***************************************************************** 02/06/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.32 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Kazakhstan, USA cooperating to produce uranium, beryllium 2 Armenian energy minister sees no alternative to nuclear power 3 Underground nuclear power station to be built in Crimea 4 Canadian CNSC respons to audit 5 Environmentalists protest at plan to enlarge Russian nuclear NUCLEAR REACTORS 6 Iran warns Israel against attacking nuclear plant 7 China's Qinshan nuclear power plant begins second phase 8 Bulgaria: Trade unions at nuclear plant files claim against 9 US: Atomic Safety &Licensing Board Grants Petitioners' Request for 10 US: INDIAN POINT NUKE PLANT COULD BE TERRORIST TARGET 11 US: Opinion: Unworkable evacuation plan A Indian Point 12 Nuclear reactor in western Ukraine back in operation NUCLEAR SAFETY 13 Georgia tackles nuclear hangover 14 US: New Hampshire Seeks Radiation Sickness Pills 15 US: Worker injured at NFS 16 Rongelap Island radiation levels return to normal 17 US: NRC Contracts for Iodine Block Drug 18 Georgia Warns of Radioactive Items 19 Nuclear safety in Slovenia satisfactory - parliamentary body 20 Georgia tackles nuclear hangover 21 Georgia: Radioactive find alarms scientists - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 22 US: Nevada dump would mean decades of radioactive shipments across U 23 US: Duke Power weighs appealing a hearing on MOX fuel, license 24 US: Commission reviews study warning of nuclear dump's negative effe 25 US: NUCLEAR WASTE: Guinn will press Bush on dump 26 US: Editorial: New budget in love with nuke dump 27 US: State to take Yucca protest to White House 28 US: Nev. Nuclear Waste Plan Faulted by Ex-Official 29 US: Many uncertainties surround plan for storing nuclear waste at 30 US: MOX plant principal is sold off 31 US: Yucca Mountain Assessment NUCLEAR WEAPONS 32 Iran rules out nuclear weapons 33 US: Powell: U.S. to Sign Binding Arms Pact 34 Pasko case: Supreme Court to nullify secret decrees 35 Russia to give priority in nuclear weapons building to the navy - 36 Kazakhstan to bury toxic substances at former nuclear test US DEPT. OF ENERGY 37 Budget includes Pantex increase 38 Hanford cuts proposed 39 PNNL well positioned for funding 40 Bush's Hanford plan raises debate: Critics say funding will not 41 Nuclear Engineer Settles in Whistleblower Case 42 After Legal Defeat, Whistleblower Seeks Alternatives for 43 Bush budget calls for closing INEEL 44 Funding for Hanford cleanup falls way short, lawmakers say 45 DOE cut to reduce monitoring of plant cleanup OTHER NUCLEAR 46 School one of top two vying for key project to study rare isotopes 47 IAEA Daily Press Review Tuesday, 05 February, 2002 48 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.06 | 30 January - 5 February 2002 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Kazakhstan, USA cooperating to produce uranium, beryllium BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Almaty, 4 February: The United States will allocate funds to Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan's national nuclear corporation, to improve the technology for recovering uranium powder at the Ulba Metals Plant in East Kazakhstan, as per understandings reached three years ago, Kazatomprom told Interfax. As reported, the US National Nuclear Security Administration has issued a grant of 1.2m dollars over three years as part of the nuclear nonproliferation effort to help the Ulba plant to improve the extraction of uranium dioxide from scrap. Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) and RWE Nukem Corp. are also making financial contributions. Last year, the Ulba works started to reduce materials containing uranium to a ceramic dioxide powder form for GNF. This was the first step towards the provision of services to western companies that involve processing scrap and other uranium-containing materials in an effort to streamline the production of nuclear fuel, making fuel safer and reducing waste. Kazatomprom says it has already signed contracts to process scrap with General Electric of the United States and BNFL of Britain. The powders to produce nuclear fuel pellets are being certified for the western market. They have already been certified by GE and ought to be certified for Western Europe and Southeast Asia within a year or two. The Ulba works already has a contract with Brush Wellman, the USA's biggest beryllium marketing company, to sell beryllium on the world market. The ten-year deal to 2009 states that Ulba will also supply products containing beryllium to Brush Wellman for sale in the United States. The Ulba works is the largest producer of nuclear fuel in the CIS and is the only company in Eurasia to produce the full range of beryllium products - from rough ingots to finished goods. Raw materials are supplied from Kazatomprom uranium deposits - the Stepnoy and Central mines and Mine No 6. Kazatomprom has, in line with targets, increased uranium mine output from 794 tonnes in 1998 to more than 2,000 tonnes in 2001. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1527 gmt 4 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 2 Armenian energy minister sees no alternative to nuclear power BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Armenian Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan has said that the country needs alternative sources of energy in order to scrap its nuclear power station. He said that he could not see an alternative as the country lacked sufficient water resources and its remaining power plants were mainly powered by gas, which is imported. The following is the text of Armen Akopyan report by Armenian newspaper Ayots Ashkhar on 6 February entitled "The financial situation is difficult but not hopeless": Continuation of interview with Energy Minister Armen Movsisyan [Ayots Ashkhar correspondent] At the end of last year serious problems arose in the [energy] system over the payment of salaries. What is the real situation? [Armen Movsisyan] On the whole, the system has many internal and external obligations. The external obligations are debts for gas and nuclear fuel, and with local banks. The internal problems are salary payments and exploitation. Last year the energy system was in a difficult situation, as the salary debts went up. But in December-January we managed to repay three months' salaries and today we are already making current payments. At the same time we are trying to find ways to repay salary debts through the collection of customers debts. We hope that in the coming six months we shall be able to settle this problem. [Correspondent] The problem of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant's [ANPP] existence is discussed from time to time. What is your position on this question? [Movsisyan] In order to withdraw the ANPP from the system, it is necessary to create an alternative source of energy. Today we do not have such an alternative. I do not believe that it is possible to substitute the ANPP with another source. Armenia does not have such water resources. Moreover, many stations work on gas, which is imported, and this causes other problems. That is why I think that Armenia should keep its nuclear power plant. [Correspondent] What will the fate of the energy distribution networks be? Will they be privatized or will we try to improve the system relying on our own forces? [Movsisyan] I think we should work towards making the networks more attractive for privatization. One of the ways is to is transfer the networks to trust management. This means that we should find such trust manager who would raise the distribution networks to a normal level in the technical and financial sense. But I think that it is not right to hope and to wait for this. The delay of this failed privatization and the undefined status was one of the reasons for the present situation in the system. We have to organize our work in the distribution networks regardless of whether they will be privatized or not, so that in the event that they are not privatized we do not find ourselves is this kind of a situation again. [Correspondent] In addition to becoming more attractive, the price of the distribution networks will also go up. [Movsisyan] Yes, that is indeed so. It is one thing if we privatize the distribution networks with 15 per cent super losses, and another if we privatize them with three per cent super losses. In this case the price of the networks will go up. [Correspondent] If super losses are reduced to 2-3 per cent, do we really need privatization? [Movsisyan] I think that privatization is necessary in any case. Super losses are not the only problem. Tariffs for electric power are calculated in such a way that we can only make annual exploitation and expenditure. But the shortcomings of these years should be also rectified, and for this we need about 100m dollars in investments. [Correspondent] By the way, let us say something about tariffs. Can they change and suddenly go up? [Movsisyan] No, they may not. The tariffs will remain the same. And we should organize our work in such a way to preserve the current tariffs. [Correspondent] The situation with gas supplies is no less difficult. How will this problem be resolved? And is it really true that ITERA has officially warned about a reduction in the volume of gas supply? [Movsisyan] The problem with gas supplies is that we have debts accumulated over previous years, which our partner ITERA suggests we pay off immediately. They note that during previous years they had several times given us terms for debt repayment, but they were not respected. Today they say that we have to repay the entire debt at the beginning of the year. The money part of the debt is 8.7m dollars, while the goods part it equivalent to 28m dollars. We have four months to repay the 28m dollars. Of course, we should try to repay these debts as soon as possible. To this effect we are negotiating with ITERA and different financial organizations to grant us loans. Source: Ayots Ashkhar, Yerevan, in Armenian 6 Feb 02 p5 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 3 Underground nuclear power station to be built in Crimea Pravda.RU ForUm. In the city of Sevastopol, a small underground nuclear power station is planned to be built. The sensation could be placed in an underground gallery, at a depth of 80 m. "> ForUm. In the city of Sevastopol, a small underground nuclear power station is planned to be built. The sensation could be placed in an underground gallery, at a depth of 80 m. --> Feb, 06 2002 [http://english.pravda.ru] A sensational report was published yesterday in Ukrainian Internet-edition ForUm. In the city of Sevastopol, a small underground nuclear power station is planned to be built. The sensation could be placed in an underground gallery, at a depth of 80 m. There is such a gallery on the territory of a thermoelectric power station in the city of Inkerman. To consider the project, special working group of functionaries and deputies was created by the joint decision of Sevastopol city administration and Inkerman city council. Actually, that was one of the group’s members who reported to the ForUm journalists about this project. The question is about nuclear power station with capacity of 300 megawatt, that should solve the problem of energy supply in Sevastopol. According to ForUm, project researches could be carried out by specialists from St Petersburg and Kiev, though if questions of equipment and fuel supply connected with this building could be settled, one more question remains to be unsolved – burial of nuclear waste. According to already existing projects, the waste fuel will be kept in Sevastopol as well, while this fact cannot satisfy the citizens. However, if the project is realized, its authors suppose, other Crimean cities could also get their nuclear power stations. Of course, Crimea needs its energy sources, though such a cardinal decision could finally have more minuses, than pluses. For example, much efforts are necessary to persuade tourists underground nuclear energy is safe. If it is really safe, what is the question. Even a small “regular” breakdown could for a long time deprive the peninsula of tourism incomes. Though, at the moment the question is only about plans. Any official confirmations or refutations of the ForUm report have not appeared yet. Andrei Lubenski PRAVDA.Ru Ukraine Translated by Vera Solovieva Read the original in Russian: [http://pravda.ru/main/2002/02/05/36613.html] Pravda.RU:Main ***************************************************************** 4 Canadian CNSC respons to audit [Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission] 2002 Report of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in response to The Report of the Auditor General entitled Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission - Power Reactor Regulation This document has been prepared by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to report on its progress in acting on the findings of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) in its value for money (VFM) audit of the CNSC released February 6, 2001. At the time of the audit, the CNSC had provided a work plan to address the audit findings. This report can be found on CNSC's website. Read More… The OAG report contains 6 sets of recommendations. The full OAG report may be found at: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/0027ce.html/$file/0027ce.pdf [http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/0027ce.html/$file/0027ce.pdf] This CNSC report: + reproduces the OAG recommendation; + reproduces the CNSC's published comment; + reproduces the actions and timelines in the CNSC's action plan, February 2001; + reports on CNSC action taken in the past year/current status; and, + reports on planned future CNSC actions to address the findings. © Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission 2000 ***************************************************************** 5 Environmentalists protest at plan to enlarge Russian nuclear power station BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Text of report by Russian Public TV on 6 February [Presenter] Stand-off between ecologists and the nuclear industry in Saratov - a protest against the construction of further reactors at Balakovo nuclear power station. In turn, the industry is offering them jobs and other social benefits. Here is our correspondent Oleg Shishkin. [Correspondent, over video showing small number of protesters with banner reading "No to building of Balakovo nuclear station on the Volga!"] The last time the people of Balakovo came out on to the streets with such slogans was in the early '90s. A majority of people voted in a town referendum at that time against further construction at the station. This fresh wave of protests erupted as soon as Ministry of Atomic Energy plans to resume work on building reactors No 5 and 6 became known. The two sides' arguments have not changed over the past 10 years: the greens blame all ecological problems on the industry, and the latter categorically rejects the accusations. [Station director Leonid Ipatov] The station has no negative effect whatsoever on the environment - that has been confirmed by the Russian Federation state inspectorate. There's nothing more to say. [Correspondent] Of the 50bn roubles allocated for building the two reactors, under current legislation 10 per cent will go to developments in the social sector. That figure is comparable with the town's annual budget. The workers at the nuclear power station are currently the best paid in the town, and by all appearances there are considerably more people keen to work there than there are inclined to revolt against the building plans. The idea of resuming construction has been backed by the municipal authorities. But if they see only benefits in the scheme, the protesters see only the downside. [Woman addressing public gathering] Of course there will be cash for building, and like mushrooms after rain new houses with tennis courts and swimming pools will spring up, but people like you and me will get nothing from this but radiation. [Correspondent] The main trump card the station management has in its hand is that over the 16 years it has been in operation background radiation levels in Balakovo have remained normal. Not only that but for several years Balakovo has been recognised as the best in Russia. At the station they are convinced that all these passions over the building of new reactors is political in origin rather than ecological. [Ipatov] I believe this is all down solely to a certain political situation that has arisen in a particular area of the Balakovo municipal structures ahead of elections to the local council. [Correspondent] Building of the next reactor is due to be completed in four years from now, and some time after that a further one will be built, assuming, that is, these plans are not upset by the greens. For the moment they are limiting themselves to publicly burning the symbolic declaration relating to construction which has just been signed in Moscow. [Video shows protesters burning large paper structure labelled "Declaration of intent"] [0515-0730 Video also shows shots of station control room] Source: Russian Public TV (ORT), Moscow, in Russian 0600 gmt 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 6 Iran warns Israel against attacking nuclear plant Zawya.com | DUBAI, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Iran warned Israel on Monday not to consider attacking its nuclear power plant, saying the Islamic republic would retaliate in ways "unimaginable" to the Jewish state. "If Israel carries out any military action against Iran, it will face a response that will be unimaginable to any Israeli politician," Defence Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani told Arabic-language al-Jazeera television. He said he was not referring to a nuclear response. The admiral was responding to a question about what Iran's reaction would be to a possible Israeli attack on an Iranian nuclear power plant under construction by Russian experts near the Gulf port of Bushehr. Iranian media often warn of a possible Israeli strike against the Bushehr plant similar to Israel's air attack on an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. "Iran is not a small country like Iraq. Iran has a powerful artillery, a disciplined army and skilled air defences," Jazeera quoted Shamkhani as saying. The warning came amid growing U.S. pressure on Iran to halt its alleged efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. U.S. President George W. Bush has in the past week issued a series of warnings to Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, accusing them of being an "axis of evil". Iran strongly denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its atomic programme is for non-military use. Both Israel and the United States have tried but failed to convince Russia to stop its military and nuclear energy cooperation with the Islamic republic. ((Gulf newsroom, +971 4 391 8301, fax +971 4 391 8335, dubai.newsroom@reuters.com)) © Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions. About zawya.com | Feedback | Submit PR | Home ***************************************************************** 7 China's Qinshan nuclear power plant begins second phase operations BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Hangzhou, 6 February: The first generating unit of the second-phase project of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Haiyan County, in east China's Zhejiang Province, was completed and brought into the local power grid Wednesday [6 February]. This is China's first domestically designed and constructed nuclear power plant and it marks a milestone in the development of the country's nuclear power technology, experts said. The total investment of the second-phase project amounts to 14.8bn yuan (1.79bn US dollars) and from June 2002 it aims to send 4bn kWh of power annually to the east China power grid. The second-phase project of Qinshan nuclear power plant started operation in 1996. The first-phase project of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant is in sound condition after 10 years of safe operation. Over the past decade, the plant has produced nearly 17bn kilowatt-hours of electricity. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 1019 gmt 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 8 Bulgaria: Trade unions at nuclear plant files claim against closure of reactors BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Text of report by Bulgarian radio on 6 February After the closure of the first and second reactors of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, the cost of electricity will increase 30 per cent, and the country's energy balance will be disrupted, stated the Trade Union of the Nuclear Power Engineering Workers. According to them, it would be absurd to stop the reactors at a moment when all recommendations and international nuclear safety requirements have been implemented. The trade union is preparing a claim that will be filed with the Institutional Court in Luxembourg, in which it demands to review the agreement on closing the first and second reactors. Several organizations began to collect signatures under a petition demanding a national referendum on the fate of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant. Signatures are being collected in Sofia at the Kristal Garden. In the next few days signatures will be collected throughout the country. Source: Bulgarian Radio, Sofia, in Bulgarian 1300 gmt 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 9 Atomic Safety &Licensing Board Grants Petitioners' Request for Hearing on Catawba, Mcguire License Renewal Applications NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 14 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] www.nrc.gov No. 02-014 February 5, 2002 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety &Licensing Board has granted a request for a hearing on license renewal applications for the McGuire Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2, and Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2. Duke Energy Corporation, operator of the four units, submitted the applications on June 13, 2001. The Catawba nuclear facility is located 18 miles southwest of Charlotte, N.C., in York County, S.C. The current operating licenses expire on December 6, 2024, for Unit 1 and February 24, 2026, for Unit 2. The McGuire nuclear facility is located 17 miles north-northwest of Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County. The operating license for Unit 1 expires on June 12, 2021, and the license for Unit 2 on March 3, 2023. In its memorandum and order, the board said that the Nuclear Information Resource Service and Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League have standing to intervene in the license renewal application and have raised two - and possibly three - admissible contentions in their petitions. The admissible contentions regard the anticipated use of plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at Catawba and McGuire, and station blackout risks for ice condenser containments. The board said it would ask the Commission to decide whether a third contention regarding terrorism risks should be admissible. Any petitions for review of the board's decision must be filed by February 4. A telephone pre-hearing conference is scheduled for 3 p.m. on February 12 to address administrative matters. The board's memorandum and order, as well as other documents relating to the license renewal application, are available through the NRC Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; telephone: (301) 415-4737, or 1-800-397-4209. ***************************************************************** 10 INDIAN POINT NUKE PLANT COULD BE TERRORIST TARGET Environment News Service: AmeriScan: February 5, 2002 AmeriScan: February 5, 2002 WHITE PLAINS, New York, February 5, 2002 (ENS) - Growing concern about the vulnerability of the Indian Point nuclear plant in the wake of last year's terrorist attacks prompted a rally today in New York. In his State of the Union message last week, President George W. Bush said that captured terrorists were known to have engineering drawings of U.S. nuclear plants. Last Thursday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed U.S. intelligence reports that al Qaeda had active plans for crashing hijacked planes into U.S. nuclear plants and recruited operatives to carry it out. On Friday, saying "since September 11, everything has changed," New York Governor George Pataki called on the federal government to reassess its guidelines for the Indian Point evacuation plan and asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a limited number of potassium iodide pills for use in the case of a nuclear accident or terrorist attack. The warnings made headlines across the country, and the New York media carried several stories warning that terrorists may be plotting to attack Indian Point. The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) is calling for a shutdown of Indian Point's reactors and tighter security of its radioactive fuel pools in light of the threat of terrorist attack. Members of the New York Congressional delegation have responded to mounting public concerns with calls for decommissioning the plant and federalizing plant security. Speakers at today's rally highlighted the growing number of state and local officials and members of Congress, along with local, regional and national civic and environmental groups, who oppose the current Indian Point evacuation plan as unworkable. Critics are calling for the plant to be shut down to protect public safety until the plan can be updated. Last Thursday, Governor Pataki certified the evacuation plan, despite widespread objections that the plan cannot protect the public from a terrorist attack. The Governor's approval allows the plant to keep operating for another year. On Friday, Representative Nita Lowey, a New York Democrat, became the first member of Congress to call directly for the decommissioning of Indian Point and securing the spent fuel and radioactive material stored on its site. "Today, I have concluded that the continued operation of the Indian Point nuclear power plant presents an unacceptable risk to the safety and security of the New York metropolitan area," Lowey said. "A failure at Indian Point, resulting either from a terrorist incident or from an accident, would have a catastrophic human and economic impact on New York, far more devastating in its scope than anything our nation has experienced." Lowey has introduced the Nuclear Security Act (HR 3382) into the House, which would federalize security at nuclear facilities. ***************************************************************** 11 Opinion: Unworkable evacuation plan A Indian Point [http://GoWestchester.com] Vol. 41, No. 05 Feb. 04, 2002 This letter is written to express my disappointment that Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano signed onto the evacuation plan in the event of an Indian Point meltdown, and claims the plan is viable. I challenge the county executive to prove the plan can work by having the county participate in a formal, full-scale evacuation drill. The current evacuation plan has only been tested on paper. An Indian Point meltdown would disperse lethal radioactive clouds throughout a 50-mile radius. However, current evacuation plans are only for a 10-mile zone. As for the 10-mile zone, which includes 288,000 people, our infrastructure is very limited. Our current roads cannot deal with traffic in non-emergencies during a normal rush hour. How will we evacuate the entire region? The current plan has many other problems. Parents would not be notified that their children have been bused to remote locations until the evacuation took place. Some children would be separated from their brothers and sisters. Parents would not be able to evacuate with their young children, and would have to make a difficult choice of which child to pick up first. In Westchester, buses would transport 33,000 children from 43 schools and 57 day care centers, and 4,000 adults from nursing homes, to communities outside the 10-mile zone. Few school systems have enough buses to evacuate kids all at once. Won’t bus drivers think of their own families first? I believe that many bus drivers won’t even participate in the evacuation. And will drivers be willing to go back several times, exposing themselves to radiation? Finally, there are many communities outside the 10-mile zone that are used as reception areas for students who have been evacuated. Greenburgh, which is outside the 10-mile zone but within the 50-mile zone, is one of those communities. I am the chief elected official for the town, and have never been briefed by County Executive Spano or his staff about what Greenburgh’s responsibilities are once kids are transported to our schools. The current plan is not practical. I would like to see Governor Pataki overturn the recommendations of County Executive Spano. And I’m hopeful the county executive will reconsider his position and join forces that would like to see Indian Point closed down. — Paul J. Feiner, Greenburgh Town Supervisor Published weekly by Westfair Communications, Inc. 3 Gannett Drive | White Plains | New York | 10604 914-694-3600 | Fax 914-694-3699 Publisher, [dee@westfairinc.com] [http://www.gowestchester.com/news.asp] ***************************************************************** 12 Nuclear reactor in western Ukraine back in operation BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Text of report by Ukrainian news agency UNIAN Kiev, 6 February: The Rivne nuclear power plant's generating set No 3 has become operational after long repairs and refuelling. Necessary physical tests were completed last night, and currently the set's equipment, protection and control modules are being prepared, the State Nuclear Control Committee reported. The set is expected to be reconnected to the national power grid later today. It is scheduled to be back in operation today, according to the repair plan. As of today, 11 our of 13 generating sets work at Ukrainian nuclear plants. The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant's generating set No 4 is under repair. Source: UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 0845 gmt 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 13 Georgia tackles nuclear hangover BBC News | EUROPE | Low GraphicsWednesday, 6 February, 2002, 11:18 GMT By the BBC's Chloe Arnold in Baku Nuclear experts begin a series of meetings in Georgia on Wednesday to discuss ways of making safe abandoned radioactive material left over from the Soviet era. On Sunday, a team of specialists retrieved two devices emitting lethal levels of radiation from a remote forest in the west of the country. The discovery of two highly radioactive cylinders in woods near the border with Russia has sparked fears there may be others scattered across remote areas of Georgia. The experts - from the United States, Russia, France, Germany and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - are meeting Georgian officials to look at ways of finding the devices and storing them in a safe and secure location. 'Dirty bomb fears' On Sunday, a team of specialists began the painstaking removal of the cylinders from snow-bound woods near the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Six similar devices found in Georgia in last 10 years They were discovered late last year by woodsmen who tried to carry them back to their homes to use as heaters. All three suffered severe radiation burns. The cylinders - each about the size of a man's hands - contained Strontium 90, and emitted more than 20 times the amount of radiation used to treat cancer patients. They formed part of a Soviet-built generator which brought power to this isolated region. Six similar devices have been retrieved in Georgia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But radiation specialists say there may be several more which need to be made safe. There are fears the devices could fall into the wrong hands if they are not found, and could then be used to create what is known as a "dirty bomb", a contraption that spreads toxic radiation when exploded. ***************************************************************** 14 New Hampshire Seeks Radiation Sickness Pills Science | Reuters | Space.com | AP Tue Feb 5, 5:46 PM ET CONCORD, N.H. (Reuters) - New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen asked the federal government on Tuesday for a supply of radiation sickness pills as a precaution for state residents living near nuclear power plants. New Hampshire officials asked for 350,000 pills for the approximately 150,000 people near the Seabrook Station nuclear plant and 25,000 people near the Vermont Yankee plant. Vermont Yankee is in Vermont, but close to the New Hampshire border. "We believe it makes sense to take steps to ensure that everyone living near Seabrook Station and Vermont Yankee has access to potassium iodide in the event of an emergency," Shaheen said in a statement. The drug has been shown to protect the body's thyroid gland if taken soon after radiation exposure. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Agency said in December it would make the pills available to states that want to stockpile them. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the issue of nuclear power plant safety has received heightened attention because an attack could spew radiation over a wide area. The Nuclear Control Institute, an activist group, said a direct hit by a large passenger jet would probably penetrate the thick concrete walls that protect a nuclear plant's reactor. Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 Worker injured at NFS Erwin Record 02/05/02 From Staff Reports Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. of Erwin said last week that an employee was treated at Unicoi County Memorial Hospital after being slightly wounded in a Jan. 27 accident at the plant. According to NFS, the employee received low-level surface contamination on the skin that was below regulatory limits. An arm of the unidentified person, who was back on the job as scheduled two days later, reportedly came into contact with a device inside a ''glove box'' because of a release of air pressure from the device. ''NFS regularly carries out preparedness drills with local law enforcement and medical authorities for situations such as this event,' said Marie Moore, the companyÕs safety and regulatory vice president. Moore, who expressed gratitude to employees of the hospital for their assistance, said the firm was evaluating the situation to determine if other workers might have been impacted by the event. According to a statement from NFS, no other areas of the plant were affected. In a related matter, the company announced that it had reached a milestone as of Feb. 1 by recording more than 1.3 million work hours without an employee losing a workday because of a job-related injury. ''It's a significant event,'' NFS President Dwight Ferguson said. ''We have made safety our most important mission, and (passing) the 1 million-hour milestone is an outstanding reward for everyoneÕs hard work.'' NFS, which is involved primarily in uranium processing, reported a 64 percent decrease in lost-workday injuries over the past three years. In the same period, injuries requiring professional medical treatment dropped 32 percent, and those requiring only on-site treatment or no treatment, 45 percent. ''It's important to note that while our injury rates have decreased significantly over the past three years, our work force has increased by 30 percent,'' said Jim Parker, the industrial safety manager at NFS. The company has nearly 700 employees, many of whom are directly involved in a chemical manufacturing process. Others work in maintenance, security, engineering, administrative, radiation safety, laboratory and decommissioning programs. ©2001 MyWebPal.com. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy ***************************************************************** 16 Rongelap Island radiation levels return to normal KYODO NEWS HIROSHIMA, Feb. 6, Kyodo - Radiation levels on deserted Rongelap Island near the former U.S. nuclear test site on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean have returned to normal levels 48 years after the United States tested a hydrogen bomb there, according to a study released Wednesday by a Japanese researcher. Assistant Professor Jun Takada of Hiroshima University Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine reported his findings in his study called ''Survey on radiation exposed regions in the world.'' The U.S. tested the bomb on March 1, 1954, 200 kilometers east of Rongelap Island, and the resulting radiation sickened many residents and made the island uninhabitable. Takada concluded that the radiation level on Rongelap Island decreased to below 1 millisievert per year -- a permissible exposure for humans and less than levels found in Tokyo and Hiroshima. In 1995 Takada started to measure radiation contamination in the soil and foods in the former Soviet Union, South-Pacific region and Japan caused by nuclear bombs, tests and accidents. ''What is important in the future is to help assist local residents in preventing radioactivity from affecting the soil and water,'' Takada said. Takada also found that nuclear radiation levels in a village about 220 km away from the site of the world's worst nuclear accident at the former Soviet plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, have dropped to around 10 millisieverts. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 17 NRC Contracts for Iodine Block Drug Las Vegas SUN February 05, 2002 NEWARK, N.J.- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed a $1 million contract to buy up to 6 million doses of a drug that could help prevent thyroid cancer in the event of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant. The two-year contract with Anbex Inc. of Branchville, N.J., to supply potassium iodide pills was approved on Feb. 1, NRC spokeswoman Rosetta Virgilio said Tuesday. The NRC deal is in addition to the Department of Health and Human Services' purchase in December of 1.6 million doses of potassium iodide as a precaution against nuclear accidents or terrorist attacks on reactors. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, people living near nuclear plants have called for distribution of the drug, and some people have bought their own. HHS said last month that it planned to buy an additional 5 million to 10 million doses this year. One tablet is believed to protect an adult's thyroid gland for about 24 hours from the radioactive iodine that could be released in a reactor accident. The drug does not protect against other illnesses caused by radiation. In December, the NRC contacted 34 states with nuclear reactors or those within 10-mile emergency planning zones, asking if they were interested in receiving protective doses of the drug. So far, only Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire have said they are interested, Virgilio said. Virgilio called the purchase "a prudent measure." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 18 Georgia Warns of Radioactive Items Las Vegas SUN Today: February 06, 2002 at 4:35:25 PST TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - More radioactive objects similar to the two removed this week from a remote mountainous area in Georgia are at large in the former Soviet republic, officials said Wednesday. Soso Kakushadze, head of the radiation security department of the Georgian Environment Ministry, would not say specify what the newly found devices were, but said they were similar to two containers of strontium-90 that were found in December and removed by U.N. and Georgian nuclear experts. Those containers were used in radio relay communication, Kakushadze said. International Atomic Agency medical experts were sent to treat the woodsmen, who had found the containers, for the injuries caused by the radiation. Six of the eight radioactive objects said to be in Georgia, according to the Russian Atomic Ministry, were found and recovered in the past few years, Kakushadze said. The search for the two other sources of radiation, which are thought to be in a mountainous area in western Georgia, will be stepped up in spring and summer, he said. Kakushadze did not rule out that there might be other sources of radiation in the country, especially at former Soviet military bases. Since the disintegration of the former Soviet union in 1991, there have been numerous thefts and attempts to smuggle out radioactive materials on post-Soviet territory. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 19 Nuclear safety in Slovenia satisfactory - parliamentary body BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Following the demand made by the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia [SDS] deputy group, the National Assembly's infrastructure and environment committee called a special session yesterday to discuss the situation within the Nuclear Safety Administration. Despite expectations that the committee members would discuss in detail internal disorganization within the Administration - in line with the demands made by SDS deputy Branko Kelemina - they mainly discussed whether nuclear and radiation safety was ensured in Slovenia. The committee made a general conclusion that the country had satisfactory provisions for this kind of safety, although Environment Minister Janez Kopac and Nuclear Safety Administration chairman Miroslav Gregoric said that nothing could save the Krsko nuclear power plant (or any other in the world) if it were hit by a plane carrying a 100 tonnes of fuel... Source: Vecer web site, Maribor, in Slovene 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 20 Georgia tackles nuclear hangover BBC News | EUROPE | 6 February, 2002, [Map of the region] By the BBC's Chloe Arnold in Baku Nuclear experts begin a series of meetings in Georgia on Wednesday to discuss ways of making safe abandoned radioactive material left over from the Soviet era. On Sunday, a team of specialists retrieved two devices emitting lethal levels of radiation from a remote forest in the west of the country. The discovery of two highly radioactive cylinders in woods near the border with Russia has sparked fears there may be others scattered across remote areas of Georgia. The experts - from the United States, Russia, France, Germany and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - are meeting Georgian officials to look at ways of finding the devices and storing them in a safe and secure location. 'Dirty bomb fears' On Sunday, a team of specialists began the painstaking removal of the cylinders from snow-bound woods near the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Tbilisi ] Six similar devices found in Georgia in last 10 years They were discovered late last year by woodsmen who tried to carry them back to their homes to use as heaters. All three suffered severe radiation burns. The cylinders - each about the size of a man's hands - contained Strontium 90, and emitted more than 20 times the amount of radiation used to treat cancer patients. They formed part of a Soviet-built generator which brought power to this isolated region. Six similar devices have been retrieved in Georgia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. But radiation specialists say there may be several more which need to be made safe. There are fears the devices could fall into the wrong hands if they are not found, and could then be used to create what is known as a "dirty bomb", a contraption that spreads toxic radiation when exploded. ***************************************************************** 21 Georgia: Radioactive find alarms scientists - CNN.com - February 6, 2002 By CNN's Matthew Chance TBILISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Experts from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog have been helping Georgian scientists transfer two radioactive devices, discovered in the remote west of the country, to a secure storage site in the capital, Tbilisi. The incident has renewed fears, in the wake of the September 11 attacks, that nuclear material could fall into the hands of terrorists. The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency team has had to trek through the snows of the remote Caucusus mountains to recover the devices. Wearing protective clothing, and using long metal tongs the two Soviet era radioactive batteries were plucked, steaming, from the bushes, and encased in lead. Officials have declared this operation a success. But the possibility of more radioactive material turning up, that could be used to manufacture crude weapons, is not being ruled out. Otar Taverashvili, Emergency Situations Minister, said: "As for the existence of other sources of radiation, we have certain information about it and our authorities are checking this information and trying to locate these sources. "If they find anything there will be a similar operation to isolate and secure them in a special place." During the Cold War, Soviet and U.S. military forces both used radioactive batteries to power satellites in space, or remote communication equipment on the ground. Leftovers are now believed to be scattered across the former Soviet Union. It is not the kind of material that could easily be used to produce a nuclear explosion, but there is potential to contaminate large areas with radiation weapons, so-called "dirty nukes." Military Analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said: "We are faced with terrorists ready to take action that no one would before. "This is easy to do and the results would be devastating especially if used in a big city." It was the injuries, radiation burns, caused by contact with the batteries that first alerted the authorities to the latest problem. The devices -- which contain highly radioactive Strontium-90 -- were found by three local woodsmen, who used their glowing heat to keep warm. Two are still in hospital. Officials say they are increasing their efforts to prevent similar materials falling into the wrong hands. © 2002 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. ***************************************************************** 22 Nevada dump would mean decades of radioactive shipments across U.S. Gannett News Service Feb. 05, 2002 20:40:00 WASHINGTON - If the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository opens in Nevada in 2010 as planned, tens of thousands of highly radioactive shipments will roll through communities large and small for the next 38 years. Every day, cities like Indianapolis; Denver; Des Moines, Iowa; and Kansas City, Mo., will have spent nuclear waste - now stored at 72 power plants and five Department of Energy sites - coming through their neighborhoods. Although the nuclear industry has an excellent safety record moving high-level waste around and the waste itself is not explosive, environmentalists say thousands of people could die from radiation poisoning or cancer if a waste shipment were involved in a major fire or terrorist attack. Officials in some states say the Department of Energy should begin planning a massive national transportation campaign soon, so that states can participate in the decisions. State government lobbying groups say the process for designating the routes could take a long time if it becomes controversial and communities fight among themselves to keep out shipments. But so far, DOE has refused to discuss with states how and over what routes the waste will be shipped. The transportation program would consist of 2,525 truck shipments per year for 38 years or 522 rail shipments per year for 38 years, supplemented by 97 yearly truck shipments from facilities that don't have rail access. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham gave notice to Nevada last month that on Feb. 9 he will recommend to President Bush that Yucca Mountain be designated the nation's high-level nuclear waste dump. Bush is under no time frame to act on the matter. In his budget, released Monday, Bush proposes raising Yucca Mountain's budget 43 percent from $297 million this year to $425 million next year. The state of Nevada, which is fighting the dump designation, says DOE is refusing to start transportation planning because it will be too controversial and communities could derail the repository with their opposition. "They don't want people in places like Boise to go bonkers when they realize that in order to screw Nevada, they'd have to take all this waste through their back yards," Nevada's transportation consultant Robert Halstead said. Halstead prepared his own transportation maps using existing regulations that govern high-level nuclear waste shipments. Nevada will be presenting updated versions of these maps to President Bush by Feb. 9. These routes essentially follow interstate highways and the main rail lines and are the shortest routes that can be taken in the shortest amount of time. Nevada plans to launch a nationwide advertising campaign this spring publicizing the routes. Nuclear waste transportation is even more critical since Sept. 11 when terrorists showed they are willing to kill themselves in order to take innocent people with them, environmental groups say. Until Sept. 11, environmental groups opposed high-level nuclear waste shipments primarily because of the potential for accidents. Environmental groups say the waste should be stored as close as possible to where it is generated until a permanent solution is found. Yucca Mountain, with its proximity to earthquake faults, is not a permanent solution, they say. "This is not something I want to talk about a lot, obviously, but it is a well-known fact that a moving target is harder to protect," said Lisa Gue, spokeswoman for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. The Nuclear Regulatory Agency is reviewing all of its security regulations, procedures and policies in light of Sept. 11, agency spokeswoman Rosetta Virgilio said. The review will cover not just the waste repository and nuclear waste shipments but also security at the nation's nuclear power plants, she said. Environmental groups oppose the waste shipments not out of safety concerns, but because their ultimate goal is to shut down nuclear power plants, said Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying group representing commercial nuclear power plants. Nuclear plants produce 20 percent of the country's electricity, all without polluting the air and warming the globe, he said. It makes more sense in the wake of Sept. 11 to consolidate the spent fuel in one location and bury it 1,000 feet underground, Singer said. The shipments have not been controversial in the past and there's no reason to believe they will become so in the future, he said. "There are groups that will try to rile up people and scare them unnecessarily," Singer said. "If we educate people about how safe it will be, people have enough common sense to realize that." In December, the Southern States Energy Board - an organization that represents the governors of 17 Southern states plus Puerto Rico on energy and nuclear waste matters - joined the Midwestern and Northeastern councils of state government in asking DOE to begin planning the shipments. Over the past 15 years, the Western Interstate Energy Board, which represents Western governors, has periodically asked DOE to begin the work, said its executive director, Doug Larson. Larson said it could take years for the states to have a rational discussion and for communities to feel comfortable with the chosen routes, he said. "The governors have consistently said, you need criteria by which to select the routes and the modes and they need to be vetted out and publicly debated," Larson said. "For a campaign of the duration of Yucca Mountain, we can't rely on existing federal regulations. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Transportation wrote rules for the occasional shipment of spent fuel, not (a situation) where you have a truck every few hours for 30 years." Joe Davis, DOE's deputy director of public affairs, said he was not aware of any recent requests by the states for the agency to begin transportation planning. He said it would be premature for DOE to begin planning the shipment routes until Yucca Mountain is officially designated by the president, endorsed by Congress and then licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "People would say we predetermined our course here," he said. Davis pointed to the nuclear industry's safe record in transporting high-level nuclear waste. Since 1964, there have been 3,000 shipments of used nuclear fuel over 1.7 million miles without a radioactive leak, he said. Those shipments have had armed guards and were tracked by satellite. Still, the relationship between state and federal officials can be adversarial when it comes to high-level nuclear waste passing through. In Missouri, the shipments have been so controversial that the federal government rerouted two of them through Iowa in 1999 and 2000 rather than risk a fight with the governor. A third shipment, bound for a temporary storage site in Idaho, went through Missouri in June and state officials say DOE bungled it. The shipments were part of the federal government's Atoms for Peace program, in which nuclear fuel loaned to foreign countries for research purposes is returned. The DOE broke agreements it made with the state to avoid rush-hour traffic through St. Louis and to avoid driving past Kauffman Stadium during a Kansas City Royals Game, said Dru Buntin, Missouri's interstate issues coordinator. DOE also failed to notify the state that shipment was coming and designate emergency parking areas along the route as promised, he said. "When you're talking about a shipment that has received so much scrutiny and was opposed by the state for three years and then to have all those things go wrong, it was not reassuring," Buntin said. "When you start thinking about the number of shipments they're talking about, this continues to be a concern." Copyright 2002, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 23 Duke Power weighs appealing a hearing on MOX fuel, license The Herald By Erica Pippins [epippins@heraldonline.com] The Herald (Published February 4‚ 2002) Duke Power officials are considering whether to appeal the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's decision to hear testimony on the use of surplus bomb material to fuel the Catawba and McGuire nuclear plants. The board this week granted a hearing to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, which contends that the Duke's plan to use mixed oxide - or MOX - fuel could accelerate the aging of the plant's reactors. This is the first time the three-member board appointed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted a hearing, though a date has not been set. Duke Power has until Monday to appeal, but spokesman Tom Shiel said Friday that the company is still reviewing its options. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's decision comes on the heels of Duke's request to the NRC to extend the licenses at both the Catawba Nuclear Station on Lake Wylie and the McGuire plant on Lake Norman for another 20 years. The life of the two units at the Catawba station are set to expire in 2024 and 2026, respectively. Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a nuclear power plant is for 40 years, but the license can be renewed for an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. Duke officials have maintained that the use of MOX, which is made by mixing uranium oxide and plutonium oxide from older nuclear weapons and placing the material in fuel rods, should not be part of the review process for the license extension because they have not applied for permission to use it. But, if the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board agrees with the Nuclear Information and Resource Service's testimony, the NRC would have to consider it in their evaluation. "There is still a great deal of work being done on the MOX project, and it would be a difficult issue for the NRC to evaluate because they would not have any details in front of them," Shiel said. "The federal government is re-evaluating the program, and it would probably be 2008 before we could start using the fuel at the plants." Duke officials had intended to start using MOX fuel by 2007 at both the Catawba and Mc-Guire nuclear stations. Other safety concerns The board will also address claims by the Nuclear Infor-mation and Resource Service and the Blue Ridge Environ-mental Defense League that the Catawba and McGuire plants are vulnerable to loss of electrical power, which could hinder pumping the water that cools the reactors. "The two reports the interveners used ... were roughly 10 years old and that information is now much more up to date. We have worked to rectify that situation," Shiel said. NRC regulations generally require a plant to operate for 20 years before being eligible for relicensing, but Duke was granted an exemption for the Catawba plant, which began operating 16 years ago. Duke's Oconee Nuclear Station, located near Seneca, was the second plant in the country to successfully obtain a renewed operating license. Contact Erica Pippins at 329-4072 or epippins@heraldonline.com. Copyright © 2002 The Herald, South Carolina ***************************************************************** 24 Commission reviews study warning of nuclear dump's negative effects Wednesday, February 06, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Report lists Yucca impact By FRANK GEARY REVIEW-JOURNAL Clark County commissioners Tuesday forwarded to the state a report that outlines the negative effects the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository would have on tourism, property values and public services. The 82-page Impact Assessment Report says the federal government can't alleviate all the potential negative effects the repository could have on the county, said Irene Navis, director of the county's Nuclear Waste Division. If radioactive material were released in a truck accident, the resulting stigma on the community could eliminate 54,000 jobs in Southern Nevada, cost the local economy as much as $1.4 billion a year, and prompt about 90,000 people to leave the region, according to the study. "This report includes billions of dollars of impact to Clark County from the repository," said Irene Navis, director of the county's Nuclear Waste Division. Critics of the county's report, such as former Gov. Bob List, a paid lobbyist for the nuclear energy industry that favors the repository, and state Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, said last week that the report is either unrealistic and meant to scare residents or it is based on opinions of local real estate experts and government officials. But Commissioner Myrna Williams said the report is the result of nearly 20 years of work by county staff members and experts in economics and real estate at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada. Commission Chairman Dario Herrera said the report is vital, because it addresses effects on the community that the Energy Department ignored in compiling its 1999 assessment report. The report will become part of a state impact assessment to be sent to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham before Sunday's deadline, Navis said. The federal government by law is required to consider all public comments before deciding to approve the Yucca Mountain site for storage of the nation's high-level nuclear waste. The Impact Assessment Report was expected Tuesday to be posted on the county's Internet site at www.co.clark.nv.us. webmaster@lvrj.com Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - ***************************************************************** 25 NUCLEAR WASTE: Guinn will press Bush on dump Wednesday, February 06, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Governor to lobby president to reject plan for Nevada repository By STEVE TETREAULT and TONY BATT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Gov. Kenny Guinn will fly to Washington on Thursday to personally ask President Bush not to support plans to place a nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Guinn is scheduled to meet Bush late in the afternoon at the White House after flying in from Nevada earlier in the day, spokesman Greg Bortolin said. Bortolin said Guinn has asked Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., to accompany him to the White House. Guinn was preparing to hold a news conference in Las Vegas today to discuss the trip. Earlier Thursday, Ensign and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., are scheduled to meet with White House political adviser Karl Rove. "I think Ensign and I want to go over to sort of lay a little groundwork for any meeting that takes place with the president," Gibbons said. "Obviously, Karl Rove has an important role to play in the administration." Gibbons said he plans to tell Rove, "that the state of Nevada is going to do anything and everything, including bringing legal action to block, stop or, in any way impede (the project). I would hope that they understand that the legal process could be an enormously complicated and lengthy process." Others said the meetings will probably include warnings that a Bush decision to move ahead on Yucca Mountain, a hugely unpopular program among Nevadans, will probably cost the president the state's five electoral votes in 2004 and will hurt other Republicans as well. The sessions come days before the president is expected to receive Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's recommendation to develop a complex at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, to store 77,000 tons of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. While the White House has not commented on Bush's plans, there has been growing speculation the president might sign off sooner rather than later on the Yucca Mountain project, perhaps within days of receiving Abraham's recommendation. A White House spokesman late Tuesday said he had no information about the president's meeting with Guinn. Among other things, Guinn wants to present Bush with an affidavit by Dr. John Bartlett, who headed the DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management during the administration of the president's father. Bartlett, who has examined the DOE's recent scientific reports as a Clark County consultant, supports Nevada's claim that the repository being designed is not what Congress envisioned when it passed the 1982 nuclear waste law. The law called for the geologic features of Yucca Mountain to be the primary method for containing radionuclides from the waste packages. "Geological isolation cannot and will not play any significant role whatsoever at the Yucca Mountain repository during the regulatory compliance period," Bartlett said in the affidavit. "The project has become simply an array of engineered waste packages that happen to be located 1,000 feet underground." On Monday, Guinn sent the Bartlett affidavit to Abraham, with a letter urging the secretary once again to delay his recommendation to the president. Guinn also told Abraham to expect another lawsuit, the third the state will have filed against the program since last summer. The governor said DOE is failing to follow the 1982 law by proceeding forward before releasing a final Yucca Mountain environmental impact statement, making it publicly available for 30 days and then issuing an official record of decision on the document. "Because Nevada has not yet seen these documents, Nevada cannot yet comment on them," Guinn wrote. So Abraham's recommendation will not include the state's comments, as required by law, and will provide further course for legal action, the governor said. "We believe the president not only has a statutory right to hear Nevada's views but an obligation to carefully consider them in weighing whether to approve your recommendation," he wrote in the letter to Abraham. DOE spokesman Joe Davis said late Tuesday the department disagrees with Nevada's interpretation of the law. "The law says the final EIS must be available at the time the recommendation goes to the president, and that's what we're going to do," he said. Davis also moved to discount Bartlett. "Fundamentally, the gentleman is a paid consultant to the state of Nevada so we expect his conclusions are predetermined," he said. Further, Davis said Bartlett made two calls to individual Yucca Mountain scientists, on July 5 and August 27, "saying our work was excellent." Davis said the scientists, whose names he could not produce on Tuesday, passed on the information to program managers. "I question whether or not his credibility is up to par," Davis said of Bartlett. Reached at home Tuesday night, Bartlett angrily denied making the calls in question. "I have not been in touch with anyone," he said. "Please set the record straight if it needs to be." But Bartlett agreed he has admired DOE's work. "I have always said the work has absolutely been sound," he said. "I've never questioned the quality of the scientific work, not whatsoever." Bartlett also said his Yucca Mountain views may have been mischaracterized to some extent. Bartlett said he agreed with Nevada's contention that DOE has moved away from original plans to contain radionuclides solely by utilizing Yucca Mountain's geology. "They have moved tremendously toward engineered barriers on waste isolation in comparison with what prevailed under the law when I was director," he said. But Bartlett said he would stop short of concluding that Yucca Mountain is unsuitable for nuclear waste storage, as Guinn described his position in the letter to Abraham. "I didn't say that," he said. "I don't have a view on that." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 26 Editorial: New budget in love with nuke dump Las Vegas SUN Today: February 06, 2002 at 8:49:07 PST To get a real understanding of a president's priorities you have to look past the political theater of the State of the Union address and examine the president's budget, where you'll find the nitty-gritty of his true agenda. The federal government program Nevadans care most about is the Yucca Mountain project -- and President Bush's proposed budget on nuclear waste storage contains bad news for residents of this state. Not only does the Department of Energy want to increase the Yucca Mountain project's budget by 41 percent over last year, but the budget also assumes that the project will go forward. The reason why that is important is that Bush hasn't officially signed off on Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's recommendation to build a dump at Yucca Mountain. But the budget signals that Bush, in fact, has made up his mind and will give the project a green light. It is against this backdrop that Gov. Kenny Guinn, who is scheduled to meet with Bush at the White House on Thursday, will try to persuade the president to reject a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. It also is troubling that the department wants nuclear waste to be sent to Nevada by 2010 -- even though it's considered highly unlikely that a repository will be licensed by then and ready to accept the waste. Department officials contend that an above-ground storage site they want to build near Yucca Mountain, and where the waste would be sent, only would be a staging area for a permanent repository, but they're playing word games. What really would happen is that there would be a temporary storage dump in Nevada, something that federal law is supposed to prohibit. The Bush administration also is setting aside funding to devise a rail system in Nevada that would help send nuclear waste on its way to Yucca Mountain. But there still is no answer to the question of how the waste could be transported safely through Nevada or along the nation's highways and roads. There still are too many serious questions that remain regarding Yucca Mountain -- matters involving the safety of nuclear waste's storage and transportation -- for anyone to move forward so aggressively regarding this project. Nevertheless, the administration's damn-the-torpedoes policy on nuclear waste storage is for real, and it will be a tough fight for Nevada's congressional delegation as it works to block the funding increase for the Yucca Mountain project. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 27 State to take Yucca protest to White House Las Vegas SUN Today: February 06, 2002 at 11:13:45 PST By Benjamin Grove < [grove@lasvegassun.com] > and Erin Neff < [erin@lasvegassun.com] > WASHINGTON -- Nevada's top leaders are bringing their anti-Yucca Mountain campaign to the White House before President Bush receives a recommendation on the potential nuclear waste repository. Gov. Kenny Guinn, along with Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., are scheduled to meet with Bush on Thursday. The meeting would fall amid growing their concern that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham will recommend the project to Bush next week, possibly Monday. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., planned to meet Thursday with Karl Rove, the president's political adviser. "I'm certainly going to place my effort on the scientific information," Guinn said. "I will be professional, but the president has to know directly from us what our stance is. "I'm not sure he has been given the information we have," Guinn added. The Nevadans face Bush as the president is facing national security issues over terrorism, and some state leaders fear the president may be swayed by arguments that nuclear waste is safest stored at a single location in Nevada. "My guess is this administration has been convinced by the nuclear energy industry that terrorism plays a significant role in the decision to move waste to Nevada," Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said today. "My argument is that when you put waste in the transit stream it becomes equally vulnerable to terrorists as it is at protected sites at power generating stations." Nevada's Yucca Mountain watchdog said that the nuclear industry's terrorism arguments are wrong. Some amount of waste will always be stored at power plants as long as they produce it, even if the permanent nuclear waste dump at Yucca is constructed, said Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency. He said that a surface waste storage and transfer station at Yucca would be another potential target. Mostly, Nevada officials plan to argue to Bush that sending 100,000 shipments of waste across 43 states over 30 or more years gives terrorists many targets. "Clearly the American public is going to be disturbed by that," Loux said. "(The industry's) whole argument is bogus." White House and Energy Department spokespeople were not available this morning. Guinn, who is scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C. Thursday morning, started getting nervous Tuesday when rumors surfaced on Capitol Hill that Abraham would make his recommendation to the president on Sunday. Guinn's worries grew tenfold when the White House called trying to set up a meeting between Guinn and President George Bush "before the 10th." "I certainly have my concerns," Guinn said this morning shortly after arriving in Las Vegas for a press conference to announce his trip to Washington. "It was on a very short schedule. That gives me some concerns." Guinn said he is giving Bush the benefit of the doubt, but fears the administration's hastily called meeting is a grim portent of what Bush will do in coming days after receiving Abraham's recommendation. "I had requested in the past to have a meeting with the president before he makes his decision," Guinn said. "I assumed that wouldn't happen the same day, or right before, Spencer Abraham tells him the recommendation." Guinn will meet briefly with Ensign and Reid before their 3:30 p.m. meeting with Bush at the White House. Gibbons, a longtime Bush supporter who represents the area where the nuclear waste repository would be constructed, said he was irked the president left him out of the White House meeting. "They only want to meet with the two senators," Gibbons said. "My guess is that they want to keep the number of people and the wrangling about this issue to a minimum. I think it's a complete breach of political ethics. Ensign would not comment on what he planned to argue to Bush, Ensign spokeswoman Traci Scott said. But she said the Nevada officials would refute arguments that waste should be shipped to Nevada for national security reasons. Reid was not available this morning. Rove and Reid had planned a dinner for this weekend that had been scheduled months ago, but it was canceled because Rove will be traveling with the president, Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said. The Energy Department has invested two decades of research to determine if Yucca Mountain is a suitable site to permanently bury the nation's high-level commercial and defense nuclear waste. Abraham on Jan. 10 told Guinn he would recommend the site to Bush. By law Abraham had to wait 30 days after notifying the Nevada governor, so Monday would be the first business day he could make the recommendation, although he could make the recommendation this weekend. Bush's go-ahead, if it comes, would set in motion the DOE's attempt to license and eventually construct the dump site. The project had other hurdles to overcome: an official Nevada objection, a vote on the objection in Congress, plus a years-long licensing process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The dump would not be ready to accept waste until 2010 at the earliest. Nevada lawmakers are speculating that President Bush could give the project a green light within days or even hours of Abraham's recommendation. Gibbons said Abraham likely has spent time briefing Bush on Yucca Mountain already. "My understanding is the decision is going to be made very shortly," Gibbons said. Bush also sent a signal in the proposed national budget he released Monday. The budget included a 41 percent increase for the Department of Energy office that manages the Yucca project, which would allow the DOE to pursue licensing. Bush slashed funding by 76 percent for further research of an undeveloped process called transmutation, viewed by some as a possible alternative to long-term waste storage. The process speeds the radioactive breakdown of waste. Nevada lawmakers back the research. Guinn said he is prepared to tell Bush what options Nevada has if the president approves Abraham's recommendation, beginning with the governor's veto ability. "No matter what he does, we will be doing what we have to do," Guinn said. Guinn is also prepared to mention Nevada's lawsuits, although he said he will bring up the legal remedies "in a way that's certainly not a threat." And although he admits he is facing an uphill battle, Guinn said he hopes Bush will remain true to his past statements that his decision will be about science and not politics. "I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt," Guinn said. A nuclear industry spokesman today said the White House was keeping its intention under wraps. "They are keeping it pretty tight," said Mitch Singer, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's top trade group. "We haven't heard anything." But anti-Yucca activists said the writing is on the wall: Bush plans to quickly approve Abraham's recommendation. That would not be a surprise because Abraham and Bush are longtime nuclear energy supporters, said Lisa Gue, nuclear waste analyst for Public Citizen. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 28 Nev. Nuclear Waste Plan Faulted by Ex-Official (washingtonpost.com) By Eric Pianin Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, February 6, 2002; Page A02 The former head of a federal project to build a nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada said yesterday that U.S. officials have known since 1995 that the site's geologic features would not adequately protect groundwater and air from potential radioactive pollution. John W. Bartlett, an engineer who headed the Department of Energy project from 1990 to 1993, said the proposed site's rock formations were found to be "far inferior to that originally expected" in terms of preventing contamination. DOE's response, he said, has been to shift its reliance almost totally to man-made canisters -- an emphasis that undermines the need for a remote mountain burial site in the first place. Energy Department officials strongly disputed Bartlett's assertion, saying they continue to support an approach dependent on both natural and engineered barriers. They noted that Bartlett is a $150 per hour consultant to the state of Nevada, which opposes the project. "DOE followed the intent of Congress, the regulations put forward by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the opinion of the scientific community as a whole in saying that man-made and natural barriers would ensure that we could protect the public if we built [the facility at] Yucca Mountain," said Joe Davis, a DOE spokesman. "Mr. Bartlett's accusation . . . is wrong." Yesterday's dust-up underscores the intensity of the long-running controversy over efforts to make Yucca Mountain a permanent tomb for spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants throughout the nation. Such waste now is stored in enclosed pools near the plants, a temporary solution that could hamper efforts to revive and expand the nuclear power industry. In ordering the Energy Department to begin studying Yucca Mountain as the repository site in 1982, Congress specified that the decision should be based largely on geologic characteristics. The goal was to isolate nuclear waste safely for thousands of years. But Congress authorized a subsequent review beginning in 1992 to bring the rules governing the proposed site in line with tougher standards imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. In December, DOE announced it had changed its rules to rely on a combination of advanced storage containers and natural geologic barriers to satisfy new, rigorous environmental standards. Bartlett charged in an affidavit released yesterday that DOE retroactively changed its so-called site suitability rules to rely entirely on man-made waste canisters to meet the repository licensing requirements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "Geological isolation cannot and will not play any significant role whatsoever at the Yucca Mountain repository during the regulatory compliance period," Bartlett said in the affidavit, provided to The Washington Post. "The project has become simply an array of engineered waste packages that happen to be located 1,000 feet underground." Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham concluded last month that the proposed project, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas in the Nevada desert, was "scientifically sound and suitable" as a repository. He said he would recommend that President Bush authorize construction and seek the necessary license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The move pits the administration and its allies in the nuclear power and manufacturing industries against the Nevada political establishment, environmental groups and Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.), who has vowed to block the project. The administration says a permanent burial site is essential to consolidate nuclear waste stockpiles that could be targeted by terrorists. Nevada officials say there is overwhelming scientific evidence that the government cannot safely store 77,000 tons of radioactive waste beneath Yucca Mountain without groundwater being contaminated by long-term leaching. Last week, scientists on an independent nuclear waste advisory panel meeting in Nevada said there were enormous gaps in what the Energy Department knew about the site and about the high-tech canisters it proposes for storage. Officials said research on how well the mountain and the waste containers would isolate the radioactive materials would continue for as long as the repository was open, which could be 300 years. Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) plans to meet with Bush on Thursday to argue against moving ahead with the project. Bartlett is the most prominent former DOE official to publicly declare the proposed site unsuitable. . © 2002 The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 29 Many uncertainties surround plan for storing nuclear waste at Yucca 01/26/02 Shawnee News-Star: Central Oklahoma's #1 news source! Shawnee, Oklahoma February 07, 2002 A panel of scientists says the Energy Department's plan to store nuclear waste in Nevada is fraught with uncertainties. Saturday, January 26, 2002 An employee of the the Yucca Mountain Project walks through a tunnel inside the project May 22, 2001, near Mercury, Nev. A panel of scientists says the Energy Department's plan to store nuclear waste in Nevada is fraught with uncertainties. The scientists say, no matter where the waste is put, it will be impossible to avoid unexpected problems over the 10,000 years the material will be highly radioactive. AP Photo WASHINGTON (AP) -- A panel of scientists says the Energy Department's plan to store nuclear waste in Nevada is fraught with uncertainties. Indeed, the scientists say, no matter where the waste is put, it will be impossible to avoid unexpected problems over the more than 10,000 years the material will be highly radioactive. The findings of the oversight board come as the White House prepares, possibly within weeks, to give the go-ahead for the Yucca Mountain waste project in Nevada. The Energy Department signed off on the site earlier this month. The scientists emphasized in a letter sent to congressional leaders and the department that they were making no judgment on whether Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, should be designated for long-term burial of 77,000 tons of nuclear waste. The panel, which was created by Congress as a technical watchdog in the search for a nuclear waste site, acknowledged that it had found no single issue "that would automatically eliminate" Yucca Mountain as a waste repository. But the 11-member board said the Energy Department's analysis of the facility depends largely on computer models that try to predict performance thousands of years in the future -- and that poses scientific uncertainties that must be considered. Despite 13 years of scientific study of the Yucca site, there remain "gaps in data and basic understanding" of how the volcanic rock and hydrology -- as well as the man-made barriers that would contain the waste -- will perform over tens of thousands of years, the panel said in its report released Friday. As a result, the board has "limited confidence" in the Energy Department's predictions that the site will provide the protection that is anticipated over many centuries. It urged the department to find ways to make their projections "more realistic." At the same time, the panel acknowledged "eliminating all uncertainty associated with (future) performance would never be possible at any repository." Policy makers will have to decide "how much scientific uncertainty is acceptable," said the board in letters sent Thursday to the Energy Department and congressional leaders. Two weeks ago, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced he has concluded "that the science behind this project is sound and that the (Yucca) site is technically suitable" to keep highly radioactive waste from commercial power plants and the federal weapons program. He said he planned to give a formal recommendation next month to President Bush to go ahead with the project, which is strongly opposed by Nevada officials who have argued that the government is ignoring safety concerns. The findings by the panel, formally known as the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board -- its members coming from scientific and engineering disciplines -- are likely to be used by critics of the Yucca project as support for the need for more scientific studies before a green light is given by the president. But the Energy Department in a statement noted that the panel found no single scientific show-stopper in its review of the Yucca program and took heart in the scientists' declaration that no matter where the waste is put, there will be uncertainties. The oversight panel has expressed concerns for several years about various aspects of the Yucca project, from the waste site's design and the limitations of using computer models to predict future performance to the reliability of the waste canisters. In its report, the board said the Energy Department had taken steps to address some of these issues, but that others have not been fully addressed. For example, the board said it's not certain that the waste canisters will hold up as predicted by project engineers, or that the estimates on how fast wastes will eventually move through the volcanic rocks into groundwater are reliable. All this, the scientists say, is complicated by the difficulty in predicting performance more than 10,000 years into the future. Yucca project engineers say a new, much stronger alloy that will be used in waste containers will provide corrosion protection for 10,000 years. But the board said the alloy has only been observed for several decades and its performance for thousands of years is uncertain, especially at high temperatures such as those surrounding the radioactive waste. Last year, the Energy Department also agreed to consider as a possible option a new design that would allow for much lower temperatures in the disposal area -- something the oversight board has viewed as "critical" for years. But the board said the project engineers have yet to thoroughly compare the benefits of the low-temperature option and made no commitment use that design. Copyright © 1997-2001 The Shawnee News-Star ***************************************************************** 30 MOX plant principal is sold off Seller says transition won't affect fuel facility Web posted Wednesday, February 6, 2002 By [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] Staff Writer A shuffle has occurred in the coalition of companies charged with building a plutonium-fuel plant at Savannah River Site. Duke Engineering &Services Inc., one of three major partners in Duke COGEMA Stone &Webster LLC, was sold Thursday to Lynchburg, Va.-based Framatome ANP Inc. Duke Engineering's seller, Duke Energy, will retain its former subsidiary's interest in the plutonium-fuel partnership, a spokesman said. "We have not sold, in any way, shape or form, any of the ownership of the MOX (mixed-oxide) contract," said Todd Kaish, a spokesman for Duke COGEMA Stone &Webster. "The team is going to remain consistent," Mr. Kaish said. "There will be no key personnel changes. This is what is being termed a seamless transition." Duke Energy will create a new limited-liability corporation to handle its MOX interests, Mr. Kaish said. Duke COGEMA Stone &Webster, or DCS, was selected in 1999 to design, build and operate the mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facility at SRS. The plant would turn surplus plutonium from nuclear weapons into fuel for nuclear-power plants. Besides Duke, DCS is owned by Stone &Webster Engineering Corp. and COGEMA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of French nuclear company COGEMA. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy provides 45 of the 200 DCS employees, including 25 employees in Aiken, Mr. Kaish said. The Bush administration recently reaffirmed its commitment to the MOX plan, which would bring two new plants to SRS at a cost of $3.8 billion over 20 years. The administration has proposed spending $384 million on the project in fiscal year 2003. Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] . 1996 - 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. ***************************************************************** 31 Yucca Mountain Assessment FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 4, 2002 Clark County Impact Assessment Report on Yucca Mountain On Tuesday, February 5th, during the Clark County Board of County Commissioners meeting, the County Commissioners is scheduled to authorize the Chairman of the Board to submit the County's Impact Assessment Report for inclusion in the State of Nevada’s Impact Report, which is being submitted to Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Later this month, Secretary Abraham is expected to present the report to President George W. Bush, along with a recommendation as to whether Yucca Mountain should be the location for a proposed repository or not. The Impact Assessment Report represents a culmination of more than a decade of study by Clark County. Experts in the areas of economics, impact assessment, tourism, property valuation, transportation planning and Yucca Mountain technical issues all contributed to this report. Clark County public safety and emergency management agencies, as well as public safety and emergency management representatives from all of the incorporated cities in Clark County were also instrumental in providing the technical expertise reflected in this important document. The report focuses on public health and environmental and economic impacts resulting from a variety of scenarios involving the possibility of a transportation accident. An analysis conducted by the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ (UNLV) Center for Business and Economic Research estimates impacts ranging from 11,000 to 90,000 in population loss and approximates job losses from 5,400 to 54,000. Drops in tourism are estimated by UNLV at a minimum of 25%, depending on the severity of the accident. Clark County’s findings in the Impact Assessment Report mirror those of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board and the General Accounting Office. Clark County’s report concludes that the Department of Energy has left too many critical questions unanswered. The document further finds that the site recommendation is premature and urges Secretary Abraham and President Bush to not recommend Yucca Mountain for the proposed repository. [mdw@co.clark.nv.us] E-mail ***************************************************************** 32 Iran rules out nuclear weapons Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Oliver Burkeman in New York Wednesday February 6, 2002 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] Iran announced yesterday that it would not seek nuclear weapons "for any reason", in what was interpreted as an attempt to counter a campaign of increasingly hostile rhetoric by the United States. "The existence of nuclear weapons will turn us into a threat to others that could be exploited in a dangerous way to harm our relations with the countries of the region," said Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the Iranian defence minister. In an interwiew in the Asharq al-Aswat newspaper on Monday, Mr Shamkhani issued a warning to President George Bush, who lumped Iran with Iraq and North Korea in his state of the union address last week as an "axis of evil" bent on developing weapons of mass destruction. America also believes Tehran has been providing escape routes for al-Qaida fighters fleeing Afghanistan. "It will be a mistake for anyone to take aim at our independence," Mr Shamkhani said. "We will not hesitate for a moment in defending our freedom, independence and other values." Iran, he said, "is neither Afghanistan nor Iraq. Iran is a historical and strategic country with a legitimate, well-founded system of government". The comments came as Tehran continued its standoff with Israel, which accuses Iran of supplying arms to the Palestinians. Israel's defence minister, Ephraim Sneh, renewed his claim yesterday that Iran is also arming Lebanese guerrillas fighting on Israel's border. On Monday, Mr Shamkhani said any Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear reactor would be met with a military response. Tehran insists its nuclear capability, developed with assistance from Russia, is for civilian use. Other states in the "axis of evil" issued further challenges to President Bush. Iraq flew 250 mostly elderly people to Saudi Arabia on Monday to attend the annual Hajj pilgrimage, in open defiance of the United Nations requirement that Baghdad seek permission for the flights. Similar journeys have been made before and there is little political will in the security council toprevent Iraqi Muslims practising their religion. "There is no need for getting approval of the UN, these are humanitarian flights," said Iraq's transport minister, Ahmed Murtada. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 33 Powell: U.S. to Sign Binding Arms Pact Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2002. New York Times Service WASHINGTON -- Indicating a possible shift in U.S. administration policy, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that the United States was willing to sign a legally binding treaty with Russia on limiting nuclear weapons. "We are hard at work on an agreement to record these commitments,'' Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We do expect that as we codify this framework, it will be something that will be legally binding,'' he said. "It can be an executive agreement that both houses of Congress might wish to speak on, or it might be a treaty.'' President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin will hold a summit meeting in Moscow in May. Both leaders have committed to sharply reducing their countries' stocks of offensive weapons. But Russia has been demanding a legally binding arms accord, while the United States had until Tuesday been seeking a more informal approach. [http://www.themoscowtimes.com ***************************************************************** 34 Pasko case: Supreme Court to nullify secret decrees Pasko Case Gregory Pasko, an investigative journalist who worked for the Pacific Fleet's newspaper, was arrested on 20 November 1997 by the FSB and charged with high treason for his writing about the nuclear safety issues in the Russian Pacific Fleet. (St Petersburg:) The Russian Supreme Court has refused to consider Pasko's release on bail. But the Court will evaluate other complaints lodged by the defence shortly. The complaints challenge provisions of two military decrees, which were the basis for Pasko's verdict. Victor Tereshkin, Rashid Alimov, 2002-02-05 15:54 Grigory Pasko's lawyers received the answer from the Supreme Court for their petition to release Pasko on bail on February 4th. The defence argued in the petition that Pasko has no possibility to prepare for the hearing of his appeal in the Supreme Court sitting in custody in Vladivostok. The Supreme Court decided to consider this petition simultaneously with the defendant's appeal for verdict's unlawfulness as a whole. Judges said the current Criminal Procedure Code consideration of bail petitions, until the whole verdict is evaluated for it legality and validity in the court session. In the middle of the next week, the Supreme Court will begin, however, examining Pasko's complaints against several provisions of two Defence Ministry's decrees, NN 010 and 055, used as a basis for the conviction. Decree N 010 In Pasko's verdict the Pacific Fleet Military Court did directly refer to the secret decree N010, signed on August 7th 1990 by the USSR Defence Minister Dmitry Yazov, who later became infamous for taking part in the failed coup. This decree forbids all the military men "to get in touch and communicate… with foreign citizens about the questions, not ensuing from their duties of service." The Court decided that when a journalist of a Russian military newspaper speaks with a Japanese journalist about severe environmental situation in the Russian Far East, he commits a crime. And it was Pasko, who dared to speak about this, who handed articles on this topic over to Japanese newspapers, met with a Japanese journalist and even called him. But according to this decree, if applied in earnest, up to 90% of the military men in the Pacific Fleet may be summoned in front of a judge. Some of them have relatives in Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldova, and they visit them on leave. And now, after the collapse of the USSR, all those relatives are foreign citizens. Furthermore, all Vladivostok markets are crowded with Chinese sellers. To be in consent with this decree, if an officer buys something there, he should be arrested right on the spot. Provided that the Federal Security Service, the former KGB, wants that. Grigory Pasko used to visit his mother in Ukraine, he bought goods from the Chinese sellers. In the mind of the FSB such connections may well be a criminal offence. Pasko's defence say the decree 010 is illegal, because in violation of Article 15(3) of the Russian Constitution it has never been in public domain. And the provision, prohibiting connections with foreigners, contradicts Art. 23 of the Constitution, which guarantees the inviolability of private life. The Supreme Court has to decide, whether Russia will keep on living according to the secret decrees of the already non-existent Soviet state, or it will follow its own democratic Constitution. Decree 050 Another decree – N 055 — has already been challenged in the Supreme Court by Aleksandr Nikitin's lawyers. The Supreme Court nullified several provisions of the decree, on the ground that it has neither been ever published, nor registered by the Ministry of Justice. The decree was written in such a cunning way that many journalists may be arrested, should the decree be applied. If a journalist says in a TV-program that military exercises have started, he reveals a serious state secret, if one sticks to that decree. If he says that a new nuclear submarine is commissioned, it means he divulges the fact, that its reactor contains nuclear fuel. Even innocent information that a military base had small repairs or that a checkpoint barrier was painted, may be evaluated as a disclosure of secret information. The experts of the 8th Department of the General Staff referred to this decree, examining the extent of secrecy in the documents allegedly found at Pasko's flat. The verdict is based on this decree, but, having applied all its provisions, the judge of the Pacific Fleet Military Court did not dare to name the decree directly. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 35 Russia to give priority in nuclear weapons building to the navy - top negotiator BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Text of report by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 6 February: The first deputy chief of the General Staff [and Russia's chief arms negotiator], Col-Gen Yuriy Baluyevskiy, has said that Russia will give priority in the development of strategic nuclear forces to the nuclear fleet. In an interview with Interfax-AVN [Military News Agency], Baluyevskiy announced: "All our military construction plans give priority to the second, that is, the sea-based arm of our strategic nuclear forces." The general added that "the state of our ground-based strategic nuclear forces will be entirely satisfactory for the next five to seven, or maybe 10 years". Baluyevskiy stressed that Russia will retain its nuclear triad of ground, sea and air forces, notwithstanding the plans for a radical reduction in strategic offensive weapons to 1,500 nuclear warheads. "The triad is the optimum structure for strategic nuclear forces, and we have no intention of abandoning it," the deputy chief of the General Staff said. He considers that the US decision to create a missile defence system "will not pose any military threat to us in the next decade". He noted that Russia will not go down the road of "asymmetrical action" in response to the USA withdrawing from the ABM Treaty. "We could have taken a decision to increase the number of our deployed missiles and the weapons they carry, but this would have taken us nowhere, to a new stage in the arms race. Russia does not need this at the moment, and we will not be taking this path," the general stressed. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1011 gmt 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 36 Kazakhstan to bury toxic substances at former nuclear test ground BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 6, 2002 Pavlodar, 6 February: Burial of the trichlorobiphenyl toxic substance has started at the former Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground (in eastern Kazakhstan). The [northern] Pavlodar Regional emergency situations department's press service has told an Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency correspondent that a total of about 70 tonnes of trichlorobiphenyl, stored in capacitor batteries from Ekibastuz (in the region), is to be buried there. In all, 14,800 useless capacitor batteries are to be scrapped. Two lorries have now transported 1,981 batteries to the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground. A further six lorries are being loaded. According to the emergency situations department, the issue of burying trichlorobiphenyl in a special depot at the testing ground has been worked out jointly with the National Nuclear Centre which was formed from the former Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground. [Passage to end omitted: capacitor batteries should have been used at a power plant in Ekibastuz in 1992-1994 which was later mothballed] Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0711 gmt 6 Feb 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. World Reporter ***************************************************************** 37 Budget includes Pantex increase Amarillo Globe-News: Local News: Web posted Tuesday, February 5, 2002 From staff and wire reports WASHINGTON - President Bush proposed a $2.13 trillion budget Monday that pumps billions into the war on terrorism but challenges Congress by reining in resurgent deficits through cuts to job training, highways and scores of other programs. Both Pantex and the Bell Helicopter Textron V-22 project would receive hefty increases in proposed budgets announced Monday. Pantex would receive $366.92 million for nuclear weapons assembly-related activities, up from $352.83 million in the 2002 budget and $316.8 million in 2001. The total Pantex Plant budget is tagged at $387.98 million, up from $376.71 million this year and $340.32 million in 2001. The budget proposal calls for a $1.8 million decrease throughout Department of Energy weapons facilities for dismantlement and disposal. George Bush: President's proposal includes increased money for the Pantex Plant and the Bell Helicopter Textron V-22 project. The DOE budget notes indicate that part of the savings comes through management efficiencies at Pantex. Containers and storage spending would increase from about $18 million this year to $32.3 million to meet safety requirements and to repackage plutonium pits in sealed inserts. Environmental restoration and waste management projects, though, were cut from $13.9 million in this year's budget to a proposed $10.62 million. The budget document notes indicate that environmental management spending systemwide would be about the same as this year, $6.7 billion, even though the notes admit that the environmental cleanup program largely has been losing ground since its start in 1989. The DOE said next year's budget plan seeks $800 million for a cleanup program reform, that if successful, will be expanded next year and beyond. The V22-Osprey program, which was slowed for the better part of the past two years because of two fatal crashes, would receive $1.994 billion for production of 11 aircraft, compared to $1.68 billion this year to produce nine MV-22 models for the Marine Corps and two test models in a version called the CV-22 for special forces operations. The 2003 budget proposal calls for $496.3 million to correct technical problems and additional testing. "The budget bespeaks the administration's and the DOD's continuing faith in the Osprey," said Roger Williams, director of administration at the Amarillo Tiltrotor Assembly Center, where the aircraft are shipped for final assembly and testing before delivery to the Marine Corps. In Washington, Democrats embraced Bush's national security plans. But they also blamed him and the ample tax cut he won last year for bringing back deficits and shortchanging domestic programs. They complained that the budget would divert $1.5 trillion in Social Security and Medicare surpluses during the next decade to pay for other programs. In flusher times, lawmakers from both parties promised to use that money for debt reduction. "The budget should promote long-term economic growth through fiscal responsibility, investments in people and technology and honoring our commitments to Social Security and Medicare," said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo. "The administration's budget fails on all three counts." The Democrats' criticism is just one reason Bush's blueprint will hit election-year trouble in Congress. Conservative Republicans oppose letting deficits return on the GOP's watch. Party moderates may resist his proposed spending cuts in toxic waste cleanups, economic and urban development grants, and other programs. Globe-News Business Editor Greg Rohloff contributed to this report. Privacy Statement | © 1996-2002 Amarillo Globe-News ***************************************************************** 38 Hanford cuts proposed This story was published Tue, Feb 5, 2002 By John Stang Herald staff writer For the second straight year, the federal government wants to slash Hanford's cleanup budget. On Monday, the Department of Energy proposed trimming $262 million from Hanford in the 2003 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. A caveat: Hanford can recapture some of that $262 million. The bottom line is DOE is asking Congress for a guaranteed $1.46 billion for Hanford in 2003. The site will then compete for extra money over the next several months with other DOE sites. The overall budget picture is still murky. "Without more details, I don't know if this is scary or a good opportunity. Initially, it looks daunting .... leaning toward scary," said Todd Martin, chairman of the Hanford Advisory Board. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said she was "deeply troubled" by the proposed cut. "A cut of this magnitude undermines the federal government's promise ... to clean up Hanford." Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham unveiled DOE's $6.7 billion nationwide nuclear cleanup budget request to Congress on Monday. The request equals the amount Congress appropriated to nuclear cleanup in 2002. "I believe the 2003 budget of this department is forward looking," Abraham said. State officials have taken a wait-and-see stance, warning they are willing to renew threats to file a lawsuit against DOE if cleanup funding does not meet Hanford's legal obligations. Last year, DOE wanted to trim Hanford's budget from $1.456 billion to $1.4 billion, but Congress increased that to $1.776 billion. The site needed about $1.8 billion to meet its legal cleanup obligations. Under DOE's new proposal, Hanford would get $1.46 billion, a cut of $262 million. But the site then could compete for part of a pool of $800 million to be divided among sites where regulators agree to accelerated cleanup projects. A complicating factor is that DOE has not yet said how much money is needed in 2003 to meet Hanford's legal obligations. In past years, this figure has been made public. However, Hanford watchers have generally said 2003's budget should roughly match 2002's. Another complication is DOE's recent decision to shut down the dormant Fast Flux Test Facility. That is expected to cost roughly $44 million a year -- an amount not in previous cleanup budgets. It is unknown whether the extra $44 million is in the $1.46 billion Hanford budget request, or if it will come from another DOE funding source. The trickiest and most controversial budget issue is the $800 million accelerated cleanup fund. "It gives a portion of Hanford's funding to Spencer Abraham, and we have to apply for it after jumping through his hoops," said Todd Webster, spokesman for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Murray believes DOE should instead keep 2002's total nationwide cleanup budget of $6.7 billion intact, and add $800 million to reward improving cleanup programs, Webster said. Gerald Pollet, director of Heart of America Northwest, said, "If the president holds nuclear waste cleanup funds hostage, in exchange to changing cleanup agreements and environmental standards, it sounds like political extortion." But Todd Young, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., voiced more optimism. "It's possible we'll get some of that $262 million. It's possible we'll get all $262 million. We could get more," he said. DOE cleanup czar Jessie Roberson said Hanford is in good shape to capture a significant chunk of the $800 million fund. She noted Hanford and its regulators have been negotiating cleanup improvements. She described the $800 million incentive fund as a way to stretch dollars and cut decades from the cleanup timetable. The measures include trimming staff at DOE's Washington, D.C., headquarters. "We're not taking money away. But we're reinvesting money to do more work," Roberson said. DOE's two Hanford agencies -- the Office of River Protection and the Richland Operations office -- received their first overall budget figures Monday, so they had just begun figuring out what the numbers mean. The Office of River Protection manages Hanford's radioactive waste tanks and is in charge of building a complex to convert those wastes into glass. For 2002, it received $1.027 billion -- $690 million to build the glassification complex, and the rest to keep the tanks safe. DOE is asking for $903 million for the Office of River Protection in 2003. No information was available Monday on how much would go to glassification, which DOE says needs $690 million to stay on track in 2003. DOE's Richland Operations office, which manages the rest of Hanford, received $695 million in 2002. DOE proposes $557 million for 2003. Frustration is growing among Hanford observers because DOE reveals less each year when it sends its budget request to Congress. In the late 1990s, DOE officials presented detailed breakdowns of Hanford's dollars and shortfalls when the energy secretary sent the request to Congress. But in the past two years, local DOE leaders found out what Hanford's budget requests were at the same time the public received them. Roberson said DOE is actually trying to be more open by not locking in its budget details when the overall request first goes to Congress. She said regulators and public constituencies now have a few months to say how the budget details should be tackled. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 39 PNNL well positioned for funding This story was published Tue, Feb 5, 2002 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is well positioned to receive more federal money for national security-related programs and several other initiatives under the president's proposed budget. The White House announced 2003 budget plans Monday that would increase research and development spending to a record $111.8 billion. It's the first time a president has requested more than $100 billion. That includes an increase from nearly $1 billion in 2002 to about $3 billion in 2003 for research and development to protect homeland security and combat terrorism. "PNNL has significant capabilities in counterterrorism (and) national and homeland security R&D, and it's likely some of the new funding being devoted to these areas will come to the laboratory," said lab spokesman Greg Koller. It's too early to know specifically how PNNL might be affected, he added. "We can say, however, we expect to have more people working on counterterrorism and homeland defense programs," than before Sept. 11, he said. Among the lab's work are programs to develop an airport scanner that can detect plastic and ceramic and a system that can clean samples so they can be identified as agents of biological warfare without being taken to a laboratory and manually purified for identification. The Department of Energy did not fare as well as some other federal agencies in proposed allocations for science and research, particularly the Department of Defense. Proposed budgets for basic science and energy work remain flat. However, some programs the president wants to strengthen dovetail with research already being done at the Richland lab. For instance, the president's budget calls for a 53 percent increase in DOE money for nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular levels. Such research promises revolutionary advances in medicines, better performing materials and faster computers. Last year, the Richland lab formed the Joint Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology with the University of Washington. Among projects at Richland is work to use solar energy to convert water into oxygen and hydrogen -- providing a supply of hydrogen anywhere to power fuel cells. It's a process that hasn't worked without adding another energy source when attempted on larger than a nanoscale. DOE money also is proposed to increase for fuel cell development and building on the mapping of the human genome to understand how the parts of living cells operate together. Both are programs the Richland lab has worked to develop. More money also may be available to secure nuclear facilities and materials overseas. DOE Office of Science money also would be used to develop supercomputing capabilities to solve scientific problems and for climate change research. "Our strengths line up well with what the (energy) secretary announced," Koller said. About 70 to 80 percent of the lab budget each year comes from DOE. However, it also does work for other government agencies, including the Department of Defense. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 40 Bush's Hanford plan raises debate: Critics say funding will not adequately handle safety issues Olympia, Washington KATHERINE PFLEGER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- President Bush has proposed a new way to pay for Hanford nuclear reservation cleanup that has some critics concerned that funding to remove hazardous waste there will be inadequate. In his annual budget proposal, delivered to Congress on Monday, Bush requested $6.7 billion to clean up former nuclear sites nationwide, the same amount legislators approved last year. However, $800 million of the money was in a new "expedited cleanup account." Those funds would be doled out only after the parties involved in nuclear cleanup efforts make reforms to reduce risks, lower costs and get work done faster. Across the country, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is trying to hurry the cleanup of radioactive contamination at dozens of nuclear sites. To create the new cleanup account, Bush wants to shave $262 million off Hanford's funding. Congress approved $1.7 billion for the current budget year. Marla Marvin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy in Richland, said Hanford would be in an "excellent position" to justify getting a good chunk of the $800 million account. Even so, at least one watchdog organization thought it was a dangerous idea. Some notable items for the Northwest: -Forest Service spending was cut. The administration is also proposing a new agency structure that would reassign or relocate 750 people at the national and regional offices to other jobs in the field. And the administration wants to test a concept called "charter forests" that would have local trusts oversee some national forest lands, rather than the agency. -The budget was mum on funding for Seattle's voter-approved Link light rail. However, later this week a separate federal report on transportation funding may indicate whether the administration will provide funds for the 14-mile rail line, designed to link downtown Seattle to a site just north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. -Salmon recovery money is scattered throughout the federal budget. In some accounts, Bush proposed figures that conservationists called inadequate, including the funding levels for the Columbia and Snake River salmon restoration. Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers' Portland office celebrated a proposed $20 million increase for salmon restoration in the 2003 budget year. -As previously reported, the administration proposed increasing the amount the Bonneville Power Administration can borrow from the U.S. Treasury by $700 million. On the Web: The Olympian Copyright 2002 ***************************************************************** 41 Nuclear Engineer Settles in Whistleblower Case NSPE's Engineering Times January 2002 A nuclear engineer who was harassed and forced to resign after blowing the whistle on nuclear safety violations at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory settled his lawsuit in September for $250,000 without going to trial. As was reported in the March issue of Engineering Times, whistleblower David Lappa worked at the laboratory as a nuclear engineer from 1980 to 2000. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by the University of California as a contractor for the Department of Energy. Lappa's case started in 1997, when he refused to sign a committee report that he claims did not reveal important evidence. He says the committee's research had uncovered evidence that university employees had intentionally mishandled plutonium. His signature line was removed from the report as if his approval was never sought, Lappa says. Lappa reported his concerns to federal authorities, and in June 1998 the Department of Energy issued a notice of violation for LLNL's improper conduct. DOE also fined the University of California more than $250,000; however, the fine was waived as a result of legislation that prohibits the levying of fines against nonprofit organizations such as the University of California. Lappa resigned from LLNL in February 2000, and he and his wife relocated to Australia, where he works in the area of quality assurance for Internet-related software. "I am very proud of my achievements in my battles with the University of California and the Department of Energy," he says. He has no regrets about being a whistleblower. "My family has been very supportive and our family and friends knew this was a real David-and-Goliath battle. The University of California and the Department of Energy have immense resources and political power. You're lucky just to survive a battle with enemies that powerful. And I've done much better than just survive." A press release from the Government Accountability Project, which provided legal counsel to Lappa, said that the settlement was a vindication for whistleblowers, and said the organization would continue to scrutinize the laboratory's activities. "Dave is a hero," says Jack Sheridan, Lappa's lead attorney from the Government Accountability Project. "He stood up to these guys and never blinked, and I admire the guy." January 2002 Engineering Times | Webmaster [webmaster@nspe.org] NSPE: 1420 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 / 703-684-2800 Copyright © 2002 National Society of Professional Engineers ***************************************************************** 42 After Legal Defeat, Whistleblower Seeks Alternatives for Engineering Ethics Case NSPE's Engineering Times February 2002 By Rachel Davis Associate Editor After years of turmoil as a whistleblower at a Department of Energy subcontractor, Professional Engineer G. Thomas Clark of Spokane, Washington, is considering the next steps in what he says is the defense of professional ethics. However, DOE and a federal judge have determined that he does not have a case. G. Thomas Clark, P.E. Clark sought at least $500,000 in compensatory damages and at least $1 million in punitive damages this past year in his lawsuit against Science Applications International Corp., a subcontractor to DOE at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Clark alleged in his lawsuit that SAIC violated state engineering laws. He claimed that when he expressed concerns, SAIC retaliated by harassing him and ultimately firing him. "SAIC did not terminate [Clark's] employment or take other adverse actions against [him] as a result of a series of complaints he filed with the Washington State Engineering Board or the Department of Energy," says SAIC spokesperson Ron Zollars. "To the contrary, Clark's complaints were thoroughly investigated by SAIC in a responsible manner." Zollars adds that SAIC itself sought out the guidance of the licensing board and DOE during its investigation. SAIC attorney Randall Steichen motioned for dismissal of Clark's lawsuit before it could go to trial, on the grounds that Clark would not be able to prove that whistleblower retaliation was the reason for his termination, nor that public health and safety were immediately threatened by SAIC's actions. U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle ruled that Clark did not have enough evidence for his case to proceed to trial. Consequently, Clark is contemplating further legal action. At press time, he is also awaiting a Washington state decision on the re-filing of a malpractice complaint against SAIC. Clark is not the only engineer in recent years to make a complaint related to professional ethics against a DOE-affiliated entity. David Lappa, a nuclear engineer who says he was harassed and forced to resign after blowing the whistle on nuclear safety violations at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, settled his lawsuit in September for $250,000 without going to trial (see January issue of ET). Lawrence Livermore, operated by the University of California, contracts with DOE. As a DOE safety engineer, NSPE member and Professional Engineer Joseph Carson also blew the whistle on safety and security violations at the nuclear weapons complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Over the course of eight years of ongoing litigation, courts have required DOE to pay about $400,000 in Carson's legal fees, including another $23,000 in October. Clark's story also goes back to the early 1990s. He moved to SAIC's Richland office in 1988, and worked as a staff engineer on environmental and safety analysis for SAIC contracts with DOE. He was promoted in 1993 to the position of corporate engineer, which according to state law made him "responsible for the practice of engineering by the corporation in this state" and gave him full authority to make final engineering decisions on behalf of the corporation. Clark alleged that his troubles began when he pointed out to his supervisors that SAIC was not complying with state laws and standards for professional engineers. Among other complaints outlined in his lawsuit, Clark says he told his superiors that the company did not have properly licensed engineers in the appropriate positions. His lawsuit also states that although the law required licensed engineers to be on staff at SAIC's Olympia and Bothell offices, there were no PEs on staff at either office in 1993. Specific problems that Clark alleged in his lawsuit were SAIC's use of non-engineers to perform engineering work, advertisement of engineering services in offices that did not have a resident engineer, and denial of powers Clark thought were his as the corporate engineer for the company. Clark says he prepared two memos in 1993 describing noncompliance with state engineering laws. "I also asked for guidance on my responsibilities," he says. "These memorandums were never answered." After Clark was told in March 1996 that if he did not bill more work, he would be laid off, his hours were cut in half and he was put on involuntary leave with pay by May 1996. He filed complaints with the Department of Energy and the state licensing board. In the DOE complaint, Clark also cited a "safety problem" with a task that SAIC was carrying out at Hanford. SAIC fired him that fall, citing a lack of available engineering work as the reason. "Clark was one of many employees of SAIC's Hanford office laid off for lack of work in connection with the massive slowdown in engineering support required in Hanford, Washington, during the 1990s," Zollars says. In April 1997, DOE's Employee Concerns Office wrote Clark that following its investigation, it had not found a safety problem with SAIC's work and intended to close his case. Clark, who now works as an air quality engineer for the Washington State Department of Ecology, says, "I do have an option of continuing my whistleblower case. The Department of Energy never closed out [its] investigation." In May 1997, the state licensing board ruled that some of Clark's complaints were justified, and others weren't. Although it found no evidence that inexperienced individuals were engaged in engineering activities, "there does appear to be substantiation to the allegation that unlicensed individuals were performing engineering work," the board reported. However, it found that there was no evidence that "the lack of the PE credential in this situation placed the public. . .in a harmful or potentially harmful situation." The board found truth to Clark's allegation that SAIC was operating branch offices without properly licensed engineers, along with some of his other claims. However, the board did not discipline SAIC on its findings in 1997. When Clark protested the decision, the board told him it would consider new evidence on the case if such information were brought forward, court records indicate. Clark filed his lawsuit for wrongful termination in violation of public policy in September 1999. Responding to SAIC's motion for summary judgment in March 2001, Clark's attorney, Louis Byrd, argued before Judge Sickle that Clark was fired because of his complaints, and that the circumstances surrounding his termination proved it was retaliation. The U.S. District Court found that although Clark clearly perceived that the public's safety was at risk as the result of SAIC's using non-engineers to perform engineering work, "the undisputed facts show that even he did not perceive the risk to be immediate." The judge determined that this "imminent risk of harm to the public" was necessary for the case to go to trial. Clark is exploring options for appealing his case and presenting new evidence to the licensing board. He's also considering writing a book about his experiences, because he believes his story could be useful to others in his situation. February 2002 Engineering Times ***************************************************************** 43 Bush budget calls for closing INEEL IdahoStatesman.com February 6, 2002 Crapo says only a portion of the lab would be shut By Rocky Barker and Michael Journee The Idaho Statesman Spent nuclear fuel lies stored under thousands of gallons of water at the closed INEEL Chem Plant, where spent fuel from submarines and ships was recycled for use in reactors that prepared uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Speak out Public hearings on the Bush administration´s budget proposal for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory will be held in Idaho Falls and Twin Falls later this month. • The Idaho Falls meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Shilo Inn. • The Twin Falls meeting will follow a week later, at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Taylor Administration Building, Room 276, on the campus of the College of Southern Idaho. DOE-Idaho officials will discuss their ideas on how to best accelerate cleanup of radioactive and hazardous contaminants at the INEEL. They also want to hear the public´s thoughts on ways to clean up the site more quickly and efficiently. What is INEEL and what does it do? The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is a research facility, nuclear waste dump and former nuclear reactor test site. About the size of Delaware, it is spread across 890 square miles of Idaho desert. It employs about 8,000 people, including scientists and engineers. What do you think? Post your comments about this story on the message board [http://www.idahostatesman.com/f_messageboards.shtml] or send a letter to the editor [http://www.idahostatesman.com/f_letter2editor.shtml] . The Bush administration Tuesday recommended a speedup of INEEL nuclear waste cleanup efforts and "closing the lab" as part of an effort to cut Department of Energy inefficiencies. DOE officials in Idaho Falls downplayed the announcement -- which economists say would be disastrous to Idaho Falls and eastern Idaho -- saying it "doesn´t mean the closure of INEEL," but rather a shifting of environmental management resources into other "missions" of the lab. But DOE officials said oversight of those missions could leave Idaho. Such a shift could mean an unspecified number of high-paying management jobs would leave the state. Spokesmen at DOE headquarters in Washington, D.C., didn´t return repeated calls to clarify what the language meant. The recommendation was part of the administration´s proposed DOE budget for fiscal year 2003, which was released Tuesday. The administration said in the budget that the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory´s inability "to complete projects on time and within budget" prompted a reform package designed to increase the efficiency of cleanup efforts. DOE officials scrambled Tuesday to back down from the language published by the Bush administration after Idaho lawmakers called them on it. U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, is up for reelection this year, and having the Bush administration on record calling for closing down the INEEL is not an attractive scenario for him. U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said Bush administration officials immediately retracted the closing statement and said they meant to say only that the environmental management portion of the laboratory would be closed when the cleanup of nuclear waste and contamination at INEEL was completed. "Which of course we have all understood for many years to be the case when the cleanup is finished, so I don´t believe that undue alarm should be taken," Crapo said. Tim Jackson, spokesman for DOE´s Idaho Operations office in Idaho Falls, said about 60 percent of INEEL´s nearly $1 billion funding is dedicated to environmental management -- the cleanup of the laboratory. Most of the Cold War-era facilities at the INEEL are closed or on standby. It once was the home of 51 nuclear reactors; only a few small test reactors remain, including the Advanced Test Reactor. The Naval Reactors Facility continues to repackage spent nuclear fuel from Navy ships and submarines at INEEL, and Argonne National Laboratory still has a nuclear research facility there. These areas cover only a few hundred acres of the 890-square-mile site. There is no timetable for speeded cleanup or the closure of the environmental management wing of INEEL, Jackson said. Oversight of other "missions" at INEEL, such as national security and energy security research, would be transferred to other DOE sites under the Bush budget plan, Jackson said. In response to the budget proposal, lawmakers and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne focused on Idaho´s 1995 court-sanctioned agreement with the federal government that requires plutonium-contaminated waste tainted with other hazardous substances to be processed and then moved from INEEL to permanent storage in an underground dump in New Mexico. But in a joint statement, Kempthorne and Idaho´s congressional delegation downplayed the closure of the INEEL. "We´re dedicated to achieving the cleanup at INEEL that Idahoans are expecting from their Department of Energy," Kempthorne said. "We also recognize the INEEL is a national asset and has a long-term mission as the nation´s top environmental laboratory." Mark Snider, spokesman for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, called the language in the DOE budget "an unfortunate choice of words." Mike Tracy, Sen. Craig´s spokesman, said the statement about closing the lab "is false." DOE´s cleanup reform program would hold back 20 percent of environmental budgets from the most inefficient sites. The INEEL was recognized as the worst of the nation´s five major nuclear facilities. Crapo said he was unhappy with the program´s proposed 20 percent holdback. "We´re very concerned about that, and I want to make it clear that the proposal is just that, a proposal," Crapo said. "The policy for the Department of Energy will be written here in Congress, and we will make sure as a delegation that the Department of Energy has the resources necessary to meet its obligations to the state of Idaho." The idea of eventually closing the INEEL is not new. The Clinton administration, in a 1998 report, suggested returning the site to the Bureau of Land Management or some other agency once cleanup is completed. Robert Nelson, a fellow of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., said the INEEL has 30 percent of the state´s antelope herds, 200 species of birds and four endangered or threatened species, making it a valuable national resource. Also, 76 percent of the DOE sites, including the INEEL, will require continued public access restrictions in the foreseeable future. "This fundamental realization fully supports a biodiversity and ecological-protection set of goals for the land -- an agenda that should rightfully displace the economically wasteful and currently dominant regime of pork-barrel economic development," Nelson wrote in a report in 2001. Standing in the way, he said were politicians defending the pork and the public´s unwillingness to accept risk. "You are not going to have shopping centers and housing developments, so you don´t need to clean it up to the same extent," Nelson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. Local economists say the outright closure of INEEL would be disastrous to the eastern Idaho economy. "INEEL has been the mainstay of the Idaho Falls economy forever," John Church said. INEEL´s closure "would be devastating." INEEL is among the top five employers in the state, and most of those jobs are concentrated in eastern Idaho. With an annual budget of nearly $1 billion, the lab employed an average of more than 8,000 researchers, professionals, administrators and support staff during 2001 and paid $475 million in wages and salaries, plus about $20 million in retirement to former employees. For every job created at INEEL, another 1.3 are created in the local economy, said Don Holley, a Boise State University economics professor who, along with Church, recently contributed to a report on INEEL´s economic effect on the area. BSU´s report, published last year, says dollars spent at the INEEL are responsible for a total employment of about 18,345 people in Idaho. The study estimated that employees and retirees accounted for about $78 million in state and local taxes, while the federal government contributed about $12 million in impact aid to local governments. If INEEL were to go away, Rexburg, with its newly converted four-year university, BYU-Idaho, would become the new commercial center of the region, Holley said. If not for INEEL, Holley said, Idaho Falls "would be a sleepy little agricultural community." To offer story ideas or comments, contact reporter Rocky Barker at rbarker@idahostatesman.com [rbarker@idahostatesman.com] or 377-6484. or reporter Mike Journee at mjournee@idahostatesman.com [mjournee@idahostatesman.com] or 377-6465. ***************************************************************** 44 Funding for Hanford cleanup falls way short, lawmakers say Tuesday, February 5, 2002 By LISA STIFFLER SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER The proposed 2003 budget for the Hanford Nuclear Reservation appears to be hundreds of millions of dollars short of what is needed to stay on track for cleanup of the highly contaminated site. "What is most shocking is how deep the cutback is," said Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a local watchdog group. Last year the site, deemed by the Department of Energy to be the world's largest cleanup effort, received $1.72 billion to protect people and the environment from the radioactive and hazardous waste left from decades of plutonium production. For next year, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is requesting $1.46 billion. "That would be way below where we need to be," said Sheryl Hutchison, spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Ecology. She said that $1.1 billion would be needed for a project to convert 53 million gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks into glass. Another $800 million is needed to clean up the rest of the site, including stabilizing plutonium for long-term storage and moving contaminated soil to keep radioactive material from polluting the Columbia River. Also absent from the requested budget was money for the shutdown of the Fast Flux Test Facility. Funding for the nuclear reactor, which Abraham ordered decommissioned in December, is less than what was approved last year to keep it in standby mode and not part of the cleanup budget. Northwest congressional leaders pledged to fight for more money. Sen. Ron Wyden "has vowed to block this particular effort," said Lisa Wade Raasch, spokeswoman for the Oregon Democrat. "I am also deeply troubled by the proposed cut of $262 million from Hanford cleanup funding," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. "A cut of this magnitude undermines the federal government's promise to the people of the Tri-Cities and Washington state to clean up Hanford." Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., whose district includes Hanford, expressed concern as well, but remained hopeful that the site would win additional dollars from a special account set aside for sites that speed up their cleanup plans. "I am confident that ... Hanford is well-positioned to be one of the first sites to (receive) substantial funding increases from the $800 million accelerated cleanup account," he said. P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 448-8000 Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com [newmedia@seattlepi.com] ©1999-2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer ***************************************************************** 45 DOE cut to reduce monitoring of plant cleanup The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Wednesday, February 06, 2002 By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 FRANKFORT, Ky.--Kentucky's top environmental official said there will be significant reductions in the monitoring of cleanup activities and environmental regulations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant because of a funding cut by the U.S. Department of Energy. James Bickford, secretary of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, said the state needs $2.6 million for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, but DOE plans to furnish only $1.65 million. Bickford has written to U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham urging restoration of full funding. The money pays for personnel costs, testing and hiring others to evaluate cleanup and environmental management. Officials at DOE's headquarters in Washington did not respond to the Sun's request for a comment. Bickford said it is troubling that at a time when Congress has allocated more funds for cleanup, DOE proposes to cut funding for the oversight that protects the public. "There is no logical explanation for this decision," Bickford said. "It runs counter to common sense and calls into question DOE's commitment to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant cleanup." The 2001-02 budget allocates $93.4 million for cleanup, almost $20 million more than the previous year. The state monitors the cleanup work to ensure that it is done safely and meets terms of an agreement calling for cleanup work to be completed by 2010. Robert Daniell, deputy secretary of the Kentucky Natural Resources Cabinet, said increased security outlays may be one reason for the cut. DOE originally proposed spending $2.4 million on security in Paducah this year, but increased that to $4.8 million after the Sept. 11 attacks. DOE has not discussed how the funds are being used. "I know there are some other national priorities right now, but for the benefit of Paducah, the state and the nation, we need to get that site cleaned up," Bickford said. "I am very concerned. Paducah will have a difficult time getting new business and new industry — and people won't want to move into that area — as long as a situation like that exists." Bickford said if funds are not restored, the most significant impact from the cut would be: Elimination of radiological air monitoring. Elimination of the monitoring of creeks surrounding the plant. "These creeks are the primary paths for contaminants released outside the DOE security fences," he said. Cancellation of contracts with the University of Kentucky to evaluate seismic movement and install a permanent seismic monitoring station. He said that would have a negative impact on the state's ability to evaluate waste disposal sites. Delays in several cleanup projects because it would take longer to evaluate DOE's proposed remediation plans. Inadequate state staff to conduct independent environmental sampling when concerns are raised by residents near the plant. "The ... staff currently samples various drinking water wells and soils on a routine basis to assure (safety) of the public," he said. In the letter to Abraham, Bickford said: "Independent oversight of public health and environmental activities at the (plant) is essential to the continuing progress of cleanup contamination at the plant." He said the funding reduction "seriously undermines the commonwealth's ability to conduct critical oversight of DOE's increased activities." For those reasons, Bickford wrote, "I must insist that you intervene in this matter and restore the fulling funding necessary for the commonwealth to continue in its role of meaningful oversight." ***************************************************************** 46 School one of top two vying for key project to study rare isotopes Lansing State Journal Published 2/5/2002 MSU contends for role in the future of physics By Tim Martin Lansing State Journal MSU is one of two top contenders for a proposed $900 million, next-generation nuclear physics project under consideration by the federal government. ROD SANFORD/Lansing State Journal Scientific center: MSU engineer Shelly Alfredson looks at a magnetic lens last week at MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. MSU is vying for a federal project to study rare isotopes. The RIA project + What: A $900 million Rare Isotope Accelerator under consideration by the U.S. Department of Energy. + Why: It could help scientists discover how certain elements are formed, and lead to the discovery of new radioactive isotopes that could treat diseases or form new materials. + When: If funded within the next few years, it could be up and running by 2010. ROD SANFORD/Lansing State Journal In the lab: MSU nuclear physics student Jennifer Church (left) and physics professor Thomas Glasmacher talk last week at MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The project - the Rare Isotope Accelerator - would provide a new and faster method to discover secrets of the universe ranging from how stars are made to improved cancer treatments. Michigan State University's main competition is the Argonne National Laboratory in suburban Chicago. But other candidates could emerge among the five other labs doing research on the accelerator, listed as the top new major construction priority by the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Science Advisory Committee. U.S. Department of Energy officials say the proposal is still in the early stages. Money to design and build the project was not included in the department's 2003 fiscal year budget proposal, unveiled Monday. But the proposal calls for about $3 million to continue research and development. If the accelerator winds up in East Lansing, it could create up to 400 jobs - plus possible business spinoffs that have Gov. John Engler and others already campaigning for the project. "The project would be a good thing for nuclear science, and it is of strategic importance to the country,'' said Konrad Gelbke, director of MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. "We should move now to make sure we remain in front in this science.'' The concept calls for creating rare isotopes that are unstable and don't usually exist on Earth. High-tech machines would create the isotopes by hurling atoms at incredibly high speeds - leading to new, short-lived versions of elements that could treat diseases, form new materials or have other scientific applications. The concept has been researched for nearly a decade. Nuclear scientists are hopeful the facility could be up and running by 2010, but the energy department won't offer a firm timeline. "It's early in the process, and significant steps need to be taken,'' said Joe Davis, energy department spokesman. Both MSU and Argonne have some built-in advantages toward claiming the project. Argonne is a Department of Energy lab, familiar with the ins and outs of federal projects. And Argonne officials say they would be a less-expensive location because they already have radioactive waste disposal capabilities and other support systems on-site. "Our main goal is to get this approved, no matter where it's located,'' said Argonne's Jerry Nolen, a former MSU researcher still listed as an adjunct professor at the East Lansing university. MSU already does similar work at its cyclotron laboratory, which just finished a five-year, $20 million upgrade. And Gelbke says the rare isotope work would prosper best in the relatively open environment of a university - where a wide variety of students and researchers would have a chance to contribute. National labs, for security reasons, may not offer the same access. "Basic science prospers best in the sunshine,'' Gelbke said. "The universities are our future.'' And it can't hurt that Spencer Abraham, secretary of the Department of Energy, is an MSU grad. Engler - also an MSU graduate and a longtime Abraham political ally - is lobbying for the project. The laboratory "would profoundly change the university and cement its reputation as the world leader in high-energy physics,'' Engler said during his State of the State speech last month. "In fact, this could be the most important decision in the history of the university.'' The rare isotope accelerator would bring international prestige to MSU - and economic benefit. The facility - including a 160,000 square-foot office building - would likely be located in the southwest corner of campus. Its 400 technicians and scientists would help take the region in the high-tech direction coveted by Engler and local leaders. That potentially includes small high-tech businesses that could take MSU's basic research and apply it to commercial products. "It's a massive investment, and could have all kinds of spinoff benefits,'' East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said. MSU's cyclotron is the U.S. leader in studying rare isotopes. Only labs in Germany and Japan rival MSU's capabilities. The circular cyclotron machines - controlled by a computer bank - hurl atoms together at speeds well over 100,000 miles per second. That creates short-lived particle beams of rare isotopes scientists can study to determine their origin and potential benefit to medicine, materials development, and other applications. The next-generation rare isotope accelerator could be up to 10,000 times more powerful than MSU's current equipment on some heavy particles, giving researchers a broader range of possibilities. Nearly 300 isotopes make up the 82 stable elements that exist on Earth. But some isotopes in heavier materials - such as gold, lead and uranium - aren't fully understood and may be out of range of today's technology. Thousands of other isotopes no longer exist on Earth, decayed because they are unstable and radioactive. They still exist elsewhere in the universe, helping stars and planets form in other galaxies. The properties of most rare isotopes are unknown. But scientists want to discover them, using theoretical calculations that can't be done - or can only be done slowly - on existing equipment. The rare isotope accelerator would make it possible to create and study more than a thousand of them in a laboratory setting. "It would help us learn things that we don't now know,'' Nolen said. "It would be a great advancement.'' Contact Tim Martin at 377-1061 or tmartin@lsj.com. Published 2/5/2002 ***************************************************************** 47 IAEA Daily Press Review Tuesday, 05 February, 2002 1. Non-proliferation The Economist report on proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. While DPRK rejects US Undersecretary of State's call for an inspection of country's nuclear facilities by IAEA and says US is "key ringleader of the nuclear threat", ROK opposition leader calls for resumption of DPRK/US dialogue. (BBC; E; KOR - 4, 5/2) Dem. P.R. of Korea; IAEA; Korea, Republic of; United States of America; WORLDWIDE 2. IAEA Numerous reports on success of IAEA’s experts and Georgian authorities at transferring two radiation sources and safely securing them at storage site. (BBC; R; WP) Georgia; IAEA 3. Nuclear safety State Parliament of German state of Baden-Wurttemberg reportedly agrees to convene official parliamentary investigation of nuclear safety irregularities at Philippsburg-2 nuclear reactor. New British Government report reveals there were 38 reported accidents involving transport of radioactive materials by rail, road and air in the UK during 2000, compared to 19 in 1990. (R; SH - 4/2) Germany; United Kingdom 4. Radwaste, fuel News article about controversy surrounding reprocessing plant at Sellafield. Report on uncertain future of Kepco's plans to use MOX fuel following decision to cancel order of French-made MOX fuel and uncertainty over when, and under what security conditions, a shipment of British-made MOX fuel could be sent back to England. (JAP; NWK - 5, 11/2) France; Japan; United Kingdom 5. UN UN announces that Iraq offered "dialogue" with UN SG without preconditions. World Economic Forum (WEF) concludes its annual meeting with plea from UN SG for participants to do more for the world's poor. (BBC; CNN - 4, 5/2) Iraq; UN; United States of America 6. Miscellaneous China is reported to have recently tested ballistic missile capable of delivering multiple warheads. (CNN - 4/2) China ***************************************************************** 48 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.06 | 30 January - 5 February 2002 A weekly summary of international news relevant to the nuclear energy industry. [NB02.06-1] Japan: Tohoku Electric Power announced that its Onagawa-3 reactor began commercial operation on 30 January. The 798 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR) had been under test operation since April 2001. The unit becomes Japan's 52nd nuclear power reactor in commercial operation and is the first of 13 reactors planned to be brought into commercial operation in Japan by 2010. (NucNet News, 41/02, 31 January; Ux Weekly, 4 February, p4; FreshFUEL, 4 February, p4; see also News Briefing 01.32-7) [NB02.06-2] Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) announced drummed production of 1154 tonnes U3O8 (979 tU) from its Ranger mine during the last quarter of 2001. Output for the whole of 2001 totalled 4203 tonnes U3O8 (3564 tU), down 5% from 4437 tonnes U3O8 (3762 tU) produced in 2000. Sales revenue was A$161.3 million (US$82.2 million) for the 12 months on 4430 tonnes U3O8 (4022 tonnes of which came from Ranger), giving 'disappointing' earnings before interest and tax of A$21.5 million (US$11 million), or A$8.1 million (US$4.1 million) after tax. (ERA, 30 January; see also News Briefing 01.43-5) [NB02.06-3] Namibia: Rio Tinto reported a drop of almost 18% in total uranium production at its Rossing mine in 2001, with output totalling 2640 tonnes U3O8 (2239 tU) compared with 3201 tonnes U3O8 (2714 tU) in 2000. The company said production at Rossing was adversely affected by 'mining limitations in the pit and the matching of production to market conditions in order to rationalise inventory levels'. (Ux Weekly, 4 February, p4; FreshFUEL, 4 February, p3; see also News Briefing 01.07-2) [NB02.06-4] USA and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement for the processing of nuclear fuel scrap materials at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant. Under the project, the Ulba Metallurgical Plant - a former nuclear weapons facility in Oskemen, Kazakhstan - will develop its capability to extract low-enriched uranium (LEU) from scraps and residues, with assistance from Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas (GNF), RWE Nukem and Brookhaven National Laboratory. The recovered uranium will then be made available as fuel for civilian BWRs around the world. The Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will provide US$1.2 million over a three-year period for the design work under the Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention (IPP). (FreshFUEL, 4 February, p1; Nuclear Market Review, 31 January, p4) [NB02.06-5] Bulgaria: A decision concerning the future of Kozloduy-3 and -4 should be taken in 2002, prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha confirmed. He stressed that any decision taken will be in line with findings from an overall national policy review, due to be completed shortly and open for discussions in March. Bulgaria has already pledged to close Kozloduy-1 and -2 before 2003. Existing national energy policy in Bulgaria is to keep units 3 and 4 operational until 2010. (NucNet News, 45/02, 1 February; see also News Briefing 00.26-14) [NB02.06-6] France: A decision to build a lead unit for a new generation of EPR nuclear power plants will need to be taken within the next two to three years, according to a new government report. The report on long-term power generation capacity investment planning, drafted by a working group headed by Jean-Michel Charpin of the Commissariat General du Plan, also calls for a major national debate on energy policy to take place by the end of 2002. The report says current French production capacity is adequate to cover baseload and semi-baseload demand up to 2010 and that renewable energy sources should increase their share in consumption from 15% to 21% in 2010. Although the report concludes there is no need for a new nuclear power plant before 2010, it suggests that the nuclear option is kept open in the long-term. The report is available, in French, at http://www.minefi.gouv.fr. (NucNet News, 43/02, 1 February; see also News Briefing 00.31-3) [NB02.06-7] Germany's 19 operating nuclear power reactors generated a record 171.3 TWh of electricity in 2001, up from 169.7 TWh in 2000, according to the German atomic forum (DAtF). The average capacity factor was 91.43%, compared with 90.56% in 2000. (NucNet News, 44/02, 1 February; see also News Briefing 01.04-5) [NB02.06-8] Belgium's seven operating nuclear power reactors generated 44.1 TWh of electricity in 2001, down from the 45.8 TWh produced in 2000. However, the nuclear share of domestic electricity output rose 2.9% to 58.2%. Average load factor was 87.7%, down from 91.3% in 2000. (NucNet News, 36/02, 29 January; see also News Briefing 01.11-6) [NB02.06-9] Spain's nine nuclear power reactors generated a record 63.6 TWh of electricity in 2001, up 2.3% on the 62.2 TWh produced in 2000. Nuclear's share of total domestic electricity output was 27%, down slightly from the 27.8% recorded for 2000. The average load factor of Spain's nuclear power plants was a record 91%, compared with 90.9% in 2000. (NucNet News, 38/02, 30 January; see also News Briefing 01.13-4) [NB02.06-10] Russia: A record 134.9 TWh of electricity was generated in 2001 by the country's 29 operating nuclear power reactors, up 3.3% on the 130.6 TWh produced in 2000. Nuclear accounted for 15.4% of total Russian electricity output in 2001, up from 14.9% in 2000. The average load factor was 70.3% in 2001, compared with 69.1% in 2000. A total 1.2 TWh of electricity generated by Russia's nuclear plants was exported to Finland in 2001. (NucNet News, 35/02, 29 January; see also News Briefing 01.04-6) [NB02.06-11] Ukraine: A total of 76.2 TWh of electricity was produced by the country's 13 operating nuclear power reactors in 2001, slightly less than the 77.4 TWh generated in 2000. The nuclear share of domestic electricity production stood at 44.3%, down from 45.3% in 2000. The average capacity factor at Ukraine's seven nuclear plants was 73.5% in 2001, up from 68.7% in the previous year. (NucNet News, 39/02, 30 January; see also News Briefing 01.05-11) [NB02.06-12] Bulgaria: The six-unit Kozloduy nuclear power plant generated a record 19.6 TWh of electricity in 2001, up from 18.2 TWh in 2000. The nuclear share of total Bulgarian electricity generation in 2001 (43.9 TWh) was 44.6% and the average load factor of the Kozloduy plant was 83.7%. (NucNet News, 37/02, 29 January; see also News Briefing 02.02-6) [NB02.06-13] Mexico: The Laguna Verde nuclear power plant produced 8.7 TWh of electricity in 2001, compared with 8.2 TWh in 2000. The two-unit plant accounted for 4.6% of domestic electricity generation, up from 4.5% in 2000. The average load factor at the plant rose from 68.6% in 2000 to 75.6% in 2001. (NucNet News, 40/02, 30 January; see also News Briefing 01.11-6) [NB02.06-14] US: The US$180 million sale of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp's nuclear plant to Entergy Corp has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The plant will become Entergy's tenth nuclear power plant. (Nuclear Market Review, 31 January, p3; Ux Weekly, 4 February, p3; see also News Briefing 01.35-6) [NB02.06-15] US: AmerGen Energy Co has applied for a major upgrade amendment for its 930 MWe Clinton nuclear power plant. The company has proposed increasing the thermal power capacity by 20%, from 2894 MWt to 3473 MWt. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is processing the application. (FreshFUEL, 4 February, p4; see also News Briefing 99.51-3) [NB02.06-16] UK: British Energy (BE) announced that output from its loss-making UK nuclear power plants will fall below expectations next year. It said an increase in plant shutdowns during 2002-2003 would reduce UK output for the year to 67 TWh from the 69 TWh previously anticipated. BE also announced that it will launch a 31 million UK pound (US$44 million) programme to improve the safety, reliability and productivity of its reactors. (Ux Weekly, 4 February, p3; Guardian, 3 February, p27; see also News Briefing 01.21-9) [NB02.06-17] US: All spent fuel from Exelon's shut Dresden-1 reactor has now been loaded into canisters and placed at an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). This marks the first time a US commercial reactor has completely emptied its spent fuel storage pool and loaded its entire inventory into canisters for on-site storage, according to Holtec International, who supplied the casks to Exelon. (SpentFUEL, 4 February, p3; StoreFUEL, 4 February, p2; see also News Briefing 00.31-11) [NB02.06-18] US: Duke Energy has sold its Duke Engineering & Services (DE&S) unit to Framatome ANP, part of the Areva group. Two components of DE&S were not included in the sale: the power delivery services component and leadership of the US Department of Energy (DOE) mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel project. Duke Energy will realign the company's businesses, portfolio and resources to focus on wholesale energy customers and markets. (NucNet Business News, 8/02, 1 February; Nuclear Market Review, 31 January, p3) [NB02.06-19] Georgia: Two radioactive devices discovered by three men collecting firewood near the town of Lja on 2 December have been taken to a secure storage site in Tblisi. Three investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assisted in recovering the devices, which are believed to contain strontium-90. The devices are thought to be from portable nuclear-powered electrical generators produced by the Soviet military. The three men who discovered the devices were hospitalised following dangerous doses of radiation. (The Times, 1 February, p19; BBC News Online, 4 February) [NB02.06-20] Russia has appointed a new deputy atomic energy minister. Mikhail Solonin - previously the director of Minatom's Bochvar institute - will succeed Valentin Ivanov. (NucNet Insider, 8/02, 4 February) [NB02.06-21] Netherlands: The European Commission-owned Petten High-Flux Reactor (HFR) was ordered to temporarily close by the Dutch government after it was discovered that a hairline crack in its reactor had begun to widen. Officials said the crack at the 45 MWe research reactor posed no danger to the public. (Financial Times, 4 February, p6) Previous News Briefing NB02.05 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************