***************************************************************** 06/07/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.144 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: Former Senator Johnston Says Future U.S. Prosperity Depends on NUCLEAR REACTORS 2 US: TVA seeks private partner to help fund $1.8 billion restart of 3 US: Browns Ferry project at a glance 4 US: NRC Names New Senior Resident Inspector at Oyster Creek 5 US: NRC Approves Power Uprate for Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant 6 US: NRC Renews License for Turkey Point Nuclear Plant Units 3 and 4 7 US: Nuclear plant sale no longer an option 8 Canada: Delays at Pickering, Ont., plant could drive up electricity 9 US: Canada: Nuclear plant restart pricey NUCLEAR SAFETY 10 US: Area biotech stymied by lack of law on radioactivity 11 Norwegian government to allocate money to Murmansk region for NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 12 US: *Arizona High School Student Visits Washington, D.C. to Urge Opp 13 US: *Envirocare gearing up to fight N-waste initiative* 14 US: Oregon, WA could become nuclear waste highways* 15 US: Smith approves Yucca Mountain waste site* 16 US: Kerr-McGee nears deal on cleanup of Chicago sites 17 US: Cantwell to vote no on Yucca Mountain 18 US: Radioactive Waste Goes Under Tents 19 US: Nevada sues, again, to stop Yucca Mountain project 20 US: EPA to boost tribal outreach, officials tell Sparks conference 21 US: Clinton frets over security at W. Valley 22 US: Storing nuclear waste Would you want radioactive material in you 23 US: Yucca Vote Advances to Full Senate 24 US: Senate panel approves Yucca Mountain nuke dump 25 US: Nevada files a fifth lawsuit against Yucca Mountain Project 26 Grassroots Rage Could Burn Radwaste Smelting Plant 27 Another's spent nuclear fuel did not come to Russia 28 US: Yucca fight in Senate looking grim 29 US: Nuclear waste deemed safer inside tents 30 US: Driver May Be Charged In Hazardous Waste Spill 31 US: Group wants nuclear waste to stay on site, not be shipped to 32 US: A daunting cask 33 US: Gov. Guinn lauds Attorney General and Congressional Delegation NUCLEAR WEAPONS 34 Sleepwalking to nuclear catastrophe 35 US: Media Beat: Nuclear Weapons and Media Fog 36 Arms control expert warns of nuclear threat 37 US: Highlights of Anti-Terrorism Bill 38 US: The Growing Nuclear Peril 39 NATO Extends Counterterrorism Talks 40 US: State rejects special license plate honoring test site 41 Fukuda remark blown out of context 42 US: End the Nuclear Danger: An Urgent Call 43 Situation out of control: Nuclear weapons in Pakistani 44 US: A-bomb memorabilia on display here before California auction 45 SPECIAL REPORT / CRISIS IN KASHMIR 46 Russian Nuclear Roulette 47 US: Gailar: Reflections before and after History Channel's Manhattan 48 US: State rejects special license plate honoring test site US DEPT. OF ENERGY 49 INEEL Receives Funds for Accelerated Cleanup 50 Plutonium pit production planned 51 Lab's waste facility held up by DOE reviews Waste stored in 52 Hanford: Draft Environmental Impact Statement Released For Review 53 Senator requests ethics inquiry of DOE official 54 F Reactor shutdown turns up 17 spent fuel chunks 55 $85 million Hanford fire claim filed 56 Hanford to consider moving workers 57 Agency Deems Calif. Lab Insecure 58 Lawrence Livermore Lab Could Play Role in Counterterrorism* OTHER NUCLEAR 59 NPF Presents Seminar on Nuclear Power Plants 60 Radon cancer fears dismissed 61 CIA set up another top secret group 62 'Horsepower to Nuclear Power' details Don Trauger's youth ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Former Senator Johnston Says Future U.S. Prosperity Depends on Nuclear Power <#> Study Questions Future Supply of Natural Gas, Raising Profile of Nuclear Power Industry Even Higher PALM BEACH, Fla., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana, citing uncertainties in U.S. natural gas production, told a gathering of nuclear power and electric utility chief executives that a healthy American economy is directly dependent upon a renewed commitment to nuclear power for electricity generation. "The only realistic way for the United States economy to continue to prosper is to embrace more coal-fired plants and initiate a return to more nuclear plants," Johnston said in the keynote address at an executive conference held by Framatome ANP, Inc. "I have been saying for years that a strong role for nuclear power is inevitable in our future. It looks like the future is closer than we thought." Johnston noted a recent report by Houston-based Simmons and Co. that natural gas production is expected to decline this year. If the forecast is correct, Johnston said, a drop in the natural gas supply could be difficult for the economy to contend with. "The Simmons report indicates that a decline in natural gas supply of only one to three percent will be almost impossible to deal with in this country," Johnston quoted from the report. "The biggest risk imbedded in a supply drop is that a new drilling boom might merely stabilize gas supply at the new lower level." On the other hand, he noted, there are no such fluctuations or uncertainties in the availability of nuclear power. Johnston said the nuclear power industry is poised to address the electricity demand needs of the next several decades. He pointed to the record-high capacity within the industry of more than 91 percent, record low production costs, early license renewal activity among a number of major utilities and pending Congressional approval to reauthorize the Price-Anderson Act, which limits the liability of nuclear- plant operators in the event of major accidents. He also indicated he believed that later this summer, the Senate will follow the House of Representatives' overwhelming 306-117 vote and approve Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a national repository for spent nuclear fuel in this country, an initiative the nuclear power industry has sought for decades. His comments were made at Framatome ANP's EFECT 2002 conference, which gives senior executives from the nuclear power and utilities industries an opportunity to candidly address current events. EFECT stands for "Executive Forum for Emerging Challenges and Trends." The conference, held every two years, was convened this year at The Breakers in Palm Beach. EFECT is considered globally as one of the top senior management retreats within the nuclear power industry. The EFECT 2002 meeting attracted more than 80 senior executives from throughout the United States and nine foreign countries. In addition to Johnston, other top speakers at this year's forum included former Senator George Mitchell; Oliver Kingsley, Senior Vice President of Exelon Corporation; and Stuart Varney, an economic analyst for CNBC. Johnston was introduced by Tom Christopher, President and CEO of Framatome ANP, Inc., who said in his welcoming address that the American nuclear industry has a unique challenge over the next 10 years. In 2001, the industry achieved a dramatic increase in efficiency to lead the world with a plant capacity level of more than 91 percent nationwide. The challenge will be to maintain high capacity levels while also upgrading and modernizing the country's 103 nuclear plants over the next decade as they go through the license renewal process. Christopher also introduced Vincent Maurel, president of Framatome ANP of France, who outlined to the conference how Framatome is uniquely positioned to become a "window on the world" for utilities seeking license extensions in this country. He said Framatome's extensive experience with plants throughout the world can be used to help find solutions for American companies as they seek those license extensions. Johnston served four terms in the U.S. Senate, including service as chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. He was the primary sponsor of the Nuclear Waste Policy of 1982, and he authored the Energy Policy Act of 1992 that contained the landmark nuclear licensing reform provisions. Since leaving the Senate in 1997, Johnston established a strategic government relations consulting firm in Washington that is involved in the electric power industry, international trade, nuclear energy, defense activities, science and emerging technologies. Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power), an AREVA and Siemens company, is the world's premier nuclear supplier. Framatome ANP's focus includes comprehensive engineering; instrumentation and control; nuclear services; heavy component manufacture; modernization; fuel assemblies for many reactor designs, including those designed by other vendors, and the development and construction of nuclear power plants and research reactors. The company's vision is to help its customers power the world with safe, clean cost- effective nuclear energy. Framatome ANP is headquartered in Paris with principal subsidiaries in the U. S. and Germany. AREVA holds a 66 percent share of Framatome ANP and Siemens retains 34 percent. Framatome ANP has a total global workforce of 14,000 people and posts annual revenues totaling about $2.5 billion. For further information, visit: http://www.framatome-anp.com . AREVA, a world leader in nuclear energy and connectors, includes COGEMA, FRAMATOME ANP and FCI. The group has more than 50,000 employees and is located in 30 countries. For further information, visit http://www.arevagroup.com . SOURCE Framatome ANP Web Site: http://www.framatome-anp.com http://www.arevagroup.com Copyright © 1996-2002 PR Newswire Association Inc. All Rights ***************************************************************** 2 TVA seeks private partner to help fund $1.8 billion restart of Browns Ferry unit KnoxNews: Business By Rebecca Ferrar, News-Sentinel business writer June 7, 2002 For the first time, TVA is seeking a private partner to put up millions in financing to help restart one of its mothballed nuclear power plants. The restart of Unit 1 at Browns Ferry, TVA's oldest nuclear plant in Athens, Ala., will cost almost $1.8 billion. TVA, the nation's largest public utility, has used a financing arrangement similar to one that could be used for Browns Ferry, but the amount of money involved was nothing near the magnitude of the proposed nuclear project. "The good news is we could do it (finance the restart) ourselves internally and not increase the level of our debt," said TVA Chief Financial Officer David Smith. "But we are going to develop several alternatives for the board to look at. Some may be more expansive, for example, if we get a partner involved with some risk sharing. "It may be a financial partner where someone says, 'I'll throw $100 in if I can make $110.' " Smith said TVA is not seeking venture capital funds nor would the partner be involved in the operation of the plant." We have contacted all the major New York investment banking firms," said TVA spokesman John Moulton. "We've asked them for ideas on innovative financing approaches for private sector financing for Browns Ferry Unit 1. "That partner could put up part of the start-up costs and share TVA's risk on any expected return on the investment. On May 13, Mitchell E. Daniels, director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, wrote TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough about TVA considering "private sector financing for Browns Ferry and other nuclear assets." Daniels wrote: "We must do this. Competitive sourcing is a key element in the president's management agenda. ... We believe TVA must hold an open competitive bidding process and see what the private sector has to offer to resuscitate Browns Ferry and other unused plants. "On Wednesday TVA will meet with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff in Rockville, Md., to explain the "scope and schedule" of the restart project, which TVA says will take five years and would include construction of a new cooling tower. "They have to plan their staffing of the project so they can review and approve the work," Moulton said of the NRC. The TVA board approved the restart in May. TVA last year received proposals from two private business groups interested in helping finance TVA's mothballed nuclear units.Chattanooga developer Franklin Haney proposed a leaseback arrangement for both Browns Ferry Unit 1 and the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in Hollywood, Ala. The other proposal came from Cecil M. Phillips, an Atlanta businessman who has developed campus housing, including new dormitories for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Neither of the proposals is being considered now.Although TVA's Smith says such a venture could be a good business decision, at least one TVA watchdog is skeptical. Stephen Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said that in 1997 former TVA Chairman Craven Crowell stated that none of TVA's nuclear power plants would be restarted "without a partner." "Nobody who is credible has stepped forward. I don't think anybody in the private sector will do this because of the risk associated with it," Stephen Smith said. "It is highly suspect, and it becomes less viable because most people don't want to take a risk on a reactor that hasn't operated in 17 years and is approaching 40 years old. My sense is there are not that many people eager to put their pension funds or money behind a TVA nuclear power plant. "TVA's history includes several years in the 1980s when all its nuclear units were shut down by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of safety and management concerns.Browns Ferry Unit 1 was shut down in March 1985. Generation at Units 2 and 3 also was halted in 1985, but those units were restarted in 1991 and 1995 following major overhauls. TVA contends its dismal nuclear record is a thing of the past. "We did bring the other two units on line, and they have been very, very efficient and very effective," Moulton said. "You're talking about past history when you bring up things that have happened on the old TVA nuclear program. Things have vastly changed." David Smith said TVA could finance the construction necessary to restart Unit 1 by the traditional method of borrowing money or from TVA's own cash flow. He contends that would not stop the payoff of TVA's $25 billion debt but said it would slow it down.TVA has used lease-back agreements with private partners to finance generating units fired by natural gas at the Johnsonville and the Gallatin steam plants. Under such an arrangement, TVA puts up the money to build the units, and the financial company pays TVA for the construction cost. TVA then makes lease payments to the financial company over 20 years or some similar period, and the lease payments are not counted as part of TVA's debt. "Instead of borrowing money from the bond market and paying the bond holders back, this gives us more flexibility operationally, and we get a lower interest rate," Moulton said. Rebecca Ferrar may be reached at 865-342-6357 or ferrarr@knews.com. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 Browns Ferry project at a glance KnoxNews: Business June 7, 2002 Browns Ferry Unit 1 Restart Financing includes: Total capital expenditures: $1.772 billion Start-up date: May 2007 Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed license renewal: December 2033 (This assumes the nuclear unit’s current license, which expires in 2013, would be renewed for 20 years). Net production capacity: 1,254 megawatts (1 megawatt serves 585 homes). Capacity of plant to be used to produce electricity: 92.75 percent. Projected growth of power demand: 2.1 percent per year between 2003 and 2010 and 0.6 percent per year between 2010 and 2015. Source: TVA Corporate Finance Department The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 NRC Names New Senior Resident Inspector at Oyster Creek NRC: Press Release Region I - 2002 - 42 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov No. I-02-042 June 6, 2002 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov [opa1@nrc.gov] Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in King of Prussia, Pa., have selected Robert J. Summers as the Senior Resident Inspector at Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. He joins Steven Dennis, the NRC Resident Inspector at the plant, located in Forked River, NJ. Summers replaces NRC Senior Resident Inspector Laura Dudes, who accepted a position at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md. Summers joined the NRC in 1976 as an intern in the Regional Office. He has worked as a Resident Inspector at the Salem nuclear power plant in Lower Alloways Creek Township, NJ., and as a Senior Resident Inspector at the Hope Creek nuclear plant at the same location. Summers has also worked as a Senior Project Engineer in the Regional Division of Reactor Projects, as the Region I Emergency Response Coordinator and a special nuclear material control and accounting inspector. Summers earned a bachelor's degree in physical science from Villanova University in Villanova, Pa. He also is a graduate of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Executive Potential Program. Summers and his wife are active in music liturgy in the Archdiocese of Camden, NJ. They have two adult children. Each U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC resident inspectors. They serve as the agency's eyes and ears at the facility, conducting regular inspections and monitoring significant work projects. The Oyster Creek Resident Inspectors can be reached at 609/693-0702. ***************************************************************** 5 NRC Approves Power Uprate for Brunswick Nuclear Power Plant NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 70 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by Carolina Power & Light Co. to increase the generating capacity of the Brunswick nuclear power plant, Units 1 and 2, by 15 percent each. The power uprate at the plant, near Southport, North Carolina, will increase the generating capacity of Unit 1 from 841 megawatts electric to 958; and for Unit 2 from 835 megawatts electric to 951. The licensee intends to implement the power uprates immediately for Unit 1 and next year for Unit 2. The NRC's safety evaluation of the requested power uprate for the plant focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations, and other technical specification changes. The NRC staff determined that the licensee could safely increase the power output of the reactor primarily by using new fuel in the core and making certain specified plant modifications. ***************************************************************** 6 NRC Renews License for Turkey Point Nuclear Plant Units 3 and 4 for an Additional 20 Years NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 71 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] No. 02-071 June 7, 2002 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses of the Turkey Point nuclear power plant Units 3 and 4, near Florida City, Florida, for an additional 20 years. The plant is operated by Florida Power & Light Company. The Commission approved the license renewal following a review of staff recommendations. Florida Power & Light Co. submitted an application to the NRC on September 8, 2000, to renew the license for Unit 3, which expires on July 19, 2012, and Unit 4, which expires on April 10, 2013. The NRC conducted extensive environmental and safety reviews of the license renewal application in accordance with Parts 51 and 54 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, respectively. The NRC's environmental review is described in a site-specific supplement to the NRC's "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants," (NUREG-1437, Supplement 5). In the Final Environmental Impact Statement, issued on January 11, the staff concluded that there were no impacts that would preclude renewal of the license for environmental reasons. In its "Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal Application of the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant, Units 3 and 4," NUREG-1759, issued in April, the NRC staff concluded that there were no safety concerns that would preclude license renewal, because the licensee had demonstrated the capability to manage the effects of plant aging. In addition, the NRC conducted inspections of the plant to verify information submitted by the licensee. Two public meetings were held in Homestead, Florida, on July 17, 2001. On April 19, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards -- an independent body of technical experts which advises the Commission -- issued its recommendation that the operating licenses for Turkey Point, Units 3 and 4, be renewed. That recommendation is contained in"Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal Application for Turkey Point Units 3 and 4." Copies of these documents and others relating to the license renewal will be available at: the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) at the agency's One White Flint North Building, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; telephone 1-800-397-4209 or (301) 415-4737. They will also be available through the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS). Help in using ADAMS is available through the PDR at the above numbers. This Turkey Point license renewal brings the total renewals to 10 units. NRC renewed the operating licenses for both units of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant near Lusby, Maryland, for an additional 20 years on March 23, 2000; for the three units of the Oconee Nuclear Station near Seneca, South Carolina, for an additional 20 years on May 23, 2000; for Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1, near Russellville, Arkansas, for an additional 20 years on June 20, 2001, and for Edwin I. Hatch Units 1 and 2, near Baxley, Georgia, on January 15 for an additional 20 years. The agency is currently reviewing license renewal applications for Surry Units 1 and 2, near Surry, Virginia; North Anna Units 1 and 2, near Mineral, Virginia; McGuire Units 1 and 2, near Cornelius, North Carolina; Catawba Units 1 and 2, near Clover, South Carolina; St. Lucie Units 1 and 2, near Ft. Pierce, Florida; Peach Bottom Units 1 and 2, near Delta, Pennsylvania; and Fort Calhoun, near Omaha, Nebraska. ***************************************************************** 7 Nuclear plant sale no longer an option This story was published Thu, Jun 6, 2002 By Chris Mulick Herald staff writer Energy Northwest no longer is considering selling the Columbia Generating Station nuclear plant. For now, it also has no plans to solicit "expressions of interest" from other operators interested in running the 1,150-megawatt nuclear plant north of Richland. After getting drilled by representatives of its member utilities last week, the public power consortium's executive board decided Wednesday to table consideration of two options that it didn't appear to be crazy about anyway. Meeting by conference call, the board members decided to move ahead with a more limited study to determine how to make the plant more competitive. "The main objective is to keep the Columbia Generating Station in the hands of Energy Northwest," said John Cockburn, executive board chairman. A consultant recently recommended Energy Northwest consider selling the plant or contracting out its operations to another operator, indicating others believe it could be run with 100 to 200 fewer employees. The plant is expected to become increasingly uncompetitive with companies that operate several nuclear stations because they can spread operations and overhead costs between them. Energy Northwest now plans to limit its activities to defining a set of regional values to guide the utility's actions, quizzing other single-plant operators about their strategies and considering new staffing models to cut costs. The organization also plans to contact owners of plants who have contracted out operations to an outside party to see how those arrangements are working. No one with Energy Northwest has expressed much excitement at the thought of selling the plant or having someone else operate it but some executive board members believed it had to be considered. That stirred a hornet's nest and drove some of Energy Northwest's 1,100 employees to begin to look for work elsewhere. It also created a conflict between the consortium's two boards, which usually have entirely different responsibilities. The executive board, made up of a mix of gubernatorial appointees and utility commissioners of Energy Northwest's member utilities, is responsible for running the organization's day-to-day operations. It began the effort to consider new ways to maximize the value of the plant. The board of directors, made up exclusively of utility commissioners, only has authority to begin and cancel construction projects. Its members were upset the executive board would begin considering selling the plant without them. "Even to blink an eye at selling it isn't tolerable to the full board," said Beverley Cochrane, a Franklin PUD commissioner and president of the board of directors. "The utilities are very upset." "I think it should be outta here, dead and gone," said Benton PUD Commissioner Bob Graves, a member of both Energy Northwest boards. Sid Morrison, an executive board member, said Wednesday that the executive board made a mistake by not communicating better with the board of directors. Cockburn, who has maintained a preference that Energy Northwest continue to operate the plant, said he still sees value in seeking interest from potential third-party operators but only if both boards agree to it. That kind of groundswell doesn't exist so far. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 8 Canada: Delays at Pickering, Ont., plant could drive up electricity prices: auditor June 6, 2002 Delays at Pickering, Ont., plant could drive up electricity prices: auditor TORONTO (CP) -- Ontario consumers could be receiving higher electricity bills as a result of delays and cost overruns at a nuclear plant in Pickering, Ont., the provincial auditor warned Thursday.  "I would urge the government as a shareholder to take a very active interest in the cost overruns and delays being experienced in restarting Pickering A," said Erik Peters.  "The delays could drive up electricity prices."  On Thursday, Peters delivered an audit on the government's lease of the Bruce A and B nuclear plants near Kincardine on Lake Huron to British Energy.  One of the benefits of the lease arrangement was that it was supposed to allow Ontario Power Generation, the provincially owned generator, to concentrate on restoring its other nuclear plants, Peters noted.  One such plant is in Pickering, just east of Toronto.  However, the value of that benefit is in doubt given that the refurbishment of Pickering A is behind schedule and the cost of restarting the station has soared from $800 million to an estimated $2.2 billion, he said.  Consumers could end up footing that bill by way of higher electricity prices because of the cost overruns and the requirement for buying power elsewhere, Peters said.  However, Energy Minister Chris Stockwell insisted Thursday there's enough supply to keep prices stable and that they will eventually fall.  "We have adequate supply; the rates are what they're at," Stockwell said. "When we get Pickering on, it will drive rates down."  Opposition critics pounced on the report, saying it's evidence of Tory government ineptitude.  "Ontario is going to have to buy more electricity from foreign sources in order to keep the air conditioners running this summer," said Liberal energy critic Michael Bryant.  Pickering A was supposed to be back on line in late 2001, but last month Ontario Power Generation said it had experienced work and design problems that would delay the restart to late December or early 2003.  The station has been idle since 1997 because of financial, safety and environmental concerns.  As to whether the highly complex Bruce lease is a good deal for the province, Peters said there are too many variables, such as the price of power, to come to a definitive conclusion.  As it now stands, the arrangement will cost the province $170 million in revenues it would have had if the province hadn't leased the facility but the variables mean that assumption could change radically, Peters said.  The report also concludes the government earned at least $200 million less from British Energy in 2001 compared with 2000.  That affected the government's ability to pay off the debt left over by Ontario Hydro, the forerunner to Ontario Power Generation.  NDP Leader Howard Hampton said the findings fly in the face of what the government has been saying.  "The government says that leasing out the Bruce nuclear facility is all about reducing the stranded debt, but the auditor comes right out and says that by leasing out the facility just last year alone, they lost $215 million in revenue that would have gone to the stranded debt."  The Bruce transaction was the first big privatization in Ontario's electricity industry.  Eves, who was in Guelph, Ont., on Thursday, defended the Bruce deal.  "If you look at the whole package, including the significant amounts of capital money that are going to be reinvested there and the power that's going to be generated from that, and the jobs that are being created ... I firmly believe it's a good deal." Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc ***************************************************************** 9 Canada: Nuclear plant restart pricey Friday, June 7, 2002 Costs are skyrocketing, auditor warns By ALAN FINDLAY [alan.findlay@tor.sunpub.com] , QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU  Ontario's provincial auditor has urged the government to get involved in a nuclear power plant project that is mushrooming in cost and threatening to hike the price of power. The comments by auditor Erik Peters immediately raised more questions about performance bonuses paid this year to Ontario Power Generation president Ron Osborne, which bumped his pay to $2.2 million. 'ACTIVE INTEREST' "I would urge the government as shareholder to take a very active interest in the cost overruns and delays being experienced in restarting Pickering A (nuclear generating station)," Peters told a government committee yesterday. "The delays could drive up electricity prices, and the cost overruns can negatively affect OPG's cash flows and its contributions to reduce the stranded debt." The power plant was initially scheduled to start generating additional power last year. After two major delays, it is now expected to power up in late December or early 2003. The project's costs have spiralled from an initial estimate of $800 million to as much as $2.2 billion. Tom Adams of Energy Probe said the delays and escalating price tag not only threaten to hit ratepayers in the pocketbook, but have stalled other Toronto-area generating projects and reduced payments on the industry's debt. "The situation in Pickering is really very serious," Adams said. Energy Minister Chris Stockwell said the delays are a concern, but said they won't cause power bills to rise. "We would rather not see it behind schedule," Stockwell said. "It's concerning." Opposition politicians wondered how the man in charge of Pickering could be receiving more than $1 million in bonuses this year when the plant is so badly behind schedule. "What do you have to do not to get a bonus?" asked Liberal MPP Michael Bryant. Stockwell said Osborne has been a leader in the major transformation in Ontario's electricity industry, leading to lower rates in the first five weeks of a deregulated market. Previous story: Cops' legwork pays off fast Next story: New Hydro board to carry heavyweights Canoe, a division of Netgraphe Inc ***************************************************************** 10 Area biotech stymied by lack of law on radioactivity SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Business -- By Dana Wilkie COPLEY NEWS SERVICE June 6, 2002 WASHINGTON  Up at Torrey Pines, on a stretch of prime San Diego County real estate, 10 acres and hundreds of square feet of office space sit idle at the research park run by General Atomics. In a region where property like this is at a premium, General Atomics says it can do absolutely nothing with the land or the offices  can't use it, can't rent it, can't sell it. That's because, at the moment, there is no law governing whether the property is free enough of radioactivity to use for something else. A recent court ruling that struck down state rules for radiation cleaning could put thousands of companies in similar limbo, particularly biotech companies that want to leave offices to expand at new ones. The situation has California biotech companies worried about a chilling effect on an industry that has helped revolutionize and enrich the state's economy. And it leaves Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, caught between two generous campaign contributors  a Hollywood community that tends to oppose using radiation of any kind, and a business community whose success depends on it. "Businesses cannot afford to have this uncertainty hanging over them," said Keith Asmussen, director of licensing, safety and nuclear compliance with General Atomics, which does research for the Defense Department and in the biotech field. "Who in their right mind would come to California to do business in biotech, knowing that if they want to move they either may not be able to, or it's going to cost them too much? Why stay in California?" Today, the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a hearing so biotech companies can air their complaints. State Sen. Dede Alpert, a Coronado Democrat, said lawmakers are confused by the science surrounding radioactive cleaning. "The (state) has come to a screeching halt, and you can't get a neutral third party of scientists" to advise the Legislature, Alpert said. "The anti-nuclear people say there's just no safe radiation, but the biotech companies in my district argue there are safe levels. I don't know how to decide who's right. I think that's the position most of the people in the Legislature are put in." In San Diego County, hospitals, universities, engineering companies and about 300 biotech companies use radiation  mostly to conduct research, such as tracking cancer-fighting drugs in animals, according to BIOCOM San Diego, a trade group for biotech companies. Statewide, about 2,500 companies use radiation. The resulting contamination  on glassware, paper towels, gloves and counters  needs to be cleaned to the state's satisfaction before companies can close one office to move to another. But Sacramento lawmakers recently learned that since 1997, state health officials have allowed some of this radioactive waste to go to landfills  the kind that take household garbage  instead of to special dumps for low-level radioactive waste. State officials say they allowed this only after making companies clean their workplaces to very low levels of radioactivity that would not harm new occupants of the property. In April, a Sacramento judge struck down the state practice. As a result, the state is telling companies that want to close offices that they can't. "We have told them we're still trying to see what the (court ruling) has to say, and then we'll make a decision," said Kevin Reilly, deputy director for prevention services with the California Department of Health Services. Each year, the state releases as many as 100 companies from their licenses to use radioactivity so they can end their leases, sell their property or use it for something else. The state may appeal April's court ruling, or do a new environmental study of its guidelines, both of which could prevent the state from having guidelines for "many months, even years," Reilly said. In the interim, it is possible California could rely on old standards, which required companies to clean radiation to levels as low as "reasonably achievable." But it is unclear if the court would allow that, and some lawmakers would certainly object that such a standard is too lax. Terese Ghio, senior director of environment, health and safety for Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc.  the San Diego drug research firm that has moved 10 times in the past dozen years  knows of at least three San Diego biotech firms in the same predicament as General Atomics. "People can't end their leases, and people can't hire because they don't have adequate space," said Ghio, also a spokeswoman for BIOCOM San Diego. "This has put a halt on all growth for biotech in the area." A bill moving through the state Legislature would require companies to clean property so that the cancer risk from residual radiation would be no more than 1-in-a-million people, a standard set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "It really comes down to how many people should die," said Daniel Hirsch, president of a nuclear watchdog group, Committee to Bridge the Gap, which helped write the bill. It had been standard practice in California to comply with rules set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which allows a 1-in-10,000 cancer risk. Ghio and Asmussen said the bill would have a chilling effect on California's biotech industry, contending that it would cost companies unreasonable amounts to decontaminate their property. General Atomics says it already spent tens of millions of dollars to clean its offices and land. "This just foretells of continuing discouragement to anyone in any industry that uses radioactive material," Asmussen said. "It would certainly make us think again before we used radioactive materials, or whether we would lease to a tenant who used radioactive materials. I doubt we would, and we're located in the heart of biotechnology." © Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. . ***************************************************************** 11 Norwegian government to allocate money to Murmansk region for nuclear safety projects Pravda.RU Jun, 07 2002 Before the end of the year the Norwegian government will allocate 15.5 million crones to the Murmansk region, situated on the Kola peninsula, for nuclear safety projects. The region's governor Yury Yevdokimov and his counterpart from the Norwegian province of Finnmark Gunnar Kjonnoy signed on Thursday a number of agreements on financing projects of ecological rehabilitation of polluted territories in the region, the regional administration's press service told RIA Novosti. The bulk of this sum - 14 million crones - will be allocated to rehabilitate the largest storage facility of nuclear waste and fuel of the Northern fleet, situated in Andreeva Guba. The money will be spent for building there a so-called Norwegian village - residential blocks with all necessary engineering networks, where specialists working on rehabilitating the storage facility will live. 1.5 million crones will be allocated for financing the project of utilizing radioisotope thermoelectrical generators used as power sources in lighthouses situated in the peninsula's areas that are difficult to access. © RIAN ***************************************************************** 12 *Arizona High School Student Visits Washington, D.C. to Urge Opposition to Yucca Mountain Nuclear Dump* */June 6, 2002/* */School Project on Nuclear Waste Transport Alerts Ninth-Grade Class to Dangers of Yucca Mountain Proposal/* WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Fifteen-year-old Arizona resident Alex Ozuna visited Washington, D.C., today to explain to senators and public interest and environmental organizations that an accident involving nuclear waste being trucked to Yucca Mountain could devastate the Colorado River, near his hometown. The conclusion was the result of a school project by Ozuna?s ninth-grade class at Mohave Accelerated Learning Center Public Charter School in Bullhead City, Ariz. Ozuna, who traveled to Washington on behalf of his class, delivered a letter to the office of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) urging him to oppose a proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Ozuna also met with McCain?s staff members to express his concerns over the risks involved in shipping high-level nuclear waste across the country to Nevada. Proposed transportation routes to Yucca Mountain would pass through his hometown. "I think it's really dangerous to have trucks carrying this waste passing through our towns and cities because it affects so many people," Ozuna said. "I really hope Senator McCain considers all of us when he makes his decision on Yucca Mountain. People in my town are really scared about the Yucca Mountain dump. At first they didn't think about the transportation risks involved, but once we explained it them, they realized how dangerous it was for them, their children and the environment." The students in Ozuna?s class built a model depicting theoretical results of a tractor-trailer carrying nuclear waste crashing on the Laughlin Bridge over the Colorado River. The bridge links Ozuna?s hometown of Bullhead City to Laughlin, Nev., a city through which waste also would pass en route to Yucca Mountain. The class concluded that if four tons of waste leaked into the river, it would contaminate a 42-mile radius of the river and surrounding land. The students also found that the town was ill-equipped to deal with such a disaster. "We only have a small hazardous waste team in our town, so if a big disaster like this were to happen, we'd have to wait for crews from Las Vegas or Phoenix to arrive," Ozuna said. Also on Thursday, Ozuna joined Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) for a breakfast meeting to share the findings of his project. The controversial Yucca Mountain proposal calls for 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste from nuclear facilities throughout the country to be shipped through 44 states and the District of Columbia to Nevada. In addition to concerns about the dangers of transporting waste, problems exist with the site. For instance, it sits above a drinking water aquifer and lies in a zone prone to earthquakes. On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved by a 13-10 vote a resolution in favor of the Yucca Mountain plan. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) voted in favor of the dump. The full Senate is expected to take up the issue in the coming weeks. Public Citizen ***************************************************************** 13 *Envirocare gearing up to fight N-waste initiative* deseretnews.com Utah news Thursday, June 6, 2002 Backers of a tax hike hail success of petition drive *By Donna Kemp Spangler * Deseret News staff writer Faced with a record number of signatures from Utahns supporting a hike in radioactive waste taxes, Envirocare of Utah has hired veteran political troubleshooter Eddie Mahe to head a campaign to defeat the initiative. "He's been a longtime consultant. He continues to provide input," said Ken Alkema, senior vice president of compliance and licensing for Envirocare. Mahe, based in Washington, D.C., has served as an adviser to Envirocare for five years. In 1997, he was hired to combat negative publicity in the wake of a scandal involving former state regulator Larry Anderson, who was accepting money from the owner of a company he was regulating. Mahe also worked to salvage former Rep. Enid Greene's political career after a public scandal involving alleged misappropriations of large sums of money. And Mahe has past ties to Gov. Mike Leavitt, advising Leavitt during his campaigns. Mahe did not return calls by press time. It's looking like Envirocare may need all the expert help it can get. At a press conference Tuesday at Bluffdale Elementary School, supporters of the initiative that would substantially hike the taxes on the low-level radioactive waste now disposed of at Envirocare in Tooele County say they have collected more than 130,000 signatures ? a record amount that doubles the state requirement to be placed on the November ballot. "We feel good about this," said Frank Pignanelli, campaign director. "What especially is astonishing is the results in Tooele County." State law requires at least 76,180 signatures of registered voters. And in 20 of 29 counties those signatures have to equal at least 10 percent. Initiative seekers have the support of 28 of the 29 counties. And more than 2,500 of the signatures ? double the requirement ? were from people in Envirocare-based Tooele County. "In fact, we ran out of petitions in Tooele County," Pignanelli said. "We broke the record." Opponents of the initiative, Utahns Against Unfair Taxes, aren't too surprised. "They probably concentrated their efforts in Tooele County," said chairman Hugh Matheson. "Getting signatures is a matter of money, not a matter of merits." County clerks have until July 1 to verify whether the signatures are from registered voters. The state elections office will determine by July 6 if petition organizers met the requirements to place the measure on November's ballot. Should Utah voters approve the "Radioactive Waste Restrictions Act," it would bar any hotter radioactive wastes, like medical wastes, from coming into Utah and hike the tax on the low-level radioactive waste currently being disposed of at Envirocare from 35 cents or $40, depending on the type of waste, to as much as $150 per cubic foot. The money would be used to fund educational needs, assist the poor and help Tooele County diversify its economy. "The real winners are the families of the state of Utah," said Phyllis Sorenson, president of the Utah Education Association, which has helped the group raise $400,000 to pay a firm to collect the needed signatures. Organizers also announced they have launched a Web site, www.saferbetterutah.org , to help inform voters of the initiative. Opponents are prepared to wage an aggressive countercampaign to encourage voters to defeat the measure. "We'll do all we can to get the correct information out to the public," Alkema said. "We believe (the initiative) would eliminate Envirocare and put 400 people out of work." /E-mail: donna@desnews.com / © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 14 Oregon, WA could become nuclear waste highways* Inc. (KATU TV) which may not be copied, ***************************************************************** 15 Smith approves Yucca Mountain waste site* June 5, 2002 WASHINGTON - By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer After a defeat on a key committee vote, Nevada's two senators acknowledged Wednesday there's little chance of stopping the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project if it comes up for a direct vote in the Senate. But Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign said they still have a final card to play: Many senators' devotion to "the tradition of the Senate" which frowns on a measure being forced to a vote over the objection of the majority leader. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, by a 13-10 vote, approved a resolution Wednesday that would override Nevada's objections to the nuclear waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., voted with the majority. "We have a duty to future generations of Oregonians to remove the possibility that nuclear waste will ever contaminate the Columbia River," Smith said. His office said the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington already is leaking radioactive waste into groundwater close to the Columbia and that spent fuel rods from the decommissioned Trojan nuclear power plant are stored close to the river. Under a 1982 nuclear waste law, any senator - Republican or Democrat - can now bring the matter up for fast-track consideration by the full Senate as long as action is taken before July 25. The House already has approved the resolution. While the committee vote was closer than had been expected, both Reid and Ensign in interviews Wednesday expressed little hope of stopping the resolution if it comes up for a direct floor vote. A win in a direct vote on Yucca "is not in the cards," conceded Reid, and Ensign said such a vote would "be very difficult." But Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has said he would not bring up the resolution. Reid and Ensign said they planned to challenge any move by an individual senator who attempts to force a vote, arguing that would set "a dangerous precedent" and flout Senate tradition. Ensign, a Republican, said he hoped to convince some GOP senators, who favor the Yucca project, to side with him in the "tradition of the Senate" argument. Never has a senator forced a vote over the objections of the majority leader, said Ensign. He said he believes many Republicans "recognize the dangerous precedent." "It's about Senate tradition," added Reid, a Democrat. A number of Republicans have said the need to find a place to bury the nation's nuclear waste overrides Nevada's objections and they plan to force a vote if necessary. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Wednesday the government is obligated, under contracts with the nuclear industry, to dispose of the waste. "If (this resolution) doesn't prevail, then Yucca is not going to be considered a site." The Bush administration emphasized the bipartisan support for the waste site in the committee's 13-10 vote. Three Democrats, including committee chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, joined 10 Republicans in favor of the resolution. The vote "reflects the kind of bipartisan support" expected in the full Senate, said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Only Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado, who has raised concerns about shipping wastes through tunnels as it crosses the Rocky Mountains, bucked his Republican colleagues on the issue. Critics of the Yucca project contend the waste - about 45,000 tons of spent reactor fuel, growing at the rate of 2,000 tons a year - can safely be kept at reactor sites across the country. They argue that transporting the waste across the country poses more dangerous safety and security problems. The Yucca facility would be designed to hold 77,000 tons of commercial reactor waste and nuclear waste from the Energy Department weapons program. Opponents of the project said that even after the site is full, thousands of tons of waste will continue to build up at reactor sites. Bush gave the Yucca project the go-ahead in February, saying 20 years of study has shown the site - a ridge of volcanic rock 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas - is safe to keep nuclear material that will remain highly radioactive for more than 10,000 years. The waste would be placed 900 feet below ground and eventually closed in. Nevada filed a formal objection in April, requiring Congress to decide whether to proceed with the site or abandon it. The Energy Department has said the earliest the Yucca facility could open is 2010, and many nuclear experts believe that timetable is too optimistic. (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) <#top> Inc. (KATU TV) ***************************************************************** 16 Kerr-McGee nears deal on cleanup of Chicago sites Or Erik Winters 405-475-4033. E-mail: 2002-06-07 /By Chip Minty / The Oklahoman Kerr-McGee Corp. could spend up to $100 million to remove tons of low-level radioactive sand from a river and tributary that flow through several suburbs west of Chicago. Corporate negotiators have reached a preliminary agreement they hope will lead to the conclusion of a long-standing cleanup project that, so far, has cost about $400 million, Kerr- McGee spokeswoman Tracy Senat said. Possibly as soon as this fall, the company will begin removing sand and soil from segments of the DuPage River and its tributary, Kress Creek. Their banks and beds are contaminated with thorium, a mineral that contains radioactive compounds such as uranium and radium. While the contamination does not pose an acute health risk, officials say the remediation project will improve the health of the river and its ecology. Kerr-McGee inherited responsibility for the problem when it merged with Lindsay Light and Chemical of West Chicago, Ill., in 1967. Since then, the site has been added to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of Superfund sites. Joe Karaganis, an attorney for the city of West Chicago and the communities of DePage County, said the problem began more than 70 years ago. As a byproduct of its ore processing operation, the Lindsay Light and Chemical company produced a sandy substance that contained thorium, Karaganis said. Unaware of the danger back then, the contaminated sand was used as a bedding material under hundreds of home foundations, a school and around sewer pipes buried beneath city streets. The material was deposited in a city park, and runoff carried it into Kress Creek and the DuPage River. Lindsay Light and Chemical, licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, had provided radioactive materials to government researchers involved in the Manhattan Project during World War II, Karaganis said. DuPage County residents began calling attention to the pollution issue more than 20 years ago, prompting negotiations between community officials and Kerr-McGee. Since 1997, the Oklahoma- based energy and chemical company has decontaminated more than 600 area homes as well as a park and the Lindsay factory site, which closed in 1973, but it has not decontaminated the waterways. Senat said it's too soon to know how much it may cost to clean up the river, creek and a sewage treatment plant. However, Karaganis said estimates for the project's final stage range from $30 million to $100 million. Kerr-McGee's annual report shows $49 million has been set aside in a reserve fund to address what remains of the West Chicago clean-up project. Officials say the work could take three to four years to complete. Fadel Gheit, a New York- based energy analyst for Fahnestock & Co., called the West Chicago cleanup Kerr-McGee's most persistent and costly environmental problem. It's the only environmental issue that consistently draws questions during the Oklahoma City-based company's investor conferences, he said. It would be good to finally resolve the issue, he added. "This thing has been mounting for 30 years," he said. "It's a very old case. I mean, my God, I can't believe it's still going on." WASHINGTON -- Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign are not throwing in the towel in their effort in the Senate to kill making Yucca Mountain a nuclear waste repository, despite signs this week that at least 51 senators intend to vote for the project. After the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the project on a 13-10 vote Wednesday, Ensign, a Republican, and Reid, a Democrat, acknowledged that Yucca was likely to pass unless they could prevent a vote with procedural maneuvers. The Senate is expected to vote before July 25. "We're going to continue to fight," Reid, Senate majority whip, told the Sun, vowing to continue lobbying his fellow senators. The committee vote made it clear Yucca will pass with at least 51 supporters, several published reports indicate. CongressDaily's survey found 49 senators had committed support for Yucca before Wednesday's vote, with several undecided. One of those undecided, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., voted for Yucca in the committee. Another undecided, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., voted against Yucca in committee, but said he would support the measure if the vote was close. Observers believe at least several senators are still deeply conflicted over the vote. Carper said he was "in anguish" as he struggled to decide how to vote on Yucca, in part because of his longtime friendship with Reid. Reid and Ensign have declined to offer their own vote counts, but have said they will not call a halt to a multimillion-dollar public relations and lobbying effort led by Nevada officials. The campaign, designed to pressure senators to oppose the dump, has included anti-Yucca television commercials in Vermont, Utah and Wyoming, and massive grass-roots efforts elsewhere. The effort has been funded in large part by gaming and environmental groups and some Legislature-approved taxpayer money. "The senators have not given up, and they will continue to try to get the 51 votes," Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen reiterated today. Nevada officials are planning to run television commercials in three or four more states before the vote, said Bob Loux, director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, the state's Yucca watchdog. He declined to say which states. "We are still spending money in states to impact the Senate, and will continue to do that up until the Senate vote," Loux said. Gov. Kenny Guinn said he was encouraged -- not discouraged -- by the committee vote. "I'm pleased that 10 senators saw their way to understanding the dangers of Yucca Mountain," Guinn said in a statement Thursday. "The more people learn the truth about Yucca Mountain, the more they realize that this is not just a Nevada problem, but one that will affect every single American for generations to come." Guinn said the committee vote and the latest lawsuit Nevada filed against the Energy Department sow that the state's efforts have been "effective and should continue." "No one believed that Yucca Mountain would be an easy fight in Congress, with the overwhelming funding advantage the nuclear power industry has over the state of Nevada," Guinn said. "The vast majority of Nevadans are against this project, and it's our obligation to fight against a project DOE has not proved is safe." Behind the scenes Reid and Ensign's lobbying strategy may have shifted somewhat. As they urge senators to oppose Yucca, they are also goading them to oppose holding a vote at all, given the strong objections of Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Only the Senate leader by tradition calls for votes, and Daschle has vowed opposition to Yucca. But a unique provision in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act allows any senator to bring Yucca to the floor. After the committee vote Ensign called the planned procedural maneuver "our best hope." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 29 Nuclear waste deemed safer inside tents Orange County Register - Top News Politician is told lab's new storage building is too prone to attacks. June 7, 2002 By MARK SHERMAN The Associated Press WASHINGTON – The federal government spent $62 million on a building to store and treat low-level radioactive waste at a California nuclear-weapons laboratory, then decided the structure wasn't secure enough. So where is the waste kept now? Under tents. Hundreds of bright yellow, 55-gallon drums are stacked under the tents outside the building at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory east of San Francisco. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, the area's congresswoman, is incredulous. You're not trying to tell me that between the building and a tent, the tent wins?" asked Tauscher, a Democrat. "In a post-Sept. 11 environment, you've got to say to yourself, 'Let's find a way to get that stuff in the building.' " The barrels hold liquid and solid hazardous wastes, as well as articles of clothing that became contaminated through exposure to highly radioactive materials, Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said. The waste, Davis said, "is stored safely and securely." Terrorists' use of airplanes against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have raised concerns about the ability of nuclear plants and storage facilities to survive similar attacks. Highly radioactive materials - spent fuel from nuclear reactors and other materials that emit dangerously high levels of radiation for thousands of years - are stored in other buildings at Livermore, Energy Department officials said. Low-level wastes, like those being kept outside under tents, typically decay in a matter of years. The Livermore building has been substantially complete since June 2001, but Tauscher said the Energy Department has refused to let Livermore workers begin using it. Tauscher said she has been given different explanations for why the building remains unused. Initially, she said, she was told the building could not withstand a direct hit from an airplane. Then Jessie Roberson, the assistant energy secretary for environmental management, wrote Tauscher in May that the construction plans did not sufficiently assess potential hazards and risks - and what to do about problems that may arise. A third explanation came from Davis, the Energy Department's chief spokesman in Washington, to whom calls to the laboratory were referred. "The building is still under construction," Davis said. "If you use the facility to store waste, you can't continue with the construction. We're not going to compromise safety and security just to get it operating quicker." Tauscher said no one, including Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, told her construction was ongoing. "We can't even get a straight answer out of them," said Tauscher, the top Democrat on a House Armed Services Committee panel that oversees the Energy Department's reorganization, focusing on nuclear weapons programs. Under the department's latest plan for the low-level waste, barrels of it would be stored inside beginning in September. Treatment wouldn't begin until August of next year. The Energy Department has been trying since the mid-1980s to build a new decontamination and treatment facility at Livermore for low-level waste, fighting off objections from area residents before finally obtaining money from Congress in the late 1990s. Tauscher attributed the delay to bureaucratic intransigence and said the Energy Department's record on the issue undermines the public's confidence. "How could they consider a building built to their own specifications to be inadequate?" Tauscher asked. She has asked the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, to report on the situation. [http://login.myoc.com/cgi-bin/email_this.pl] ----------------------------------------------------------------- [http://www.freedom.com] [http://www.ocregister.com] Copyright 2002 The Orange County Register ocregister@link.freedom.com--> Other myOC.com sites: [http://www.myoc.com/] | [http://www.myochomeconnection.com/] | [http://www.socalautosource.com/] | [http://www.myocsinglescene.com/] | [http://www.myocjobfinder.com/] ***************************************************************** 30 Driver May Be Charged In Hazardous Waste Spill newsnet5.com - News - Accident Caused Spill Of Syringes Filled With Tech 99 POSTED: 8:13 a.m. EDT June 5, 2002UPDATED: 8:25 a.m. EDT June 5, 2002 CLEVELAND -- Charges may be filed against the driver of a medical truck who crashed Tuesday while carrying radioactive material, NewsChannel5 reported. A section of Columbia Road had to be shut down and an evacuation was ordered when a medical carrier hit another truck head on. Hazmat crews were called to the scene, and the Ohio Highway Patrol closed roads within a one-mile radius around the accident scene for several hours. Twenty-three lead-fill boxes exploded during the impact, causing dozens of syringes to spill onto the roadway. The syringes carried radioactive Tech 99 M, a liquid injected into a patient's body for diagnostic brain, bone, heart, and kidney scans. The drivers of both trucks, along with several safety personnel, were treated and released. All 10 of them were tested for Tech 99 radiation exposure at Medina General Hospital as a precaution. The road has reopened. Copyright 2002 by NewsNet5 [nn5news@NewsNet5.com] . All rights ***************************************************************** 31 Group wants nuclear waste to stay on site, not be shipped to Nevada | The Winston Salem Journal - Journal Now Fri, Jun 7, 2002 By Michael Biesecker JOURNAL REPORTER • From the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League: Map of the transportation route through the Carolinas • From the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management: The Yucca Mountain Project Several members of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League gathered yesterday in a local parking lot in front of a 20-foot-long, 8-foot-high mock shipping cask mounted on a truck trailer and emblazoned with the universal three-triangle symbol that warns of nuclear radiation. The display was meant to protest the possibility that tractor-trailers loaded with spent fuel rods from nuclear-power plants may someday travel down Interstate 40 through Winston-Salem on their way to Yucca Mountain, the controversial radioactive-waste burial site set to open in Nevada. Members of the group said they feared that a traffic accident or terrorist attack could someday cause deadly levels of radiation to be released in the community. And even if a mishap doesn't occur, the activists say, the stainless-steel containment casks will likely leak smaller amounts of radiation. "This thing will be like an X-ray machine with no off-switch," said Louis Zeller, a member of the group who lives in Glendale Springs. "I wouldn't want to be stuck next to this thing in traffic." Though the governor and congressional delegation from Nevada vehemently oppose opening a subterranean waste-burial site at Yucca, the Bush administration and a majority in Congress support the $58 billion project. If given final approval, the site could start accepting the nation's nuclear waste about 2010. The radioactive contaminants in the waste from nuclear-power plants can have a half-life of 24,000 years. Spent fuel rods and other waste are now stored on-site at the power plants. The nation's nuclear electric-generating companies, including Duke Power, support moving the waste to a government-run site. "It's a liability issue," said Zeller, who wore a bright orange jumpsuit to the protest. "They made the stuff, but they don't want to keep it." If the project goes forward, 96,000 truck and rail-car loads of waste now in storage could be sent to Yucca. Possible transport routes from nuclear plants located near Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington could take the waste along Interstates 40 and 77. The Blue Ridge group supports keeping the waste where it is. "They have said for years that it is perfectly safe (stored at the plants), which are already contaminated," Zeller said. "If that's true, why risk transporting it just to contaminate a new site?" • Michael Biesecker can be reached at 727-7338 or at mbiesecker@wsjournal.com The Winston-Salem Journal is a Media General [http://www.MediaGeneral.com] newspaper. ***************************************************************** 32 A daunting cask Las Vegas Weekly: Upfront 1 By Kate Silver (silver@vegas.com [silver@vegas.com] ) A large mock nuclear waste-cask was launched from Reno last week, detonating the nationwide “No Radioactive Roads or Rails Tour,” which aims to raise awareness of the potential dangers to 44 states posed by transporting 77,000 tons of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. “They’re making people aware of the fact that nuclear waste will be coming through their town,” explains Peggy Maze Johnson, executive director of Nevada environmental group Citizen Alert. “People have not been made aware of that. People are just thinking in Oregon and Washington, ‘Oh, we’ll get it out of Hanford (where it’s stored).’ They’re not thinking, ‘How will we get it out of Hanford?’” Life-size, mock nuclear waste-casks traveling past houses, businesses, churches and schools ought to answer that question quickly. “When people find out this is happening they’re just astounded,” Johnson says. “Our whole thrust is getting them outraged and urging them to contact their senators.” The tour involves eight mock casks from different anti-nuclear and environmental activist groups, including Nevada’s own Citizen Alert. The casks will eventually meet up and tour together. John Hadder, Citizen Alert’s Northern Nevada coordinator is leading the tour of the Northwest, urging residents to join the fight against transporting nuclear waste. Citizen Alert will also put posters on future waste routes that read, “Coming soon to roads near you: Highly active nuclear waste.” For more information about the “No Radioactive Roads or Rails Tour” and to read journal entries documenting Hadder’s travels, go to www.citizenalert.org. Back to homepage All contents © 1998 - 2002 Radiant City Publications, LLC ***************************************************************** 33 Gov. Guinn lauds Attorney General and Congressional Delegation on efforts to derail Yucca Mountain FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2002 CONTACT: Greg Bortolin PHONE: 775-684-5670 LAS VEGAS: 702-486-2500 CELL: 775-230-3302 FAX: 775-684-7198 EMAIL: Bortolin@gov.state.nv.us CARSON CITY - Gov. Kenny Guinn today said Nevada's efforts to thwart the ill-conceived plan to transport 77,000 tons of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain have been effective. "Conventional wisdom before yesterday's vote in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee suggested that we would only be able to secure seven or eight votes," said Gov. Guinn when he learned of the committee's decision to override his veto by a 13-10 margin. "I'm pleased that 10 Senators saw their way to understanding the dangers of Yucca Mountain." "The more people learn the truth about Yucca Mountain, the more they realize that this is not just a Nevada problem but one that will affect every single American for generations to come." Gov. Guinn said the close committee vote, combined with the filing by Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa of Nevada's comprehensive environmental lawsuit against the Department of Energy today demonstrates that Nevada's overall strategy has been effective and should continue. "No one believed that Yucca Mountain would be an easy fight in Congress with the overwhelming funding advantage the Nuclear Power Industry has over the State of Nevada," Gov. Guinn said. "The vast majority of Nevadans are against this project and it's our obligation to fight against a project DOE has not proved is safe." Gov. Guinn said he is looking forward to DOE and the nuclear power industry defending its proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear dump project in both federal court and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's licensing process. "For the first time in this process, DOE won't be able to hide behind its political allies in Congress when the courts begin their review of DOE's record on this project," Gov. Guinn said. "We have developed some real momentum going into the home stretch and we've made progress that people thought was impossible." Gov.Guinn said that the state's overall strategy to stop Yucca Mountain, aimed at both Congress and the Courts, remains on track. "I would like to commend both our Congressional Delegation and Attorney General for their outstanding, bipartisan and united effort against Yucca Mountain," Gov. Guinn said. "If we do not prevail in Congress, I am confident that the best legal talent in the country will ask the courts to find that the illegal activities of this out of control agency are against the law, and we are confident that we will prevail." ### ***************************************************************** 34 Sleepwalking to nuclear catastrophe Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Friday June 7, 2002 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] To suggest we "start acting" on the abolition of nuclear weapons lacks the urgency the peril calls for (Leaders, June 4). In July 1996, the international court of justice stated that "there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects _" Negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons must not only be pursued: they must result in abolition. At the nuclear non-proliferation treaty review conference in 2000, the five recognised nuclear states made an "unequivocal undertaking _ to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals". No negotiations with that aim are taking place. Nato sees a need for nuclear weapons into the indefinite future. The US nuclear posture review aims to integrate nuclear weapons into a general capability. And the British government sets an equally irresponsible example to India and Pakistan by insisting not only that nuclear weapons are essential for its security, but that it is prepared to use them against "rogue" regimes even if not directly attacked with nuclear weapons. The world is sleepwalking towards catastrophe. Will it take a nuclear holocaust in south Asia to shake our leaders out of their pro-nuclear brainwashing? · Hugo Young writes that Geoff Hoon's nuclear threats against Iraq have "no precedent in the policy of any gov ernment" (Comment, June 6). In fact the Tories had the "Rifkind doctrine" which stressed the importance of the UK having the capability for a "more limited nuclear strike" (so-called sub-strategic deterrence) to "defend our vital interests". In their July 1998 strategic defence review, New Labour stressed the importance of a nuclear arsenal to "deter any threat to our vital threats", spelling out that these were not confined to Europe but included economic and financial interests distinct from the survival of Britain. Britain has used nuclear threats in non-nuclear conflicts; in December 1963 it deployed nuclear bombers to Singapore during the "confrontation" with Indonesia. Gabriel Caryle Oxford alaska@onetel.net.uk Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 35 Media Beat: Nuclear Weapons and Media Fog June 6, 2002 By Norman Solomon [http://www.fair.org/extra/writers/solomon.html] American media outlets roused themselves from outright denial early this month, spurred by belated warnings from top U.S. officials that a nuclear war between India and Pakistan would kill millions of people. The tone of news coverage shifted toward alarm. Meanwhile, atomic history remained largely sanitized. "Even one military move by either of these nuclear-armed neighbors," USA Today's front page reported in big type, "could set off an unstoppable chain reaction that could lead to the holocaust the world has feared since the atomic bomb was developed." The June 10 edition of Newsweek includes a George Will column with a chilling present-day reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis: "The world may be closer to a nuclear war than it was at any time during the Cold War -- even October 1962." Yet when it comes to nuclear weapons, the mainstream American press has scant emotional range or professional zeal to scrutinize the progression of atomic perils. From the start of the nuclear era, each man in the Oval Office has carefully attended to public relations, with major media rarely questioning the proclaimed humanitarian goals. Making an announcement on Aug. 6, 1945, President Harry Truman did his best to engage in deception. "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base," he said. "That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians." But civilians populated the city of Hiroshima -- as well as Nagasaki, where an A-bomb struck three days later. Hundreds of thousands died as a result of the atomic bombings. American military strategists were eager "to use the bomb first where its effects would be not only politically effective but technically measurable," Manhattan Project physicist David H. Frisch recalled. For U.S. media, the atomic bombings of the two Japanese cities have been pretty much sacrosanct. So, in 1994, a national uproar broke out when the Smithsonian Institution made plans for an exhibit marking the 50th anniversary. Much of the punditocracy was fit to be tied. "In the context of the time ... the bombing made a great deal of sense," Cokie Roberts said on network television -- and, she added, raising critical questions a half-century later "makes no sense at all." On the same ABC telecast, George Will sputtered: "It's just ghastly when an institution such as the Smithsonian casts doubt on the great leadership we were blessed with in the Second World War." Columnist Charles Krauthammer, denouncing "the forces of political correctness," wrote that the factual display on the museum's drawing board "promises to be an embarrassing amalgam of revisionist hand-wringing and guilt." Such intense media salvos caused the Smithsonian to cave in rather than proceed with a forthright historical exhibition. Even five decades later, a clear look at the atomic bombings was unacceptable. This summer, as the leaders of Pakistan and India ponder the nuclear-weapons option, they could echo the punditry. After all, "in the context of the time," they might conclude, an atomic bombing makes "a great deal of sense," without need to question their "great leadership" or engage in "hand-wringing and guilt." Back in 1983, a statement by U.S. Catholic Bishops perceptively called for a "climate of opinion which will make it possible for our country to express profound sorrow over the atomic bombing in 1945. Without that sorrow, there is no possibility of finding a way to repudiate future use of nuclear weapons." But American officials and leading journalists continue to be highly selective with their repudiations. In medialand, a red-white-and-blue nuclear warhead is not really a "weapon of mass destruction." Three months ago, the U.S. government's new Nuclear Posture Review caused a nearly incredulous response from Pervez Hoodbhoy, a peace advocate who is a professor of physics at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad: "Why should every country of the world not develop nuclear weapons now that America may nuke anyone at any time? The Bush administration has announced that it views nuclear weapons as instruments for fighting wars, not merely as the weapons of last resort. Resurgent American militarism is destroying every arms control measure everywhere. Those of us in Pakistan and India who have long fought against nuclearization of the subcontinent have been temporarily rendered speechless." What goes around has a tendency to come around. Washington's policymakers keep fortifying the U.S. nuclear arsenal with abandon while brandishing it against many other countries -- declaring, in effect, "do as we say, not as we do." But sooner or later, such declarations are not very convincing. Norman Solomon's latest book is "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media." *** Note to readers of "Media Beat": If you'd like to see Norman Solomon's syndicated column appear in a local daily newspaper, you can help-- by contacting the opinion-page editors of papers in your area and urging that they give the column a try. Editors can make arrangements by phoning Creators Syndicate in Los Angeles or by sending an email note to mediabeat@igc.org [mediabeat@igc.org] . ***************************************************************** 36 Arms control expert warns of nuclear threat By Hoa Nguyen Staff Writer June 7, 2002 The number of countries that possess nuclear weapon capabilities has only increased slightly in recent decades. But the ability to buy or build such a weapon has become considerably easier, and the threat of a nuclear attack is real, an arms control expert said yesterday at the Riverside Yacht Club. "The threat, which I believe is real, will be realized in a way we have not had before," said Robert L. Gallucci, featured speaker at last night's annual meeting of the League of Women Voters of Greenwich. Gallucci, 56, dean of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, spoke on the topic of "Weapons of Mass Destruction: How Real is the Threat?" Before becoming dean of the School of Foreign Service in 1996, Gallucci spent 21 years in government service and held several key positions, including deputy executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission overseeing the disarmament of Iraq. He also is a special envoy for the State Department on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. There are only eight countries known to have nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India and Pakistan. But in the years following the end of the Cold War, 1,500 tons of fissile material, which can be used to build nuclear weapons, have been estimated to exist in military and civilian facilities in the former Soviet Union, Gallucci said. That translates to about 30 tons of plutonium held by the civilian sector, which could be used to make roughly 6,000 nuclear weapons, he said. "What if one-tenth of 1 percent went missing," Gallucci said, adding that there are about 15,000 nuclear scientists who no longer work in the field but may be capable of helping to build a bomb. And it may not require extensive scientific knowledge to create a nuclear weapon, he added, explaining that a uranium-enriched bomb is easier to build than one with a plutonium core. "I can now tell you with high confidence that al-Qaida cannot build a nuclear weapon with a plutonium core," he said. "I am confident that al-Qaida can build an uranium-enriched weapon." Besides hearing from Gallucci, league members also voted in its 10-member board. Three are new to the board and one current member assumes an additional position. Joyce Young became president, Naomi Myers was named advocacy vice president and Mona Kosseim became communications director. Kathleen Burgweger, vice president of voter services, assumed an additional role as executive vice president, and outgoing president JoAnn Messina, was named chairwoman of the nominating committee. The league also announced that Kay Maxwell has been chosen as a nominee to head the national League of Women Voters, which will vote on nomination at its annual convention in a few weeks. Copyright © 2002, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. ***************************************************************** 37 Highlights of Anti-Terrorism Bill Las Vegas SUN June 06, 2002 Highlights of the anti-terrorism bill the Senate passed early Friday and how it compares to President Bush's proposal and House-passed legislation. -Totals: Bush $27.1 billion, House $29 billion, Senate $31.5 billion. The money is for the remaining months of fiscal 2002, which runs through Sept. 30. -Defense: Bush and Senate $14 billion, House $15.8 billion but Bush does not have to spend the additional $1.8 billion. Money is for operations in Afghanistan, other countries and the United States, including increased National Guard and Reserves costs, weapons procurement and testing and intelligence. -Domestic security: Bush $5.3 billion, House $5.7 billion, Senate $8.4 billion. Money for police and other local law enforcement and emergency agencies; stepped up security at airports, ports, borders and nuclear facilities. -Foreign aid and U.S. diplomatic activity: Bush $1.6 billion, House $2.2 billion, Senate $2.1 billion. All contain aid for Afghanistan, Colombia, some former Soviet republics, and for improving security at U.S. embassies and consulates; House and Senate added funds for Israel and humanitarian aid for Palestinians. -New York: All proposed $5.5 billion to help rebuild lower Manhattan and aid some area residents. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 38 The Growing Nuclear Peril by Jonathan Schell O n June 12, 1982, 1 million people assembled in Central Park in New York City to call for a freeze of the nuclear arms race. In the years that followed, the cold war waned and then ended, and the strategic nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union were not only frozen but cut to about half of their peak. In the early post-cold war years, it seemed conceivable that nuclear arms might be on their way to obsolescence, and nuclear danger pretty much dropped out of the public mind. TAKE ACTION Sign the Urgent Call. Give permission to display your name as a supporter in print and/or on the Urgent Call website (Urgent Call, IDDS, 675 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, www.urgentcall.org ). Make a donation. Your tax-deductible contribution will help to disseminate this Call by direct mail, print, radio, TV and Internet advertising. Write Washington, and your local paper, supporting the Call and its objectives. Contact your US Representative and ask him or her to support a House resolution calling for Urgent Action to End the Nuclear Danger, to be introduced on June 12. Work with national and local groups that are active on nuclear issues. Present the Urgent Call to your local church, synagogue or mosque. Bring it to your local professional club or association, and ask for group endorsements. Table and Petition: Take a copy of the Urgent Call in petition format to a supermarket or shopping mall near you. Set up a table. Ask passers-by for signatures. Give out literature. It's now clear that these hopes were ill founded. The nuclear dilemma was not going away; it was changing shape. Four years ago, I asked in a special issue of this magazine whether the nuclear arsenals of the cold war were "merely a monstrous leftover from a frightful era that has ended, and will soon follow it into history, or whether, on the contrary, they are the seeds of a new, more virulent nuclear era." The seeds have now sprouted, and that new era is upon us in South Asia and elsewhere. Today, twenty years after the June 12 demonstration, some of us who were present at the event believe that the time has come again for the public to make its voice heard in protest against the direction of nuclear policies, and we are therefore issuing the Urgent Call on the following page. As one of its signatories, I wish to explain why I think this is necessary. Passages from the Call are in bold print; the commentary is in ordinary type. *"Despite the end of the cold war, the United States plans to keep large numbers of nuclear weapons indefinitely."* According to President George W. Bush, the recently signed Moscow Treaty, under which the United States and Russia have agreed to a limit on deployed strategic weapons of no more than 2,200 each, "liquidates the legacy of the cold war." Rarely has more contradiction, misdirection and confusion been compacted into a single phrase. Let us count the ways. (1) The cold war--the global ideological struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union--in fact ended definitively in 1991 with the disappearance of the Soviet Union from the face of the earth. The President at the time, Bush's father, told us so. As one Russian wag recently commented, "I'm tired of attending funerals for the cold war." The cold war is over. Long live the cold war. (2) Does liquidating the legacy of the cold war then perhaps mean liquidating the nuclear arsenals that were built up in the name of that struggle? No. Not a single nuclear warhead will be dismantled under the treaty. Even the deployed weapons will, when the reductions are complete, be quite sufficient for either country to blow up the other many times over. It is better that the excess warheads will be in storage than on hairtrigger alert, but the move only reduces the overkill. All the kill remains. In other words, at the treaty's expiration, in 2012, more than two decades after the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the nuclear policies--as distinct from the active and alert force levels--of the two nations will not have changed in the slightest particular. (3) If neither the cold war nor its nuclear arsenals are being liquidated, does the treaty at least consolidate a postwar friendship between Russia and the United States? On the contrary, the United States has introduced a fresh note of suspicion into the relationship by insisting on storing rather than dismantling the "reduced" weapons in order to "hedge" against some undefined deterioration in relations with Russia--notwithstanding the new consultative relationship of Russia with NATO. One day, the United States thus declares to Russia, 2,200 nuclear weapons may not be enough for dealing with you; we may again need 10,000. That message is reinforced by a shortening of the usual six-month withdrawal time in treaties to three months. (4) Does the treaty liquidate anything, then? Yes--nuclear arms control. The Bush Administration, which resisted putting even the Moscow agreement in treaty form, has let it be known that it intends no further arms control treaties with Russia. On June 13, the United States will formally withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. The world, President Bush is saying, has had all the nuclear disarmament it is going to get out of the end of the cold war. But if the twice-announced end of that conflict cannot get Russia and the United States out of the trap of "mutual assured destruction," what can? Nothing is on the horizon. Woodrow Wilson fought the "war to end all wars." George Bush has signed an arms control treaty to end all arms control treaties. © 2002 The Nation Company, ***************************************************************** 39 NATO Extends Counterterrorism Talks Las Vegas SUN June 07, 2002 BRUSSELS, Belgium- NATO defense ministers extended their debate on counterterrorism to include their eastern neighbors Friday, seeking greater cooperation with 27 mostly former Soviet bloc nations who joined a second day of talks. "It is our task to ensure that the partnership continues to make its contribution to Euro-Atlantic security in a rapidly changing world," NATO Secretary General George Robertson told the meeting. Countries attending ranged from Slovenia, Latvia and Romania, which have long worked closely with NATO and are expected to receive an invitation to join the alliance in November, to Central Asian states like Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, which are assisting the U.S. war in Afghanistan. NATO is looking to step up its "partnership for peace" program with such nations to increase their role in a wider campaign against terrorism. Alliance ministers called anti-terrorism efforts their top priority Thursday after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld delivered a chilling warning about the threat of extremist groups obtaining nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. The 19 NATO allies believe the former Soviet bloc nations - which border a string of volatile nations from the Balkans to Afghanistan - can be useful partners in preventing the spread of such weapons. Lord Robertson said the 46-nation partnership was already "an essential pillar of the international coalition against terrorism" but stressed, "to enhance our security, we must continue to evolve." Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria are expected to receive invitations to become full members of NATO at a Nov. 21-22 summit in the Czech capital, Prague. By then, NATO is also aiming to produce plans for better defense cooperation with other nations. Rumsfeld told NATO ministers Thursday the alliance must take the offensive against terrorists who will attempt attacks that could make Sept. 11 look "modest by comparison." Allied ministers acknowledged they were inadequately prepared to tackle terrorism and pledged to overhaul NATO's military to focus on defense against weapons of mass destruction and building up forces that can strike against terrorist hide-outs far beyond the borders of the allied nations. "NATO must be able to field forces for its missions that can move quickly to wherever they are needed, sustain operations over distance and time," the ministers said in a statement. Part of NATO's strategy for widening its counterterrorism campaign involves reaching out to former foes. On Thursday, the alliance agreed on a range of defense cooperation measures with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Ivanov and the NATO ministers agreed to cooperate in areas ranging from nuclear power plant security to providing missile cover to troops on the battlefield. They even suggested NATO troops could fly to war zones in Russian transport planes. Friday's talks will include a meeting with Defense Minister Volodymyr Shkidchenko of Ukraine, which NATO is keen not to isolate as it reaches out to Russia. In a statement, the ministers thanked Ukraine for providing transport planes to fly allied troops to Afghanistan and stressed the need to further deepen cooperation. However, NATO officials have so far reacted coolly to Kiev's feelers for full membership. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 40 State rejects special license plate honoring test site [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Friday, June 07, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal By ED VOGEL REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- The state has nuked a special license plate honoring the Nevada Test Site. Department of Motor Vehicles Director Ginny Lewis, backed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, decided to cancel the plate because its design prominently features a mushroom cloud, a familiar sight to longtime Nevadans who once watched the atmospheric atomic tests set off 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The move immediately was criticized as a bow to politics, and Troy Wade, chairman of the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation, called on Guinn Thursday to reverse Lewis' decision. "No amount of revisionist history will change the fact the Cold War was fought and won on Nevada soil," said Wade, former manager for the test site. "Nothing can change the fact that this state, its citizens, toiled tirelessly for this nation's security. Yet politics has found its way into doing just that." Wade said the mushroom cloud always will be the "undeniable icon" associated with the test site. The federal government conducted 100 atmospheric tests of atom bombs there in the 1950s and early 1960s. "Politicians talk of how important it is for science to answer questions, not politicians, and yet they used politics to make this decision," Wade said. "Yucca Mountain had everything to do with it." Lewis readily admitted her decision was influenced in part by the debate in Congress over whether Yucca Mountain should become the nation's nuclear repository. She said she will not change her position, because the mushroom cloud design "would be offensive to most Nevadans." But she added she also was influenced by the possible use of nuclear weapons in the conflict between India and Pakistan. At this point in world history, "any reference on a license plate to weapons of mass destruction is inappropriate and would likely offend our citizens," Lewis said. She said she consulted with the governor's office before making her decision. Greg Bortolin, Guinn's press secretary, said the governor will not budge from his position against the mushroom cloud plate. He added Guinn has not received any calls of protest. Other designs could be considered in the future for a test site plate, Lewis said. The historical foundation wanted to use the commemorative plate as a way to raise money for its museum project. The foundation, state and U.S. Department of Energy are constructing a $9.6 million museum on the history of atomic testing near the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas. Groundbreaking is June 29. Nevada has dozens of special license plates. The extra proceeds motorists pay for the plates go to nonprofit groups to raise money for their causes. The historical foundation would have received $35 for every plate sold. Legislators approve special plates, but they have nothing to do with the actual design. The DMV is given final authority over plate designs, and Lewis said this is the first time a design has been rejected. In sponsoring the plate bill, Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, had actually warned legislators not to let personal views about atomic testing affect their votes. She said the plate would not be meant as an "advocacy or glorification of testing." "The story of the test site, good and bad, must be told," said Titus, author of "Bombs in the Backyard," a look at the days of atmospheric tests. Richard Bibbero Jr., the Douglas County real estate agent who designed the plate, was upset with Lewis' decision. As a youngster in San Francisco, Bibbero would climb a hill at dawn and see if a flash of a weapons test would appear on the horizon. "I do remember atomic testing in the 1950s," he said. "I don't know if we saw it or not, but the design came to me in a vision." He pointed out that atomic testing was once a source of pride. Eateries named food and drinks after tests. Las Vegas had atomic beauty contests. Even Clark County's logo once featured a mushroom cloud. More importantly, Bibbero said, atomic testing kept America out of a hot war with the Soviet Union. "I guess they want to rewrite history and say those events didn't occur," he said. "People don't want to face the fact it is part of Nevada history. They are trying to equate it with Yucca Mountain." Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., did just that a month ago when the House voted 306-117 to authorize Yucca Mountain for burial of the nation's nuclear waste. A repository supporter, Shimkus said Nevada "has a tremendous nuclear legacy, as identified by this recently approved Nevada state license plate." He urged Nevada to continue that legacy, a comment that angered the state's politicians who noted the numerous sacrifices already made by the state during the Cold War. Bibbero questioned whether there would have been a controversy if the plate design selection had not come at the pinnacle of the debate over Yucca Mountain. He received a $500 prize from the historical society, which selected his design over about 40 others. Wade said he does not know what step the historical foundation will take next. Although Lewis has invited the group to submit another design, almost all of the designs submitted the first time around featured mushroom clouds. Whatever the group does will come after July 26, the last day on which the Senate can override Guinn's veto against the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository, he added. "I regret this Yucca Mountain thing is happening right now," Wade said. "There is nothing we can do to get out of the shadow of Yucca Mountain." This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jun-07-Fri-2002/news/18919537. html [http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jun-07-Fri-2002/news/18919537 .html] ***************************************************************** 41 Fukuda remark blown out of context Daily Yomiuri On-Line By Takeshi Uemura A political furor blew up last Friday, when Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda's comments on Japan's three nonnuclear principles led opposition politicians and some of the media to accuse him of making a "serious slip of the tongue." Even some in the three-party ruling coalition have criticized the remarks as "careless," fearing they may adversely affect ongoing Diet deliberations on a package of government-presented bills regarding Japan's response in the event of a military attack from abroad. Scrutiny of the process through which the chief cabinet secretary's remarks have been politicized, however, reveals a host of problems involving the way some media cover such affairs, as well as a stereotypical brand of political thinking swayed by the fixed ideas behind such reportage. It is evident that Fukuda's remarks, when judged from an objective point of view, were never intended to indicate that there was any possibility the government would move to change its nonnuclear policy. Nevertheless, some media organizations and politicians are deliberately trying to deploy the Fukuda issue to stir up trouble. The three nonnuclear principles of not producing, not possessing and not allowing nuclear weapons into this country were first expressed in 1967 by then Prime Minister Eisaku Sato at a House of Representatives Budget Committee session. The principles were endorsed by a Diet resolution in a plenary meeting of the lower house in 1971. The nonnuclear principles have since become one of Japan's key national policies. There can be no doubt that the principles constitute a core policy that Japan, the only country in the world that has suffered nuclear attacks, must continue to hold as the specter of nuclear arms has come to menace global peace and security. In the wake of the uproar over the Fukuda remarks, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated on Monday that Japan would adhere firmly to its three nonnuclear principles. From a common sense viewpoint, the government is extremely unlikely to consider making any changes to the principles in the foreseeable future. Thus, if the chief cabinet secretary--the top government spokesman--made a statement indicating the possibility of the government's taking any specific steps to change the nonnuclear policy, a major political issue would arise that would require thorough discussion. We need to examine the words Fukuda used in the most controversial part of his remarks to see if they can be construed as meaning he wants to see Japan's nonnuclear weapons policy changed. Fukuda said, "If something serious (concerning national security) or major changes in international relations should occur, public opinion in favor of this country's having (nuclear weapons) could arise." Given an ordinary interpretation, this statement is simply an observation to the effect that any basic policy of a country can possibly be reviewed depending on changing times and circumstances. In addition, Fukuda's remarks did not refer to any government policy, but rather the possibility of a view arising among the public. Notwithstanding, Japan, having experienced the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is a country where nuclear arms issues are highly touchy. It seems that even discussion itself of nuclear arms is seen as a kind of political taboo in today's Japan. Fukuda, in this respect, should be blamed for his carelessness as a politician in making unguarded references to the three nonnuclear weapons principles. The opposition camp, for its part, sees it as its right to lambaste Fukuda for the remarks. According to opposition leaders' accusations, Fukuda has "rejected" the three nonnuclear principles and his "hawkish" nature has now been revealed. Under the circumstances, Fukuda must feel shocked and embarrassed at the continuing political ripple effect of his remarks however hard he tries to explain how the media's coverage of the remarks ran contrary to what he actually meant. Some media, for that matter, were quick to latch onto Fukuda's remarks as a questionable statement on the part of a high-ranking government official. One media organization went so far as to cover "reactions to the Fukuda remarks from Japan's neighbors," such as China and South Korea, even before the remarks had been reported at home. Such coverage seemed to anticipate those countries' critical reactions to the remarks. It is only natural for both China and South Korea to react harshly and show anxiety at a news report saying that an influential Japanese politician made a remark that could be taken as indicating Japan would change its nonnuclear arms policy with a view to having nuclear weapons in the future. What Fukuda actually said, however, can hardly be interpreted as suggesting the government plans to change its nonnuclear policy. Playing up what Fukuda said as problematic remarks and trying to coax adverse reactions from Japan's neighbors can only serve to unnecessarily hurt relations with those neighbors. This pattern of reporting has often appeared before, vis-a-vis such issues as Japan's history textbooks and the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to the war dead. The issues of interpretation of the nation's history, history textbooks and how to pay homage to the war dead are all ones we Japanese should address ourselves. The nonnuclear arms principles also are, without doubt, Japan's own policy issue. In the final analysis, the process of how Fukuda's remarks were reported and the background against which the reporting was done remind us anew of a deep-rooted political mind-set that is peculiar to Japan among the mass media as well as in political circles. Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 42 End the Nuclear Danger: An Urgent Call by Jonathan Schell, Randall Caroline Forsberg, David Cortright A DECADE after the end of the cold war, the peril of nuclear destruction is mounting. The great powers have refused to give up nuclear arms, other countries are producing them and terrorist groups are trying to acquire them. POORLY GUARDED warheads and nuclear material in the former Soviet Union may fall into the hands of terrorists. The Bush Administration is developing nuclear "bunker busters" and threatening to use them against nonnuclear countries. The risk of nuclear war between India and Pakistan is grave. DESPITE THE END of the cold war, the United States plans to keep large numbers of nuclear weapons indefinitely. The latest US-Russian treaty, which will cut deployed strategic warheads to 2,200, leaves both nations facing "assured destruction" and lets them keep total arsenals (active and inactive, strategic and tactical) of more than 10,000 warheads each. THE DANGERS POSED by huge arsenals, threats of use, proliferation and terrorism are linked: The nuclear powers' refusal to disarm fuels proliferation, and proliferation makes nuclear materials more accessible to terrorists. THE EVENTS of September 11 brought home to Americans what it means to experience a catastrophic attack. Yet the horrifying losses that day were only a fraction of what any nation would suffer if a single nuclear weapon were used on a city. THE DRIFT TOWARD catastrophe must be reversed. Safety from nuclear destruction must be our goal. We can reach it only by reducing and then eliminating nuclear arms under binding agreements. WE THEREFORE CALL ON THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA TO FULFILL THEIR COMMITMENTS UNDER THE NONPROLIFERATION TREATY TO MOVE TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER NUCLEAR POWERS, STEP BY CAREFULLY INSPECTED AND VERIFIED STEP, TO THE ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. AS KEY STEPS TOWARD THIS GOAL, WE CALL ON THE UNITED STATES TO: § RENOUNCE the first use of nuclear weapons. § Permanently END the development, testing and production of nuclear warheads. § SEEK AGREEMENT with Russia on the mutual and verified destruction of nuclear weapons withdrawn under treaties, and increase the resources available here and in the former Soviet Union to secure nuclear warheads and material and to implement destruction. § STRENGTHEN nonproliferation efforts by ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, finalizing a missile ban in North Korea, supporting UN inspections in Iraq, locating and reducing fissile material worldwide and negotiating a ban on its production. § TAKE nuclear weapons off hairtrigger alert in concert with the other nuclear powers (the UK, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Israel) in order to reduce the risk of accidental or unauthorized use. § INITIATE talks on further nuclear cuts, beginning with US and Russian reductions to 1,000 warheads each. * TO SIGN THE STATEMENT, GO TO URGENTCALL.ORG OR SEND NAME, ORGANIZATION/PROFESSION (FOR ID ONLY) AND CONTACT INFORMATION TO URGENT CALL, C/O FOURTH FREEDOM FORUM, 11 DUPONT CIRCLE NW, 9TH FLOOR, WASHINGTON, DC 20036. WE NEED TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS, MADE TO URGENT CALL, TO DISSEMINATE THIS CALL. PLEASE MAIL TO THE SAME ADDRESS.* THIS CALL WAS DRAFTED BY JONATHAN SCHELL, THE HAROLD WILLENS PEACE FELLOW OF THE NATION INSTITUTE AND THE AUTHOR OF /THE FATE OF THE EARTH/; RANDALL CAROLINE (RANDY) FORSBERG, DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE AND DISARMAMENT STUDIES AND AUTHOR OF THE "CALL TO HALT THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE," THE MANIFESTO OF THE 1980s NUCLEAR WEAPONS FREEZE CAMPAIGN; AND DAVID CORTRIGHT, PRESIDENT OF THE FOURTH FREEDOM FORUM AND FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SANE. © 2002 The Nation Company, L.P. Permissions ***************************************************************** 43 Situation out of control: Nuclear weapons in Pakistani extremists' hands Pravda.RU Jun, 07 2002 [http://english.pravda.ru] India and Pakistan still supply news to world information agencies. Relations between the two countries seem to be in a deadlock, while neither Delhi, nor Islamabad, Washington, Moscow, London, nor Beijing know how break the stalemate. However, there are too many peace initiatives. An peace plan was presented by the US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and British Secretary of State for Defence Geoff Hoon. They proposed to send a military contingent of US and British peace-keepers to Kashmir, to the conflict line between India and Pakistan. The task of the peace keepers will be prevention separatists from penetrating into India from Pakistan. However, this will hardly be the case in the nearest future. India was always against settling the conflict with other states’ participation. Delhi considers this to be a domestic affair, so it intends to solve it by itself. Delhi’s position on this question is not new. However, there is a piece of news that really could have serious consequences. The Lashkar-i-Taiba leader, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, said that his people control two Pakistani nuclear warheads, and they are ready any moment to bring them down on the heads of Islam’s enemies. India is the first country waiting in line. An interesting fact: recently, Pakistani authorities detained Mohammed Saeed, though after having holding him for some time, released him, because there was no obvious proofsof his involvement in terrorist acts. However, Saeed was most likely released through the mediation of the leadership of ISI Pakistani intelligence, which has deep contacts with radical Islamists. According to Delhi, Pakistani intelligence is implicated in organization of the terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir. Of course, the Lashkar-i-Taiba leader’s statement could be considered as a lie. However, on the other hand, the ideas of Islamic radicals are very popular in Pakistan, including in the army. So, it is very possible that Lashkar-i-Taiba really does control some nuclear weapons. Saeed’s statement could also be aimed also at weakening the peacekeeping initiatives of Pakistani President Prevez Musharraf. As is well known, radicals of both countries demand “war till final victory.” Therefore, many Pakistani radicals are not satisfied with Musharraf’s compromising. Extremists, who doubt his ability to control the country’s nuclear power, could, therefore, bring to nothing all the attempts to launch dialogue with India the Pakistani President makes. In the meantime, the missions of foreign mediators do not give hope for a quick settlement of the conflict. Currently, US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is visiting Islamabad and Delhi. Armitage appears not to be sure of his visit’s success. At least, he said that he does not plan to arrange a meeting between Pakistani and Indian leaders. Next week, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrives in India. However, he will also fail to convince Delhi and Islamabad of the necessity to start a dialogue. Delhi intends to defend its position: the conflict is the affair of only India and Pakistan, while even Kashmir separatists should have nothing to do with it. Therefore, all the visits of foreign diplomats look like mere formalities, as the "world community" is required to show its concern. Oleg Artyukov PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Vera Solovieva ***************************************************************** 44 A-bomb memorabilia on display here before California auction Photos: The red safety plug from "Little Boy" | Morris Jeppson holds a case containing a photo and safety plugs from an atomic bomb Las Vegas SUN June 07, 2002 By Mary Manning < [manning@lasvegassun.com] > Morris "Dick" Jeppson spent an hour and a half scrambling over a five-ton bomb, the only one aboard the B-29 that day. His job was to put the final link in place between a complex fuse system and a weapon called "Little Boy." The entire mission was experimental and top secret from the beginning. Jeppson, now 79, and the entire 509th crew that flew the Enola Gay were kept in a separate Quonset hut as they worked at the Army Air Corps base on Tinian Island in the South Pacific. The historic plane dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Memorabilia from the plane, some of it belonging to Jeppson, will be auctioned on Tuesday in San Francisco. The memorabilia is expected to sell for a total of about $1 million at the auction. Those pieces were on display during a private showing Thursday at the Antique Arms Show at the Riviera convention center, which continues through Saturday. Although only 23 years old, Jeppson, who grew up in Carson City and now lives in Las Vegas, said he wasn't afraid when the time came. "We were trained to do this job." Instead, he felt a sense of dread. The fuse system had failed less than 24 hours previously during a practice run. "All I could think was, 'Oh, my God, it's not going to work,' " Jeppson said. A pair of red and green plugs belonging to Jeppson rested under glass on a table at the Riviera's convention center. Once a green plug was removed and replaced by the red, the bomb was armed. One of the last available sets from that flight, Jeppson's pair of bomb plugs sat in a drawer of his home for years. A second set is in a military museum in Washington, D.C. The third set is framed and hung in the home of Ed Doll, his superior at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. The two scraps of paper, tags certifying that the two safety plugs came from the Hiroshima mission, lie in the case holding Jeppson's set on black felt. They are signed by Jeppson and Doll. Once Jeppson installed the green plug that day, he began counting, knowing the shock wave from the atomic explosion would rock the plane 43 seconds after the bomb, falling at the speed of sound from the plane's belly, reached 1,500 feet above the ground. Jeppson reached the number 43, and nothing seemed to happen. "But it worked," Jeppson said. He figures now that, in his dread, he counted too fast. The bomb killed more than 100,000 people, injured thousands more on the ground and vaporized the city. Historians credit the Hiroshima bomb and another dropped on Nagasaki three days later with helping to end the war in the Pacific with fewer casualties than a ground invasion might have exacted. It took all of the uranium 235, the size of a softball, that had been refined at Oak Ridge, Tenn., Jeppson said. The Nagasaki weapon used plutonium. On the log sheet for that flight -- also up for auction -- is a penciled note about a ship in the harbor. Other items to be auctioned off include the Enola Gay's master clock, a sextant used by navigator Maj. Theodore Van Kirk, Van Kirk's valise, the Enola Gay's headset and a Colt 1911 pistol carried on the flight. Jeppson peered at the notation about the ship. "I don't have any idea what happened to that ship," he said. There were no windows where he huddled in the plane. "We weren't supposed to look anyway." Instead, after the drop, Jeppson said he felt the plane lurch after the initial blast, then a second time as the explosion bounced off the Earth's surface. He never flew another combat mission. Jeppson said he had had enough of war, and he set his sights on becoming a nuclear physicist. The military had provided him and other crew members before their flight with some of the best available training. He attended electronics school for five months at Harvard then spent another three months at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to learn about the radar that would guide the weapons. He went back to school, ultimately studying for a doctorate in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. While there, he worked at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, where Edward Teller, the father of America's hydrogen bomb, worked. He never finished the degree, but went on to the Nevada Test Site, where he monitored nuclear weapons experiments and later started his own company to build electron beam accelerators. Today such accelerators are used in research and medicine. As the holder of 30 patents, Jeppson made a range of 21st-century devices, from microwave electron beam linear accelerators used in cancer therapy to large microwave heating systems for industry and food processing. The fallout, both literally and figuratively, from the use of nuclear weapons still bothers Jeppson. "The fallout was not very good, that was one reason the tests went underground (in 1963)," he said. "They didn't know that at the time." Photos: The red safety plug from "Little Boy" | Morris Jeppson holds a case containing a photo and safety plugs from an atomic bomb All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 45 SPECIAL REPORT / CRISIS IN KASHMIR www.sfchron.com [chronfeedback@sfchronicle.com] Friday, June 7, 2002 Hundreds of thousands of troops face each other across the India- Pakistan border. Increased shelling kills many civilians, and U.S. and other foreign citizens are told to leave the region. President Bush and other world leaders issue urgent appeals to both nuclear-armed states to step back from the brink of war. The current crisis may pass and the worst fears prove to be overblown, but right now the world is confronted with the most serious threat of a nuclear conflict since the end of the Cold War. In a special report, Chronicle science reporter Keay Davidson explores the unthinkable: the steps that could lead to a nuclear exchange and the impact such an exchange would have. And as intensive diplomatic efforts continue, Chronicle Washington correspondent Edward Epstein analyzes the formidable obstacles to reaching a peaceful settlement. KASHMIR CONFLICT Special Report: Crisis in Kashmir [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archiv e/2002/06/07/MN42143.DTL] [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archiv e/2002/06/07/MN138912.DTL] [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archiv e/2002/06/07/MN63495.DTL] [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archiv e/2002/06/07/MN52671.DTL] ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.   Page A - 1 ***************************************************************** 46 Russian Nuclear Roulette FEATURE STORY | *June 25, 2001 * by Stephen F. Cohen A baccalaureate should be an occasion to celebrate the present and express optimism about the future, but I must come to you today with very bad news about Russia, my subject of study, and therefore with great alarm about the future. If America's post-cold war triumphalism has led you to believe we are now safer than we were before, I recommend an adage Russians use only partly in jest: "An optimist is an uninformed pessimist." This article is adapted from Stephen F. Cohen's faculty address at the New York University baccalaureate ceremony in May. The bad news is this: Because of what has happened in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union ten years ago, you are graduating into a world more dangerous than ever before. For the first time in history, a fully nuclearized nation is in a process of collapse. The result is potentially catastrophic. Most of Russia's essential infrastructures--economic, social, technological--are in various stages of disintegration. The state is virtually bankrupt, unable to reinvest in those foundations or even regularly pay the wages and pensions of its own people. The country has been asset-stripped, impoverished and left on the verge of a "demographic apocalypse," as a Moscow newspaper recently termed it. Technology is breaking down everywhere, from electricity and heating to satellites. In these and other ways, Russia has been plunging back into the nineteenth century. And, as a result, it has entered the twenty-first century with its twentieth-century systems of nuclear maintenance and control also in a state of disintegration. What does this mean? No one knows fully because nothing like this has ever happened before in a nuclear country. But one thing is certain: Because of it, we now live in a nuclear era much less secure than was the case even during the long cold war. Indeed, there are at least four grave nuclear threats in Russia today: § There is, of course, the threat of proliferation, the only one generally acknowledged by our politicians and media--the danger that Russia's vast stores of nuclear material and know-how will fall into reckless hands. § But, second, scores of ill-maintained Russian reactors on land and on decommissioned submarines--with the destructive capacity of nuclear weapons--are explosions waiting to happen. § Third, also for the first time in history, there is a civil war in a nuclear land--in the Russian territory of Chechnya, where fanatics on both sides have threatened to resort to nuclear warfare. § And most immediate and potentially catastrophic, there is Russia's decrepit early-warning system. It is supposed to alert Moscow if US nuclear missiles have been launched at Russia, enabling the Kremlin to retaliate immediately with its own warheads, which like ours remain even today on hairtrigger alert. The leadership has perhaps ten to twenty minutes to evaluate the information and make a decision. That doomsday warning system has nearly collapsed--in May, a fire rendered inoperable four more of its already depleted satellite components--and become a form of Russian nuclear roulette, a constant danger of false alarms and accidental launches against the United States. © 2002 The Nation Company, L.P. Permissions ***************************************************************** 47 Gailar: Reflections before and after History Channel's Manhattan Project program 06/07/02 The Oak Ridger Online - Opinion - Joanne "The story [of the making of the Atomic Bomb]," reflects Richard Rhodes (on The History Channel's program about the Manhattan Project), "is the great tragic epic of the 20th century. If I were going to give it a theme, the theme would be 'humankind invents the means of its own destruction.'" Rhodes, who wrote a noteworthy book on the making of this bomb, voiced the very thought that has haunted me off and on since the day that word of its detonation over Hiroshima reached my desk at the K-25 Plant -- mostly "off," I admit; until returning to college some 18 years later. It was then that I came across the scientists in Nathaniel Hawthorne's four unsettling stories about what can happen -- in fact, did happen (in the title story, "Ethan Brand") -- when, in Hawthorne's words, man's "moral nature had ceased to keep the pace of improvement with his intellect." Drawn to the topic -- as would be any Oak Ridger who had worked among some of the very people who had helped to develop the A-Bomb -- I, not surprisingly, chose "Hawthorne's Men of Science" as the topic of my term paper on this author's fiction; nor, in "researching" this subject, was I surprised to discover the phrase "adumbrations of Los Alamos" in connection with Hawthorne's scientists. When turning in my paper, little I did suspect that but one year later I would again be working (in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Civil Defense Research Project) with scientists and engineers -- only this time, the purpose of the "Project" was to protect our country from all means of potential destruction, chemical, biological, and, especially, nuclear, the even more devastating descendants of a weapon that their counterparts had devised but 25 years earlier. Little wonder that humankind's ability to destroy itself came to mind regularly during those days -- as it again did in 1971, when I divided my time between work on this same Project and work toward a master's degree at the University of Tennessee. It was then, during a course on modern English and American poetry, that I encountered W.H. Auden's pessimistic poem, "September 1939," which concludes with, possibly, the only alternative to the end of civilization, prophesied by Hawthorne in the 19th century and restated by Rhodes in the 21st: "Love one another or die." Today, in the light of Palestinians and Israelis killing one another, Pakistan and India on the verge of war, and continuing threats of wreaking havoc on our civilian population by terrorists who seek to destroy us -- not to forget the possession of nuclear weapons by India, Pakistan, Syria, and, perhaps, Iran and Iraq -- is there any hope of nations' and peoples' even tolerating, let alone "lov[ing]," one another? At the ripe age of 77, I may never know whether the consequences of the atomic bomb (whose time had come irrespective of which country first invented it) result, as Rhodes fears, in the "destruction" of "humankind." But should the potential "great tragedy of the 20th century" occur, I mourn in advance for the children and teen-agers whose lives would be cut off before they had a chance to live them and for the hapless creatures that would share the fate of the species that spawned a Mozart, a Rodin, a Rembrandt, a Shakespeare, all of whose works would vanish with them. According to Samuel McCullough (in his "Biography of John Adams"), Adams, along with Jefferson, Franklin, and most of our other founding fathers -- knowing that by participating in the creation of a new nation, they were making history -- kept extensive written records of some sort. As I read these words, the chilling thought occurred to me that I, by dint of living in Oak Ridge at the time of the Manhattan Project, though playing no important part whatsoever in this undertaking, may well have been witnessing the beginning of the end not only of that nation but of civilization. It is this thought that reoccurred while watching the cast of characters in The History Channel's program on the "Manhattan Project" and, during the brief span of three or four seconds, seeing my own image on the TV screen. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 48 State rejects special license plate honoring test site Las Vegas Review-Journal Friday, June 07, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal * By ED VOGEL * REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU *CARSON CITY -- *The state has nuked a special license plate honoring the Nevada Test Site. Department of Motor Vehicles Director Ginny Lewis, backed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, decided to cancel the plate because its design prominently features a mushroom cloud, a familiar sight to longtime Nevadans who once watched the atmospheric atomic tests set off 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The move immediately was criticized as a bow to politics, and Troy Wade, chairman of the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation, called on Guinn Thursday to reverse Lewis' decision. "No amount of revisionist history will change the fact the Cold War was fought and won on Nevada soil," said Wade, former manager for the test site. "Nothing can change the fact that this state, its citizens, toiled tirelessly for this nation's security. Yet politics has found its way into doing just that." Wade said the mushroom cloud always will be the "undeniable icon" associated with the test site. The federal government conducted 100 atmospheric tests of atom bombs there in the 1950s and early 1960s. "Politicians talk of how important it is for science to answer questions, not politicians, and yet they used politics to make this decision," Wade said. "Yucca Mountain had everything to do with it." Lewis readily admitted her decision was influenced in part by the debate in Congress over whether Yucca Mountain should become the nation's nuclear repository. She said she will not change her position, because the mushroom cloud design "would be offensive to most Nevadans." But she added she also was influenced by the possible use of nuclear weapons in the conflict between India and Pakistan. At this point in world history, "any reference on a license plate to weapons of mass destruction is inappropriate and would likely offend our citizens," Lewis said. She said she consulted with the governor's office before making her decision. Greg Bortolin, Guinn's press secretary, said the governor will not budge from his position against the mushroom cloud plate. He added Guinn has not received any calls of protest. Other designs could be considered in the future for a test site plate, Lewis said. The historical foundation wanted to use the commemorative plate as a way to raise money for its museum project. The foundation, state and U.S. Department of Energy are constructing a $9.6 million museum on the history of atomic testing near the Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas. Groundbreaking is June 29. Nevada has dozens of special license plates. The extra proceeds motorists pay for the plates go to nonprofit groups to raise money for their causes. The historical foundation would have received $35 for every plate sold. Legislators approve special plates, but they have nothing to do with the actual design. The DMV is given final authority over plate designs, and Lewis said this is the first time a design has been rejected. In sponsoring the plate bill, Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, had actually warned legislators not to let personal views about atomic testing affect their votes. She said the plate would not be meant as an "advocacy or glorification of testing." "The story of the test site, good and bad, must be told," said Titus, author of "Bombs in the Backyard," a look at the days of atmospheric tests. Richard Bibbero Jr., the Douglas County real estate agent who designed the plate, was upset with Lewis' decision. As a youngster in San Francisco, Bibbero would climb a hill at dawn and see if a flash of a weapons test would appear on the horizon. "I do remember atomic testing in the 1950s," he said. "I don't know if we saw it or not, but the design came to me in a vision." He pointed out that atomic testing was once a source of pride. Eateries named food and drinks after tests. Las Vegas had atomic beauty contests. Even Clark County's logo once featured a mushroom cloud. More importantly, Bibbero said, atomic testing kept America out of a hot war with the Soviet Union. "I guess they want to rewrite history and say those events didn't occur," he said. "People don't want to face the fact it is part of Nevada history. They are trying to equate it with Yucca Mountain." Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., did just that a month ago when the House voted 306-117 to authorize Yucca Mountain for burial of the nation's nuclear waste. A repository supporter, Shimkus said Nevada "has a tremendous nuclear legacy, as identified by this recently approved Nevada state license plate." He urged Nevada to continue that legacy, a comment that angered the state's politicians who noted the numerous sacrifices already made by the state during the Cold War. Bibbero questioned whether there would have been a controversy if the plate design selection had not come at the pinnacle of the debate over Yucca Mountain. He received a $500 prize from the historical society, which selected his design over about 40 others. Wade said he does not know what step the historical foundation will take next. Although Lewis has invited the group to submit another design, almost all of the designs submitted the first time around featured mushroom clouds. Whatever the group does will come after July 26, the last day on which the Senate can override Guinn's veto against the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository, he added. "I regret this Yucca Mountain thing is happening right now," Wade said. "There is nothing we can do to get out of the shadow of Yucca Mountain." This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jun-07-Fri-2002/news/18919537.html ***************************************************************** 49 INEEL Receives Funds for Accelerated Cleanup News EarthVision Environmental News / WASHINGTON, June 6, 2002 - The US Department of Energy has allocated an additional $110 Million from its Accelerated Cleanup Reform Account for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Under the plan, the Department of Energy, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Idaho will work to complete cleanup operations at INEEL by 2020. The work is being conducted under the auspices of the Department's Environmental Management Accelerated Cleanup Program, whose goal is to clearly target and reduce the greatest health and environmental cleanup risks at the country's Cold War nuclear weapons production facilities. "This pact provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it is a major step to effectively reduce health risks and expedite the environmental cleanup at INEEL," said DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham in announcing the plan. "Working with the states and other regulatory agencies, DOE is proposing a new way of doing business, leading to greater accountability, responsibility, and opportunities for both this Department and the states." Initiatives for accelerating cleanup at INEEL include: * Removal and stabilization of sodium-bearing liquid wastes from the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) tank farm and RCRA closure of the high-level waste tanks; * Placement of DOE spent nuclear fuel managed by Environmental Management (EM) into dry storage; * Consolidation of EM activities to the INTEC, reducing the actively managed EM footprint by over 51 percent; * Continued cleanup and protection of the Snake River Plain Aquifer and; * Transfer of all Special Nuclear Material managed by EM to other sites. Under the agreement, DOE will this month develop in collaboration with the EPA and the State of Idaho, a draft management plan to support the accelerated cleanup plan . A final plan will be issued in August following a public comment period. *To Submit a Press Release or article Click Here * *To Return to Index of all EarthVision Stories* ***************************************************************** 50 Plutonium pit production planned The Bulletin Clock June 6, 2002 The Energy Department has begun design work on a new facility for the production of plutonium pits, the ?triggers? in nuclear weapons. In its May 31 announcement, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) says it wants the plant online by 2020. Plutonium pits had previously been manufactured at the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado, but when that plant shut down in 1989 for safety and environmental reasons, pit production was basically cut off. Since then, the TA55 facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory has produced ?development? pits on a small-scale basis. Although TA55 is slated to increase production and is scheduled to make a certifiable W88 pit by 2003, the output will not be enough for NNSA?s projected needs. The directive to make new plutonium pits comes from the Bush administration?s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which was leaked earlier this year. The NPR reveals ?an ambitious expansion in potential nuclear targets, new and different weapons, and more ?flexible? nuclear war planning,? as Stephen Schwartz wrote in the May/June 2002 /Bulletin/. Full spectrum dominance? National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is planning a review of U.S. space policies that may result in the curtailing of foreign access to U.S. commercial satellites (InsideDefense.com, May 14). "Space activities are indispensable to our national security and economic vitality," said her May 8 memo to top Cabinet members. The memo seems to imply that current U.S. space policy, in place since 1996, is outdated: "Many of the national policies governing our space program have been in place for several years, during which time there have been a number of important changes and developments." In the January/February 2001 /Bulletin/, Mike Moore had some advice for the new president: "Watch out for Space Command." Achieving Space Command's "defensive" mission?"full spectrum dominance of the battlespace"?may lead to "dark outcomes": "The current U.S. attempt to achieve space dominance may in the end compromise U.S. security, either by promoting an actual arms race in space or by encouraging 'asymmetric responses'?biological weapons perhaps, or cyber weapons, or even nuclear weapons deliverable by means other than ballistic missiles." In the next /Bulletin/, Moore wrote about the Space Commission's report, nicknamed "Rumsfeld II" after Donald Rumsfeld, who chaired the group until being named secretary of defense. "The heart of the report," said Moore, "lies in the bald assertion that it is time to weaponize space." Rumsfeld is one of the officials Rice is requesting input from. Bush Proposes Lab Become Part of New Cabinet Division *By JENNIFER KLINE* Daily Cal Staff Writer Friday, June 7, 2002 UC-run Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory may be placed under a new cabinet division called the Homeland Security Department, as a part of a major reorganizing proposal suggested by President George Bush last night. If Congress approves Bush's proposal, the lab would become part of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures division of the proposed cabinet-level department. Currently, the lab is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy. The White House's official Web site describes the new division as the "lead agency preparing for and responding to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism, including agro-terrorism." The other three divisions that would comprise the Homeland Security Department include the Emergency Preparedness and Response division, the Border and Transportation Security division and the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection division. The changes Bush has proposed would constitute the most extensive reorganization of the government in more than 50 years. The governmental restructuring would place an emphasis on security above all else, Bush said in a televised speech last night. "Employees of this new agency will come to work every morning knowing their most important job is to protect their fellow citizens," Bush said. "It will bring together our best scientists to develop technologies that detect biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, and to discover the drugs and treatments to best protect our citizens." Officials at Livermore lab said they have not received "any official details" in regards to the lab's new designation, but pledged support for the war on terrorism. "Over the past few years, our Lab and our sister (National Nuclear Security Association) laboratories have played important roles in the war on terrorism and we look forward to enhancing our future contributions to this cause," said lab Director C. Bruce Tarter in a statement. "We will continue to strongly support the president and the country in all of these critical national security areas." But not everyone sees Bush's reorganization as a positive change. Marylia Kelley, director of Tri-Valley CAREs, a community watch-dog group, said she has numerous problems with Bush's proposed changes, adding that she fears the proposal's implementation would give the lab easier access to bio-hazardous materials. "If the Lawrence Livermore lab is moved from the Department of Energy into a new department of homeland security, we think it will speed the permitting and construction of this type of facility," said Tri-Valley CARE Director Marylia Kelley. Kelley said she is concerned about the safety of the lab if it begins using biotoxins in the future. "If they already have had accidents, spills and releases of plutonium, what's to say there won't be accidents, spills and releases of?biotoxins," she said. The organization also said in a statement that they do not think it is prudent to have biological research conducted at the Livermore lab. "We have questions about the wisdom of performing this research at a classified super-secret weapons lab, instead of at facilities run by more appropriate agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," reads a statement issued by Tri-Valley CAREs. (c) 2002 Berkeley, California Email: dailycal@dailycal.org ***************************************************************** 59 NPF Presents Seminar on Nuclear Power Plants NPF Presents Seminar: 'Nuclear Power Plants: Are They Secure Against a Terrorist Attack?' To: National Desk Contact: Donna Washington of the National Press Foundation, 202-663-7280, e-mail: donna@nationalpress.org News Advisory: WHAT: "Nuclear Power Plants: Are They Secure against a Terrorist Attack?" WHO: -- James Curtiss, former Nuclear Regulatory commissioner -- Steve Floyd, Nuclear Energy Institute -- David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists -- Edwin Lyman, Nuclear Control Institute WHEN: Monday, June 17, 9 a.m. - Noon WHERE: National Press Foundation 1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 310 Washington, D.C. No Cost, but Limited Seating Hardly a week goes by without news stories asking whether nuclear power plants are safe from terrorists. What has the nuclear industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission done, especially since Sept. 11, to protect plants? Should more be done to make sure the millions of Americans who live near nuclear plants are safe? Here is a chance to get answers from the experts. This half-day seminar -- with plenty of time for Q&A -- will bring together two of the nuclear industry's toughest critics with the industry's leading representative and a former NRC regulator and energy lawyer. David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer, will outline the risks nuclear power plants face post-Sept. 11 and what must still be done to protect them. Ed Lyman, Nuclear Control Institute's new president, will explain why his group contends that tough measures like anti-aircraft defenses may be needed to prevent attacks. Steve Floyd, director of the industry's lobbying group, will outline the steps the industry has taken to protect the plants. And James Curtiss, will discuss the government's role as regulator and the challenges the commission faces. THERE IS NO FEE, BUT SEATING IS LIMITED TO 20 PEOPLE. You must make a reservation to attend by emailing us at npf@nationalpress.org, or calling 202-663-7297. Give your name, organization and a contact number. The National Press Foundation office is on Connecticut about two blocks north of the Mayflower Hotel. The National Press Foundation is an independent non-profit organization offering professional development programs for journalists since 1975. This on-the-record briefing is underwritten by the David Swit Endowment, honoring the late founder of the Washington Business Information, Inc., publisher of business newsletters. http://usnewsire.com -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 06/05 11:21 Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire ***************************************************************** 60 Radon cancer fears dismissed BBC News | HEALTH | Friday, 7 June, 2002, [Radon gas warning leaflet] Radon gas occurs naturally in the environment There is no evidence of a link between radon gas in homes and cancer in children, according to scientists. A major study carried out in the UK found levels of radon gas and gamma radiation were no higher in the homes of children with cancer compared to those who are healthy. There have been fears that high levels of radon gas and gamma radiation in some areas of the country were putting children at risk. It is reassuring to know that commonly encountered levels of radon gas and gamma radiation appear not to put children at risk Dr David Grant, Leukaemia Research Fund Radon gas occurs naturally and is found in many homes in some parts of the country, particularly in Devon and Cornwall. Rocks in these areas also emit high levels of gamma radiation. Cancer study Scientists from the UK Childhood Cancer Study, measured radon and gamma rays in the bedrooms and living rooms of 2,226 children with cancer and 3,773 healthy children. They carried out detailed statistical analysis, in order to assess whether there was a link between cases of cancer and above average levels of radiation. They also divided the children with cancer into six groups, depending on the nature of the disease, to see if radiation levels might influence some types of cancer but not others. However, none of the six groupings - which included acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, brain tumours and Hodgkin's disease - showed an increasing trend between levels of radiation and rate of disease. This was true even in areas with high levels of both radon gas and gamma radiation. Writing in the British Journal of Cancer, the scientists said the findings suggested the risks of children developing cancer did not seem to be related to increasing radiation levels in the home. Professor Sir Richard Doll, chairman of the study group said the findings should reassure parents. "Previous research has been inconclusive, so it's not surprising that parents have been worried. "This study is the first in the UK to measure domestic levels of radiation and relate them to children's cancer risk, and it's pleasing to be able to ease those fears." Reassuring Professor Doll, who is based at the University of Oxford, added: "Although some areas have higher levels of radon or gamma radiation than others, the differences don't seem to be big enough to produce a detectable effect. "That suggests that background radiation is not playing as large a role as some people have feared." Dr David Grant, scientific director of the Leukaemia Research Fund, said: "The first question parents often ask when their child is diagnosed with leukaemia is 'why?' "People quite naturally turn to their immediate environment for answers, but it is reassuring to know that commonly encountered levels of radon gas and gamma radiation appear not to put children at risk." ***************************************************************** 61 CIA set up another top secret group Pravda.RU Jun, 06 2002 CIA set up the special top secret army group, which would deal with international terrorism at the local level. France Presse news agency (this agency informed about it) reported that CIA already had several armed groups at its disposal for conducting secret operations. However, the new brigade will have specific tasks, it will be subordinated to the command of the anti-terror department. The goal of the new group is to root out any indication or token of terrorism, no matter where it is found. Needless to mention that there is no information about the number of the people in the group, or about the place of its deployment, its methods of work. The establishment of CIA’s new group coincided with the enforcement of the operation to search for remains of Taliban and Al-Qaida terrorists along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is also possible that the new group will try to catch Bin Laden. President Bush promised to get him at any cost, and the whole operation in Afghanistan would not be over until it happens. Bush’s administration probably hopes to catch the prime suspect, this would be a good excuse for not preventing September 11 attacks. Sergey Borisov PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Dmitry Sudakov ***************************************************************** 62 'Horsepower to Nuclear Power' details Don Trauger's youth 06/07/02 The Oak Ridger Online - Feature: Intermission - -- Photo by Dorothy Senn by Dorothy Senn for The Oak Ridger In his new book, "Horse Power to Nuclear Power: Memoir of an Energy Pioneer," Donald B. Trauger details his youth on a Nebraska farm in the 1920s and 1930s, provides a view into his participation in the Manhattan District Project at Columbia University in the early 1940s and his work in Oak Ridge which took him to scientific sites, laboratories and energy conference tables around the world during his 50-year career. Trauger left Columbia University in 1946 to join the staff of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a researcher on the K-25 gaseous diffusion project. In 1970 he was named associate director for nuclear and engineering technologies at the laboratory and from 1984 until his retirement in 1993 he was the senior staff assistant to the director of ORNL. The text chronicles his role in the development of the gaseous diffusion method for obtaining uranium 235, the fissionable component of the Hiroshima bomb and the essential element in peacetime nuclear energy. From a youth in which he was instantly intrigued by the news in 1939 of the discovery of uranium fission and its large release of energy to the present, he has watched our world and its energy sources and needs change. In this memoir he presents stories from his life and work in a highly readable fashion. It is a warm telling of the energy story, set against a personal and family backdrop, which includes the names of hundreds of friends and associates. The book concludes with a look at future energy needs, dangers and solutions from his perspective. "The message I really hope to portray," he said in a recent interview, "is the seriousness of our future with respect to the adequacy of energy and the extreme dependence that we have as a society on having ample energy. "One of the principal points," he said, "is that there is no single solution to our energy requirements for the future. It's going to take appropriate use of several different sources, and an emphasis should be made on efficiency in use of energy because unless we adopt appropriate amounts of each of these measures we probably won't make it and we will have to reduce our standard of living." In his book Trauger recalls that the news of the discovery of uranium fission in 1939 was "both exciting and relevant to my studies. The news came as I was midway in a course on atomic physics." It brought a vision for him that nuclear fission could be the answer to adequate energy supplies for the future. Don and Elaine Trauger shown in front of Riverside Church. The church is, of course, a well known one in New York City. Discussing that scientific event as he talked recently, he said, "I read all the literature. I don't know why it intrigued me that much, but it really did. I couldn't understand all of it, but I read everything as it came out." Near the end of the book he wrote, "My goal to help develop nuclear power for peacetime purposes, as naively developed in college, is only partially fulfilled. However, an industry that produces approximately six percent of the world's energy may be regarded as successful." Of the fear many attach to nuclear energy, he emphasized as we talked, "To be sure, any radioactivity that's a large amount of radiation, radiation activity that's beyond the background that we experience, should be treated with respect, but it need not be treated with fear." Trauger has told his story with rewarding honesty. It is a story that begins with his pioneer grandparents and parents' conquering of the Nebraska prairie. The reader feels the heat of summer and the cold of winter and the hours of hard work in the days when energy came from horses, windmills and steam tractors as Trauger and his brother, Robert, joined their father in working the family farm. The young Trauger set a goal of attending college, if the money could be found, and of becoming an electrical engineer. It would require leaving the farm he loved, but he recalls no regrets when the time came because, he says in the book, "a satisfying life there seemed unlikely for me." He entered Nebraska Wesleyan University in the fall of 1938. Following graduation from the college with a bachelor of physics degree in the spring of 1942, Trauger planned a fall entry to the Illinois Institute of Technology for graduate studies in physics. In August, however, he received a phone call from John Dunning, head of the Manhattan District Project at Columbia University. He encouraged Trauger to join his staff in classified physics research for "an extremely urgent war research program." Trauger would also be able to pursue graduate studies, he said. The decision was made and he began at Columbia University Sept. 1. The young graduate's physics professor had recommended him to Dunning. The author recalls that New York City in the 1940s was exciting. In addition to long work-weeks and study, he and his friends found time for church, theater, ballet, and other cultural entertainments, excursions in the city, ski trips, hiking trips, parties and youthful pranks. Trauger met his wife, Elaine, a graduate student in the foods and nutrition program at Columbia, at an engagement party in November 1944. They were married in September 1945. They have two grown sons, Byron and Tom, and two grandchildren. East Tennesseans know Donald Trauger from associations through the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and through his many activities in the community including service as an elected member and vice chairman of the Oak Ridge Board of Education. He has also served on the boards of trustees of the Holston Conference Colleges of the United Methodist Church and Tennessee Wesleyan College. He studied nuclear physics and engineering at Columbia University and at the University of Tennessee. He is a fellow of the American Nuclear Society, holds two honorary doctorates and is a member of several scientific honor societies. Trauger's work shaped many important developments in nuclear energy technology and he has experienced many changes in this country. In this work he invites the reader along for the journey. The book was written off and on over a five-year period. "I wrote it all from memory, pretty much chapter by chapter," he said. "Then I went back and looked up appropriate references to be sure the time and sequence of events were right." The book is illustrated with photos from his extensive collection and some scientific illustrations. His mother, Ethel Downey Trauger, took several of the early photographs, as mothers will to document family memories and events. Discussing a picture she took of the horses on the family farm, the author noted that it, as well as some of the others, was taken with a Kodak Brownie. "(He) has led an extraordinary life in the major leagues of perhaps the most demanding of disciplines -- development of nuclear power," Chairman of the Federal Power Commission Lee C. White said. "He has described this technological journey with clarity and has woven with it the story of his remarkable family's growth and development." The book has been well received. Neighbors Nancy and Paul Whitmire hosted an initial book signing for the neighborhood on Palisades Parkway when the book arrived from the printer at the end of April. Another was held recently at the American Museum of Science and Energy. The next book signing is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 28, at Books-A-Million in Oak Ridge. Dorothy Senn is a free-lance writer living in Oak Ridge. 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. 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