indefinitely and resuming bombing with live munitions and only 1.7 percent - 81 votes - supported Bush's plan for the Navy to withdraw in 2003 and continue exercises with dummy bombs until then. "In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask President George W. Bush to stop the bombing now," the Rev. Nelson Lopez, a Roman Catholic parish priest on Vieques, told a victory rally. People hooted, whistled and screamed their approval. Some women broke down in tears, smudging their black mascara. Dozens of cars flying this U.S. Caribbean territory's single star and stripes flag drove down winding mountain roads with horns blaring in triumph. "Vieques, yes! Navy, no!" the motorists chanted. Vieques Mayor Damaso Serrano said he plans to serve the highest ranking U.S. Navy officer in Puerto Rico with an eviction notice and a copy of the referendum. "If they don't stop the bombing, the only alternative for the people is civil disobedience, and this time it will be massive civil disobedience," he said. The Navy had little to say. "The outcome of this referendum organized by Gov. Sila Calderon will have no impact on the Navy or our focus," said Lt. Cmdr. Kate Mueller, a Washington-based Navy spokeswoman. She said the Navy would continue its training, due to resume Wednesday, and keep looking for an alternative for when it leaves the island in 2003. Years of local resentment to the Navy's appropriation of two-thirds of the 18-mile-long Vieques island in 1940 and the following decades of exercises exploded in anger and protests when two 500-pound bombs dropped off target on the range and killed a civilian guard in 1999. Protesters stormed the bombing range and occupied it for a year before federal marshals forcibly removed them. The exercises resumed, but restricted to dummy bombs. The protesters have continued their "civil disobedience" campaign by invading Navy land to try to stop bombing runs. Hundreds have been arrested for trespassing. The cause has drawn celebrities including New York civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who currently are in prison for trespassing. Protesters say the bombing has fouled the environment and damaged the health of islanders, who suffer a higher-than-usual cancer and infant mortality rate, as well as breathing and skin problems. The Navy strongly denies its practices are harmful and says local studies to that effect are unscientific and biased. The small pro-Navy movement on the island denied it suffered a defeat Sunday. Its leader, Navy guard Luis Sanchez, said he planned a big campaign for the November referendum. He and others warn that an anti-Navy vote could imperil Puerto Rico's already troubled relations with Washington and endanger some $14 billion in annual federal aid. Fears of repercussion have been borne out by powerful Republicans like U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, who say if Puerto Ricans want the benefits the military brings, like jobs, it must endure the exercises. Such pro-military legislators warn that allowing the island to decide the fate of the Navy could endanger other training sites where there is opposition, including a huge base in Okinawa, Japan. Defense officials say the exercises on Vieques provide essential training that saves lives in combat. But on Sunday one official admitted what opponents like Kennedy have been saying for months - that the Vieques war games, with simultaneous ship-to-shore shelling, bombing from airplanes and beach assaults, are outdated. "Vieques, within a matter of five to 10 years, would be completely obsolete," deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Fox News Sunday. "You cannot train with modern weapons on a World War II training basis." All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 White House Stands Firm on Vieques July 30, 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush stands by a Navy decision to stop military exercises on Puerto Rico's Vieques Island in the next two years, despite a local referendum Sunday demanding an immediate end to the bombing. The president believes the military needs more time to make its exit, a spokesman said Monday. "These matters are not only decided by referendum, but they are decided by a variety of factors that represents a balanced approach, and that's what the president has done here," said White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. Bush believes "it's very important to have a seamless transition so our military can be the best-trained it can be, so we are prepared for any contingencies around the world," Fleischer said. Nearly 70 percent of voters in the nonbinding referendum supported an end to the bombing and the Navy's withdrawal from the island. Thirty percent supported the Navy's remaining indefinitely and resuming bombing with live munitions. Only 1.7 percent backed Bush's plan for the Navy to withdraw by May 1, 2003, and continue exercises with dummy bombs until then. A legally binding referendum is scheduled for November. "The president asked the secretary of defense to look into this, which he did. The Navy made a decision; the president supports that decision, which basically says that we need to balance the needs of our military preparedness and training with the needs of the Puerto Rican people," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Bush's decision to withdraw within two years "was a recognition of the fact that people of Puerto Rico have concerns on this issue," Fleischer said. "But so too is it important to make certain that our military is trained until an alternative is found." Bush's decision in June drew criticism from both sides of the issue. Republicans in Congress fear it could affect military readiness and endanger lives, and possibly set a precedent because there are other places where there is local opposition to the U.S. military presence. Protesters and their supporters on Capitol Hill say the withdrawal does not come soon enough. Democrats accused Bush of catering to the growing bloc of Hispanic voters. His top political adviser, Karl Rove, was involved in deliberations that led to Bush's decision. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 3 Vit plant fines highlight need for Bush's support Published July 30, 2001 Washington state's decision to fine the Department of Energy for every week that construction is delayed on a critical waste disposal sends a message the Bush administration should heed. State Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons said the state takes seriously next week's deadline for construction to start on the vitrification plant, which would turn liquid radioactive waste from Hanford's tank farms into glass. The federal agency will be fined $5,000 the first week and $10,000 every week after. If construction hasn't started by Oct. 1 - when fines will have reached about $85,000 - the state will consider filing its threatened lawsuit against the Energy Department to force compliance with the Tri-Party Agreement. The federal-state pact established next week's deadline as well as a 2007 deadline for production of the first glass log and a 2018 deadline for 10 percent of the waste to be glassified. Given some setbacks, including the firing of the contractor when project cost estimates more than doubled, Energy Department officials say construction probably won't start until December 2002 - 16 months late. But Harry Boston, Energy's chief of the Office of River Protection, is working on a plan to meet later deadlines by accelerating progress and decreasing the amount of waste to be glassified. Key to any success with the vitrification plant will be the Bush administration reversing its earlier position to underfund the glassification project. The administration had proposed only $500 million for the year that starts Oct. 1. That's $190 million short of full funding and a level that would have been devastating to efforts to build the plant. The U.S. House and Senate have voted to fully fund the project, however. So it will be up to Bush to sign the higher appropriation into law. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham actively lobbied the Senate against the higher figure, saying a review of the cleanup program was in order. Ironically, Abraham has yet to visit Hanford to the see scope of the job and evaluate the work himself. We urge Abraham to come soon - and especially before the Bush administration makes a decision about the vitrification plant and the rest of Hanford cleanup funding. Abraham also needs to know that the state of Washington and the Tri-City community are losing patience with delayed cleanup. Fitzsimmons is right to push the Bush administration to keep up the federal government's obligations established by the Tri-Party Agreement, a contract signed in 1989 during Bush's father's administration. There have been enough studies and delays with Hanford cleanup. The federal government polluted Hanford land over 50 years of the site's defense production mission. It is past time to clean it up. What's your opinon? Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 4 BSU scientists to study contaminants IdahoStatesman.com July 31, 2001 Grants are intended for collaborative work with INEEL Statesman staff Boise State University scientists will study new techniques to clean up subsurface contaminants using money awarded through an ongoing collaborative research program between the Inland Northwest Research Alliance and the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The new grant, one of six awarded for fiscal year 2002, will enable scientists at Boise State's Center for Geophysical Investigation of the Shallow Subsurface to collaborate with colleagues at Montana State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the INEEL on studies to identify and predict how fluids that contain micro-organisms are likely to move through the Earth's subsurface. The techniques might eventually be used to clean up subsurface contaminants with micro-organisms that have the capabilities to absorb and neutralize hazardous waste, according to BSU officials. The six grants are in addition to 13 others, including three involving BSU, that were awarded last year. Funding for the 19 projects totals more than $4.3 million over three years. The grants are designed to organize research projects at Inland Northwest Research Alliance universities and the INEEL into a cohesive program, said Gautam Pillay, the alliance's executive director. Work on the projects will begin Oct. 1. The seven members of the alliance are BSU, Montana State, Idaho State University, the University of Idaho, the University of Montana, Utah State University, and Washington State University. Other newly awarded projects are: • Characterizing inorganic precipitates formed on mineral surfaces (Montana State, INEEL). • Microbial reduction of metal ions in solution (Washington State, Montana State, INEEL). • Study of enzymes to detect micro-organisms that can destroy contaminants (Idaho State, INEEL). • Development of a computer model to predict how uranium and other rare Earth elements absorb onto materials used in waste management (University of Idaho, INEEL). • Study of uncertainty in predicting water flow and contaminant transport in unsaturated soils (Washington State INEEL). ***************************************************************** 5 Nevada wants Yucca lawyers probed Today: July 31, 2001 at 10:55:55 PDT By Mary Manning and Benjamin Grove LAS VEGAS SUN The law firm hired by the Energy Department to review Yucca Mountain documents -- and is now the focus of conflict-of-interest charges -- has begun an internal examination of the charges, the firm's chairman told the Sun today. Meanwhile, Nevada officials say they are considering asking for an official outside investigation into the Chicago-based law firm, Winston &Strawn. The DOE hired the firm for $16.5 million in September 1999 to complete legal work for the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository project. The DOE has been studying Yucca to determine if it is safe for permanent burial of the nation's high-level nuclear waste. The DOE hired the 850-lawyer firm to review a Yucca license application that the department is preparing to submit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC would have to approve a license before any waste is buried at Yucca Mountain. But Nevada officials say Winston &Strawn appears to have a conflict of interest because it was also a registered lobbyist that urged Congress to support the speedy construction of a nuclear waste repository at the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The law firm, on behalf of the nuclear power industry trade group Nuclear Energy Institute, lobbied Congress, the NRC and the Environmental Protection Agency on various nuclear issues, according to congressional records. Nevada officials have said Winston &Strawn cannot independently and impartially serve as legal counsel to DOE in reviewing Yucca documents because for six years it was also a pro-Yucca lobbyist for NEI, the most vocal Yucca proponent in Washington. The DOE is by law required to be an impartial Yucca manager, not align itself with pro-Yucca forces, Nevada officials say. "I think it is a clear conflict of interest, even if technically it doesn't violate the law," Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said last week. Winston &Strawn officials had declined to comment, but following a Sun story Sunday and other media reports including a Monday article in the Chicago Tribune, Winston &Strawn Chairman James Thompson, a former Illinois governor, today denied the allegations. "We're currently looking at every document we have regarding this, just to double check," Thompson said. "We don't want to embarrass the Department of Energy or the administration. But as of now, we are convinced that there is not a conflict of interest." Thompson said a report from the firm that examines whether a conflict existed would be forthcoming, "hopefully soon so we can all get on with our lives." Meanwhile, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn said Monday he is drafting a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham requesting a department investigation. "I think this is a very unfair situation," Guinn said. Winston &Strawn severed its relationship with NEI on July 11, the week after the Sun began seeking comment about the potential conflict of interest. Attorney James Curtiss of Winston &Strawn's Washington office signed the lobbying termination report filed with Congress this month. Thompson said he did not know for sure why the firm cut its ties to NEI, but he said it was probably because the firm had "long ago" finished its lobbying work for the organization. Thompson declined further comment until the firm's internal report is complete, and also because the firm is involved in a conflict-of-interest lawsuit in a separate matter, he said. A team of "seven to 10 lawyers and legal assistants" is at work on the Yucca application, according to a court document filed by Winston &Strawn partner J. Michael McGarry in a separate conflict-of-interest case against the firm. The $16.5 million Yucca contract is for an estimated 38,900 hours of legal work, which likely would take at least five years. All contents copyright 2001 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 Industrial use of beryllium poses dangers The Plain Dealer 07/29/01 Chicago - Companies whose workers handle the toxic metal beryllium often fail to warn workers about the hazards of exposure to the metal, putting them at risk of an often fatal lung disease, a newspaper reported. Beryllium disease once was associated primarily with the defense industry, where the metal was used in nuclear weapons, but now is becoming increasingly common among workers in private and consumer industries, The Chicago Tribune reported. The disease, caused when the metal's dust slowly damages the lungs of people who have been exposed, is rare, incurable and often fatal. There has been a rise of beryllium disease cases among workers in private industries in the past few years, according to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, a leading respiratory disease hospital that diagnoses more beryllium illness than any other health care facility. Since 1985, the hospital has diagnosed about 100 cases of beryllium poisoning among workers outside the defense industry and major beryllium production plants, said Dr. Lee Newman, a scientist at the hospital. 2001 cleveland.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 Mothballed Nuclear Subs Create Environmental Disaster, Says University of Arkansas Expert [AScribe Newswire] Story Filed: Monday, July 30, 2001 10:38 PM EST FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., Jul 30, 2001 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- Russia's attempt to raise the sunken nuclear submarine Kursk from the bottom of the Barents Sea is generating concern worldwide about radiation leaks and environmental contamination. University of Arkansas chemical hazards expert Jerry Havens has found that concern about the Barents Sea and nearby Kola Peninsula are very real, if late in coming. "What has already happened there is an environmental disaster," said Havens, Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and director of the Chemical Hazards Research Center (CHRC). "Even though it is in the Arctic, which is a particularly fragile environment, it is a disaster that will affect the rest of the world." Havens studied the situation recently when he served as a technical reviewer for the Technical Guidance Group of the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC) program. This trilateral NATO initiative comprising the United States, Russia and Norway was established in 1996 to foster communication and undertake joint activities on environmental matters in the Arctic. Specifically, AMEC is trying to find ways to mitigate the environmental damage resulting from Russia's compliance with the 1991 START treaty, which limited the number of specific classes of ballistic missiles each nation could retain. Russia began treaty compliance measures, including decommissioning of half of its nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) fleet, about the same time its economy collapsed. Faced with more than 100 SSBNs and no money, the Russian Defense Ministry brought the submarines to port at their nuclear naval bases on the Kola Peninsula (northern fleet) and near the Kamchatka Peninsula (southern fleet) and parked them. "Many of these seriously deteriorating submarines are over 30 years old and some are in danger of sinking at the dock," Havens explained. "These nuclear submarines pose a trans-national-boundary environmental threat primarily because of the highly radioactive spend fuel that remains in their nuclear reactors. We must develop methods for the handling, treatment and storage of waste from the reactors. At best, what we have now are stop-gap measures." Nuclear submarines are actually powered by enormous, half-ton batteries that are charged by the nuclear reactors. When the submarines were brought to port, the batteries were removed and stored on shore. Unfortunately, both the Barents Sea and Kola Peninsula are in the Arctic Circle. The batteries are subjected to repeated freezing and thawing and many have cracked, leaching lead and acids into the environment. AMEC brings together scientists in an attempt to solve the critical environmental issues of radioactive waste and the remediation of hazardous waste sites. AMEC focuses on prototype and technology development. Currently it has 10 active projects and has completed three others. "It is critical that the United States participate in the efforts to prevent further damage to the environment," said Havens. "It's not just Norway's problem or Russia's problem. We are all in the same world and if we don't work together to solve these truly international problems, eventually the pollutants released into the Barents Sea will wash up onto our own shores." But that is not the only reason the United States needs to be involved, according to Havens. The U.S., which also has SSBNs, co-signed the START treaty and has begun to decommission some of its nuclear fleet. "While we have a more orderly decommissioning process and vastly better storage facilities, we are still struggling with the extremely difficult and contentious problems of environmentally acceptable disposition of these radioactive materials," he added. Havens has a wide-ranging expertise in assessing chemical hazards. At the CHRC he built the largest ultra-low-speed boundary layer wind tunnel in the world, which is used to study the release of heavier-than-air gases into the atmosphere. His work in gas dispersion modeling and risk assessment includes projects ranging from the U.S. EPA evaluation of Superfund hazardous waste incinerators to the International Medical Commission on Bhopal study on long-term health effects from the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in India. Computer models developed at the CHRC have been adopted by the U.S. Government for use in siting liquefied gas storage terminals and are now in use worldwide. In 1999 the Office of Special Counsel of the U.S. Attorney General's Office selected Havens to evaluate several aspects of the events leading to the fire and explosion that destroyed the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas. In addition to evaluating tear gas concentrations inside the compound, Havens determined that the explosion and fireball were caused by the rupture of a liquefied petroleum gas tank that had been overheated by the fire, and not by an explosive device, as had been suggested. Havens is also a member of the Working Group on Destruction of Chemical Weapons of the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Scientific Advisory Board. OPCW is responsible for monitoring and certifying the destruction of chemical weapons worldwide. One of the principal U.S. locations for destruction of chemical weapons is the Pine Bluff Arsenal, where Havens served as a chemical officer in 1963-65. "It is in our best interest to work through AMEC to help solve this environmental crisis in the Russian Arctic, as it will no doubt be a rehearsal for other problems that are being identified almost daily," said Havens. "Some would say that we can't afford to help. I don't think we can afford not to." ((AScribe - The Public Interest Newswire / )) (C)1999-2001 Ascribe News - ***************************************************************** 8 CIA Role May Grow in Preventing Terror Attacks [Reuters Online] Story Filed: Monday, July 30, 2001 2:33 PM EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. intelligence review is exploring possible new roles for the CIA and other spy agencies in the domestic arena to protect the United States from terrorist attack, a senior intelligence official said. U.S. intelligence agencies operate overseas and are generally prohibited from having a hand in domestic affairs to ensure a taboo against spying on Americans is not broken. It is not clear yet what new role they might take on. ``We know that we're going to increasingly be a target in this country and we also know that intelligence is going to have a role to play in trying to protect the homeland, protect the continental U.S.'' a senior intelligence official familiar with the review told Reuters. The official said that ``nobody has worked through the mechanics of how all of that would work,'' but said it was expected that ``one of the things coming out of this review would be some recommendations on how to think differently about the intelligence role in homeland defense.'' President Bush in May ordered a comprehensive review, giving CIA Director George Tenet a ``broad mandate to challenge the status quo and explore new and innovative techniques, systems, practices and processes for foreign intelligence collection, analysis and distribution.'' The review is assessing programs with an eye to being ready to meet future needs by 2015 and could recommend restructuring, the official and intelligence analysts said in recent interviews. It is being conducted by a panel of government insiders led by Joan Dempsey, deputy director of central intelligence for community management, and a group of outside experts led by Brent Scowcroft, a former White House national security adviser. CIA ROLE QUESTIONED The United States has been trying to develop a large-scale emergency plan to deal with any biological, chemical or nuclear attack on U.S. soil. Vice President Dick Cheney is leading a review of America's ability to cope with such an attack. The Central Intelligence Agency is generally forbidden to spy on Americans, but can under certain circumstances collect intelligence information on U.S. citizens if they are believed to be involved in espionage or terrorist activities. The FBI is responsible for handling criminal activity inside U.S. borders and conducted by Americans. The review was not expected to recommend changing laws that limit the role of U.S. intelligence agencies relative to Americans. ``We wouldn't talk about changing any of that,'' the intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. ``But when does homeland defense transition from being (about) criminal activity to being (about) a national security threat? Those are the kinds of issues that I would expect to be coming out of this review,'' the official said. The review is looking at how to combat threats emerging from diverse directions since the Soviet Union dissolved. ``It reflects this ongoing concern that we are now 11 years after the end of the Cold War and we still haven't seen tremendous response to that alteration in terms of what the intelligence community does,'' said Mark Lowenthal, senior principal at SRA International Inc., a consulting firm. NEW ESPIONAGE TECHNIQUES The review also is looking at developing new espionage techniques for collecting foreign secrets. ``It is increasingly true that our capabilities are extremely well known and we have to develop capabilities that aren't well known,'' the U.S. intelligence official said. The National Security Agency (NSA), which eavesdrops on communications worldwide using spy satellites and listening posts, is an acknowledged problem child -- struggling to keep pace with technological advances from sophisticated encryption to hard-to-tap fiber optics. ``The NSA problem is really the most serious,'' Gregory Treverton, a senior consultant at RAND and former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council, said. NSA must operate differently as it becomes harder to capture signals using traditional methods, and rely more on using people ``who will risk their lives to put objects with ears'' close to the targeted signal, Treverton said. ``The understandable culture of secrecy is a huge obstacle,'' he said. For example In-Q-Tel, a CIA-sponsored venture capital firm that seeks to bring private-sector technological innovations to the intelligence world, has been faced with finding software it likes only to discover that a foreigner was involved in writing it, which threatens its secrecy, Treverton said. In intelligence analysis, where resources are stretched to cope with the huge volume of incoming information, one solution is to buy outside expertise, the intelligence official said. Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Torpedoes may hamper Kursk recovery ABC News - The Russian Navy has conceded there could be torpedoes in the front section of the sunken Kursk nuclear submarine, which is being brought to the surface in a controversial operation. A spokesman says there are no torpedoes in the area where the front compartment will be cut away from the rest of the submarine in the salvage operation, but he admits it is possible that part of the arsenal is somewhere else in that first section. Russia's most modern nuclear-powered submarine sank in August last year, following a series of still-unexplained explosions, killing all 118 men on board. The front end of the Kursk was packed with 18 torpedoes and 24 cruise missiles when the sub went down. Divers are to slice off the front section before starting the operation to raise the remainder of the craft in mid-September. Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 10 SNS' Target Building substructure contract let Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:07 p.m. on Monday, July 30, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff A $9.9 million contract has been awarded to install more than 25,000 cubic yards of reinforced concrete foundations and slabs for a facility that's part of the Spallation Neutron Source project. CMC Construction Co. Inc. of Oak Ridge is scheduled to begin working on the foundation for the Target Building on Aug. 1, and the job is expected to be completed in 14 months, officials said. The building will house a mercury target that Oak Ridge National Laboratory is responsible for designing and constructing. Five other national laboratories are involved in the overall construction of the $1.4 billion SNS project, which is scheduled for completion in 2006. In the SNS process, high-energy proton pulses will strike the target while corresponding pulses of neutrons will be freed and eventually used in a wide variety of experiments. Neutron research has been responsible for improvements in jets, shatterproof windshields, satellite information for weather forecasts and in medical research for such studies as determining how bones mineralize during development and how they decay during osteoporosis. Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved $291 million in funding for work on the SNS project in fiscal year 2002. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 11 Compensation begins for workers sickened at nuclear facilities Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:39 p.m. on Monday, July 30, 2001 David Michaels was one of the guest speakers during Friday's dedication ceremony. Michaels serves as a consultant for the compensation program. -- Photo by Brenda Mask by Nancy Zuckerbrod Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Martha Alls never thought she'd see the day when the government would pay for what it did to her father -- a former worker at the uranium enrichment plant in Paducah, Ky. But as early as Tuesday, Alls' mother -- Clara Harding -- could receive a check for $150,000 as part of a new federal entitlement aimed at trying to compensate sick nuclear weapons workers or their survivors. Before he died of cancer in 1980, Harding's bones were found to contain up to 34,000 times the expected concentration of uranium. Yet while he lived, Harding was denied compensation because official records showed he was only exposed to small levels of radiation. Harding was among those who pressed the Energy Department to acknowledge workers were getting sick from exposure to hazardous bomb-making components, and his widow and daughter took up that fight after he died. The government fought back, fearing that improving conditions at weapons plants would be too costly and could derail the nation's nuclear program. "It had gone on so many years," recalls Alls. "It was like the government just would never admit it." The government finally did concede two years ago many workers who built America's nuclear weapons likely became ill because of on-the-job exposures -- reversing a decades-old position. How to obtain information about the new Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. + Labor Department's toll-free call center is: 866-888-3322. Customer service representatives will answer questions and arrange to have claim forms sent to callers. n People can go to resource centers operated by the Labor and Energy departments in the following cities to receive information and help filling out claim forms: Oak Ridge; North Augusta, S.C.; Espanola, N.M.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Las Vegas; Paducah, Ky.; Portsmouth, Ohio; Kennewick, Wash.; Anchorage, Alaska; and Westminster, Colo. + Labor Department district offices in the following cities will adjudicate claims and provide information about the program: Jacksonville, Fla.; Cleveland; Denver; Seattle. Source: Labor Department Former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson urged the Clinton administration to take that step after reading accounts of illnesses and meeting with workers in his home state of New Mexico and elsewhere. "It's a monumental program that I consider my greatest legacy at DOE," Richardson says of the entitlement that officially begins Tuesday. Congress approved the program last year after a bitter fight that pitted lawmakers and others worried about the cost against lawmakers who represent weapons workers. The Energy Department has identified 317 sites that employed more than 600,000 people in 37 states, Washington D.C., the Marshall Islands and Puerto Rico for nuclear weapons-related work during the Cold War. Sick workers employed at those facilities might qualify for compensation under the program, which is estimated to cost $1.9 billion over a decade. The Labor Department will administer the program. Worker advocates say they are pleased with Labor Secretary Elaine Chao's efforts to hold town meetings and open offices nationwide to help people file claims. The law provides medical care and $150,000 to sick workers exposed to cancer-causing radiation and silica or beryllium, which can cause lung diseases. For certain workers at sites that kept extremely poor records, the government will presume particular cancers linked to radiation were work-related. Included are workers exposed at the uranium enrichment plants in Piketon, Ohio; Paducah, Ky.; and Oak Ridge, Tenn.; and workers exposed to radiation during tests on Alaska's Amchitka Island. For sick workers elsewhere, the Department of Health and Human Services is creating guidelines to determine who is eligible for compensation based on estimated levels of radiation exposure. Spouses and children who were dependents at the time of a workers' death are eligible for the payment, but children who were not dependents will not be eligible. "I think it was a mistake," says David Gleason of Portsmouth, Ohio, whose father, a longtime employee of the Piketon plant, suffered various ailments before he died in 1981. Gleason is one of 11 siblings, who all were over 18 and out of school when their father died. Their mother, Hilda, passed away 10 years ago. "I don't really think the lawmakers really understand the ramification or the help it could give the families who have lost their loved ones," Gleason says. Richard Miller, who followed the legislation for the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union, says advocates hope to secure a legislative fix to that problem this year. Miller says getting compensation for workers sickened by the numerous toxic chemicals used in the plants will be more difficult. Advocates had hoped the legislation would include those workers, but in the end opponents fought that. Instead, the law says the Energy Department must help workers navigate their claims through state worker compensation systems. Miller remains skeptical, noting the burden of proof tends to be higher and apportioning liability can be more difficult under state systems. The Bush administration has not yet named anyone to head the Energy Department office responsible for helping the workers suffering from chemical exposures. Ann Orick, a former employee at the Oak Ridge facility, moved a roomful of people to tears during a congressional hearing last year when she described her numerous ailments, which were caused by toxic exposures. Though she won't be eligible for compensation under the federal program, her husband, Mack, may be compensated for beryllium exposure. It was the grass-roots efforts of people like the Oricks who ultimately convinced reluctant House members to approve the sick workers program, according to lawmakers and their aides. "This was a case where the government caused the problem, and the government had to fix the problem," said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., who presided over the hearing in which Orick testified. "If we can't take care of injuries to our own people that we caused, what can we do?" For Clara Harding, the victory is bittersweet. She has spent the past 20 years without her husband, and she had to sell her home and take up baby-sitting to pay the bills. She says the additional money will help but, more importantly, the world is finally acknowledging what Joe Harding said all those years. "It wasn't hogwash," she said, her voice shaking. "It was truth." All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 12 Oak Ridge resource center is already busy Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:38 p.m. on Monday, July 30, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff A worker at the newly opened Oak Ridge resource center for the job-sickened nuclear worker compensation program said the phones were ringing off the hook at the office this morning. "We're swamped," said Courtney Harber, one of the office's four counselors. Although a dedication ceremony for the center was held Friday, the center officially opened today. The facility's hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Counselors at the center will offer assistance and answer questions regarding claims for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. Claims forms will be available at the center, which is located in Suite C-103 of Jackson Plaza, 800 Oak Ridge Turnpike, across from the Federal Building. To make an appointment to talk with a counselor, call (865) 481-0411. The sick-worker compensation plan goes into effect July 31 and covers radiation-induced cancer and beryllium disease for nuclear workers. It provides a $150,000 lump-sum, nontaxable payment as well as related medical expenses. However, those people who believe their illnesses were caused by exposure to toxicants other than those outlined in the federal compensation plan will have to settle for possibly getting state workers' compensation. In addition to Harber, the other counselors at the Oak Ridge office are Susan Adkisson, Connie Elliott and James Lore. Other staff members are Shirley White, manager, Sandy Bauch, administrative assistant, and Virginia Johnson, DOE resource center official. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 13 Coalition questions DOE safety officials' trustworthiness Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:08 p.m. on Monday, July 30, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff The Coalition for a Healthy Environment is calling for an "expert, external, objective and comprehensive review" of the Department of Energy's safety culture with a particular focus on the trustworthiness of the agency's licensed/certified safety professionals. "[The coalition] believes that if DOE safety professionals had been properly trustworthy, the unsafe and unhealthy conditions that impacted thousands of loyal, hardworking DOE employees would largely have been prevented," a press release from the group states. The press release states that the coalition hopes that members of Tennessee's congressional delegation will support this initiative to show their support for Joe Carson, a licensed professional engineer. Carson has won eight favorable decisions in court relating to his allegations that DOE refused to listen to his safety concerns and then retaliated against him for his efforts. In addition to the review, the coalition is also calling for DOE to establish a requirement that it and its contractor engineers, who have responsibilities for workplace and public health and safety, be licensed and use their seals on documents involving workplace and public health and safety. The coalition also asks that DOE explain publicly how its stated policy of "zero tolerance for reprisal" has been implemented in Carson's case. The coalition is a nonprofit, educational and outreach organization largely composed of people who say their health was damaged by unsafe and unhealthful workplace conditions in DOE facilities in Oak Ridge. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 14 Processing starts today on sick workers' cases The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Tuesday, July 31, 2001 By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 LANCE DENNEE/The Sun--Compensation for illness: Energy Employees Compensation Resource Center site manager Stewart Tolar works with Herb Handley of Paducah on his case claim filing at the office in Paducah Monday. In 1994, two surgeons operated 11-1/2 hours to remove a cancerous tumor wrapped around Paducahan Herb Handley's spinal cord. The ordeal left him paralyzed from the waist down, and it took him six weeks of excruciating rehabilitation to learn to walk again. On Monday, Handley, 74, added his name to the list of more than 230 former and current nuclear workers in the Paducah area who are seeking compensation for job-related illnesses. The program, overseen by the Department of Labor, marks the first time the federal government has offered $150,000 lump-sum payments for sick workers and their families. Eligible survivors are a spouse or children who were child dependents at the time of the worker’s death. Handley believes his cancer was a form of multiple myeloma, one of the many different cancers listed as qualifying for benefits, which also include future medical expenses. "I was exposed to just about everything out there," said Handley, referring to his 43 years in maintenance and shop work at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. "Some people — I hope I'm one — will get this money, and I feel it's a good thing." The law, passed last year, formally takes effect today, which also marks the start of claims processing. A regional facility opened last week in Jacksonville, Fla., to process claims. "We don't know when the checks will be paid," said Stewart Tolar, director of the Paducah resource center. "It certainly would be good if some people did receive them early, and the sooner the better, because some of the people are cautious. Others have high expectations." In Paducah earlier this year, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said she expected the first checks to be mailed in late summer. The Paducah center, in the rear of an office building on U.S. 62 next to Milner &Orr Funeral Home, opened July 2 as the first of its type nationwide. Since then, more than 270 workers and relatives have been interviewed, and claims filed for all but about 30 of them, Tolar said. "Only about 10 percent of claims so far have been for current workers," he said. "The other 90 percent is pretty evenly divided between former workers and survivors of former workers." Although most claims have been for Paducah plant workers, some have been for workers at the Honeywell (formerly Allied Signal) plant at Metropolis, which makes raw material for the Paducah plant, and at a former facility called the "bird cage" at Fort Campbell, where workers handled highly classified nuclear weapons, Tolar said. Many claims have been for multiple myeloma, he said, while several others have been for prostate cancer, which is not on the qualification list and is increasingly more common in older men. Two former workers filed claims for breast cancer, which is on the list and rare in men, Tolar said. "We're not making judgments here whether they'll pay claims. We're merely filing them," he said. "We've had some people say, 'I'm not sick with anything. I just want to make sure my name is in there.'" Handley, who complimented center workers for their kindness, said five or six men he worked regularly with had cancer, including one who died of a brain tumor, and they all were exposed to radiation, solvents and heavy metals. Starting when the plant opened in 1952, Handley worked in buildings now known to have contained plutonium and other highly radioactive contaminants. He also worked in four huge buildings in which uranium was enriched, in the machine shop where radioactive equipment was repaired, and in a building where dangerous solvents were used to clean the equipment. Protective gear was seldom used, and workers did not know they were being exposed to substances like plutonium, he said. Yet after learning he had cancer, Handley thought little about the cause and returned to work after slowly progressing from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane. He retired in 1995 at age 68 and still has poor balance. Tolar, a retired plant worker whose career included compensation manager, said six of the center's seven workers have plant experience, which helps them empathize with those seeking claims. The goal of the center is to be as helpful and kind as possible. Some workers have said their illnesses have affected their dignity, Tolar said. "Some of them are even apologizing for filing claims, and even their survivors say their husband or daddy was proud of what he did there. They view it as a patriotic type thing." Handley said he and his friends have shared little about their plant experiences through the years because they customarily worked in Cold War secrecy. And despite the risks, the work provided excellent pay and benefits, he said. "We've lived a good life. It's made us a good living all these years. So we're not going to bad-mouth it too much." ***************************************************************** 15 Fate of two K-25 buildings examined Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:25 a.m. on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Choices, choices: Should the Department of Energy demolish two buildings at the Oak Ridge K-25 Site, continue maintaining them or just do nothing? Those possibilities are examined in a engineering evaluation and cost analysis released this month by DOE. This plan is a revised version of a document that was supposed to be issued in June, but was halted due to discussions with regulators. One of the facilities in question is the massive, U-shaped K-25 building, which covers more than 40 acres at the K-25 site. The other building is K-27, which takes up around 374,000 square feet. DOE's report suggests the following alternatives for handling the two buildings: * Taking "no action" on the buildings -- no cost is associated with this decision. * Leaving the facilities in place and continuing surveillance and maintenance on the structures -- estimated cost would be $361 million over 30 years. * Demolishing the facilities after removing and disposing of equipment at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, the Nevada Test Site or both -- costs would range from $288 million to $368 million depending on what disposal site is used for this eight-year project. * Decontaminating the equipment, demolishing the building and disposing of the waste at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility, which is being built in Oak Ridge -- estimated cost would be $434 million for the eight-year project. According to the DOE document, the latter alternative appears to be the most effective choice, but it is also the most expensive alternative and the most difficult to implement. The four alternatives outlined in this report are essentially the same as those in the document that was halted from release. Incidentally, some local groups have expressed an interest in salvaging a portion of the historic K-25 building. DOE is accepting public comments on the engineering evaluation and cost analysis until Aug. 24. Comments can be sent to Myrna Redfield at P.O. Box 2001, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 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. 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