***************************************************************** 02/01/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.28 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 UK: Greenpeace exposes Government financing for new nukes 2 The Nuclear Energy Agency investigates future options for the 3 US: Terrorism Alert May Linger 4 US: EPA Releases Compliance and Enforcement Figures 5 Nuclear Energy's Value Apparent Amid Costly Push to Increase 6 China to build new nuclear reactor in Zhejiang 7 British Energy invests £31m in nuclear plants 8 UK govt declines comment on claims it will allow new nuclear 9 UK should raise renewable targets, says leaked report 10 US: Groups to Release Report on Energy Subsidies, Taxes 11 Renewable energy to drive French power investment 12 Brighter outlook at ScottishPower 13 UK govt to allow nuclear power generators to build new plants 14 US: GAO Will Sue Bush Administration for Documents 15 US: SUBSIDIES TO ENERGY INDUSTRY SET TO DOUBLE 16 US: Call for fed nuke security renewed 17 US: GAO: Fight puts watchdog in spotlight 18 US: Abraham, Engler announce Detroit to host G-8 Energy Summit NUCLEAR REACTORS 19 Can: N.B. nuclear station back in service after most recent shutdown 20 US: Despite threat, nuclear plant safe, officials say 21 US: NRC Dispatches Inspection Team to Callaway 22 US: Nuclear power plant loses 19 more jobs NUCLEAR SAFETY 23 In Georgian Region, Race to Recover Nuclear Fuel 24 IAEA seeking nuclear devices in Georgia - report 25 Radioactive Devices Found in Remote Caucasus 26 US: CHILLING NUKE-PLANT TERROR PLOT BARED 27 US: A credible threat? 28 Nuclear devices sicken three men 29 AU: Alcoa builds radioactive houses for workers 30 U.N. nuclear agency to remove radiation sources from remote Georgi NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 31 US: DOE spending around Yucca 32 US: Spirit of nuclear wast policy violated 33 Radioactive water leaks from northern Japan nuclear-waste 34 Directions sought from judge over Sellafield action 35 Nuclear polution in North Sea by oil industry 36 Norway wants sanctions for cross-border polluters 37 Britons more worried about waste than climate 38 UK: BNFL asks court to direct how action by Co Louth 39 US: Contest addresses Yucca controversy 40 US: No fear: Tourists say nuclear waste stored at Yucca Mountain 41 US: Congress gets Yucca letter 42 US: Upton: Yucca Mountain likely site for nuke waste - 43 US: Idaho has becom plutonium dump 44 US: State sues Concord firm over radioactive waste 45 US: Yucca: The questions nobody asked NUCLEAR WEAPONS 46 North Korea decries US for spreading groundless rumours on 47 Indo-Pak tension may lead to nuclear proliferation 48 Russia's Putin unwavering on nuclear arms 49 US: Missile defense could cost up to $64 billion 50 US: Something Old, Something New 51 CIA outlines N. Korean weapons plan - 52 Russian NGO Calls On Putin To Pardon Jailed Journalist 53 Old report questions safety of refitting nuclear submarines at US DEPT. OF ENERGY 54 Nuclear lab bans wireless messaging 55 'Livermore' film explores history 56 SNS construction moving forward 57 DOE has new plan to speed cleanup 58 Plan aims to clean up arms plants such as SRS OTHER NUCLEAR 59 AU: A major contributor to nuclear physics 60 IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2002-01-31 Number 16 61 IAEA: Atomic Energy Agency reports "no problems" on Iraq mission ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 UK: Greenpeace exposes Government financing for new nukes CLAIMS by environmental campaigners that the door has been left open for a new generation of nuclear power stations, subsidised through tax breaks and promoted by relaxed planning laws, were dismissed by government sources last night. Greenpeace said a leaked draft summary from the delayed Energy Review does not rule out new nuclear power plants and foreshadows twelve being developed with government help. But while the Department of Trade and Industry refused to comment, other sources said campaigners' reading of a document which could change substantially before publication was "highly imaginative". The environmental organisation claimed the confidential report, written by the performance and innovation unit of the Cabinet Office, also sets a "timid" target for the generation of renewable energy sources. The target, a doubling of the existing goal to 20% of energy requirements by 2020, despite Britain being one of the most resource-rich regions for wind and wave power, could be the basis of Greenpeace's speculation on nuclear development. With many power stations, both nuclear and conventional, reaching the end of their working lives in the next 25 years, a considerable energy gap looms at a time when the UK must cut down on carbon emissions. In a section of the summary entitled Nuclear Power - Keeping the Option Open, it states: "The decision whether to bring forward proposals for a new nuclear build will lie within the commercial sector ... but given that the government sets the framework within which commercial choices are made, it could, as with renewables, make it more likely that a private sector scheme would succeed." A fuller reading of the paper indicates, however, that the review proper will play down the pro-nuclear case and dismisses subsidies for mature technologies like nuclear, and backs them for nascent technologies like wind, wave and tide. -Feb 1st ***************************************************************** 2 The Nuclear Energy Agency investigates future options for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Press Communiqué 8 January 2002- [http://www.nea.fr] In a report issued today, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) offers a fresh look at several paths in the nuclear fuel cycle under development in OECD countries that may further improve the competitiveness and sustainability of nuclear energy in a medium to long-term perspective. This new report is mainly directed at nuclear energy developers and energy policy makers. While continuing socio-political constraints are influencing the use of nuclear energy, at the same time, the growing concerns expressed over sustainable development and climate change are causing renewed interest in this form of energy. This new report aims at analysing current scientific and technical developments in the nuclear fuel cycle in light of societal demand for more sustainable energy options, using multi-criteria analysis. A sizeable issue stems from the gap between the public's perception and the expert's opinions on nuclear energy performance, e.g. natural resource management, and health and environmental impacts. The multiple aspects involved in sustainable development call for the establishment of a common set of indicators of such development. The multi-criteria analysis of different nuclear fuel cycle options may be an appropriate tool to improve public confidence by letting people participate in the assessment of options. There is however a need to improve the quantification of the criteria and indicators and the availability of data for new advanced nuclear fuel cycle developments before this methodology may actually fully apply. The report gives an overview of potential and promising nuclear system developments which aim at meeting sustainability goals and responding to public concerns. The main advantages and the perceived drawbacks are identified. Beyond advanced water cooled reactors and the high-temperature gas-cooled reactors fuel cycles which may reach industrial maturity within the next ten to twenty years, other advanced fuel cycle developments rely on new reactor concepts which may well further reduce the long-term environmental consequences of nuclear power. These new concepts will require, however, substantial long-term R&D efforts in the fuel cycle and will likely take decades to implement; e.g. thorium-fuel cycle and molten salt reactors. Further, some of these fuel cycles, essentially those based on partitioning and transmutation of long-lived radionuclides, may also need to operate for decades or even centuries to realise a significant reduction of the potential radio-toxicity of the waste. The report emphasises that the reduction of funding of nuclear R&D by governments, as well as the limited potential by industry in today's competition oriented market context to fund long-term R&D, calls for a new reflection. In essence, increased international collaboration of government-funded nuclear R&D is needed in order to fully develop advanced nuclear options within available funding constraints. [http://www.oecd.org/scripts/publications/bookshop/redirect.asp?662002011P1] Commercial orders may be directed to the OECD Paris Centre, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16, France - Tel.: 33 (0)1 4524 8167 - Fax 33 (0)1 4524 1950 E-mail: [sales@oecd.org] - Internet: [http://www.oecd.org/bookshop/] Online Ordering: [http://www.oecd.org/bookshop/] ***************************************************************** 3 Terrorism Alert May Linger Newsday.com By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer February 1, 2002, 6:21 AM EST WASHINGTON -- Despite U.S. successes in Afghanistan, the Bush administration is cautioning that terrorists may be operating in the United States, requiring the nation to stay on high alert for perhaps years. The call for vigilance came from a variety of officials Thursday, from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to the head of the FBI and the White House where the president's national security adviser asserted that countries with links to terrorists have been "put on notice." FBI Director Robert Mueller told reporters that "sleeper cells" of terrorists may well continue to operate in the United States, awaiting orders to attack. While the al-Qaida terrorist network's ability to launch major attacks has been disrupted by more than three months of U.S. military action in Afghanistan, "we're still on a very high state of alert" for possible attacks by members that may already be in this country, Mueller said. Documents found in Afghanistan and information obtained from captured al-Qaida members have indicated that the terrorist groups had an interest in U.S. nuclear power plants, dams and water systems, according to the FBI and CIA. Among the papers found in Afghanistan were rudimentary schematics of nuclear weapons and diagrams of American nuclear power plants, intelligence officials have said. Only last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent to all operators of U.S. power reactors an advisory that an al-Qaida member had told the FBI that a plan was in the works to hijack a jetliner and fly it into a nuclear power plant. An FBI official said late Thursday that the information, after being evaluated, was deemed not credible. It first surfaced several months ago and resurfaced again through a second intelligence channel about two weeks ago, prompting the NRC advisory. Rumsfeld warned the danger will become much greater if terrorist groups link up with hostile nations willing to provide nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. "These attacks could grow vastly more deadly than those we suffered" on Sept. 11 when more than 3,000 people were killed in New York City and Washington and aboard a plane that crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside. Mueller, in remarks to reporters Thursday, said he believes that there may well be groups of terrorists in the United States. "Do I know for sure? I believe there are, but I cannot say for sure," he said. He said the FBI still does not know all it would like to know about the 19 terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. "We know half as much as we'd like," he said. Rumsfeld alluded to what President Bush in his State of the Union address called a peril from an "axis of evil" -- North Korea, Iran and Iraq. These countries, the administration is convinced, have links to terrorists. "The real concern at the present time is the nexus between terrorist networks and terrorist states that have weapons of mass destruction," Rumsfeld said, although naming no countries. "Let there be no doubt, there is that nexus, and it must force people all across this globe to realize that what we're dealing with here is something that is totally different," he said. "It poses risks to not thousands of lives but hundreds of thousands of lives, when one thinks of the power and lethality of those weapons." A similar theme came from the White House. Elaborating on Bush's pledge to hold North Korea, Iran and Iraq accountable for actions that support terrorist networks, the president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said Thursday those nations have been "put on notice." Rumsfeld cautioned Americans that the battle against terrorists likely will be a long one, but eventually there will be a sign of victory. "I think it'll take a period of years," he said after a speech at the National Defense University, a graduate school for senior military officers and government officials. "The reality is that our goal is to be able to live as free people," Rumsfeld said. "It means we are going to have to go after the terrorist networks. It means that we have to deal with countries that harbor terrorists." "It's not something that will be quick. ... But I think we'll know when we have been successful." Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press Copyright © Newsday, Inc. Produced by Newsday Electronic Publishing. ***************************************************************** 4 EPA Releases Compliance and Enforcement Figures EarthVision Environmental News WASHINGTON, January 31, 2002 - The US Environmental Protection Agency has released data on its enforcement and compliance assurance results for FY 2001, which the agency said included record-setting expenditures of $4.3 billion by violators for pollution controls and environmental cleanup. The program also secured commitments for an estimated reduction of more than 660 million pounds of harmful pollutants and the treatment and safe management of an estimated record 1.84 billion pounds of pollutants. In addition to the above figures, some of the enforcement and compliance results released by EPA include: The settlement of 222 civil judicial cases and the issuance of 3,228 administrative orders and field citations; Prosecutions resulting in prison sentences totaling 256 years Prosecuted violations also resulted in nearly $95 million in fines and restitution; Compliance assistance for more than one million individuals and businesses by direct assistance or through EPA's Compliance Assistance Centers; and Violators paying $125 million in civil penalties to the United States and an additional $25.2 million to states For more information on EPA enforcement and compliance programs, see http://www.epa.gov/oeca/main/fedgov/accomplish.html. ***************************************************************** 5 Nuclear Energy's Value Apparent Amid Costly Push to Increase Renewable Output Nuclear Energy Institute January 29, 2002 In the face of mandate proposed and actual in the United States and abroad to increase supplies of renewable energy, nuclear energy's value was underscored in an interview that the French secretary of state for industry, Christian Pierret, conducted last week with the French newspaper Le Monde. Pierret warned that French consumers would see increases in their electric bills due to a recent European Union (EU) mandate requiring member states to increase the share of renewable energy sources to 21 percent by 2010. By doing so, France, which receives nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, will see rates rise by five percent this year, and presumably more in the years to come. In the United States, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts similarly has recommended subsidizing renewables, proposing tax incentives aimed at increasing production from renewable energy sources tenfold, to 20 percent by 2020. Renewable sources of electricity—including wind, solar, biomass and geothermal power (but not hydro)—currently account for less than two percent of the U.S. electricity market, despite nearly $12 billion in federal subsidies since 1978. Moreover, wind and solar facilities produce electricity just 25 percent of the time. The Department of Energy (DOE) forecasts that percentage will rise to about four percent in the next 20 years, while the Washington-based Cato Institute predicts in a new report that renewable energy still will account for only 2.8 percent of America’s electricity production by 2020. Meanwhile, DOE forecasts that overall electricity demand will grow between 1.8 and 3.5 percent annually. Renewables have a role to play in the nation’s diverse electricity mix, but they depend on the vagaries of climatic conditions. Nuclear-generated electricity provides consumers with an emission-free source of electricity that is reliable and efficient. Total renewable electricity output in 2000 was 84 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to the output from 11 of the 103 nuclear reactors that supply electricity to one of every five U.S. homes and businesses. Nuclear energy also boasts the lowest production costs of any major source of electricity (industry average of 1.74 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2000). Copyright © 2001 Nuclear Energy Institute. ***************************************************************** 6 China to build new nuclear reactor in Zhejiang BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jan 31, 2002 Text of report by Chinese news agency Zhongguo Xinwen She Beijing, 29 January: In three years - that is, at the end of the 10th Five-Year Plan period - China will have eight sets of nuclear generators in operation with an increase of 6.6m kW after the completion of all new sets of nuclear generators. The total capacity of nuclear power in China will reach 8.7m kW. At the news conference held by China Nuclear Engineering Construction Corporation (CNEC) on 29 January, director of the general office of the CNEC and spokesman Wang Zhaofu said: Current nuclear power projects under construction include Lingao nuclear power station in Guangdong, the second phase of the Qinshan nuclear power station designed and built mainly by China, the third phase of the Qinshan nuclear power station with the heavy water reactor introduced from Canada, and the Tianwan nuclear power station in Jiangsu, which is to be jointly built by China and Russia. In 2005, after all the aforementioned nuclear power stations go into operation, the on-net power only from the three phases of the Qinshan nuclear power station will reach more than 30 billion kWh, about 15 times the current power, with a sales revenue of nearly 13bn yuan. Thereupon the economic growth of the CNEC will speed up and economic conditions will improve. In the meantime, the CNEC is striving to set up new projects for the 10th Five-Year Plan period. The corporation has selected the location for a new project in Sanmen county, Taizhou district, of Zhejiang Province. Wang stated: To meet the requirements of setting up new projects in the 10th Five-Year Plan period, the CNEC has completed the main engineering parameters and main systems, as well as the civil work layout of the million kilowatt reactor, and consulted with Zhejiang to advance engineering expenditures by instalments in pushing preparations for the Sanmen nuclear power station project. This year, based on the improvement of technological and economic indexes of Chinese nuclear generators, the focal point will be preparations for bidding. Water and power supply, roads, communications and land should also be prepared in due time. Source: Zhongguo Xinwen She news agency, Beijing, in Chinese 29 Jan 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 7 British Energy invests £31m in nuclear plants Ananova - British Energy is investing £31 million to improve the condition of its nuclear plants. The group has eight stations in the UK, including the Dungeness and Sizewell plants. It says it will invest the money over the next two years. British Energy says: "There is a clear link between operating a safe and reliable nuclear plant and achieving low-cost generation." The East Kilbride-based electricity producer says it's 'substantially' hedged for 2002-3 - a financial mechanism which allows companies to reduce the risk of volatile electricity prices. British Energy says the performance of its Dungeness plant, on the Kent coast, has improved significantly this year and is expected to continuing improving on the back of the two-year investment programme. Last November, the group cut half-year losses by £39 million, despite battling against lower electricity prices. At the time, it said its next aim for the UK market was to improve output and reduce operating costs. British Energy, which was privatised in 1996, generates around a fifth of the UK's electricity and employs more than 5,000 people. Story filed: 09:35 Friday 1st February 2002 Copyright © 2002 Ananova Ltd ***************************************************************** 8 UK govt declines comment on claims it will allow new nuclear power plants AFX News Limited ( January 31, 2002 ) LONDON (AFX) - The government has declined to comment on claims it is ready to pave the way for the construction of new nuclear power stations. Environmental lobby group Greenpeace, which has claimed to have obtained details of the government's Energy Review, said around a dozen new plants could now be built with the help of government tax breaks and a more "relaxed" planning regime. It also claimed the release of of the document, drawn up by the Cabinet Office's Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU), has been delayed. However, a Downing Street and Cabinet Office spokesman were adamant that there had never been a final release date for the report. ""We've never given a set timing on this. I would never accept the premise of that. It will come out when it is ready and not before," a Downing Street spokesman said. He added the government was seeking to achieve "a balanced policy" on energy after Greenpeace said the government had done a u-turn on its 1997 manifesto commitment that saw no economic case for nuclear power. The Cabinet Office spokesman refused to comment on whether the industry had been lobbying the government for financial assistance in terms of tax breaks and relaxed planning controls. "You will have to wait until it (the review) is published," he said. Copyright 2002 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 UK should raise renewable targets, says leaked report UK: February 1, 2002 LONDON - Britain should raise its renewable energy targets, keep an open mind on nuclear power and stop worrying about relying on foreign gas, according to a government-commissioned report leaked by Greenpeace yesterday. Prime Minister Tony Blair is currently studying the report, which he commissioned last year as part of a root-and-branch review of Britain's energy needs over the next 50 years. The review, due to be officially published shortly but a draft of which has been published on the Internet, suggests Britain increase its target of renewable electricity production to 20 percent by 2020 from 10 percent by 2010. Blair said last year he wanted the energy review to look at tackling global warming and ensuring "secure, diverse and reliable energy supplies at a competitive price." Britain aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions, blamed by many scientists for contributing to global warming, by 23 percent on 1990 levels by 2010. This is almost double the target of 12.5 percent to which the UK is committed under the Kyoto protocol. At present barely three percent of power in Britain is classed as renewable, most of it wind and hydro-electric power. As for the politically-sensitive issue of nuclear power, the review by Downing Street's Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) says the option should be kept open, pointing out that nuclear offers zero-carbon emissions. According to the leaked draft, the PIU report also says the risks of relying on imported gas can be managed through enhanced diplomatic activity. It highlighted the fact that 70 percent of the world's gas supplies can be accessed from Europe. Britain is set to become 70 percent dependent on natural gas for power generation and heating in homes by 2020 from the current 40 percent. The country will become a net importer by 2004/2005. The leaked draft said that deep carbon dioxide cuts of 60 percent which an environmental watchdog has recommended are possible at a cost which is bearable. "Credible scenarios for 2050 can deliver a 60 percent cut in CO2 emissions, but large changes would be needed both in the energy system and in society," the report said. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 10 Groups to Release Report on Energy Subsidies, Taxes U.S. Newswire 30 Jan 11:00 Energy Polluters Poised to Reap $62 Billion in Taxpayer Handouts Says New Report; FOE, TCS, USPIRG To Hold Conference Jan. 31 To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Mark Helm of Friends of the Earth, 202-783-7400, ext. 102; Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense, 202-546-8500, ext. 110; Liz Hitchcock of U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 202-546-9707, ext. 316 News Advisory: Representatives of Friends of the Earth (FOE), Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) will release a new report -- "Running on Empty: How Environmentally Harmful Energy Subsidies Siphon Billions from Taxpayers" -- this Thursday, Jan. 31. The report details massive existing and proposed financial giveaways to the oil, gas, coal and nuclear power industry totaling nearly $62 billion. The Green Scissors group will also comment on pending energy legislation. What: 'Running on Empty' report release and news conference on taxpayer subsidies in the federal budget and pending energy legislation Who: -- Erich Pica, director, Green Scissors Campaign, FOE -- Cena Swisher, program director, TCS -- Pierre Sadik, staff attorney, USPIRG When: Thursday, Jan. 31 10 a.m., EST Where: National Press Club, East Room For more information, contact Mark Helm of Friends of the Earth at 202-783-7400, ext. 102, Keith Ashdown of TCS at 202-546-8500, ext. 110, or Liz Hitchcock of USPIRG at 202-546-9707, ext. 316. Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire ***************************************************************** 11 Renewable energy to drive French power investment FRANCE: February 1, 2002 PARIS - France said yesterday it would boost investment in renewable energy including wind power and curb energy demand to prevent electricity shortfalls over the next nine years. In a report to parliament, which is likely to set the first formal framework for electricity investments as the market is liberalised, the industry ministry said 21 percent of France's energy needs must be captured from wind and water by 2010. Renewable energy, which covers 15 percent of French consumption, will be boosted mainly by doubling wind powered generation to 14,000 megawatts, or 20 to 35 additional terawatt hours. Hydropower will also provide an additional eight TWh. At the same time, demand for power will also have to be controlled as the phasing out of coal and fuel fired generation may cause a shortfall for peak power from 2008, the report said. It proposed that France, the world's top power exporter, should study demand in Europe to try to curb exports during periods of high demand, and to cover peak demand from existing thermal units or by building new generation. In a statement with the report, the ministry made no mention of nuclear power which makes up 76 percent of French power production, but which is seen as a politically sensitive topic due to the presence of Greens in the centre-left government ahead of French presidential and other elections from April. The law, which should be voted on by the end of the year, is expected to help France's main power producer state-owned Electricite de France compete as Europe's energy markets are opened up. "We are in favour of the development of the market in Europe and anything that is going to help us build up the market in Europe. This law would help this," said EdF Chief Operating Officer Loic Caperan told Reuters. Story by Marguerita Choy REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 12 Brighter outlook at ScottishPower The Herald (United Kingdom); Feb 1, 2002 ScottishPower yesterday reported a strong recovery in third-quarter profits thanks to a better showing by the company's accident-prone US electricity operations which offset a pegging-back in UK profits. Pre-tax profits were up 42% to (pounds) 239.7m in the three months to the end of December 2001, before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation, at the top end of analysts' forecasts. Investors were cheered by a quarter that lacked any nasty shocks, but remained concerned that the utility's high debt level and depressed shares would constrain its growth. ScottishPower's shares have underperformed those of its peers by more than 15% since November 1999, when it acquired Oregon-based PacifiCorp for $6.5bn. Yesterday they nudged up 1.75p to close at 429p. PacifiCorp's profits took a double whammy last year from the Californian energy crisis: first a power station failure in the middle of the crisis cost the company $160m; then, after prices collapsed, the company took a charge against forward contracts agreed at those higher prices. Ian Russell, chief executive, said ScottishPower was looking to recoup this cash, which totals up to $500m, from state regulators over the next four to five years. The hearings begin in late Spring. The boost in profits was mainly helped by cuts at PacifiCorp, where ScottishPower had already pledged to save $300m by 2004. So far ScottishPower has saved $110m and was on course to hit that target, Russell said. ScottishPower blamed the profits fall in its UK operations on the premium it has had to pay rival nuclear generator British Energy (BE) for power in a market where other wholesale prices have fallen sharply. The premium is part of a long-standing contract agreement aimed at protecting the market for nuclear power, which ScottishPower is currently contesting in the courts. Lower wholesale UK power prices after the introduction of the New Electricity Trading Arrangements also hit profits. Russell said plans to reduce debt and refocus on its core business by refinancing and separating its Southern Water division and demerging its UK telecoms affiliate Thus, were proceeding according to plan. Analysts were cautiously upbeat. Philip Green at Goldman Sachs said: ''One quarter does not make a full recovery story. It is a tick in the box but still quite a way to go yet.'' Mark Durling at Bell Lawrie White said PacifiCorp looked as though it had turned a corner. But he was concerned ScottishPower might cut the dividend for the year to March 2003: ''In the short to medium term, the best policy could be to cut the dividend. The management are first class but circumstances and the markets have gone against them.'' ***************************************************************** 13 UK govt to allow nuclear power generators to build new plants - Greenpeace AFX Europe; Jan 31, 2002 LONDON (AFX) - The UK government is ready to pave the way for the construction of new nuclear power stations, according the environmental lobby group Greenpeace, which has obtained details of prime minister Tony Blair's Energy Review. It said with Blair's blessing, around a dozen new plants could now be built with the help of government tax breaks and a more "relaxed" planning regime. The document, drawn up by the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) of the cabinet office, the prime minister's think tank, is being portrayed as a complete U-turn for Labour, which in 1997 said it saw no economic case for nuclear power. Greenpeace said it now knows why Labour deleted that clause from its latest manifesto as the PIU report appears to give industry the green light to build new reactors. "The decision whether to bring forward proposals for a new nuclear build will lie within the commercial sector," the leaked PIU document said. "But, given that the government sets the framework within which commercial choices are made, it could, as with renewables, make it more likely that a private sector scheme would succeed. Greenpeace is also critical of what it called the government's "timid" target of generating 20 pct of the UK's energy from renewable sources by 2020. "This report on Britain's energy future is a catalogue of missed opportunities," said Greenpeace executive director, Stephen Tindale. "It leaves the door open for a new wave of dangerous nuclear power stations, which will affect our health, endanger our security and pollute the environment for generations to come." The prime minister's office was not immediately available for comment. British Energy PLC, the quoted company which owns most of the UK's nuclear power stations, said it would not comment directly on the report, which it expects to be published in the next two weeks. But a spokesman said it would be difficult for the company to justify the new construction of "any large-scale plant". "We should replace nuclear with nuclear and build on the same sites as before," he added. The British Energy spokesman denied Greenpeace accusations the loss-making nuclear industry had been lobbying government for cash. "The position we've always taken is that it is down to the industry and the private sector to provide funding," he explained. ijl/lam World Reporter ***************************************************************** 14 GAO Will Sue Bush Administration for Documents Environment News Service: By Cat Lazaroff WASHINGTON, DC, January 31, 2002 (ENS) - The General Accounting Office plans to file suit against the Bush administration within weeks, seeking the release of documents relating to closed door meetings between Vice President Richard Cheney and energy industry officials. The case is viewed as a crucial test of the president's power to protect records of private meetings with powerful and influential commercial interests. [Walker] David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, plans a historic lawsuit against the Vice President's office (Photo courtesy GAO) Since April 2001, the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, has been working on behalf of Congress to obtain the records of Cheney's energy task force meetings, which were instrumental in shaping President George W. Bush's national energy plan. At first, the GAO requested all minutes and records of the task force, which the White House refused to release on the grounds that such a broad request lay outside the agency's authority. In August, the GAO revised its request to cover only the dates, locations and subjects of task force meetings, as well as the names of all attendees. In a letter to the White House and Congress released Wednesday, Comptroller General David Walker informed the administration that four separate Senate committees and subcommittees are now seeking the same information originally requested last year by two House committee chairs. "We would have strongly preferred to avoid litigation in connection with this matter," Walker wrote, "but given the request by the four Senate committee and subcommittee chairmen, our rights to this information and the important principles and precedents involved, GAO will take the steps necessary to file suit in United States District Court in order to obtain, from the Chair of the NEPDG, the information outlined in our August 17, 2001, report." "This will be the first time that GAO has filed suit to enforce our access rights against a federal official," added Walker. "We hope it is the last time that we will have to do so." The GAO's demands have taken on added urgency since the collapse of energy giant Enron. Congressional investigators have been told that the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG) had six meetings with the now bankrupt Enron, but Cheney's office has refused to release any additional details. "Energy policy is an important economic and environmental matter with significant domestic and international implications," wrote Walker. "How it is formulated has understandably been a longstanding interest of the Congress. In addition, the recent bankruptcy of Enron has served to increase congressional interest in energy policy, in general, and NEPDG activities, in particular." [Cheney] Vice President Richard Cheney headed the National Energy Policy Development Group (Photo courtesy the White House) Information regarding which industry representatives had a hand in shaping the national energy policy will help Congress in its deliberations over a national energy bill, Walker noted. A report released today by the Green Scissors Campaign warns that the energy bill crafted by the House (HR 4) could double government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries. "The formulation and oversight of energy policy and the investigation of Enron related activities represent important institutional prerogatives of the Congress," Walker added, defending the GAO's authority to request the information. The White House has pledged to fight the GAO lawsuit and keep the task force documents secret. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters that President Bush "believes very strongly that this White House and all future White Houses should have a right to receive the advice and the thoughts of citizens and to do so without those thoughts being turned into virtual news releases." "The president will strongly promote that right, and fight for that right in court, and the White House expects to prevail," Fleischer noted. "The White House expects to win because our case is strong in law, it's strong in policy and it's strong in principle," Fleischer said later. "Conversely, we do not believe the GAO has a strong case to make, either in law, policy or principle." [Bush] President Bush supports Cheney's decision to withhold the energy task force documents (Photo courtesy The White House) On Monday, President Bush said that if the GAO prevails, the ruling could prevent the president from holding unbiased consultations with industry representatives. "I view the GAO like the vice president does - it's an encroachment on the executive branch's ability to conduct business," Bush said. In an interview Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, Cheney noted that he hopes to "protect the ability of the president and the vice president to get unvarnished advice from any source we want." But in a letter to Cheney sent Wednesday, Representative Henry Waxman of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee who asked the GAO to obtain the documents last year, wrote that a GAO loss would make the White House "virtually immune from routine oversight." [Waxman] Representative Henry Waxman was one of two Congress members to seek information on task force activities last April (Photo courtesy Office of the Representative) "Executive privilege would never have to be invoked," wrote Waxman. "Future presidents could simply rely on your precedent that no White House could be required to provide information or submit to oversight." Comptroller Walker said the GAO "strongly disagree[s] with the Vice President's objections to our audit and access authority." "We disagree with the White House position that the formation of energy policy by the NEPDG is beyond congressional oversight and GAO review," Walker wrote. "Were the Vice President's arguments in this case to prevail, any administration seeking to insulate its activities from oversight and public scrutiny could do so simply by assigning those activities to the Vice President or a body under the White House's direct control." Walker noted that the GAO has shown restraint in its requests, even delaying its planned lawsuit against Cheney's office in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the vice president has opted against voluntarily releasing the requested documents, or seeking a middle ground that both Congress and the White House could both live with. When the 80 year old agency was created, Congress included a "safety valve to preclude judicial enforcement of GAO's access rights," under which the executive branch can request a compromise regarding the GAO's records request. "The executive branch has chosen not to use this mechanism," Walker noted. "Failure to provide the information we are seeking serves to undercut the important principles of transparency and accountability in government," Walker concluded. "These principles are important elements of a democracy. They represent basic principles of 'good government' that transcend administrations, partisan politics, and the issues of the moment. As such, they should be vigorously defended." Email the Environment Editor [news@ens-news.com] ***************************************************************** 15 SUBSIDIES TO ENERGY INDUSTRY SET TO DOUBLE Environment News Service: AmeriScan: January 31, 2002 AmeriScan: January 31, 2002 WASHINGTON, DC, January 31, 2002 (ENS) - Government subsidies to oil, coal and nuclear power industries could double if the Senate approves a House drafted energy bill (HR 4), according to a report released today by the Green Scissors Campaign, a coalition of environmental and citizens groups. Led by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, the Green Scissors Campaign works with Congress and the administration to end environmentally harmful and wasteful spending. "Running on Empty: How Environmentally Harmful Energy Subsidies Siphon Billions from Taxpayers" details new and existing subsidies to oil, coal, gas and nuclear power industries that would total $62 billion over the next 10 years. "The richest polluters in the land are already raking in enormous, mind-boggling handouts," said Erich Pica of Friends of the Earth, director of the Green Scissors Campaign. "And our leaders want to give them more while our economy is struggling? It's time for President Bush and Congress to put a stop to this outrageous waste of taxpayer dollars." The report estimates that existing subsidies and tax breaks to polluting energy industries totaling $33 billion will nearly double, to $62 billion, if the House energy bill is signed into law. Coal, oil and nuclear industry allies in Congress are promoting these new subsidies despite the erosion over the past year of a four year budget surplus into a $100 billion deficit. The report documents some of the tax breaks and subsidies that energy giants such as Enron lobbied for in the House energy bill. The now bankrupt Enron, which paid no corporate income tax in four of the last five years, would have benefited from tax breaks on pipelines as well as royalty subsidies in the House bill. These handouts, combined, total $4.9 billion dollars to industry over the next decade. Both ChevronTexaco and British Petroleum have vast assets in the Gulf of Mexico and could benefit from royalty relief and research and development programs targeted towards activities in the Gulf. The Senate is poised to begin debate on its own energy bill (S 1766) in the next few weeks. While the legislation is incomplete, some subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear energy are already emerging. "The subsidies and tax breaks in HR 4 reward the oil, coal and nuclear industries that dirty our water and foul our air," added U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) staff attorney Pierre Sadik. "The Senate should reject these enormous polluter giveaways, and move us toward a cleaner, smarter, and more secure energy future." The Sustainable Energy Coalition rejected the president's call in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday to pass HR 4. Said Susanna Drayne, "The House bill sets back national energy policy with handouts to already profitable and mature industries. It relies on dirty, expensive, and dangerous fossil fuels and nuclear power. The United States has three percent of global oil reserves but accounts for 25 percent of global demand, and no amount of drilling at home will enable us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil." "A sound energy policy," said Drayne, "should give priority to increasing energy efficiency in every sector of our economy and greatly expanding use of our abundant renewable energy resources." U.S. TEAMS WITH KAZAKHSTAN TO MAKE FUEL FROM URANIUM WASHINGTON, DC, January 31, 2002 (ENS) - Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has launched a new nuclear nonproliferation effort with the Republic of Kazakhstan and private U.S. industry. Under the project, a former nuclear weapons plant in Kazahkstan will develop its capability to separate low enriched uranium from uranium concentrates with assistance from two private U.S. companies and Brookhaven National Laboratory. The uranium will then be made available as a power source to civilian power reactors throughout the world. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) brought the parties together and will continue to assist with the project. The endeavor will create 50 new civilian jobs for former nuclear weapons scientists in Kazakhstan and is expected to create hundreds of additional jobs for former nuclear weapons workers in the coming years. The initiative is intended to improve the nation's energy security, bolster the global economy, and enhance international cooperation. "The project at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Kazakhstan is a concrete example of how our nuclear nonproliferation programs can facilitate important industry initiatives to improve both U.S. energy security and national security," Abraham said. "Additionally, today's initiative will enhance our relationship with an important international partner and improve global energy supplies as well." Kazakhstan, which inherited the world's fourth largest nuclear weapons arsenal after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, decided to terminate its nuclear program and joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear state. Kazakhstan has dismantled and removed all nuclear weapons from its territory and has destroyed the associated infrastructure. Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas (GNF) of Wilmington, North Carolina, and RWE Nukem of Danbury, Connecticut, will assist the Ulba plant in Oskemen, Kazakhstan, to use its advanced solvent extraction technology to recover low enriched uranium from uranium concentrates. The recovered uranium will be available to GNF and other commercial nuclear fuel manufacturers for use in boiling water reactors. The DOE has committed $1.2 million in Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention funds over three years for joint work between Ulba and Brookhaven to design and install this technology for commercial use. The U.S. industry partners have already matched the NNSA's contribution. The NNSA's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program helps engage former Soviet experts in the field of weapons of mass destruction in the development of commercial technologies for peaceful purposes. * * * 232 GROUPS URGE REJECTION OF NEVADA NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP WASHINGTON, DC, January 31, 2002 (ENS) - A coalition of environmental and public interest organizations delivered a letter to Congress Wednesday drawing attention to the "flawed process" that has characterized the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project. The letter urges lawmakers to reject the proposal for a high-level nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Eleven Nevada organizations that have been addressing nuclear waste concerns are represented. "Nevada is not alone in in its opposition to the proposed nuclear waste dump," said Citizen Alert Executive Director Kaitlin Backlund from her office in Las Vegas, Nevada, just 90 miles from the proposed repository. "After having spent nearly $7 billion studying Yucca Mountain, we have a proposed plan that is hardly more scientific than a dog burying its bone." The Department of Energy proposes to haul 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods and other high level radioactive waste from 131 storage sites in 39 states by road and rail to Yucca Mountain, the only site being considered for its permanent storage. The state of Nevada has filed suit in federal court asking that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to prevented from recommending the Yucca Mountain as scientifically safe and sound to President George W. Bush. Abraham notified Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and the state Legislature that he would make such a recommendation on February 10. The groups distributed a November report by the Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General, which uncovered conflicts of interest involving contractors on the Yucca Mountain Project. According to the report, the law firm Winston &Strawn was simultaneously employed as counsel to the DOE, working on the Yucca Mountain Project, and was registered as a member of and lobbyist for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the pro-repository nuclear industry trade group. "Clearly, the DOE has failed to exercise necessary oversight of its contractors, resulting in an apparent pro-industry bias in the agency's site characterization and site recommendation activities," the groups wrote in the letter. "It would be irresponsible for Congress to allow the Yucca Mountain Project to continue without a thorough review of the causes and consequences of contractor conflict of interest that have recently been brought to light." Other agencies are weighing in with their concerns. The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, an independent body, on Tuesday issued a report that questions the adequacy of the computer models used to project how the site's natural features, including geological and hydrologic formations, will protect the stored wastes. The report raises the issue of how well casks designed to contain the wastes for the 10,000 years required by lawmakers will hold up to the tests of time, natural and manmade disasters. "Advocates for public health, safety and the environment agree that the Yucca Mountain Project is a disaster," said Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist with the Washington based Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a signatory to the coalition's letter. "Far from solving the nuclear waste problem, this irresponsible project would introduce new risks to the state of Nevada and the 44 other states through which nuclear waste would be transported." Lisa Gue, policy analyst with the national consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, agrees. "An honest process would have shelved this dangerous proposal long ago," she said. "In defense of responsible, accountable government, as well as public health and safety, we are joining with concerned citizens across the country in urging members of Congress to oppose the Yucca Mountain Project." The letter was endorsed by 22 national organizations, including the Sierra Club, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Indigenous Environmental Network. In addition, 210 regional, local and Native American groups from 50 states and the District of Columbia endorsed the letter. * * * AUTO WORKERS FAVOR GREATER FUEL EFFICIENCY WASHINGTON, DC, January 31, 2002 (ENS) - A new poll released today finds that voters in Michigan - epicenter of the American auto industry - support raising fuel efficiency standards for America's cars and trucks. The poll, commissioned by the Sierra Club, found that Michigan households with a United Auto Worker (UAW) member are even more likely to favor tougher fuel economy standards. "Autoworker households in Michigan overwhelmingly supported raising fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon," said Celinda Lake, president of Lake, Snell, Perry &Associates, a "progressive" polling firm whose principals are among the Democratic party's leading strategists. "We found that support is high in part because Michigan voters, including UAW households, believe that increasing standards will create jobs and help the economy," said Lake. "It may run contrary to conventional wisdom, but in the hotbed of America's auto industry, voters want cars and SUVs to go farther on a gallon of gas." Pollsters found that 77 percent of Michigan voters favor increasing standards to 40 miles per gallon (mpg) over the next 10 years. Of those, 51 percent strongly favor increasing standards. An even higher percentage of UAW households, 84 percent, favor increasing fuel economy standards to 40 mpg over the next 10 years. Of those, 57 percent strongly favor increasing standards. Strong majorities of voters favored increasing fuel efficiency standards across all demographic and political subgroups. Poll results show that support for increasing fuel economy standards to 40 mpg in the next 10 years remains strong even when respondents are presented with the auto industry's position that "requiring increased average mileage increases the burden of regulation on the American car industry, costs jobs and adds hundreds of dollars to the purchase price of cars." After hearing both sides of the debate, voters rejected that argument by a margin of 76 to 17 percent, and UAW households rejected the argument by the margin of 80 to 14 percent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said January 18 the light truck fuel efficiency standards will remain unchanged at 20.7 mpg for the 2004 model year. Since 1996, Congress has prohibited NHTSA from spending any funds to consider any changes to the level of 1996 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. This prohibition was lifted in December 2001. "Raising auto fuel economy standards is an essential element to a balanced energy plan that offers quicker, cleaner, cheaper and safer energy solutions," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. "This poll illustrates strong support, even in the home of the loudest opponent to fuel economy standards - the auto industry. Americans recognize that raising fuel economy standards is the single biggest step we can take to reduce our dependence on oil without sacrificing the wild places Americans love." Lycos® is a registered trademark of Carnegie Mellon University. ***************************************************************** 16 Call for fed nuke security renewed Las Vegas SUN February 01, 2002 By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has seized news reports that terrorists may be plotting to fly an airplane into a nuclear reactor and renewed his call for Congress to federalize security guards at nuclear power plants. The FBI and White House Office of Homeland Security on Thursday confirmed reports that a single captured al Qaida soldier told U.S. officials of the scheme being hatched by three terrorists who are in the United States. Officials stressed that the report is sketchy and cannot be confirmed. But the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Jan. 23 issued an advisory about the alleged plot to the owners of the nation's 103 nuclear reactors. It was the 20th security warning issued by the NRC since Sept. 11. In a related event, President Bush this week announced in his State of the Union address that diagrams of U.S. plants had been found in Afghanistan. Nuclear plants are operating at the highest level of security, NRC spokeswoman Beth Hayden said. Plant operators, who do not release detailed information about security forces at each plant, have stressed that their armed guards are highly trained. Many guards have law enforcement and military backgrounds, say officials for the Nuclear Energy Institute, a top industry lobby group. Plant owners strongly oppose legislation aimed at putting plant security officers under the federal jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as proposed by Reid. "What are you going to gain?" NEI executive vice president Angelina Howard asked in a recent interview. Industry leaders say plant security officers are already an elite force. They say federalizing security will only put a bureaucracy in charge in the case of an emergency, instead of on-site plant managers. Industry leaders also said a nuclear reactor is a tiny target for an airplane -- one-eighth as tall as the World Trade Center and far narrower than the Pentagon. Multiple concrete and steel barriers protect reactor cores, although it is not known if anything could protect a reactor from a commercial jetliner. Reid points to security tests in which commandos in mock raids have gained access to plants. Nuclear industry officials say the commandos have never gotten to a point where they could damage a reactor core. But Reid is adamant that his bill would ensure better-trained guards and will make plants safer from all kinds of attacks. Reid, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, plans to push the issue toward the top of the Senate agenda. "There is much our nation can and must do to keep nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists," Reid said. "Unfortunately nuclear reactors in the United States are poorly protected against a coordinated assault from suicidal terrorists. This must change." Reid's written statement was released after he toured toured Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico, which is partly responsible for monitoring the nation's nuclear stockpile. Lab officials briefed Reid on terrorist attempts to construct and obtain nuclear devices. Reid's bill would also call for new plant site security plans and increased security at each plant. It's not clear if lawmakers will embrace Reid's legislation in the face of significant industry opposition. A similar bill has been introduced in the House. "Our nation can't afford to have anything less than the best-trained professionals guarding our nuclear plants," Reid, flanked by Sens. James Jeffords, I-Vt., Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., said at a press conference in November. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 17 GAO: Fight puts watchdog in spotlight Atlanta Journal-Constitution: ajc.com: BACKGROUNDER: February 1, 2002 Agency's access, role in dispute Bob Dart - Cox Washington Bureau Washington --- The General Accounting Office threat this week to sue the White House has focused attention on an agency more accustomed to scrutinizing others as the "watchdog" for Congress. The GAO "has a reputation for conducting tough investigations, and sometimes other agencies squeal at the outcomes," said Norm Ornstein, a congressional expert with the American Enterprise Institute. The public eye turned toward the GAO after its chief, Comptroller General David Walker, announced Wednesday that the agency would sue to obtain records on the inner workings of the White House energy task force, headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The issue has gained impetus because the task force received input from officials of Enron, the energy giant that has since filed bankruptcy amid a smoldering scandal. Walker maintains that the agency needs the information to do its job. To accept the White House refusal to turn over documents, he warned in a letter, would "undercut GAO's ability to assist Congress in exercising its legislative and oversight authorities." "This will be the first time that GAO has filed suit to enforce our access rights against a federal official," Walker wrote. "We hope it is the last time that we will have to do so." President Bush and Cheney maintain that they are protecting "the executive branch's ability to conduct business." Turning over the records would set a precedent that would deny confidential counsel to all future administrations, they argue. The showdown has constitutional as well as political implications --- and has raised questions of whether the GAO is being politically manipulated. Trying to avoid politics The agency's investigation of the energy task force began last spring with requests from two House Democrats, Henry Waxman of California and John Dingell of Michigan. Since then, the chairmen of four Senate committees --- all Democrats --- also have asked the GAO to obtain the task force's records. "The GAO itself doesn't have political motivations. Its masters, however, always have political motivations," said Thomas Mann, a congressional expert with the Brookings Institution. "The trick is to avoid being used in a political way, and the GAO has generally done a pretty good job at that." In recent decades, Ornstein said, the GAO has generally acted upon requests by congressional leaders --- including the chairmen and ranking minority leaders of all committees. In the GOP-controlled House, Waxman is the ranking Democrat on the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, and Dingell is the ranking Democrat on the Commerce Committee. Because members from both parties often have private agendas in seeking investigations, the GAO proceeds cautiously and has earned a reputation for "auditing federal agencies much better than Arthur Andersen audits private companies," Ornstein said. The General Accounting Office was established in 1921 under a law giving the agency many of the auditing and accounting responsibilities previously maintained by the Treasury Department. Through the 1920s and 1930s, the GAO concentrated on examining the legality of federal expenditures. Much of the work involved checking the vouchers of disbursing agents --- the people who spend money --- in the executive branch. The end of what the GAO calls its "voucher checking era" came during World War II. The explosion of paperwork made it impossible for one agency to check every federal disbursement. The GAO moved toward conducting "comprehensive audits," in the words of Lindsay Warren, who was then comptroller general. The agency increasingly provided direct assistance to Congress. Rather than checking vouchers, it began to evaluate federal programs to determine their effectiveness and to find wasteful spending. Keeping eye on government Now the GAO touts itself as serving "Congress and the public interest by keeping a close eye on virtually every federal program, activity and function." With a $421 million budget in fiscal year 2002, the GAO has a staff of about 3,300 federal employees, including accountants, lawyers, economists and program evaluators. The comptroller general is a presidential appointee, subject to Senate approval, and serves a 15-year term. His salary is $150,000 a year. Walker, the current comptroller general, was a partner in Atlanta for Arthur Andersen --- the giant accounting and consulting firm now in the news as the former auditor of Enron. Walker, 50, was appointed in 1998 by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, but also has Republican ties. During the first Bush administration, he served as a political appointee in the Labor Department and as acting executive director for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. His decision to sue the White House has drawn mixed reaction on Capitol Hill. "I applaud GAO for standing up for the principles of the right of Congress and the people to know who helped shape the administration's energy policy," said Dingell. "GAO is being pressured here on a partisan political basis, and they are wrong on the grounds on which they are being pushed," countered House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). The lawsuit is expected to be filed in about two weeks. © 2002 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ***************************************************************** 18 Abraham, Engler announce Detroit to host G-8 Energy Summit energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: January 31, 2002 DETROIT, MI --- Detroit will be in the spotlight this May as it hosts world leaders for an international energy summit, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Michigan Governor John Engler announced today at a press conference in Detroit. "I am delighted to join Governor Engler today to announce that on May 2 and 3, here in the City of Detroit, the United States will host an official meeting of the energy ministers of the G-8 nations," Secretary Abraham said. "This meeting is an important part of the President's National Energy Plan which directs us to work with other nations to promote and implement policies geared toward meeting the energy and environmental challenges of the 21st Century," Abraham said. According to Secretary Abraham, the Bush Administration has put a high priority on creating better energy partnerships with global partners in the G-8 nations. The May meeting will bring together the energy ministers from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union to explore issues of cooperation and understanding relating to energy, issues that each year are more and more global in scope. "When I first met with President-elect Bush to discuss the possibility of becoming the Secretary of Energy, one of the things he strongly emphasized was the importance of a diversity in the supply of fuels as a foundation for energy security," Abraham said. "He and I both agreed on the need to develop energy strategies to increase energy production around the world and to work closely with other nations to build international energy security." During the 2000 campaign then-Governor Bush raised the idea that the Secretary of Energy should have regular, institutional consultations with the energy leaders of other nations. He incorporated this thinking into the National Energy Policy that was released last May, which specifically called for holding meetings with the energy ministers of the G-8 nations. "I found in my discussions with energy ministers from various developed countries a lot of enthusiasm for the idea," Abraham noted. "And so to move it along, I offered to host the first of what I hope will be annual forums. I am pleased to say this proposal was also enthusiastically received." "Detroit is a uniquely appropriate venue for a gathering of the developed world's energy leaders. It is a hub of North American ingenuity and technological wizardry, both as headquarters for the automotive industry as well as an ever-important locus for the semiconductor and other vital industries. This is a community and a region that understands international issues. Michigan's universities offer world-class scientific research, such as the Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at my alma mater, Michigan State. "The greater Detroit area is a laboratory where energy's future is taking shape. The region boasts a diverse energy mix, with nuclear power, coal, and hydro providing power along with oil and gas and other renewables. Research into new technologies steams ahead every day. And Detroit has an interesting DOE component as well, as the site for a superconductivity pilot program that searches for new ways to carry huge amounts of current safely, efficiently, and reliably." The G-8 energy meeting in Detroit will seek answers of how all of these developing technologies can be applied most effectively to meet our energy challenges. Michigan increasingly is one of the places people are turning to for answers to these challenges, as the Freedom CAR announcement at the auto show proved several weeks ago. Freedom CAR is a revolutionary program to work with the automotive industry on fuel-cell technology so that in the future, cars and trucks will be powered by hydrogen, not gasoline. The Bush Administration has asked the Canadian government to serve as co-host for this energy ministerial meeting, and the Honorable Herb Dhaliwal, Canadian Minister of Natural Resources who appeared at the press conference today with Secretary Abraham and Gov. Engler, has agreed. Last summer Prime Minister Chretien announced plans for holding the overall G-8 2002 Summit for heads of state in Alberta. "I have every reason to be proud of this state and this community," Abraham added. "And frankly one of the main reasons I am so looking forward to this meeting is just to have the chance to show the world what Detroit and Michigan have to offer. We have a variety of innovative industries working on cutting-edge technologies, a skilled and diverse population, and a proven track record of fostering international cooperation." Media Contact: Jeanne Lopatto, 202/586-4940 Corry Schiermeyer, 202/586-5806 Release No. PR-02-013 Back to Previous Page> ***************************************************************** 19 Can: N.B. nuclear station back in service after most recent shutdown January 31, 2002 N.B. nuclear station back in service after most recent shutdown POINT LEPREAU, N.B. (CP) -- New Brunswick's nuclear power station was back up and running Thursday, after the latest in a series of unplanned shutdowns.  The Point Lepreau generating station, located near Saint John, N.B., had been out of service for two days.  NB Power official Jeffrey Carleton said the reactor was fully operational by 3 p.m. on Thursday.  The latest shutdown was caused by a fault in a circuit connected to one of the station's turbines.  The turbine automatically shut down when some of its controls received signals that they didn't have the right power supply, said Rod White, vice-president of NB Power's nuclear division.  It was the fourth interruption at Lepreau in the last six weeks.  New Brunswick's Public Utilities Board has yet to hold its inquiry that will decide whether Point Lepreau should be decommissioned in 2006, or refurbished so it can continue generating power until 2032. [http://www.canoe.ca/copyright.html] © 2002, Canoe, a division of Netgraphe ***************************************************************** 20 Despite threat, nuclear plant safe, officials say Florida Power says no additional security measures are planned at the nuclear plant despite discoveries of more terrorist plots. By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published February 1, 2002 CRYSTAL RIVER -- The nation's 103 nuclear plants, including the one Florida Power operates here, have been the subject of grim speculation since Sept. 11. Now, there is proof they are high on terrorists' lists of targets. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Bush cautioned that "diagrams of American nuclear power plants" were found in Afghanistan. "Our discoveries in Afghanistan confirmed our worst fears and showed us the true scope of the task ahead," Bush said before a national television audience. On Thursday, Mac Harris, a spokesman for Florida Power, said the company does not plan any additional security measures at the Crystal River Energy Complex. "We're already at the highest awareness," he said. Calling attention to Bush's use of "confirmed," Harris said, "It shows what we did was reasonably prudent; it doesn't mean we should take additional action." Also Thursday, federal officials said that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, acting on a tip from an al-Qaida operative, alerted nuclear power plants last week that terrorists may be planning an airplane attack on a nuclear power reactor. The alert by the NRC said "the attack was already planned" and three people "already on the ground" were trying to recruit non-Arabs to take part, according to the Associated Press. On Jan. 23, the NRC issued an advisory to operators of all commercial nuclear reactors emphasizing that the information had not been corroborated or otherwise authenticated. The advisory also said the plan would include diverting the mission to any tall building if a military aircraft intercepts the plane," said the advisory, according to a source familiar with it. A Washington organization critical of the nuclear industry said the recent disclosures warrant military protection at all plants, including the National Guard. The guard was offered to Florida Power in November, but the utility turned down the offer because, it said, plant security was already adequate. The Nuclear Control Institute also called for anti-aircraft weapons to be set up at the facilities "as a last-resort measure in the event fighter interceptors cannot catch up with a jumbo jet headed for a suicidal hit on a plant." Harris said the Crystal River plant has received no credible threats since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Security already in place includes concrete barriers and tighter screening at the entrance of all cars and trucks. The Coast Guard has established no-trespassing zones in coastal waters near the plant, and Citrus County Sheriff's deputies are supplementing the security staff. The decision to make major changes in security would come from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or law enforcement, he added. An NRC spokeswoman, Sue Gagner, refused to discuss whether additional measures are being considered. "We have issued over 20 advisories since Sept. 11, but I can't discuss the contents of them," she said. However, in the recent meeting in Crystal River, Commissioner Nils J. Diaz indicated policy changes were imminent. -- Alex Leary can be reached at 564-3623 or leary@sptimes.com. ***************************************************************** 21 NRC Dispatches Inspection Team to Callaway NRC: Press Release Region IV - 2002 - 3 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov No. IV-02-003 January 31, 2002 CONTACT: Breck Henderson Phone: 817-860-8128 Cellular: 817-917-1227 e-mail: [opa4@nrc.gov] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dispatched a fact-finding inspection team to the Callaway nuclear plant today to look into circumstances surrounding the malfunction of an auxiliary feedwater pump. Callaway, operated by Ameren UE, is located near Fulton, Missouri. Callaway plant is currently being shut down as a precaution so that Ameren UE workers may safely check the feedwater system and repair it as necessary. The inspection team, referred to as an augmented inspection team, consists of four inspectors from the NRC regional office in Arlington, Texas, and NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. Auxiliary feedwater pumps, which are required by NRC regulations to be available for operation while the plant is operating, are important components of the plant's safety system because they are relied upon to supply cooling water to the steam generators if the main feedwater pumps are not operating. Steam generators remove heat from the reactor and send steam to the electrical generator. NRC made the decision to send an augmented inspection team when Ameren UE workers, who were investigating a December 3 malfunction of one auxiliary feedwater pump, recently discovered that pieces of debris from a degraded seal in the condensate storage tank had the potential to affect all three auxiliary feedwater pumps. The condensate storage tank is the common water supply for all three auxiliary feedwater pumps. A smaller, special inspection team had arrived at Callaway on January 28 to review the initial, single feedwater pump malfunction. This team is being expanded in scope and resources to an augmented inspection team as a result of the evidence from the condensate storage tank. The inspection team will develop a complete description of the sequence of events related to the pump malfunction, review Ameren UE's determination of the cause of the problem and determine to what extent the degraded tank seal could have affected other plant equipment. The results of the inspection will be discussed at a public meeting to be scheduled on completion of the fact-finding inspection. A written report of the team's findings will be issued within 30 days of the that meeting. ***************************************************************** 22 Nuclear power plant loses 19 more jobs [St. Petersburg Times Online: Citrus County news ] More cuts are needed, but there will be no significant changes this year, an official writes. By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published February 1, 2002 CRYSTAL RIVER -- Florida Power eliminated 19 jobs from its nuclear plant on Thursday, continuing a downsizing effort that began last winter under the company's new owner. Five additional workers were given the option of other jobs in the company or taking the same severance package offered to workers who received pink slips. The severance deals were said to be similar to those offered last year. Those included seven weeks of pay, two weeks of pay for every year in service and unused vacation and holidays. "Staffing reductions announced today are in line with plans that have been discussed with site employees for the past few years," vice president Dale Young wrote in a statement. "These reductions bring us closer to the staffing levels found at other top-performing plants in the industry." He said attrition helped reduce the number of employees affected by layoffs. In a note to employees, Young said additional cuts were necessary, though there would be no significant changes this year. The cuts come almost one year after Florida Power cut 60 jobs from the nuclear plant. All told, there are about 225 fewer employees at the plant today than there were in summer 1998, when there were about 811 workers. Spokesman Mac Harris said the staff had been beefed up to deal with a regulatory shutdown from late 1996 to early 1998. After problems were fixed, some of the additional help was not needed, he said. But some of the recent cuts -- there were also several dozen jobs cut from the coal-burning operation in February -- are tied to the acquisition of Florida Power's former parent company, Florida Progress Corp., by Carolina Power &Light in 1999. When the $5.3-billion takeover was announced, the Raleigh-based utility said it would cut $100-million, largely by eliminating duplicate jobs. Thursday's cuts affect only Florida Power's operation in Crystal River, Harris said. -- Staff writer Alex Leary can be reached at (352) 564-3623 or leary@sptimes.com. ***************************************************************** 23 In Georgian Region, Race to Recover Nuclear Fuel February 1, 2002 By WILLIAM J. BROAD An international team of experts has flown to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to try to recover two highly radioactive objects that were found near a mountainous region controlled by Muslim rebels, officials said yesterday. The objects, cylinders not much larger than cans of string beans, caught the attention of three woodsmen because the snow nearby was melting. The men lugged the surprisingly heavy objects to their campsite for warmth and soon became dizzy and nauseated. A week later, they had radiation burns. All three men are now in a hospital in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and one is fighting for his life. The incident, which unfolded with little attention in December, has set off a monthlong international hunt through snowy mountains for the devices, which, it turns out, are abandoned Soviet nuclear batteries. Eager to keep them out of the hands of terrorists, the recovery team from the International Atomic Energy Agency is planning to haul heavy lead shields into the Georgian woods and recover the radioactive devices this weekend, weather permitting. The cylinders are filled with strontium 90, which has a half-life of 28 years and binds readily with human bones. "These sources are very powerful," said Abel J. González, director of the atomic agency's division of radiation and waste safety. "The good news is that the place is so remote, so difficult to reach, even for us. So I believe it is not so easy to reach for terrorists." If terrorists try to take the radioactive cylinders, he added, "they will probably kill themselves." The Soviets created and, when the union broke up, abandoned hundreds of the nuclear batteries in Georgia, most much less radioactive. The two cylinders found in the snowy woods are unshielded, officials said. About four inches wide and six inches long, they are the cores of abandoned nuclear batteries that use natural radioactive decay and heat to produce electrical power, rather than actively breaking atoms apart, as nuclear reactors do. During the cold war, American and Soviet military forces used nuclear batteries to power satellites in space and spy devices and clandestine radio gear on the ground. In 1998 and 1999, four highly radioactive devices were recovered. But in the wake of the attacks on Sept. 11, American and international officials have developed new jitters about the remaining nuclear batteries and are taking aggressive steps to round them up. "It's a bigger deal, post 9/11," said a Bush administration official. "We're trying not to do this in an alarmist way. We're taking reasonable steps to help the Georgians deal with these and other sources so they are appropriately controlled." The fear is that the old batteries could be turned into radiological weapons, sometimes known as "dirty nukes." The poor cousins of nuclear arms, such weapons use conventional high explosives to scatter radioactive materials to poison an area, rather than harness their energy to create heat and a blast. Their effects on people can range from virtually nothing to radiation sickness to slow death. The radioactive devices to be recovered are near Abkhazia, a mountainous province in western Georgia where Muslim rebels for years have been seeking to break away. "It is clearly a concern, the proximity to Abkhazia," said an official of the international atomic agency in Vienna. The radioactive devices are "right on that border," the official added. "It's a turbulent area." The Georgian incident is reported in today's issue of the journal Science, which said the men are the first confirmed victims of lost Soviet nuclear batteries. On Monday, American, French, Russian, Georgian and possibly German officials are planning to meet in Tbilisi to discuss the recovery effort and the lingering danger. "It's a serious threat," Tom Clements, executive director of the Nuclear Control Institute, a private group in Washington, said of the material falling into terrorist hands. Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman in Vienna for the atomic agency, said the men made their discovery in early December. Georgian authorities, alarmed by the find and the men's growing sickness, contacted the agency on Christmas Eve to ask for help. On Jan. 4, the agency sent in a medical and recovery team to Tbilisi. The doctors helped treat the men while the recovery team, Ms. Fleming said, linked up with Georgian officials and experts. However, the team was unable to reach the radioactive source because of heavy snow. "The roads are primitive," she said. "It was impossible to reach the area. Now the weather has improved." The delay let the team do more preparatory work, readying trucks, shielding and remote manipulators. "They're confident they'll be able to get there," she said. If all goes as planned, the recovery should be done by the middle of next week. Each battery contains 40,000 curies of radiation, she said. By comparison, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant released about 50 million curies, and the accident at Three Mile Island discharged a minimal 50 curies. Dr. González said the strontium 90 in the nuclear batteries was in a ceramic form and thus hard to pulverize into the kind of fine dust needed for the most effective terrorist weapons. Instead, he said, a high explosive would shatter most of it into chunks. Dr. Frank von Hippel, a physicist who advised the Clinton White House and now teaches science policy at Princeton, also said there was little danger that a terrorist could turn the device into a weapon that would kill many people. "Maybe one thousandth of the strontium would be shattered into dust that could be inhaled, unless you did something fancy," he said yesterday. "It's more a psychological weapon" that, if successful, would play upon popular fears about radiation, he said. Officials at the agency said that so far 280 radioactive sources had been recovered in Georgia, most of them low level and only four containing the dangerous strontium 90. Dr. González said that an unknown, small number of the powerful ones are still missing. At the Monday meeting, he added, officials would discuss the long-term problem of missing nuclear batteries. "We're going to try our best to find the sources, bring them under control and put them in safe locations," Dr. González said. The agency is considering a proposal to let hospitals use some of the strontium 90 for cancer radiation treatments. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 24 IAEA seeking nuclear devices in Georgia - report USA: February 1, 2002 WASHINGTON - The U.N. nuclear watchdog has sent a team to try to seize two portable nuclear devices found in Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia it fears might be used to make bombs, Science magazine reported yesterday. The magazine said men gathering wood had found the devices, evidently once used in a generator, and had become ill after handling them, prompting the action by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. Government officials and scientists fear that various groups might get hold of nuclear waste or industrial nuclear devices to make a so-called dirty bomb that could spread toxic radiation when exploded. It would have less devastating blast effect than an actual nuclear bomb but would be dangerous. "The crisis began with a fax on Christmas Eve from Georgian authorities," Science reported in Friday's issue. "Three men gathering wood near Lja on 2 December 2001 had found two containers that appeared to have melted the nearby snow. Lugging the containers back to their campsite for warmth, the men soon became dizzy and (nauseated) and started vomiting," the report said. "Within a week, radiation burns began to develop on their backs. On January 4, 2002, the IAEA dispatched three investigators to Tblisi, but heavy snows and rough terrain prevented them from reaching the objects." The team is still trying to retrieve the devices, the report said. Abkhazia, which declared independence from Georgia in 1991, has remained outside the Georgian government's control and Georgian guerrillas regularly clash with the Abkhazian military. The magazine said nuclear devices had been found in the area before. A fisherman found one in a riverbed in 1998 that was later found to contain very large amounts of radioactive strontium-90. The article said Western officials did not know what the devices had been used for, but the 1998 device appeared to have been designed as a heat generator. The IAEA, a United Nations agency, monitors the peaceful use of nuclear power worldwide. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 25 Radioactive Devices Found in Remote Caucasus National Geographic News @ nationalgeographic.com National Geographic News January 31, 2002 The International Atomic Energy Agency has dispatched a team to a remote area near Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region in the Caucasus to help local officials find two portable devices believed to be highly radioactive, Science magazine reported in its current issue. "The crisis began with a fax on Christmas Eve from Georgian authorities" said the report in the February 1 issue of the magazine. "Three men gathering wood near Lja on December 2, 2001 had found two containers that appeared to have melted the nearby snow. Lugging the containers back to their campsite for warmth, the men soon became dizzy and nauseous and started vomiting. Within a week, radiation burns began to develop on their backs". IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency based in Vienna, Austria, dispatched three investigators to Tbilisi on January 4, but heavy snows and rough terrain prevented them from reaching the objects, agency spokesperson Melissa Fleming told National Geographic News. "Our delegation has been in the region since Sunday, primarily training a local team to secure these objects," Fleming said. "This is an extremely difficult operation and very dangerous. "The objects are in an incredibly remote place. We know exactly where they are. We made an attempt to go in before, but both the weather and the landscape were too severe and it was impossible," she said. Devices are "Almost Impossible to Move" Fleming said there was no great concern that terrorists might reach the devices before the authorities get to them. "It would be almost impossible to move these devices unless you want to kill yourself. It would be just as difficult and dangerous for terrorists to handle these objects as it is for us. And we've got the equipment and expertise to do the job," she said. "Nonetheless, there is an urgency to get to the objects as they are too dangerous to leave lying about." The IAEA team and local officials have made special manipulators to move the objects remotely into protective containers. Once they have been secured they will be moved to a place where they can be stored in safety. "Such containers were found in the region before,"Science said. "In 1998, not far from Lja, a fisherman found one in a riverbed. Physicists in Tbilisi later discovered that it was packed with strontium-90, emitting a whopping 40,000 curies of radiation, equivalent to the radiation from strontium-90 released during the 1986 Chernobyl explosion and fire." According to Science, Soviet labs apparently produced several hundred generators like this one, including some with radioactivity levels as high as 100,000 curies. None of these high-powered models have yet turned up, and only a handful of the 40,000-curie devices have been recovered in covert operations in four countries: Georgia, Belarus, Estonia, and Tajikistan. Officials from IAEA and Georgia, France, Russia, and the United States are expected to meet in Tbilisi on February 4 to review the recovery effort. World on Heightened Alert to Nuclear Terrorism The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, said last November that the ruthlessness of the September 11 attacks had alerted the world to the potential of nuclear terrorism, making it "far more likely" that terrorists could target nuclear facilities, nuclear material, and radioactive sources worldwide. " The IAEA helps countries around the world prevent, intercept, and respond to terrorist acts and other nuclear safety and security incidents. It has the only international response system in place capable of acting immediately to assist countries in the event of a radiological emergency caused by a nuclear terrorist attack. Although terrorists have never used a nuclear weapon, reports that some terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaeda, have attempted to acquire nuclear material is a cause of great concern. According to the IAEA, since 1993 there have been 175 cases of trafficking in nuclear material and 201 cases of trafficking in other radioactive sources (such as for medical and industrial uses). However, only 18 of these cases have actually involved small amounts of highly enriched uranium or plutonium, the material needed to produce a nuclear bomb. IAEA experts believe the quantities involved are not sufficient to construct a nuclear explosive device. "However, any such materials being in illicit commerce and conceivably accessible to terrorist groups is deeply troubling," said El Baradei. © 2002 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 26 CHILLING NUKE-PLANT TERROR PLOT BARED NYPOST.COM By BRIAN BLOMQUIST February 1, 2002 WASHINGTON - An al Qaeda terror leader told U.S. interrogators of a horrifying plot to fly a commercial jetliner into an American nuclear reactor, a government memo reveals. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission memo - obtained by The Post - says that an "al Qaeda senior operative" told interrogators that "there would be a second airline attack" that would have possibly more devastating results than the catastrophic attacks of Sept. 11. "The attack was already planned and three individuals were on the ground in the states recruiting non-Arabs to take part in the attack," reads the chilling memo. "The plan is to fly a commercial aircraft into a nuclear power plant to be chosen by the team on the ground." If U.S. military jets try to interfere with the kamikaze nuclear strike, the terror pilots are to fly the plane into "any tall building," the memo said. The al Qaeda operative told interrogators the attack was "already planned" and that "three individuals" were already in the United States and working with "non-Arabs to take part," said the memo, citing information from FBI headquarters. The target was to be chosen by terror operatives already on the ground. "No specific timeline or location was given for the attack," it says. The chilling disclosure came as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that the U.S. could be hit with an attack "vastly more deadly" than those of Sept. 11. And it followed President Bush's revelation that U.S. officials in Afghanistan found blueprints of nuke facilities, water-treatment plants, city maps and information on landmarks. An FBI official confirmed last night that the bureau provided the information to the NRC, saying the terror tip was first received "several months ago" - but after Sept. 11 - and determined to be "not a high threat." "We put it to the test. It was not deemed to be a credible, hard threat," an FBI official said. But a U.S. source said a foreign government provided the same terror tip a few weeks ago. That prompted the FBI to double-check the threat and, again, conclude it could not be verified. Nonetheless, the NRC sent the warning memo to all 103 nuclear-power plants in the United States on Jan. 23. The plants weren't required to take any extra precautions. They've been on high alert and under armed guard since Sept. 11 - but federal and nuclear industry officials say the tightened security hasn't been specifically aimed at a suicide airliner attack. The NRC said 20 warnings have gone to nuclear facilities since Sept. 11. Nobody knows for sure what would happen if terrorists aimed a jetliner at a nuclear plant. Industry executives emphasize that nuclear reactors are protected by 2- to 5-foot-thick steel and concrete containment buildings, and have redundant safety systems. NRC Chairman Richard Meserve said he could not describe with assurance the consequences if "a large airliner, fully loaded with fuel . . . crashed into a nuclear-power plant." NEW YORK POST is a registered trademark of NYP Holdings, Inc. NYPOST.COM, ***************************************************************** 27 A credible threat? BulletinWire February 1, 2002 Has new evidence surfaced to indicate that the government has acknowledged a credible terrorist threat against nuclear plants? Remarks made by the president and a recent report point to that possibility, but intelligence officials say they know of no such threats. In his State of the Union address on January 28, President Bush said, “Our discoveries in Afghanistan confirmed our worst fears. . . .We have found diagrams of American nuclear power plants. . .” —a statement seen by some as a revelation that the United States had in fact found credible evidence of a terrorist threat directed at the nuclear industry. And a recent classified report allegedly warns that terrorists are planning another major attack, and that nuclear facilities are among the targets, according to an article by Bill Gertz in the Washington Times (January 31). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recommended that all U.S. nuclear power plants increase their security after September 11. But a January 23 alert issued by the NRC to the nuclear plants was actually a mistake, according to officials cited in the New York Times (February 1). The warning had been based on a tip that officials received and dismissed last fall, the officials said. The NRC has appeared reluctant to institute major security improvements and has maintained all along that U.S. nuclear power stations are secure. NRC Chairman Richard Meserve has opposed legislation to upgrade the NRC’s “design basis threat,” which is the level of threat to nuclear facilities that the NRC recognizes and plans its security measures around. On January 17, Meserve said in a speech to the National Press Club, “Since September 11, there have been no specific credible threats of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant,” a statement with which intelligence officials apparently concur. But as Daniel Hirsch reported in the January/February 2002 Bulletin, many believe the current level to be far too lax. “Why does the industry continue to ignore the need to protect its facilities?” Hirsch asked. “First, more security means more expense, and its every instinct is to avoid current expenses. Second, if it admits its reactors are vulnerable, the industry’s dream of a nuclear renaissance is diminished.” See: “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2002/jf02/jf02hirsch.html] by Daniel Hirsch, January/February 2002 Japanese MOX order shelved Kansai Electric Power Company, a Japanese utility, halted its order for MOX (mixed oxide) fuel from a Cogema plant in France after Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry refused to accept the utility’s or the plant’s quality assurance procedures, according to Nuclear Engineering International (January 29). This isn’t the first MOX fuel quality control problem for Japan, which sees using the fuel (a uranium-plutonium blend) as a way to dispose of its stockpile of separated plutonium. As Shaun Burnie reported in the May/June 2001 Bulletin: “Officials in Britain and Japan issued assurances that data on the first shipment of MOX fuel had not been falsified. But data that BNFL [British Nuclear Fuels Limited] was forced to release publicly in Japan told a different story, and after three months of denial and a court challenge from citizen groups, BNFL was forced to concede that it had falsified data.” See: “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01burnie.html] ,” by Shaun Burnie & Aileen Mioko Smith, May/June 2001 January 24, 2002 Energy Department tosses immobilization The Energy Department announced yesterday plans to dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium by turning it into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel to be burned in nuclear reactors. The government’s previous plutonium disposition strategy was a dual-track approach: Some of it would be turned into MOX fuel, and some of it would be immobilized through vitrification. But the Bush administration has now abandoned research into immobilization, citing high costs and technical difficulties, and chosen instead to focus only on the MOX option. In the Bulletin’s [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01toc.html] on plutonium disposition (May/June 2001), Allison Macfarlane, et al., reported on a “third way” to dispose of plutonium—storage MOX. “Instead of being used to fuel reactors, storage-MOX rods would be mixed in with spent fuel rods headed for geological burial,” the authors wrote. See: “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/bulletinwirearchive/BulletinWire010830.html] ” BulletinWire, August 30, 2001 “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01vonhippel.html] ,” by Allison Macfarlane, Frank von Hippel, Jungmin Kang & Robert Nelson, May/June 2001 “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01vonhippel.html#barker] ,” by Fred Barker and Mike Sadnicki, May/June 2001 “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01burnie.html] ,” by Shaun Burnie and Aileen Mioko Smith, May/June 2001 “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01hibbs.html] ” by Mark Hibbs, May/June 2001 “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/mj01/mj01rothstein.html] ,” by Linda Rothstein, May/June 2001 Brazil: Not enough power to the people A transmission line failure in Brazil caused a major electrical blackout Monday afternoon, cutting off almost 20 percent of the country’s power and affecting trade in six cities. Thirteen of the 18 turbines at the Itaipu hydroelectric dam in southwestern Brazil shut down as a result of the outage, according to the Associated Press. Hydroelectric power supplies more than 90 percent of Brazil’s energy, as Matthew Flynn reported in the September/October 2001 Bulletin. But the severe droughts of 2001 exposed the vulnerabilities of Brazil’s hydro-dependence and sparked a renewed interest in nuclear energy. To help alleviate Brazil’s power problems, Flynn reported, in addition to energy rationing “the government also announced plans to diversify its energy infrastructure by building several dozen gas-powered plants and completing a third nuclear power plant—Angra III—which has sat mothballed just outside Rio de Janeiro for the past 15 years.” Critics say the plant, which would take several years to finish and eventually supply only 2 percent of Brazil’s electricity, would be too little, too late, and too expensive. See: “ [http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2001/so01/so01flynn.html] ” by Matthew Flynn, September/October 2001 Note: If you have any comments or suggestions—especially about important topics, articles, or web sites we should know about—send them to the [cauer@thebulletin.org] . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ***************************************************************** 28 Nuclear devices sicken three men By Louis Charbonneau, Reuters, 2/1/2002 VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had sent a team of experts to help recover two deadly nuclear devices found in Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia and transport them to safety. Agency experts are training a local team in Tblisi on how to recover the devices, an agency spokeswoman, Melissa Fleming, said. The devices, apparently once used in a generator, caused severe injuries to the three men who found them. ''These things are so highly radioactive that you can't pick them up,'' Fleming said. ''You can't even get near them. The problem is that the protective shielding was removed, and we don't know why.'' Abkhazia, which declared independence from Georgia in 1991, has remained outside the Georgian government's control and Georgian guerrillas regularly clash with the Abkhazian military. Science magazine reported in today's edition that three men gathering wood in December had found the devices and carried them to their camp for warmth. The devices contained highly radioactive strontium-90, Fleming said. ''We have no idea how they got there or why.'' She said the three men, unaware that they had been exposed to a deadly radioactive source, suffered nausea and began vomiting shortly after the initial exposure. Within a week, severe radiation burns appeared on their backs. Asked if the three might die, Fleming said, ''One of them is in very serious condition.'' This story ran on page A20 of the Boston Globe on 2/1/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 29 AU: Alcoa builds radioactive houses for workers The West Australian + February 01, 2002 Residue used in bricks By Michael Southwell and Carmelo Amalfi MINING giant Alcoa says it may have built houses for its workers with bricks containing its red mud refinery waste. The houses were found by theHealth Department to be too radioactive for human habitation. The use of the bauxite residue in house bricks was proposed in the early 1980s, but rejected by the Health Department after a test building in Hope Valley Road, Kwinana registered readings which bordered on the maximum acceptable radiation exposure level for 19 hours a day. The residue contains radioactive thorium and uranium. Alcoa environmental manager Graham Slessar said trials were done with bricks containing a proportion of red mud in the construction of the Wagerup refinery. "Some of the bricks may have been used in the construction of company homes in Waroona," Mr Slessar said. "The bricks are no different to other bricks made from Darling Range materials and pose no risk to residents. We chose not to proceed with the brick-making project because it was not commercially viable." The Health Department's acting director of environmental health, Brian Devine said that following the radioactivity test in 1983, the bricks containing red mud were deemed not suitable for housing. The department would be concerned if any houses were built with the bricks. "If that happened, whoever did that did so without authority and we would certainly investigate," he said. Sources close to Midland Brick, which produced the red mud bricks told The West Australian that at least three homes were built using the bricks in a South-West town, most likely Waroona. Former Midland Brick general manager George Cugley said yesterday the company made a batch of bricks with the red mud for Alcoa. He believed some houses had been built with the bricks in the South-West. Mr Cugley said he could not recall why the use of the Alcoa red mud was discontinued. Alcoa has continued to deny the residue from alumina refining is radioactive, claiming instead that it contains "minute quantities of radioactive material". But a document obtained by The West Australian shows senior Alcoa employees admitted to a community consultative meeting in 1998 that the red mud residue stockpiled near the Kwinana refinery exceeded occupational radioactivity limits. Mr Slessar said that this was wrong. Millions of tonnes of the red mud material is stored in containment ponds near Alcoa's Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup refineries. Since the brick trial, other uses have been found for the bauxite residue. The Department of Agriculture has sponsored a program which will see 340,000 tonnes of red mud spread on farmland in the catchment area for the Peel Inlet-Harvey Estuary to slow the leaching of phosphate into waterways. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New protest at Alcoa tactics LAWYERS for a former Alcoa worker who is suing the company for exposing him to toxic emissions have accused a senior executive of trying to influence the claim, which is due to begin in the District Court today. John Hammond, who is representing Dominic Pinzone, 34, said Alcoa human resources manager Dave Willett contacted not only his client at home on January 17 to discuss the case, but also his doctor and other workers. Mr Pinzone, who suffers multiple chemical sensitivity to certain chemicals that make him ill, is suing the WA miner for breaching its duty of care and failing to provide a safe workplace. Mr Pinzone's doctor, who did not want to be identified, confirmed Mr Willett discussed Alcoa's forthcoming legal cases when he visited her two weeks ago. "He made a fleeting comment towards the end of our conversation about forthcoming legal cases they were sure to win," she said. "He said they were not going to lose." Asked whether Mr Willett referred to Mr Pinzone's case directly, she said she could not remember. The doctor stressed the purpose of Mr Willett's visit was to discuss next month's visit by United States multiple chemical sensitivity expert Mark Cullen. Yesterday, Mr Hammond protested to Alcoa's lawyers about Mr Willett's behaviour. "The only conclusion we can make is that your client wishes to intimidate our client, and to influence the outcome of our client's claim," Mr Hammond said. © 2001 West Australian Newspapers Limited All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 U.N. nuclear agency to remove radiation sources from remote Georgia By Susanna Loof, Associated Press, 2/1/2002 12:26 VIENNA, Austria (AP) Experts from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency are planning to extract two radioactive containers from a remote area of the Caucasus nation of Georgia, a spokeswoman said. Experts will encase the objects in a protective shielding before transporting them from the rugged area where lumberjacks discovered them in December, said Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency. The containers will be taken to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, for special handling. Local authorities said the containers were used as fuel for signal beacons during the construction of a hydroelectric plant 30 years ago. An article appearing in Friday's issue of the magazine Science describes the devices as thermogenerators that use the heat of strontium to create electricity. After being alerted by Georgian authorities, the agency sent a medical team to treat the woodsmen for injuries caused by the radioactivity. Two of them remain in serious condition, Fleming said Thursday. Bad weather has stalled efforts to remove the containers. ''It's not so snowed-in now and there's a good chance of us recovering them this weekend,'' Fleming said. Fleming downplayed concerns that the material could fall into the hands of terrorists because of the inaccessibility of the terrain. Fleming said the material, which is known as strontium-90, was so potent ''it's certainly almost life-threatening to handle it'' though terrorists might not find that to be a deterrent. The agency's longtime efforts to help countries handle nuclear materials safely have gained greater attention in recent months in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Georgian authorities fenced off the area and kept outsiders away from the site in a forest near the village of Dzhvare, about 135 miles southwest of the capital, Tbilisi. ***************************************************************** 31 DOE spending around Yucca Pahrump Valley Times Incoming, outgoing PETT on commission agenda By RICH THURLOW, EditorJanuary 31, 2002 The money in and money out routine is expected when the county commissioners meet beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Tonopah. The money coming in is another cool $10 million from the Dept. of Energy in the form of Payment Equal to Taxes (PETT). The county negotiated the payment in consideration for ongoing site characterization work at Yucca Mountain, the only site being studied, and endorsed, for the permanent storage of 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. Nye is in the midst of a four-year, $38 million PETT deal. A couple of years ago the commissioners established a number of funds, including health, education, capital projects and emergency - essentially multiple rainy-day accounts - that have been invested. On Tuesday Nye County School District officials are going to ask the commissioners to dig into the emergency fund to pay for the removal of mold and spores from Pahrump Valley High School. PVHS was evacuated Jan. 23 after tests revealed the mold, which sickens people who spend time in areas where that type of mold exists. PVHS reopened Wednesday, but the main building won't be used until the mold is removed and additional testing is conducted to determine it is no longer present. The "destructive testing" and the number of pricey workers and assorted experts who do it figures to put quite a dent in the NCSD's coffers, and district officials will ask for some of the money in the emergency fund to cover the cost. If past history is any indication, the commissioners are likely to approve the request. So far the district has not offered an estimate of how much the work will cost. Officials are reporting small amounts of the toxic mold on the west end of PVHS, with much higher amounts on the east end near the gym. Both areas were flooded in 1997. School district representatives are also scheduled to ask the commissioners for $15,000 in order to complete the paving at Pahrump Valley High School. The paving was ripped out when the Community College of Southern Nevada Pahrump Center was built in front of the school, and some, but not all, of it was replaced late last year. Wal-Mart is also on the agenda, or at least Wal-Mart Realty is. The commissioners will be asked to approve a subdivision improvement agreement related to the subdivision map being developed by Wal-Mart Realty. The PVT reported last summer that Wal-Mart was going to be the tenant on the parcel just south of Albertson's, and just recently compaction tests for the retail giant were conducted on the parcel. Another agenda item related to Wal-Mart is a mouthful. It reads: "Decision concerning a request to enter into a traffic control improvements cost participation agreement to financially secure traffic signalization improvements related to the Red Rock Commercial/Nye County School District commercial subdivision map." In other words, there might be another traffic light on Highway 160, if the details of the cost participation are worked out and deemed necessary. Another cash request will be made by officials with the Beatty Museum. They are seeking $50,000 for the construction of an addition to the museum. ©Pahrump Valley Times 2002 ***************************************************************** 32 Spirit of nuclear wast policy violated - Las Vegas Friday, February 01, 2002 - By MARK WAITE The recommendation of Yucca Mountain as a suitable site for 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste by U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham Jan. 10 violates the spirit of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, Steve Frishman, technical policy coordinator for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects told a conference of the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board at the Pahrump Community Center Tuesday. "The draft environmental impact statement didn't really even describe the project we're thinking about today," Frishman said. "We're going to require the secretary have a final environmental impact statement that describes what he's recommending rather than a repository du jour (repository of the day) at the time it was written." "We reject the site because it is incapable of meeting the requirements of geologic isolation," he said. "DOE is offering a platform for engineered isolation." Frishman said Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn is particularly disturbed that Abraham's recommendation of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump had more to do with the nation's security than the suitability of the site. "Suitability has been a word that has been bantered around for many years," Frishman said. But he said since 1995, site suitability has meant, "Can we engineer a situation that will isolate waste long enough to meet an artificial regulatory compliance period?" "We're going to do our utmost to make sure the policy of the nation is upheld," Frishman said. "The secretary already made up his recommendation before he came to Yucca Mountain for an hour and a half to kick the tires." "We're going to challenge whether that recommendation is in tune with the national policy," he said. "It sets an example to the rest of the world that this nation cares more about its interest in satisfying its economic needs, in satisfying perceptual needs, than in the basic premise of democracy." Luke Barrett, acting director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said he agrees with the technical review board that eliminating all uncertainties at a repository site isn't possible. He also agreed with the board that "No individual technical or scientific factor has been identified that would automatically eliminate Yucca Mountain from consideration." However, Barrett disagreed with the technical review board's Jan. 24 letter to congressional leaders that the DOE estimates for the performance of the Yucca Mountain repository is "weak to moderate." Though the secretary recommends the site, Barrett said technical work isn't finished. "An ongoing course of research is appropriate to ensure the safety of the citizens of Nevada and the nation," he said, reading from written remarks. "If Yucca Mountain is designated as a repository site, such research would last throughout the construction, operating and monitoring period, as much as 100 to 300 years after its opening." While Frishman complained about a repository du jour , Barrett said the goal is to develop a flexible design of the nuclear waste repository. Currently, scientists are studying a repository that could include lower temperatures at Yucca Mountain from the hot radioactive waste. Barrett complained about the inability to perform scientific work because of funding cuts, noting Congress lopped $70 million from the president's request this year, leaving a $375 million budget for fiscal year 2002. Of that amount, $4 million is being used for transportation planning, he said, a touchy subject that hasn't been discussed much yet in public hearings on Yucca Mountain. "If this program is allowed to continue, I am confident this team will serve the citizens of Amargosa Valley, Nye County, the state of Nevada, the United States and the global community as a whole very well," Barrett said in his concluding remarks. Nye County Commission Chairman Jeff Taguchi, in his welcoming remarks, reminded the attendees Nye County has grown 6 percent to 8 percent since their last meeting in Amargosa Valley a year ago. "Social and scientific issues affecting our community have to be examined very carefully," Taguchi said. "These effects will be cumulative as the county grows." "The Technical Review Board must have continued oversight of the Yucca Mountain Program. In other words, no sunset clause," Taguchi said. He referred to Nye County's scientific studies, the early warning drilling program to check groundwater flows from Yucca Mountain and research on the alluvial fans. "Nye County has remained neutral in its position toward the facility," Taguchi said. But he said the county's concerns are in three areas: health and safety of all Nye County residents, the method of transporting the nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain and the economic structures needed to support the project. http://www.lasvegas.com] ***************************************************************** 33 Radioactive water leaks from northern Japan nuclear-waste reprocessing plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 1, 2002 Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo Aomori, Japan, 1 February: Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. said Friday [1 February] it has confirmed that water containing radioactive materials has been leaking from a storage pool at its nuclear-waste reprocessing facility in Rokkasho village, Aomori Prefecture. But while some 5,000 litres of water has leaked so far, the water is being reprocessed by a disposal facility for radioactive liquid waste and no threat to the environment is seen, the company said. The company said it will investigate the cause of the leakage and repair the pool if necessary. The incident, however, may cause concern about security among local residents as the leakage occurred in the main facility of the reprocessing plant, which is key to the recycling of nuclear fuel. The storage pool stores spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants nationwide until the fuel can be reprocessed, and a leak detector found that some one litre of water has been flowing out of the pool every hour since July last year, the company said. The company injected chemicals into the pool on Wednesday to confirm whether the water found by the leak detector is from the pool, it said. The pool has been used to store some 165 tons of spent nuclear fuel, but all fuel had been transferred to another pool by Monday. The reprocessing plant, which started accepting spent nuclear fuel in December 2000, is scheduled to start operations in July 2005. The plant has run into several snags, including a blackout caused by operational mistakes that caused air blowers to cut out. The company will continue storing spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants nationwide using the other two pools at the plant during the investigation period, it said. Source: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 1027 gmt 1 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 34 Directions sought from judge over Sellafield action Irish Newspapers BRITISH Nuclear Fuels applied to the High Court yesterday for directions as to how an action by four Co Louth residents against the company and the Irish State should proceed. The action is aimed at closing the BNFL-operated THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield. The focus of the residents' action against the Irish State relates to its alleged failure to take action, including legal action, to prevent the THORP plant coming into operation. The proceedings began before the Irish government took an international case against the UK, claiming it has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by authorising the MOX nuclear fuel production plant at Sellafield. The case came before the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, yesterday, when BNFL sought directions as to how the case should proceed. The judge was presented with each sides' statements of what they believed to be the issues in the case and heard submissions on these. The proceedings have been taken by Constance Short, Mary Kavanagh, Mark Dearery and Ollan Herr, all residents of Co Louth. They claim the THORP plant has severe environmental and health implications for the Irish people, particularly on the east coast. They submit they were entitled to be consulted about the proposed construction of THORP and had a right, under EU environmental law and directives under the EURATOM Treaty, to make submissions on and to have input into the decisions regarding THORP. They also claim the activities of BNFL at Sellafield should have been subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment and to the "justification procedure" set out in two EEC Council Directives and want declarations to that effect. Meanwhile, they wantthe activities at Sellafield halted. The residents are seeking damages against BNFL for alleged assault, nuisance, negligence, wrongful infliction of mental distress and wrongful invasion of or interference with their natural environment.In its statement of issues, BNFL asks the court to determine whether it has jurisdiction to decide some of the issues raised, including regarding the EIA procedure. The Irish State denies any cause for action against it. Mr Justice Finnegan will give a written decision later. Fri, Feb 01 02 © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 35 Nuclear polution in North Sea by oil industry The Norway Post - Doorway to Norway 31. Januar 2002 The North Sea polluted by the oil industry Every year 200 tons of low-grade radioactive waste from the oil industry is pumped out into the North Sea from Scotoil's purification plant in Aberdeen. Great Britain is the only European nation which permits emissions of these matters, NRK reports. Environmental Minister Boerge Brende (photo) says that this is an unfortunate practice. Brende will now contact British authorities and urge them to store the waste on land. Norway has earlier repeatedly protested against the radioactive emissions to the sea from the British Sellafield nuclear reposession plant. (NRK) Rolleiv Solholm ***************************************************************** 36 Norway wants sanctions for cross-border polluters NORWAY: February 1, 2002 OSLO - Norway, which has complained for years about pollution from Britain's Sellafield nuclear power plant, said yesterday that it would push for a binding international polluter-pays scheme for countries. The parliamentary committee of foreign affairs agreed unanimously to ask the centre-right government to step up efforts to stop radioactive emissions from Sellafield by imposing economic sanctions. "If you don't stick to your environmental obligations, there should be sanctions, for instance economic ones," Environment Minister Boerge Brende told Reuters. Norway, which has repeatedly asked Britain to halt emissions from the reprocessing plant near Sellafield, says it has found traces of the radioactive compound technetium-99, known to stem from Sellafield, along the entire Norwegian coastline. Brende, who has considered launching a lawsuit against British authorities over Sellafield, has been working to create a U.N. high commissioner for the environment and a U.N. expert panel to lift environmental issues higher on the global agenda. "There is a big lack in environmental legislation on a global basis," Brende said. "There are a lot of environmental treaties, but it's too fragmented and the compliance regimes are not good enough." NORWAY DRIVING FORCE Foreign affairs committee spokesman Lars Rise said the committee wanted Norway to "become the main driving force in the work internationally to introduce state liability and economic responsibility for damage caused by transfrontier pollution." "Norway spends more than 100 million Norwegian crowns ($11.01 million) every year for calcium treatment to clean up after all the acid rain coming in from Britain, amongst others," he said. Rise said Norway, in line with previous efforts to promote environmental issues, should also consider whether to propose a binding convention for the environment, based on the 1992 Rio declaration. "The goal is to make the polluter-pays principle effective not only for individuals and companies, by also for states," said Rise, who represents the Christian People's Party, one of three parties in the coalition government. He said the government was obliged to follow up on the proposal and suggested such a convention should fist be tried on a European level and possibly later globally. "I think its a good idea to start in Europe...then it may be expanded to the United Nations later," he said, noting that the 2002 U.N. world environment summit in Johannesburg would be an appropriate arena. "The cabinet minister has to propose measures to ensure state liability," Rise said. Britain first established nuclear facilities at Sellafield, formerly Windscale, in the 1940s, and the world's first commercial nuclear power station was opened there in 1956. Recent research has shown lobsters and other shellfish in the North Sea and the Irish sea have high levels of technetium-99. Story by Inger Sethov REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 37 Britons more worried about waste than climate UK: February 1, 2002 LONDON - Hazardous waste disposal is the most important environmental concern among the British public according to an official survey published yesterday which comes as the government ponders the future of the nuclear industry. "People were in general most worried about pollution issues, such as hazardous waste, pollution in rivers and bathing waters," the Office of National Statistics said in its annual Social Trends report. Two-thirds of people were "very worried" by the issue of how to dispose of hazardous waste, compared to 59 percent on the effects of livestock methods and 29 percent on genetically modified crops. The government is shortly to publish a root-and-branch review of the country's energy needs for the next 50 years. Environmental group Greenpeace said yesterday that it had obtained a leak of the report. "It leaves the door open for a new wave of dangerous nuclear power stations," said Greenpeace director Stephen Tindale. Greenpeace says there is no safe way to deal with radioactive nuclear waste. However, other leaks have said the review will call for a big increase in renewable forms of energy, especially wind power. CLIMATE CONCERN WITH INCREASED STORMS The survey said that 46 percent of people were very worried about climate change or global warming, up 11 percent from 1996/7. Scientists said in the journal Nature this week that the climate outlook for northern Europe over the next 100 years was for increased storms and extremely wet winters, because of rising CO2 gas levels that are warming the atmosphere. Seven people were killed on Monday when storm-force winds ripped across northern Britain, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power, before the storm moved across northern Europe killing at least more ten people. Fifty-two percent of people in the survey were very worried about traffic exhaust fumes and urban smog, with many environmentalists blaming exhaust fumes from vehicles as a major contributor to global warming. The survey said 42 percent of respondents had regularly used public transport, walked or cycled instead of using a car to try to have a positive environmental impact. Forty percent had also deliberately cut down on electricity or gas use. Fifty-three percent had regularly taken paper to a paper bank but only 23 percent recycled plastic. Story by Neil Chatterjee REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 38 UK: BNFL asks court to direct how action by Co Louth residents should proceed Irish Times; Feb 1, 2002 British Nuclear Fuels Ltd yesterday applied to the High Court for directions as to how an action by four Co Louth residents against the company and the Irish State should proceed. The action is aimed at closing the BNFL-operated THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield. The construction of Thorp was completed in 1992 and the legal proceedings were initiated in 1994. In 1996, the Supreme Court refused to halt the proceedings against BNFL on jurisdictional grounds but reserved certain possible issues relating to jurisdiction to the trial court. The focus of the residents' action against the State relates to its alleged failure to take action, including legal action, to prevent the THORP plant coming into operation. The proceedings were initiated prior to the recent decision by the Government to take an international case against the UK, claiming it has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by authorising the MOX nuclear fuel production plant at Sellafield. The case came before the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, yesterday through a motion for directions from BNFL as to how the case should proceed. The judge was presented with each side's statements of what they believed to be the issues and heard submissions on these. The proceedings have been taken by Ms Constance Short, Ms Mary Kavanagh, Mr Mark Dearery and Mr Ollan Herr, all residents of Co Louth. They claim the THORP plant has severe environmental and health implications for the Irish people, particularly those residents on the east coast and that they were entitled to be consulted about the proposed construction of THORP and had a right, under EU environmental law and directives under the EURATOM Treaty, to make submissions on and to have input into decisions on THORP. They also claim the activities of BNFL at Sellafield should have been subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment and to the 'justification procedure' set out in two EEC Council Directives and want declarations to that effect. They say the High Court should direct that those steps be taken now and consider whether the activities at Sellafield should be halted pending that. The hearing concluded yesterday and Mr Justice Finnegan said he would give a written decision later. ***************************************************************** 39 Contest addresses Yucca controversy January 31, 2002 By Jerry Fink < [jerry@lasvegassun.com] > Information + What: "Universal Warning Sign: Yucca Mountain." + When: 6-8:30 p.m. Friday (opening reception); 8 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, through March 9. + Where: UNLV's Barrick Museum. + Admission: Free. + Information: 895-3381. Recorded history began about 10,000 years ago. What will the world be like 10,000 years into the future? For one thing, nuclear waste will still be stored at Yucca Mountain if Nevada is unable to derail a proposal that seems to be on a fast track to acceptance by Congress. In an effort to highlight the issue, the nonprofit Desert Space Foundation of Las Vegas has conducted a national contest inviting artists to submit designs for a universal warning sign that theoretically would alert future generations to the dangers inherent in the storage proposal. Joshua Abbey, director of the foundation, said more than 150 artists responded to the contest the most distant submission coming from Pakistan. A panel of eight judges, most of them professors and assistant professors at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, chose 60 of the submissions, which are on display at UNLV's Barrick Museum through March 9. The winner of the contest was Ashok Sukumaran, a graduate student at UCLA's School of Architecture. He will receive $1,000 for his entry. Abbey described Sukumaran's design as a genetically engineered, cobalt-blue Yucca cactus plant that will, theoretically, reproduce itself and eventually cover the entire Yucca Mountain ride -- one mutation guarding another. Abbey came up with the idea to find a Yucca Mountain warning sign about a year ago. "I wanted to find a vehicle that would allow the arts and design communities to address issues relevant to Yucca Mountain," Abbey said. "I felt this would be a good way to generate dialogue outside the state, and in particular in the key metropolitan areas that are facing the most risk by being along the central transportation corridors." Abbey said the competition was heavily promoted in the Midwest, in such cities as St. Louis and Denver, but word also was spread in such cities as Sacramento and Los Angeles. "I got the word out in major metropolitan areas where there will be multiple weekly shipments (of nuclear waste)," Abbey said. "The general populations in the areas are not fully aware of the degree of risks that will be imposed upon them." Abbey said at the core of the contest is the need to alert people to the "legacy that we are leaving for future generations, and how they will have to contend with the long-term consequences." The warnings came in a variety of media, Abbey said, including paints, sculptures, interactive DVDs and Web-based designs. Abbey plans to have the exhibition tour key metropolitan areas that will be most affected by the Yucca Mountain project. "We will use the exhibit as means of generating media attention and creating greater awareness about the issue," Abbey said. "We are at the point where it is very important for us to build awareness and solidarity, in opposition to the pending consequences of Yucca Mountain, outside our state. "Any means that can capture people's imagination and motivate them to become more informed is advantageous to our position." Libby Lumpkin, an author and assistant professor of art at UNLV, was one of the contest's judges. "Joshua came up with a brilliant premise for the exhibition," Lumpkin, also an art historian and critic, said. "The premise, which was to design signs that would alert people to radioactivity for 10,000 years, highlights the absurdity of the problem with dealing with radioactive sites for such a long period of time." She said the contest stressed the political and social problems involved in having radioactivity and not being able to dispose of it. "The contest proposed a unique and interesting challenge to artists," Lumpkin said. David Hickey, Lumpkin's husband, also was a judge. "I think the contest was a good idea," said Hickey, also an acclaimed author and professor of art at UNLV, "but I think it's hard to be original in the face of total outrage. It doesn't leave you much room for creativity. "In fact, in a project like this, the artist's only option really is some kind of irony." Even with the limitations, Hickey said he thought some of the images created by the artists were very strong. "This is an issue, a situation that is impervious to irony," Hickey said. "They are trying to put nuclear waste 100 miles from the fastest growing city in the country. We live in a tabloid culture in which people and places are punished for success." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 40 No fear: Tourists say nuclear waste stored at Yucca Mountain won't limit LV visits Photos: Tourists leave Bally's | Lisa Madley of Phoenix Las Vegas SUN February 01, 2002 By Ed Koch The mere designation of Yucca Mountain as the dump site for nuclear waste will keep gamblers and other tourists from visiting Las Vegas, right? Don't bet on it. Lisa Madley, who was in Las Vegas on Thursday night from Phoenix, said that a nuclear repository about 90 miles northwest of the Strip won't stop her from visiting. "As long as there aren't people running around with three arms in the casinos, I doubt anyone will know it's there," Madley said as she waited to watch the fountain show at the Bellagio. "It might bother me if I was living here, but I don't think it will bother tourists." The lure of blackjack tables and maybe the world's most famous stretch of neon-lit highway can overcome any stigma attached to the repository, say tourists and longtime Southern Nevadans such as former District Attorney Rex Bell. "When I was a kid at the 5th Street Grammar School, we used to watch mushroom clouds from above-ground nuclear tests -- and that never kept people away from the city," said Bell, now a local attorney. "I don't want that stuff (nuclear waste) buried here, but if you're asking me if it will hobble us, I don't think so. I don't think tourists will even think about it unless they put it on a marquee: 'Watch out for nuclear waste.' " Bell and others are critical of a new Clark County study that says Las Vegas' economy will be immediately harmed if Congress approves Yucca as the site of the nation's nuclear waste repository. A Clark County study examining the economic impact of a Yucca repository reports that property values and gaming revenues will immediately drop because of the stigma attached to nuclear waste. The study also reports that, even without a nuclear accident, 11,294 would leave Clark County. "I don't see Las Vegas' population dropping -- I see it continuing to grow until it has to be cut off because there won't be enough water," said Bell, the son of late former Lt. Gov. Rex Bell and the late actress Clara Bow. "I see people continuing to move here and continuing to buy homes. I don't think it will do anything to the economy." Don Stauffer, 45, who lives in Norco, Calif., is in town for the Super Bowl. He joked that he was reconsidering a move to Nevada because of the proposed dump. "Well, I guess I won't buy that house on top of Yucca Mountain now," Stauffer said as he left Bally's Thursday night. "Seriously though, who cares? I mean, I'm not going to drink the groundwater here anyway." Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said he didn't think President Bush's recommendation on Yucca Mountain would immediately drive away tourists. "Yucca Mountain is the furthest thing from their minds when they come to Las Vegas," Goodman said. "I'm more concerned with the community, the people who live here." Bell said residents appear to be more concerned about transporting the waste than the dump itself. Longtime Las Vegas news reporter Myram Borders said the repository would affect residents more than tourists. "I think property values will go down initially," said Borders, who grew up in Las Vegas in the 1950s and worked for United Press International and recently retired as director of the Las Vegas News Bureau. "I believe, however, the designation will have no impact on tourism because it will take about 10 years before they start hauling the waste. Once that happens we can look at the tourism issue and re-evaluate it." Kilmer Porter, 25, of Burbank, Calif., was sightseeing on Las Vegas Boulevard Thursday night. He said Las Vegas will always draw tourists. "When you're down here looking at all these amazing places, you're in a different world," Porter said. "That supersedes everything else when you're here." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 Congress gets Yucca letter Las Vegas SUN February 01, 2002 A broad coalition of environmental and public interest groups delivered a letter to Congress on Wednesday that outlined the flawed process used by the Department of Energy to study only one nuclear repository site: Yucca Mountain. In addition to the letter, the 232 groups hand-delivered to each congressional representative a 24-page report from the DOE's inspector general released in November. The report mentioned the Chicago-based law firm of Winston &Strawn, which held a Yucca Mountain contract at the same time it was paid to lobby Congress by the nuclear industry. Winston &Strawn has since withdrawn from its $16.5 million government contract. The letter was signed by representatives of Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy Project, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and Citizen Alert, a statewide Nevada environmental group. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 42 Upton: Yucca Mountain likely site for nuke waste - Friday, February 1, 2002 The Detroit News. By Associated Press COVERT TOWNSHIP -- Standing beside rows of nuclear waste-storage containers, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton predicted that Congress probably will designate a Nevada location as the country's repository for spent nuclear fuel. Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, appears to be the "one safe place" for the nation's nuclear waste, Upton said during a news conference at the Palisades Nuclear Plant. The Republican from St. Joseph said this week he expects the House and Senate to pass legislation on the issue this spring, the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune reported. The estimated cost for building, operating and monitoring the site over 100 years is $58 billion. Supporters want construction completed by 2010. For 30 years, up to 77,000 tons of waste shipments sent by truck and rail would be accepted at the site. Today there are more than 40,000 tons of highly radioactive reactor waste piling up at nuclear power plants in 31 states, with the amount growing by 2,000 tons annually. Even if Congress gives the go-ahead this year, it could take eight or nine years before any waste is moved, Upton said as whitecaps from the Lake Michigan surf crashed onto the beach in the background. ***************************************************************** 43 Idaho has becom plutonium dump Reader's Comment - Peter Rickards Don't look now, but Idaho has become a permanent nuclear dump for plutonium. Unfortunately, the plutonium sits over our water supply, in a flood zone, and the state has agreed to bury more plutonium. That's right, Gov. Kempthorne has agreed to open a new permanent plutonium particle dump, despite his recent claim that "Idaho never has been a federally designated waste repository and never will be as long as I am governor." Kempthorne did persuade his friends in Washington to reconsider paying for a small retrieval demonstration. This will only delay the bad news for a short time until after the election. But the lingering plutonium that is their legacy under either scenario will remain radioactive for 240,000 years. The governor, in his recent State of the State speech, at least made one honest statement of past promises to Idahoans. He stated, "It has been over 30 years since the federal government promised that plutonium-contaminated waste buried at the INEEL would be removed." That is also, falsely, what the ads for Kempthorne's "Get The Waste Out" team promised Idahoans. Kempthorne demanded the feds "remove the buried waste" to great applause. The governor claims he will go to court and stop shipments of spent nuclear fuel if they don't remove the buried waste. Anybody want to bet? The governor has already refused to go to court to challenge the 1997 federal decision to leave all the buried plutonium in Idaho! The state protested that decision at the draft hearing two years after the so-called "Get the Waste Out " deal. When the final decision for the New Mexico plutonium dump still left the buried plutonium in Idaho, Kempthorne refused to challenge it in court! To be specific, Kempthorne knows Section G of the "Get the Waste Out " deal clearly says the buried waste is not included in any time schedule or penalty mentioned in the "deal." Unfortunately, the penalties for delaying the work on the buried waste simply come from the clean-up fund, as Idaho's "leaders" agreed to! There is no legal way to stop the shipments because of the buried waste, and the governor knows it. The Department of Energy agrees completely, stating "the buried waste is not covered by the deal." In fact, only half of the above-ground plutonium waste is tied to a deadline that could stop some shipments into Idaho. Even the governor's claim about the buried plutonium only removes half the below-ground plutonium. That leaves a legacy of billions of cancer-causing plutonium over our water either way. When confronted on the decision to rebury plutonium in a new onsite dump, the state spokesman told the reporter, "It is being done to protect the aquifer." Get real, this is absurd. So why is the governor claiming we will never be a permanent federal repository? There are ways to still stop this insanity, but that interferes with new nuclear experiments and reactors that will bury plutonium on site. That is the real deal. Dr. Peter Rickards is a podiatrist in Twin Falls and former candidate for governor and U.S. Congress. Both the Idaho State INEEL Oversight Program and the attorney general's office declined an offer from The Times-News to write an opposing piece to Rickards' comments. Copyright © 2002, Magic Valley Newspapers ***************************************************************** 44 State sues Concord firm over radioactive waste By Beth Daley, Globe Staff, 2/1/2002 About 4 million pounds of low-level radioactive waste is stuck in Concord because the company that produced it is nearly bankrupt, state officials said this week. The state attorney general's office filed a lawsuit to force Starmet Corp. to dispose of 3,800 barrels of depleted uranium and its byproducts, stored in a building less than 5 miles from Walden Pond. Starmet, a munitions maker, used the metal to make tank-piercing weapons until 1999. But Starmet owes nearly $5 million to the only company in the country legally allowed to accept the waste, said state health officials, so the barrels are still in Concord. That company, Envirocare of Utah, confirmed this week that Starmet owed it money, but a spokeswoman could not confirm the amount. Starmet officials declined to comment on the case. Last Friday, in response to a request from Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, a Superior Court judge ordered Starmet to continue a round-the-clock guard over the depleted uranium to prevent theft, vandalism and any accidental release into the environment. For now, public-health officials say the powder-filled barrels are sealed adequately and are not at risk to be stolen or made into weapons. But Starmet's neighbors in Concord worry that their drinking-water supplies could be contaminated. Although depleted uranium is not considered a serious radiation hazard, it is a heavy metal with toxic properties, like mercury. And it has come under increasing scrutiny worldwide as some Gulf War veterans say they became poisoned from US weapons that used it. ''We are concerned about its toxicity ... chemical and radioactive,'' said Stephanie Roeder, president of Citizen's Research and Environmental Watch, a Concord group that has been issuing warnings about environmental contamination from Starmet for 13 years. ''We are concerned about the barrels corroding ... and particularly if [the depleted uranium] is inhaled or ingested,'' Roeder said. Although the 46-acre property was named a federal Superfund cleanup site earlier this year, federal environmental officials said contamination has not spread from the property. Starmet, formerly known as Nuclear Metals Inc., was the nation's top producer of uranium ''penetrators'' for more than 20 years. Depleted uranium, created from low-level radioactive waste left over from the making of nuclear fuel and bombs, is almost twice as heavy as lead. When used as antitank ammunition, it can quickly puncture and burn through armor. The Gulf War saw vast numbers of depleted uranium weapons used for the first time. A US Defense Department spokeswoman said this week there is no scientific evidence that Gulf War veterans became ill because of exposure to the metal. Starmet once produced $45 million worth of uranium-tipped bullets a year. But with the end of the Cold War, fewer bullets were needed, and the company won its last contract in 1999. Since then, it has been saddled with thousands of pounds of the highly controversial waste. Depleted uranium is 40 percent less radioactive than naturally occurring uranium, which is found in trace levels in much of America's drinking water. But scientists have long agreed that inhaling or ingesting either form could result in heavy metal poisoning. ''Its heavy metal toxicity is considered the main problem,'' said Robert Hallisey, director of the radiation control program at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. ''But the main reason we regulate it is because it's still low-level radiation.'' Starmet is now teetering on the brink of insolvency, and state officials believe the company intends to file for bankruptcy. Even if it does not file, state officials say there is a good chance the company will simply walk away from the contaminated site because its financial situation is so precarious. The US Environmental Protection Agency is now asking the Army to help pay for the cleanup of the property. The attorney general filed a lawsuit earlier this month asking a judge to require Starmet to remove the barrels. So far, the judge has granted a temporary restraining order requiring the company to keep up the round-the-clock guard. The judge has yet to rule on the disposal of the barrels. Security costs $7,500 a week. In its lawsuit, the attorney general's office also alleges that Starmet illegally transported 1,700 barrels filled with depleted uranium from South Carolina to the Concord site this spring. Starmet has no need for the depleted uranium since the company no longer has a weapons contract, state officials said. In fact, a new state license to the company - drawn up this fall after it became clear the firm it would not produce any more weapons - prohibits even one barrel of the depleted uranium to be on the property. ''They essentially knew they had no productive use of the barrels,'' said Jim Milkey, assistant Massachusetts attorney general. State officials said yesterday that one positive is that the 170-pound barrels are ready to ship, each 55-gallon drum welded shut inside a larger drum. ''But our biggest concern is if they go bankrupt ... who is going to maintain security? That's what we are trying to protect against,'' said Hallisey. Beth Daley can be reached by e-mail at bdaley@globe.com [ bdaley@globe.com] . This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 2/1/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 45 Yucca: The questions nobody asked Pahrump Valley Times By: DOUG MCMURDO, News ReporterJanuary 31, 2002 "I would have asked him if he ever danced naked in front of the Hondo City Hall". It was an odd experience sitting in on a job interview, as a member of the press, on a Sunday afternoon at the nuclear waste suppository office. The man in the hot seat was one David Chavez of Hondo, Texas. He was interested in assuming the position of Nye County Manager. Assuming the position - appropriate choice of words, don't you agree? Chavez was interviewed by four of five members of the Nye County Commission. He was offered the job after answering nearly two hours worth of questions, and they were good questions at that. Chavez explained his open management philosophy, how he would address negative dynamics on the board and in the workplace, and how he plans to build consensus and foster teamwork. Chavez was candid, offered mostly realistic answers, and tried to be humble and assertive all at the same time. It was a bit unnerving to bear witness to the interview, if only because the very nature of such events seems to me to be personal, between the job applicant and the persons authorized to hire him. Undergoing the interview in front of the press, and Sally Devlin of all people - as one of two in the audience - must have made Chavez's underarms leak cold sweat. Maybe I was a bit squeamish only because I was thinking of what kind of questions I would have asked Mr. Chavez, if given the opportunity. It's a good thing I wasn't, because a percentage of my inquiries would have had nothing to do with Chavez's ability to manage a county, especially one as screwed up as Nye. I would have asked Mr. Chavez personal questions and not because I have any reason to believe something embarrassing has taken place in his past, because I don't. Fact is I think the man from Hondo acquitted himself quite nicely in the interview and don't question the commissioners' unanimous decision to hire him. But time has taught me a thing or two, and my questions would have been predicated on what I've seen go down in Nye County in recent years, knowing the possibilities are endless of what could happen in the future. I would have asked Mr. Chavez how he plans to bring stability to a county that grew too fast in Pahrump and is dying just about everywhere else. I would have asked him how he could possibly hope to get anything positive done in a county with severe and seemingly chronic budget shortfalls. I would have asked him if he ever danced naked in front of the Hondo City Hall. I would have asked him if he knew how little money Nye gets from the state, that Clark County pulls the purse strings, that our share is essentially a welfare check. I would have asked him if he knew how many miles of road need to be paved in Pahrump, that we have no hospital, and that we're cheap. I would have asked him if he would request, of a woman, a character reference for a new job after he was fired amid allegations of sexual harassment. I would have then asked him if he'd use the term premature ejaculation when requesting said character reference. True story. I would have asked Mr. Chavez how he would solve a perceived problem with nepotism in Nye County, if the open meeting law mattered, and should normal citizens have to be certified public accountants in order to understand the budget? I would have asked him if he posts kiddy porn on the Internet. I would have asked Mr. Chavez if he had any answers for the mold problem in the county complex, the dust in the air, or the price of tomatoes. I would have asked him if he preferred to have the knife in his back twisted left or right, if he planned to be here long, and if so, what would he do different than the last few county managers who didn't last long. I would have asked him if he's under indictment, ever had his law license suspended, or has been accused of misappropriation of public funds. I would have asked him if he knew how to revitalize a boarded-up Tonopah or a down-on-its-luck Beatty. I would have asked him if he knew what to do with Amargosa Valley, Yucca Mountain, or the Bureau of Land Management and its stewardship of almost all of the 18,000 square miles that lay within Nye County. I would have asked him if he were ever photographed smoking crack in the bathroom of a flophouse in the company of a 300-pound hooker. I would have asked him if he knew anyone with very deep pockets and a willingness to build and operate a hospital, or if he had the connections to get us a traffic light at Highway 372 and Pahrump Valley Boulevard. I would have asked him if the FBI knows his telephone number by heart. It was an odd experience sitting in on the interview, as a reporter, on a Sunday afternoon at the suppository office. I suspect it could have been odder. Good luck, Mr. Chavez. Welcome to Nye County. We wish you the best. ©Pahrump Valley Times 2002 ***************************************************************** 46 North Korea decries US for spreading groundless rumours on nuclear weapons BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 1, 2002 Text of commentary by Kim Ho-sam: "A shameless trick", by North Korean radio on 1 February The United States is spreading groundless rumours in the international arena to tarnish our image. For example, the US authorities are spreading a rumour that we might have already made one to two nuclear bombs, citing a so-called CIA intelligence report. Meanwhile, John Bolton, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said at the UN Conference on Disarmament held on 24 January that our nuclear issue poses a grave threat to international security and that we should accept inspection. This is a deliberate and premeditated manoeuvre to brand our Republic as a nuclear weapon-possessing country, tarnish our image among many countries and people of the world, and thereby isolate us in the international community. This is also a kind of sophism to justify the United States' nuclear weapons reduction game, which is in name only. As everyone knows, our nuclear policy is peace-loving and consistent. Since the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and the United States adopted the framework agreement in October 1994, we have frozen the graphite-moderated reactors, as promised in the agreement, and ceased all kinds of nuclear-related activities. Even international organizations have recognized this. Nevertheless, the United States is spreading the rumour that we might have already made one to two nuclear bombs. This can only be interpreted as an act to deliberately slander us. The United States is not in a position to say anything to find fault with someone's nuclear issue. The United States is the largest nuclear weapon-possessing country in the world and the culprit for nuclear threats. Recently, the United States' dark intent regarding the nuclear issue has been clearly revealed. At the end of 2001, US President Bush announced some nuclear arms reduction plan. At that time, he said that [the United States] would reduce its 6,000 nuclear warheads to 1,700 or 2000 by 2012. Not long after the announcement, however, the Bush administration on 8 January stressed two points in a secret report submitted to US Congress. One is about disassembling one third of the currently deployed nuclear warheads and storing them in underground nuclear arsenals, and the other is about the need for resuming underground nuclear tests, which [the United States] has prepared since 1992, at the Nevada nuclear test site in the next two years. As we can see, the Bush administration's plan for reducing nuclear weapons is not to completely destroy and eliminate nuclear warheads, but only to disassemble them from the state of deployment and store them in nuclear arsenals, then retract them from the arsenals when the situation changes and make more and newer nuclear weapons. Bush's nuclear weapons reduction plan is, in essence, a nuclear hide-and-seek game. This is the US imperialists' ulterior intention. The US imperialists already conducted several sub-critical nuclear tests and it is not a secret that the tests are still ongoing. Needless to say, these tests are designed to develop newer nuclear weapons. Moreover, it is a disclosed fact that the density of US-deployed nuclear weapons in South Korea is higher than that in NATO member states in Europe. The US imperialists are continuing to bring the latest nuclear weapons into South Korea. This is a fact. The US authorities' act is indeed a clumsy trick. It is not a coincidence that many countries of the world today, particularly the powers such as Russia and China, have denounced Bush administration's nuclear reduction plan and have been vigilant against the United States. The US authorities are trying to deceive and fool the people of the world and please many countries, but they have miscalculated. The US imperialists accuse us as nuclear criminals to isolate us in the international community and crush us, but this will never work, either. The US authorities should know that the time when they were able to recklessly point fingers at others on groundless pretexts is over for good. US authorities should stop the clumsy game of making a fuss about the nonexistent nuclear issue of ours in the international community. Source: Central Broadcasting Station, Pyongyang, in Korean 1226 gmt 1 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 47 Indo-Pak tension may lead to nuclear proliferation Updated on 2002-02-01 11:00:16 WASHINGTON, February 01 (PNS): A top US defence official has said the tense situation between India and Pakistan raised apprehensions of a "nuclear proliferation in South Asia" and urged both the countries to find a political solution to their problems. "India and Pakistan have to understand that a race for building more missiles and better nuclear weapons is not the real answer to a stable equilibrium in South Asia. They have to deal with their problems on a political level. That is what we hope will happen," John Stern Wolf, Assistant Secretary of State for non-proliferation said in an interview to US Information Service. Asked whether US harbours concerns about the "Indian and Pakistani nuclear ambitions", Wolf said, "They have these weapons and we have to deal with it, but we still have a series of concerns about nuclear weapons, their delivery capabilities and the risks of proliferation in South Asia." Reiterating America's commitment to the Nuclear Non proliferation Treaty, which India has rejected, Wolf said it is "a bedrock, fundamental part of US national security policy and we are absolutely committed to its full implementation," He said the US was in the process of dismantling warheads and dramatically slashing the numbers of deployed strategic warheads. Justifying the US concerns about Iranian proliferations, Wolf said they were a threat to "our friends" in that region and also a real threat to American forces and that of NATO countries, that are located adjacent to the region. End. ***************************************************************** 48 Russia's Putin unwavering on nuclear arms The Nando Times: Updated: January 31, 2002 Copyright © 2002 AP Online By DEBORAH SEWARD, Associated Press MOSCOW (January 31, 2002 7:46 p.m. EST) - President Vladimir Putin made it clear Thursday Russia will not give up its demand that reductions in nuclear warheads must be outlined in a legally binding, irreversible and verifiable treaty with the United States. "The president once again confirmed the country's fundamental position that we can speak only of legally drafted obligations that will control the cuts," Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said after a meeting with Putin, according to the ITAR-Tass agency. The remarks appeared to be aimed at reinforcing Russia's stand on nuclear arms reductions amid a series of high-level meetings between Putin's ministers and top officials from the United States and other Western countries. Ivanov is to meet with top Western defense officials in Germany and Italy beginning this weekend, and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov met with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday during a visit to the United States. U.S. and Russian officials held talks Tuesday in Washington on proposed new arms control agreement, which both countries want to seal when Bush visits Russia this spring. The summit will take place May 23-25, Russian officials said Thursday. At a summit last November in the United States, Bush pledged to slash the U.S. nuclear arsenal to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads, while Putin has said that Russia could go as low as 1,500. The Kremlin has insisted that the reductions should be codified in a formal treaty. The Bush administration has said it prefers an informal arrangement, but has expressed willingness to consider the Russian demand. "It will be worked out," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday of the disagreement. He spoke after Kasyanov met with Powell. While Russian and U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed the countries are no longer enemies, Russia strongly favors retaining formal arms control agreements. Putin opposed Bush's decision late last year to abandon the 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile treaty in order to pursue a national missile defense shield. Since the Soviet collapse, Russia has lost much of its international clout and has bristled at increased U.S. influence around the world. At a Kremlin meeting Thursday to receive credentials from 10 new ambassadors to Russia, Putin said the world has learned that international relations "based on the domination of one center of force" are dangerous. Putin called on the global community to work together toward a system "based on law and respect for the interests of each state, and capable of ensuring equal security for all nations." "Such a unification has resulted in the successful struggle against international terrorism in Afghanistan," said Putin, a strong backer of the U.S.-led war against terrorism. ***************************************************************** 49 Missile defense could cost up to $64 billion Friday, February 1, 2002 The Detroit News. Democrats fear plan would cut resources for other programs By Matt Kelley / Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Developing a system to destroy missiles headed for the United States could cost anywhere from $23 billion to $64 billion by 2015, according to estimates released by congressional budget analysts Thursday. A system of space-based lasers to shoot down enemy missiles -- which isn't as far along in development as land- or sea-based missile defenses -- could cost between $56 billion and $68 billion by 2025, according to the report from the Congressional Budget Office. The latest estimates for a ground-based missile defense system are 13-percent to 26-percent higher than an April 2000 CBO cost estimate for the program. The military has built and tested prototype interceptor rockets for the ground-based system since the first estimate. President Bush plans to have the Pentagon develop a missile defense system, and has decided to pull the United States out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty that bans such missile shields despite opposition overseas, notably from Russia. Erecting missile defenses would protect the United States from countries or groups that are building long-range missiles and may use the systems to engage in "nuclear blackmail," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday. ***************************************************************** 50 Something Old, Something New by Matt Bivens o the January ritual of reflecting on the old year and looking to the new, add the "top five" list of various 2001 nuclear events put together by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. NAPF agitates generally for peace and, in particular, for the abolition of nuclear weapons. In a time of anthrax letters and exploding shoes, the foundation argues that nuclear arsenals constitute "the only weapons that threaten the survival of the human race." The foundation also takes a dim view of civilian nuclear power as a dirty and dangerous codependent: The biggest bombs require the plutonium generated by reactors. To skim NAPF's lists is to realize 2001 was a year of nuclear landmarks, from the White House's calls to scrap both warheads and treaties, to Germany's pledge to phase out nuclear power by 2025, to Ukraine's destruction of its last nuclear missile silo. But the lists are most intriguing when they move behind the headlines. A list titled "Top Five Nuclear Accidents in 2001" begins with the deaths of four Russian workers, who were killed in June in a "self-generated" nuclear explosion at a Ural mountains uranium-enrichment plant. Other accidents listed include a mishap in Scotland, in which twenty-four radioactive fuel rods weighing hundreds of pounds slipped from a crane arm and crashed two and a half feet to the floor below. The fuel rods have lodged against a shaft door of the Chapelcross nuclear power plant. That was in July, and ever since, NAPF reports, workers have been scratching their heads over how to lift the rods back up--and pondering what a worst-case scenario for dropping those fuel rods could have meant for themselves, and for Scotland itself. In a "top five" list of events involving nuclear waste, NAPF cites plans announced in Britain in 2001 to put a stadium-size nuclear dump in the Snowdonia National Park; in Russia to import the world's spent nuclear fuel for cash; and here at home to turn a Nevada mountain into America's spent-fuel dump. So far, all three announcements remain just proposals. A list that stands out for sheer creepiness is the "Top Five Nuclear Secrets Revealed in 2001." Whether civilian or military, the nuclear world is secretive, and we often learn the worst only after many years. (NAPF's list of worst accidents in 2001 carries an asterisked caveat: The list may be altered by future revelations.) It was not until September 30, 2001, that the British Atomic Energy Authority admitted that from the 1950s to 1970 it had removed the thighbones of 3,400 dead babies, without their parents' consent, to test whether fallout radiation was becoming lodged in the bones of children. And only in May 2001 did the British Ministry of Defense admit that in the 1950s and 1960s it had ordered servicemen from Britain, Australia and New Zealand to walk, run and crawl through contaminated nuclear test sites, as a way of testing protective clothing. In June, the Sunday Times of London recounted a strikingly similar story from 1954, in which tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers were ordered onto a testing range moments after a powerful nuclear explosion, to test their nuclear war-fighting usefulness. A fifth and final item on this list raises the question of what's an accident and what's a secret: In April, Norwegian authorities revealed that for nine years a nuclear research plant had been feeding its waste into a town's sewage system by error. Officials said there was no risk to human health involved, but environmentalists, noting that farm fertilizers are made from the town's waste, want further tests. Finally, there's a list of things to worry about in 2002. It starts with the possibility of a resumption of international nuclear testing, now that the Bush Administration has hindered the implementation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. From there it surveys Indian-Pakistani tensions, potential terrorist threats and the thousands of decrepit Russian nuclear missiles on hairtrigger alert and aimed our way. Still. thenation.com Webmanager | Subscribe | Subscription Help | Privacy © 2002 The Nation Company, L.P. Permissions | Letters to the ***************************************************************** 51 CIA outlines N. Korean weapons plan - February 1, 2002 CNN.Com N Korea has enough plutonium for a nuclear weapon, the CIA report said WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea, one of the three nations in U.S. President's George W. Bush's so-called "axis of evil", was a major exporter of missile technology and equipment to the Middle East and other regions, a U.S. intelligence report says. With attention placed on the communist state, as well as Iran and Iraq, during Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday, an unclassified U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report to Congress released the following day said that "Pyongyang attaches a high priority to the development and sale of ballistic missiles, equipment and related technology." In his address, Bush said that "North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens." Bush said that Iran, Iraq and North Korea constituted and "axis of evil and along with their "terrorist allies", were actively seeking weapons of mass destruction, "threatening the peace of the world." All three nations have rejected the barb, with North Korea saying Bush's comments were close to "declaring a war." The CIA report for the period January to 30 June 2001, obtained from the agency's Web site, says that North Korea relied heavily on the missile export trade. "Exports of ballistic missiles and related technology are one of the North's major sources of hard currency, which fuel continued missile development and production," the report stated. "Throughout the first half of 2001, North Korea continued to export significant ballistic missile-related equipment, components, materials, and technical expertise to countries in the Middle East, South Asia, and North Africa." Nuclear weapons The report said that North Korea had not ceased its nuclear weapons program despite signing a landmark deal with the U.S. in 1994. "During the second half of 2001, Pyongyang continued its attempts to procure technology worldwide that could have applications in its nuclear program," the CIA report said. "We assess that North Korea has produced enough plutonium for at least one, and possibly two, nuclear weapons." The report also said that an agreement signed with Russia laid the "groundwork" for potential arms sales and transfers to North Korea, though this was dependent on Pyongyang's ability to pay for the acquisitions. The CIA report also singled out Iran and Iraq, among other countries, saying that the former was one of the "most active countries" seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and advanced conventional weapons (ACW) technology. "Tehran is attempting to develop a domestic capability to produce various types of weapons -- chemical, biological, and nuclear -- and their delivery systems." Chemical program It was also seeking "nuclear-related equipment, material, and technical expertise from a variety of sources, especially in Russia", the report added. Iran's neighbor, Iraq was rebuilding parts of its chemical production infrastructure the report said. Since Baghdad's refusal to allow U.N. inspectors into Iraq since late 1998, it was difficult to accurately access the state of its WMD programs, the CIA report said. But, "it is likely that Baghdad has used the intervening period to reconstitute prohibited programs." Following Bush's speech, White House officials have since sought to clarify that the naming of North Korea, Iraq and Iran does not signify any imminent military action against them. Regardless, both Middle Eastern countries were angry with the U.S. leaders comments. In Tehran, the Iranian official news agency IRNA quoted President Mohammad Khatami as saying: "The American president's remarks not only showed that he does not have the ability to learn from history ... but also that U.S. policy is now worse and more unrealistic than under his predecessors." Iraq meanwhile was even more blunt in its assessment with Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan describing the U.S. president's remarks as "stupid". ***************************************************************** 52 Russian NGO Calls On Putin To Pardon Jailed Journalist + NUKEWARS
[http://www.spacewar.com] Russian, US writers demand release of jailed Russian journalist Military journalist Grigori Pasko (L) leaves a car escorted by a militiaman as he arrives at court in Vladivostok 21 January. Pasko is facing trial on charges of 'high treason in the form of espionage' accused by the Russian Federal Security Service FSB, successor of the KGB, and faces 15 to 20 years in prison. He was arrested on 20 November 1997 after he had reported that Russia's Pacific Fleet, based in the far east port of Vladivostok, dumped radioactive and chemical waste in the Sea of Japan when he worked for the fleet's official journal. AFP Photo Moscow (AFP) Jan 31, 2002 Russian and American writers associations called Wednesday for the release of jailed Russian journalist Grigory Pasko in an appeal to the Russian and US presidents, the Interfax news agency reported. In a joint call to Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush, made public in Moscow, the Russian and US PEN centers urged that the environmentalist journalist who was convicted last month for spying be set free, arguing that his imprisonment only served forces interested in concealing the true nature of the environmental threat the world faces. Pasko, a 40-year-old former reporter for the newspaper of the Pacific Fleet, was found guilty of illegally collecting classified information on navy manoeuvres with the aim of passing it on to Japanese media. He has appealed against the court verdict, arguing that the charges against him were retribution for his exposure to Japanese media of alleged illegal dumping of nuclear waste by the Russian navy into the Sea of Japan. Putin said earlier this month that he was ready to consider a presidential pardon. But while he thanked Putin, Pasko said he would not seek a pardon, since that would be tantamount to admitting guilt. His case has been taken up by several rights groups, including press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders), which staged a demonstration at Russia's Aeroflot airline in Paris coinciding with Putin's brief visit there earlier this month. earlier report Russian NGO Calls On Putin To Pardon Jailed Journalist Vladivostok (AFP) Jan 29, 2002 A non-governmental organization in Vladivostock has joined a growing chorus urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon journalist Grigory Pasko who was jailed last month for spying. "Pasko is innocent and not a spy. We decided to call on the president to pardon him to end this affair once and for all," the head of the Union for Hope organization, Vladimir Grilgenberg, told AFP. Pasko, a 40-year-old former reporter for the newspaper of the Pacific Fleet was found guilty of illegally collecting classified information on navy manoeuvres with the aim of passing it on to Japanese media. He has appealed against the court verdict, arguing that the charges against him were retribution for his exposure to Japanese media of alleged illegal dumping of nuclear waste by the Russian navy into the Sea of Japan. Putin said earlier this month that he was ready to consider a possible presidential pardon. But while he thanked Putin, Pasko said he would not appeal, since that would tantamount to admitting guilt. His case has been taken up by several rights groups, including press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders), which staged a demonstration at Russia's Aeroflot airline in Paris coinciding with Putin's brief visit. The Union for Hope unites local politicians and lawmakers in this far eastern port city and its environs. Meanwhile, a landmark 1993 deal to sell uranium from Russian nuclear warheads to fuel US power plants has hit an impasse over price, Interfax cited government sources as saying Monday. Under the accord, USEC Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland, was to purchase 500 metric tonnes of the uranium. Interfax confirmed earlier US press reports that because USEC and the Russians remain at odds over pricing, no shipments have been authorized for 2002. "The negotiations that took place between Russia's Tekhsnabexport and the US company USEC last week have failed," the news agency quoted a source in the atomic energy ministry saying. "They (the negotiations) will continue, but the position of the Russian ministry remains the same: protecting the interests of Russia," the official said. The accord provides for the United States to purchase over 20 years about 500 metric tonnes of highly enriched uranium stripped from former Soviet warheads. The proceeds would help employ thousands of Russian scientists and technicians, who are supposed to dilute the material for use as fuel in commercial nuclear power plants. All rights reserved. © 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily [http://www.spacedaily.com/] Search SpaceDaily [http://www.spacedaily.com/cgi-bin/search/search.cgi] Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express [http://www.spacedaily.com/subscribe.html] [ ] CIVIL NUCLEAR
[http://www.terradaily.com] Ecologists Are The New Dissidents In Post-Soviet Russia Moscow (AFP) Jan 17, 2002 The case of Russian journalist Grigory Pasko, jailed last month for spying after telling Japanese media about illegal dumping of Russian nuclear waste, has highlighted the risks run by ecologists here in Moscow. Those who attack the Russian army, which ecologists claim is one of the country's biggest polluters, could easily find themselves in prison, just like the dissidents during the Soviet era Putin Ready To Consider Pardon For Jailed Russian Journalist Paris (AFP) Jan 15, 2002 Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he was ready to consider a possible presidential pardon for Russian journalist Grigory Pasko who was jailed last month for spying. "If Mr Pasko launches an appeal for a pardon, it will be looked into," Putin said at a joint press conference in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac. SPACE.WIRE ***************************************************************** 53 Old report questions safety of refitting nuclear submarines at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth BBC - Devon - News - Thursday 31st January 2002 Go-ahead for Trident refit still awaited The BBC has learned of another major problem facing Devonport Dockyard just as the first Trident submarine is due in for refit. With HMS Vanguard's arrival only days away, the dockyard still lacks the final go-ahead to increase radioactive discharges. A waste product called tritium is at the centre of the latest potential hold-up. Trident submarines build up a store of tritium as they sail. It is then taken off at refit time. DML, which manages the dockyard, wants permission to discharge five times more tritium into the River Tamar than before. It was widely assumed that DML had permission because the Environment Agency decided not to object. But in fact ministers have the final say and they have remained silent. As a result, DML cannot rule out having to alter the refit plans at the very last minute. There is no doubt Vanguard will arrive on time. The question is whether the refit will proceed in fits and starts, as Devonport waits for the outstanding permissions to come in one by one. Meanwhile, secret documents reveal that Devonport Dockyard was considered as an operational base for Polaris nuclear submarines around four decades ago. Along with Falmouth, the South West site was ruled out because of concerns over safety and the report also questioned the wisdom of refitting nuclear submarines in the heart of Plymouth. [Polaris] The launch of a Polaris missile In 1967 the Cold War was at its height and for the first time, the Polaris missile system gave Britain the power to unleash mass destruction on her enemies. The nuclear warheads had the ability to obliterate up to 16 cities in the Soviet Union or elsewhere. At the time Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas Hume tried to address demonstrators protesting against Polaris. Those protests continue today at Faslane in Scotland, the operational base for Polaris submarines and their replacement Trident. But the BBC has uncovered secret documents which reveal that both Devonport and Falmouth were shortlisted as operational bases in 1963. The recently declassified documents state: "Since Plymouth is to be the operating base for Polaris submarines - Plymouth should be the location for the shore storage of Polaris missiles and their maintenance." However, Malcolm Chalmers of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, says the Navy backed away from basing Polaris in the South West because of serious safety fears. [Inside Vanguard] Up periscope; inside Vanguard The document also expressed concerns over the presence of the submarines' nuclear reactors in the heart of the city, raising questions over the safety of even refitting nuclear submarines at Devonport. But with the first Trident submarine due to arrive for refit any day now Commodore Ric Cheadle - Devonport's current Naval Base Commander - says much has changed since then and safety will not be compromised. Nuclear safety expert John Large is not convinced. But there is a trade-off. Trident refits at Devonport will pump £75m into the local economy as well as creating thousands of jobs. Supporters if the refits taking place in Plymouth argue that nuclear submarines are every much the future for Devonport Dockyard, and that the benefits far outweigh any possible safety risks. ***************************************************************** 54 Nuclear lab bans wireless messaging New Scientist 15:17 01 February 02 Will Knight A major US nuclear weapons laboratory has banned the use of wireless computer networks that send messages between laptops. It fears that classified information could be captured by electronic eavesdroppers. However, some experts say that wireless networks can be made safe without such drastic action. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based in California, investigates nuclear weapons and other sensitive defence technologies. Controllers of the laboratory's computer system last month banned staff from setting up wireless networks that allow laptops to work anywhere at the lab. They fear these networks could be infiltrated by an outsider who could overhear classified information. "The very attributes that make wireless network communications attractive create serious security issues for protection of those networks and the information they transmit," said Ted Michels, principle deputy associate director for computation at the lab, writing to laboratory workers on January 18. Wide open Computer experts have warned that wireless networks are insecure. Many can be easily accessed by someone with a laptop and wireless LAN (Local Area Network) card, which serves as a receiver. Flaws have emerged in the Wireless Encryption Protocol, the universally used program which sets out how messages should be encrypted and sent across standard "802.11" wireless networks. A newer version of the protocol was released recently to fix this, but it is not yet widely used. Programs are available which automatically exploit this flaw to listen in on network traffic. Further access is possible if passwords can be captured. But Ollie Whitehouse, a security consultant at security firm @Stake, says other techniques can be used to lock up wireless data: "There are risks with wireless networks, but those risks can be mitigated." Whitehouse says that Virtual Private Network software can add extra layers of encryption to a wireless network. And with careful use of the directional antenna which accepts and broadcasts messages, you can physically limit the areas from which a wireless network can be accessed. Wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular and are often set up by workers as an add-on to a normal network. 15:17 01 February 02 latestnews@newscientist.com. ***************************************************************** 55 'Livermore' film explores history Published Thursday, January 31, 2002 By Bonita Brewer TIMES COLUMNIST LIVERMORE might seem like the epitome of suburban America, a faceless dot on a map of the nation's interstate freeway system, without any character of its own. But look deeper and you'll find that even "Middle America" towns can have a rich history and quirkiness all their own -- Livermore perhaps more so than many. "Not many towns in the U.S. have a nuclear lab, and that, in and of itself, puts Livermore in a certain unique category," noted documentary filmmaker Rachel Raney, whose offbeat movie, "Livermore," unearths the community's long-forgotten, often-hilarious history with deep cowboy roots. The documentary, 21/2 years in the making, will get its world premiere at the San Jose Film Festival on Feb. 23. Raney of San Francisco produced it with filmmaker David Murray. The theme may sound stranger than fiction, but it's based on actual events surrounding the frantic search in 1999 for the city's lost time capsule. "Livermore's 25-year-old time capsule has inexplicably disappeared, and a handful of eccentric locals are the last hope of finding it," quips the film's promotional material. "As they dig deep into their collective memories, these armchair historians (including local history buff Barry Schrader and Livermore pioneer family descendent Tilli Calhoun) uncover a peculiar set of stories. A supernatural light bulb, a mysterious totem pole, a scandalous book of photographs, and the ominous nuclear lab are just the beginning of a surreal trip down memory lane." Former Mayor Cathie Brown, who's interviewed in the film, believes it will be a big hit with residents who love their town, and with the public. "It's so cool!" Brown said, chuckling at the movie's audacity while marveling at its message. "I believe this film makes a statement, that if you go into these suburban communities, you'll find they're not necessarily alike, that they have their own unique history and their own story to tell, which is why I think this film will attract attention well beyond Livermore." The film will play at 4 p.m. Feb. 23 and 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Camera One Cinema, 366 S, First St., San Jose, and at 3:15 p.m. March 1 at the San Jose Repertory Theater. The hour-long flick is one of only 11 documentaries -- 150 were submitted for the competition -- that will show during the 11-day festival. For details visit www.cinequest.org [http://www.cinequest.org] . BY THE WAY: Brown, who was voted out as Livermore's mayor in November after serving 19 years in public office, is enjoying her time off and hasn't decided where to go from here. That is, except for taking a trip to Russia in August. She and her husband, Tom, plan to go to Moscow and Livermore's sister city of Snezhinsk, a walled Russian city with a nuclear weapons lab. Brown, who visited Snezhinsk several times as mayor, continues to study Russian and hopes to find ways to help improve U.S.-Russian relations and help Snezhinsk diversify its economy. "I don't have to work, but if I have the opportunity to do some in Russia, I'd jump at the chance." ContraCostaTimes.com ***************************************************************** 56 SNS construction moving forward Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 1:05 p.m. on Friday, January 25, 2002 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff The Spallation Neutron Source site is currently booming on an average workday, with as many as 200 people working on various construction projects. Thom Mason, who oversees the $1.4 billion project, says the work hasn't been disrupted by security-related travel restrictions imposed last month on Bethel Valley Road. The SNS is the biggest U.S. science project under construction. Two of the latest and most visible structures at the SNS site are the 1,000-foot-long Linac Tunnel and a 300,000-gallon water tank that is close to 200 feet high. On the horizon, Mason said two substantial general construction contracts -- totaling $70 million to $80 million -- will be awarded for the Target building and the Central Laboratory and Office Complex. Mason is wrapping up his first year as director of the SNS project after replacing David Moncton, who opted to return full-time to his job at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. "I'm still having fun," said Mason, who previously served as director of the SNS's Experimental Facilities Division. When the SNS is completed in 2006, researchers from the United States and abroad -- an estimated 2,000 a year -- will come to the facility to study materials that will form the basis for new technologies and improvements in telecommunications, manufacturing, transportation and health, among other areas. The SNS will fire an ion beam down its linear accelerator tunnel toward a mercury target; a beam that, at 80 percent of the speed of light, could reach the moon in 1.5 seconds. The resulting protons will bombard a mercury target, generating neutrons for use in research. However, the SNS won't be the only science facility that will be built atop Chestnut Ridge. It will one day be joined by the Center for Nanophase Materials Science, which will be used to examine things on a small -- very small -- scale. In nanoscience, objects are measured in nanometers, 1 billionth of a meter. For comparison, the smallest features on current computer chips measure about 200 nanometers. And a human hair is 100,000 nanometers thick. Currently, Law Engineering and Environmental Services Inc. from Knoxville is conducting core sampling on the nanophase facility site, Mason said. Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or pparson@oakridger.com [pparson@oakridger.com] . All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 57 DOE has new plan to speed cleanup The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, February 01, 2002 The Paducah plant will be among sites considered in the plan to be announced Monday. Additional funds will help speed up the work. By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 The U.S. Department of Energy will release new strategies for cleaning up the nation's contaminated nuclear sites, including the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, on Monday. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Thursday that the plan was drafted after a yearlong review of the department's environmental management plan. Abraham discussed highlights of the plan at DOE's Fernald site near Cincinnati. His speech was published on DOE's Web site. Highlights of the plan will be a request for an extra $800 million annually to speed the cleanup at DOE's 111 sites, including 30 that are still open. He said the extra funds will be in addition to the $6.7 billion that will be requested for cleanup and environmental management. The $800 million will accelerate the department's current plan to clean the sites over the next 70 years. Abraham said a 70-year plan "is not good enough for me, and I doubt it is good enough for anyone who lives near these sites." Abraham said priorities will be determined by ranking sites based on the greatest threat to the environment and the public. The highest funding will go to the priority sites. The new plan emphasizes three basic goals: Eliminating significant health and safety risks as soon as possible. Reviewing remaining risks on a case-by-case basis by working with state and local officials to determine the most appropriate remediation schedules and approaches. Streamlining cleanup so that funding spent on routine maintenance and security — which the program estimates accounts for two-thirds of the environmental management budget — will be used for further expedited cleanup. Abraham said the plan incorporates DOE's new homeland security strategy to reduce risks of terrorism threats. He said the strategy includes accelerating the consolidation of nuclear material and waste into more-secure locations. Whether Paducah gets extra funds will depend on how its health and environmental risks rate with other sites nationwide that include nuclear reactors, laboratories, chemical and uranium processing operations, and storage buildings. To qualify for the extra funds, a site will have to show measurable gains in addressing cleanup activities, Abraham said. "By cleaning up serious problems more quickly under the new plan, our communities will be cleaner and safer," Abraham said. "The environmental management program will be stronger and more effective in its mission of reducing health risks and expediting the environmental restoration of the nation's nuclear sites. And there is an extra benefit to the taxpayers, because over the long run, the new plan will yield substantial savings on overhead, maintenance and security costs which the program estimates to account for two-thirds of the overall environmental management budget." ***************************************************************** 58 Plan aims to clean up arms plants such as SRS Web posted Friday, February 1, 2002 By Brandon Haddock [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] Staff Writer U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham unveiled a plan Thursday that he said would speed cleanup of polluted nuclear-weapons installations such as Savannah River Site. The plan is the result of a yearlong, "top-to-bottom review" of the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental management program, Mr. Abraham said. The secretary ordered the review last year, saying the agency's 70-year, $300 billion cleanup program was inadequate. "It's just not good enough for me, and it shouldn't be something that the federal government says is good enough for the country," Mr. Abraham said Thursday during a visit to the Fernald Environmental Management Project, a former uranium plant in Ohio. "I tell people in Washington to think about how you would handle it if it were in your own back yard." The new program will create a five-year "road map" for cleanup of the worst health risks and environmental hazards at nuclear-weapons sites, Mr. Abraham said. Once the plan is complete, the Bush administration will commit to funding the cleanup for the entire five-year period, the secretary said. In fiscal 2003, which begins Oct. 1, the administration plans to provide $800 million for the "expedited cleanup account," Mr. Abraham said. "I think this will bring a lot more certainty and predictability to the budget process," he said. To get the money, sites must agree to deadlines for completing the work, the secretary said. "There comes with this a responsibility that this is not a license for unending cleanup and open-ended budgets," Mr. Abraham said. Energy spokesmen at SRS would not say whether the site would participate in the new plan. The department plans to release site-by-site information next week, when the Bush administration reveals its 2003 budget proposal. A local nuclear watchdog expressed skepticism about the secretary's proposal. "It's hard to argue against, but it depends on what their definition of 'clean' is," said Don Moniak, an Aiken resident and community organizer for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. "Any time they talk about expedited cleanup, too often that just means that they are going to clean up to a lower standard. "It's like giving a high-school diploma to an illiterate." Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] . 1996 - 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. ***************************************************************** 59 AU: A major contributor to nuclear physics canberra.yourguidewww.yourguide.com.au By JANET BISHOP ROGER BIRD loved his work in physics and believed it could do good in the world. His measurements enabled others to "read the unwritten". As Professor Tony Klein of the School of Physics at Melbourne University put it, "Roger Bird is fondly remembered by many colleagues as a brilliant and congenial physicist who has made significant contributions to many fields of science, well beyond the confines of nuclear physics." Bird's work, using innovative techniques for analysing the composition and age of materials, developed new knowledge and understanding in fields as diverse as hydrology, chemistry, and archeology. Bird grew up in Eltham in Victoria where his parents and grandparents were orchardists and pioneers. His family remembers that as a boy he loved doing sums and figuring out how technology worked. In 1944 he won a Dafydd Lewis Scholarship to study science at the University of Melbourne. In 1947 he joined the first large postgraduate class in the University's School of Physics. He built a mass spectrometer a device that squirts charged nuclear particles through a powerful magnetic field. The particles are separated according to their mass and charged so that they can be identified and counted. Research with the mass spectrometer led to a PhD in 1955. Bird joined the British Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell near Oxford, where he investigated nuclear reactions, and was a British delegate to the Second International Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in 1958. Bird returned to Australia in 1964 to work at what is now the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) near Sydney. By 1966 he was among a small group of scientists who built the first proton microprobe, used to analyse the composition of metals. In 1971 the Government decision to defer plans for a nuclear power station at Jervis Bay changed the focus of many research programs at Lucas Heights. Bird spent the next 20 years applying nuclear physics to other scientific fields. Because nuclear measurement techniques are non-destructive, and require only a tiny amount of sample, they can be used to date and authenticate rare and precious items, and they play a role in solving some big puzzles. Bird contributed to over 100 scientific publications on the use of nuclear measurement techniques for the study of minerals and metals; polymer films, pottery, pigments and protein; semiconductors and solar cells; bronze, bottles and blades. He co-wrote two technical books: Ion Beam Techniques in Archaeology and the Arts, 1983; and Ion beams for Materials Analysis, 1989. He was group leader at ANSTO's high power Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) facility, from before its commissioning in 1988 until he retired in 1992. Archeologists acknowledge Bird's significant influence on archeological research in the Pacific region. Obsidian, or volcanic glass, has a distinct signature that flags the volcano of its origin. Bird and his team analysed thousands of obsidian tools, and obsidian from all known volcanic sources in the region. After his retirement, Bird continued to work on the obsidian projects and to co-write a third highly-regarded technical book Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, 1998. Dr J. Roger Bird, born August 26, 1927, died November 22, 2001. ***************************************************************** 60 IAEA Daily Press Review Date 2002-01-31 Number 16 1. Non-proliferation IAEA ends routine annual inspection in Iraq: team arrived last week to make sure uranium placed under seal in Iraq by Agency is accounted for. Iran, Iraq and DPRK reject US accusation that they form "axis of evil" developing weapons of mass destruction and top US administration officials say international community shall look seriously at nations trying to develop such weapons. Russian military experts have inspected two US strategic facilities as part of START-1 Treaty. Russia tells US that it wants binding agreement that both sides would make real and irreversible cuts in their nuclear arsenals, and that Washington would not simply store excess warheads, as it proposed, but destroy them. (CNN; NOR; NYT; R - 30, 31/1) Dem. P.R. of Korea; IAEA; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Russian Federation; United States of America 2. IAEA Report on work performed at IAEA's Seibersdorf Laboratories to prevent misuse of nuclear materials. (SDZ - 30/1) IAEA 3. Terrorism More on reports that US officials have uncovered rudimentary diagrams of nuclear weapons in suspected al-Qaida safe house in Kabul. Pakistan has reportedly decided not to press criminal charges against two of its nuclear scientists whose alleged contacts with Osama bin Laden stirred fears of nuclear terrorism. (NOR; WP - 30; 31/1) Afghanistan; Pakistan; United States of America 4. Nuclear power Third nuclear reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa power station goes into commercial operation. According to report, Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) design is fostering renewed interest in worldwide nuclear power generation. (JAP; NOR - 30, 31/1) Japan; South Africa; WORLDWIDE 5. Nuclear technology Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) will reportedly look at possibility of setting up irradiation plant here to help fruit growers and investors get their products into world market. (R - 31/1) IAEA; Philippines 6. Miscellaneous Pakistani Minister warns that his country cannot rule out using nuclear weapons if attacked by India, Kuwait newspapers reported Wednesday. (R - 31/1) Pakistan ***************************************************************** 61 IAEA: Atomic Energy Agency reports "no problems" on Iraq mission Thursday, 31-Jan-2002 8:13AM Story from AFP Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) [Photo [Thu, Jan 31]] BAGHDAD, IRAQ, 31-JAN-2002: The head of a seven-member International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team, Andrzey Pietruzewiski, addresses reporters before leaving Baghdad with his colleagues Jan. 31, 2002. The IAEA team completed an inspection visit to nuclear sites in Iraq under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). [Photo by Ramzi Haidar, copyright 2002 by AFP and ClariNet] BAGHDAD, Jan 31 (AFP) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported "absolutely no problems" Thursday after a routine inspection visit to nuclear sites in Iraq under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). "The team will present a report on the mission at IAEA headquarters" in Vienna, where results of the analysis would be evaluated, said Andrzey Pietruzewiski, who led the mission. He said the seven inspectors, who left Baghdad for Amman by road after talking to the press, had "faced absolutely no problem during inspection." "During our stay and the inspection, the Iraqi authorities represented by the Iraq Atomic Energy commission were present," he added. "We had the usual inspection plan and they (Iraqis) were acting in accordance with the inspection plan." Pietruzewiski explained on arrival in Baghdad on Friday that his mission was "a safeguard inspection like it was last year... We are going to verify the nuclear materials in question in specified locations." The IAEA made a similar visit in January 2001 to inspect Iraqi nuclear installations under the NPT and found that uranium stocks were still under seal and had not been touched. The visits are not linked to the UN disarmament programme imposed on Iraq in 1991 that ground to a halt in December 1998 with the evacuation of international weapons inspectors on the eve of US and British air strikes. ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************