***************************************************************** 05/01/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.111 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Power ebbs from British Energy 2 OECD chief calls for new look at nuclear energy 3 Finns divided over more nuclear power plants - poll 4 N.Korea, KEDO resume talks on nuclear reactor construction 5 US: Westinghouse lands nuclear plant contract in Switzerland - 6 North Korea Is Prepared to Negotiate, U.S. Reports NUCLEAR REACTORS 7 US: Install sniper towers around nuclear plants, study suggests 8 US: NRC Approves Power Uprate for Sequoyah Units 1 and 2 9 US: NRC Approves Power Uprate for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 10 US: 22% of U.S.-generated electricity from nuclear plants 11 US: At Indian Pt. Hearing, Crowds, Speeches, but Not Much Listening 12 US: Tornado just missed nuclear plant NUCLEAR SAFETY 13 US: US nuclear parts trafficker sentenced 14 US: Customs steps up radiation screens NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 15 US: S.C. governor wants plutonium rules spelled out 16 US: TVA suing feds over cost to store nuke waste 17 US: Documents confirm in-transit risks bringing plutonium to lab 18 US: EDITORIAL: Now he tells us (clinton on Yucca) 19 US: Anti-Yucca Mountain effort avoids getting caught in Web 20 UK: Nuclear waste plan under scrutiny 21 US: Clinton Calls Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump a Mistake 22 US: Western Governors Seek Consensus on Enviro Issues 23 US: Letters To The Editor: Sellafield Closure 24 US: DOE seeks control of Yucca water 25 US: Gibbons, Berkley hustling to win votes on Yucca 26 US: LV council OKs another $50,000 for Yucca fight 27 US: Security Breach on Nuclear Waste Train 28 Taiwanese aborigines take over power company's offices in protest 29 US: Canada: Uranium mill case delayed 30 UK: Campaigners welcome public inquiry into storing nuclear waste NUCLEAR WEAPONS 31 Russia, U.S. Seen Near Nuclear Pact 32 Send Us Our Friend Clinton, North Korea Asks 33 N. Korea And U.S. To Meet 34 Canadians invited to 1956 H-bomb test in Pacific; documents US DEPT. OF ENERGY 35 Nuclear experts arrive 36 SNS tax status so far unscathed 37 ORNL: Technology transfer report 'misleading' 38 DOE Recognizes Top Safety Performers at its Washington State 39 Lawmakers join SRS plutonium fight ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Power ebbs from British Energy Times Online May 01, 2002 Tempus by Robert Cole BRITISH ENERGY, the nuclear electricity generator and largest supplier to the UK grid, is in deep trouble. Shares languish at the lowest for two years and there is little prospect of immediate respite. Problem one, is that the UK market is oversupplied and electricity prices are falling sharply. The length and depth of the trough is unprecedented and there are few signs that the environment will improve. Prices are down at £15 to £16 per megawatt hour and spot prices have gone as low as £12 per megawatt hour. BE's rivals can mitigate the effects of the pricing squeeze by focusing attention on other activities, such as electricity distribution. But BE has no natural hedge against falling wholesale prices because it is only a generator. The inflexible nature of nuclear power also means BE has tremendous difficulty matching its output with the ebbs and flows of demand. Problem two, is the rising cost of BE's waste reprocessing contracts with British Nuclear Fuel. These cause concern large enough to have some analysts wondering if they will overwhelm the company. Recent news on negotiations between the two companies has been more positive, but this particular black hole in BE's results is yet to be filled. Nor can the company be hopeful of a bailout from the Government. Given that BE is such a large supplier, the Government would risk creating significant market distortions if it granted BE taxpayer-funded concessions. BE's investment in Canada and the US are bright spots. News yesterday from Cameco, BE's Canadian partner, indicated that two more generators at its Bruce plant are to come on line next year. Any disruption to this timetable would be disastrous for BE not least because it would lose out in the race to capitalise on the deregulation of the power market in Ontario. For the moment BE's Canadian prospects are promising. The Bruce reactors may contribute £150 million in profit by 2003-04. In the context of the group's current market of just over £1 billion, that is a significant sum. Indeed it can be cogently argued that the market ascribes no value at all to the UK businesses. The company also has desires to build seven or eight new nuclear plants in this country and that could energise prospects. But BE's immediate problems cannot be resolved by a solution that would take almost ten years to implement. At the same time the costs in the UK business as currently constituted could mean the company has to cut its dividend again. Avoid. Sage SAGE, the provider of accounting software to small and medium-sized businesses, is one of the few IT companies to have held its place in FTSE 100. Its shares are well below their peak but yesterday's interim results suggest it is coping with the difficult trading environment admirably. Sage has its fair share of challenges. It is disappointing to see its Enterprise division, which aims at medium-sized firms, struggling. Competition is also growing appreciably, with Microsoft showing interest in buying Navision, the Danish accounting software supplier. Meanwhile SAP, the German IT company, is also targeting Sage's market. Sage's policy of not amortising goodwill on acquisitions also causes some concern. The fear is that it may be obliged to make a big write-off and, or, use what is arguably inflated balance sheet strength to expand unwisely. The company's relationship with its 2.9 million customers gives the firm plenty of ammunition to counter criticism, however. The customer base underpinned a resilient profit performance in the six months just gone. Sage is making good money selling upgrades to those who already have Sage software installed. As importantly, Sage is making handsome revenues operating helplines, which assist its customers in using the software to optimum effect and in navigating accounting compliance issues. These service revenues are more than an interesting sideline: in the past half year they made up 44 per cent of the total turnover. Sage is also adding to its roll-call of users. Meanwhile, Sage's ability to generate free cashflow in the way demonstrated yesterday is more comforting than any unrealised threat to its balance sheet. Moreover, if the competitive interest in the accounting software marketplace persists, Sage could find itself on the receiving end of a takeover bid. Sage may not easily throw off the negative sentiment that surrounds the stock. But the shares are worth holding. TTP Communications THE state of investor sentiment towards shares in TTP Communications, the mobile telephone handset designer, is even worse than for Sage. TTP also has big name competitors encroaching on a patch of ground many thought it had made its own. As a small company — the market capitalisation is less than £200 million — it may not take much to puncture TTP. The company sells its designs to two sorts of customer. It sells to handset manufacturers and to computer chip makers who sell on to handset manufacturers. The latter group get involved as a way of ensuring that designs incorporating their chips are put in front of the likes of Nokia. The big-name competitors encroaching on TTP's territory include handset manufacturers and decent returns will only accrue to TTP if the company is able to co-exist with the new competitors. It is fair to assume, however, that there will be sufficient demand for independent thinking to allow TTP to make some sort of crust. In order to thrive TTP also needs new generation mobile technology to excite consumers and it is at least doubtful that the advances will inspire enthusiastic buying of replacement handsets. But the mobile is here to stay and innovation is likely to play a constant part in attempts by handset makers and service providers to stimulate growth. TTP's success in raising profits, and maintaining net cash balances at £40 million, despite increasing investment in research and development by 54 per cent, is reassuring. The shares are high risk. But the company has a realistic chance of prospering in spite of the trials facing most telecoms equipment manufacturers. Buy. tempus@thetimes.co.uk Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd. ***************************************************************** 2 OECD chief calls for new look at nuclear energy SPAIN: April 30, 2002 PAMPLONA - Industrial countries seeking to reduce dependence on imported oil and cut greenhouse gases should look again at nuclear energy, the head of the OECD said. A high-level European Union seminar on the future of energy heard there were no easy solutions for a Europe seeking ways to meet growing energy demand while cutting pollution. European concerns over oil price volatility rose again last week when Middle East tensions sent oil prices up to $27 a barrel, raising fears an energy price spike could nip worldwide economic recovery in the bud. The 15-nation EU imports 50 percent of its energy and that could grow to 70 percent in 20 or 30 years. It is attempting to increase output of renewable energy, such as wind or solar power, but these make up only a tiny percentage of energy use. At the same time, the EU is committed, under the Kyoto treaty against global warming, to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels. A possible alternative, nuclear power, is regarded with suspicion by many Europeans because of the problem of dealing with radioactive waste and disasters such as the 1986 Chernobyl accident in Ukraine. The Belgian government recently proposed shutting down the nation's nuclear reactors by 2025, following similar moves by Sweden and Germany. But the EU forum in Pamplona, northern Spain, heard surprise support for nuclear energy. "I think we have to take another look at nuclear - a very sober look at nuclear," said Donald Johnston, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), saying this was his personal view. ADVANTAGES OF NUCLEAR ENERGY "We cannot see a future ahead and intend to meet the Kyoto targets if we don't re-examine nuclear in a very serious way." "Nuclear has many advantages. Nuclear energy is plentiful. It produces only negligible amounts of greenhouse gases... it is also very attractive from a security of supply perspective," he added. Johnston won support from Loyola de Palacio, the EU energy commissioner. She said the EU must foster renewable energies and make more efficient use of energy, but added: "We would commit a very grave error if the EU renounced the use of nuclear energy as, regrettably, is being proposed in some cases. "In my opinion, we will have to choose: Either we fulfil Kyoto and keep nuclear (energy) or we renounce Kyoto and abolish nuclear energy," she said. BP Chief Executive John Browne said there was no shortage of oil or gas. Proven reserves now were 70 percent greater than they were 30 years ago, he said. The best way to achieve energy security was to establish a wide range of secure sources of supply for oil and gas. These sources existed, he said, saying that as well as the Middle East, the oil Europe needed in the next decade would come from West Africa and the Caspian Sea. Worldwide renewable energy would provide no more than two percent of total energy needs by 2010 and perhaps three percent by 2020, he said. "That means that in a growing energy market oil and gas will be the key sources of supply for the foreseeable future," he said. David Garman, assistant U.S. secretary for energy efficiency, said the United States was focusing its efforts on researching new energy technologies in the laboratory to try to drive down their cost. Under a project launched this year, the U.S. government is funding research into fuel cells, which use hydrogen to produce electricity without creating pollution as petrol engines do. In 10 or 15 years, Garman said, the United States would know whether it had the technical capability to put a fuel cell vehicle on the market. But he said he could not envision the conversion of the whole car fleet to fuel cells before 2060 or 2080, "perhaps even later". Anatoly Chubais, chief executive of Russia's largest electricity company, Unified Energy System , renewed his call for the linking of Western and Eastern electricity grids, saying there was currently a "Berlin wall" dividing the two systems. Story by Adrian Croft REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 3 Finns divided over more nuclear power plants - poll FINLAND: May 1, 2002 HELSINKI - Finns stand divided over controversial plans to build a fifth nuclear power plant just one month before parliament is due to vote on the issue, a poll released yesterday showed. Some 44 percent of 1,500 Finns surveyed were in favour of building a new plant while the same percentage opposed the plans, the poll by agency Taloustutkimus for Social Democratic paper Uutispaiva Demari showed. Supporters say more nuclear energy is needed to meet growing electricity consumption and enable a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Opponents say the risks involved are too high and the question of nuclear waste disposal is still unanswered. The government passed to parliament in January a proposal by energy group Teollisuuden Voima to build a new nuclear reactor in Finland. The move comes at a time when the rest of Western Europe is shifting to alternative forms of energy. Keenest in favour of building more nuclear power plants, according to the poll, were supporters of the Conservatives and the Social Democrats, the two main groups in the country's five-party coalition. Opposition was strongest among supporters of the Left Alliance and the Green Party, junior members of the coalition. One in 10 of those surveyed were undecided. The margin of error for the poll, conducted in March, was three percent. The party positions were roughly in line with a previous poll of members of parliament published earlier in the month. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 4 N.Korea, KEDO resume talks on nuclear reactor construction welcome to Korea Herald!!_National http://www.koreaherald.com North Korea and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) opened three-day talks in Hyangsan, north of Pyongyang, yesterday to discuss the construction of nuclear power plants that are being provided by the internatinonal consortium in return for the North's promise to freeze its own nuclear programs. The North's two state-run radio stations reported that a delegation from KEDO, a U.S.-led international consortium, arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday to attend a high-level meeting. Under a 1994 deal between North Korea and the United States, KEDO is building two nuclear light water reactors in the North's eastern coast. South Korea and Japan will shoulder most of the financial burden for the project. Seoul officials said the ongoing consultations would focus on setting up communication networks liking Sinpo, the reactor construction site, to outside areas, the replacement and training of the workforce, and the opening of a sea route between the site and South Korea. The two sides are also expected to open negotiations on formulating a protocol regarding possible compensation for damages in case of nuclear accidents. (jihoho@koreaherald.co.kr) 2002.05.02 ***************************************************************** 5 Westinghouse lands nuclear plant contract in Switzerland - 2002-04-30 - Pittsburgh Business Times April 30, 2002 Westinghouse Electric Co. said the nuclear businesses it bought almost two years ago from Asea Brown Boveri are paying off. Monroeville-based Westinghouse signed a contract Tuesday to supply instrumentation and perform control upgrades at the Leibstadt nuclear power plant in northern Switzerland. The plant's owner, Kernkraftwerk Leibstadt AG, will pay Westinghouse $13 million. Michael Comiskey, vice president of Westinghouse Nuclear Automation, said the contract is the first of its kind that the company has won outside of the United States. Mr. Comiskey added that Westinghouse acquired the capabilities to perform the work through the purchases of ABB's nuclear businesses. Westinghouse will replace the Leibstadt plant's computer during the third quarter of 2004. It will also up grade simulators, install a plant-data network and operator stations, and prepare standards for system designs. Westinghouse Electric Co. is a unit of BNFL plc of Warrington, England. Copyright 2002 American City ***************************************************************** 6 North Korea Is Prepared to Negotiate, U.S. Reports May 1, 2002 By JAMES DAO ASHINGTON, April 30 — The Bush administration said today that North Korea, one of the three countries President Bush had identified as part of an "axis of evil," was prepared to restart negotiations with the United States on a range of issues, apparently including its missile and nuclear weapons programs and the use of troops on the South Korean border. The announcement, in a terse statement issued by the White House today, was interpreted by some national security officials as a ratification of their strategy of taking a tough line against North Korea. Other officials said they thought that North Korea had decided to restart talks, which have not taken place since President Clinton left office, because their energy shortages have worsened and their efforts to develop separate talks with European and Asian powers had yielded few results. "It's a mystery why they make the decisions they do, but clearly they got the message that the U.S. was capable of turning its sights on them," one senior American official said. Many Asian experts inside and outside the administration had cringed when President Bush included North Korea in his list of countries that made up what he referred to as an "axis of evil." They feared that the use of such a term would solidify the position of hard-liners in the North who view any discussions with the United States as fruitless and who believe that the Bush administration is simply trying to bring about the collapse of the North's Communist government. But some officials said today that they now believe that Mr. Bush's approach may have forced Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, to return to talks with the United States. At a Senate hearing last week, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said: "We do not step back in the slightest in the president's description of North Korea. We believe it is a regime that is not serving its people well. But at the same time, the president made it clear that we were willing to talk to them any time, any place, and without any preset agenda." Today, Ari Fleischer, the president's spokesman, said, "We anticipate these talks will begin." The talks will be headed by Jack Pritchard, a Korea expert in the State Department who worked in President Clinton's National Security Council. He will first meet North Korean representatives in New York, and then may travel to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. The decision to restart talks was applauded by Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I hope this means the administration is prepared to back South Korean President Kim Dae Jung in his steadfast pursuit of reconciliation with North Korea," said Mr. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware. The announcement comes at a time when the Pentagon is studying whether it has the resources that would enable it to maintain its current military operations around the world if it were to invade Iraq. Establishing better relations with North Korea could reduce demands on American forces in the Pacific. The Bush administration is also preparing to withdraw in June from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972, which prohibits development of missile defenses. North Korea's missile program is widely cited as a major reason for developing a missile shield, and a rudimentary antimissile system the Pentagon hopes to build in Alaska by 2004 will be aimed mainly at thwarting an attack from North Korea. Last June, following a review of North Korea policy, Mr. Bush said he was prepared to restart the negotiations only if North Korea accepted a broader agenda that would include North Korea's conventional forces. The North Korean government initially balked at Mr. Bush's proposal. Last month, North Korea also postponed talks with an American-led consortium that is building two nuclear reactors in the country as part of a plan calling for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. But during meetings earlier this month with a special South Korean envoy, Lim Dong Won, North Korean officials said they had accepted Mr. Bush's proposal and would be willing to receive Mr. Pritchard. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 7 Install sniper towers around nuclear plants, study suggests They would help address 'vulnerability problem' By Richard Powelson, News-Sentinel Washington bureau May 1, 2002 WASHINGTON - The nation's nuclear plants may need to erect steel towers around their borders to aid shooting down any attacking aircraft, says a new study on better ways to defend against terrorism. It never may be necessary to shoot down a plane, said the study Tuesday by the Brookings Institution, an independent public policy group, but the towers "would address the vulnerability problem fairly inexpensively and reliably." The Knoxville-based Tennessee Valley Authority operates three nuclear power plants, including Watts Bar about 50 miles southwest of Knoxville. The agency had no immediate comment on the tower security idea. Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson appeared at Brookings' office building to endorse the aim of the study to improve domestic security, but he said he was still reviewing the 177-page report and would not endorse specific recommendations. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has heard of the tower idea before, spokesman Victor Dricks said, and "I'm sure that the staff will consider it along with many others." The agency is reviewing many options for tougher nuclear plant security based on terrorist actions in the United States Sept. 11. TVA spokesman Gil Francis said the agency was not familiar with the Brookings study, but stressed that TVA has been improving its nuclear plant security. The wholesale power producer for parts of seven states, including Tennessee, is spending $3 million extra this fiscal year on plant security upgrades, and has spent $1.3 million on extra work by its police force since Sept. 11, he said. "We're still looking at other ways to enhance security, but right now I don't think we'd want to talk specifically about what those things are because that undermines your efforts" and helps terrorists, Francis said. All nuclear plants are following NRC orders to keep security at the highest level, to increase patrols, expand security forces and their training, to erect more physical barriers, to check vehicles farther from the plants, and to improve security coordination with local law enforcement and the military. The Brookings study also suggests that the federal government hire 1,000 extra FBI agents annually for five years to counter terrorism, increase security along borders and in the air, improve intelligence on potential terrorists, and better protect toxic chemical plants. Richard Powelson may be reached at 202-408-2727 or powelsonr@shns.com. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 8 NRC Approves Power Uprate for Sequoyah Units 1 and 2 NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 54 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] No. 02-054 May 1, 2002 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to increase the generating capacity of the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, by 1.3 percent, or 15 megawatts. The power uprate at the plant, near Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, will increase the generating capacity of each reactor to 1137 megawatts of electricity. TVA intends to implement the power uprates at both units next month. The application for the power increase was submitted to the NRC on November 15, 2001. The NRC's evaluation of the requested power uprate for the plant focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident calculations, radiological consequences, operations and technical specification changes. The NRC staff determined that the licensee could safely increase the power output of the reactor by making certain plant instrumentation modifications. ***************************************************************** 9 NRC Approves Power Uprate for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 55 - Home > Electronic Reading Room > Document Collections > News Releases > 02-055 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] No. 02-055 May 1, 2002 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by Entergy Nuclear Southwest to increase the generating capacity of the Arkansas Nuclear One Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2, by 7.5 percent, or 64 megawatts. The power uprate at the plant, near Russelleville, Arkansas, will increase the generating capacity of Unit 2 to 922 megawatts of electricity. The licensee intends to implement the power uprate during the current refueling and maintenance outage. The application for the power increase was submitted to the NRC on December 19, 2000. The NRC's safety evaluation of the requested power uprate for the plant focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations and technical specification changes. The NRC staff determined that the licensee could safely increase the power output of the reactor primarily by using new fuel in the core and making certain plant modifications. ***************************************************************** 10 22% of U.S.-generated electricity from nuclear plants Nuclear power has claimed a growing share of the fuel mix at the nation's electricity-generating plants for the last 40 years, despite the fear triggered by the 1979 nuclear crisis at Three Mile Island. Today nuclear power accounts for about 22 percent of electricity generated by U.S. utilities, up from zero in 1960, the Nuclear Energy Institute reports. Despite environmental problems and costs associated with coal, it remains the favored fuel among U.S. generating companies, accounting for 58 percent of generation today, up from 53 percent in 1960. Natural-gas powered turbines have seen their market share halved, to about 10 percent today. Although heavily subsidized at the state and federal levels, renewables such as solar and wind power account for less than 5 percent of generation. Eleven nuclear power plants operate in Illinois. Daily Southtown Pioneer Press Post-Tribune Star Newspapers Suburban Chicago Newspapers Copyright 2002, Digital Chicago Inc. ***************************************************************** 11 At Indian Pt. Hearing, Crowds, Speeches, but Not Much Listening May 1, 2002 By WINNIE HU HITE PLAINS, April 30 — The battle lines were clearly drawn tonight over the Indian Point nuclear power plant as its critics and defenders sparred over its fate before county legislators. In front at the meeting at the Westchester County Center, the critics wore red shirts and jackets and waved red paper, all to call attention to the plant's safety lapses. In the back, plant workers and others pinned on Indian Point buttons and displayed signs and small American flags. Neither side seemed willing to listen to the other, and after about 45 minutes of impassioned speeches — punctuated occasionally by jeers — nearly all of the plant workers walked out in anger and frustration. "We don't think it's a fair hearing," said Zvi Eisenberg, 52, a systems engineer at the plant. More than 350 people attended the meeting, held by Westchester legislators to address safety concerns about the plant's two working reactors in Buchanan, about 40 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. In recent months, a growing number of state and local politicians, environmental groups and residents have demanded the decommissioning of Indian Point. Tonight's meeting was called after such a large crowd jammed into a March 21 meeting that about 150 people who signed up to speak were not given a chance. Only those people were allowed to take the floor tonight, drawing complaints from Indian Point workers and others who also wanted to be heard. Westchester legislators are considering two resolutions about Indian Point, including one that calls for decommissioning it and, if possible, converting it to natural gas or alternative-fuel operation. The other resolution urges an evaluation of Indian Point's emergency plan by an independent group outside the government. The resolutions could be voted on as early as next month. Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz, who proposed the resolution to decommission Indian Point, said that after hearing the public comments, he was "as fervent as ever." But even if county legislators adopt a resolution calling for the closing of Indian Point, it would be largely symbolic. Though it would be a first for Westchester, the Rockland County Legislature and many towns, villages and school boards in both counties have passed similar resolutions, with little effect. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that oversees Indian Point, has approved its operations. The Entergy Corporation, which owns Indian Point, has maintained that its operations are safe, and plant workers and others have increasingly mobilized to counter growing opposition to the plant. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy ***************************************************************** 12 Tornado just missed nuclear plant sunspot.net Storm passed two miles northeast of Calvert Cliffs, officials estimate By Johnathon E. Briggs Sun Staff Originally published May 1, 2002 Packing winds of more than 261 miles per hour, the strongest tornado in Maryland's history passed within an estimated two miles of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Calvert County on Sunday. Plant officials said yesterday that although the state had never before experienced a twister of such magnitude, the nuclear facility, perched on a slope overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, could have withstood the violent storm. "The plant is designed to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, a wide range of events," spokesman Karl Neddenien said of the power plant owned and operated by Constellation Energy Group, parent company of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. Photographs taken Sunday evening, apparently by a plant employee from an area on the grounds that looks toward the bay, have circulated in recent days showing the spinning funnel cloud touching down in the water as it moved east toward Dorchester County. The category F5 tornado - highest on a scale used by meteorologists - appears to be about two miles northeast of the 28-year-old plant, officials said. But critics were asking: Are Calvert Cliffs structures rated to withstand an F5 tornado? "I've seen pictures of a stalk of straw thrown through a telephone pole by a tornado. It's certainly not a ho-hum kind of affair," said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Watchdog Project with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington. "Clearly the concern is the power system to the plant, whether or not the buildings the emergency generators are housed in are rated to take winds of up to 260 miles per hour or tornado missiles." Neddenien said the plant's "extremely rugged construction," including walls up to four feet thick of steel-reinforced concrete and redundant backup power systems, prepare the plant for the worst. A little more than an hour before the storm's arrival, he said, staff members walked the grounds looking for and tying down objects - from trash cans to picnic tables - that could cause damage if picked up by high-velocity winds. "The tornado really posed no threat to the plant," he said. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun ***************************************************************** 13 US nuclear parts trafficker sentenced BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Tuesday, 30 April, 2002 [Satellite picture of Israel's nuclear facility in Dimona] Israel denies the parts were to be used for nuclear weapons An American physicist has been sentenced to 40 months in prison and fined $20,000 for trafficking components that could be used as triggers for nuclear weapons. Richard Kelly Smyth, 72, and his wife spent 16 years on the run after he jumped bail in 1985 while awaiting trial. [Escaping] was a grave mistake and error on my part... I wish I had never done it Richard Kelly Smyth He was finally found in the Spanish resort of Malaga last July and extradited. In December Smyth, a former scientific adviser to the US Air Force and to Nato, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and to making a false statement to Customs. Prosecutors dropped 28 other counts. He was immediately made eligible for parole at Monday's sentencing, due to his age and health problems. Krytrons, the tiny electronic devices which Smyth was convicted of exporting, are used in high-speed photography, strobe lighting and photocopying machines, but can also be used in nuclear triggers. Israeli involvement Smyth was originally indicted for allegedly selling about 800 krytrons to an Israeli-based firm, Heli Corp, when he was president of the company Milco International Inc. Then owner of Heli Corp, Arnon Milchan, denied involvement in the $60,000 krytron deal. But he later said that the Israeli Government had used his company as a conduit for trading with the United States. After Smyth was indicted, Israel returned most of the krytrons, denying that they were ever intended for use in nuclear weapons. 'Grave error' Smyth told the court that he had decided to flee the United States because his attorney told him he would go to prison and media reports said he might receive a maximum sentence of 105 years. "That was a grave mistake and error on my part," Smyth said. "I wish I had never done it. My wife, Emilie, and I wish to spend the rest of our lives surrounded by our families and peers," he said. ***************************************************************** 14 Customs steps up radiation screens Markey raises concerns about security 'backdoor' By Robert Schlesinger, Globe Staff, 5/1/2002 WASHINGTON - The US Customs Service, acknowledging that it needs to increase its ability to detect radioactive material that is shipped to the United States, says that it is doubling its capacity to screen incoming packages. Customs does not screen all incoming packages for radiation, and while importers of radioactive materials are required to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, no government agency verifies that, according to a letter US Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner sent to Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat. At a time when national security concerns are focused on the potential for terrorists to use radioactive materials as weapons, Markey said that such package carriers as UPS and FedEx could still be used as a ''backdoor'' in the nation's security system. He called for complete screening of incoming packages. Since Sept. 11, the possibility of a radiological, or ''dirty,'' bomb or even an improvised nuclear device has been a chief national security concern. Such fears have only been increased by Al Qaeda documents discovered in Afghanistan and other intelligence illustrating terrorist attempts to obtain radioactive material. ''Al Qaeda will use the simplest means to transfer the materials which can cause the maximum harm to America,'' said Markey, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. ''Customs is moving to increase security, but the larger message is we need to be better prepared and there's a lot of work that needs to be done.'' Bonner said that his agency is purchasing 3,400 personal radiation detectors, pager-sized scanners that clip to a person's belt. They will not all be in place until the end of this year, however. That amount would roughly double the number currently employed, according to customs spokesman Dean Boyd. ''It is our goal to screen as many and as much people and cargo and conveyances as we can coming into the country for radiation, but certainly we'll need additional technology and we'll do that,'' Boyd said. ''It is also imperative that we search in an intelligent manner and we get information in advance on the type of goods coming into the country.'' Customs essentially profiles incoming packages to determine which to single out for screening. ''While there is a need for additional radiological detection equipment, customs does screen and target shipments for heightened scrutiny based on anomalies in the entry data, prior compliance violations, lookouts in our computer systems, and other indicators of suspicion,'' Bonner wrote Markey. Boyd also said that customs has provided its foreign counterparts with the personal radiation detectors and trained them to use the devices. These have prevented radioactive material from crossing foreign borders, he said. In May 1999, for example, Bulgarian border security stopped a 35-year-old Turkish man who was trying to smuggle 10 grams of weapons-grade uranium from Turkey to Moldova. And while there is no procedure to verify that importers of radioactive material are licensed, Bonner said that customs is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to set up a system. Bonner's letter was a response to a January letter from Markey, which was prompted by an incident where a package shipped via FedEx from Paris to Louisiana arrived leaking dangerous amounts of radiation. While that transaction turned out to be legitimate, it raised concerns about the United States' ability to screen for radioactive material. ''For the same reason that the American public wants all bags checked going onto planes, they have a right to expect that all UPS and FedEx packages flown into the US are being checked,'' Markey said. ''If there is a backdoor way around American security, then the UPS and FedEx planes would be that back door.'' Robert Schlesinger can be reached at schlesinger@globe.com [schlesinger@globe.com] . This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 5/1/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 15 S.C. governor wants plutonium rules spelled out Rocky Mountain News: Local By The Associated Press May 1, 2002 COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Legislation that sets up $1 million a day fines for the Department of Energy if plutonium sent from Colorado to the Savannah River Site stays in the state too long should be revamped, Gov. Jim Hodges said Tuesday. Hodges wants U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to accept the changes offered by Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., who says the bill doesn't spell out when the plutonium has to be removed. Graham said he worked with Energy officials and President Bush's administration to find a compromise to end the standoff between the DOE and Hodges. The Department of Energy wants to ship weapons-grade plutonium from the Rocky Flats site in Colorado to SRS near Aiken, where the nuclear material is supposed to be converted into fuel for nuclear power plants. But Hodges worries the fuel program will never be funded and the plutonium will remain in South Carolina indefinitely. Plutonium shipments could begin as early as May 15. Under Graham's plan, the federal government would be fined $1 million a day starting in 2011 if more than 1 ton of the plutonium has not been made into fuel for nuclear reactors. The government would have to move the plutonium or speed up the conversion to stop the fines. The penalties would be capped at $100 million a year. © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 16 TVA suing feds over cost to store nuke waste Agency 'reluctantly' went after government By Richard Powelson, News-Sentinel Washington bureau April 30, 2002 TVA officials estimated Monday federal delays in accepting and storing radioactive waste from nuclear power plants might cost the agency more than $120 million for extra storage. The Knoxville-based federal agency is ordering steel- and concrete-reinforced casks, costing about $1 million each, for temporary storage, perhaps until 2014 when the U.S. government may have a Nevada desert site ready for TVA's shipments. The dry casks are cheaper than building more cooling pools, TVA said. TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough Jr. said the wholesale power agency "very reluctantly" has sued the U.S. government to recover the $120 million or more in costs. "We have to protect the ratepayers' money," McCullough said. The agency has paid $580 million over nearly 20 years into a federal fund to finance a permanent repository to handle the country's nuclear fuel waste. The fees are based on the amount of power generated at each U.S. nuclear plant. The government initially planned to begin taking TVA's waste this year, but opposition to the Nevada site and other locations caused long delays. The Department of Energy and President Bush have chosen an isolated desert site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada to house the radioactive waste. The full House will vote soon on whether to override Nevada's objection to receiving the nuclear waste, and the Senate may vote this summer. John Scalice, TVA's chief nuclear officer and an executive vice president, said he was encouraged by a House committee vote recently to move ahead with completion of the Yucca Mountain site. Keeping the nation's spent nuclear fuel in one isolated, safe location 1,000 feet underground is preferable to keeping it at 63 nuclear power plant sites in cooling pools or dry casks at ground level, he said. He said he has visited Yucca Mountain, which the government found the most suitable location after studying various sites for more than 20 years and spending $8 billion analyzing them. "It's way out in the desert," Scalice said. "It's arid. There's nobody living around there. It certainly is an appropriate area to store spent nuclear fuel." But U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., is among those urging to keep nuclear waste at each plant site. He fears what would happen should nuclear waste-laden trains or trucks crash en route to Nevada. Also, an East Tennessee environmental group, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, prefers that TVA keep the waste at its plants until there is more certainty that Yucca Mountain is the best repository. "The worst thing is to move it around, get it out there and then realize you have to move it again," alliance spokesman Stephen Smith said. He said there also should be concern that terrorists would target the shipments headed to Nevada. But federal officials maintain that they have designed nuclear waste containers for storage and transportation to withstand various calamities, including hitting a bridge abutment at 120 mph and being engulfed in fire at 1,475 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. TVA's casks will be 1-inch-thick steel in a 6-foot-by-16-foot cylinder, surrounded by a 30-inch-thick wall of concrete on each side, spokesman John Moulton said. The TVA lawsuit seeking federal reimbursement for extra storage costs was filed in April 2001. Moulton said he did not know why the agency did not announce the legal action then. Scalice said the first cooling pool to fill with spent nuclear fuel would be at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant near Chattanooga in 2004. At TVA's Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in North Alabama, pools are expected to fill by 2006 and by 2013, he said. Buying steel-and-concrete casks is millions of dollars cheaper than building more pools, Scalice said. All U.S. nuclear plants have limited storage for spent fuel, while Yucca Mountain has a huge repository for future growth, he said. The U.S. military has been transporting nuclear weapons around the country for years without problems, so spent nuclear fuel can be handled safely, too, Scalice said. "The missiles didn't get to Iowa or wherever they are located by beaming them there," he said. Richard Powelson may be reached at 202-408-2727 or PowelsonR@shns.com. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Documents confirm in-transit risks bringing plutonium to lab Tri-Valley Herald Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 2:54:00 AM MST Valley activists hope to block Energy Department shipments By Staff Writer: Glenn Roberts Jr. Containers of plutonium-contaminated parts, which are expected to be trucked from an Energy Department site in Colorado to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, could be ruptured by an impact with a heavy truck or train, federal documents say. Livermore-based Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment filed a lawsuit against the Energy Department in February to block the shipments and require additional environmental review of the plan. The group received some Energy Department documents in April, requested through Freedom of Information Act requests, that describe safety deficiencies with the plutonium containers. A July 2000 Energy Department memo states that the containers, if carried aboard a truck designed for carrying nuclear materials, would be crushed if the truck was hit by a train. And "if (the truck) was hit from behind by a large, heavy vehicle, the crush environment may occur," the document also states. Plutonium is a highly radioactive element used in nuclear weapons. Marylia Kelley, executive director for Tri-Valley CAREs, said, "In plain English, DOE is admitting that the ... containers holding plutonium could get crushed in any highway accident and would definitely get crushed in a collision with a train. "That could disperse deadly plutonium particles across the highway and into the atmosphere." Energy Department officials, she said, "are crossing their fingers and hoping there is no accident." Energy Department officials had no comment Tuesday about the shipping plans. Rocky Flats, a former nuclear weapons production site near Denver, closed in 1989. An accelerated cleanup at the site is scheduled for completion in 2006. On April 15, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced his intention to resume plutonium shipments from Rocky Flats to other Energy Department sites as soon as mid-May, to be completed by June 2003. Plutonium parts will be shipped from Rocky Flats to Livermore Lab as soon as the lab is able to receive the parts, according to an April 4, Energy Department presentation on the cleanup plan. An estimated four to 10 shipments of plutonium parts will be sent from Rocky Flats to Livermore Lab through this accelerated cleanup plan, and other parts are expected to be shipped to the Savannah River Site, an Energy Department nuclear weapons production site in South Carolina. South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, though, has said he plans to block those shipments -- perhaps enlisting the aid of state troopers -- if he does not receive assurance that the plutonium will be stored only temporarily in his state. Livermore Lab is expected to process the parts containing plutonium and then ship the processed plutonium to the Savannah River Site. Energy Department managers granted a security exemption that allows the use of shipping containers that have not passed all safety tests. This exemption saves time and money, officials said in internal documents, because the containers allow the plutonium parts to be shipped whole, eliminating the need to cut them into smaller pieces. ©1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 18 EDITORIAL: Now he tells us (clinton on Yucca) Wednesday, May 01, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Say what you will about Bill Clinton, it's probably safe to assume that both his defenders and detractors would agree that the former president has never wanted for chutzpah. And it was on full display Monday night, when Mr. Clinton addressed some 6,000 people during a speech at UNLV. On the issue of Yucca Mountain, Mr. Clinton urged Nevada to keep fighting. He went on to say that if he were still president, he would fund research to investigate other options for high-level waste disposal. "I just think it's a mistake," he said of Yucca. "I don't think it can be justified on its merits." Huh? Mr. Clinton occupied the White House for eight years. During that time, did he ever urge Congress to abandon plans for a national repository? Did he ever submit a budget that cut off funding for construction at Yucca Mountain? Did he ever order his Department of Energy to shut down the project? Did he ever take the position that it was safer to simply leave the waste where it is now stored instead of shipping it through population centers? Yes, Mr. Clinton opposed creating a temporary dump at the Nevada Test Site and helped kill that back-door effort to send waste here. In the meantime, the bulldozers and tunnel borers continued to attack the Yucca Mountain landscape. During his two terms, the Yucca project marched full steam ahead -- and Mr. Clinton even admitted Monday that he never promised Nevada he wouldn't approve the site. But now that he's on the sidelines, the former president tells a Las Vegas audience that Yucca Mountain is a "mistake." What a crock. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 19 Anti-Yucca Mountain effort avoids getting caught in Web Wednesday, May 01, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL For a few days before Tuesday, Nevada officials flirted with a nuclear disaster in their effort to thwart federal plans to haul radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain. "We almost stepped off the deep end," state Nuclear Projects Agency chief Bob Loux said Tuesday when asked about a state-funded Web site that was linked to a company that lists pro-Yucca Mountain lobbyists John Sununu and Geraldine Ferraro as advisers. Beginning about a week ago, agency consultant Mark Brown said, the Web site nuclearneighborhoods.org had a link to Grassroots Enterprise Inc. The link showed Sununu and Ferraro, now lobbying for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to ship spent nuclear fuel to Nevada, on a nine-member advisory board. The Web site still touts a coalition called Citizens Against Radioactive Transport to Yucca. It urges readers to "take action," saying, "We need your help to keep highly radioactive nuclear waste from being transported through our neighborhoods." It says the site is paid for by the Agency for Nuclear Projects. By Tuesday, the Web site, which has cost the state less than $30,000, had been altered. The link to Grassroots Enterprise was removed after Loux learned Monday from the environmental group Citizen Alert that the company, a subcontractor to Issue Dynamics Inc., had listed Sununu and Ferraro as advisers. "He was stunned. He got on it right away," Peggy Maze Johnson of Citizen Alert said. Loux said the Web site was put online for a trial basis. He said Brown's company, Brown &Partners, had paid for the site through its $1 million contract with the Nuclear Projects Agency. Brown's firm has launched an anti-Yucca Mountain public information campaign along transportation routes where the Department of Energy wants to haul 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to a maze of tunnels inside the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Grassroots Enterprise spokeswoman Melissa Haynes said her company provides software to Issue Dynamics Inc. "to manage the advocacy communications portions of the campaign. "We're providing the technology for the Web site e-mail distribution mechanism. When people sign up, their e-mail is forwarded to the appropriate legislator," she said. The system is geared to mesh state-of-the-art software with the needs of Washington, D.C., lobbyists to reach tens of thousands of people in states vital to whatever campaign a lobby is trying to influence. Haynes said the company's board of advisers is a holdover from grassroots.com, from which Grassroots Enterprise evolved in April 2001. "They don't have anything to do with day-to-day operations of Grassroots Enterprise." Loux said he talked Monday with Grassroots Enterprise Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mike McCurry about the perception problem posed by the connection to pro-Yucca Mountain lobbyists. McCurry "tried to suggest ways to make it work," Loux said. "The practical effect is we just can't deal with it." The perception would kill us." He said McCurry , who was unavailable Tuesday, tried to persuade him otherwise, noted that the advisory board also includes former Clinton transition team member Anthony Podesta, brother of former Clinton administration Chief of Staff John Podesta, who was hired by the state this year to fight the Yucca Mountain Project. "I said, 'Mike, it's not possible with these relations.' by telephone from Carson City. Brown said his company is working with Issue Dynamics, not Grassroots Enterprise, on the Web site. "We haven't really launched the Web site. It's still in the preliminary stages," he said. Issue Dynamics Executive Vice President Ken Deutsch said the contract calls for working with the state on an "online-offline" coalition-building campaign and field activities and has "no affiliation whatsoever" with Sununu and Ferraro. "We're using a variety of vendors," he said, noting that his company is the largest seller and re-seller of online advocacy technology. He said he could not discuss what vendors were being used for which clients. "What I will say is we're putting together a national coalition. We're going to mobilize those people and use the best techniques out there to help Nevada win and defeat this dump," Deutsch said. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 20 UK: Nuclear waste plan under scrutiny BBC News | WALES | Tuesday, 30 April, 2002, [Trawsfynydd Power Station] Trawsfynydd was taken out of commission in 1993 The Welsh Assembly has agreed to a public inquiry into the plans to store radioactive waste at a former nuclear power station in north Wales for the next 100 years. British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) has lodged an application to transform the defunct Trawsfynydd nuclear plant in Snowdonia into an £80m "safe store" for the intermediate-grade waste created as a result of de-commissioning. BNFL has no alternative to using Trawsfynydd But campaigners led by the Council for National Parks have won their battle for a public examination of the scheme as the first decommissioned site inside an area of a national park. It is the second time the proposals will have been scrutinised - BNFL's original plans to store the waste in modified buildings were rejected by the then Welsh Secretary in 1998. BNFL's application for Trawsfynydd - officially de-commissioned in 1993 but where work to remove spent fuel continued until 1999 - is in two parts. Firstly, it wants to reduce the size of the existing buildings and use them to contain radioactive material from the Magnox reactors - one of the earliest forms of nuclear power. The adapted buildings would be known as "safe stores" for material which would be kept for decades before it was safe enough to handle without the need for sophisticated protection. No alternative Secondly, the company wants to build a new structure to contain intermediate grade waste from the former reactors. Council for National Park's planning expert Ruth Chambers said: "This issue is of national importance for both Wales and the rest of the UK because of its location in the Snowdonia National Park and the huge scale of activity that would follow from the proposals." "The work would also act as a precedent for other nuclear power stations to be taken out of service and be used to store nuclear waste." The storage facility would be exclusively for Trawsfynydd waste and BNFL said there is no intention of storing radioactive waste from sites elsewhere. There is also an assurance that no high-level waste - material radioactive enough to generate heat -would be kept the site. The firm argues it has no alternative UK site it could use as part of the project to clear the site in 80-100 years and it has earmarked £80m to see through the scheme. However, the company is said to be concerned that a long-running public inquiry would push up its costs. But it is not yet clear is the public inquiry will start. BNFL Magnox has said that for business reasons it wants a result one way or the other by March 2002. A spokesperson for the assembly said: "The National Assembly took the decision after consulting the planning inspectorate. "It is not unusual for called-in planning applications to go to public inquiry - 50% of such applications have done so in the last 2 years. "The timing of the public inquiry is not yet known and will be announced in due course by the planning inspectorate." ***************************************************************** 21 Clinton Calls Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump a Mistake Environment News Service: AmeriScan: April 30, 2002 LAS VEGAS, Nevada, April 30, 2002 (ENS) - Former President Bill Clinton has a plan whereby the state of Nevada can defeat the Bush administration effort to send the nation's high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain - convince the senators from small states. Clinton's message was enthusiastically received by an audience of about 6,300 last night at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. "You ought to go to senators from every one of the small states and ask them how they'd feel if it was being done to them," Clinton said. "Don't give up. Just keep making the case." Nevada senators of both parties are now trying to persuade their fellow lawmakers to uphold the veto of Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn that would prevent the Department of Energy from sending about 77,000 tons of nuclear waste from power plants and defense facilities to Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Concerns have been raised over transportation safety and the safe containment of the waste in a permanent geological repository there. The Senate will vote on the veto this summer. Clinton said siting the waste at Yucca Mountain is "a mistake," and said if he was president today, he would fund research into alternatives. Demand for tickets to Clinton's talk, presented as part of the Barbara Greenspun Lecture Series, was very high. The Greenspun lectures are normally held in a 1,800 seat hall, but organizers had to move the event to the 6,500 seat Thomas and Mack Center. The former president's fee was not disclosed and he did not grant any media interviews. © Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 Western Governors Seek Consensus on Enviro Issues Environment News Service: SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 30, 2002 (ENS) - Western governors gathered last week in Utah to develop recommendations on a variety of environmental issues, including conserving open lands, reducing wildfire risks and restoring forest ecosystem health. Almost 500 legislators, Bush administration officials and environmental leaders participated in the Environmental Summit on the West II, cosponsored by the Western Governors' Association (WGA) and White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). [Hull] Governor Jane Hull of Arizona, chair of the Western Governors' Association, discusses wildfire management with Interior Secretary Gale Norton (right) at the Environmental Summit on the West II. (Photo courtesy WGA) Governor Jane Hull of Arizona, the Republican who chairs the WGA, said the Summit "is an opportunity to bring together diverse constituencies to build an understanding on a wide range of issues, resulting in environmental progress that meets the needs of our citizens while protecting our remarkable natural resources." The summit promoted the use of the Enlibra principles for environmental management. Enlibra, a term coined by the WGA, refers to an evolving set of principles that emphasizes local participation in environmental decisions and mechanisms other than governmental regulation and enforcement of environmental laws. Among the concepts promoted by Enlibra are voluntary conservation programs, market incentives and performance based rewards for environmental improvements, and cost benefit analyses of all environmental decisions. "Enlibra is not a process. Enlibra is a philosophy," said Governor Mike Leavitt of Utah, a Republican. "Our goals should be to double our environmental progress at half the cost. Our economic survival rests on that progress." Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon, a Democrat, said the use of the Enlibra principles by communities, watersheds and regional organizations is growing. [Kitzhaber] Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber leads WGA's Enlibra development with Utah Governor Mike Leavitt. (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor) "It is an expression of sustainability of our environmental, economic and social resources in a way and at a rate for people to meet their needs of today without compromising future generations," Kitzhaber said. On Thursday, participants heard from Interior Secretary Gale Norton, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman, and CEQ chair Jim Connaughton. Norton discussed local conservation efforts by "citizen conservationists," and President George W. Bush's proposal to provide $100 million in grants under his Cooperative Conservation Initiative. "Whether we call the concept cooperative conservation, or new environmentalism, or Enlibra - we are all recognizing that we can accomplish more through cooperation than conflict," Norton said. Connaughton told Summit participants that his office was created at the same time as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and "CEQ will work on numerous collaborative approaches to improve our environmental stewardship in line with the eight Enlibra principles." As an example, he said NEPA should be a "living process." [Leavitt] Governor Mike Leavitt, shown here with Faux Paw, the "first cat" of Utah, helps lead the WGA's development of the Enlibra principles. (Photo courtesy State of Utah) Fred Krupp, executive director of the conservation group Environmental Defense, challenged governmental leaders and summit participants to "act sooner, rather than later" in making environmental progress, suggesting that decision makers take a three pronged approach. First, he said, managers must remember that once natural resources are lost, they cannot be recovered. "Second, banish the trickster of polarization," Krupp added, "and third, open the frontiers of innovation. Not only technology, but public policy needs innovation." Among the recommendations offered at the Summit were calls for more study of the controversy surrounding coalbed methane leases on western lands, and for the promotion of better environmental practices in methane drilling. A discussion of proposed legislation that would cap emissions of several power plant air pollutants raised questions about the most appropriate emissions control programs for western states, and about other sources of air pollution that the legislation would not cover. Renewable energy sources were a major topic at the summit. Participants called for flexible renewables credits that could benefit companies who voluntarily opt to increase their use of green power sources like solar and wind energy. [turbine] The Chippewa Tribe at Turtle Mountain in Belcourt, North Dakota hopes to build a whole farm of wind turbines like this one used to power a waste treatment plant on tribal lands. (Photo by Clarence Council) Summit participants supported the development of a regional tracking system for renewable power generation and credit trading, and endorsed the idea that a single entity should be responsible for approving renewable credits. Public lands were discussed as appropriate sites for renewable power plants such as wind farms, and participants recommended opening some military lands for geothermal development. Regarding conservation of threatened and endangered species, a concept that sometimes conflicts with western land uses such as cattle grazing, mining and logging, summit participants said that environmental managers should act sooner rather than later to address species issues, and not wait until conflicts arise. Multiple species conservation plans should be encouraged, participants agreed, and so called Safe Harbor agreements, in which landowners pledge species protections to avoid restrictions on land uses, should be promoted. Water supplies, a traditional flashpoint in the West, were the topic of several sessions at the summit. Participants recommended that water use planning cover entire watersheds, and involve local authorities and other interested parties. Indian water rights settlements should be supported, the participants said, and funding provided for local projects, scientific investigations and drought preparedness. The summit participants called for creative approaches to land conservation, including conservation easements, land trades and tax credits, along with legislation, to address ill planned development and sprawl and avoid land use conflicts. [Kempthorne] Secretary Norton and Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman look on as Governor Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho discusses a wildland fire strategy agreement endorsed in August 2001. (Photo courtesy WGA) With the wildland fire season about to get underway, the summit addressed fire management techniques including reduction of fuels such as dead wood near urban areas, as well as restoration of forest ecosystems after large fires. Earlier this month, the western governors wrote Congressional appropriators urging them to fully fund a broad based fire plan that includes prevention, restoration and suppression. Other summit topics included innovative environmental technologies, interstate electricity transmission, and the siting of power plants and other power infrastructure. More information on the recommendations issued after the Environmental Summit on the West II is available at: http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/enlibra/summit2_rec.htm [http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/enlibra/summit2_rec.htm] More information on Enlibra principles is available at: http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/enlibra/default.htm#princi ples [http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/enlibra/default.htm#princ iples] [http://www.lycos.com ***************************************************************** 23 Letters To The Editor: Sellafield Closure Irish Times; May 1, 2002 Sir, - For once I find myself almost agreeing with something Kevin Myers has written (April 23rd). He is correct that Sellafield cannot be closed overnight and forgotten. However, there my agreement ends. While BNFL cannot just turn the key and walk away, there is no reason that a process of closing down could be started immediately. No more reprocessing would be a start. No more transports in the Irish Sea another positive step. Immediate decommissioning of all plant except that which will be needed for the above ground; independently monitored storage of all radioactive material currently on site another good move. As an avowed 'anti-Sellafielder' I don't 'wish it away'; I wish away those who would continue to expand and develop an unprofitable, potentially catastrophic and unnecessary industry. By the way, is it not innate to the 'hive-mind' to defend the whole against a threat. - Yours, etc., Ronan Fox, The Pines, Killester, Dublin 5. ***************************************************************** 24 DOE seeks control of Yucca water Las Vegas SUN May 01, 2002 By Jace Radke The Energy Department has the authority and duty to maintain the Yucca Mountain site and needs water from the state of Nevada to do so, according to a brief asking a federal judge to stop the state from cutting off water. The brief, filed Tuesday in a lawsuit against the state, asks U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt to proceed with a preliminary injunction the federal government first requested April 9, after the state cut off water permits for the proposed nuclear waste dump. "Although Congress might ultimately decide that a (nuclear) repository should not be developed at Yucca Mountain, it might decide instead that the project should go forward,"according to the response. "Federal law requires the DOE to prepare for the contingency of a congressional decision to proceed with the Yucca Mountain project." The State Engineer ended the DOE's permission to use ground water at Yucca Mountain, saying that after Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed the site on April 8, the proposed nuclear waste dump was legally dead. Congress can override the veto with a simple majority, and hearings on the issue have already been held in the House. The federal government is seeking the preliminary injunction so the project can continue to use underground water supplies while the case works its way through the legal system. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 25 Gibbons, Berkley hustling to win votes on Yucca Las Vegas SUN May 01, 2002 By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- Despite nearly hopeless odds, Nevada's two congressmen are continuing their efforts to convince fellow lawmakers to vote against a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The House is expected next week, possibly Wednesday, to stamp its final approval on the project. An overwhelming majority -- at least 300 of 435 lawmakers -- are expected to vote for it. Still, Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., are hustling to line up a few more votes against the controversial repository. Berkley discussed strategy today with Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and about 12 staffers of Democratic colleagues who agreed to help her round up last-minute votes. Berkley has assigned a number -- one through five -- to each House Democrat. "Ones" strongly oppose Yucca; "fives" strongly support it. Berkley and her allies intend to heavily lobby the undecided "twos and threes," she said. The allies, who include House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri, are leaning hard on Democrats from states with senators who might be undecided on Yucca, Pelosi said. Pelosi acknowledged it has been difficult to drum up opposition to the dump. "There have been a lot of (lobbying) efforts on the other side," she said. Berkley said it was important to rally every possible lawmaker "so that it doesn't look like this is inevitable when it gets to the Senate." In a separate meeting today, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., met in his office with nine of the House's 12 Democratic freshmen, urging their vote against Yucca. Berkley also said it was important to make a final push to "educate" lawmakers now because Yucca budget and waste transportation issues are likely to linger in Congress for the next decade. Fighting Yucca to the bitter end also holds political benefits. Berkley, who is running for her third term, emerged from a weekly Democratic Caucus today flanked by Pelosi and Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairwoman, to meet reporters. The committee is the House's Democratic political arm that is focused on winning a majority in that chamber. Pelosi and Lowey sang Berkley's praises to media. "Shelley Berkley has been relentless" in battling Yucca Mountain, Lowey said. In other politicking, Berkley staffers and aides to Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who is running for Nevada's new House seat, stressed his anti-Yucca efforts. Herrera, who joined Berkley's strategy session today via conference call, plans to talk to "no less than two dozen" House Democrats before the vote next week, he said. He dismissed the notion that his anti-Yucca efforts aid his campaign. "We're just trying to generate as much support as we can going into the Senate vote," Herrera said. On the other side of the House aisle, Gibbons is unlikely to corral more than a few GOP lawmakers to vote against Yucca. House Republican leaders support the repository, a fact Democrats often repeat. But Gibbons isn't giving up, either. He plans to speak in opposition to the project every day this week on the House floor during the time congressmen given to make one-minute speeches. On Tuesday Gibbons held aloft a glass of water, saying that lawmakers would not drink it if it had been contaminated by radioactive waste. "Well, Mr. Speaker, Nevadans won't either," he said. Both Berkley and Gibbons are sending "Dear Colleague" letters to House members. The letters are a common method used by lawmakers to urge action on a vote. Berkley has been sending a series of letters that outline her "top 10 reasons why Yucca Mountain is a failure." Tuesday's letter explained reason No. 7: "People make mistakes, accidents happen!" the letter says about the Energy Department's proposal to transport waste to Nevada. Gibbons is dropping a letter a day on colleagues. In one he asserted that "Yucca Mountain is NOT a safe bet for spent nuclear fuel. Don't gamble with our national security." In another, he asked lawmakers if they were prepared to live within a half-mile of waste shipping routes. "Neither are 55 million Americans," Gibbons wrote. "Protect our rails and highways." Nuclear industry officials, including industry lobbyists who are busy this week advocating the repository, say shipping high-level nuclear waste has been proven safe. Meanwhile, The Washington Post wrote another pro-Yucca editorial this week, urging Congress to pass the measure. The newspaper acknowledged that Congress chose Yucca based on "budget and politics." "The more money that has been spent to investigate this site, the more momentum has been created to find a way to make it work," the editorial said. However, the Post argues, "But while years of investigation haven't answered all the questions, neither, neither have they produced adequate reason to stop the project in its tracks." Scientists have been studying the desert ridge 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas since 1982 and Energy Department managers say they have found nothing to disqualify the site. Nevada officials argue the site is flawed and cannot safely contain 77,000 tons of highly radioactive waste for 10,000 years. They also argue the waste cannot be safely transported to Nevada from the nation's 131 nuclear power plants and defense and research sites where waste is stored. The Senate Energy Committee is expected to hold a hearing on Yucca in May, spokesman Bill Wicker said. A full Senate vote is expected by the end of July. With House and Senate approval, the Energy Department would apply for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to bury the nation's waste at the site. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 26 LV council OKs another $50,000 for Yucca fight Las Vegas SUN May 01, 2002 By Diana Sahagun The Las Vegas City Council voted this morning to send an additional $50,000 toward the state's fight to keep high-level nuclear waste from coming to Nevada. Facing a budget shortfall, the council unanimously decided this morning to add another $50,000 to the fight against Yucca Mountain. The money is earmarked to help pay for a national advertising campaign. The city has already committed $100,000. Mayor Oscar Goodman proposed contributing an additional $50,000, taking the opportunity to slam Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and John Sununu, a Yucca Mountain project lobbyist. "I think (Abraham's) a fathead and I hope he reads about it, because I feel he breached his trust as a secretary of energy in behaving the way he did," Goodman said. "It's my personal view that Sununu is a prostitute and I want that word to get back to him because he fought to keep nuke waste from coming to his state, and now he's saying Nevadans are bad citizens because they won't accept it here." The additional $50,000 will come from the city's general fund. The original $100,000 donation will come from the council's discretionary fund which is used for parks, recreation centers and other one-time expenditures. The council had proposed funding $89 million worth of park projects next fiscal year, but there is only $29 million available. Mark Vincent, the city's finance director, has projected a $1 million deficit in next year's fiscal budget, which begins July 1. While the original donation had been earmarked from next year's fiscal budget, the council Wednesday opted to send both contributions out of the current budget, which was augmented during the meeting, so the state receives the money immediately. The clock is ticking for state leaders to convince officials around the U.S. that high-level nuclear waste should not be shipped to Nevada, because of the dangers of transportation. Congress is expected to make a decision by the end of July. Nevada has a $6 million fund to cover lobbying and legal expenses relating to fighting the proposed dump, but state leaders say they need more money to fight the nuclear energy's powerful lobbying efforts. Gov. Kenny Guinn and Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev. and John Ensign, R-Nev. have called on public, private and government contributions to help the state's lobbying effort against the dump. A legislative committee agreed to give $3 million as long as governments matched the donations. Clark County has pledged a combined $2.5 million, North Las Vegas $10,000, and Henderson $50,000. A number of Nevada towns and businesses have also given, including the tiny city of Wells, which offered $1,367. Mesquite, about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas, gave $50,000. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 27 Security Breach on Nuclear Waste Train Durham NC 27715-1051 phone 919-490-0747 fax 919-493-6614 NEW! ncwarn@ncwarn.org North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jim Warren April 30, 2002 919-490-0747 Inmates Jump Wrong Train, Revealing Vulnerability of CP&L Shipments DURHAM, NC – A train carrying high-level nuclear waste between plants owned by CP&L/Progress Energy was recently boarded illegally by one or more inmates in Richmond County, NC. The incident, which occurred last month, has serious implications for a long-running battle over shipments of the “spent” nuclear fuel in the Carolinas, as well as the growing national debate over the safety of sending thousands of similar transports to a dumpsite in Nevada in future years. Evidence of the security breach was discovered by David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who found an NRC cover letter for a classified report on the mishap and forwarded it to North Carolina environmental group NC WARN. The Associated Press was later told by CP&L that two or more “escapees” or “inmates on work release” had jumped the train by mistake, and shortly afterward left the train after seeing a number of armed guards on board. The NC Highway patrol later said only one inmate from a nearby probation camp was involved. The train was en route from CP&L’s Robinson plant in South Carolina, carrying waste to be stored at the Shearon Harris plant in central North Carolina. A CP&L spokesperson indicated to AP that the event proved its security methods are sound. However, NC WARN said today that the breach is more evidence that waste trains are not protected from terrorists. “If these people had been intending to cause serious harm, they were in perfect position to do so,” said Nora Wilson, an organizer with the group. “Being scared off by armed guards after they were already on the train? That’s too late.” Lochbaum commented, “Terrorists would not have boarded the train unarmed. The defenders didn’t succeed in denying access, which could have led to a real problem if these had been attackers carrying explosives.” An attack situation could also involve people willing to sacrifice their lives, which would make them even more dangerous. High-level waste fuel is among the deadliest materials on Earth, and a number of federal and private studies have shown transport casks to be vulnerable to attack by various weapons – some from very long distances. An attack could release radioactive particles into the air, potentially exposing thousands of people in a populated area to levels to levels causing serious injuries, latent cancers, and possibly immediate deaths. Also, a release could cause property damage in the tens of millions of dollars over dozens of square miles. CP&L’s shipments sometimes exceed one million curies of radioactivity. CP&L also told AP that its waste trains were a closely guarded secret, but Wilson countered that the shipments have been coming to the Harris plant for 13 years – and arrive each month. CP&L/Progress is the only U.S. utility shipping the waste fuel, and does so to avoid buying casks for storage at each generating reactor, as is done at nearly a third of the nation’s reactors. For three years, the corporation has been under intense pressure from citizen groups and local officials to halt the transports, which they see as an unnecessary risk. Recently, the Bush Administration and a number of state politicians have joined the nuclear industry in pressing for approval of the Nevada site. Scientists and environmental groups argue that politics is trumping scientific problems at Yucca, and groups such as NC WARN are demanding measures to protect the waste onsite without delay. Wilson added, “This waste is too dangerous to now be moving through Carolina communities – and too dangerous to send thousands of nuclear trucks and trains to Nevada in order to bail out the nuclear industry.” ## Jim Warren NC WARN North Carolina Waste Awareness & Reduction Network Ph: 919-490-0747 Fax: 919-493--6614 PO Box 61051, Durham, NC 27715-1051 Email: Jim@ncwarn.org Web: www.ncwarn.org ***************************************************************** 28 Taiwanese aborigines take over power company's offices in protest over nuclear waste on the small outlying Orchid Island Yahoo! News - AP Taiwanese aborigines take over power company's offices in protest over nuclear waste on the small outlying Orchid Island Wed May 1, 5:28 AM ET TAIPEI, Taiwan - Scores of aboriginal protesters stormed government offices on a small island off Taiwan's eastern coast on Wednesday, demanding that officials find a new home for about 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste. After negotiations with officials broke down on Orchid Island, the demonstrators — some wearing traditional loin cloths, wooden helmets and carrying spears — pushed past riot police and took over the offices of state-owned Taiwan Power Company, responsible for the waste. They remained in the offices late Wednesday afternoon. The nuclear material has been stored on the island — home to the Yamis, one of Taiwan's 10 aboriginal tribes — for two decades. But a government contract to keep the waste there expires at the end of the year. Protesters pledged to continue their protests until Premier Yu Shyi-kun, the island's No. 3 ranking leader, promised to move the waste away. The aborigines were not consulted before the waste was dumped on the island. The decision was made during Taiwan's martial law era — a time when citizens, especially minorities, had few rights. After martial law ended in 1987 and the island became democratic, the government told the protesters that it was unable to find another place to store the waste. On Wednesday, the entire island went on strike to protest the waste. Students skipped classes and businesses closed their doors. Carrying banners and kicking mock yellow barrels of nuclear waste with skull and crossbones painted on them, protesters shouted: "Remove the nuclear waste! The government lies!" Lin Ming-hsiung, a Taiwan Power official told TVBS cable news, "Once we find a place for the waste, we will say when it can be moved." Taiwan Power is considering moving the waste to another outlying island. The company is also studying the possibility of shipping the waste abroad. Russia might be one possibility because the Russian government passed a bill last year that allows it to receive foreign nuclear waste. ET - (AP) ***************************************************************** 29 Canada: Uranium mill case delayed Regina - canada.com network SASKATOON -- A court challenge over the operation of a northern Saskatchewan uranium mill and storage pit has been delayed. The Inter-Church Uranium Committee is taking Cogema and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to court. The Saskatoon-based environmental group was set for a hearing in Federal Court this week. But the court has asked the group's lawyer for additional written information before it goes ahead. A new hearing date has not been set. The dispute is over Cogema's operations at McLean Lake, about 800 kilometres north of Saskatoon. The committee wants the mill and tailings pit shut down until a full environmental review is completed. It's worried that uranium waste will seep into ground water and lakes. Cogema says the project has been reviewed for the better part of a decade and that new environmental legislation does not apply to operations at McLean Lake. © Copyright 2002 CP Communications Corp. ***************************************************************** 30 UK: Campaigners welcome public inquiry into storing nuclear waste icWales - May 1 2002 Toby Mason Welsh Affairs Editor, The Western Mail ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners last night hailed plans to hold a public inquiry into storing radioactive waste in a national park. Environment minister Sue Essex announced the inquiry yesterday after calling in British Nuclear Fuels Ltd's (BNFL) application to transform a former nuclear plant in North Wales into an £80m store for low-grade waste. Campaigners led by the Council for National Parks (CNP) had demanded the inquiry into the project at the Trawsfynydd plant in Snow-donia. They were celebrating last night, and other environmental groups said there should be a wider inquiry into the storage of nuclear waste as a whole. An Assembly spokesman confirmed the inquiry, but denied that the scheme had been singled out. He said, "There is going to be a public inquiry, but that is not un-usual. Around 50pc of the applications we call in go to public inquiry." But the CNP deputy director Ruth Chambers last night welcomed the decision. "This is an application for a very major controversial development right in the middle of a national park," she said. "We realise there are long-term problems over the storage issue because we have not got the deep waste repository we ideally would like. But we obviously have some concerns about whether this is in the best interests of the national park and we believe a public inquiry is the best way to discover that." BNFL said it was not surprised by the decision, and had been expecting the development. A company spokesman said, "We have not been told anything but we were expecting a public inquiry. We will have to wait and see how extensive the public inquiry will be." Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales) welcomed the decision but called for the inquiry to address the wider issues surrounding the disposal of radioactive waste. The group's head of campaigns Julian Rosser said, "We are concerned at the idea of leaving this waste in a place that is not very safe for around 100 years. "There are far safer ways to store waste and they seem to be able to do that in Japan and Italy but it comes down to cost. In our view this waste should not have been generated in the first place." Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary Leader and MP for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy welcomed the announcement. He said, "The potential for damage to the environment is immense therefore I welcome the opportunity to closely peruse this application in order to ensure absolute safety." © owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2002 icWalesTM is a trade mark of Trinity Mirror Plc. ***************************************************************** 31 Russia, U.S. Seen Near Nuclear Pact Las Vegas SUN May 01, 2002 WASHINGTON- The final roadblocks to a new nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia are relatively minor and could be overcome in time for President Bush and President Vladimir Putin to sign a deal this month, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday. "The problems are typical of the endgame in a negotiation in the arms control process - things that may in fact be more important to the arms control bureaucracies than they are to senior officials and the presidents," said J.D. Crouch, assistant secretary of defense for international security policy. Bush has said he is prepared to reduce the U.S. long-range nuclear arsenal to 1,700 to 2,200 warheads from the current 6,000 each country is allowed under the START I treaty. Putin has said Moscow would be willing to reduce to 1,500 warheads. The Russians are pushing for a detailed, legally binding agreement. One remaining sticking point is the Russians' insistence that the weapons reductions be made "irreversible," Crouch said in an interview with a group of reporters. "A point we've been trying to make is that in fact the reality is that there is no such thing as `irreversible.' Given enough time and given money and given will, anything can be reversed," he said. The Russians want the United States to destroy nuclear warheads that are taken out of active service, but the Bush administration intends to keep some inactive warheads in storage. Crouch said talks in Washington on Thursday and Friday between Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Secretary of State Colin Powell could bring the parties closer to a deal. The goal is to have an agreement ready for a Bush-Putin summit in late May. After discussions Monday in Moscow, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said they had made modest progress. Ivanov said he presented a set of "new ideas," and that he expected the U.S. side to present its response during this week's talks in Washington. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 32 Send Us Our Friend Clinton, North Korea Asks NewsMax.com: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 North Korea's dictator leader, Kim Jong Il, has asked former President Bill Clinton to visit Pyongyang to mediate between North Korea and Bush administration officials, a North Korean official told Reuters news agency today. The official, however, refused to specify whether Kim had extended the invitation before or after President Bush's speech in January in which he branded North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran. "The plan of the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il is that Clinton should end the rhetoric," the official said. Washington officials believe that North Korea was signaling a willingness to resume high-level talks between the United States and North Korea, which ended when Bush took office in 2001, but what the U.S. wants is an official dialogue rather than mediation through a figure like Clinton, one American official told Reuters. And a Clinton spokeswoman in New York, Julia Payne, said that the former president had not as yet received any such invitation. Relations with North Korea warmed during the Clinton administration. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang to pave the way for a presidential trip. Clinton sought to prevent North Korea from building nuclear weapons and tried to bribe the North Koreans by aiding their nuclear power program. He never visited North Korea, which continues to build long-range nuclear-tipped missiles despite its promise to Clinton. Reuters noted that when President Bush took office, he put dialogue with the North on the shelf and reviewed Clinton's policy. During a February visit to Seoul, he renewed a call for talks and said he had no intention of attacking the North but criticized its dismal human rights record. All Rights Reserved © NewsMax.com ***************************************************************** 33 N. Korea And U.S. To Meet (washingtonpost.com) By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, May 1, 2002; Page A01 Three months after President Bush branded North Korea a member of an "axis of evil," the United States has accepted an offer from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to renew diplomatic contacts suspended last year, U.S. officials announced yesterday. The offer provides an opening amid the vociferous exchange of criticism and rebuttal that has defined U.S.-North Korean relations since early in the Bush administration. U.S. officials said North Korea made no mention of previous demands that weapons sales, military deployments and its missile program not be discussed. "They've come to us and said, 'We're ready to talk,' " a State Department official said yesterday. "There is no fixed agenda, but we obviously have issues of concern that we want to raise in our discussions with the North Koreans. One would assume they have things they wish to talk about, too." Yesterday's announcement presaged the Bush administration's first high-level engagement with a country whose large military and nuclear weapons program have prompted concern among many senior policy makers. Experienced diplomats greeted the offer with caution, mindful that North Korea has proven a difficult negotiating partner in the best of times. "It's too early to say what can and cannot be done, but at least at this point we'll be able to try the path of dialogue," a senior U.S. official said. "It shows that a clear and consistent attitude can eventually pay off." The U.S. agenda includes North Korea's missile program and weapons exports, as well as complaints about North Korea's approach to a 1994 agreement intended to halt its nuclear weapons program. Another American issue is the deployment of North Korean armed forces near the border with South Korea, home to 37,000 U.S. troops. The 1994 Agreed Framework was the hallmark of a Clinton administration initiative aimed at engaging North Korea and defusing tensions on the Korean peninsula. That approach has been questioned by many senior members of the Bush administration, who say Clinton gave up too much. Bush himself has strongly criticized Kim for repressing his isolated and impoverished people, and for peddling weapons. In his State of the Union address in January, the president named North Korea as a charter member of the "axis of evil," along with Iran and Iraq. North Korea reacted to the label with elaborate verbal assaults on the United States, while many politicians in South Korea and Japan expressed shock that their U.S. ally would make such a dramatic rhetorical move when U.S. and Asian diplomats were trying to warm relations with North Korea after a months-long chill. The White House soon announced that North Korea was effectively out of compliance with the 1994 Agreed Framework nuclear deal -- the first time a U.S. administration had made such a statement. Yet the administration waived certification and allowed $95 million in fuel oil to go to North Korea as called for in that agreement, signaling that a door remained open. Contacts between U.S. and North Korean diplomats continued in New York. Similarly, despite continued tension, North Korea suggested it did not want a lasting rupture in relations. The government announced in early April that it would resume discussions with a U.S.-led consortium scheduled to build two nuclear reactors as part of the Agreed Framework. Kim signaled a willingness to talk with the Americans during five hours of discussions last month with South Korean special envoy Lim Dong Won. Lim carried the message that the Bush administration would demand global action against weapons of mass destruction and might be prepared to use force. If that happened, "North Korea could be on the list," the envoy warned, according to South Korea's foreign minister, Choi Sung Hong. He said the envoy told the North Korean leader that Bush wanted to make progress through dialogue and would provide humanitarian help. Choi reported that Kim "jokingly said to my special envoy, 'Wasn't it true that President Bush called me a member of the axis of evil?' " Three weeks after the exchange, the Americans had not received an offer to reopen discussions. The proposal arrived Saturday from North Korean diplomats in New York, who notified the State Department that Kim would welcome a visit by State Department special envoy Jack Pritchard. The administration agreed to make arrangements for a trip. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday the administration hopes to announce the timing of a meeting in the coming days. © 2002 The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 34 Canadians invited to 1956 H-bomb test in Pacific; documents finally released JOHN WARD OTTAWA (CP) - Almost 50 years ago, as the United States worked to bring Canada into a nuclear-tipped continental defence program, a handful of Canadians were invited to witness a nuclear test - a top secret event they could never discuss publicly. It seared itself into the mind of one of the country's most distinguished diplomats and he still remembers it with awe. On July 21, 1956, 10 Canadians and 10 Britons became the first people other than Americans and Russians to see the awesome power of the then-new hydrogen bomb. The incident is detailed in documents newly released by the Foreign Affairs department, the first time the incident has been declassified. The Canadian party included Gen. Andy McNaughton, former head of the Canadian army and then a member of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, a Canadian-American body. A month later, Bill Barton, then a 38-year-old Canadian diplomat, wrote a top secret report on the event, a document which was passed to Lester Pearson, then the secretary of state for foreign affairs. He wrote that the delegation watched from an airplane flying at 5,200 metres as an H-bomb detonated on a barge anchored off the northern side of Bikini atoll 100 kilometres away. He described the initial pre-dawn flash, "which lit up the whole sky just as though the sun were out." The mushroom cloud boiled high into the sky. "After three or four minutes, the stem had widened to perhaps (five kilometres) and the diameter of the cloud to (50 kilometres)," he wrote. An hour later, they could still make out the cloud from the Eniwetok atoll, more than 300 kilometres away. That thermonuclear explosion went off with the force of seven million to eight million tonnes of TNT, Barton reported. The next day, the delegation watched an atom bomb - the less powerful predecessor of the H-bomb - explode at Eniwetok. This test had a force of 200,000 tonnes of TNT and Barton described its effects this way: "The most interesting was the blast of radiant heat which we felt on our faces for the few seconds of the duration of the fireball. It was just as though one had come in from out-of-doors and put his face within a foot or two of a Quebec heater with a hot fire." Barton, now 84, recalls both tests with utter clarity. The atom bomb, although it was 10 times bigger than the bomb which levelled Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of the Second World War, was like "a firecracker," compared with the hydrogen explosion. He said his experience left him with one conclusion. "It convinced me I better not ever see them used in anger," he said. "It made an impression on me that lasted throughout my career." Barton would go on to a distinguished career as a diplomat, including a four-year stint as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, during which he spent two years on the Security Council. He was likely the only diplomat around that table who had seen, first hand, the primeval fury of a thermonuclear bomb. That morning in the mid-Pacific left Barton with an indelible image of what "great power" really means. "It was always in the back of my mind," he said. Barton's 1956 report was one of a number of documents dealing with nuclear weapons. During that period, the United States was working on what would eventually become Norad, the Northern American air defence scheme. Canada was wrestling with the idea of arming Canadian planes, ships and missiles with nuclear warheads. Canada eventually acquired a limited nuclear arsenal, with American-made warheads for Bomarc surface-to-air missiles, Genie air-to-air missiles and some depth charges. The nukes sat in storage for two decades before they were returned to the United States. The Canadian Press, 2002 ***************************************************************** 35 Nuclear experts arrive Amarillo Globe-News: -->Web posted Wednesday, May 1, 2002 By JIM McBRIDE jmcbride@amarillonet.com Pantex will remain a vital installation in the coming years as defense officials work to maintain the nation's nuclear deterrent with an aging weapons stockpile, a top Defense Department official said Tuesday. Dale Klein, assistant to the secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, visited Amarillo for the 24th Aging, Compatibility and Stockpile Stewardship Conference. More than 100 nuclear weapons safety experts, scientists, engineers, physicists and chemists are at Pantex this week to discuss research on nuclear weapons issues. Klein said Pantex employees now are busy working on the Stockpile Stewardship Program, which ensures the nation's nuclear weapons remain reliable in the absence of nuclear tests. "When we look in the out years, 2005, 2006, you look at the workload that Pantex has, they are getting to the point that they are limited in the number of cells and bays that they have to conduct their mission," he said. "Stockpile Stewardship, extending the life of the weapons that we have in our stockpile, will cause Pantex to play a key role for the foreseeable future." The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Defense Department, he said, are reviewing the nation's nuclear strategy in the post-Cold War era. Strategies could include building a type of warhead capable of destroying underground installations, he said. "I believe the philosophy of NNSA and the Department of Defense is to give the president a lot of options from which he can choose to defend our country against those that want to do us harm," Klein said. Since Sept. 11, defense officials have worked to eliminate the possibility of future terrorism attacks, Klein said. Factorsincluding Pantex's guard force, highly trained employees and its location make the plant a difficult target, he said. "I think people should rest assured that we're doing everything we can to make them as safe as possible," he said. "We have to be alert. We did not expect the events on nine-eleven, and we don't want to be surprised again." ***************************************************************** 36 SNS tax status so far unscathed Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:19 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1, 2002 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Although there was some brief chatter that the Spallation Neutron Source might be impacted by a proposal to widen the reach of the Tennessee sales tax, the project's director says that's not the case. Thom Mason describes the issue of the SNS's losing its sales tax exemption as one that in March rose up quickly like a balloon, but sank even faster. The $1.4 billion research facility currently under construction atop Chestnut Ridge gained the legislative exemption in 2000, saving an estimated $28 million in costs on the project. Congressional leaders threatened to move the huge scientific project to another state if Tennessee failed to grant the exemption from the state's sales tax. However, during a March legislative breakfast in Oak Ridge, state Sen. Randy McNally suggested that items previously exempted, including construction materials and costs, could be subject to tax under a new proposal. The issue seemed to drop off the radar screen shortly afterwards. Construction continues on what's known as the SNS's accumulator ring. In the process of generating neutrons for research, ions are transported to the ring and, as they enter it, their electrons are removed, which changes them into protons. The resulting protons will bombard a mercury target, generating neutrons. In fact, Mason said Tuesday afternoon that things are going great for the SNS, which could be finished by the end of 2005 -- six months ahead of schedule. Construction of the SNS began in December 1999, and the project is about 40 percent complete. Mason said the construction effort has a good record with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, which keeps a close eye on the project. "We get lots of oversight," Mason said. 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. Mason suggested there would be pluses and minuses for the first set of researchers to use the SNS. Comparing the research facility to a new computer program, he said they would basically be "debugging" the software. Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or pparson@oakridger.com [pparson@oakridger.com] . All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 37 ORNL: Technology transfer report 'misleading' Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:44 a.m. on Wednesday, May 1, 2002 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff A new report from the U.S. General Accounting Office singles out Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a significant decline in the number of "cooperative research and development agreements" it had between fiscal years 2000 and 2001. In fact, the report states that the number of research agreements, which are known as CRADAs, dropped from 256 to 79 during the specified time period primarily because of funding constraints. CRADAs are a tool to transfer technology from the Department of Energy's laboratories to U.S. businesses and other organizations. "I think it (the report) is a little misleading," says Jan Haerer, with the lab's Technology Transfer and Economic Development department. "A lot of people will assert by it that tech transfer is going down the toilet. Tech transfer is alive and well at Oak Ridge National Laboratory." When looking at the findings of the GAO report, Haerer said you have to take into consideration that ORNL had several CRADAs terminating because the work was complete. "The number of contracts (CRADAs) should never be used as a measure of anything," said Haerer, who added that some of ORNL's current CRADAs are with Motorola, Ford and IBM. Since 1980, Congress has enacted several laws designed to make federally funded technology available to the public by facilitating the transfer of technology from federal laboratories to U.S. businesses. In particular, the National Competitiveness Technology Transfer Act of 1989 authorized federal laboratories operated by contractors -- including the Department of Energy's national laboratories -- to enter into CRADAs that are consistent with the laboratories' missions. Under a CRADA, the partner and DOE laboratory agree to jointly conduct research and typically share the research costs. Congress began providing funding specifically designated for technology partnerships in FY 1991. By FY 1992, DOE's national laboratories were among the leading federal laboratories participating in CRADAs with businesses, universities, and other partners. However, in FY 1996, the Congress began to phase out these dedicated funds, relying instead on program managers at the laboratories to use their regular research funds for CRADAs that would significantly benefit their programs. In recent years, the 12 DOE laboratories have substantially reduced their CRADA partnerships and their technical assistance to small businesses, according to the GAO report. Specifically, the number of active CRADAs at the 12 DOE laboratories dropped by almost 200 from FY 2000 to FY 2001 because the laboratories terminated 360 CRADAs and entered into only 166 new CRADAs. Instead, the laboratories have increasingly transferred technology through agreements that did not involve collaborative research and were funded by a business or other nonfederal entity. "The type of contract has shifted because of the fact that DOE no longer has dedicated funding," said Haerer. One of the methods being used is "work-for-others agreements" in which a DOE laboratory agrees to conduct a defined scope of work or list of tasks that is consistent with DOE missions and which does not place the laboratory in direct competition with the private sector. The nonfederal entity pays for the entire cost of the project. While intellectual property rights are negotiable, the nonfederal entity typically retains title rights to any inventions. "The work-for-others is a much cleaner vehicle for them (the nonfederal entities)," Haerer said. Even though the shift in technology transfer methods resulted in a lower number of CRADAs, Haerer said the amount of research funds has doubled from a yearly average of $15 million prior to UT-Battelle's taking over as ORNL's manager in April 2000 to around $32 million last year. Technology transfer has been a priority of UT-Battelle, which has committed staff and resources to create the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth and the TennesSeed Fund to assist start-up companies in the East Tennessee region. During its first two years at the lab, UT-Battelle has averaged one start-up company a month from lab technology. Other tools used by federal labs for technology transfer include the following: + Technology licensing agreements -- A DOE laboratory grants a business an exclusive or nonexclusive license to use its intellectual property in return for a licensing fee and/or royalties. + Technical assistance for small businesses -- Laboratories belonging to the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Office of Science use dedicated funds to provide technical assistance to small businesses. + User facility agreements -- A DOE laboratory permits outside organizations to use its unique research equipment and/or facilities to conduct research. For nonproprietary research, almost all of the users are supported by federal grants, typically through the National Science Foundation or DOE. For proprietary research, the private organization pays the full cost for using research equipment or facilities and retains title rights to any intellectual property. Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or [pparson@oakridger.com] . [http://www.oakridger.com/dailydouble] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 38 DOE Recognizes Top Safety Performers at its Washington State Facilities energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2002 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary of Environment, Safety and Health, Beverly Cook, today awarded the Richland Operations Office (RL), the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Fluor Hanford Inc., with the Department’s highest safety recognition – the Voluntary Protection Program (DOE-VPP) Star. “The leadership of the Department is committed to achieving the safest workplace possible. Not because it boosts productivity and saves money – although it does, but because it is the right thing to do in human terms,” Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said. This award is given only to those organizations that have voluntarily implemented comprehensive, industry-recognized safety protocols and procedures at their sites. To date, 19 DOE-VPP stars have been awarded throughout the DOE complex. “In achieving these awards, you have demonstrated extraordinary cooperation and teamwork among unions, contractor management and DOE to identify and resolve safety issues,” Assistant Secretary Cook said. “You are star sites – you have shown and will continue to show that safety excellence is the right way to do business.” The cornerstone of the DOE-VPP is joint participation among management, labor and government in the creation of a safe workplace. Companies that earn a star undergo a vigorous, multi-year evaluation program administered by the Department’s Voluntary Protection Program. The first level in the three-step process is a programmatic review that assesses the completeness of the safety and health program infrastructure within the organization. The second step is conduct of employee and management surveys and interviews that determine the degree to which employees and managers are involved in safety program development and implementation. The final step is a DOE onsite assessment that includes a thorough walkthrough and hazard recognition reviews at each facility. The reviews assess the degree to which workplace hazards had been identified, mitigated and controlled. DOE VPP-Star sites are reevaluated every three years. More information on the DOE-VPP Star program can be found at http://www.eh.doe.gov/vpp [http://www.eh.doe.gov/vpp] . Media Contact: Dolline Hatchett, 202/586-5806 Release No. PR-02-073 ***************************************************************** 39 Lawmakers join SRS plutonium fight Augusta Georgia: Technology: Web posted Wednesday, May 1, 2002 By [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] Staff Writer The political fight over plutonium shipments to Savannah River Site has intensified from a boxing match to a tag-team cage brawl. In recent weeks, the feud had been waged mostly between South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges and U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Now, members of South Carolina's congressional delegation have joined the fray. Lawmakers are split along party lines over versions of a bill intended to end the months-old debate. U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to introduce a bill that would fine the U.S. Department of Energy $1 million per day if it did not meet milestones for treating plutonium at SRS by 2011 and 2017. U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., has said he will introduce a Senate version of the measure. On Tuesday, Mr. Hodges urged Mr. Graham to include even stricter provisions suggested by the governor and U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C. Those provisions include additional milestones in 2013 and 2015. "I remain steadfast in my position that to ensure that the Energy Department lives up to its commitments, South Carolina must have a practical enforcement mechanism with real penalties," the governor wrote to Mr. Graham on Monday. "The Energy Department must be financially motivated to keep its word." Mr. Graham said the Bush administration probably would not agree to many of the new provisions suggested by the Democrats. "I don't believe the federal government will build a $3.5 billion facility and allow a statute to be passed that limits its effectiveness," Mr. Graham said. "No state is going to be allowed to micro-manage a national security program like this program." The tiff created the deepest rift yet in the bipartisan effort among South Carolina politicians to address the plutonium issue. Politicians from both parties want assurances that plutonium will be treated at SRS and shipped back out of South Carolina. Both sides said they would continue to try to negotiate a solution. But Mr. Graham warned that time was running out. "It's going to take bipartisanship to pass this all the way through," he said. "The clock is striking midnight here." Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] . ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************