***************************************************************** 03/07/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.58 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Russian nuclear energy cooperation with Iran to continue - 2 Will Britain build more nuclear power stations? 3 china: CPPCC Members Propose Building More Nuclear Power Plants 4 UK: Copeland Lobbies over Fast-Tracking 5 UK: Ten Billion Pound Carrot Offer 6 Germany's EnBW restates opposition to nuclear exit NUCLEAR REACTORS 7 Czech Temelin gets ok to load fuel in 2nd reactor 8 US: Senate Extends Nuclear Liability Law 9 US: Senate debates nuke insurance plan 10 Chinese researchers propose more nuclear power plants for NUCLEAR SAFETY 11 US: Data Show World Awash in Stolen Nuclear Material 12 Australia donates to IAEA fund against nuclear terrorism 13 US: Database exposes threat from 'lost' nuclear material: 14 World awash with nuclear weapons, report 15 US: Federal inspector fell asleep during check of uranium plant 16 South Korea to go ahead with nuclear safety project for North's 17 US: Dirty bomb' poses radiation, psychological fallout NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 18 German nuclear waste shipment leaves for France 19 Russia refuses rods 20 UK: Debate widens over nuclear waste 21 AU: Rann tells PM: No nuclear dump 22 US: Suit against DOE targets tank wastes 23 US: Resolution challenging Yucca Mountain nuclear storage plan dies 24 US: New Mexico woman named to key DOE radioactive waste post 25 'No risk' from Sellafield plans 26 US: Utah anti-Yucca resolution dies 27 US: UNLV to host talk on Yucca Mountain 28 US: AU: Environmentalists demand protection for Kakadu 29 UK: Minister Backs Road Links Improvements (& Nukes) 30 US nuclear waste under spotlight at Sellafield 31 USA Go-Ahead for MOX 32 BNFL Guilty of Radiation Negligence 33 BNFL Gets Backing of US Government 34 Toxic nuclear cargo may be ferried across Irish Sea NUCLEAR WEAPONS 35 Russia: Hand Over Bout! 36 U.S. Plans Presentation on Iraq 37 Judge Denies Canada Torpedo Site 38 Iraq and U.N. Hold High-Level Talks 39 US: Documentary to spotlight Manhattan Project 40 India: Goa institute plans N-damage control programme US DEPT. OF ENERGY 41 Hanford reconsiders capsule storage 42 Hanford clean-up schedule accelerated 43 US to Speed Up Nuclear Cleanup 44 Hanford Nuclear Site on Fast Track 45 Pantex cleanup budget cut; officials seek other funding 46 DOE cleanup officials arriving next week 47 Board questions SRS waste removal 48 News is setback for SRS OTHER NUCLEAR 49 Alaska Senator Backs Arctic Drilling 50 Tabletop Nuclear Fusion Claims Meet with Skepticism: 51 Dick Smyser: Duly remembered Research overseer, valued physicist, ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Russian nuclear energy cooperation with Iran to continue - official BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 7, 2002 Text of report by Russian news agency RIA Teheran, 7 March, RIA correspondent Nikolay Terekhov: Russia has no plans to curtail its cooperation with Iran in the field of nuclear power engineering, Viktor Kozlov, the director-general of Atomstroyeksport [Russia's nuclear power construction exporter], has told RIA. Kozlov is on a working visit in Iran. "The construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant is in an active stage and will continue to gain momentum," Kozlov said. The casing of the first reactor unit [as received] has already been delivered to Iran. The equipment needed to continue the work is planned to be supplied in April-June, he said. "After signing contracts with Iranian companies [subcontractors], in March, we shall start installing the equipment that has already been supplied. In April, we are set to start erecting the reactor unit," Kozlov said. The main goal of his visit to Iran, he said, "is to coordinate with Iranian partners the most efficient ways to carry out installation and start-up works". "We are heading for starting up the reactor unit in December 2003," he added. Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1130 gmt 7 Mar 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. ***************************************************************** 2 Will Britain build more nuclear power stations? Times Online March 07, 2002 Professor David King, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, has spoken in favour of building nuclear power stations. Mark Henderson, left, The Times Science Correspondent, reports What is the Chief Scientific Adviser saying about nuclear energy? Professor David King says that Britain needs to build a new generation of nuclear power stations as current models come to the end of their lives over the next two decades. He believes that the 27 per cent of UK energy that currently comes from nuclear reactors needs to be maintained, alongside the target of producing 20 per cent from renewable sources (wind, wave, solar etc) by 2020, so that the country becomes less reliant on fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming. Would this advice change Government policy? No. The Government's recent energy review did not rule out building new nuclear power stations, but there are no current plans to provide the public subsidies that would be almost essential for such projects. Instead, the public sector will invest first in renewable energy, with nuclear considered as a safety net to pick up the slack if targets are not met. Professor King's comments will not change this policy, though they will irritate green-leaning ministers such as Michael Meacher, the Environment Minister. Would there be many objections if the nuclear energy programme were to be re-launched? Yes. The green lobby is adamantly opposed to new-build nuclear reactors, as they see the radioactive waste that they produced as a nasty and long-lasting environmental pollutant, for which there is no permanent disposal option. The cost of nuclear power is also an issue - it is more expensive than fossil fuel energy, and many experts think it unviable without public assistance. However, nuclear power produces neither the greenhouse gases nor the atmospheric pollutants such as sulphur dioxide that fossil fuels produce. The major energy alternatives of wind, wave and solar power, are unlikely to completely replace nuclear in the near future. Has any progress been made in nuclear waste disposal? Not really, though modern reactors produce much less waste than their predecessors. Nuclear waste can, however, be safely stored, pending a longer-term solution. What are Britain’s carbon dioxide emission targets? Carbon dioxide is the most important of a group of pollutants known as greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Britain is committed to reducing its output of carbon dioxide by 12.5 per cent by 2010, as part of the international effort to combat climate change. Further, more significant cuts are likely to be needed in the future. Britain is currently ahead of its target, but ministers are keen to do more, and to prepare for future cuts that will be much more stringent. There are currently no binding penalties for failing to meet Kyoto targets, but the Government is committed to the treaty and wants to comply. Will Britain's energy provision change over the next few years? Will the consumer be affected? There will be a trend away from fossil fuels (mainly natural gas, but also coal and oil) towards renewable energy and perhaps towards nuclear. This is unlikely to affect the consumer much, although there may be price increases depending on the extent to which the Government subsidises new sources of energy. In the longer term - 25 to 30 years, according to Professor King - the arrival of nuclear fusion would bring a cheap and environmentally-friendly means of generating electricity. Copyright 2002 [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/section/0,,549,00.html] Times Newspapers Ltd. ***************************************************************** 3 CPPCC Members Propose Building More Nuclear Power Plants Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 07, 2002 A group of CPPCC members have mooted a joint proposal for bringing the nuclear power installed capacity to over 10 million kW by 2010 and up to 100 million kW by the middle of the century. All the members of the group from the Subcommittee of Human Resources and Environment of the CPPCC National Committee are here attending the current annual session of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee. They warned against interruption of nuclear technology and safety as few new projects have been planned apart from the six million kW scheduled for completion by 2010. They said that new nuclear power projects should be selected for the Tenth Five-Year Plan period in order to prevent interruption of nuclear technology. They proposed to give priority to energy-short but economically developed southeastern coastal areas in planning new nuclear power projects. The researchers urged the government to organize experts and related government departments to map out authoritative, long-term and operable nuclear power development programs and objectives for different stages of development. Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 4 UK: Copeland Lobbies over Fast-Tracking THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 A Copeland delegation was in Whitehall last week lobbying the government against proposals to Fast Track major planning issues such as a nuclear waste dump for Cumbria. There is speculation that a Nirex style nuclear dump is once again being considered for Cumbria and Coun John Henney said of the government plans: "They look specifically tailor-made to take the decision-making away from Copeland.'' Copeland's head of development and environment, Brian White and Coun Geoff Blackwell were in London last week lobbying the government. Coun Blackwell said of the government plans to take major planning issues away from local authorities: "The changes in planning law concern me...to take away the decisions from locals is a worry.'' n In their own submission to DEFRA on the future of nuclear waste management, Copeland Council does, however, make a bid to be the administrative base for the Nuclear Waste Advisory Body. The Copeland document states: "A new national independent Advisory Body is essential. It must include those with expert knowledge from within the nuclear industry, and the critics of the industry. "The chair should be from an industrial, though non-nuclear background. "Building on a skills and existing knowledge the organisation must be based, or have a strong presence in West Cumbria.'' ***************************************************************** 5 UK: Ten Billion Pound Carrot Offer THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 A ten billion pound 'carrot' should be put on the table by the government to attract areas willing to accommodate the nation's nuclear waste, says a Copeland councillor. Coun Mike McVeigh (Lab) said it would provide a starting point for negotiation over the issue and be preferable to endless rhetoric. The Egremont councillor said that when there was government money available for various help schemes, councils throughout the country had to bid for it, some were successful, some were not. He felt the nuclear waste issue could be offered along similar lines and local authorities, which wished, could come forward to express an interest. "If this is such a lucrative issue, if there is money available then it should be on offer to all.'' Coun Mike Graham (Con) said it was brave of Coun McVeigh to make such a statement. "We in Copeland are often being accused of not saying what we want. Councils need to know what to bid for. I think a sum of £10billion is right.'' The council was debating the subject of radioactive waste as part of its response to DEFRA's public consultation on the subject. The council says that just because most of the nation's radioactive waste was already at Sellafield it does not mean that it should remain in Copeland, in perpetuity. The council does not recognise the term public acceptability in the context of West Cumbria. The waste is not here because the community exercised some choice in the matter. It did not. And despite the jobs, hosting nuclear waste seriously inhibits the economic growth prospectes of the borough. The council is calling for a new national independent advisory body, reporting to government, but based in Copeland and accountable to the public. Coun Geoff Blacklock (Lab) said it was important that Copeland had a major voice. "We are the local community dealing with a national problem.'' It was important that any successor organisation to Nirex, the Liabilities Management Authority (LMA) be based in Copeland. Coun David Moore (Con) said there should be a tax on nuclear waste and it should be payable to the local community and Coun Graham said BNFL had "got us on the cheap.'' "We have got nuclear waste here let's use that to our advantage.'' Coun Brian Cottier (Lab) said "We've got to fight NIMBYism. We don't want a repeat of the fiasco with Nirex.'' The government has been looking for a radioactive waste disposal site since 1979 and councillors wondered how many other councils were today having a similar debate to theirs; they suspected it was none. The council has to respond to the government review by March 12 ***************************************************************** 6 Germany's EnBW restates opposition to nuclear exit GERMANY: March 7, 2002 KARLSRUHE - Germany's nuclear withdrawal programme will clash with requirements to lower carbon dioxide emissions, the country's third biggest utility EnBW said. EnBW has previously rejected Germany's nuclear exit deal which has just passed through parliament. Chairman Gerhard Goll told the company's annual news conference it was unrealistic to phase out nuclear energy, which is nearly emissions-free, by the early 2020s while cutting CO2 emissions under the Kyoto climate protection treaty. EnBW, which is 34.5 percent owned by the nuclear-energy focused French state utility EdF, is committed to observe the nuclear consensus between the industry and the government, but has always argued against it. Alternative energy sources, which would have to be developed to replace nuclear energy's coverage of annual German power demand of 500 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), were either high in emissions or posed potential safety risks, Goll said. "The nuclear exit deal will come into force this spring, but I don't think that we can sufficiently replace nuclear energy with renewables or with fuel cell technology," he said. "At the same time, it's highly likely that the European Union will sign Kyoto...it will then have to force members to comply," he added. Goll's remarks were in response to media reports at the weekend that leading utilities had affirmed their support for abandoning nuclear power regardless of whether there was a change in government later this year. The nuclear consensus was pushed forward by the ruling Social Democrat/Green party government coalition, but parts of the opposing Christian Democrats openly favour rethinking it if they win national elections in September. "There is no sensible alternative to nuclear energy," said Goll. EnBW produced 53.8 billion kWh of electricity last year, where its nuclear plants contributed 52.5 percent. EdF is more than 80-percent reliant on nuclear power. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 7 Czech Temelin gets ok to load fuel in 2nd reactor CZECH REPUBLIC: March 6, 2002 PRAGUE - The controversial Czech nuclear power plant Temelin received the go-ahead from state nuclear safety regulators this week to load fuel into its second 981 megawatt (MW) reactor, officials said. Temelin's owner, state-owned power utility CEZ , has been testing the plant's first 981 MW reactor since late 2000 amid protests from neighbouring Austria, which fears the plant is unsafe and should be closed. Temelin spokesman Milan Nebesar said 18 out of 163 fuel units for the second reactor would be installed late this week, just hours after CEZ received permission from the regulators. He said in a statement that loading was expected to last for about 10 days and would be followed by tests in order to prepare the reactor for a controlled chain fission reaction that would be activated within six weeks. The Soviet-designed station, which has been upgraded with western control systems, is located 60 km (38 miles) from the border of the fiercely anti-nuclear Austria. The plant has become a source of unrelenting friction between the two central European neighbours. Joerg Haider's Austrian Freedom Party has even threatened to block the Czech Republic's attempts to join the European Union from 2004 unless Temelin is completely shut down. The Czechs have insisted the plant is safe and meets all international safety standards. EU officials have said Temelin is not an issue for membership talks. During a news conference on 2001 earnings, CEZ's Chief Executive Jaroslav Mil said commercial testing operations at the first reactor - currently undergoing a thorough inspection - would be launched before mid-year. Temelin's full launch has been delayed a number of times amid construction and testing problems, which have triggered protests against the plant in Austria and Germany. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 8 Senate Extends Nuclear Liability Law Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 13:30:10 PST WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid warnings that the future of the nuclear industry was at stake, the Senate agreed Thursday to continue requiring the government to assume liability for any major nuclear accident. By a 78-21 vote, the Senate inserted into a sweeping energy bill an amendment extending a 1957 law that caps accident liability for the industry and private insurers at $9.3 billion. The provision also extended protection to the next generation of modular reactors that might be built. A similar extension of the law already has been approved by the House. The current law expires this August. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, meanwhile, bemoaned the slow progress being made on the 553-page energy bill. "We've got to do better than an amendment a day," said Daschle, D-S.D. He said he still hopes the bill will be completed next week. The sponsor of the nuclear liability amendment, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the Price-Anderson Act, which requires the government to assume liabilities over $9.3 billion, has worked well for decades and must continued if the nuclear industry is to survive. Critics argued the government should not have to bail out a mature industry. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged fellow senators "to take away the training wheels" and at least as far as the next generation of reactors is concerned "require the industry to stand on its own two feet." Reid offered a proposal to limit liability protection to current reactors, then withdrew the amendment Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., said that if the liability protection did not cover future reactors, the industry would abandon such projects as its so-called "pebble bed" design reactor. At least one utility has indicated it may seek a federal license for such a reactor within the next year or two. "These modular (reactor) units are the future of nuclear power," said Smith. The current law, already extended several times, requires individual nuclear power plants to have private insurance covering at least $200 million. In addition, the industry as a whole must make available $9.3 billion for an accident at any plant. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 9 Senate debates nuke insurance plan Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 10:34:30 PST By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- The Senate today debated whether to renew a 45-year-old government insurance plan that makes taxpayers liable for a catastrophic nuclear accident if the cost spirals higher than $9.5 billion. Senators were expected to vote today as part of a broader debate on an energy bill. At issue is the so-called Price-Anderson Act, designed to pool the resources of the nation's 105 nuclear reactors, three of which are inoperative. According to the act, the owner of a nuclear reactor would pay up to $200 million in the event of an accident, such as the one in 1979 at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island. Owners of the nation's other reactors would pitch in roughly $88 million more per reactor for a total of about $9.5 billion. If cleanup cost climb higher than that, then Congress -- and taxpayers -- would be responsible for the rest of the tab. Anti-nuclear activists have said a catastrophic accident could cost as much as $300 billion. They say the act amounts to a government subsidy. Nevada lawmakers oppose Price-Anderson, because it supports an industry bent on shipping its waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced alternative legislation that would require new plant owners to find private insurance. "Why should they have the benefits of government handouts, really, when other electrical utilities do not?" Reid asked. But nuclear supporters say taxpayers are not at risk. Since Price-Anderson first passed in 1957 -- lawmakers have renewed it three times -- nuclear plant operators have paid out only about $180 million for accidents, and taxpayers have not had to spend a dime, the act's advocates say. If Congress does not renew the act, which expires in August, Price-Anderson coverage would remain intact for existing nuclear plants. But new plants would not be covered. Industry advocates say renewing Price-Anderson is key to the future of U.S. nuclear power. During the debate today, Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the Senate's leading supporter of the Yucca Mountain project, also had strong words of support for the federal plan to ship the nation's high-level nuclear waste to Nevada. "You are not going to expand nuclear power until you have a resolve on what you are going to do with the waste," Murkowski said. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 10 Chinese researchers propose more nuclear power plants for southeastern coast BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 7, 2002 Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) Beijing, 7 March: A group of CPPCC [Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference] members have mooted a joint proposal for bringing the nuclear power installed capacity to over 10m kW by 2010 and up to 100m kW by the middle of the century. All the members of the group from the Subcommittee of Human Resources and Environment of the CPPCC National Committee are here attending the current annual session of the Ninth CPPCC National Committee. They warned against interruption of nuclear technology and safety as few new projects have been planned apart from the 6m kW scheduled for completion by 2010. They said that new nuclear power projects should be selected for the 10th Five-Year Plan period in order to prevent interruption of nuclear technology. They proposed to give priority to energy-short but economically developed southeastern coastal areas in planning new nuclear power projects. The researchers urged the government to organize experts and related government departments to map out authoritative, long-term and operable nuclear power development programmes and objectives for different stages of development. Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0710 gmt 7 Mar 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. ***************************************************************** 11 Data Show World Awash in Stolen Nuclear Material Wednesday March 6 8:51 PM ET By Andrew Quinn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - International researchers have compiled what they say is the world's most complete database of lost, stolen and misplaced nuclear material -- depicting a world awash in weapons-grade uranium and plutonium that nobody can account for. ``It truly is frightening,'' Lyudmila Zaitseva, a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Institute for International Studies, said on Wednesday. ``I think this is the tip of the iceberg.'' Stanford announced its database as U.S. senators held a hearing in Washington to assess the threat of ``dirty bombs,'' or radioactive material dispersed by conventional explosives. The Stanford program, dubbed the Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources, is intended to help governments and international agencies track wayward nuclear material worldwide, supplementing existing national programs that often fail to share information. The project took on added urgency following the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, which spurred fears that extremists might seek to use nuclear weapons in the future. ``It blows the mind, the lack of information,'' said George Bunn, a veteran arms control negotiator and a member of the database group. ``What we're trying to say is: 'What are the facts?''' CHILLING FACTS The facts, even on cursory examination, are chilling. Zaitseva said that, over the past 10 years, at least 88 pounds (40 kg) of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium had been stolen from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union. While most of this material subsequently was retrieved, at least 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of highly enriched uranium stolen from a reactor in Georgia remains missing. Other thefts have included several fuel rods that disappeared from a research reactor in the Congo in the mid-1990s. While one of these fuel rods later resurfaced in Italy -- reportedly in the hands of the Mafia -- the other has not been found. The Stanford group, led by nuclear physicist and arms control researcher Friedrich Steinhausler, decided to form its database after becoming alarmed over the patchy nature of most of the available information. Combining data from two existing unclassified databases and adding new information from sources ranging from government agencies to local media reports, the team has evaluated each entry for accuracy and probability. An expert at the Federation of American Scientists, the oldest U.S. arms control group, welcomed the establishment of the database, saying it could play a crucial role in helping governments ascertain the real level of nuclear threat. ``This is a smart step,'' said Michael Levi, director of the group's Strategic Security Project. ``Knowing what's out there is the first step to bringing it back in.'' 'ORPHAN' RADIATION ALSO A THREAT The database includes illicitly obtained weapons-grade nuclear material as well as ``orphaned'' radiation sources -- scientific or medical material that may have been lost, misplaced or simply thrown away but which still poses a health and security threat. Steinhausler said the database would be open only to approved researchers, and that the Stanford group was beginning to contact government agencies in the United States and Europe about sharing information to build more effective international supervision of nuclear material. ``We cannot supply the means to improve the situation,'' Steinhausler said in a statement. ``We're pinpointing weaknesses and loopholes and saying, 'Do something about it.''' Zaitseva, visiting Stanford from the Kazakhstan National Nuclear Center, said the database was helping to build a dim picture of the market for stolen uranium, plutonium, and other dangerous materials. But she added that while in many cases those behind nuclear thefts can be identified, the ultimate destination of the nuclear material has remained a mystery. ``We haven't found a single occasion in which the actual end users have been caught,'' Zaitseva told Reuters. ``We can only guess by the routes where the material is going. We can't say for sure if it is Iraq, Iran, North Korea, al Qaeda or Hezbollah. We can only make assumptions.'' She added that the dangers of an unsupervised, underground market in nuclear material were likely to grow, noting that a U.S.-sponsored program to secure nuclear components in the former Soviet Union thus far had only locked up about a third of an estimated 600 tons of weapons-usable material. ``It's just not protected,'' she said. ``This is hot stuff. If you steal 20 kilograms of that material, you can build a nuclear weapon.'' Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. ***************************************************************** 12 Australia donates to IAEA fund against nuclear terrorism BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 7, 2002 Text of media release from the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, dated 6 March, carried by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade web site on 7 March I am pleased to announce that Australia will make a one-off contribution of 100,000 Australian dollars to a new fund being established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to support international efforts to address the threat of nuclear/radiological terrorism. The terrible events of 11 September last year underline the importance of concerted international efforts to keep nuclear weapons and radiological material out of the hands of terrorists. While the risk of such attacks need to be kept in perspective, their potential consequences justify determined and comprehensive counter-measures by the international community. The IAEA is the appropriate agency to lead international efforts to deal with this threat. The new fund is part of a welcome package of measures put forward by IAEA Director-General Dr [Mohamed] ElBaradei, which will be considered by the IAEA governing board at its next meeting in Vienna from 18 to 20 March. I hope that Australia's early pledge to the new fund will encourage other countries to come forward with funding for urgent IAEA projects. Australia also wants to see the activities proposed by the IAEA integrated into the regular budget of the agency. This additional funding to the IAEA complements other Australian activities at national, regional and global levels on nuclear safety and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It should also be seen as part of Australia's significant wider contribution to the war against terrorism. Australia is a long-standing and strong supporter of the IAEA. Australia's ambassador in Vienna, Max Hughes, currently chairs the IAEA board of governors and John Carlson, the director-general of the Australian Safeguards and Nonproliferation Office (ASNO), heads a high-level group advising the IAEA director-general on nuclear safeguards (SAGSI). Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade web site, Canberra in English 7 Mar 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. ***************************************************************** 13 Database exposes threat from 'lost' nuclear material: 3/02 Stanford Report, March 6, 2002 BY LISA TREI It takes just a few kilograms of plutonium and less than 20 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb. According to a new database compiled by researchers at the Institute for International Studies (IIS), about 40 kilograms of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium have been stolen from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union during the last decade. While most of that material has been retrieved, 2 kilos of highly enriched uranium filched from a research reactor in Georgia is still missing. And that's just for starters. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg," said Lyudmila Zaitseva, a researcher at IIS who has been sifting through databases, technical journals and newspapers since 1999 to compile what may be the most complete picture of illicit trafficking of nuclear material worldwide. Zaitseva estimates that the real amount of missing weapons-grade material could be 10 times higher than is officially known. For example, law enforcement officials in the United States seize only 10 to 40 percent of illegal drugs smuggled into the country every year, Zaitseva said. And Russia stops only 2 to 10 percent of illegally imported goods and immigrants entering illegally from neighboring Kazakhstan. Based on such statistics, Zaitseva's estimate of missing nuclear material is not far-fetched. "We don't know what's missing," she said. "That's the most frightening thing." Nuclear physicist Friedrich Steinhausler is the driving force behind the new IIS Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources (DSTO). Unlike existing databases, the IIS database aims to cover incidents worldwide because "the new terrorism is global," he said. "Not knowing what goes on globally is like having [blinders] on." IIS Consulting Professor George Bunn, a veteran negotiator of nuclear nonproliferation treaties and standards, is the third member of the DSTO team. "It blows the mind -- the lack of information," said Bunn. "What we're trying to do is say, 'What are the facts?'" The IIS database combines information from two unclassified databases with additional open sources confirmed by governmental agencies. The Stanford researchers reevaluate the material for accuracy. "You'd be surprised how much scientific junk is in the existing databases, from mixing up units to reporting on tertiary sources," said Steinhausler. "We decided to look at each case -- is it scientifically credible? And who is reporting this? Is it a scientific agency or a central Asian local newspaper?" 'Orphaned' radiation The database, which will be accessible only to carefully vetted researchers cooperating with the team at Stanford, focuses on illicitly trafficked material and what is referred to as "orphaned" radiation sources -- material that has been lost intentionally or by mistake. The database is divided into 21 categories that can be statistically analyzed. These include type of incident, type of material, suspected origin, perpetrators involved, reported destination and intended use. The database also categorizes the reliability of information used and identifies major routes of illicit trafficking and how they have changed during the last decade. For example, in the early 1990s, western Europe was the place to sell nuclear material. Now the market has shifted to Central Asia, the Caucasus and Turkey, Zaitseva said. Steinhausler, a visiting scholar at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, said that orphaned radioactive material presents a real threat because victims may not know that they have been exposed. "Many countries don't even have a central register of radioactive materials," he said. "If they don't know what they have, they don't know what they've lost." A case in point: In 1997, La-Z-Boy Inc. made about 6,000 recliner chairs with steel from Brazil that was accidentally contaminated by radiation. About 1,000 chairs were sold in the United States before the contamination was discovered. "The best description of the threat scenario is the U.S. itself," which has one of the best registration systems for radioactive material, said Steinhausler. Every year, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission receives 200 reports of lost, stolen or abandoned radioactive sources. "If the U.S. loses control of a registered source almost every second day, what do you expect goes on in the rest of the world? Whether it is in scrap metal or in terrorism, you will meet it again." That happened with devastating results in Goiania, Brazil, in 1987, when scavengers dismantled a metal canister from a radiotherapy machine at an abandoned cancer clinic. Soon afterward, a junkyard worker pried open the lead canister and discovered a pretty blue, glowing dust: radioactive cesium-137. In the following days, scores of people were exposed to the substance -- some parents painted their children with it and sold tickets to neighbors to watch them dance, Zaitseva said. As a result, 112,000 people had to be monitored. Of those, 249 were contaminated; 28 suffered radiation burns and four people died. More than 67 square kilometers was monitored, large areas had to be decontaminated and 3,500 cubic meters of radioactive waste was generated. For years afterward, the region was stigmatized and its economy devastated, Zaitseva said. Inadequate protection Steinhausler and his colleagues at IIS were prompted to create the database to raise public awareness and prod governments to improve the protection of nuclear and radioactive material. Such protection is woefully inadequate, the scientist said, particularly in the former Soviet Union and in developing countries. "We cannot supply the means to improve the situation," said Steinhausler. "But, as academics, we feel the responsibility to raise awareness. We're pinpointing weaknesses and loopholes and saying, 'Do something about it.'" It is too early yet to gauge governmental reaction but, Steinhausler said, experts in the field are taking notice of the new database. Europol, the European Union's equivalent of Interpol, has asked the team to work with it in evaluating the criminal aspects of nuclear trafficking. And this September, IIS and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will jointly organize a scientific conference on preventing nuclear terrorism for the European Union in Salzburg, Austria. "I hope that the lessons of 9-11 will encourage not only the nuclear industry but also the political arena to engage in a scientifically sound debate rather than a politically motivated debate on the threats to nuclear installations," Steinhausler said. 'Weapon of mass disturbance' Steinhausler said he is concerned more with the threat of a technologically simple "dirty bomb" -- conventional explosives packed around radioactive material -- than of a sophisticated nuclear bomb. "If I was a modern terrorist, I wouldn't go after a site that is being upgraded continuously; I would go after the weakest link," he said. "And the weakest link is a dirty bomb in a shopping mall. I'm concerned about radioactive material ... combined with very simple explosive techniques, causing a devastating psychological effect on the public. I call this not a weapon of mass destruction but a weapon of mass disturbance." For example, Bunn said, the anthrax attack on the East Coast last fall killed only a few people but caused widespread panic, prompting costly and time-consuming measures to treat those infected and to decontaminate buildings. "A lot of people were scared to death," he said. However, Zaitseva added, governments should not rule out that a determined and sophisticated terrorist might one day be able to construct a nuclear weapon. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, a large amount of weapons-usable material was left without adequate protection. The U.S.-sponsored Material Protection, Control and Accounting Program has secured only one-third of the more than 600 tons of weapons-usable material in Russia, she said. The program pays to improve security by bricking up windows and installing motion detectors and other devices to prevent theft and smuggling from installations. The remaining 400 tons of material is not scheduled to be secured until 2007. "It's just not protected," she said. "This is weapons-usable [material]. This is hot stuff. If you steal 20 kilograms of that material you can build a nuclear weapon." 830 entries DSTO combines information from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s Illicit Trafficking Database and the Newly Independent States' Nuclear Trafficking Database at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in Monterey. The IAEA database is based on state-confirmed incidents, and CNS's database is confined to incidents in the former Soviet Union. The DSTO team also uses additional independently obtained information. As a result, DSTO lists 830 entries including: (sum) 643 nuclear smuggling incidents that include thefts and seizures of nuclear and other radioactive material; (sum) 107 sources of orphaned radiation; (sum) More than 80 cases involving fraud, or malevolent acts using radioactive material to commit murder, deliberate exposure and blackmail, and to poison food and water supplies. Steinhausler said the biggest hole in the database is that no one knows where the smuggled material has gone. "There is no proof," he said. "There is suspicion but there is no proof." Bunn stresses: "That's the most important point." The database includes information mainly from the former Soviet Union, Europe and the United States. Incidents in India, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Bangladesh are mentioned, but large gaps of information remain in Asian countries with known nuclear programs. The researchers have contacted officials in China and Kazakhstan and want to collaborate with additional agencies to update the database as new material becomes available. Bunn said that the database's overriding message to governments is the need for more protection. The 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material is weak, he said, because it requires international standards only for transporting nuclear materials from one country to another. The convention should be strengthened to include domestic storage and domestic use of nuclear materials, and to establish specific standards for protection, he added. "There has been considerable opposition to that," Bunn said. "Many countries don't think it is needed." However, governments have been more receptive since last September's terrorist attacks in the United States. "In the last month, Secretary of Energy [Spencer Abraham] made a speech saying that this convention should be strengthened along the lines we've been advocating," Bunn said. "He said it should be made stronger to protect [nuclear and radioactive material] from theft, sabotage and terrorist attacks." That's the most realistic fix to a frightening global problem. "We've just got to do a lot better job of policing," Bunn said. + VIDEO: 'Weapon of mass disturbance': researchers discuss threat from 'lost' nuclear material Institute for International Studies [http://iis.stanford.edu/] ***************************************************************** 14 World awash with nuclear weapons, report - March 7, 2002 CNN.com - SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- International researchers have compiled what they say is the world's most complete database of lost, stolen and misplaced nuclear material. It depicts a world awash in weapons-grade uranium and plutonium that nobody can account for. "It truly is frightening," Lyudmila Zaitseva, a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Institute for International Studies, said on Wednesday. "I think this is the tip of the iceberg." Stanford announced its database as U.S. senators held a hearing in Washington to assess the threat of "dirty bombs," or radioactive material dispersed by conventional explosives. The Stanford program, dubbed the Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources, is intended to help governments and international agencies track wayward nuclear material worldwide, supplementing existing national programs that often fail to share information. The project took on added urgency following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, which spurred fears that extremists might seek to use nuclear weapons in the future. "It blows the mind, the lack of information," said George Bunn, a veteran arms control negotiator and a member of the database group. "What we're trying to say is: 'What are the facts?"' Chilling facts The facts, even on cursory examination, are chilling. Zaitseva said that, over the past 10 years, at least 40 kg (88 pounds) of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium had been stolen from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union. While most of this material subsequently was retrieved, at least 2 kg (4.4 pounds) of highly enriched uranium stolen from a reactor in Georgia remains missing. Other thefts have included several fuel rods that disappeared from a research reactor in the Congo in the mid-1990s. While one of these fuel rods later resurfaced in Italy -- reportedly in the hands of the Mafia -- the other has not been found. The Stanford group, led by nuclear physicist and arms control researcher Friedrich Steinhausler, decided to form its database after becoming alarmed over the patchy nature of most of the available information. Combining data from two existing unclassified databases and adding new information from sources ranging from government agencies to local media reports, the team has evaluated each entry for accuracy and probability. An expert at the Federation of American Scientists, the oldest U.S. arms control group, welcomed the establishment of the database, saying it could play a crucial role in helping governments ascertain the real level of nuclear threat. "This is a smart step," said Michael Levi, director of the group's Strategic Security Project. "Knowing what's out there is the first step to bringing it back in." Orphan radiation also a threat The database includes illicitly obtained weapons-grade nuclear material as well as "orphaned" radiation sources -- scientific or medical material that may have been lost, misplaced or simply thrown away but which still poses a health and security threat. Steinhausler said the database would be open only to approved researchers, and that the Stanford group was beginning to contact government agencies in the United States and Europe about sharing information to build more effective international supervision of nuclear material. "We cannot supply the means to improve the situation," Steinhausler said in a statement. "We're pinpointing weaknesses and loopholes and saying, 'Do something about it." Zaitseva, visiting Stanford from the Kazakhstan National Nuclear Center, said the database was helping to build a dim picture of the market for stolen uranium, plutonium, and other dangerous materials. But she added that while in many cases those behind nuclear thefts can be identified, the ultimate destination of the nuclear material has remained a mystery. "We haven't found a single occasion in which the actual end users have been caught," Zaitseva told Reuters. "We can only guess by the routes where the material is going. We can't say for sure if it is Iraq, Iran, North Korea, al Qaeda or Hezbollah. We can only make assumptions." She added that the dangers of an unsupervised, underground market in nuclear material were likely to grow, noting that a U.S.-sponsored program to secure nuclear components in the former Soviet Union thus far had only locked up about a third of an estimated 600 tons of weapons-usable material. "It's just not protected," she said. "This is hot stuff. If you steal 20 kilograms of that material, you can build a nuclear weapon." Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may ***************************************************************** 15 Federal inspector fell asleep during check of uranium plant Daily news from Louisville, Kentucky and Southern Indiana from courier-journal.com Thursday, March 7, 2002 Agency says situation did not compromise safety at facility By James R. Carroll jcarroll@courier-journal.com [jcarroll@courier-journal.com] The Courier-Journal WASHINGTON -- A Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspector fell asleep during a routine safety check this week at the Paducah uranium plant, a situation that the NRC said did not pose a safety hazard. The incident occurred Monday while the inspector was observing training exercises at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which enriches uranium for nuclear power plants, an NRC spokesman said. The NRC is reviewing the incident to determine whether any disciplinary action should be taken, said Jan Strasma, spokesman for the agency's Region 3 office in Chicago. The inspector, who was not identified, is still working. Kentucky's top radiation health official was stunned to hear of the incident. ''An inspector fell asleep? . . . I've never heard of that. That's not good,'' said John Volpe, manager of the state's Radiation Health and Toxic Agents Branch. Volpe called the matter ''significant'' and said he planned to talk to the NRC about it. ''It makes you wonder how well the nuclear industry is being regulated,'' said Marvin Resnikoff, senior associate at Radioactive Waste Management Associates, a New York consulting firm. A physicist who said he has been ''looking over the NRC's shoulders for 28 years,'' Resnikoff said the incident was unusual. ''I've heard of operators falling asleep at nuclear reactors, but I've never heard of an inspector falling asleep,'' he said. The NRC's Strasma said there was no safety hazard. ''He was observing training activities,'' he said. ''There was no danger to himself or any of the participants.'' The NRC is the federal government's chief oversight agency responsible for ensuring the safe operation of the nation's nuclear facilities. Over the years, NRC inspectors regularly have cited the Paducah facility for safety lapses, and in some cases the agency imposed fines for serious violations. The NRC inspects the Paducah plant several times a year, examining radiation-protection procedures as well as training and other operations. During those checks, the agency brings in two outside inspectors to assist the two NRC inspectors permanently assigned to the site. The inspector who fell asleep was one of the two brought from Chicago, Strasma said. Staff writer James Malone contributed to this story. Copyright 2002 The Courier-Journal. ***************************************************************** 16 South Korea to go ahead with nuclear safety project for North's reactors BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 7, 2002 Text of report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap Seoul, 7 March: The Unification Ministry on Thursday [7 March] permitted the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) to go ahead with its nuclear safety project in relation to the construction of two nuclear light-water reactors in North Korea. Under the approval, the KINS will carry out tasks to inspect the safety and quality of light-water reactors under construction and provide safety education programmes to North Korean nuclear experts, a ministry official said. "The approval enables the reactor project led by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) to secure a sure safety system," he said. Source: Yonhap news agency, Seoul, in English 0728 gmt 7 Mar 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. ***************************************************************** 17 Dirty bomb' poses radiation, psychological fallout Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:22 a.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2002 by John J. Lumpkin Associated Press WASHINGTON -- "Dirty bombs" that could contaminate cities with radioactivity are ideal for terrorists to incite panic and disrupt the economy, even though the weapons might not kill many people, U.S. nuclear officials said Wednesday. Such a weapon -- also called a radiological dispersal device -- would rely on spreading industrial or medical-grade radioactive material in a populated area, causing widespread fear of exposure, the officials told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The health consequences are not very great," said Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Meserve. "The concern is a psycho-social one." Citing concerns that radioactive materials could easily fall into terrorists' hands, the officials recommended increased monitoring for radiation and more controls of such materials used in industry and medicine. A radiological device detonated by terrorists would require the evacuation and decontamination of the immediate area, disrupting the local economy, officials from U.S. nuclear laboratories said at the hearing. Hospitals would be overrun by worried people in the affected area. Depending on factors ranging from the bomb's construction to the wind direction that day, a potent dirty bomb could kill a few people quickly if they are exposed to enough radiation, officials said. Severe contamination could require that buildings be razed, and the economic fallout could reach into the billions in a big city, officials said. But an orderly evacuation would limit people's exposure to radioactive materials, and the actual health effects would be minimal as long as the victims avoided the contaminated area. A smaller bomb probably would add to the incidence of fatal cancers later in life for its victims -- perhaps four additional cancers in 100,000 people, said Steven E. Koonin, provost of the California Institute of Technology. Much of the U.S. thinking on the subject is theoretical because no one has detonated a radiological weapon. But they do exist. In 1995, Chechen separatists announced they had placed some Cesium-137 in a Moscow park; it was recovered by authorities. The Chechens threatened to covertly release additional materials. A dirty bomb would use conventional explosives to spread radioactive materials, or spread covertly in the air, water or food. Officials have said the isotopes of Cesium-137, Cobalt-60 and Strontium-90 are likely candidates for such devices because some remain radioactive for years. Such radioactive isotopes are used in imaging of industrial equipment, medicine and food sterilization. While still under the authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, they are subject to far less controls the uranium and plutonium used in actual nuclear weapons. The isotopes are easily found by detectors of radioactivity -- more easily, in fact, than uranium and plutonium. U.S. Customs agents and big-city emergency response teams have handheld radiation sensors, said Donald D. Cobb, associate director for threat reduction at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In addition, the Energy Department is developing a new generation of devices to detect nuclear radiation. Officials also described fears of terrorists obtaining an actual nuclear weapon -- either through the purchase of an existing military weapon or by constructing one on their own. The material for such a weapon is considered much more difficult to obtain, but the potential for death and destruction is far greater. Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium are kept under tight controls, although officials believe Russia is not able to fully protect its stockpiles from theft. Osama bin Laden has made no secret of his terrorist network's intention to build weapons of mass destruction, a category that includes chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. But it does not appear his group has obtained any radiological or nuclear weapons, officials said. [http://www.oakridger.com/dailydouble] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 18 German nuclear waste shipment leaves for France BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 7, 2002 Text of report by German news agency ddp on 6 March Philippsburg: Containers with nuclear waste have left the Philippsburg nuclear power plant on Wednesday [6 March]. Police stated that a three containers left the site of the nuclear power plant for France this afternoon. A police spokesman said that there were no incidents and that only a few anti-nuclear activists demonstrated peacefully against the shipment carrying a banner. The spokesman added that the nuclear waste is first to be shipped to Woerth, in the Palatinate. From there, the containers will be linked up to a train carrying waste from the Muelheim-Kaerlich nuclear power plant. The containers are then to be shipped to the French reprocessing plant of La Hague. Source: ddp news agency, Berlin, in German 1546 gmt 6 Mar 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. ***************************************************************** 19 Russia refuses rods The Budapest Sun Online - Story page Volume X, Issue 10 March 7, 2002 By Tamás S Kiss The nation's sole 1,800 MW nuclear power station, Paksi Atomerômû Rt (Paks) is preparing to extend the life-span of each of its generators to as much as 50 years, according to György Mészáros, president of the board at Paksi. But the Russian Federal Supreme Court last week annulled a 1992 bilateral agreement that allowed Hungary to send spent fuel rods to the Urals. Balázs Kovats, spokesman for Paksi, said that although the agreement has been in force since 1992, Hungary has not delivered any spent rods to Russia since 1996. "These rods were only delivered to be recycled and returned and not for permanent storage in Russia," he said. However, he explained that there was a difference between spent nuclear fuel rods and nuclear waste. "Contrary to the Russian court ruling that no nuclear waste may be imported to Russia, Hungary has never delivered any of its high and semi-radioactive nuclear waste to any country," he said. Kovats added that a second round of tests were being carried out by experts near the village of Üveghuta, in south-western Hungary, which is slated as a final storage place for medium and low radiation waste. The site would be filled with protective clothing, small machinery components and other instruments that have been exposed to nuclear fuel rods, he said. Kováts said that all spent fuel rods, made of uranium, and other radioactive waste is currently being stored at a temporary depot on the grounds of the Paks nuclear power station. He said that this would be full to capacity in 50 years. Kovats explained that aside from Hungary, Russia had imported spent fuel rods from the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Slovakia. "Based on the agreement, the spent rods must be returned to the country of origin for permanent storage," he said. Yevgeny Usov, a spokesman and activist for Greenpeace, said that his organization had filed suit against the Russian government last year when it learned of a 1998 decision to allow nuclear waste from the Paks plant to be sent to the Chelyabinsk region in the Russian Ural Mountains for storage. This was reported by Hungarian news agency MTI. Kovats denied any such action and added that Paks last shipped spent nuclear fuel to Russia under a private law contract, the details of which were secret. "Talks on return of spent fuel rods (for recycling) have continued with Russia," he said, but added that all attempts so far were without success. He said that, by Hungarian law, the permanent storage of Paks’s spent nuclear fuel must be solved by 2040. Paks currently has four 460 MW Soviet-type nuclear power generating blocks, the capacities of which are expected to be boosted to above 500 MW per unit in Paks’ medium-term strategy. Paks provides about 40% of Hungary’s electrical energy and is nearly fully owned by the State, via the national power distribution company MVM. In 2001 Paks produced power at a cost of Ft6.39 ($0.02) per kWh, the lowest electricity price on the domestic market. Copyright 2001 * The Budapest Sun * All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 20 UK: Debate widens over nuclear waste Evening Star March 6, 2002 23:46 THE debate over new ways of handling of nuclear waste through Mid Suffolk has widened. Councillors postponed discussion of a government paper on the subject of the transportation of radioactive material until all of its members can gave their say. With the prospect of a new nuclear power station being built at Sizewell still very much alive, the move highlights the strength of feeling in the district over the trainloads of nuclear waste from the existing power stations at Sizewell. They pass through the county on its way to be reprocessed or disposed at Sellafield. Councillors will now respond to a consultation document on safely managing solid radioactive waste at a full council meeting this week. Faced with rising amounts of radioactive waste over the next century and beyond, the council report suggests that decisions over its disposal should not be made in terms of short term costs. Copyright © 2002 Archant Regional. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 AU: Rann tells PM: No nuclear dump news.com.au - [07mar02] AAP SOUTH Australian Premier Mike Rann has delivered on one of his election promises, telling the Federal Government his government will oppose plans for a nuclear waste dump in the state. Mr Rann has written to Prime Minister John Howard to tell him South Australians are overwhelmingly opposed to the establishment of a low-level dump in the state's north. "I said that one of the first things I would do on my first day as premier was to write to Mr Howard to let him know we will not accept a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia's outback," Mr Rann said. "I kept that commitment." Mr Rann's letter advised the PM that his government would introduce legislation to ban both the proposed low-level facility and to also prevent the transport of radioactive waste across SA. "Mr Howard knows that he has a fight on his hands if he attempts to make South Australia the nation's nuclear waste dump state," Mr Rann said. "We've had our share of nuclear fall-out and enough is enough. "Thousands of square kilometres of our state's outback were contaminated around Maralinga in the 1950s and '60s with the British testing of the atom bomb and millions of dollars were later spent cleaning up that land. "We do not intend to have it re-contaminated." Mr Rann's letter also expressed a desire to work with the Federal Government. "I look forward to having a positive and constructive relationship with both you and your government," he told Mr Howard. "I am sure this can be achieved." © News Limited ***************************************************************** 22 Suit against DOE targets tank wastes This story was published Wed, Mar 6, 2002 By John Stang Herald staff writer A recently filed lawsuit claims the Department of Energy cannot legally leave radioactive wastes inside its tanks after they are officially closed. DOE has been pondering whether it can or should permanently leave some solid wastes in its tanks at Hanford, Savannah River, S.C., and Idaho Falls. Two environmentalist organizations and the Yakama Indian Nation filed a lawsuit against DOE on Friday in U.S. District Court in Boise that claims such a move is illegal. The Yakamas, the Idaho-based Snake River Alliance and the Washington, D.C.-based Natural Resources Defense Council also want a judge to ban DOE from leaving wastes in the tanks. DOE has 53 million gallons of highly radioactive wastes in 177 tanks at Hanford, 34 million gallons in 51 tanks at Savannah River and 900,000 gallons in 11 tanks at Idaho Falls. The federal agency's master plan has been to remove all those wastes and convert the material into significantly safer glass. Much of the wastes are liquids and goos that can be pumped out. But significant amounts of wastes are various types of solids, which will be difficult to remove. In the past three months, DOE has talked seriously about finding cheaper and quicker ways than glassification to dispose of some tank wastes. One idea has been to leave some of the hard-to-remove solid wastes in the bottoms of the tanks, cementing them in and closing off the tanks. The lawsuit added: "And hope for the best." Hanford's regulators, Washington's Department of Ecology and the Environmental Protection Agency have neither embraced nor rejected that concept yet. To leave solid wastes insides its tanks, DOE will have to reclassify the materials so they no longer are legally "high-level radioactive wastes," the lawsuit claimed. DOE does not have the legal authority to make such a reclassification, the plaintiffs alleged. They also claimed such a move would be a mere name change that would give DOE an excuse to improperly leave highly radioactive wastes in the tanks. "This is regulatory sleight-of-hand," said Gary Richardson, director of the Snake River Alliance. Hanford's Office of River Protection referred questions late Tuesday afternoon to DOE's headquarters in Washington, D.C., which was closed because of the time zone difference. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 23 Resolution challenging Yucca Mountain nuclear storage plan dies Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 5:45:13 PST SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A resolution opposing federal plans to store nuclear waste in Nevada died in the Utah Legislature Wednesday night. The resolution urged Congress to reject the U.S. Energy Department's recommendation for storing waste at Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles from Las Vegas. Sponsor Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, managed to get the bill read for the penultimate time in the Senate. But it would have needed a third Senate read, then House approval. Time ran out. The Legislature ended its 2002 session at midnight. Davis said Gov. Mike Leavitt didn't want the resolution to go anywhere. "He doesn't even want it discussed," Davis said. Nevada officials have argued that the government can't ensure the public will be protected over the thousands of years the waste will remain dangerous. The Yucca Mountain site is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the country. Davis said transporting the waste from nuclear plants in the East to Nevada would be a nightmare, especially given terrorism concerns. "It's going to be very costly to ship (the waste) if you have to put a military escort on it, especially on open western highways," Davis said. "The West is not the place to put it." Davis and others are concerned that a temporary nuclear waste storage proposal would become permanent if the Yucca Mountain plan is furthered. A group of nuclear utilities has leased 125 acres on the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians' reservation, about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, to store as many as 4,000 casks of spent power-plant fuel. The site is intended to be a temporary storage area, with the waste eventually ending up at Yucca Mountain. Congress will have to decide, by majority vote of both houses, whether to uphold the Bush administration's decision. Or Congress could side with Nevada and find another site for more than 40,000 tons of waste now kept at commercial reactors in 34 states, as well as waste kept at defense sites. Unless Congress sides with Nevada, the Energy Department's next step will be to get a license for the Yucca facility from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That process could take several years. No waste is expected to be shipped to the site before 2010 and even that target is likely to slip. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 24 New Mexico woman named to key DOE radioactive waste post Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 8:35:28 PST A New Mexican woman has been appointed to a key U.S. Department of Energy position overseeing radioactive waste. Margaret Chu was nominated by a unanimous Senate vote Wednesday to be director of the DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, said news releases from Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. Chu has been manager of Sandia National Laboratories' Nuclear Waste Management program since 1998, Domenici said. Chu also served as deputy manager for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a radioactive waste dump near Carlsbad. In her new post, Chu will be responsible for advising the energy secretary and President Bush on issues surrounding a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. -- All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 25 'No risk' from Sellafield plans BBC News | WALES | Tuesday, 8 January, 2002 The Irish government failed to get the plans blocked The Welsh Assembly has been told the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant poses no risk to the health of people living along the north Wales coast. Labour's Preseli Pembrokeshire member Richard Edwards said he echoed the concern of the Irish government, which failed in a bid to get a controversial new plant halted. But Health Minister Jane Hutt told members the Cumbria facility did not result in a higher incidence of childhood leukaemia in north Wales. [A woman joins the protest, PA] Ireland fears radioactive discharges The Dublin administration had wanted the UK to block the £470m mixed-oxide (Mox) fuel development just across the sea, claiming it would break international laws on sea pollution. It also claimed the BNFL plant posed safety and security risks. But a United Nations maritime tribunal rejected the challenge to the plant, which will turn useless plutonium and uranium into a powerful energy source. Ms Hutt told Mr Edwards that Environment Agency and Food Standards Agency studies had showed no increased health risks to people in north Wales. And, in contrast with the Irish Government's fears, she backed an FSA report - Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 2000 - which, she said, showed radiation levels in the Irish Sea were far below European limits. 'Reassuring picture' Reading from a statement, she told members: "The report provides a reassuring picture and demonstrates that consumers' exposure to radioactivity from eating food remains well below the EU limit for artificially produced radioactivity. "Exposures of groups representative of the wider fishing communities, who catch and eat fish from the Irish Sea including the fisheries community in north Wales, have been kept under review. Doses received in north Wales were significantly less than in Sellafield Jane Hutt, Welsh Health Minister "The doses received by these groups were all significantly less than that for the local Sellafield group. On land, the concentration of all radionuclides was also low." She said the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment - a scientific panel which advises the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly - had found no increased risk to children of leukaemia. But the committee is yet to compare the UK-wide cancer rate with the incidence of cancer around nuclear sites, Ms Hutt said. Radioactive discharges are regulated under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993, which is enforced by the Environment Agency. ***************************************************************** 26 Utah anti-Yucca resolution dies Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 9:30:53 PST ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE CITY -- A resolution opposing federal plans to store nuclear waste in Nevada died in the Utah Legislature Wednesday night. The resolution urged Congress to reject the U.S. Energy Department's recommendation for storing waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, the resolution's sponsor, managed to get the bill read for the penultimate time in the Senate. But it would have needed a third Senate read, then House approval. Time ran out. The Legislature ended its 2002 session at midnight. Davis said Gov. Mike Leavitt didn't want the resolution to go anywhere. "He doesn't even want it discussed," Davis said. Nevada officials have argued that the government can't ensure the public will be protected over the thousands of years the waste will remain dangerous. Davis said transporting the waste from nuclear plants in the East to Nevada would be a nightmare, especially given terrorism concerns. "It's going to be very costly to ship (the waste) if you have to put a military escort on it, especially on open western highways," Davis said. "The West is not the place to put it." Davis and others are concerned that a temporary nuclear waste storage proposal would become permanent if the Yucca Mountain plan is furthered. A group of nuclear utilities has leased 125 acres on the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians' reservation, about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, to store as many as 4,000 casks of spent power-plant fuel. The site is intended to be a temporary storage area, with the waste eventually ending up at Yucca Mountain. Congress will have to decide, by majority vote of both houses, whether to uphold the Bush administration's decision. Or Congress could side with Nevada and find another site for more than 40,000 tons of waste now kept at commercial reactors in 34 states, as well as waste kept at defense sites. Unless Congress sides with Nevada, the Energy Department's next step will be to get a license for the Yucca facility from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 27 UNLV to host talk on Yucca Mountain Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 9:30:53 PST LAS VEGAS SUN Two experts on nuclear waste repository design and licensing will speak from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dan Kane of the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain Project will speak on the current repository design for the Yucca Mountain site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. President Bush recommended the site as the nation's nuclear waste repository on Feb. 15. Bob Latta, the on-site representative of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that will review any application the DOE submits for building a repository, will explain how Yucca Mountain will be reviewed for a license. The presentation is scheduled for the Marjorie Barrick Museum Auditorium near the Lied Library. The session is free and open to the public. The Yucca Mountain Education Project is an effort by interested UNLV faculty and staff to create a balanced information resource for the general public on high-level radioactive waste repositories. The goal of the project is to present positive and negative aspects of the proposed dump. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 28 AU: Environmentalists demand protection for Kakadu theage.com.au, Breaking News DARWIN, March 7 AAP|Published: Thursday March 7, 7:46 PM Environment groups today demanded immediate action to protect Kakadu National Park following evidence of uranium leaks at mining operations within its boundaries. But the Commonwealth Office of the Supervising Scientist said the only concern arising from the leak at the Ranger mine in the Northern Territory was the failure of the company to immediately recognise the problem and report it. Mine operator Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) is obliged to notify all stakeholders in the event of a breach of uranium benchmarks. Acting supervising scientist Alex Zapantis said the company made a mistake in adding low-grade ore to a stockpile. But he said the wetland filtration systems on the site returned the water to a safe standard before it entered the national park. "The issue is that ERA failed to follow its own procedures on the Ranger mine site by placing material on a stockpile that wasn't supposed to receive material this wet season," Mr Zapantis told ABC radio. "And also that they took some time in realising that they had made that error." Mr Zapantis said the leak was a non-event environmentally. However, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Friends of the Earth and the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory (ECNT) called for an independent review of operations and impacts at the Ranger mine to protect Kakadu. They also called for the rehabilitation of the neighbouring Jabiluka lease where uranium mining has been put on hold indefinitely. "These leaks are the latest in an extensive series of spills, leaks and accidents at ERA's operations in Kakadu," ECNT spokesman Mark Wakeham said. "The company has again shown that it is neither competent nor credible and ERA's failure to openly report on these leaks is simply unacceptable." The Northern Land Council (NLC) said the elevated uranium levels in water near the mining leases and the incorrect stockpiling of ore undermined traditional owners' and public confidence in the federal government and ERA's capacity to deliver on environmental standards. "I am very disturbed that not only were mistakes made which led to contamination, but that ERA failed to adequately detect high levels within an appropriate time frame," NLC chief executive Norman Fry said. NT Labor Senator Trish Crossin said the latest incident raised questions about whether improvements had been made since a contaminated water leak from Ranger went unreported two years ago. The office of the supervising scientist recommended after the earlier event that ERA staff be trained to report all incidents and that additional monitoring within secondary water containment systems occur. "These latest incidents raise serious questions about whether the recommendations of the report have been implemented," she said. By Sharon Mathieson and Rod McGuirk Copyright © 2002 John Fairfax Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 UK: Minister Backs Road Links Improvements (& Nukes) THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 By Dave Siddall Minister of State for Work, Nick Brown visited Sellafield on Friday and spoke afterwards of his backing for road improvements for West Cumbria. Mr Brown had come at the invitation of the GMB trade union. In his previous position as GMB legal officer he helped nuclear workers by steering through the Sellafield workers' compensation scheme for staff who die or suffer from disease attributed to their work with radiation. Mr Brown said after seeing B205, Thorp and Westlakes: "It is clear that transport links for West Cumbria are crucial. "I will be supporting that agenda at every opportunity.'' Mr Brown is known to be a close adviser to the chancellor Gordon Brown. Asked by The Whitehaven News if he could offer any support for the nuclear industry bid to build more reactors in the future Mr Brown said: "That will have to be a commercial judgement based on demand. Any such decision on new reactors will have to be private sector driven.'' Among those meeting the Minister were Workington MP Tony Cunningham, Sellafield Convenor's leader Peter Kane and GMB Regional Secretary Kevin Curran. ***************************************************************** 30 US nuclear waste under spotlight at Sellafield THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 THE treatment and recovery of high level nuclear waste in the United States will be up for public discussion at Sellafield next week. And more, specifically the question is: "What happens when a project escalates from $6.9 billion to $15.2 billion? Andy Elsden, head of technology at BNFL, will give a presentation about the Hanford project - one of the most ambitious of recent times. The British Nuclear Energy Society is hosting the presentation in the BNFL Technology Centre, Sellafield, next Tuesday (March 12) at 5 pm. Members of the public wishing to reserve a place should contact Kirk Mayer on 07714 855837 by tomorrow. ***************************************************************** 31 USA Go-Ahead for MOX THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 The latest chapter in the Mox data falsification scandal opened this week when the US government gave its consent to plans to return the shipment of fuel at the centre of the controversy from Japan to the UK. BNFL's chief executive Norman Askew said: "This enables us to honour the commitment I gave to the customer when I arrived at BNFL two years ago. We are now in a position to return the fuel to the UK this year, which is exactly what we set out to do. "Returning this fuel will bring to an end a chapter in BNFL's operations from which many lessons have been learned." The shipment of the fuel caused an international controversy which led to the embarrassment of BNFL and a delay in the licensing of the Mox plant, which was seen as vital to the future of reprocessing at Sellafield. BNFL insisted that the shipped fuel was not the subject of data falsification, but the Japanese refused to accept it. There have still been no further orders for Mox fuel from Japan, seen as an essential customer. No decisions have yet been made as to when the eight fuel assemblies will be returned, or the route it will take. The assemblies will be stored at Sellafield while decisions on the fuel's future use is decided. Because part of the original fuel, used to make the Mox fuel, originated in the USA, the agreement of the United States government was needed before the fuel could be reshipped, under the US-Japan bilateral agreement concerning the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. ***************************************************************** 32 BNFL Guilty of Radiation Negligence THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 A SELLAFIELD contractor received nearly a full year's radiation dose in the space of only half an hour after being contaminated by a robotic arm, magistrates at Whitehaven were told yesterday. The incident happened over a year ago in the Thorp reprocessing plant and Tony Johnston, the contract scaffolder, has been off work ever since because of a stress disorder. BNFL was prosecuted for allowing him to be exposed to radiation, failing to take all necessary steps to restrict the exposure and also failing to make a proper assessment of the risk. The company pleaded guilty to the three charges and was fined a total of £15,000 and ordered to pay £4,166 costs. "No one will know the true effect of the exposure for many years to come," said Simon Parrington, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive. "There was a lack of control and failure to carry out a risk assessment. BNFL should have done more to ensure his safety. It caused immediate distress to Mr Johnston." Mr Johnston, employed by Cape Industrial Services, was working in a high radiation cell fitting handrails to a scaffold platform when the radiation alarm he was wearing on top of his protective PVC suit started to bleep faster than normal. He was working within a foot of the jaws of a robot, called the server manipulator in the crane maintenance cell of the Thorp head end. "He must have brushed against it to suffer the exposure," Mr Parrington said. The manipulator arm was contaminated by radioactive particles and, despite his protective clothing, the scaffolder received 430 millisieverts of radiation in half an hour compared to the legal limit of 500 Ms in one year. BNFL's legal representative Andrew Carr said: "It should not have occurred. Steps should have been taken to identify and remove the hazard." However, he added: "Whether this level of skin dose is received in one go or in one year does not increase the risk. His long-term risk will not be greater than his colleagues or other Sellafield workers." The incident arose when Mr Johnston was allowed entry into the highly active maintenance cell after a change over of BNFL engineering shift team leaders. An initial check correctly identified the manipulator as a hazard but its robotic arm could not be surveyed because it was too high for a health physics monitor to reach. A team was sent into the cell to carry out clean up work at ground level only. The scaffold was moved but not far enough away from the manipulator. "Ideally, it should have been taken out of the cell or covered over. "The incoming shift team leader did not know precisely where the server manipulator was located," said Mr Carr ***************************************************************** 33 BNFL Gets Backing of US Government THE WHITEHAVEN NEWS Thursday, March 07, 2002 Sellafield's MOX team has jumped one of the diplomatic hurdles that could have stood in the way of renewed Japanese business. British Nuclear Fuels has gained the backing of the US Government to bring an unwanted shipment of plutonium mixed oxide (mox) fuel from Japan back to Britain. It would be the first trans-oceanic shipment of mox fuel since September 11 and environmentalists said that the risk of a terrorist attack during the shipment would be unacceptable. BNFL originally shipped the fuel to Japan in 1999 but it was rejected after the company admitted its staff had falsified some of the quality control data. ***************************************************************** 34 Toxic nuclear cargo may be ferried across Irish Sea Irish Newspapers DEADLY plutonium may be shipped up the Irish Sea in a matter of months to the MOX plant at Sellafield following a decision by the US government this week. Last night Public Enterprise Minister Joe Jacob warned he was opposed to the transport and was examining the legal implications. The highly toxic nuclear mix would be taken up the Irish sea on an armed carrier passing within 25 miles of the Irish coastline. The minister said the British Government had given an undertaking that they would not move plutonium before October. It was unacceptable that any plutonium should pass through the Irish sea particularly in the light of terrorist threats after September 11. It would be doubly unacceptable given the undertaking by Britain to the Tribunal of the Law of the Sea. This particular shipment of plutonium and uranium mix has already caused controversy between the UK and Japan and had been held in Japan for more than two years, after it was found that quality control documents had been falsified. Because the MOX fuel included uranium supplied by the US, the Japanese Government had to get US agreement before it could be returned to Britain. © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 35 Russia: Hand Over Bout! Thursday, Mar. 7, 2002. Page 8 By Lee Wolosky President Vladimir Putin should immediately render Viktor Bout to international law enforcement authorities. Bout, an alleged arms dealer, is now wanted on an Interpol warrant for trial in Belgium. He and his associates have reportedly supplied arms to the Taliban and al-Qaida, some of which are now presumably being used against U.S and other allied forces in the eastern Afghan town of Gardez. Putin should act because Viktor Bout's organization -- and groups like it -- threaten common Russian and U.S. security interests no less than terrorists in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. And it is clear that Russian law enforcement agencies will not execute the Interpol warrant without Putin's intervention. On Feb. 28, the same day that Bout walked into the studios of Ekho Moskvy to maintain his innocence in an interview, a spokesman for Interpol's Russian bureau was suggesting that Bout was not even in Russia. The evidence compiled against Bout is overwhelming. His group is probably the largest arms trafficking network in the world. Besides Afghanistan, it delivers large and small arms to all of Africa's major conflict zones, according to at least four separate United Nations reports. It has worked on behalf of the Abu Sayyaf Group in the Philippines and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, according to The Washington Post. And it operates or has operated criminal cells in the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Russia, the United States, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Angola and Liberia, among other places, according to international investigators. In fueling the death and destruction of innocents, this pernicious criminal organization offends Russian and American values. And in arming rogues and terrorists, it undermines our common objectives in promoting international security and the rule of law. Far beyond Bout, of course, Russia and the United States face common security threats resulting from unchecked criminality. These threats affect important national security interests of both states. Since the end of the Cold War, powerful Russian and other international organized crime groups -- some with thousands of members -- have emerged on the world stage. These stateless actors operate in many jurisdictions, frequently between the seams of existing enforcement and control regimes. They are engaged in numerous forms of criminal activity, ranging from the trafficking of drugs, persons and arms to large-scale money laundering, financial crime and embezzlement. Russian criminal groups are also involved in the smuggling of nuclear, radioactive and possibly biological materials, and have known associations with international terrorist organizations. Accordingly, they are in a position to deliver weapons of mass destruction to groups dedicated to the destruction of the United States and Russia. In the last three years alone, Russian authorities report that they have broken up 601 nuclear-smuggling deals, many involving established criminal syndicates. Russian organized crime threatens Russia most directly. As the Russian people know best, in recent years criminal syndicates have consistently overwhelmed weak governmental institutions and fledgling private enterprises. Consequently, they are jeopardizing Russia's political and economic transition. In this regard, they also threaten core U.S. interests, because the United States has vital security interests in the successful transition of Russia -- a country with thousands of nuclear weapons -- into a stable, prosperous and Western-oriented democracy. As the case of Viktor Bout makes clear, Russian organized crime groups also threaten U.S. and Russian interests outside of Russia. Indeed, they are fueling regional instability, undermining UN sanction regimes and participating in the drug trade across the planet. They are, obviously, not alone in these endeavors: Nigerians, Colombians, British, Belgians, Albanians, Chinese and Americans, among many others, are often just as culpable, if not more so. To create a stable international order, the United States and Russia need to address post-Cold War threats together. They now should look beyond military operations in Afghanistan and broaden the targeted and effective intelligence and law enforcement cooperation that has taken hold since Sept. 11. Recent steps toward the entry into force of a bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and the establishment of a Russian financial intelligence unit are steps in the right direction. Russian participation in the international take-down of Viktor Bout's organization -- now in full swing -- would be another. Lee Wolosky, former director for transnational threats on the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, is an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He contributed this comment to The Moscow Times. ***************************************************************** 36 U.S. Plans Presentation on Iraq Las Vegas SUN March 06, 2002 UNITED NATIONS (AP) - On the eve of the high-level talks between Iraq and the United Nations, the United States showed slides and video footage Wednesday purportedly showing that Iraq has converted trucks for military use in violation of U.N. sanctions. Six senior U.S. State Department officials made the presentation to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the same group made the presentation to the U.N. weapons inspection agency for Iraq, diplomats said. The committee met behind closed doors less than 24 hours before Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was scheduled to open the first high-level talks in a year with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the implementation of resolutions dealing with sanctions, including the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. The U.S. officials told the sanctions committee Washington believes Iraq has diverted about 1,000 trucks imported from Russia and Germany under the U.N. oil-for-food humanitarian program since last July for a variety of military uses including towing artillery, carrying heavy weapons and launching missiles and rockets, a U.S. official said. The committee was shown about half a dozen slides taken by U.S. satellites of heavy trucks arriving at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr, at the northern end of the Gulf, and the same type of vehicles at different military bases, said the official who briefed reporters after the presentation on condition of anonymity. According to the Americans, some trucks had been painted in camouflage. Some had been stripped for use as flatbed trucks to haul heavy artillery, with their hydraulic systems removed for possible use in rockets or missiles. Some had their beds removed and hydraulic systems intact for possible use in raising or lowering missiles. While the sanctions committee was not shown photos of any missiles mounted on trucks, Western diplomats said U.S. officials have shown such photos to some U.N. officials and diplomats. Under U.N. sanctions, Iraq is barred from importing any equipment for military use. "Though this may not be the highest technology equipment, it is equipment that allows them to project power more effectively," a British diplomat said. After a 2 1/2-hour meeting, the sanctions committee decided to ask the U.N. office that implements the oil-for-food program to verify the U.S. information against its own records of truck imports into Iraq and report back. "It is a matter of great concern to all of us and the committee if these truck are indeed being diverted to military use," said Mauritius' U.N. Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul. "So we will wait to get more information from the oil-for-food division before we take action." Syria's deputy U.N. ambassador Fayssal Mekdad said members questioned whether the trucks may have arrived in Iraq before the oil-for-food program started in 1996, or been smuggled into the country. Mekdad said the United States and Britain "firmly believe" that the trucks were converted to military use but "all others do not share that conviction." The oil-for-food program is an exemption to sanctions and aims at helping ordinary Iraqis cope with the embargoes. It allows Iraq to sell unlimited amounts of oil provided the revenue goes to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, pay war reparations, and improve public services such as water and education. While the sanctions committee has approved over $32 billion in contracts for humanitarian supplies, it has held up contracts worth $5.3 billion. The vast majority of those "holds" have been placed by the United States because of concerns that the goods have a potential dual military use. Several diplomats questioned the timing of the U.S. slide presentation, suggesting it was being done Wednesday to provoke a last-minute confrontation with the Iraqis just before the meeting with Annan. The Iraq-U.N. meeting, the first since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, is taking place at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Baghdad. Iraq has been singled out as a likely future target in the U.S. war on terrorism, now focused on Afghanistan. President Bush has called Iraq part of an "axis of evil" supporting terrorism, along with Iran and North Korea. Asked about the U.S. timing, the American official retorted: "How about the timing of the Iraqis who have been years in their delay in complying with U.N. resolutions? We're running out of time." Under Security Council resolutions, sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been eliminated along with the long-range missiles to deliver them. Inspectors left Baghdad in December 1998 ahead of U.S. and British airstrikes and Iraq has barred them from returning. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 37 Judge Denies Canada Torpedo Site Las Vegas SUN March 06, 2002 VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - A federal judge has ruled the Canadian government improperly seized ownership of a unique torpedo testing site off British Columbia used by the Canadian and U.S. navies. The ruling means the Nanoose Bay range on Vancouver Island reverts to ownership by the provincial government of British Columbia, igniting a dispute over whether nuclear-armed vessels can use it. Canada's federal government expropriated the base in 1999 due to a dispute with British Columbia linked to the nuclear weapons issue. In the ruling made public Wednesday, Justice Douglas Campbell said the federal government failed to meet the requirements for expropriation. "In the end result, I find the expropriation is flawed and cannot stand," he wrote. Canada and the United States have an agreement that lasts until 2009 to share the testing range at Nanoose Bay, 70 miles north of Victoria. The facility is used to test unarmed weapons systems and acoustic sensors used in military operations. It is operated jointly by the Canadian Forces and U.S. Navy under terms of an agreement reached in 1965 and renewed several times since then. The range, located in Georgia Strait off the east coast of Vancouver Island, has a flat, muddy seabed uniquely suited to torpedo testing because they can be retrieved. In the decades before the expropriation, the federal government leased the testing range from the British Columbia government. The expropriation was opposed by the British Columbia government and environmental groups. They cited a motion approved by the provincial legislature in the early 1990s that declared British Columbia a nuclear-free zone. The U.S. Navy refuses to confirm or deny the presence of nuclear weapons aboard its ships, making a pledge of no nuclear weapons at the torpedo range impossible. Ivan Bulic of the conservation society said the judge's ruling reopens the debate. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 38 Iraq and U.N. Hold High-Level Talks Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 2:30:10 PST UNITED NATIONS- Iraq and the United Nations hold their first high-level talks in a year Thursday, with the United States threatening to expand its war on terrorism to the oil-rich nation that it calls part of an "axis of evil." On the eve of the talks, the United States hurled a new accusation, charging that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is illegally trying to build up his country's military with trucks acquired through a humanitarian program. Western diplomats believe the U.S. threats have brought Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri to New York for talks with Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the dispute over U.N. sanctions against Baghdad and the return of U.N. weapons inspectors - a key U.S. demand. But Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Al-Douri insisted that Saddam's request for the meeting "has nothing to do with the ... American threat." In his State of the Union speech, President Bush called Iraq part of an "axis of evil" with Iran and North Korea, and warned Baghdad to let inspectors in or face consequences. No breakthroughs were expected Thursday. The Iraqi foreign minister is to return home after the meeting for further consultations, and the delegation has requested another round of talks with Annan after April 7. "We are not in a state of negotiations," Al-Douri stressed in an interview. "We are in a state of dialogue." Iraq is seeking an end to sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. During Thursday's meeting, each side is to present its views, followed by a discussion, Al-Douri said. Under the U.N. resolutions, sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been eliminated along with the long-range missiles to deliver them. Inspectors left Baghdad in December 1998 ahead of U.S. and British airstrikes. Iraq has barred them from returning, insisting it has complied with the resolutions and demanding that sanctions be lifted. "I hope we will find a constructive way to begin the inspections so they will see a light at the end of the tunnel," Annan said Wednesday evening, during a question-and-answer session at the Council on Foreign Relations. "If they want to talk and if they were to come and cooperate, I think we should test it," he said. "If that fails, the council will have to decide if there is any further option it wants to take." Asked what he thought about a U.S. military strike if talks fail, Annan said, "If there's going to be further action, it would be better from my point of view and the council's point of view if the Security Council acts again." Iraq has shown some recent signs of flexibility. Last week, for example, Vice President Taha Yasin Ramadan granted 105 new visas to U.N. staff working for the oil-for-food humanitarian program, after months of delay. The oil-for-food program is an exemption to sanctions aimed at helping ordinary Iraqis cope with embargoes. It allows the mineral-rich nation to sell unlimited amounts of oil provided the revenue goes to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, pay war reparations, and improve public services such as water and education. In another move, which Al-Douri called "a very positive gesture," Iraq invited Britain to send a team to search for banned weapons. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock dismissed the offer, saying "we don't see that as a serious proposal." Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix, who will also be at the talks, said Iraq should redirect the invitation to his recently revamped agency, "because we are ready." But Al-Douri has said Iraq would not invite U.N. weapons inspectors to return because of Baghdad's experience with the old inspection agency, which it accused of spying. Iraq goes into the talks with strong backing from Arab nations, which have made their opposition to any U.S. attack on Baghdad well known. Several diplomats questioned the timing of the latest U.S. accusations about the alleged Iraqi diversion of trucks, suggesting it was meant to provoke a last-minute confrontation with Baghdad ahead of the U.N. meeting. U.S. officials said the timing was coincidental. State Department officials presented satellite images to the U.N. sanctions committee on Wednesday, purportedly showing that Iraq has converted trucks for military use. The pictures showed trucks towing artillery, but not carrying missiles or rockets. After the meeting, the committee agreed to investigate the U.S. claims. Iraq has imported about 1,000 Russian and German trucks under the U.N. oil-for-food program. U.N. sanctions bar the import of any equipment for military use. The sanctions committee has approved over $32 billion in contracts for humanitarian supplies, but has held up contracts worth $5.3 billion. The vast majority of those "holds" have been placed by the United States because of concerns that the goods have a potential dual military use. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 39 Documentary to spotlight Manhattan Project Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:13 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2002 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff A documentary highlighting the significance of the Manhattan Project is expected to air on the History Channel later this year. The Oak Ridge-related documentary will be part of the History Channel's "Modern Marvels" series. The tentative air date for the program is June 4, according to a spokeswoman for the channel. Marilyn McLaughlin, who works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and who helped coordinate the documentary shoot last October, said the main theme of the program is to give a chronological history of the Manhattan Project while demonstrating some of the obstacles that had to be overcome to create and complete the project. Oak Ridge was created in the early 1940s as a major site of the Manhattan Project, a massive wartime effort that produced the world's first atomic weapons. However, the Manhattan Project was not just about making a bomb; it was a multi-spectrum of inventions that led to the development of laboratories and technologies, according to McLaughlin. Several people with connections to Oak Ridge's Department of Energy facilities were interviewed for the program, including Alvin Weinberg, former director of ORNL; Bill Madia, the current director of ORNL; Dick Smyser, founding editor of The Oak Ridger; Joanne Gailar, who used to work at the Oak Ridge K-25 site; and Ed Westcott, who served as the official Manhattan Project photographer. However, the History Channel could not confirm who would be in the documentary. It is expected that the program will showcase the Graphite Reactor, the world's oldest nuclear reactor, at ORNL; the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 building at the Oak Ridge K-25 site; and the Beta 3 building at what is now known as the Y-12 National Security Complex. K-25 was placed in operation in August 1945 for the isotopic enrichment of uranium by gaseous diffusion. The Beta 3 building at Y-12 still houses calutron machinery that was used to separate large quantities of uranium during the Manhattan Project. Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or [pparson@oakridger.com] . [http://www.oakridger.com/contact/index.html] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 40 India: Goa institute plans N-damage control programme The Times of India; Mar 7, 2002 BY CYRIL D'CUNHA PANAJI: With the threat of terrorism staring the country straight in its face, the Institute of Petroleum Safety and Environment Management (IPSEM) in Betul, South Goa, will start the Nuclear Biological and Chemical Damage Control Programme by next year in addition to several other thrust areas planned. This public sector undertaking, which is one of the nine premier ONGC institutions established in 1989, will also introduce a diploma course in Environment Management, affiliated to Goa University, besides helicopter underwater escape training and smoke house for mock drills. A presentation on Tuesday at its campus -- spread over an area of 101 hectares and located 23 km from Margao and 48 km from Vasco City -- revealed that besides its primary objective of promoting higher standards in safety, health and environment management in the petroleum industry, the Institute has diversified into consultancy services, within and outside the country. Government expenditure on IPSEM is about Rs 8 crore a year. While Enron Oil and Gas India Ltd., Mumbai, Cairn Energy India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, having fields in the Gulf of Cambay, have already sought its services, IPSEM has also been approached for Environmental Audit in Madagascar, Nigeria and Ethiopia. This activity has earned them an average income of Rs 50 to 60 lakh a year. The IPSEM, which has been set up for training the ONGC personnel constantly exposed to great risks, provides instructions in fire fighting, oil spill response management, safety management system, offshore survival techniques, emergency response and disaster management and risk assessment. The faculty includes 45 officers in various disciplines and trains between 1,000 and 1,500 persons a year. It is also the nodal centre for Occupational Health. Practical training in oil spill response is held aboard the training vessel Sagar Prashikshak, berthed at Vasco. Personal survivor training is given at the swimming pool in Fatorda, whereas it has a tie-up with the Red Cross for first-aid training. So far, nearly 10,000 personnel have benefited, including 157 from MNCs and 60 from overseas. The IPSEM has been collaborating with the National Institute of Oceanography, which has its headquarters in Goa, and also the Goa Coast Guard, in the matter of environment and other related subjects. This assumes importance as the state is a tourist destination and any form of damage to the beaches in particular could have disastrous consequences. For instance, washing ashore of tar balls, or in the recent case of the problem posed by the grounding of the ship River Princess, off the Candolim coast, which could crack up during the coming monsoons, which is not only a cause of concern for star hotels in the area but which could also lead to a serious ecological problem. ***************************************************************** 41 Hanford reconsiders capsule storage This story was published Mon, Mar 4, 2002 By John Stang Herald staff writer Hanford is rethinking what it might do with a huge stash of radioactive cesium and strontium capsules. Right now, those 1,930 capsules of cesium and strontium are earmarked to be glassified in 10 or 20 years. But Hanford experts hope to study in 2003 whether those canisters can be put inside bigger canisters and be stored elsewhere on the site. This is one of the ideas that the Department of Energy is considering as a way to speed up Hanford's cleanup -- and to get extra money from Washington, D.C., to do so. DOE's two Hanford field offices expect to request a small, yet-to-be-determined amount of money for 2003 to study this idea. Hanford has 53 million gallons of radioactive wastes in 177 underground tanks. The site's master plan is to build a complex to start converting those wastes into glass in 2007, or possibly 2006. Glassification is expected to take until at least 2028. Hanford removed some highly radioactive cesium and strontium from tank waste in the late 1970s and early 1980s and shipped 700 22-inch-long capsules of those wastes all over the nation for medical purposes. But one capsule leaked in 1990, and all 700 were recalled to Hanford by 1995. The recalled capsules, plus those that never left Hanford, total 1,930 containers. These are stored in water-filled pools in an auxiliary building adjacent to central Hanford's closed B Plant. The water acts as a radiation shield, while also cooling the hot cesium and strontium. That strontium and cesium is supposed to be glassified sometime after 2012, said Steve Wiegman, senior technical adviser for DOE's Office of River Protection, and Don Wodrich, an independent consultant working for the same office. But those strontium and cesium capsules don't fit neatly with the tank wastes earmarked for glassification, they said. Glassification is supposed to encase radioactive substances inside glass designed to last 10,000 years. That is so the trapped radioactivity will decay to lower levels before the glass is old enough to crack, chip or split. Cesium and strontium are highly radioactive, which is why they are supposed to be glassified. But they also have short half lives, meaning their radioactivity will decay to benign levels within merely a few hundred years. So DOE wonders if the capsules could instead be put inside slightly bigger canisters and moved to a still-to-be-identified dry storage area at Hanford, Wiegman said. The proposed newer and bigger canisters would act as radiation shields and should be designed to dissipate heat from the cesium and strontium, Wodrich and Wiegman said. If that could be done in the near future, they said DOE could reap two benefits: It can get rid of the $8 million to $10 million annual bill to keep the capsules in their pools, and the future waste glassification complex would have less radioactive material to tackle. Wiegman cautioned much still has to be studied to see if this idea is feasible. Any dry storage of the cesium and strontium capsules at Hanford has to be temporary. Legally, this material must be moved to a permanent storage site away from Hanford. The most likely prospect is a proposed underground repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 42 Hanford clean-up schedule accelerated United Press International: Published 3/6/2002 8:35 PM SEATTLE, March 6 (UPI) -- A new plan agreed upon by Washington state and federal officials could have the huge cleanup job at the former Hanford Site plutonium processing plant completed decades ahead of its original schedule. The Department of Energy announced Wednesday that the agreement included plans to request $433 million in additional funding for 2003 alone and would seek to complete the task decades in 35-45 years rather than by the original target date of 2070. "The Hanford pact provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it is a major step to more effectively reduce health risks and expedite the environmental restoration of the nation's nuclear sites," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a release. Hanford Site is located on 586-square miles in a remote corner of southeastern Washington. It was established during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project and for the next 50 years produced plutonium for nuclear weapons. As a result, Hanford is dotted with storage tanks for spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive waste. The plant's current focus has largely been on planning and carrying out what is now one of the world's largest environmental clean-ups and the protection of the nearby Columbia River; the additional $433 million in funding would push the 2003 budget to $2 billion. "This is the best news for Hanford since the signing of the original cleanup agreement," Washington Gov. Gary Locke said. Washington Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons said the agreement was one that the state had been "hoping for and working on for several years." "The mutual satisfaction here is that the cleanup will occur faster and cheaper without reducing the scope or the quality of the project," he said. The agreement was also the first under the Energy Department's new Environmental Management Accelerated Cleanup Program, which is aimed at streamlining plans for cleanups at Cold War nuclear weapons production plants. "The Hanford pact is a framework for all Department of Energy sites to follow in moving toward an accelerated plan because it provides the necessary level of detail and criteria to reach a commitment to faster, safer cleanup," Abraham said. (Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles) Copyright © 2002 United Press International ***************************************************************** 43 US to Speed Up Nuclear Cleanup Las Vegas SUN March 06, 2002 YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - The Bush administration said Wednesday that the government will spend an additional $450 million as part of a plan to speed the cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation. Cleaning the nation's most contaminated nuclear site will be accelerated by 35 to 45 years under an agreement reached Tuesday between the state, the Energy Department and federal regulators. The agreement is the first reached under an Energy Department program aimed at streamlining cleanup of its sites around the country by working more closely with states and regulators. The target date for completing cleanup at Hanford, in south-central Washington, had been 2070. The Bush administration agreed to restore $300 million it had cut from Hanford's 2003 budget and provide an additional $150 million next year, bringing Hanford's total budget to more than $2 billion in 2003. The new agreement calls for speeding up retrieval of the more than 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks near the Columbia River. Over the years, the tanks have leaked more than 1 million gallons into the soil and groundwater. Construction is expected to begin late next year on a huge plant to turn 10 percent of that waste into glass logs for long-term storage. The new agreement also calls for faster cleanup of the Hanford corridor along the Columbia River, looking for alternative technology to dispose of less-radioactive waste, speeding up processing of scrap plutonium and speeding up cleanup of basins where lethal, corroding rods of spent nuclear fuel are stored. "We're going to get Hanford cleaned up faster and better - and save money, too," said Gov. Gary Locke. Plutonium was made at the 560-square-mile Hanford site for more than 40 years for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 44 Hanford Nuclear Site on Fast Track Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 1:30:06 PST YAKIMA, Wash.- The Bush administration agreed to restore $300 million in cuts to the cleanup of the nation's most contaminated nuclear site and to spend an additional $150 million next year to speed the effort. Cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation will be accelerated by 35 to 45 years under an agreement between the state, the Energy Department and federal regulators, officials said Wednesday. Tuesday's agreement is the first reached under an Energy Department program aimed at streamlining cleanup of its sites around the country by working more closely with states and regulators. The target date for completing cleanup at Hanford, in south-central Washington, had been 2070. The new target is 2025 to 2035. The Bush administration had cut $300 million from Hanford's 2003 budget. The reversal of those cuts and the additional spending bring Hanford's total budget to more than $2 billion in 2003. "The Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget are promising that the days of fighting over nuclear cleanup budgets are behind us," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. "I sincerely hope they are." The new agreement calls for speeding up retrieval of the more than 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks near the Columbia River. The tanks have leaked more than 1 million gallons into the soil and groundwater. The new agreement also calls for accelerating the cleanup of the area around Hanford, looking for alternative technology to dispose of less-radioactive waste, speeding up processing of scrap plutonium and speeding up cleanup of basins where lethal, corroding rods of spent nuclear fuel are stored. Plutonium was made at the 560-square-mile site for more than 40 years for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 45 Pantex cleanup budget cut; officials seek other funding Amarillo Globe-News: Local News: Web posted Tuesday, March 5, 2002 By JIM McBRIDE jmcbride@amarillonet.com The Pantex Plant's yearly cleanup budget was cut by nearly $3 million from last year, but plant officials are seeking more cleanup money from a special fund created by the Bush administration. Jerry S. Johnson, associate director for environmental and site engineering programs, updated plant neighbors on Pantex's budget during a meeting Monday in Panhandle. Last year's final cleanup budget for Pantex was $13.4 million, but the Bush administration requested $10.5 million this fiscal year, according to Pantex figures. Johnson said a recent top-to-bottom review of all Energy Department cleanup costs showed that environmental management programs - with estimated costs of $200 billion - represent the federal government's third-largest financial liability behind Social Security and military retirement costs. The review found that site cleanups are slipping behind schedule and that spending $6 billion annually for government cleanups with meager results is unacceptable, Johnson said. To help speed up cleanups across the country, the Bush administration has created an $800 million fund that sites such as Pantex will be eligible for. Johnson said Pantex will need an annual budget of $13.7 million for the next few years to meet its goal of completing all site investigation reports by 2005. Pantex officials now are preparing proposals to seek additional funding from the administration's new fund. If more money is obtained, Pantex will accelerate its groundwater investigations and finish all site investigation reports before 2005, Johnson said. But site investigations and cleanups could be delayed if Pantex does not receive more funds, he said. "We've been working on it already," Johnson said. "I think we've had a pretty good start." © 1996-2002 Amarillo Globe-News ***************************************************************** 46 DOE cleanup officials arriving next week Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:11 p.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2002 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, has requested that the Department of Energy take a firsthand look at Oak Ridge's cleanup needs. Wamp is expected to join Bob Card, DOE undersecretary for Energy, Science and Environment, and Jessie Roberson, assistant secretary for Environmental Management, in Oak Ridge next week to address this matter. Wamp's announcement follows one Wednesday that a letter of intent among the DOE, Environmental Protection Agency and Washington state officials to accelerate cleanup at the Hanford site. "I have been briefed by top DOE officials on the progress being made to reach an agreement for Oak Ridge's participation in the accelerated cleanup program," Wamp said. "While the expedited cleanup increase for Oak Ridge would not be as large as the Hanford figure, [DOE's Oak Ridge Operations office] is aggressively pursuing a portion of these funds and we look forward to successfully participating in this program." Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or [pparson@oakridger.com] . [http://www.oakridger.com/dailydouble] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 47 Board questions SRS waste removal Augusta Georgia: Technology: Web posted Thursday, March 7, 2002 By Brandon Haddock [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] Staff Writer A federal review board has raised questions about a new plan to dispose of some highly radioactive salt wastes at Savannah River Site. The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said it has been encouraged by recent SRS initiatives to speed treatment of the site's 34 million gallons of salt waste. But the board stated concerns that SRS officials are relying too heavily on one of those initiatives. The new plan would dispose of some waste by sending it directly to the site's Saltstone plant to be turned into a cementlike grout. "The board encourages these initiatives, but recognizes that significant impediments to the implementation of direct salt disposal remain," the board's chairman, John T. Conway, wrote to Assistant Energy Secretary Jessie Hill Roberson. "The board is concerned that recent U.S. Department of Energy planning ... appears to assume the success of the direct disposal program," Mr. Conway wrote. An Energy Department official at SRS said the agency would respond to the board's concerns. "We are considering all the things addressed in this letter," said Charlie Anderson, the department's assistant manager for high-level waste at SRS. The new plan is the site's third attempt to address the salt-waste problem. The first try, the In-Tank Precipitation Facility, cost $489 million, but failed because engineers could not prevent benzene from building up inside its tanks. A second plan was downsized when cost estimates reached as high as $1 billion. That led Energy officials to develop a third plan, which would use Saltstone as much as possible, and build a small solvent-extraction plant to help treat the most troublesome waste. In its letter, the defense board raised concerns that the site had canceled a pilot plant to demonstrate that the solvent-extraction method would work. But Mr. Andersen said the plant itself could serve that purpose. Its initial phase would be small enough to serve as an effective demonstration and could be expanded if need be, Mr. Andersen said. Research continues - albeit more slowly - into two backup methods of treating the salt waste if solvent extraction doesn't work, Mr. Andersen said. SRS officials might even use those methods to treat some wastes that would be harder to treat using other approaches, Mr. Andersen said. Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] . 1996 - 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. ***************************************************************** 48 News is setback for SRS Augusta Georgia: Technology: Feds tap other site for bulk of cleanup account Web posted Thursday, March 7, 2002 By [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] Staff Writer When President Bush released a budget proposing $800 million to speed cleanup at federal nuclear-weapons sites, Savannah River Site officials said they hoped to receive a significant chunk of the dough. On Wednesday, another site beat them to the bank. The U.S. Department of Energy announced that Hanford Site, near Richland, Wash., will receive $433 million from the expedited-cleanup account. Some SRS boosters expressed worry that there wouldn't be much left when their site's turn comes around. Three other major sites, and many more smaller installations, are eligible for money from the expedited-cleanup account. "If they got $433 million, that doesn't mean there's an awful lot left," said Ernest S. Chaput, the special-projects coordinator for the Aiken-Edgefield Economic Development Partnership. "That doesn't bode well." However, an Energy Department spokesman said SRS has little to worry about. Officials are working on a deal that would give the site a share of the expedited-cleanup money, Joe Davis said. The plan could be finalized within weeks, he said. "It's pretty clear that any site that agrees to an accelerated cleanup plan will have its budget augmented to accommodate the cleanup activities," Mr. Davis said. "That includes Savannah River." Energy officials have said the agency is prepared to seek more money for the expedited-cleanup account if the initial $800 million runs out. Any money from the account would help make up a shortfall in the proposed SRS budget for fiscal year 2003, which begins Oct. 1. Mr. Bush's 2003 budget proposal includes $961 million for environmental cleanup at SRS, $103 million less than the site received this year. The site will submit by month's end its proposal for funding from the expedited-cleanup account, said Rick Ford, an SRS spokesman. SRS officials have assured supporters at recent meetings that the site has a strong plan to send to Washington. "The site did have some serious proposals on the table," said Mal McKibben, the executive director of the Aiken-based pro-nuclear group Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness. "For them to react this quickly on the Hanford proposal really surprises me a lot, and it does concern me because that's a good chunk of the money right there," Mr. McKibben said. "We'll have to wait and see what develops." Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] . 1996 - 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. ***************************************************************** 49 Alaska Senator Backs Arctic Drilling Las Vegas SUN Today: March 07, 2002 at 16:30:07 PST WASHINGTON (AP) - A Republican senator promised Thursday to block any energy bill that doesn't open an Arctic wildlife refuge to oil drilling. Democrats considered an exemption for pickup trucks as a way to attract wider support for proposed higher fuel economy requirements. The developments came as the Senate plodded through a 553-page energy bill. Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., cajoled senators to quicken the pace beyond "an amendment a day." By a 78-21 vote, the Senate inserted an amendment that would extend a 1957 law that caps industry liability for a nuclear power plant accident at $9.3 billion. The law, which requires the government to assume any costs beyond that, expires in August. The energy bill's prospects, however, remained uncertain. Senators still hold sharp differences over oil drilling in the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and a proposal to require automakers to boost fuel economy by as much as 50 percent. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said he would filibuster the energy bill if a threatened Democrat-led filibuster were to succeed in thwarting his efforts to allow drilling in the Alaskan refuge, known as ANWR. "We can talk and talk and talk," warned Murkowski, promising to use parliamentary procedures to tie up the legislation. Sixty votes are required to overcome a filibuster, and it's believed neither side has that many on ANWR's future. Such an impasse could force Daschle to withdraw the bill, congressional aides said. "If he (Murkowski) wants to stop an energy bill for the nation because he can't get ANWR, so be it," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. Kerry is among Democrats who promise to filibuster any drilling proposal for the refuge. On the other highly divisive issue, automobile fuel economy, Kerry told reporters he was ready to propose changes aimed at attracting wider support including possibly exempting larger pickup trucks from the proposed fuel economy hike. Kerry's compromise proposal, which also had support from Sen. John D. McCain, R-Ariz., and a small number of other Republicans, would require automakers to meet a fleet average of 36 miles per gallon by 2015. The Bush administration has said it would oppose such an increase. In an attempt to broaden support, Kerry said he would consider exempting pickup trucks, as has been suggested by Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga. He also said he would offer a trading system that would allow automakers to meet lower fuel economy requirements if they buy "greenhouse" gas credits that would reduce the risk of climate change. Miller, in a Wednesday floor speech, said any fuel economy proposal is doomed if it covers pickups. Noting politicians' worries about the political clout of suburban soccer moms, Miller said the Kerry proposal would "hurt pickup pops. It will hurt the working man." "I would bet pickup pops go to the polls in higher percentages than any other Democratic group," warned Miller. The Senate was not expected to take up either auto fuel economy or Arctic drilling until next week at the earliest. The White House has slammed Kerry's fuel economy proposal as forcing automakers to make smaller vehicles, which the administration contends would result in thousands of additional highway deaths. Kerry sharply disputes the safety claim, or that his proposal would take away motorists' ability to buy sport utility vehicles. "They're doing a scare tactic on soccer moms," said Kerry, insisting that current technology can achieve the 36 mpg requirement by 2015 without requiring smaller, less-safe vehicles. The extension of the Price-Anderson Act, which requires the government to assume liabilities over $9.3 billion in a nuclear accident, had been expected. The amendment's sponsor, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said the law has worked well for decades and must be continued if the nuclear industry is to survive. Critics argued the government should not have to bail out a mature industry. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., urged fellow senators "to take away the training wheels" and "require the industry to stand on its own two feet." Reid offered a proposal to limit liability protection to current reactors, then withdrew the amendment. The current law, already extended several times, requires individual nuclear power plants to have private insurance covering at least $200 million. In addition, the industry as a whole must make available $9.3 billion for an accident at any plant. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 50 Tabletop Nuclear Fusion Claims Meet with Skepticism: Scientific American: March 6, 2002 Image: Courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/Russian Academy of Sciences A new report suggests that scientists have achieved nuclear fusion--the energetic process by which two light atoms join to form a third, heavier atom and energy as a by-product--in a beaker sitting atop a laboratory bench. The results, to be published Friday in the journal Science, have already attracted plenty of skepticism from within the scientific community. The experiment in question exploits a phenomenon called acoustic cavitation, in which sound waves traveling through a liquid cause tiny bubbles to grow dramatically before collapsing. This disintegration releases the energy accumulated by the bubble during that growth. If the energy within the collapsing bubble is sufficiently high, light is also emitted in a process termed sonoluminescence. Using an experimental setup approximately the size of three stacked coffee cups (see image), Rusi Taleyarkhan of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Richard T. Lahey, Jr., of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and colleagues used ultrasound to bombard a beaker of liquid acetone that had had its hydrogen atoms replaced by heavier deuterium atoms. The sound waves forced tiny bubbles (smaller than the size of a period) within the liquid to increase rapidly in size such that they measured almost two millimeters across before they collapsed in a flash of light. Calculations that support their observations, the team reports, suggest that temperatures within the imploding bubbles could approach 10 million kelvins--as hot as the center of the sun and energetic enough for nuclear fusion to occur. When two deuterium atoms fuse, the reaction produces a third isotope of hydrogen known as tritium and a neutron with a characteristic energy of 2.5 million electron volts. In their Science paper, Taleyarkhan and colleagues report detecting both slightly elevated levels of tritium and neutrons with energies close to 2.5 million electron volts. Because the levels of both tritium and neutrons are small, such measurements are notoriously difficult to make. Indeed, when two other Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists, Dan Shapira and Michael J. Saltmarsh, tried to replicate the neutron results using a different detector, they classified their results as insufficient to support the team's fusion claim. In a rebuttal, Taleyarkhan's group suggests the second experiment failed because of a faulty calibration of the detector, which differed from the one used for the published results. Neither supplemental report has been peer-reviewed or endorsed by Science. Regardless of which measurements are more accurate, visions of a plentiful, cheap, clean and small energy source are premature, and scientists caution that scaling up the process is unlikely. "If the claim of nuclear fusion is indeed correct," says Lee Riedinger, deputy director for science and technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, "these experiments would still have produced only one tenth of a millionth of a watt of power--far too small to measure." But other uses may not be so far-fetched. "If the results are confirmed," Fred Becchetti of the University of Michigan writes in an accompanying commentary to be published in Science, "this new, compact apparatus will be a unique tool for studying nuclear fusion reactions in the laboratory." He adds, however, that scientists must remain skeptical until other groups reproduce the experiments. It seems that the one thing everyone can agree on for the time being is that more research is needed before small-scale fusion becomes a sure thing. --Sarah Graham ***************************************************************** 51 Dick Smyser: Duly remembered Research overseer, valued physicist, UNICEF believer, roofer, preservationist, early legislator, craftsman 03/07/02 The Oak Ridger Online - Opinion - I first met Sam Shoup one Saturday afternoon outside his first Oak Ridge home on West Magnolia Lane. A neighbor had called saying that a Rolls Royce was parked there, quite a sight in early Oak Ridge. So I drove over and had a fine chat about the many great cars he had owned. The Shoups had just moved to Oak Ridge from Nashville, where he had been a professor at Vanderbilt. Now he would join the still new U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, civilian agency formed only years before to manage the nation's nuclear establishment. Sam would be federal overseer of the biology and medical research then in its beginning stages at the Biology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and, even newer, at the Medical Division of Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, now Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Both ORNL and ORINS had brought highly regarded biologists and physicians to Oak Ridge, all of them excited about this new nuclear science that posed so many possibilities, if not readily enthusiastic about bureaucratic oversight. Charles Samuel Shoup, however, had both the professional knowledge and the personal geniality to carry out his responsibilities fully while at the same time maintaining the most cordial personal relationships with those whose work he was charged with kibitzing. His scope extended to all facilities then under the umbrella of the Oak Ridge Operations office of the USAEC, programs from Ohio to Puerto Rico. Among his peers Sam was one of the first to suggest that research on the environment -- referred to then more often as the ecology -- was also an appropriate field to which nuclear science could be applied, as it is now so significantly by ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division. And all the while Sam was nationally known as founding president of the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, his personal "collection" a succession of scrupulously cared for Rolls-Royces and Bentleys which he drove regularly about the community, parked by the Shoups' later home on Outer Drive and which he was always willing to show off. Further, he was one of the more supportive members of the Oak Ridge Community Art Center where his wife often exhibited her works. Add also a discerning member of area wine-tasting societies. * Lorne T. Newman's long career as a physicist, most of it spent in Oak Ridge, advanced three of the most salient aspects of the first half-century of the nuclear era. He joined the Manhattan Project at Columbia University in 1944 and contributed some of the most valuable research leading to development of the barrier material that was crucial to the gaseous diffusion process for separating uranium atoms. This was the material through which the uranium, in gaseous form, was passed so as to extract the coveted U-235 atoms. Postwar he lent his expertise to the production of radioisotopes for medical and other uses, a program that many rank as the most significant contribution of nuclear science. Add also pioneering work for another highly hailed aspect of research here and at other nuclear laboratories: the avalanche of new scientific knowledge and interpretation. By its sheer volume and relevance, this superfluity of information has produced revolutionary techniques and facilities to assure its preservation and accessibility, as so well demonstrated locally by the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information. * Eleanor Gifford for decades exercised her encompassing social consciousness through leadership roles for some of Oak Ridge's most effective programs showing compassion for others. She gave countless hours, significantly as a board member and officer, to the YWCA, the Children's Museum and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, UNICEF. As one of Oak Ridge's most active advocates of the last, she stimulated international understanding, especially among the young at Halloween "Trick or Treat for UNICEF" time. Help for and, perhaps more important, understanding for nations and cultures different from ours looms more important than ever, given the anti-American perceptions abroad about which we are now so frequently reminded in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. * Mark E. Mostoller contributed much to research at the Solid State Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory during 28 years as a physicist there. Simultaneously he was one of the pillars of the Girls Club of Oak Ridge, instrumental in its founding and then as a coach for its athletic programs. Most recently, he was instrumental in founding and establishing the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association which, in just a few years, has made a major impact on the community. Already ORHPA has acquired its own building, the former Wildcat Den and later Senior Center, this alone a major contribution toward preserving the community's unique past. He has been one of the most active members of ORHPA in its campaign to rescue what remains of the original Guest House, later Alexander Motor Inn. The colorful and comprehensive article about this historic, if now sadly deserted, site that he wrote for The Oak Ridger's Progress edition just last month is a major contribution to this preservation effort, for any ultimate success of which he would be due significant credit. * Charles R. Brogdon Sr. had probably been on more Oak Ridge roofs than Santa Claus. Employed as a young man by the contractor that built hundreds of homes in the original "cemesto area," he would tell how they would first build the fireplace and chimney and then assemble the prefabricated cemesto board walls around it. In the postwar years, he established his own home-remodeling business which, as the roofs of those original homes needed replacing, evolved into Brogdon Roofing Co., a family business involving his wife and sons. Brogdon's crews were kept busy in still later years by a second round of reroofing and then yet again after the May 1995 hailstorm that damaged hundreds of local roofs. For all of his scaling of ladders and roaming above the rafters, he suffered only one major mishap, a broken hand after a misstep coming down a ladder while wearing bifocals. * State Rep. J. Carson Ridenour was Oak Ridge's primary voice in the Tennessee Legislature during the late 1940s and early 1950s. A Republican, he represented what then was known as a "floterial district," the lone legislator for both Anderson and Morgan counties. These were the years of the first efforts for self-government in this then still totally federally owned and operated community. Our legislator was a key person in that effort. Municipal incorporation had to be done under provisions of state law. Rep. Ridenour faced strong opposition to some of the early initiatives that he and others made, particularly on the thorny issue of legalization of liquor in this previously staunchly dry county. His management, along with other family members, of what then was the segregated hutment area for blacks also sparked protests. But he accommodated to these criticisms and in other respects was helpful to a citizenry only just beginning to understand county and state political reality. * Mitchell Andrews Woodwork Shop was a refreshing addition to the Oak Ridge business scene -- the kind of one-craftsperson endeavor of which this scientifically and technologically hip community had/ still has too few. Many a local resident called on him to repair, restore and refinish treasured family furniture pieces or to custom-build tables, chairs and bookshelves there at his modest establishment off Fairbanks Road. His hours were often irregular, the sound of his saw or lathe as one approached reassuring, therefore, that the woodworker was in.-- RDS Richard D. Smyser is founding editor of The Oak Ridger. He can be reached by All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************