***************************************************************** 07/04/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.170 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Beach owner sues nuclear plant 2 *UK court asked to halt nuclear shipment from Japan * 3 Local gov'ts told not to collect info on nuke opponents 4 Fukushima set to hike nuclear fuel tax 5 Greenpeace halts plutonium challenge 6 NZ: Nuke ships not welcome in our waters* 7 British nuclear power company faces storm over ship 8 Secret plans for fast-track nuclear clearance revealed NUCLEAR REACTORS 9 US: NRC to Hold Meeting July 8 in Lynchburg, Virginia To Discuss 10 Shenzhen nuke plant cuts costs by 10% 11 First Generating Unit at Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station Operates Well 12 Croatian parliament backs nuclear plant deal that splits government NUCLEAR SAFETY 13 US: More help for Piketon workers 14 Gov't to rate nuclear power plants on safety 15 US: Iodide pill distribution set in 16 Ocean County towns NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 16 US: (en) Slingshot #75 Yucca Mountain - by Xariq Nerdcore 17 US: Stabenow against plans to transport nuke waste 18 US: NLV passes anti-Yucca resolution 19 US: NRC petition pursued in Yucca fight 20 US: Senators Choose Sides on Yucca Mountain 21 Nuclear clean-up costs soar 22 Europarliament and Duma to watchdog spent fuel import to Russia 23 US: Musicians Join Yucca Mountain Protest 24 Nuclear-loaded ship leaves Japan for Britain - July 4, 2002 25 Ship with MOX fuel leaves Japan for Britain 26 Nuclear rod goes missing from the DRC 27 US: PSR: Ads Highlight Dangers of Nuclear Waste Trasnsport 28 Sellafield ordered to replace set of dangerous waste tanks * 29 US: Nuclear waste tops superviors' agenda 30 EU Eyes Environment Clean-Up Scheme in North Europe 31 Norway misinformed about Russian plant for nuclear waste 32 US: Mock cask underscores group's nuke waste transportation worry 33 US: Biscayne park has nuclear concerns 34 US: Just say no to N-waste 35 US: PILT to the hilt, cold facts and email myths 36 Cost of nuclear waste clean-up increases to £48bn 37 £48bn Bill For Nuclear Waste/Nuclear Cargo Ship Sails For UK 38 Taxpayers Pay For Nuclear Clean-Up NUCLEAR WEAPONS 39 [generalnews] N. Korea Accuses U.S. of War Plot 40 US: Write Now: No Jail for Fathers O'Donnell/Vitale 41 Nuke spooks unfold hair-raising tales 42 SADDAM'S NUCLEAR TIMEBOMB US DEPT. OF ENERGY 43 Builder expects to begin work on Hanford complex this month 44 IAAP selected as cleanup site 45 DOE to meet with state to land cleanup funds OTHER NUCLEAR 46 Alice Stewart, Who Linked X-Rays to Diseases, 95, Dies ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Beach owner sues nuclear plant BBC News | SCOTLAND | Thursday, 4 July, 2002, 09:45 GMT 10:45 UK [Sandside beach in Caithness] Radioactive particles have been found on the beach The owner of a Caithness beach has launched the first private law suit in Scotland over alleged contamination from a nuclear plant. Jeffrey Minter is taking the action against the operators of the Dounreay plant in an attempt to force them to improve radiation checks on the beach. But Mr Minter faces being taken to court himself, after banning inspectors from his land. In the past three years, 20 fragments of reprocessed radioactive particles have been discovered in the sand on Sandside Beach. [Dounreay] Campaigners claim the plant is a major polluter The particles, which are the size of a grain of sand, are believed to have come from the plant, although the exact source has never been identified. Mr Minter claims that monitoring by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) detects only a tiny fraction of the "radiation hot spots" being washed ashore from the Dounreay plant. A survey by UKAEA contractors was to have taken place on Thursday but Mr Minter has barred them from his land. He is not seeking financial gain from the legal action. He said its only aim is to order the UKAEA to step up the surveys. But a spokesman for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has warned it is considering taking legal action against Mr Minter himself - to stop him banning inpectors from his land. A spokesman for the UKAEA said its solicitors had received a letter from Mr Minter's solicitor last week indicating that access for monitoring would cease on 30 June. He said UKAEA would prove that its monitoring conforms to UK Government regulations. See also: 11 Oct 01 | Scotland Watchdog considers nuclear claims 04 Jul 02 | Scotland Nuclear clean-up cash 'wasteful' 16 Aug 00 | Scotland New radioactive 'grain' found on beach 28 Jan 00 | Scotland Beach radiation monitoring suspended 01 Aug 01 | Scotland Dounreay defends safety record 18 Jul 01 | Scotland Dounreay reprocessing to cease Internet links: UKAEA [http://www.ukaea.org.uk/] Scottish Environment Protection Agency [http://www.sepa.org.uk/] Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping [http://www.glen.co.uk/sand/] Friends of the Earth Scotland [http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/] The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 2 *UK court asked to halt nuclear shipment from Japan * /online.ie 04 Jul 2002/ Greenpeace was today applying to Britain's High Court to prevent a consignment of weapons-usable plutonium being shipped from Japan to the UK. The environmental group faces a race against time as two British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) ships were due to leave Takahama with the cargo today. In 1999 the fuel, known as MOX, caused a diplomatic incident between Japan and Britain when it emerged that BNFL workers had falsified safety data. The Japanese rejected the shipment and insisted it had to go back to the UK before they buy more fuel from BNFL's new £470m (?734m) Sellafield MOX plant. Lawyers for Greenpeace were applying for an injunction to stop the shipment, which the group described as a "floating target for terrorists", leaving Japan. They were also seeking permission to apply for a judicial review of the Environment Agency's decision not to treat the material as radioactive waste and not to follow the required procedure for nuclear waste imports. A Greenpeace spokesman said: "We have been told the High Court hearing is at 10.30am - but as that is the evening in Japan, the ships may have left while we are all asleep over here. "We will just have to wait and see if they have gone by then. If they have, we will go ahead with seeking leave to apply for a judicial review." An Environment Agency spokesman said it would not be opposing the initial application for leave to bring proceedings for judicial review. "However, we will be robustly defending our decision should a full case come to court," the spokesman added. Greenpeace said the shipment is a mixture of plutonium and uranium oxides containing 255kg of plutonium - and claimed it would be relatively easy to separate out enough plutonium to make 50 nuclear weapons. British Nuclear Fuels has told the Environment Agency that it intends to recover the plutonium and uranium within the MOX - short for "mixed oxides". BNFL spokesman Paul Vallance said it would "vigorously contest" any attempt to stop the shipment. Two BNFL ships, the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal, have sailed to Takahama to collect the consignment and transport it to Sellafield. The timing of the departure was being kept secret for security reasons. But Greenpeace claims the MOX should be classed as radioactive waste, since no use for it is foreseen and Britain has huge stockpiles of uranium and plutonium. Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Pete Roche said the ships would be a "floating target for terrorists". He added: "To send highly radioactive materials on a six week trip on the high seas was a stupid idea before September 11. In today's context it can only be described as insane." About Us Privacy ***************************************************************** 3 Local gov'ts told not to collect info on nuke opponents Wednesday, July 10, 2002 Editorial comments: jteditor@japantoday.com Thursday, July 4, 2002 at 09:30 JST TOKYO ? The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on Wednesday ordered local governments and its affiliate to stop gathering information on people opposed to nuclear plants following revelations they had done so. The practice came to light last Thursday when the METI-backed Center for Development of Power Supply Regions said it provided local governments in the 15 prefectures hosting nuclear power plants with lists of residents who turned down annual government benefits linked to hosting the plants. (Kyodo News) For letters and editorial questions or comments, please contact jteditor@japantoday.com . ***************************************************************** 4 Fukushima set to hike nuclear fuel tax Thursday, July 4, 2002 at 17:30 JST FUKUSHIMA ? The Fukushima prefectural assembly's committee on general affairs on Thursday approved a proposal to raise the local tax on nuclear fuel, paving the way for increasing the tax rate to 13.5% from the current 7%. The full assembly is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Friday. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) opposes the tax hike as it is the sole payer of the local tax. TEPCO runs 10 nuclear reactors at its two power plants in the prefecture. (Kyodo News) For letters and editorial questions or comments, please contact jteditor@japantoday.com . ***************************************************************** 5 Greenpeace halts plutonium challenge Ananova - Greenpeace halts plutonium challenge Greenpeace has withdrawn its High Court case to try to prevent British Nuclear Fuels shipping enough plutonium to make 50 nuclear weapons from Japan to the UK. It comes after the shipment set sail hours before court proceedings were due to begin in London. The environment group said the consignment left Japan "just a couple of hours before a High Court judge in London was due to decide whether to grant an injunction to stop them". Lawyers for Greenpeace had planned to apply this morning for an injunction to stop the shipment, which the group has described as a "floating target for terrorists", from leaving Japan. Greenpeace claims the fuel, a mixture of plutonium and uranium oxides, contains 255 kg of plutonium - enough to make 50 nuclear weapons. The group is also seeking High Court permission to apply for a judicial review of the Environment Agency's decision not to treat the material, known as MOX, as radioactive waste. That application is expected to go ahead, but a date has not yet been fixed. An Environment Agency spokesman has said it would not be opposing the initial application for leave to bring proceedings for judicial review, but added: "However, we will be robustly defending our decision should a full case come to court." Greenpeace claims the MOX should be classed as radioactive waste, since no use for it is foreseen and Britain has huge stockpiles of uranium and plutonium. Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Pete Roche said the ships would be a "floating target for terrorists". He added: "To send highly radioactive materials on a six-week trip on the high seas was a stupid idea before September 11. In today's context it can only be described as insane." Copyright © 2002 Ananova Ltd Terms and conditions of use - Privacy policy - Corrections ***************************************************************** 6 NZ: Nuke ships not welcome in our waters* thestar.com.my Venture 2002 *Saturday, July 6, 2002* WELLINGTON: New Zealand said yesterday its airforce would track two British ships carrying nuclear waste from Japan to Britain to ensure they did not enter its territorial waters, as protests against the shipments mounted. Although the route is secret, previous such shipments have passed through the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia. The first of the ships, carrying a potentially weapons-usable mix of plutonium and uranium oxides (MOX), left the Japanese port of Takahama on Thursday. ?We have advised both Britain and Japan of our opposition to such shipments through the Pacific,? Foreign Minister Phil Goff said in a statement. ?While acknowledging the safeguards which have been put in place, these do not eliminate risks posed by accident or by terrorist attacks,? he said. The MOX fuel is being returned to state-owned British Nuclear Fuels after Japan?s Kansai Electric Power Co Inc discovered that data for a 1999 shipment from Britain had been deliberately falsified. Goff said New Zealand Airforce planes would track the ships to ensure they did not enter New Zealand waters, except in a humanitarian emergency. ?New Zealand is also seeking the transport states to accept full responsibility and liability for compensation for any accident that might occur.? Greenpeace said a flotilla of yachts plans to gather next week in the northern Tasman Sea to wait for the ships. In the Australian capital, Canberra, two Greenpeace campaigners were arrested yesterday after an hour-long protest against the shipments on the roof of the Japanese embassy. Police said a 25-year-old woman and 30-year-old man were arrested for trespassing on protected premises after they agreed to come down off the roof. A police spokeswoman said the two were expected to be charged and appear in court later yesterday, while 15 other protesters, with a large paper mache bomb, continued a demonstration outside the embassy gates. The Australian government has not voiced any protests against the shipments, with a spokesman saying the government is satisfied all the necessary safeguards are in place. ? Reuters Copyright © 1995-2002 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D) Managed by I.Star. ***************************************************************** 7 British nuclear power company faces storm over ship Wednesday July 10, 2002 06.07.2002 11.44am Britain's state-owned nuclear power company BNFL faced international criticism today for sailing rejected nuclear fuel back from Japan, but insisted the shipment was safe from terrorists or environmental catastrophe. The embattled industry also faced embarrassment over a government report that the cost to taxpayers of cleaning up waste and mothballing old plants would be billions of pounds more than previously estimated. Two lightly armed BNFL ships set sail from Japan on Thursday, bearing fuel the company had shipped to Japan three years ago but agreed to take back in a scandal after it emerged that BNFL had falsified some documentation. The shipment of potentially weapons-useable material has provoked a storm of outrage from environmental groups, and from countries that fear the shipping route -- undisclosed for security reasons -- might pass nearby. Its journey is being monitored by a New Zealand air force plane as Defence Minister Mark Burton said the Government had been advised the two vessels would travel through international waters between New Zealand and Australia. "We have now honoured the commitment we gave to our Japanese customers to return the fuel," BNFL head Norman Askew said in a statement promising to seek new sales to Japan, where the flap over the bogus documentation had caused widespread public anger. It was the first transport of its kind since the September 11 attacks on the United States, and environmental groups and third party governments say the nuclear material could be a tempting target for militants on the high seas. The company said armed guards on board, and safety measures to prevent a leak of radioactive material, had satisfied British, Japanese and US regulators that the shipment of so-called MOX mixed uranium and plutonium oxide fuel was safe. "We're confident, as are the governments of the UK, Japan and the US ... that the plans are sufficient to meet the credible risks," said BNFL spokesman Paul Vallance. "These are frankly the right people, rather than people with an axe to grind, to lay down the standards which we meet. These shipments are safe and secure. There's no question about that." He said security measures were covered by international agreements, and had been reviewed since September 11. Irish Environment Minister Martin Cullen said the shipment posed an "unacceptable risk to the environment of Ireland and the health and economic wellbeing of its population". Its destination, the British reprocessing plant at Sellafield, is only 180km across the Irish Sea from Ireland, on England's northwest coast. Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said the air force had been called in to ensure the shipment did not enter New Zealand waters. "While acknowledging the safeguards which have been put in place, these do not eliminate risks posed by accident or by terrorist attacks," he said. New Zealand had informed both Britain and Japan of its opposition to such shipments in the Pacific Ocean and wanted "the transport states to accept full responsibility and liability for any accident that might occur", he said. Yesterday two Greenpeace protesters scaled the roof of the Japanese embassy in Canberra, Australia and unfurled a banner criticising the shipment. A fleet of yachts is also due to leave New Zealand tomorrow to join a flotilla in the Tasman Sea to protest against the shipment. The launch of the shipment came as Britain's Energy Minister Brian Wilson published a policy paper outlining plans to reform the creaking nuclear power industry. A new state agency would be responsible for paying to clean up existing waste sites and mothball old plants, taking on huge liabilities from BNFL in what industry experts see as a move toward privatising the remaining profitable bits of the company. Wilson estimated the total liabilities to be assumed by the new agency at nearly £48 billion ($152.81 billion) -- between £8 billion and £13 billion more than previous estimates. The BNFL's Vallance said it was in the public interest to sweep liabilities for mothballing decades-old plants off the state-owned operating company's books, allowing it to attract investment for newer, cleaner nuclear power projects. But Greenpeace wrote: "The creation of a new authority to bail out the nuclear industry from the £48 billion bill for cleaning up waste and decommissioning old power stations will free ... (BNFL) to expand its nuclear business and create more deadly radioactive waste." - REUTERS Nuclear ships: frequently asked questions Anatomy of a nuclear fuels transport ship British nuclear power company faces storm over ship Security tight as nuke ship sails ©Copyright 2002, New Zealand Herald ***************************************************************** 8 Secret plans for fast-track nuclear clearance revealed Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Secret plans for fast-track nuclear clearance revealed Special report: Green politics 11am update Staff and agencies Thursday July 4, 2002 The government is secretly considering proposals to speed up the development of new nuclear power stations by allowing designs already approved by US safety authorities fast-track clearance for construction in the UK, it emerged today. Leaked documents from the Department of Trade and Industry obtained by New Scientist magazine suggested that US-approved reactor designs might no longer be required to undergo safety approval by the UK nuclear installations inspectorate. The embarrassing disclosure comes in the week that a Commons select committee savaged government plans - included in Labour's manifesto - to cut out local planning inquiries into new roads, power stations, airports and other major infastructure projects - in favour of whipped parliamentary votes. All of which comes against the background of the government's energy review, which has seen increased money for renewable energies, against confusion and spinning over the future of nuclear power and the costs of managing nuclear waste. Energy minister Brian Wilson confirmed that the proposal was contained in a "scoping document" setting out options for fulfilling the recommendations of the government's review of UK energy needs over the next 50 years, which said the nuclear option should be kept open. He would welcome any means of speeding up the planning process for new plants - which can take up to 15 years under the present procedure - so long as it remained "open and inclusive", he said. But he stressed that no plans for new nuclear power stations were currently on the table. Mr Wilson told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "This is a scoping document which puts flesh on the bones of the work to keep the nuclear option open, as recommended by the energy review. "Therefore anything that is there is an option to be considered and discussed. "The development of new reactor designs and work going on elsewhere in the world and through international collaboration is very much part of that process." He added: "The function of the planning system in general is to give a fair answer and not to be used as a vehicle for unnecessary delay. "Therefore anything, in my view, which facilitates a rapid answer - so long as it is a fair one, determined through an open and inclusive process - is desirable [compared] to one that takes 15 years to get. "I don't think anybody should have to wait 15 years for an answer." Special reports Britain's nuclear industry Guardian Unlimited Politics special report: Green politics Interactive guide Nuclear reprocessing Graphics Nuclear map of Britain US nuclear map Useful links British Nuclear Fuels Ltd [http://www.bnfl.co.uk/website.nsf/default.htm] Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament [http://www.cnduk.org/] HSE nuclear glossary [http://www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/ilrwglos.htm] UK atomic energy authority [http://www.ukaea.org.uk/] National Radiological Protection Board [http://www.nrpb.org.uk/] World Nuclear Association [http://www.uilondon.org/] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 9 NRC to Hold Meeting July 8 in Lynchburg, Virginia To Discuss Performance at Framatome ANP Nuclear Fuel Plant NRC: Press Release Region II - 2002 - 36 - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 www.nrc.gov No. II-02-036 July 3, 2002 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov [opa2@nrc.gov] NRC TO HOLD MEETING JULY 8 IN LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA TO DISCUSS PERFORMANCE AT FRAMATOME ANP NUCLEAR FUEL PLANT Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with officials of Framatome ANP, Inc., on July 8 to discuss the agency's latest review of safety performance at the company's Lynchburg Manufacturing Facility in Virginia The meeting is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in the main conference room of the facility at 1724 Mt. Athos Road. The meeting is open to observation by the public, and NRC officials will be available prior to its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers. In a letter to the company dated June 19, Luis A. Reyes, administrator of the NRC's Region II office in Atlanta, said the review, which covered a period from September 3, 1999, until April 20, 2002, determined that Framatome ANP continued to conduct its activities safely and securely, protecting public health and safety and the environment, and assuring control and security of NRC-licensed material. No areas needing improvement were identified. Reyes did say the company faces a challenge to maintain the resources and skills necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulations and the continued safe operation of the facility in light of announced plans to discontinue special nuclear material operations in 2004. The NRC plans to maintain its current level of inspection at the facility due to its continued good safety performance. Copies of the letter to Framatome ANP may be obtained from the NRC Region II Office of Public Affairs in Atlanta at the above address or may be obtained electronically over the Internet from the agency's public electronic reading room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. ***************************************************************** 10 Shenzhen nuke plant cuts costs by 10% [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn] (07/04/2002) (China Daily) Officials at the Shenzhen-based Ling'ao nuclear power plant said on Wednesday that construction costs could be trimmed by at least 10 per cent to US$3.7 billion. The plant will be China's third nuclear power plant and is due to be completed next year, with the project moving ahead of schedule and tight cost-control efforts paying off. The facility will have two generators with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts each. One of them started commercial operations at the end of May, around six weeks earlier than expected. The remaining generator is due to begin transmitting electricity next January, two months in advance. Liu Jinhua, general manager of the Liang'ao Nuclear Power Company, told China Daily: "If we move two months ahead, we can pay US$40 million less in loan interest payments alone." The plant's cost was originally planned to be US$4.025 billion, with bank loans providing more than 90 per cent. The remaining 10 per cent comes from the revenue of the Daya Bay nuclear power plant - China's first ever. The Daya Bay plant is next to the Ling'ao plant in Guangdong Province's Shenzhen, 50 kilometres from Hong Kong. Liu said plant officials have also been closely watching international currency and interest rates in an attempt to slash loan costs. The company has decided to raise 4 billion yuan (US$487 million) from the Chinese bond market later this year. Liu explained: "The bonds are to further reduce our costs, given that the interest payable on the bond is lower than the interest payable on bank loans at this time. It will also help diversify our capital structure to avoid risk." Last year, the company borrowed 2.5 billion yuan (US$302 million) from the nation's bond market. This will help the company save about 325 million yuan (US$39.3 million) before the bonds mature in seven years. Liu Xicai - general manager of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding, the Ling'ao plant's parent firm- said the reduced construction costs would make the plant's electricity more competitive. If construction costs are reduced by 10 per cent, the cost of generating electricity will drop by 5 per cent, Liu said. But he did not put a precise figure on how much buyers would have to pay for electricity from the Ling'ao plant. Li Peng, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, on Tuesday called for the second phase of the Ling'ao plant to begin soon to meet the increasing demand for electricity in Guangdong Province. The second phase will enable the plant to produce 2 million more kilowatts. While some doubt the economic viability of nuclear power plants, Zan Yunlong - chairman of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding - said the plants can survive government reforms to open the electricity sector to competition. "Production costs at nuclear power plants are much lower after construction costs have been repaid," Zan said. "The longer they operate, the cheaper their electricity prices can be." At the Daya Bay plant, production costs dropped by 40 per cent to 3.85 US cents per kilowatt-hour since it began operating in 1994. This compared to an average electricity sales price of 4.6 US cents per kilowatt-hour in Guangdong. Zan said: "Moreover, taking environmental pollution into consideration, nuclear power plants are much cleaner. They are especially competitive in affluent coastal provinces, which have paid close attention to environmental protection." Copyright 2002 By chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 First Generating Unit at Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station Operates Well Xinhuanet 2002-07-04 11:19:09 The picture taken on July 3, 2002 shows the general view of the Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station in Daya Bay of Guangdong Province, south China. Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station, which began to be constructed in 1997, is the second one built in Guangdong Province. The first one of the four generating nuclear units at Ling'ao began commercial operation on May 28 this year. Xinhua Photo Lingao Nuclear Power Station Begins Commercial Operation SHENZHEN, July 2 (Xinhuanet) -- About 2,000 people, including high-ranking politicians and French and British diplomats, attended a ceremony in Shenzhen Tuesday to mark the start of the commercial operation of the No.1 generating unit of Lingao Nuclear Power Station in Guangdong Province, south China. Among those present at the ceremony were China's top legislatorLi Peng, representatives of Chinese and overseas companies involved in the project and local government officials. Located in Daya Bay in Guangdong Province, the nuclear power station at a cost of 4.1 billion U.S. dollars is the second to be built in the province. The first was Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station, which started commercial operation in 1994. The second generating unit at Lingao, which will have four generating units when completed, is expected to start commercial operation early next year. Unlike the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station which uses two pressurized water reactors imported from France and Britain, part of the Lingao station's equipment was made in China. Li, who attended the 4-billion-U.S.-dollar Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station's opening ceremony on February 6, 1994 as premier, said 30 percent of the equipment at Lingao is to be produced locally. Li said the cost of the Lingao station is lower than that for the Daya Bay station, thanks to the local manufacture of nuclear power generating facilities and imported technology. Enditem Copyright © 2000 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is ***************************************************************** 12 Croatian parliament backs nuclear plant deal that splits government [http://www.ptd.net] Wednesday, 03-Jul-2002 2:10PM Story from AFP / Lajla Veselica Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) ZAGREB, July 3 (AFP) - The Croatian parliament approved on Wednesday an agreement on sharing ownership of a nuclear power plant with neighbouring Slovenia, capping a debate that exacerbated divisions in Prime Minister Ivica Racan's governing coalition and left it on the brink of collapse. The 151-member legislature adopted by a vote of 80 to 41 with nine abstentions the accord spelling out the terms for joint ownership fo the Krsko nuclear plant located in Slovenia but built in 1983 when the two countries were still part of the former Yugoslavia. It was backed mostly by deputies of the five-party governing coalition but the Social Liberal Party (HSLS), the second largest group in the coalition, was split over the accord. The HSLS opposed ratification of the agreement, in particular provisions that give Slovenia the right to close the plant, a prospect that some fear could happen if neighbouring Austria put it as a condition for Slovenia's entrance into the European Union. If the plant is shut down, Croatia would still have to assume some responsibility for disposing of nuclear waste produced at the power station. The power plant accord signed between Zagreb and Ljubljana last December has yet to be ratified by the Slovenian parliament, which is not expected to debate the agreement before the autumn. After Zagreb and Ljubljana proclaimed independence, Slovenia decided to turn the plant into a public company and stopped supplying power to Croatia in 1998. The row over the Krsko plant has been the most serious to divide moderates since they took power from the nationalists in January 2000. The split has sparked dire warnings from the prime minister that the five-party coalition is nearing the end and that he was prepared to step down, frustrated by the ongoing feuding. "It's clear that this type of coalition, with its current composition and current manner of operating, cannot function any longer," Racan said on Tuesday. Racan said the fate of both the ruling coalition and the government would be clear by the end of the week, stressing that his resignation was "absolutely" possible. "The issue is not only the Krsko accord, but something that has been going on for more than a year," Racan told Globus weekly on Wednesday. "It is completely impossible to cooperate with those who do not believe in this government," he said. Racan was referring to HSLS head Drazen Budisa, whose party members walked out of the chamber last week thus preventing the parliament to vote on the ratification. Six of the 23 HSLS deputies backed the deal on Wednesday, eight deputies abstained and nine voted against it. But Budisa threatened to exclude those deputies who backed the deal from the party. The vote on the Krsko nuclear power plant agreement showed that Racan could count on the support of majority of deputies in the parliament. There has been media speculation that Racan could submit his resignation on Saturday, after which President Stipe Mesic would designate an interim prime minister who would have a month to form a new government. According to media, Mesic would probably designate Racan who would then form a minority government without the HSLS. Parliament could be dissolved if it rejects the new government and new elections would then have to be held within two months. [http://www.penteledata.net] [http://www.ptd.net] | ***************************************************************** 13 More help for Piketon workers www.msnbc.com/ [newschannel3@wsaz.com] E-Mail WSAZ NewsChannel 3 Washington, DC, July 3 - Additional uenmpoyment assistance will be available for about 440 shipping and transfer workers whose job staus is uncertain at the former Piketon uranium enrichment plant. An investigation by the Labor Department determined that they qualify for the aid. The department says imports of enriched uranium from old Russian warheads contributed to a decline in sales and production at the plant, which in turn led to layoffs. Should the workers lose their jobs, they will be eligible for as much as one year of additional unemployment benefits and as much as two years of job training. The plant's operator, USEC Incorporated, buys the Russian fuel and sells it to utilities in the United States. The recycled Russian fuel accounts for roughly half the enriched uranium used by this country's nuclear plants. [http://www.msnbc.com/m/info/terms.asp?] ***************************************************************** 14 Gov't to rate nuclear power plants on safety Kyodo Today Privacy Policy TOKYO, July 6, Kyodo - The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency plans to rate Japan's nuclear power plants for safety to better monitor risk-prone plants and reduce inspection costs, according to agency officials. The new policy direction marks a turning point in the agency's safety monitoring system, in which the nuclear watchdog has given equal weight to all nuclear power plants in ensuring the safety of nuclear power. Under the new policy, all plants will be rated in terms of their operating performance, including the number of failures at reactors and radiation management, the officials said. Those rated lower end of the scale will be subject to focused monitoring, while those with higher ratings will receive a minimum of inspections, they said. The officials said the rating system would enable the agency to focus on risk-prone plants and reduce reactor mishaps. It would also cut inspection costs, they said, if operating performance at plants are kept above average while enhancing safety awareness among power companies and plant workers. The policy is the result of a multiyear project by the nuclear watchdog under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The agency will seek amendments to the Electric Utility Law, the law governing nuclear power operations and other legislation to implement the new system in several years. The United States introduced a similar rating system in 2000, assigning to nuclear power plants four grades in 18 categories, such as the number of unexpected reactor shutdowns and malfunctions in plant safety features. When rating 103 nuclear reactors between January and March, U.S. regulators found problems in 31 of them, attesting to the usefulness of the rating-based safety system. Japanese nuclear regulators said they intend to modify the U.S. system to suit the conditions of nuclear reactors in Japan by developing original standards and evaluation methods over the next four to five years. To prevent complacency from eating away at safety standards at higher-rated plants, the nuclear agency intends to complement the new system with surprise inspections, the officials said. To date, the agency has merely inspected the main facilities of nuclear power plants, leaving it up to individual power companies to inspect the rest of the facilities. A pipe rupture caused by a hydrogen explosion at Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka nuclear power plant last November occurred in a section not covered by state inspections. The agency has decided to introduce a new system incorporating such new concepts as quality assurance and security audits ''to look into the safety-enhancing efforts among operators,'' a senior agency official said. 2002 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 15 Iodide pill distribution set in 16 Ocean County towns Asbury Park Press July 4, 2002 The Jersey Shore's News Source   Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/04/02 By TODD B. BATES ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER People who live or work in towns within 10 miles of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Lacey can pick up a free, one-day supply of potassium iodide pills beginning July 13. The pills guard against thyroid cancer after a radiological release. And state officials are discussing whether to provide pills to schools, health care facilities such as nursing homes, prisons and other facilities, following three distribution sessions this month, according to health officials. Public education and distribution sessions are scheduled for July 13 and 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Manchester High School and July 17 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Pinelands Regional High School in Little Egg Harbor, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services. Pills also will be available at the two high schools and other "reception centers" on evacuation routes outside the 10-mile zone for residents, workers and visitors in the event of an emergency, according to health officials. The state's announcement drew criticism from Lacey Township Committeeman Rod Sterling, who called the distribution plan "convoluted" and "without merit" in a letter to a state health official yesterday. Sterling reiterated his May 2 request that 75,000 pills be released to the Lacey Police Department for distribution to township residents and workers. State Health Commissioner Dr. Clifton R. Lacy responded that the state's plan is "well-designed to give an opportunity for predistribution (before an emergency) as well as . . . distribution at the time of an event." In April, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission delivered 722,000 potassium iodide pills to New Jersey as a precaution against a possible terror attack or other nuclear plant mishap. The NRC offered them to 33 states and an American Indian reservation on a first-come, first-serve basis; 13 states have accepted. The state plans to distribute pills to residents, workers and visitors within 10 miles of the Oyster Creek power plant and Salem I and II and Hope Creek nuclear plants in Salem County. The pills are not being made available in response to any imminent danger or threat, according to state officials. They have stressed that evacuation is the best protection against radiation releases, and a release requiring the use of pills is unlikely. "The tablets are just a minor adjunct to evacuation and sheltering, and for that reason, it's important that we educate people as to evacuation routes and reception centers," Lacy said. The pills work by flooding the thyroid with a benign form of iodine and blocking the absorption of radioactive iodine. They should be taken immediately upon learning of a radioactive release. Those with iodine sensitivity may have allergic reactions. The pills do not protect the body from other radiation-related injuries, Lacy said in a statement. People who live or work in the following towns in Ocean County can get the pills at this month's distribution sessions: Barnegat, Barnegat Light, Beach Haven, Beachwood, Berkeley, Dover Township, Harvey Cedars, Island Heights, Lacey, Long Beach Township, Pine Beach, Waretown, Ocean Gate, Seaside Park, Ship Bottom, South Toms River, Stafford and Surf City. Applicants will have to show proof of residency or employment within the 10-mile radius. The pills also are available over the counter at pharmacies and can be purchased on the Internet. They cost between 12 cents and 55 cents per tablet. Lacy, the state health commissioner, said there will be a total of 14 reception centers stocked with pills outside the 10-mile zones and along evacuation routes in Ocean, Salem and Cumberland counties. He referred a question on their locations to the State Police, but an agency spokesman could not identify them yesterday. George Fischer of Barnegat said he will pick up his supply of potassium iodide, even though he hasn't decided whether he would actually take it if there were a radiation leak. He's not convinced that the pills are safe. "It's like anything else; what's the alternative?" he said. "You're better off dead than lying in a bed. I care about quality of life." Some, especially part-time residents, haven't heard about the pills yet. Pennsylvanian Joan Schweitzer, who has a summer home in Stafford, said she needed to learn about the pills when asked if she would take them. "I probably would take them," she said. "It seems we better be doing something." Last month, President Bush signed the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, which eventually will make potassium iodide pills available to state and local governments for stockpiling and distribution within 20 miles of nuclear plants. Bill Pierce, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said details of the effort still are being worked out. Laura Otterbourg, a spokeswoman for the state health department, said the state plans to obtain more pills as soon as the federal government offers them. Meanwhile, the federal Health and Human Services Department last year began creating "strategically located" stockpiles of pills around the country for areas beyond 10-mile zones, Pierce said. "If something bad happens at a plant and then there is radiation fallout . . . our stockpile is for helping folks in the downwind area," which can be beyond 20 miles, he said. The pills also can be used in areas within 10 miles if necessary, he said. Staff writer Gregory J. Volpe contributed to this story. ***************************************************************** 16 (en) Slingshot #75 Yucca Mountain - by Xariq Nerdcore Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 00:14:02 -0500 (CDT) ________________________________________________ A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ ________________________________________________ After 2 decades of research, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is applying for a permit to build the world's first high level nuclear waste dump. The proposed dump, at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles NW of Las Vegas, is more controversial than ever; even the US government's General Accounting Office opined that the site research is flimsy. The rush to start building is not motivated by public safety, but by corporate greed. The waste is fine, for the time being, in its current locations at reactors across the country. But with a pro-nuclear president in office, the nuclear industry is leaping at the first hint of an opportunity to build more reactors. And nobody is going to invest in new plants until there's some place to put the waste that's piling up at currently operating reactors. Unfortunately, as progress on Yucca Mountain is delayed, the rapacious nuclear industry is privately hunting for other temporary waste storage options. A consortium of companies is trying to contract with the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe to store waste on their reservation in Utah. Yucca Mountain itself is Western Shoshone land that the government is trying to buy out from under them. Forget the bungled Yucca Mountain project: power plants and the communities and industries that use their power need to deal with their waste locally and boot out the insidious cop-out called the national sacrifice zone. There are several major flaws with the Yucca Mountain project: 1. Repository safety over the 10,000 year time period that the waste remains dangerous: Using our reasonably well-developed knowledge of geology, we (humanity) can predict how parts of the earth will act over the next 10,000 year period. In terms of geologic time, 10,000 year is not very long. However, add radioactive waste to the puzzle, and the job of predicting what will happen becomes extremely complex. The whole earth is sitting around us for geologists and chemists to study, extrapolating the future based on the present and the past. But there are no high-level nuclear dumps presently in existence to help researchers forecast how the darned thing will stand up to the test of time. Scientists use computer models to stretch the results of short-term radioactive waste experiments into the realms of geologic time. Of course, we won?t be around to see if the models were right or not. The research is a gray matter of prediction, statistics, of ?reasonable? degrees of safety, like when ?safe sex? became ?safer sex?. But there are major critiques of the research process the Department of Energy (DOE) is using to determine the ?reasonable safety? of a dump at Yucca Mountain. Respected researchers not directly affiliated with the government suggest that the DOE relies too heavily on one complex computer model, instead of using a number of smaller, more focused models. Results between the large model, secondary models, and lab and field experiments do not match up well enough, and scientists think the main model?s data set is too small. The DOE is attempting a super-human task, and failing- both because the task is beyond humanity?s current abilities, and because their motivations are in the wrong place. According to scientists who have worked on the project, research was done slowly and thoroughly during the first few years of the project. But in the early 1990?s, the DOE, haunted by their 1998 deadline (long past), began to rush. A thorough understanding of how radioactive waste would interact with the mountain?s geology was too complicated a goal, they decided %/1??iso8859-15q so in order to meet (friendly) pressure put on by the nuclear industry, they changed the project focus. Their contractors would build a dump that relied not on the mountain itself to keep the waste contained, but societies exist on the scale of thousands of years, not tens of thousands. Everything decays. Because we?re confident in our knowledge of geology, it is reasonable that Timing Congress may kill the Yucca Mountain project within a few weeks, if Nevada Senator Harry Reid has his way. Earlier this spring President Bush formally recommended Yucca Mountain as the site for the dump. (Why he felt comfortable with this questionable recommendation will be explored later.) Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn vetoed Bush's recommendation, as allowed by 1982 waste disposal legislation. Congress has 90 days to override the veto by a simple majority, which the House quickly did. The Senate vote must happen before late July. As of press time, Sen. Reid didn't have quite enough votes together to save the Nevada veto - but with lobby money pouring in from all sides, the balance may be tipped. If the senate overrules the veto, the DOE then has 90 days to submit a construction license to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has up to 4 years to okay the license before construction can begin. The task is insurmountable Whenever science and regulatory issues intersect, there's high potential for scientific propaganda. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said his recommendation to President Bush in favor of the site was based on "sound science." Science that sounded good to whom? Not to three inertia-bound Washington regulatory agencies, including the General Accounting Office, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (responsible for licensing the repository), and an "independent" federal reviewer of nuclear waste disposal, the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, all three of which expressed substantial concerns. Scientists not directly affiliated with the government echoed the doubt. After 20 years and $4 million worth of research, serious questions still remain about Yucca Mountain's ability to isolate nuclear waste over a 10,000 year period. Of course - and the trick is that we can never know whether a dump does in fact meet up to it's expected ability to contain the waste. We will put the waste in the dump, keep it open for maybe 300 years to perform tests, and then seal it up. We have no prior experience with dump performance. We have to rely on our knowledge of geologic processes and computer models to predict the outcome. But scientists don't think that the DOE's main model relies on a large enough data set, and there are disagreements between other models and laboratory experiment results. A main source of conflict is the information about movement of water through the mountain. Knowledge about water flow is crucial to predicting dump safety because water is the main way radioactive particles would move away from the dump. Estimates of water movement have varied significantly over the years, and no consensus has been reached. After thinking that flow rates were slow, particles of chlorine-36, an isotope produced by nuclear weapon tests, were found within the mountain, suggesting that water does actually move fairly quickly through the area. This issue still has not been resolved. After encountering so many difficulties predicting the geology and the natural environment of the mountain over the next 10,000 years, the DOE decided to shift their focus towards engineered solutions to keeping the waste dry. The waste containers would be placed under titanium umbrellas to keep the water out. But the same problem still exists- the DOE is glossing over the necessary experiments to predict how the "drip shields" would corrode! Also missing are solid conclusions on how the waste containers themselves will stand up to the test of time. Another major knowledge gap centers around volcanic activity and faults in the area. Finally, the DOE has not even resolved a major design factor - whether dump should be "hot" or "cold", depending on how far apart the containers of heat-generating waste are placed from each other. The nuclear lobby With such serious holes in the research, why is the DOE pretending it is ready to apply for a license? Predictably, the whole process surrounding the Yucca Mountain dump has been primarily political. The primary motivation behind the dump is the nuclear industry's desire to build more nuclear plants. Bush and Cheney have the first pro-nuclear energy policy in years (?), but more importantly, if Yucca Mountain is struck down, there is no fall-back option. Utilities will have to indefinately store their waste at the plants, in storage pools filled with water and, as these fill up, in concrete and steel casks. Both methods are safe- but don't allow for much expansion of nuclear power. Congress initially authorized investigation of three potential high-level waste dump sites, including Yucca Mountain, a site in west Texas, and a site near the Hanford nuclear reservation in southwestern Washington. In 1987, Congress eliminated all but Yucca Mountain. Both the Texas and Washington sites were within the boundaries of major aquifers, and studying three sites would have been extremely expensive... but most importantly, the decision was strongly affected by the presence of powerful congress members in both states. Now, in anticipation of the Senate vote, the nuclear industry is lining senators' pockets. According to Public Citizen, a contribution watch group, only 7 current senators have received no money from nuclear industry Political Action Committees (PACs). In 2002 alone, senators and a few leading senate candidates have taken $1.3 million from nuke PACs. And of the 20 top recipients of nuke PAC money, 8 sit on the Senate Energy Committee and 6 on the Environment and Public Works Committee, both key committees dealing with nuclear power. Money talks. So the state of Nevada is entering the conversation with a $5.5 million advertising campaign that has already placed ads in Washington and in selected states with important senators, including Vermont, home of Senate Environment Committee Jim Jeffords (I). The players are quickly coming out of the closet: the Las Vegas gaming industry, with a history of quietly lobbying against the dump, is now publicly pouring money into this advertising fund, and boosting its own PAC contributions. Don't overlook the direct beneficiaries of all this government chicanery, the advertising industry, lobbyists, and paid consultants. Another slick scenario fell on its face when it surfaced that the law firm hired by the DOE to prepare the Yucca Mountain license application (a $16.5 million contract), had two major conflicts of interest: the firm, Chicago's Winston and Strawn, was also representing a Yucca Mountain contractor, TRW Environmental Safety Systems, Inc, and the main industry lobby group, the Nuclear Energy Institute. The DOE is expected to hire another firm that has actually represented a number of utilities in suits against the DOE. Does this make sense? Logic MIA Where's the logic behind the Yucca Mountain dump? And, by extension, behind nuclear power, the root of the problem? The problem of predicting dump behavior for the next 10,000 years is fantastically interesting but can't stand up to the realities of current scientific knowledge - especially when the investigation is biased by the political clout of the nuclear industry. But if Yucca Mountain somehow evades the industry's grasp, the fist will fall elsewhere in an attempt to relieve the utilities of their waste burden. A consortium of 8 private utilities is negotiating with the Skull Valley Goshute tribe to build a temporary storage facility on their reservation. Surrounded by a chemical weapon test facility, a nerve agent factory, a polluting coal power plant, and a low-level radioactive waste dump , the Skull Valley reservation is surrounded by the epitome of a national sacrifice zone. The tribe website states they can make money no other way and so are negotiating to store the waste. This waste, too dangerous for the communities in which it is produced, can acceptably be stored on native peoples' land? No! The waste can be safely stored where it is, at the power plants that used it to generate power, in the local where the power was consumed. If the local community is anti-nuclear, if it says it did not ask for the plant in the first place- well fine, but the community used the power, and the waste can be stored safely. Nuclear plants need to entomb themselves, not endlessly generate waste to lay on far-away people already on the US's shitlist. slingshot@tao.ca ******* ******** ****** The A-Infos News Service ****** News about and of interest to anarchists ****** COMMANDS: lists@ainfos.ca REPLIES: a-infos-d@ainfos.ca HELP: a-infos-org@ainfos.ca WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca/ INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org -To receive a-infos in one language only mail lists@ainfos.ca the message: unsubscribe a-infos subscribe a-infos-X where X = en, ca, de, fr, etc. (i.e. the language code) ***************************************************************** 17 Stabenow against plans to transport nuke waste From The Muskegon Chronicle Stabenow against plans to transport nuke waste Wednesday, July 03, 2002 FROM LOCAL AND WIRE REPORTS U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said Tuesday that she will vote against moving radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada because she is worried the shipments could be the target of a terrorist attack. The Michigan Democratic senator said the Bush Administration has not done enough to ensure the safety of the thousands of shipments that would bring nuclear waste from around the country to the proposed waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. And she said she is concerned that as many as 431 barges of nuclear waste could be shipped on Lake Michigan, including into Muskegon. "The events of Sept. 11 and our ongoing war against terrorism have changed the course of our country forever, and I do not believe that it is in the best interest of this country or my constituents for me to support the Yucca Mountain resolution at this time, without more specific plans for addressing these national security issues," Stabenow said in a statement. She cited a federal Energy Department study that raises the possibility that waste from Consumers Energy Co.'s Palisades nuclear plant south of South Haven might be shipped by barge north on Lake Michigan to Muskegon, where it would be transferred to rail cars destined for Nevada. Barge shipping on Lake Michigan also was raised as a possibility for two nuclear power plants in Wisconsin. An environmental impact statement by the Energy Department lists several transportation options, including moving nuclear waste by barge through Muskegon. But federal energy officials have indicated that using barges would be too complex and could increase the risk of exposing the public to radiation. The department would rather move the waste by train. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham sent Stabenow a letter saying the study "in no way commits the department to using barge transport, nor does it indicate any current intention to do so." In her statement, Stabenow said, "This simply is not a good enough answer. I cannot support any plan that would include a transportation option that endangers one-fifth of the world's fresh water supply and the source of safe drinking water for the entire Great Lakes region." Stabenow's aides said she called state officials, Michigan energy executives and environmentalists Friday to notify them of her decision. Many had assumed that Stabenow would vote for the Nevada repository. Used reactor fuel in Michigan is being held in water-filled pools at four plants in Michigan -- the Palisades plant, the Donald C. Cook plant in Bridgman owned by Indiana Michigan Power, Detroit Edison's Fermi II in Newport and Big Rock Point near Charlevoix, which Consumers retired in 1997 but still has spent fuel. Michigan draws almost 19 percent of its electricity from nuclear sources. The chairman of its Public Service Commission, Laura Chappelle, testified before Congress in April in favor of the repository. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, voted for the repository in 2000, and a spokeswoman said he planned to do so again this year. Stabenow, a Democrat from Lansing, is the second senator in recent days to come out against the Yucca Mountain project, joining fellow freshman Jean Carnahan, D-Mo., who announced Friday. The Senate is expected to vote on the issue next week. © 2002 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission User Agreement | Privacy Policy | Help/Feedback | Advertise With Us © 2002 mlive.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 NLV passes anti-Yucca resolution LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: NLV passes anti-Yucca resolution [http://www.reviewjournal.com/] Thursday, July 04, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal NLV passes anti-Yucca resolution REVIEW-JOURNAL Moments before kicking off Independence Day celebrations, North Las Vegas City Council members on Wednesday confirmed their opposition to the transportation of the nation's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Following 10 other Nevada jurisdictions, the council unanimously approved a resolution citing the dangers of bringing nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. North Las Vegas' resolution is part of an anti-Yucca Mountain campaign by the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities. The group intends to submit more than a dozen similar resolutions to Gov. Kenny Guinn by July 15 to help strengthen his opposition to the Yucca Mountain Project. President Bush in February designated the mountain as the site for the nation's high-level nuclear waste repository. On April 8, Guinn vetoed the president's decision to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The Senate has about three more weeks to overturn the veto with a simple majority vote. The House of Representatives already voted 306-117 on May 8 to override the veto, but the Senate must approve the override as well. If the Senate sustains Guinn's veto or if no action is taken by the late July deadline, the Energy Department's plans to build the repository will effectively be killed. For comment or questions, please email webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 Stephens Media Group Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 19 NRC petition pursued in Yucca fight LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: NRC petition pursued in Yucca fight Thursday, July 04, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal More safety assurances sought, making Energy Department's compliance requirement harder By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Nevada officials are preparing to open a new front in their fight against the Yucca Mountain Project. They plan to petition the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to require more safety assurances for the proposed nuclear waste repository, making it tougher for the Energy Department to comply if it seeks a license to build and operate the project. A 40-page document is being reviewed by state officials and staff attorneys for Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev. If cleared, it is expected to be filed at the NRC in the coming days. State officials said the petition further develops Nevada's argument that the Energy Department disregarded federal law in planning a repository that relies on waste canisters and titanium shielding to prevent radioactive materials from escaping rather than Yucca Mountain's natural features primarily. It seeks to require DOE to build a more thorough "safety case" based on Yucca Mountain's geology, they said. "This will continue to demonstrate that DOE has a bad site," said Bob Loux, director of the state's Agency for Nuclear Projects. Loux said the petition for a rules change will be reviewed by NRC officials other than the ones who already have been working on the repository program. The hope is that the new sets of eyes will look favorably on the request, he said. If the effort fails, Loux added, it could be ammunition for another lawsuit against the Yucca Mountain Project. The petition could serve an immediate political purpose as well, officials said. One reason attorneys worked to finish this week is so the document might be made available to U.S. senators before they cast votes on the Yucca Mountain Project expected in the coming days. It includes sections discussing past House and Senate actions that Nevada believes back up its case, officials said. It would likely take nine months or more for the NRC to investigate the Nevada petition, seek comments and decide whether to make the changes, Loux said. In 1999, Nevada filed an NRC petition to change nuclear waste transportation rules. No decision has been made. For comment or questions, please email webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 Stephens Media Group Privacy Statement ***************************************************************** 20 Senators Choose Sides on Yucca Mountain WASHINGTON, DC, July 3, 2002 (ENS) - With a crucial vote over approval of a high level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain expected next week, several senators have already announced their opposition to the project. Senator Jim Jeffords, a Vermont Independent, and Senator Jean Carnahan, a Missouri Democrat, both announced last week that they will vote against Senate Resolution 34, the last vote needed to approve the proposed nuclear waste repository and override a veto of the project by Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn. On Tuesday, Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, joined the ranks of those opposed to the Yucca Mountain project, saying she was not convinced that waste shipments to Nevada could be protected from terrorist attacks. "The opening of Yucca Mountain will generate thousands of nuclear waste shipments by truck, rail or barge through cities and towns across the country," Stabenow noted. "However the Department of Energy (DOE) is only beginning to look at developing a transportation plan and designating transport routes. I am also concerned that the DOE has not implemented any additional security requirements for transporting nuclear waste since September 11th to ensure the safety of Americans and to prevent a terrorist attack of these shipments." Stabenow, who supported the proposed repository as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, said, "the events of September 11th and our ongoing war against terrorism have changed the course of our country forever, and I do not believe that it is in the best interest of this country or my constituents for me to support the Yucca Mountain resolution at this time." Stabenow noted that proposed waste shipments by barge from her home state of Michigan could threaten the Great Lakes. "I cannot support any plan that would include a transportation option that endangers 1/5th of the world's fresh water supply, and the source of safe drinking water for the entire Great Lakes region," Stabenow said. A broad coalition of public health, environmental and civic organizations now oppose the Yucca Mountain project and its transportation scheme. The plan to store 77,000 tons of high level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas would bring the waste through 44 states and the District of Columbia. * * * Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 Nuclear clean-up costs soar BBC News | UK | Nuclear clean-up costs soar Thursday, 4 July, 2002, 14:28 GMT 15:28 UK Nuclear clean-up costs soar [Interior of BNFLs mixed oxide plant at Sellafield in Cumbria] The government hopes to part-privatise BNFL Ministers have admitted they still have no idea what the final bill will be for cleaning up Britain's nuclear waste legacy. The admission comes as the government unveils a new public body to take over the financial burden of the clean-up programme, currently estimated at nearly £48bn. That figure is about £6bn higher than previous estimates - and officials admit the cost could increase further as more work is uncovered. Environmental groups have accused ministers of punishing taxpayers for past mismanagement. 'Cost effective' Friends of the Earth is calling for a National Audit Office inquiry into the handling of the nuclear industry by the Department of Trade and Industry. In a White Paper published on Thursday, the government unveiled plans for a new authority, the Liabilities Management Authority (LMA), to take over the cost of dealing safely with the legacy of the UK's early civil nuclear programme. Under the new arrangements, the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing complex and other ageing facilities will be transferred to the LMA from British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL), which will operate the sites under contract. The move is designed to free BNFL up for part-privatisation in two years. The LMA's remit will be to ensure that the clean up is carried out "safely, securely, cost effectively and in ways which will protect the environment". Effectively bankrupt Energy minister Brian Wilson said: "The LMA will have strategic management control of clean-up across the UK, based on high safety, security and environmental standards, while maximising value for money for the taxpayer." The huge liabilities of cleaning up the radioactive waste which has accumulated over 50 years has left BNFL effectively bankrupt, it emerged last year. [BNFL's nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield] BNFL is effectively bankrupt The proposals unveiled on Thursday mean that, free of most of its liabilities, BNFL can concentrate on its business operations: nuclear fuel manufacture, fuel reprocessing, clean-up and Magnox generation. The government had hoped to raise up to £1.5bn by selling off up to 49% of the company. BNFL is one of the world's biggest suppliers of nuclear services and has an annual turnover of about £2bn. Nearly half of this comes from fuel manufacture and reactor servicing, which have emerged unscathed from the safety expectations. Public responsibility About one-quarter of the company's work involves the operation of Magnox nuclear power stations in the UK. The government denies accusations by environmental groups that the taxpayer will pay the price for past mistakes in the running of BNFL. Ministers say nuclear clean-up has always been a public responsibility. And they say the change will give the taxpayer better value for money by opening it up to competition. See also: 20 Dec 01 | England Protests at Sellafield's Mox plant 07 Dec 01 | UK Green groups lose Sellafield appeal 28 Nov 01 | UK Politics Nuclear sell-off back on agenda 02 Jul 02 | England Nuclear shipment gets go-ahead 04 Jul 02 | UK 'Murky finances' of nuclear legacy Internet links: BNFL [http://www.bnfl.com/website.nsf/index.htm] Environment Agency [http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/307864] The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 22 Europarliament and Duma to watchdog spent fuel import to Russia Spent fuel imports The Russian Ministry of Nuclear Energy (Minatom) is actively promoting plans for large scale imports of spent nuclear fuel to Russia for storage or reprocessing. Jump to section [The Arctic Nuclear Challenge] BRUSSELS - Russian Duma and EU parliament members will follow up plans for importation of spent nuclear fuel to Russia; promote nuclear safety programs. Igor Kudrik, 2002-07-04 13:36 An inter-parliamentary working group comprised of State Duma members and members of the European Parliament was established in Brussels on Bellona's initiative to watchdog possible contacts between Russia's Ministry for Nuclear Energy, or Minatom, and European nuclear industry regarding spent nuclear fuel imports to Russia. At a meeting in the European Parliament on June 26th, Bart Staes, co-chairman of the newly established group, said it was important for European politicians to understand the issue and to ensure that the project brings no harm either to Russia or to the Member States. Mr Staes, member of the European Parliament from Belgium, Greens/European Free Alliance, chairs the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. Sergey Mitrokhin, Russian Duma member from Yabloko liberal faction, who also co-chairs the group, said that Russian nuclear industry is not equipped to accept foreign spent nuclear fuel (SNF) for storage or reprocessing struggling to cope with its own problems. He greeted the establishment of the group, which will facilitate control of the lawmakers over industry and executive bodies of the countries involved. Valentin Luntsevich, Duma member from Murmansk region, who also took part in the meeting, said he voted in favour of the SNF importation bill, but he was ready to work in ensuring that all the laws are followed and no project is carried out should the safety be compromised or it can present danger for the health of people. The Russian State Duma approved three bills favouring foreign SNF imports to Russia in 2001 after a heavy lobby from Minatom, which included not only verbal argumentation but also alleged bribes to some Duma members. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the laws in summer the same year. Minatom said that shipping in around 20,000 tonnes of SNF Russia can earn up to $20bn in profit. The fuel will be either stored or reprocessed, according to Minatom's plan. Environmentalists opposed the plan fiercely and claimed that Russia is unable to manage safely its own waste and that the project will turn the country into an international nuclear dump site. Now largely marginalized Russian Nuclear Regulatory, GAN, said such fears have their ground. The project caused an uproar in the society. According to various polls 70 to 90 percent of the population in Russia oppose the importation plans. In 2000, environmentalists collected 2.5 million, 500,000 more than needed for a national referendum, for million signatures to force the radioactive waste import laws into a vote, only to have 800,000 of them shot down by Central Electoral Committee for such things as incorrect street addresses written down by the signatories. Inter-parliamentarian group goals The inter-parliamentarian working group members will exchange information on the plans of the executive bodies of the countries involved in the import of spent fuel to the Russian Federation. They will also assist in stopping the projects in violation towards EU legislation or posing a threat to non-proliferation of fissile materials or posing a threat to the health of people living in the countries involved. As a first step, the group will involve nuclear safety experts to make a report analysing the expediency of the spent fuel importation venture and the fuel and waste management practices currently in place in the Russian Federation. The report will be among other things used to get the European Commission to work out a distinct strategy towards possible projects to ship spent nuclear fuel to Russia. The group will promote further European assistance to Russia in tackling radwaste management issues. In October 2002, European Parliament members will visit Murmansk to visit various nuclear installations and meet local authorities involved in the clean up effort. EU radioactive materials export legislation Euratom legislation requires the European Commission to authorise exports of nuclear materials from any Member State to a third country. The Commission has to ensure compliance with international agreements and that the general interests of the Community is safeguarded. Under Council Directive 92/3/Euratom of February 3d 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community, Member States are prohibited from exporting shipments of radioactive waste to third countries that do not have the "technical, legal or administrative resources" to manage it safely. It would be therefore for the relevant authorities in Member States to assess whether this condition is met before any nuclear waste could be shipped to the Russian Federation. According to Derek Taylor, head of unit in Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, which is responsible for nuclear energy related issues in the EU, spent fuel can be considered as waste if the country of destination does not intend to reprocess it. Minatom was not entirely clear what it intends to do with the imported SNF. If the fuel will be reprocessed a Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and Radioactive Waste should be applied. The Convention has not entered force yet, but similar rules will apply for SNF as for radioactive waste — the recipient country must meet certain standards to accept the fuel. Written question to the Commission Although the majority of the EU countries and Commission do not consider management of radwaste and spent nuclear fuel in Russia to be safe, there still may be conflicting interpretations of the Member States in regard to what are the technical, legal or administrative resources which allow safe management of SNF in Russia. Such issue is brought up in a priority written question to the Commission made by Heidi Hautala, Greens/European Free Alliance MEP from Finland. Heidi Hautala has also joined the inter-parliamentarian working group on SNF exports to Russia. Heidi Hautala also says in her request that prior to EU-Russia Summit in the end of May 2002 in Moscow, the Russian Minister for Nuclear Energy Alexander Rumyantsev had indicated his intention to discuss with Commissioner Loyla de Palacio Russia's possibilities to import spent nuclear fuel from the EU, and in particular from Spain. Was this topic brought up and did it lead to any follow-up measures? The answers are yet to arrive, but such questions will be one of the tasks of the working group. GAN denies to approve Minatom's plan Prior to the meeting in Brussels Greenpeace Russia has obtained a report made by Minatom which analyses the current situation of SNF contracts of the Russian Federation and describes the bright future of the expansion of such business. Minatom has currently contracts with a number of Eastern European countries on fuel return from the reactors built by the Soviet Union. From 1992 and until 2001, Minatom shipped in 2,030 tonnes of SNF, including 1,608 tonnes from the Ukraine. The report was intended for the President of the Russian Federation and was to circle around various ministries for approval prior to be sent to the head of the state. GAN has refused to approve the report disagreeing on a number of principle points there. A letter — also obtained by Greenpeace — from Yuriy Vishnevsky, head of GAN, to Aleksandr Rumyantsev, Russia's nuclear minister, says that Minatom is wrong in stating that Russia has administrative and technical capabilities to accept SNF from other countries. The only operational Mayak reprocessing plant in the southern Ural has sever problems with radwaste management and cannot reprocess foreign SNF without significant upgrades. Russia has neither legislative foundation national and international to perform large-scale operations with spent nuclear fuel, Vishnevsky wrote. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway [ (c) BELLONA -- Reuse and reprint recommended provided source is stated ] ***************************************************************** 23 Musicians Join Yucca Mountain Protest Thursday, 04-Jul-2002 5:40AM Story from The Associated Press Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press (via ClariNet) CHICAGO (AP) -- The stars came out to protest a plan to store the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada. Not many others did, though. Six protesters wearing identical T-shirts and carrying signs denouncing the proposed Yucca Mountain storage facility were joined Wednesday by members of the Indigo Girls, the B-52s and Midnight Oil. The bands, which were in town for concerts Wednesday and Thursday, came out to urge the U.S. Senate to strike down a plan to store all the nation's nuclear waste in south-central Nevada. The U.S. House of Representatives approved a similar measure in May. Although the proposed storage site lies almost 2,000 miles away from Illinois, the plan will affect the state. The concentration of reactors on the East Coast, the large number of active reactors in Illinois, and the state's role as a transportation hub means that about 80 percent of the 72,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste to be stored in Yucca Mountain will come through the state. Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls said she speaks out on these issues in the hope that her star power will reach people who otherwise would not think about the dangers of nuclear waste transportation and storage. "It's been astonishing to me that such horrible public policy could be passed without many people knowing about it," Saliers said. Peter Garrett, singer for the Australian group Midnight Oil, said citizens should be able to vote on whether they want a nuclear storage facility in their back yard. [http://www.penteledata.net] Home [http://www.ptd.net] ***************************************************************** 24 Nuclear-loaded ship leaves Japan for Britain - July 4, 2002 CNN.com - Greenpeace protested the ship's journey saying it could be a target of attack TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Amid protests from environmental groups, a freighter loaded with rejected nuclear fuel left port in Japan for a return voyage to the fuel's maker in Britain. The plutonium- and uranium-based mixed oxide fuel, or MOX, was put aboard the Pacific Pintail at the Takahama Nuclear Power plant in Fukui prefecture on Thursday, said Tetsuya Kitajima, a spokesman for plant operator Kansai Electric Power Co. The facility is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Tokyo. The Pacific Pintail is a specially equipped armed ship. A small group of demonstrators, including some from Greenpeace, waved banners in protest near the site, saying the journey is too dangerous and the radioactive cargo is not secure from possible attack. Kansai Electric had planned to use the fuel for an experimental nuclear power program at the reactor. But the program was delayed after the fuel's maker, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., admitted its reprocessing plant in Sellafield, England had falsified records in 1999 about the quality of the fuel pellets. BNFL said it would pay 40 million pounds ($58 million) in compensation to Kansai Electric and agreed to ship the fuel back to Britain. Resource-poor Japan aims to use MOX fuel at up to 18 nuclear reactors, out of a total 52 commercial plants, by the year 2010. A group of 10 power utilities plan to build their own MOX fuel processing plant at a total cost of 120 billion yen ($967 million) in northern Japan's Aomori prefecture by 2009. Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. © 2002 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided ***************************************************************** 25 Ship with MOX fuel leaves Japan for Britain Thursday, 04-Jul-2002 4:00AM Story from AFP / Hiroshi Hiyama Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) TOKYO, July 4 (AFP) - A British vessel set sail from a Japanese nuclear plant Thursday to transport plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel back to Britain, hours before a British court was to hear a request from activists to stop the shipment. Workers at Takahama nuclear plant loaded eight containers of MOX fuel on the Pacific Pintail, which left the plant at 3:32 pm (0632 GMT), said a spokesman for the plant, in Fukui Prefecture, about 380 kilometers (240 miles) west of Tokyo. "Now all of our work (from Japan) related to the MOX fuel is done," he said An armed cargo vessel will guard the ship during its two-month voyage to Britain, local news reports said. The fuel was brought to the plant from British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) in 1999 but it was rejected after BNFL admitted to falsifying data related to safety checks it. Anti-nuclear activists and residents of Takahama staged small, peaceful protests outside the plant, which is operated by Kansai Electric Power Co., on Thursday. A team of 15 activists from Greenpeace, joined by a handful of local residents, held up banners rejecting use of plutonium, the group said in a press release. The environmental campaign group had been due to have its application for an interim injunction to prevent the shipment leaving Takahama heard in a British court at 10:30am UK time (0930 GMT, 6:30pm Japan time). But the case became null and void once the ship left. Greenpeace had changed it strategy and was now asking a British court to rule that the fuel is nuclear waste and must be disposed of properly, said Kazue Suzuki, a Greenpeace anti-nuclear activist. "We want to focus our efforts on the judicial examination. Also international branches of Greenpeace will take public action against the transport and use of MOX fuel, which we consider is (nuclear) waste," she said. The MOX fuel to be transported out of Japan contains 255 kilograms (561 pounds) of "weapons usable plutonium", Suzuki said. She said Greenpeace was concerned for security during the voyage back to Britain, saying that some countries en route were fearful of possible terrorist attacks, especially around the US Independence Day holiday. US citizens will be celebrating the holiday amid high security, following Washington's announcements that it received credible information that Americans could face imminent terror attacks at some point in the future, possibly more deadly than the September 11 attacks. Japan, which lacks natural resources, relies on some 50 nuclear reactors to provide about one-third of its electricity. Japan's worries about the use of nuclear fuel intensified in 1999 after three workers at a uranium processing plant at Tokaimura, 120 kilometres (74 miles) northeast of Tokyo, set off a critical reaction. The accident exposed more than 400 residents to radiation in what was the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. Two of the workers later died. [http://www.penteledata.net] Home [http://www.ptd.net] ***************************************************************** 26 Nuclear rod goes missing from the DRC Mail&Guardian Online Wednesday, July 10, 2002 Washington /04 July 2002 09:18/ A nuclear fuel rod used at a research reactor in the Democratic Republic of Congo is missing and the possibility that it's in the hands of terrorists has not been ruled out, a report said on Wednesday. According to the US government-funded /Voice of America/ radio, International Atomic Energy Agency officials first raised concerns about the missing rod in 1998, when it was reported another rod disappeared from the facility at the University of Kinshasa. That rod was later recovered from criminals in Italy. A missing second rod had not been previously reported. A representative for the IAEA confirmed the fuel rod is missing, but it could not be used to build a nuclear device. "Although the whereabouts of that single fuel element are not known, we would say that one element would be of essentially no use in constructing a nuclear device (or) nuclear explosive device," Mark Gwozdecky told /VOA/. "And it would also be a poor choice for constructing a radiological or so-called dirty bomb." The rod was made by the US firm General Atomics, which said it was considered low-enriched, ranging between 19,7 and 19,9% of fissionable Uranium. The benchmark for highly enriched Uranium is 20%. It remained unclear how the rod disappeared from the facility in the western part of the country. Visitors have said security at the site is minimal. Citing industry sources, the radio station reported the reactor poses a potential hazard. The IAEA representative said technical teams have been sent to Kinshasa to ensure it operates safely. - Sapa-DPA AFRICA NEWS | HOMEPAGE ***************************************************************** 27 PSR: Ads Highlight Dangers of Nuclear Waste Trasnsport U.S. Newswire 3 Jul 15:42 PSR: TV Ads Highlight Dangers of Nuclear Waste Transport through Georgia; U.S. Senate Expected to Vote July 10 on Georgia's Future To: State Desk Contact: Ed Arnold, 404-378-9078, or Sharon Pickett, 301-365-9307, both for Physicians For Social Responsibility [http://www.psr.org] (r) WASHINGTON, July 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Stepping up its attack on the proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) announced a series of TV ads that highlight the dangers of transporting highly radioactive waste through Georgia. The ads are currently being shown on all major networks in Augusta, Savannah and Macon, Georgia. The plan to store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain would bring the waste through 44 states and the District of Columbia. Over 1.5 million Georgians live within 1 mile of the proposed transportation route. In addition to the transportation risks, the plan will not eliminate the problem of on-site nuclear waste in Georgia. Nuclear waste must cool off for up to 5 years before being transported. As long as nuclear power is generated, Georgians are at risk. When the Yucca Mountain site is full, Georgia is projected to have almost twice the amount of nuclear waste that it has today. The proposed Yucca Mountain site has been vetoed by Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn. The U.S. Senate will vote as soon as next week on whether to uphold the veto. This vote will be the final referendum on the Yucca Mountain project. The TV ads urge Senators Max Cleland and Zell Miller to support Guinn's veto. Georgia voters who are concerned about the transport of nuclear waste are urged to contact their elected representatives. "Senators Cleland and Miller can vote to stop plans to transport this dangerous waste through Georgia," said PSR Executive Director and CEO Robert K. Musil Ph.D., M.P.H. "If this legislation is passed, Georgians will endure 40 years of nuclear waste traveling through their communities. Trucks transporting nuclear waste will become a frequent sight on I -75, I-20, and I-16, I-85 and I-285 and in cities like Atlanta, Augusta, and Macon. Emergency response teams and the public health infrastructure in Georgia are ill prepared to handle an accident or terrorist attack. Even one severe accident would cause up to 18,000 latent cancer deaths and cost over $10 billion to clean up." "The people of Georgia must urge their Senators to action," said Ed Arnold, director of PSR's Atlanta chapter. "By pursuing this reckless course of action, President Bush and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham are putting the interests of the nuclear industry above the health of millions of Georgians and tens of millions of Americans." http://www.usnewswire.com -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 07/03 15:42 Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire ***************************************************************** 28 Sellafield ordered to replace set of dangerous waste tanks * online.ie home Irish_examiner /The Irish Examiner 04 Jul 2002/ *By Michael O' Farrell* A 60-YEAR-OLD set of nuclear waste tanks at Sellafield are in such dangerous condition that BNFL has been told by the British nuclear watchdog they must be replaced. BNFL has been warned by the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) that neither the structural integrity of the tanks nor the building containing them could be guaranteed beyond ten years. BNFL has already put up a steel building around the tanks in case they collapse. A BNFL spokesperson said the company was aware of the tank's lifespan and was on track to replace them on time. The revelations, contained in the latest issue of the nuclear safety newsletter issued by the UK Health and Safety Executive, come as a separate report by the UK's Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee, found 88% of Britain's intermediate-level nuclear waste had not been treated for safe storage at up to 24 UK locations, including Sellafield. Chief Executive of Ireland's Radiological Protection Institute, Ann McGarry, said the findings of the latest report were very disturbing, given the possibility of a terrorist attack, and would be brought up in a scheduled security meeting due to take place between British and Irish government officials in the coming weeks. According to Greenpeace, BNFL has almost 1,600 cubic metres of liquid, high level waste, which has to be constantly cooled, stored in tanks at its Sellafield site in Cumbria. An accident or malicious act which caused just 50% of the radioactivity to escape would be equivalent to 44 Chernobyls, the organisation estimates. A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment said the most recent revelations were the latest in a long series of safety issues at Sellafield and that the government's aim remained that of closure of the nuclear facility: "It's further evidence, if it was ever needed, that Sellafield is an unnecessary and unacceptable risk to the Irish environment and to the entire country." Meanwhile, in another controversial move, the British government will today appoint a new authority to take on the liabilities of BNFL. The move is being seen by opponents as a first step towards privatisation. "Since the privatisation of the rail transport sector, we have seen numerous serious accidents, some with fatalities. This latest move raises major issues, not only of national safety, but must also set alarm bells ringing internationally," said Fine Gael's Bernard Allen Privacy ***************************************************************** 29 Nuclear waste tops superviors' agenda Wednesday 10 July, 2002 NEWS SEARCH By: Paul Kix , Staff Writer July 03, 2002 *Merle Prater wants no nuclear waste traversing Iowa's highways and railroads. Tuesday at the Story County Board of Supervisors meeting, Prater, a retired environmental scientist and engineer living in Ames, asked the board to tell Iowa senators Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin to vote against upcoming legislation that, beginning next year, would transport 40,000 tons of nuclear waste across Iowa over the next several years.* NEVADA - Merle Prater wants no nuclear waste traversing Iowa's highways and railroads. Tuesday at the Story County Board of Supervisors meeting, Prater, a retired environmental scientist and engineer living in Ames, asked the board to tell Iowa senators Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin to vote against upcoming legislation that, beginning next year, would transport 40,000 tons of nuclear waste across Iowa over the next several years. In Story County, Prater said later, the waste would travel on semi-trucks across Interstate 35 and on the Union Pacific railways that head in all directions. If a person were to stand one yard from spilled waste as a result of an accident, the "lethal" dose would kill "in less than three minutes," Prater said. "You don't hear this from the nuclear people," he said. Proponents of the waste transportation and storage plan argue that such an accident has never happened and is unlikely while waste is being transported because shipping casks are secure. The U.S. Senate will vote later this month to override or uphold the governor of Nevada's veto that would have dumped 40,000 tons of nuclear waste into Yucca Mountain, 90 miles north of Las Vegas, Prater said. In January of this year, President Bush named Yucca Mountain the site for the permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste. If the Senate overrides the veto, 43 states could begin hauling the waste next year, Prater said. Proponents of the legislation say putting the waste on the nuclear site as is currently done won't work because space is limited. Prater disagrees. He said "money" is the reason the waste could be hauled. "The American taxpayer picks up the tab the minute (the waste) leaves the plant," Prater said after the meeting. "It's political now. It's not scientific anymore." Board chairwoman Jane Halliburton said after the meeting the safe transportation of nuclear waste has been a concern for a number of years. In July of 1999, the National Association of Counties adopted a policy to address the potential transportation of waste. "Our focus is trying to put emphasis on sound information, safe policies and planning ahead," Halliburton said. Prater's request, she said, "is an on going request." Also Tuesday, board members of the Story County Decategorization and Empowerment Project - commonly called "Decat" - gave their financial report to the county board. Decat, which is a planning service, can best be described as a liaison between the state and the human services that Story County offers, Annette Dunn, coordinator of Decat said after the meeting. Decat allocates money for programs to keep children and adults out of the child welfare and penal systems, Dunn said. Six programs have been cut for the fiscal year that began Monday, Dunn said. Three staff positions have been cut, as well. Decat also has no budget as of yet for this fiscal year, Dunn said. Tom Southard, juvenile courts officer for Story County, said the services aren't needed as much in the summer as the fall. "October, November is really when I fear we're going to see the impact of this," he said. /©Ames Tribune 2002/ *Reader Opinions* *Name: Brian O'Connell * *Date: Jul, 05 2002 * Your lead sentence and much of the article is far from accurate. Even if the Senate approves the repository in Nevada, the earliest waste would be shipped there is 2010, and there are doubts that is unrealistic. Secondly, the reader is left with the impression that if an accident were to occur en route that the containers would be breached and nuclear material would "spill" with lethal consequences. The containers must meet strict government license requirements. If Iowa is chosen as a shipment route, your State will be provided technical and financial assistance to train public safety "first responders" to handle any accident safely to protect the public. In the past 30 years there have been 2,700 such shipments and NONE involved an accident that involved radiation release, death or injury. NONE. All future shipments must meet strict federal licensing requirements as well as any applicable State laws and regulations. The people who are opposing the repository have an agenda and many have taken an "ends justify the means" attitude toward truthfulness when it comes to talking about nuclear waste transportation risk. They know the public is predisposed to be fearful of radiation and they are seeking to exploit that. They rarely offer a better alternative to waste disposal. Many simply want to shut down nuclear power plants, which would make us even more reliant upon fossile fuels and greenhouse gas consequences. Copyright © 1995 - 2002 PowerOne Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 30 EU Eyes Environment Clean-Up Scheme in North Europe ABCNEWS.com : EU Eyes Environment Clean-Up Scheme in North Europe July 4, 2002 [Reuters] — BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Thursday it expected to launch a 1.8 billion euro program next week to help clean the environment in northern Europe, focusing on the threats posed by nuclear waste in Russia. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, said the long-awaited scheme would start if an international donors' conference in Brussels next Tuesday grants it, as expected, at least 100 million euros in initial funds. "The problems of environmental degradation and particularly those of nuclear waste are matters of international concern. Future generations will not forgive us if we fail to act now," said EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. The Commission will chair the donors' conference along with Russia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development "Our minimum target is 100 million euros. But the donors' pledges can be much higher," said Alistair MacDonald, a senior official at the Commission's Eastern Europe directorate. The pledged funds will co-finance 1.8 billion euros worth of long-term loans from international financial institutions for the most urgent projects needed to reduce water and air pollution in the Baltic and Barents Sea regions. Out of this sum, about 500 million euros is to be spent on dealing with dangerous nuclear waste in northwestern Russia, which is mainly the legacy of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union produced hundreds of nuclear submarines. The vessels are now being decommissioned, with many just rusting away in various bases on the Barents Sea, and the spent radioactive material is stored in hazardous conditions. "The Kola peninsula contains the world's largest repository of spent nuclear fuel. Its storage conditions are unacceptable," said Thomas Maier of the EBRD's nuclear department. Copyright 2002 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright © 2002 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures. ***************************************************************** 31 Norway misinformed about Russian plant for nuclear waste Wednesday, 10.7.2002 6. Juli 2002 Norway was in May misled into believing that a Russian plant for cleaning nuclear waste at Murmansk was operative, when in fact it was not. Norway has contributed NOK 40 million towards the project. A Norwegain delegation headed by Undersecretary of State, Elsbeth Tronstad, visited the plant at the end of May, and were told that they could not enter the plant, the Russian newspaper New Izvestia writes. The reason given was that radioactive waste was being processed at the time, according to the delegation's report. According to the Russian newspaper, the plant has not yet been put into operation. The paper writes that Norway has tried to keep track of how the Norwegian money has been used, but without much result. (NRK) Rolleiv Solholm ***************************************************************** 32 Mock cask underscores group's nuke waste transportation worry MyInKy: Local News By MARK WILSON Courier &Press staff writer 464-7417 or mwilson@evansville.net July 3, 2002 It looked like a large silver thread spool or a spacecraft from the set of a science-fiction show. But the strange object mounted on a trailer outside the Community Action Program of Evansville office Tuesday represented something more serious. The lifesize mock nuclear waste cask was there to underscore the alleged dangers of a proposed plan to transport radioactive waste across the country through Indiana and numerous other states and consolidate it at Yucca Mountain, Nev., in the name of national security. The Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana held news conferences in Evansville and Terra Haute on Tuesday to highlight its concerns. "This is just not Nevada's problem because one of the biggest issues is going to be transportation," said Chris Williams, the group's executive director. If the U.S. Senate votes this month to approve the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as a repository for nuclear waste, 9,819 shipments by train or 32,913 by truck could travel through Evansville during the 38-year project. More than 86,000 Evansville residents live within one mile of possible nuclear waste routes, according to the Environmental Working Group, a public interest group based in Washington, D.C. According to Williams, 40 to 60 percent of those shipments will come through Indiana. "We will become the radioactive crossroads of America," he said. The U.S. Department of Energy has said that the chances are small that a leak would occur while the waste is being transported. But Williams said Tuesday that there is a risk. His group proposes hardening storage facilities and increasing security at the more than 100 nuclear sites involved. The group also proposes phasing out nuclear energy as a power source and moving to renewable energy alternatives such as wind or solar power. [http://www.scripps.com] © 2001 The E.W. Scripps Co. Please read our Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 33 Biscayne park has nuclear concerns Sun-Sentinel Co. By David Fleshler Staff Writer Posted July 6 2002 A plan to transfer the nation's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, Nev., has caused alarm at Biscayne National Park, which sits along one of the possible transport routes. More than 100 barges would cross the park to haul their radioactive cargo from the Turkey Point nuclear power plant to the Port of Miami, under a scenario prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy. From the port, the nuclear fuel casks would be loaded onto trains for the trip through Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties on their way west to Yucca Mountain. "The potential impacts to the park are not only the small probability of a nuclear accident, but the high probability of potential impacts from the number and types of barges that would travel through the very shallow bay," Biscayne Superintendent Linda Canzanelli wrote this week to supervisors in the National Park Service. The Senate is expected to vote next week on the Yucca Mountain plan, which is intended to concentrate the nation's nuclear waste in a single secure location. The Bush administration supports the plan, and the House has already approved it. The transport plans would be worked out over the next few years, with the first shipments taking place around 2010. The 173,000-acre park encompasses coral reefs, islands and mangrove coastlines in the southern half of Biscayne Bay. During their 20-mile trip through the park, the barges would go through extensive seagrass beds that serve as important habitats for manatees, sea turtles and juvenile fish, said Monika Mayr, assistant superintendent. Biscayne's managers worry that a barge or escort vessel could run aground in the shallow bay, damaging sensitive marine habitats. And in her memo to Park Service officials, Canzanelli expressed concern about "the disruption to park visitors when the nuclear waste is traveling through the park, and restrictions on park personnel being able to travel in the park to perform their jobs." Nuclear waste consists of metal rods that contain uranium pellets. During their useful life, the pellets undergo atomic fission, heating boilers that spin turbines that generate electricity. When the uranium gives off insufficient heat, it is considered spent and becomes nuclear waste. Nuclear waste is stored on-site at the nation's 103 nuclear power plants. About 800 metric tons of nuclear waste are stored in pools at Turkey Point. The casks of nuclear waste would be sent by truck or rail over many years. Trains are preferred because they would require fewer trips. Under the train scenario, nuclear waste from the St. Lucie County plant would be sent by barge to Port Everglades, where it would be loaded onto trains. The Turkey Point waste could be trucked to a railhead. Or it could be sent by barge across Biscayne National Park to the Port of Miami. The barge trips would take place over several years. Between 104 and 175 barges would cross the park, under scenarios outlined in an environmental impact statement prepared by the Department of Energy. Representatives from the Department of Energy were not available for comment. But in extensive written materials about the program, the Department of Energy insists that the transportation of nuclear waste will be conducted safely. The lead-lined casks have been subjected to puncture tests, immersion in water, a 30-foot free fall and a 1,475-degree fire, according to the department. And the department says it simply makes sense to concentrate nuclear waste in a single, well-secured place where it can be watched, rather than allow it to remain scattered around more than 100 nuclear power plants that were never intended to serve as long-term storage sites. Rachel Scott, spokeswoman for FPL, which supports the plan, said the shipments will be handled with great care and only after careful study of the routes. Private shipping companies will probably do the work, she said. "All of these shipments will be done with very strict safety and security criteria," she said. "The Department of Energy will be working with state and federal emergency management agencies to coordinate it." David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535. Copyright 2002 , Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive, Inc. Powered by Genuity ***************************************************************** 34 Just say no to N-waste deseretnews.com I have been reading recent articles in the paper about Yucca Mountain. Let's see if I got this straight. The Yucca Mountain nuclear fuel storage site will cost taxpayers much more than the Panama Canal, the World Trade Towers and the Hoover Dam combined but may not be safe because it is in an earthquake zone. Because the nuclear industry continues to produce spent fuel, by the time the time fuel is shipped to Yucca there will be enough to fill Yucca and Skull Valley, and there will still be plenty in storage around nuclear power plants and we have to look for another Yucca or Skull Valley. Transporting it to Yucca means thousands of shipments over many years with inevitable accidents and possible terrorist attacks that could be catastrophic. The lion's share will go right through the heart of Utah. And (this is the part I struggle to understand) Utah's two senators are undecided! Wake up, Sens. Hatch and Bennett! This one is a no brainer. Only if small Western states band together can we avoid becoming a nuclear dump for the powerful states to our east and west. Just say no. *Chip Ward * Grantsville © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 35 PILT to the hilt, cold facts and email myths Content Wednesday 10 July, 2002 /©Pahrump Valley Times 2002/ By: RICH THURLOW, Editor July 03, 2002 *"Letters like that won't be published without some facts to back up claims."* Sen. John Ensign was speaking like a true fiscal conservative last week when he said Nye County officials are wasting their time lobbying members of Congress for benefits if the Yucca Mountain Project gets the green light. The reason is simple enough - there is no money available. Isn't that refreshing? Unfortunately, Ensign is only one of 100 senators, and many of them like to spend, spend, spend like there is no tomorrow - regardless of how much of our money they don't have at their disposal. How else can you explain the budget deficits that have returned after the government actually had a surplus of our money in recent years? True, taxpayers are funding a war on terror, but if there has been any effort to curtail spending in other areas while this expensive war is being waged it has escaped my notice. And Ensign also had kind words for the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program, which compensates jurisdictions where there are large amounts of public lands that can't be assessed for taxes. PILT cost taxpayers $210 million this year, a figure that has to be added on top of the costs associated with managing those lands. Of course, PILT isn't new spending; it's just more spending on a program that has been around for years. In fact, several years ago Sen. Harry Reid sent out a press release hailing the latest release of PILT funds, while also calling for even more money to go to counties where they is a preponderance of public lands. It was pointed out in the story regarding PILT that providing more funding would come out of taxpayers' pockets, which would likely result in a tax increase. Reid replied with a letter to the editor that that wasn't necessarily so. He was correct, of course. More and more PILT can be sent back to the counties with no increase in taxes. It plays hell with the budget deficit, though. o The letters to the editor regarding local political campaigns are rolling in. We've printed a few "throw the bums out" samples - though no one has specifically bothered to identify who the bums, or "good old boys," actually are. When letter writers get around to naming names of candidates, however, we would like them to be more exacting in pointing out candidate shortcomings. For example, one Pahrump resident is opposed to a particular candidate for Assembly District 36 because the man has a history of "disturbing treatment of senior citizens," without offering any specifics. Letters like that won't be published without some facts to back up claims. The writer of the letter has been invited to expand on his comments in order for it to be published. o The old rumor about Congress - or somebody somewhere - enacting a law that will result in a fee being charged for every email that is sent is, brace yourself, nothing but a rumor. I learned about the revival of the rumor this week when I checked my own email at the office and found three separate references to the supposed efforts to tack a fee onto cyberspace use. Some people are more susceptible to those kinds of rumors than others. I have my own rule when confronted with a "fact" that doesn't make sense. In the case of the tax or fee on email, let's look at it this way. Millions upon millions of people in the U.S. use the Internet every day and perhaps a majority of them send, and certainly a majority receives, email. That being the case, if a fee for email was being contemplated, don't you think there would be more than a little bit of news coverage? Such a fee can't be imposed in secret, and reporters, editors and publishers use email. It's the same with planets that are supposedly on a collision course with earth, or toddlers being whisked away from the mall by kidnappers. In both cases, and numerous others, there would be plenty of news coverage. Reporters, editors and publishers live on this planet, and many of them have children. News coverage may not be perfect, but the people in the business generally know a story when they see one. And regardless of what you might think, there is no government agency out there that prevents stories from being published. /©Pahrump Valley Times 2002/ Copyright © 1995 - 2002 PowerOne Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 36 Cost of nuclear waste clean-up increases to £48bn Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Cost of nuclear waste clean-up increases to £48bn Special report: Green politics Patrick Wintour, chief political correspondent Thursday July 4, 2002 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] Estimated costs of Britain's civil nuclear waste legacy have risen to around £48bn, a £6bn increase on previous estimates, a government white paper is expected to say today. The £42bn estimate came as recently as November and underlines the difficulties the government is meeting in making accurate forecasts. The news comes as the government prepares today to publish details of its previously announced plans to set up a liabilities management authority (LMA) responsible for the government's interest in the discharge of both BNFL's and the United Kingdom Energy Authority's nuclear liabilities. These include site clean- up and decommissioning. Establishment of the LMA, taking over the Sellafield plant, amounts to the break-up of BNFL. But the transfer of the liabilities to the LMA will leave BNFL in a position to press ahead with flotation of its fuel manufacturing and international clean-up and engineering businesses, the key element of which is Westinghouse. The government hopes the LMA's establishment will create some much needed public confidence in the management of nuclear waste. The £6bn increase in the estimated liabilities since the government last published figures in November is seen within government as underlining the urgent need to set up a body dedicated to waste. The energy minister, Brian Wilson, will stress today the new body will not directly handle the disposal of waste, but instead distribute contracts for others to do so. Ministers hope the contracting process will widen the field of expertise in Britain and through competition drive down costs. The current near monopoly has contributed to the escalating costs, the government believes. Ministers also hope that the LMA by operating transparently will inject some much needed confidence in the nuclear industry after public confidence was shaken by the endemic secrecy of the loss-making BNFL. The £48bn liabilities represent redundant radioactively contaminated facilities, equipment and materials, which need to be dismantled and disposed of. Today's announcement will not include a much awaited commitment to make Nirex, the advisory body on disposal of nuclear waste, fully independent of the industry. Special report Britain's nuclear industry Interactive guide Nuclear reprocessing Graphics Nuclear map of Britain US nuclear map Useful links British Nuclear Fuels Ltd [http://www.bnfl.co.uk/website.nsf/default.htm] Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament [http://www.cnduk.org/] HSE nuclear glossary [http://www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/ilrwglos.htm] UK atomic energy authority [http://www.ukaea.org.uk/] National Radiological Protection Board [http://www.nrpb.org.uk/] World Nuclear Association [http://www.uilondon.org/] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 37 £48bn Bill For Nuclear Waste/Nuclear Cargo Ship Sails For UK Nuclear material © 2002 BSkyB Clearing up Britain's nuclear waste stockpile will cost the taxpayer £48bn, the Government has revealed. British Nuclear Fuels is being stripped of its responsibility for waste disposal, which will now be carried out by a new public body. Annual spending on the clean-up programme is expected to be well over £1bn in each of the next 10 to 15 years. Disposal The expenditure will cover the decommissioning and eventual demolition of plant and buildings. It will also cover the processing, storage and disposal of nuclear wastes and any environmental restoration. BNFL, which runs the Sellafield reprocessing plant and Britain's older nuclear power stations, cannot afford the bill. Radioactive Its bankruptcy last year was blamed on the huge liabilities of cleaning up radioactive waste which has accumulated over 50 years. The new body, the Liabilities Management Authority, was created to ensure that the clean-up is carried out safely and efficiently. Experts believe the announcement will kick-start work to deal with thousands of tonnes of waste and will be a big step in plans to privatise BNFL. Last Updated: 13:49 UK, Thursday July 04, 2002 © 2002 BSkyB | Privacy Statement | Terms and Conditions ***************************************************************** 38 Taxpayers Pay For Nuclear Clean-Up [http://www.sky.com] Sellafield plant Nuclear Cargo Ship Sails For UK The taxpayer is set to foot the bill for clearing up Britain's nuclear waste, under details to be announced by the Government. It is estimated the cost will be £1.8bn a year for the next two decades. British Nuclear Fuels, which runs the Sellafield reprocessing plant and Britain's older nuclear power stations, cannot afford the bill. Broken up Its bankruptcy last year was blamed on the huge liabilities of cleaning up radioactive waste which has accumulated over 50 years. BNFL is expected to be, in effect, broken up, under new Government proposals. The clean-up operation will be managed by a new public body - the Liabilities Management Authority. The Government says its White Paper will build on BNFL's work and provide a more "strategic approach". Environmentalists hope it will lead to an improvement in Britain's nuclear waste management. Sky's correspondent Mike McCarthy said: "Environmentalists say that there will not be much change in reprocessing - that this announcement is only moving the furniture around." Last Updated: 12:40 UK, Thursday July 04, 2002 © 2002 BSkyB | Privacy Statement | Terms and Conditions ***************************************************************** 39 [generalnews] N. Korea Accuses U.S. of War Plot Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 00:16:09 -0500 (CDT) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Free $5 Love Reading Risk Free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/3PCXaC/PfREAA/Ey.GAA/7gSolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-nkorea- us0630jun30.story N. Korea Accuses U.S. of War Plot By Associated Press June 30, 2002, 6:03 AM EDT SEOUL, South Korea -- Unleashing a new verbal attack on Washington a day after a bloody naval clash with South Korea, North Korea accused the United States Sunday of plotting a "preemtive strike" against the communist country. The North Korean criticism came in response to President Bush's remarks early this month that the United States will strike pre- emptively against suspected terrorists if necessary. The North, however, did not mention Saturday's naval skirmish with South Korea in which a North Korean navy boat sank a Southern patrol boat in the western sea, killing four of its crew and wounding 19 others. One was missing. North Korea, along with Iran and Iraq, were labeled by Bush to be part of "an axis of evil" countries with intentions to develop weapons of mass destruction. Saturday's naval clash was the most serious border clash in recent years. The United States expressed for support for South Korea hours after the 21-minute skirmish. The Koreas were divided in 1945, and share the world's most heavily armed border. The United States keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. Copyright ) 2002, The Associated Press Grassroots International News Association http://www.geocities.com/rootmedia o unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: generalnews-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 40 Write Now: No Jail for Fathers O'Donnell/Vitale Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 23:47:15 -0500 (CDT) [All ads are inserted by Topica without our consent. Ignore them.] To: Honorable Congressperson Lee cc: "Ellen Tauscher" , "Fortney Pete Stark" , "Zoe Lofgren" , , Senator@boxer.senate.gov (Senator) RE: 1810 Your constituents are in danger. Please send letter to Judge and pass legislation (see below). Sincerely, Ellen Starbird 2200 Adeline St. #335 Oakland, CA 94607 Honorable G. Mallon Faircloth, U.S. Magistrate Judge P. O. Box 117 Columbus, GA 31902 re: Support for HR 1810, Fr. O'Donnell and Fr. Vitale Honorable Judge Faircloth, On July 8th, 2002 you will hear evidence in the trial of Fr. Bill O'Donnell and Fr. Louie Vitale from St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley. Both men are accused of having trespassed on the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). WHISC was formerly called the U.S. School of the Americas at Fort Benning, (the name was changed to sanitize the facility's known history of crimes against humanity). According to SOA Watch office at 202-234-3440 the facility continues to train military forces of foreign despots in tactics of torture and crimes against civilians. You sentenced Dorothy Hennessey, a sister of the Order of St. Francis in Dubuque, to six months for protesting at WHISC. As an act of conscience Sr. Hennessey was called, perhaps by faith or rule of law to act regarding this despotic military torture training and skill building school for crimes against humanity. In keeping with the principles of Nuremberg, no citizen is exempt from the conduct of law. Sr. Hennessey was acting in accord with international law for which you gave her the highest sentence you can order for this misdemeanor. I write to urge you not to sentence Fr. Bill and Fr. Louie to jail time. Although there is no doubt that harsh treatment of these 70 year old priests will redouble our efforts to close the U.S. training camp for torturers and shame the legislature to action; clearly the taxpayers' best interests are not served by jailing Americans of conscience for acting on their conscience. 110 Congress persons have co-sponsored the bill, HR 1810, which calls for the closure of the "school" and the establishment of a joint congressional task force to assess U.S. training of Latin American military. TO SEE A COPY OF THE TEXT OF H.R.1810 go to http://www.soaw.org It is long past time that the criminals who run WHISC were held accountable for their crimes. I am calling on my legislators and other to join me in writing to you to end your complicity with these crimes against humanity, and to pass HR 1810 to close the school of torture. Sincerely, Ellen M. Starbird ________________________________________________ Let me give you a word on the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. -- Frederick Douglass Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar. Julius Caesar _____________________________________________________________________________ _ SolidarityInfoServices Solidarity4Ever, LaborLeftNews, BayAreaNews, Labor4Justice and other lists for social justice activists and others who want in-depth coverage of issues, insightful analysis, thought-provoking commentary and notice of important social change events. To view Solidarity4Ever on the web: To view LaborLeftNews on the web: To view Labor4Justice on the web: News - Analysis - Commentary in Service to Social Justice What you need to know, not just to understand the world ... but to change it! ========================================================== Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Get the latest weather, sports, and lifestyle news you can't afford to miss, all at a price you can afford to pay! 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You can also manage this function yourself by going to the list at www.igc.topica.com/lists/Solidarity4Ever where you will have to register with Topica in order to administer your own subscription. _______________________________________________ ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: map@pencil.math.missouri.edu EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?b1dc1A.b2zMgD Or send an email to: solidarity4Ever-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ ***************************************************************** 41 Nuke spooks unfold hair-raising tales WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2002 THE TIMES OF INDIA INDIA POWERED BY INDIATIMES SRINIVAS LAXMAN TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ SATURDAY, JULY 06, 2002 12:24:58 AM ] MUMBAI: Just weeks after the subcontinent seemed a hair's breadth away from nuclear war, it turns out that sweepings off the floor of Pakistani barber shops near the Kahuta nuclear facility gave Indian intelligence agencies the first proof that Islamabad had the capability of making nuclear weapons. In the 1980s, the Indian department of atomic energy asked spooks to obtain samples of hair from workers at Kahuta in order to check the chemical composition, says a recently-released book, Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security by defence analyst Bharat Karnad,who played a key role in framing India?s nuclear doctrine. The samples,which Indian intelligence agencies managed to get from barber shops in the township adjoining the plant, were then irradiated at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. This showed that Pakistan had managed to enrich uranium to weapons-grade. The information was passed on to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. In an interview to an American newspaper, Mr Gandhi had announced that India had ?very hard information, physical information that Pakistanis have highly enriched uranium, easily capable of being used in nuclear weapons??. However, the outcome of this operation was that Pakistani counterintelligence agencies were alerted. ?Consequently, when another hair sample was requested, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) discovered that their agent who had fetched the earlier items had disappeared,?? the book states. The book also says that in 1983, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had asked former air chief marshal Dilbaugh Singh to prepare for a strike operation against Pakistani nuclear facilities. ?The directorate of operations (offensive) at the air force headquarters drew up plans for a pre-emptive, surgical strike on the centrifuge cascades producing enriched uranium, and other nearby facilities concerned with the Pakistani bomb project,?? the book says. Select squadrons of Indian Air Force Jaguar fighters began practising for the mission. US intelligence agencies discovered the Indian plan and tipped off Pakistan. Indian signal intelligence then picked up information that thePakistani air force was preparing to strike Barc, and Ms Gandhi called off the plan to attack Pakistan?s nuclear establishments. The book adds that it was a Russian spy satellite that in May 1998 alerted India to Pakistani preparations for a 20-kiloton nuclearweapons test in the Ras Koh hills of Baluchistan. Based on this data, Prime Minister Vajpayee and his adviser Brajesh Mishra decided that India should beat Pakistan in the weapons test. COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE Before condemning the US,you have to rea... - *Zardad* Instead of preventing Pakistan from deve... - *saroshsepai* This shows that the real enemy is US not... - *coolestnitish* Read all comments About the Publisher | For reprint rights: Times Syndication Services Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use ***************************************************************** 42 SADDAM'S NUCLEAR TIMEBOMB *Eighteen medics dead since dirty missile exploded over hospital Highest death toll of any British regiment serving in the Gulf War* Steve Mckenzie Exclusive THE deaths of 18 Gulf War medics from a Scots volunteer unit can be linked to Iraq's nuclear dirty bombs, the Sunday Mail can reveal. The casualty rate is more than double that of any other British unit dispatched. The latest victim from the Territorial Army's 205 General Hospital is hospital porter Donald Macdonald, from Glasgow, who served with the TA for 20 years. He died of bowel cancer two weeks ago in Glasgow's Western Infirmary. Ministry of Defence figures confirm the deaths of 10 people who served with 205 - but evidence gathered from the veterans reveal at least another eight of their colleagues have died, most before their mid-40s. The veterans association figures show the average death rate across the major units is eight, but 205 have lost at least 18. Iraqi missiles were fired at 205's base in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 conflict. Last week, the Sunday Mail revealed that it is feared the Scuds were laced with heavy metal used in nuclear weapons. Gulf War veterans have been struck down by a range of ailments, including cancer, asthma and mental problems. Some blame the "Gulf War Syndrome" on a series of vaccinations for anthrax, the plague and whooping cough. But veterans of 205 now fear their grim toll is linked to a "dirty bomb" fired at the hospital. The hospital was the target of two waves of Scud attacks between January 17-22 and on Januray 25. Another recent death linked to the TA hospital is that of Captain Ron Bailey from Northampton, who served with the Scots. An inquest is expected to be held into his death. Yesterday, Donald Macdonald's widow, Liz, 50, said her 62-year-old husband,took seriously ill shortly after complaining of stomach pains. Liz said: "It all happened very quickly. He had never complained of having health problems before. It was a shock to him. "Donald was passionate about his work with the medical corps but he never spoke about his time in the Gulf War." Former TA nurse Roseann Gallagher, 41, from Glasgow, has watched her group of friends within 205 ravaged by death and disease. She was at Donald's funeral in Clydebank last Friday with her husband John, 40, also a TA medic sent to the Gulf. John still works, but often suffers bouts of sickness. Mother-of-two Roseann said: "Out of the people I knew and served with, four have committed suicide, one has testicular cancer and another serious mental problems. Two-and-a-half years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I've had to give up a good job and there is never a day when I'm not in pain." The former lance-corporal and class one medic has undergone lengthy chemo and radiotherapy. She said: "The veterans and families association has been a Godsend and I phone them when I feel that bad. They've been an inspiration." Roseann blames her exposure to chemicals and poisons for the cancer which shattered her life. She said: "I had a good job as an assistant manager working in housing for the elderly. I had to give that up." Former North Sea oilrig medic Michael Burrows, 46, a Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) volunteer was found to have enriched uranium in his urine and a bone sample. He recalls a Scud missile exploding 200 ft above the camp where the hospital staff were billeted. He suspects it was contaminated with uranium and was the cause of the chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome he suffers. He said: "Almost immediately after returning home, I suffered depression and nightmares. I had this overwhelming feeling I was going to die." His friend Bob Shakesby, 52, a Regimental Sergeant Major in the RAMC was a qualified nurse who worked as a social worker before ill-health forced him to quit. He said: "The number of nurses who have died, or are now coming forward with serious health problems, is increasing all the time, not only among the Scottish people, but those attached to 205 as well. "I know of 30 to 40 suffering like myself and I have been to a couple of funerals for former colleagues. "My anxiety has gone up since Mick's results. If he has uranium in his system, there is every chance myself and others have it and it has done damage over all these years. "When I came back from the Gulf, I suffered from mood swings and I thought about suicide. My wife Denise said I was a completely different person." Phil Garner , 44, an RAMC reservist and staff nurse, received a letter from the MoD's veterans unit confirming 10 from the hospital team had died. The letter added that the Government unit was aware of a further death it still had to confirm. Phil said: "I have asked the MoD for further breakdowns but they say they can't do that because personnel ended up serving in different units from their own one. But, from speaking to others, I know the toll among the medical staff is high." Figures kept by the Gulf Veterans and Families Association (GVFA) show as many as 546 vets from throughout the forces have died since the war. Latest MoD records reveal 524 deaths. Causes of death include cancer, road accidents and suicides. In the letter to Phil, the MoD's Gulf Veterans Illness Unit said of the 10 deaths they can confirm in 205, three were the result of cancers, four classed as suicides/undetermined accident and the others from circulatory disease, digestive system problems and a car crash. Three hundred medical staff were supplied by 205 General Hospital, which was based in Glasgow's Yorkhill at the time , but has since moved to Govan. Yesterday, Jim Moore, of the GVFA, said the death rate among the medical team is shocking. He said: "I believe it is the highest of any unit that went to the Gulf. The majority of those with 205 were not regulars, but civilians who volunteered to give up their jobs and families to go to war." ***************************************************************** 43 Builder expects to begin work on Hanford complex this month The Seattle Times: seattletimes.com Thursday, July 04, 2002, 12:00 a.m. Pacific Builder expects to begin work on Hanford complex this month By Linda Ashton The Associated Press YAKIMA — The contractor designing and building the $4 billion radioactive-waste treatment complex at the Hanford nuclear reservation expects to begin construction later this month. "We're very close," Suzanne Heaston, a spokeswoman for Bechtel National, said yesterday. The massive project, which will take about 10 years to finish, is loaded with gee-whiz statistics. For example, it will use 250,000 cubic yards of concrete — enough to cover a football field with a block more than 100 feet high. Eventually, some 60,000 tons of reinforcing and structural steel will be used. Some of it is already in position. The state Department of Ecology expects to have all the necessary permits completed by next week, and then the U.S. Department of Energy will give the go-ahead to begin placing the concrete. An exact date has yet to be determined. "We've been working very hard to get all of the permits in place so they can expedite this project," said Ecology spokeswoman Sheryl Hutchison. For part of the project, the state approved some designs in phases — rather than requiring a finished product — so construction could start sooner. The vitrification plant, which will turn radioactive waste into glass cylinders for long-term storage, is supposed to be ready to run in 2007. More than 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste is stored in 177 underground tanks, 67 of which have leaked more than 1 million gallons into the soil over the years, contaminating ground water and threatening the Columbia River. Under the Tri-Party Agreement, a 1989 legal pact governing cleanup at Hanford, 10 percent of the tank waste — the most radioactive portion — should be vitrified by 2018. Bechtel and the Energy Department have said that amount of the work could be completed by 2013 but would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more. By 2028, under the Tri-Party Agreement, all the tank waste should be vitrified and, by 2034, the tanks should be closed for good. The three parties to the agreement are the state, the Energy Department and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Originally, construction on the vitrification plant was to begin last July — a deadline the Energy Department was unable to meet because it had fired contractor BNFL in 2000 when its cost estimates for the project more than doubled to $15.2 billion. The state fined the Energy Department $305,000 for failing to start construction on time. The fine will be forgiven as long as the federal department and its contractors meet their obligations on the project through 2003. Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company ***************************************************************** 44 IAAP selected as cleanup site The Hawk Eye Newspaper Wednesday, July 3, 2002 By Dennis J. Carroll The Hawk Eye MIDDLETOWN — The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant has been given a special designation to allow for cleanup of radioactive wastes left over from its days as a nuclear weapons factory. However, funds for the restoration of several sites on the sprawling plant have not been included in President Bush's budget for the next federal fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Congress could appropriate such funds, however. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis announced Tuesday that the IAAP has been designated a radioactive cleanup site under the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. FUSRAP was created by Congress to assess and clean up contamination associated with the nation's early atomic weapons programs. That is a separate funding source from an Army Superfund appropriation, which is being used to clean up soil and groundwater contaminated by chemicals and heavy metals contamination caused by the manufacture of conventional weapons. That $100 million–plus Superfund project is being overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is not expected to be completed until at least 2014. Some areas of IAAP were used to store, assemble, machine, burn and test–fire high explosive nuclear weapons components for the Atomic Energy Commission from the 1940s into the 1970s. The corps found evidence of radioactive releases at Firing sites 12 and 5, and on Line 1, the nuclear production line, all associated with the Atomic Energy Commission. The corps said the findings resulted from interviews, existing and recently declassified documents, and limited radiological surveys. Ten other areas also will be surveyed for possible radioactive contamination, the corps said in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R–Iowa. Grassley said he will attempt to ensure that Congress finds money for the cleanup in the budget for fiscal 2003. 800 S. Main St., Burlington Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 Front Desk · 319-754-6824 FAX · 1-800-397-1708 Toll Free ***************************************************************** 45 DOE to meet with state to land cleanup funds - By Joe Walker Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 UPLOAD_TIME:200207032321 SUMMARY:With a deadline less than a month away, Department of Energy and regulatory officials are headed back to the table trying to resolve differences that could produce added cleanup money for the Paducah uranium enrichment plant. The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Thursday, July 04, 2002 At stake is a share of $800 million set aside to hasten cleanup at plants such as Paducah's gaseous diffusion plant. With a deadline less than a month away, Department of Energy and regulatory officials are headed back to the table trying to resolve differences that could produce added cleanup money for the Paducah uranium enrichment plant. Kentucky Natural Resources Secretary James Bickford was attempting to arrange a follow-up meeting next week at his office, said cabinet spokesman Mark York. "We're doing our best to nail down a time when everyone can make it," he said. "I think we're all committed to doing what we can, as fast as we can, with the bottom line that we all want this site cleaned up." At stake is Paducah's potential share of $800 million the Energy Department has promised to hasten environmental cleanup at various nuclear sites nationwide on the basis of need. The money must be approved by Congress. All but about $43 million has been pledged in letters of intent to various sites across the country. Bill Murphie, DOE cleanup manager for Paducah, said he must submit a request by Aug. 1 to the Office of Management and Budget for Paducah to have any chance for the money during the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1. In response to the Sun's inquiry, he released a statement Wednesday saying another meeting was planned for next week "to discuss the potential path forward." The Energy Department and state and federal environmental regulators have been unable to agree on a new cleanup plan as a prerequisite for seeking the money. They held a June 17 public meeting in Paducah to talk about the issues and met privately in Frankfort the following week. Ken Wheeler, chairman of a Paducah enrichment plant task force, said some issues apparently are being resolved that seemed stalemated last month. Regulators said at the public meeting that they wanted faster cleanup but disagreed with DOE on details and weren't ready to back away from a 1998 agreement. "I think there was a sincere change in approach on both sides after the public meeting and I do believe they met the next week in good faith," Wheeler said. "They've indicated they've made substantial progress. Whether that is enough is the question." While he and other community leaders push for a resolution, some plant neighbors and watchdog groups question the safety of faster cleanup. Last month, the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability — composed of 33 citizens’ groups around nuclear sites nationwide — sent setters asking Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Louisville, and other members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to eliminate the fund and provide "adequate, stable funding" for all nuclear sites. The letters charged that the Energy Department’s "cleanup reform" account is mainly "slush fund" money taken from what Congress appropriated this year for more than a dozen nuclear sites. DOE spokesman Joe Davis denied the claims, saying the group was misinformed and misguided. Bob Schaeffer, public education director for the alliance, said DOE is seeking another $300 million in accelerated cleanup money, realizing that the $800 million won't cover the priority work nationwide. ***************************************************************** 46 Alice Stewart, Who Linked X-Rays to Diseases, 95, Dies The New York Times The New York Times Obituaries *July 4, 2002* Alice Stewart, Who Linked X-Rays to Diseases, 95, Dies *By CARMEL McCOUBREY* Dr. Alice M. Stewart, an epidemiologist who first demonstrated the link between X-rays of pregnant women and disease in their children, a finding that changed medical practice, died on June 23 in Oxford, England. A resident of the countryside outside Oxford, she was 95. Dr. Stewart, who became one of the most authoritative critics of the safety of the American nuclear weapons program and a leading proponent of the idea that no level of exposure to radiation is safe, came to prominence in 1956 for her report on prenatal X-rays. It was an increasingly common practice in the 1950's to X-ray the abdomens of pregnant women to determine the position of their babies, said Dr. Gayle Greene of Scripps College in Claremont, Calif., who wrote "The Woman Who Knew Too Much: Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation." Dr. Stewart, then a member of the social medicine department at Oxford, was surprised to discover when she conducted a survey that children of mothers who had had this X-ray were almost twice as likely to have cancer as other children. Her finding that there was danger in receiving even such a low dose of radiation was met with outrage by doctors and the nuclear industry, and Dr. Stewart had difficulties obtaining financing for other studies. But by the mid-1970's, other scientists had duplicated her findings on prenatal X-rays, and the practice ended. In a 1995 interview with The Times Higher Education Supplement, a weekly publication in Britain, she described her problems with financing of studies. "If I had been a man I would never have stood it; I would have gone," she said. "The prospects were too bad, the pay too low. But being a woman I didn't have all that number of choices." Dr. Stewart was also at the center of a 14-year battle with the Department of Energy, which cut off her access to its records on the health of nuclear-weapons workers after she and her colleagues found that low doses of radiation had increased the number of cancers among workers at the Hanford nuclear weapons plant in Washington State. Congressional pressure, fueled by Dr. Stewart's appearances before a House subcommittee, forced the department to open the records to independent researchers in 1990 and to surrender its monopoly on government financing of radiation research. More recently, Dr. Stewart devoted her time to arguing that data on Hiroshima survivors, the main source for standards on the safe levels of radiation exposure, was deeply flawed and underestimated radiation's harmful effects. She was born Alice Mary Naish in Sheffield, England. Her mother, Lucy Wellburn Naish, was one of the first British women to become a doctor, and four of the Naish children became doctors as well. After earning a medical degree at Cambridge, Dr. Stewart joined Oxford in 1941 and studied workers who filled shells with TNT at munition plants. Her conclusions that exposure to TNT impaired the body's ability to form blood led Britain to change its manufacturing techniques. Dr. Stewart left Oxford in 1974, and became a research fellow at the University of Birmingham in England, where she worked until about two years ago. Her marriage to Ludovick Stewart ended in divorce. She is survived by her daughter, Anne Marshall of London, who is a doctor, and four grandchildren. Eric Bakke Dr. Alice M. Stewart in 1990. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************