***************************************************************** 08/09/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.203 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Westinghouse Signs 4 New Nuclear Plant Contracts in Korea 2 US: Opinions: Anti-nuke activists deny energy needs NUCLEAR REACTORS 3 US: Nuke Reactor: Show Me Your Face 4 US: TVA stands its ground on Browns Ferry 5 US: NRC Oversight Panel to Hold Three Meetings on Davis-Besse Reacto 6 US: NRC to Discuss Results of Peach Bottom License Renewal Inspectio 7 Building begins on nuclear reactor -- 8 UK: Only one of Calder Hall reactors in operation 9 US: Feds warn NPPD to fix Cooper's ills 10 US: NPPD expects to boost rates by 3% to 6% 11 US: Cooper needs action, not talk 12 US: NE - NPPD committed to nuclear power plant NUCLEAR SAFETY 13 US: Editorial: Aid for sick workers may yet finally arrive 14 Thais nabbed in radioactive gambling scam - 15 US: U.S. alters policy on ill nuclear workers 16 US: Sick workers' aid sought if 'willing payers' lacking - 17 US: New Attitude -- Political clout helps local workers 18 US: Facts about Dirty Bombs for Industrial Hygienists 19 US: Gibbons Pleased with DOE Regulations for Worker Compensation NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 20 US: Taiwan: Uranium mines for sale 21 US: Judge Again Rejects State Radioactive Waste Plan 22 US: Nye Cnty Commission beefs up Yucca Mountain resolution - 23 US: Judge slaps down state for defying ruling on radiation-using 24 Consortium Nears Choice Of Site For US Uranium Plant 25 Continued discharges from Sellafield for ten more years 26 US: Letter: Temporary site for nuke storage may be needed 27 Unicoi Could Learn Soon If Uranium Plant Planned * NUCLEAR WEAPONS 28 UK: Silent protest speaks volumes 29 Nagasaki Holds Bombing Anniversary 30 Hiroshima: The day the world changed 31 Review call after Faslane security breach 32 H-bomb caused massive fallout on Rongelap and Utrik 33 India to set up its nuclear command system soon, says defense 34 Russia to Keep Nuke Missile Trains US DEPT. OF ENERGY 35 Fate unclear for signature Manhattan Beta-3 facility 36 Lawmaker asks U.S. to join suit in Paducah case - 37 DOE, State of Texas and EPA Agree to Pursue Accelerated Cleanup OTHER NUCLEAR 38 North Korea Adding a Pinch of Capitalism to Its Economy 39 Russian scientists get ready to obtain element 118 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Westinghouse Signs 4 New Nuclear Plant Contracts in Korea | About Hoover's UK August 9, 2002 8:03am * Shin-Kori, Shin-Wolsong Plants to be Based on Proven Westinghouse * Projects Affirm Korea's Leadership Role; Vitality of Commercial Nuclear Power PITTSBURGH, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company today announced that it has signed contracts valued in excess of $350 million to provide components, instrumentation and control equipment and technical and engineering support services to four new nuclear power plants to be built in the Republic of Korea. The plants are Korea Standard Nuclear Plant Plus design, based on the proven Westinghouse System 80 technology design. They have a total cumulative construction value in excess of $6 billion. The Westinghouse contracts are with DOOSAN Heavy Industries and Construction Company, Inc., and the Korea Power Engineering Company, Inc. The plants will be owned and operated by the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP), a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation. As of the end of 2001, KHNP operated 16 nuclear power plants with an availability factor of 92%. The role of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company on the new projects is overall project management of Licensing, Procurement and Construction, as well as Start-up and Plant Operations. In commenting on the contracts, Westinghouse President and CEO Steve Tritch lauded the Republic of Korea's leadership position in the new plant segment of the worldwide commercial nuclear power industry. "The Republic of Korea's forward-looking program will help ensure energy independence for years to come," he said. "It also further proves the viability of nuclear power as an economically competitive energy source that produces no carbon emissions." For Westinghouse, these contracts solidify the company's position as the leading supplier of new plant technology, said Jim Fici, senior vice president of Westinghouse Nuclear Plant Projects. "Westinghouse supplied the first nuclear steam supply system to South Korea in the late 1970s. Since then, we have provided technology and equipment to 13 additional nuclear plants there, including three currently under construction," he said In making the announcement, Westinghouse said the contracts would provide work at a number of Westinghouse locations in the US, including: * Windsor, Connecticut-project management and engineering * Newington, New Hampshire-component manufacturing * Monroeville/Plum, Pennsylvania-engineering and equipment manufacture * New Britain, Connecticut - equipment manufacture The Shin-Kori 1 and 2 plants and the Shin-Wolsong 1 and 2 plants will be located in Pusan Metropolitan City and Kyungju-City respectively. Work will begin almost immediately and will run to 2009 for Shin-Kori and 2010 for Shin-Wolsong. Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, wholly owned by BNFL plc, offers a wide range of nuclear plant products and services to utilities around the world, including fuel, spent fuel management, service and maintenance, nuclear automation, and advanced nuclear plant designs. Westinghouse supplied the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant in 1957 and has designed the world's largest installed base of operating nuclear power plants. Today, approximately one-half of the world's more than 430 operating plants are based on Westinghouse designs. BNFL is a leading specialist in nuclear technology and a global supplier of nuclear fuel, products and services. Currently, around a third of BNFL's sales comes from the Westinghouse business which manufactures fuel and services nuclear reactors around the world; a quarter comes from the recycling of UK and overseas customers' fuel; a further quarter of sales comes from operating the UK's Magnox power stations. The remainder of BNFL's business is in waste management and decommissioning, which is expected to grow significantly in the years ahead. http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X77600188 SOURCE Westinghouse Electric Company ***************************************************************** 2 Opinions: Anti-nuke activists deny energy needs Augusta Georgia: Web posted Friday, August 9, 2002 Letter to the Editor You published a guest column July 17 ("No; end nuclear era for safety's sake") by John Passacantando, leader of Greenpeace. He unabashedly advocated that we "phase out nuclear power," and your editorial on the same day on Yucca Mountain appropriately points out that anti-nuke activists will likely delay use of Yucca Mountain essentially forever in their attempt to force shutdown of our nuclear plants. As this anti-nuke activism continues, pray consider making the point that the same environmental groups just as strongly oppose the use of fossil fuels when they wear their global-warming hats, and that they owe us their program to meet our energy needs for the next century if we are to use neither coal nor nuclear power. Fred Christensen, Aiken, S.C. [http://augusta.com] . ***************************************************************** 3 Nuke Reactor: Show Me Your Face Wired News Wired Magazine The Web -> HotBot By Julia Scheeres [jscheeres@wired.com 2:00 a.m. Aug. 9, 2002 PDT A University of Missouri campus has chosen a face recognition system to secure a nuclear reactor despite the technology's well-publicized shortcomings in commercial and government tests. The University of Missouri-Rolla reactor [http://www.nuc.umr.edu/reactor/reactor.html] is a 200-kilowatt research facility that uses low-enriched uranium to train nuclear engineers. Although the fuel isn't potent enough to make a nuclear weapon, it could be used to create a "dirty bomb," experts say. Facility director Akira Tokuhiro said he chose the face-scanning system because he was familiar with the manufacturer, Omron Corporation [http://www.omron.com] , based in his native Japan. The multinational company specializes in automated systems such as cash dispensers and ticket machines, and is planning to launch its face recognition product in the United States next year. "I was looking at their Japanese website and came across their Face Key device, which is already being marketed in Japan," said Tokuhiro. "I called them up and asked if we could test it at the reactor." Face recognition software works by measuring facial characteristics such the distance between the eyes and the length of the nose to create a template that is stored in a database. Live images from security cameras are compared to the database for a potential match. Manufacturers have hyped face recognition as one of the best technologies deployed in the "war on terrorism;" cameras can scan crowds for the mug of bad guys, or inversely, permit employee access to secure areas. Indeed, a university press release [http://web.umr.edu/~newsinfo/facekey.html] announcing the 6-month pilot program at the reactor stressed the technology "could help aid the nation's security concerns." But other pilots have shown that face scanning is still an experimental technology with a track record of glitches. Tests at Florida's Palm Beach airport found that face scanners identified employees only 47 percent of the time. Studies by the Department of Defense, Boston's Logan [http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/198/metro/_Face_testing_at_Logan_is_found_la cking+.shtml] airport, and the Army Research Lab [http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/isis/bc2001/FINAL_BCFEB02/FINAL_1_Final%20Steve %20King.pdf] produced similar results. And an investigation by the German security magazine c't revealed [http://www.heise.de/ct/english/02/11/114] that some systems could be foiled simply by holding up a photograph or laptop image of a face. Richard Smith, a security expert [http://www.computerbytesman.com] who has done similar tests on face scanning technology, said using the system to secure a nuclear reactor was worrisome. In his view, the worry was not so much intruders foiling the system as staff not being recognized by it. "What if something happened and you couldn't get into the reactor? If you can't get in, and there's something wrong, that would be a concern," he said. "It's an unproven technology." Tokuhiro said he was unaware of the technology's dismal track record, but he stressed it wasn't the only security measure used at the reactor. Visitors must also pass through a staff-monitored lobby, a second door accessed with a key, and a third door secured with a keypad before getting to the face scanner, which regulates access to the reactor core. He admitted that the system had some bugs -- for example, if you stand at an angle or too far away from the camera it won't work - and is planning to present his findings at the annual meeting of The National Organization of Test, Training, and Research Reactors [http://www.trtr.org] in November. Security concerns regarding the nation's 26 university reactors have shot up since the Sept. 11 attacks and the detention [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A347 92-2002Jun11] of an al-Qaida supporter in Chicago who planned to manufacture a dirty bomb using material stolen from university labs. Although research reactors are much smaller than nuclear power plants, experts say the university labs are prime terrorist targets because they are poorly secured and in heavily populated areas. Dirty bombs consist of conventional explosives - such as TNT - mixed with radioactive material that is scattered into the air when the bomb is activated. Terrorists could make a "dirty bomb" by either stealing the reactor's fuel or blowing up the reactor itself, said George Bunn [http://ldml.stanford.edu/bunn.iis?-search&-database=staff&-table=view&-respons e=viewstaff.html&-token.cntr=cisac&fID=2037] , a consultant to the Center for International Security and Cooperation [http://cisac.stanford.edu] at Stanford University. Bunn helped negotiate the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty] . "(A dirty bomb) would probably not kill anyone except those close enough to be killed by the high explosive," said Bunn. "But it could disperse radioactivity over a wide area, scare a lot of people and cause long-term radioactive sickness for some people depending on how radioactive the reactor's uranium was." Bunn and watchdog groups such as the Nuclear Control Institute [http://www.nci.org] have criticized the lack of security at university reactors, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulator Commission [http://www.nrc.gov] along with the country's 104 nuclear power plants. On Sept. 11, the NRC sent out an advisory [http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/archive/01-109.html] to nuclear facilities to "go to the highest level of security." But while the NRC required commercial reactors to pass a drill involving a mock [http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?catnum=3&catid=916] attack by three intruders, no such precaution was demanded of research facilities. At least two research reactors, including those operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Missouri-Columbia, use weapons-grade uranium. A spokeswoman for the University of Missouri-Columbia refused to discuss that reactor's security measures, citing an NRC policy that prohibits campus officials from releasing that information. Although the NRC does periodic safety checks of university installations, "security for non-power reactors is the responsibility of the licensees," said NRC spokesman Victor Dricks. ***************************************************************** 4 TVA stands its ground on Browns Ferry Agency answers OMB director and invites him to visit KnoxNews: Business By Rebecca Ferrar, News-Sentinel business writer August 9, 2002 TVA officials are disputing assertions by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that restarting the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant's Unit One will require exorbitant spending. Further, TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough Jr. invited OMB Director Mitchell Daniels Jr. to tour TVA and see TVA's business performance for himself. "There's nothing on the schedule at this point," Nancy Call, spokeswoman for OMB, said Thursday. OMB evaluates federal agencies in order to help prepare the president's budget proposals. The discourse between the two federal agencies began with a June letter from Daniels to McCullough questioning the costs associated with the restart of the Browns Ferry unit in north Alabama. TVA estimates it will cost more than $1.7 billion to bring the plant back online. The TVA board approved the project in May. "TVA's current cost estimates indicate the Browns Ferry project is likely to cost more than two or three times what comparable nuclear power plants have been selling for in the market," Daniels wrote. "In addition, not all investments in nuclear power plants have been completed on time and within budget." TVA Director Skila Harris prefers to calculate the cost of the Browns Ferry restart differently. "If you only look at the capital costs, he's right,'' Harris said in an interview Thursday. "But if you took the next step and took capital, operating and fuel costs and look at the full picture of the costs, our analysis shows (the cost of) electricity from Browns Ferry would be substantially lower." Harris said after adding those costs together, once the Browns Ferry unit is generating power, electricity would cost less per kilowatt-hour than at other nuclear plants. Daniels' letter urges TVA to take other steps as well. '"I also feel strongly that TVA needs to update its strategic and business plans before deciding how to proceed with Browns Ferry," Daniels wrote. He said an updated business plan "seems essential before moving forward on a significant new generating facility and investment such as Browns Ferry." Harris said TVA has a business plan that is the "nuts-and-bolts tactical view of our operations,'' and McCullough said in his letter that TVA is developing a new strategic plan. The strategic plan is a "futuristic plan" for TVA operations under several scenarios being developed, Harris said. "As part of our business planning cycle, TVA is developing a long-term strategic plan that we will begin implementing this fall," McCullough wrote. "The plan will provide a road map for ensuring that TVA continues to meet the electric power needs of the Tennessee Valley in the restructured market." Daniels urges TVA to seek private financing for the Browns Ferry venture and to thoroughly assess all the financing options. "An investment of this magnitude in the current budgetary and economic environment should only be pursued after a close analysis of viable options," Daniels said. He suggested TVA consider private financing, city utilities and TVA power distributors as partners in the Browns Ferry restart. McCullough said the TVA board considers Browns Ferry the "best option for providing additional low-cost, reliable electricity for the Tennessee Valley." He noted that all interested parties, including TVA's customers and the private sector, will be able to submit proposals on the restart. TVA has hired Charles River Associates of Boston to advise the agency on alternative financing and to assist TVA in putting a financial plan in place for the restart. "TVA is seeking innovative financing proposals for this project," McCullough said. TVA is the nation's largest public utility, serving 8.3 million customers in seven states. Rebecca Ferrar may be reached at 865-342-6357 or ferrarr@knews.com. Copyright 2002 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 5 NRC Oversight Panel to Hold Three Meetings on Davis-Besse Reactor Vessel Head Damage in Lisle, IL, and Oak Harbor, OH NRC: Press Release Region III - 2002 - 48 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 www.nrc.gov No. III-02-048 August 8, 2002 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov [opa3@nrc.gov] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold one meeting on Thursday, August 15, in Lisle, Illinois, and two meetings on Tuesday, August 20, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, to review the status of activities at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station as a result of the corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head. The plant, which has been shut down since February 16, is operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company. The August 15 meeting will be held at 1 p.m. (CDT) in the NRC's Region III office, 801 Warrenville Road, in Lisle. Visitors should report first to the Second Floor reception area. The meeting is open to public observation; before the meeting is adjourned, members of the public may ask questions and provide comments. The NRC is making telephone bridge lines available to members of the public who cannot attend. To access the conference, call (877) 352-5210; provide the operator with pass code "Davis Besse" and the name "Cheryl Hausman." Arrangements are being made to make the meeting available for viewing by video conference at the NRC's Headquarters Office, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Check with Region III Public Affairs Office for the exact location. The meeting will focus on Davis-Bess's analysis of the root causes associated with management, organizational effectiveness and human performance that are believed to have led to the degradation of the reactor pressure vessel head. Both August 20 meetings will be at the Oak Harbor High School Auditorium, 11661 West State Route 163, in Oak Harbor. The first meeting will begin at 2 p.m. (EDT), when the NRC oversight panel, set up to coordinate the agency's activities associated with the corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head, will meet with utility officials to discuss the status of repairs at the plant and upcoming activities. The public is invited to observe the business portion of the meeting and will have an opportunity to make comments and ask questions of the NRC staff before the meeting is adjourned. The second meeting will begin at 7 p.m. (EDT) to update the public on NRC's activities related to the reactor vessel head degradation and will provide summaries of the earlier meetings. The public will be invited to ask questions and make comments. Transcripts of all three meetings will be posted on the NRC's web site. The NRC oversight panel, created on April 29, includes NRC management and staff from its Region III office in Lisle, Illinois, the NRC Headquarters office in Rockville, Maryland, and the NRC Resident Inspector Office at the Davis-Besse site. Documents on the Davis-Besse corrosion issue, including meeting transcripts and further details on NRC's oversight panel activities, are posted on the NRC's web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/vessel-head-degradation.ht ml. ***************************************************************** 6 NRC to Discuss Results of Peach Bottom License Renewal Inspection NRC: Press Release Region I - 2002 - 50 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 www.nrc.gov No. I-02-050 August 8, 2002 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov [opa1@nrc.gov] At a public meeting on Thursday, August 15, in Delta, Pa., Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will present the preliminary results of two team inspections conducted recently at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant. The inspections were part of the agency's review of a license renewal application for the facility. The meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. at the Peach Bottom Inn, 6085 Delta Road, will consist of a discussion between NRC staff and plant management of the results, followed by an NRC question-and-answer session for the public. Under NRC regulations, the original operating license for a commercial nuclear power plant has a term of 40 years. The license can be renewed for up to an additional 20 years if NRC requirements are met. The current operating license for Peach Bottom Unit 2 is due to expire on August 8, 2013, while the current operating license for Peach Bottom Unit 3 is scheduled to expire on July 2, 2014. (Peach Bottom Unit 1 has been permanently shut down since 1974.) In July 2001, Exelon Corporation, the owner/operator of the twin-reactor plant in Peach Bottom Township, Pa., submitted an application to extend the operating licenses for the reactors for an additional 20-year period. As part of the agency's review of the application, an NRC team determined if the utility included the correct systems, structures and components that are within the scope of the license renewal review process in its application. A second NRC team examined the plant's aging management programs as they are applied to these systems, structures and components within the scope of license renewal. The preliminary results of those inspections will be presented at the August 15th meeting. The NRC still must determine whether further inspections are needed as part of its review of the application. ***************************************************************** 7 Building begins on nuclear reactor -- The Washington Times August 8, 2002 By Nicholas Kralev THE WASHINGTON TIMES KUMHO, North Korea — Fireworks and traditional dancers yesterday accompanied the pouring by a U.S.-led consortium of the foundation of a nuclear reactor in North Korea, a milestone in efforts to keep the reclusive North from developing nuclear weapons. But in a stern note that leavened the celebratory atmosphere, the United States warned that work would stop if Pyongyang continued to resist international inspections of its nuclear capability. U.S. officials say they are committed to completing the building that would house the first of two light-water reactors by mid-2005, regardless of whether North Korea cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). But if the North has not allowed IAEA inspectors full access to its facilities at that point, the international consortium in charge of building the power plant will suspend all operations. The Bush administration's decision to go ahead with the $4.6 billion project is "hard evidence" that Washington intends to fulfill its obligations under a 1994 agreement with North Korea, Jack Pritchard, the U.S. special envoy for negotiations with Pyongyang, said at the concrete-pouring ceremony. "[We] have kept our end of the bargain," he said of the accord under which the North agreed to freeze its suspected nuclear weapons program in exchange for the reactors. "It is now time for us to see that same kind of tangible progress" by North Korea "to cooperate with the IAEA and to come into compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty." In order to avoid any further delays in the project, which is already years behind schedule, Mr. Pritchard urged Pyongyang to begin cooperation with the IAEA now, so that the inspections — which would take at least three to four years — can finish soon after the first reactor building is completed. Under the 1994 accord, known as the Agreed Framework, North Korea must convince IAEA inspectors that it has no hidden plutonium, the primary fuel needed to make atomic bombs. The regime of Chairman Kim Jong-il so far has refused to do so, insisting that no inspections should take place until a "significant portion" of the project is completed. The international consortium, called the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), took a delegation of about 150 diplomats, business representatives and journalists to yesterday's ceremony here on North Korea's northeastern coast. The guests, who came by boat from the South Korean port of Sokcho, were greeted by girls in traditional North Korean costumes as they stepped off buses at the Kumho site. About 600 workers from the North, the South and Uzbekistan stood still in nearly perfect rows under an overcast sky, which exploded in fireworks after KEDO's executive director, Charles Kartman, and the U.S., Japanese, South Korean and European Union representatives shoveled the first spadefuls of concrete. All five officials said in their addresses that the ceremony's significance went far beyond marking a new stage in the power plant's construction. Only ground-leveling and infrastructure-building had been done before yesterday, although the project was supposed to be completed by next year — a deadline that now has been pushed back to 2008. "This ceremony is not only about pouring concrete," said the EU representative, J.P. Leng. "It is about peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula." Chang Sun-sup of South Korea told the workers that they "should be proud that it is your sweat and toil that will advance peace on the Korean Peninsula." The Agreed Framework was negotiated after North Korea suddenly withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993, raising tensions in the region and serious concern over its nuclear program. U.S. intelligence sources say Pyongyang still has enough plutonium to make at least one atomic bomb. Some critics of the decision to build the plant, both in the Bush administration and the nongovernmental community, say the decision to go ahead with construction before the North cooperates with the IAEA simply has given it more time to hide any plutonium. Others argue that North Korea continues to play the inspections game because this is the only leverage it has left during forthcoming negotiations with the United States. Mr. Pritchard, the highest U.S. official to visit an "axis of evil" country since President Bush's State of the Union address in January, said that allowing inspectors in North Korea is a "separate issue" from any future talks between Washington and Pyongyang and that the two should not be linked. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell decided over the weekend to send Mr. Pritchard to the ceremony, ending a days-long battle between hawks and doves in the administration that had prevented the State Department from announcing the envoy's trip until the last moment. Those who objected to Mr. Pritchard's trip argued that it might be viewed as a resumption of dialogue with the reclusive state before such a decision had been taken at the highest level. Mr. Pritchard is expected to accompany James Kelly, assistant secretary of state for Asia-Pacific affairs, on a visit to Pyongyang as early as next month. As senior director for East Asia at the National Security Council in the Clinton White House, Mr. Pritchard was part of a delegation to Pyongyang in 2000 led by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright. Mr. Kartman negotiated repeatedly with the North Koreans while at Mrs. Albright's State Department before his current appointment at KEDO. Talks with North Korea stalled after Mr. Bush assumed office in January 2001, with the exception of a few visits by Mr. Pritchard to the North's mission to the United Nations in New York. The reporters who attended yesterday's ceremony had to abide by certain rules that were typical for the secretive North Korean society. ***************************************************************** 8 UK: Only one of Calder Hall reactors in operation Reprosessing plant Sellafield, located at the western coast of England, is the largest source to radioactive contamination of the north-east Atlantic ocean. Sellafield reactros will never start again Three of the four reactors at the Calder Hall nuclear power plant, located at Sellafield, will never operate again. Richart Hauglin/ Natur og Samfunn Erik Martiniussen, 2002-08-09 10:47 It is no only one moth since BNFL announced they would close down the Calder Hall Nuclear power plant, in march next year. The four reactors was originally due to start closing in 2006. Now the company admits that three of the four reactors never will operate again. The last reactor will be closed in eight months’ time. Safety problem According to the locally based newspaper Whitehaven-News it its no longer viable to run all four reactors due to the cost of preventing radiation-induced graphite shrinkage – a potentially serious problem which develops in the chargepans used to guide the highly-radioactive fuel rods into place. Calder’s sister station at Chapelcross in Scotland has already experienced the chargepan problem. On July 5 2001, problems arose when a container with 24 used fuel rods hit the floor at the Chapelcross plant. Quick reactions from staff prevented a major nuclear fire. As a result of this accident, BNFL introduced a temporary halt of all fuel transmitters at Chapelcross and Calder Hall, which both use the same systems to transmit fuel. As a result Calder Hall was shut down for about six months while investigations where carried out and it was estimated to be costing BNFL an £30,000 per day in lost production for each reactor. No solution Reactor 1 was returned to power last month and BNFL planned to bring Reactor 4 and possible Reactor 2 back on line as well. However BNFL announced this week: ”This plan relied on developing an engineering solution to the chargepan issue first identified in the one of the Chappelcross reactors. This solution will not now be ready on a timescale that will make it economically practical to return them to service before next March”. Reactor 3 is already shutdown for maintenance ant this will not be re-started either. A Sellafield-spokes-man told Whitehaven-news it was practical to operate Reactor 1 because, having been off line for a time in earlier years, its core had not been exposed to as much radiation. Investigations though showed there has been some movement in the reactor chargepan. Magnox-reactors The four reactors at Calder Hall where opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1956. It was the world's first industrial-scale nuclear power station, and crucial to the United Kingdom’s early nuclear weapons programme. In the 1950s the demand for weapons-grade plutonium was increasing, and together with four new reactors at Chapelcross in Scotland, the reactors in Calder Hall were to supply the necessary quantity of weapons-grade plutonium. It is assumed that two of the reactors at Calder Hall were utilised to produce weapons-grade plutonium in 1978 and 1979. Moreover it is believed that as recently as 1986-1989, the reactors produced 400 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which was reprocessed in B205 and delivered to the British Army. In sum, the four reactors have allegedly produced more than two tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium. The reactors at Calder Hall were the first of a new generation of British reactors that later came to be called Magnox reactors. In total, 26 such reactors were built in the United Kingdom. Except for Calder Hall and its sister power plant, Chapelcross, all of the reactors were constructed in the period between 1960 and 1970. With the closure of Calder Hall and Chapelcross, only eight will remain in operation. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 9 Feds warn NPPD to fix Cooper's ills Omaha.com August 9, 2002 *BY PAUL HAMMEL* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER NORTH PLATTE, Neb. - It's time to stop talking about problems at the Cooper Nuclear Station and start making changes. That message was delivered sternly Thursday by two high-ranking officials with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the ultimate managers of the troubled power plant, the elected board of the Nebraska Public Power District. "What we've seen at Cooper over the last 10 years is that you're pretty good at developing a plan, but then it is a shiny book that goes on the shelf," said Ellis Merschoff, regional NRC administrator from Arlington, Texas. Merschoff and the NRC's national director of operations, Bill Travers, spoke to the NPPD board meeting because of the ongoing operational and management troubles at the Cooper station, south of Brownville, Neb. The plant, which was under threat of closing earlier this year, is one of only two nuclear power plants cited by the NRC for poor performance and repeated violations. The country has 103 nuclear plants. An NRC visit is rare and underscores the seriousness of issues at the plant, which NRC officials emphasize is still operating well within safety standards. But, NRC officials said, long-identified problems are not being solved partly because of management turnover and partly because of a lack of direction. For instance, Merschoff said, supervisors and managers at Cooper didn't buy into a new program this summer that required them to personally observe workers to improve their performance and compliance with standards. During the first month of the "management operation program," only half of supervisors and managers took part, he said. Plus, he said, Cooper has set out 42 "action plans" to address deficiencies, but half of them lack the detail to be useful. During and after the meeting, NPPD Board Chairman Wayne Boyd of South Sioux City said that board members are dedicated to keeping Cooper open and would do whatever it takes to correct the problems. "That plant is a very valuable resource," he said. "The board is committed to making that plant operate at the very highest level." Several board members expressed frustration during the meeting that simple mistakes committed at Cooper have not been adequately addressed. One such mistake was in June of 2001, when Cooper failed to call local authorities within an NRC-required 15 minutes to alert them to a small fire at the plant. Merschoff said that Cooper's explanation - that officials were too busy with the fire to call - was not sufficient. He detailed problems going back to 2000 that have not yet been corrected. Both NRC and NPPD officials blamed much of the unsolved problems on the high turnover of managers at the plant. Improvement plans were adopted but never carried out when managers left, Merschoff said. To address its problems, NPPD is negotiating with a private company, Nuclear Management of Hudson, Wis., to become the manager at Cooper. The company will also become the NRC license holder for Cooper, though NPPD will continue to own it. Nuclear Management, which manages eight other nuclear reactors for other utilities, has had two senior managers at Cooper for the past 11 months. The company has a strong track record of turning around poorly performing plants, NPPD officials said. The NRC conducted its most thorough type of investigation at Cooper earlier this year. NPPD is now working to complete a new improvement plan for Cooper that will be submitted to the NRC in November. The NRC will then hold quarterly meetings to chart the progress. NPPD's chief executive officer, Bill Mayben, said the public utility will spend $4 million to $5 million this year to address NRC concerns. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 10 NPPD expects to boost rates by 3% to 6% Omaha.com August 9, 2002 *BY PAUL HAMMEL* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER NORTH PLATTE, Neb. - Nebraska Public Power District rates probably will jump 3 percent to 6 percent next year to offset increasing costs, including $37.5 million to keep the troubled Cooper Nuclear Station open, officials said Thursday. A 6.6 percent increase is projected for the smaller rural and municipal utilities that buy power from NPPD. However, that increase would end up at about 4.2 percent, NPPD officials said, because an extra fee that has been charged to wholesale customers is being dropped. A rate increase of 3 percent is projected in 2003 for home and farm customers. A vote on the rate increases will not come until at least November. Board member Darrell Nelson of Oconto said he was "pained" to approve such a rate hike during a time of drought and depressed farm prices. "Next week I'm selling cattle that were worth $1,100 last year and are now worth $375," Nelson said. "We're going to see a lot of bankruptcies among our farmers and ranchers." NPPD officials said the $37.5 million tagged for improvements at Cooper does not include money needed to address problems the Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted Thursday. Electric Customer wrote: As a customer of Norris Public Power District, I hope my district will ask some hard questions of its wholesale power supplier, NPPD, about why this rate increase is needed and what NPPD is doing to control costs and become more efficient. It is also time for Nebraska's power companies to provide a breakdown on our bills (bundling) that shows exactly what we are paying for to get our electricity. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 11 Cooper needs action, not talk Omaha.com August 8, 2002 *BY PAUL HAMMEL* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Report on the Cooper Nuclear Power Station NORTH PLATTE, Neb. - It's time to stop talking about problems at the Cooper Nuclear Station and start making changes. That was the thrust of comments Thursday morning from two high-ranking officials with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to the ultimate managers of the plant, the elected board of the Nebraska Public Power District. "What we've seen at Cooper over the last 10 years is that you're pretty good at developing a plan, but then it is a shiny book that goes on the shelf," said Ellis Merschoff, the regional NRC administrator from Arlington, Texas. Merschoff and the NRC's national director of operations, Dr. Bill Travers, came to the NPPD board meeting because of continuing operational and management problems at the Cooper station, located just south of Brownville, Neb. The station is one of two among the nation's 103 nuclear power plants on an NRC list of concern. Such a visit by NRC officials is rare and underscores the seriousness of problems at the plant, which NRC officials emphasize is still operating well within safety standards. But, NRC officials said, problems concerning things such as safety procedures and poor performance have not been solved due to high turnover of managers and a lack of clear direction. NPPD is planning to hire a private company, Nuclear Management of Hudson, Wis., to take over management at Cooper. NPPD also is working to complete a new plan for improving the plant, which will be submitted to the NRC in November. After the meeting, NPPD Board Chairman Wayne Boyd of South Sioux City said that the board is committed to keeping Cooper open. NPPD will spend more than $4 million this year to address the concerns, though it was clear Thursday that several more millions will need to be spent in the next four to five years to get Cooper off the NRC's list. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 12 NE - NPPD committed to nuclear power plant The public power district in charge of a troubled nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska committed itself to keeping the plant open and operating at the highest standards. The announcement came Thursday during the Nebraska Public Power District's board meeting in North Platte. Federal regulators also briefed the district's board on their inspection of Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, which has been given the lowest rating possible without being shut down. The plant is operating safely, but difficulties include solving problems and providing continuity in management, said Ellis Merschoff, a regional administrator for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "We have seen and continue to see a declining trend in the performance of the nuclear station," Merschoff told the board. The commission spent three weeks at the nuclear power plant and it is working with the power district to improve performance. Cooper Nuclear Station has been operating at costs higher than average in the industry, it has had high turnover and it had been embroiled in lawsuits with two of its partners over decommissioning fees and alleged mismanagement. Power district officials had talked about hiring a private management company to take over the plant, shutting it down or selling it. The lawsuits were settled last week, however, and the power district's board decided to negotiate with a company to run the plant, hoping that would provide more consistent and experienced management. The power district and its board is committed to the nearly 30-year-old plant, which employs 760 people, said NPPD president Bill Mayben. "We do not intend to take the matter up of shutting the plant down," Mayben said. "It is a good resource to NPPD and its customers." The nuclear power plant got in trouble two years ago when officials failed to identify deteriorating conditions in the reactor core during a drill. A follow-up inspection found that the plant had done a poor job of correcting the error. Then a fire occurred last summer at a transformer near the plant and officials did not notify state and local officials about the problem quickly enough. A public hearing on the commission's findings is scheduled for Aug. 22 at Peru State College, which is about seven miles from the nuclear plant. On The Net: Nebraska Public Power District: http://www.nppd.com Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov/ Copyright © 2002, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. written permission from the Lincoln Journal Star. 926 P Street Lincoln NE 68508 ***************************************************************** 13 Editorial: Aid for sick workers may yet finally arrive Las Vegas SUN: August 09, 2002 Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has done the right thing in removing a regulatory roadblock that could have held up compensation for nuclear weapons plant workers who had gotten sick on the job. Nearly two years ago Congress passed legislation to provide a lump sum payment of $150,000 to each of the estimated 4,000 workers nationwide who had been exposed to radiation, silica, which causes lung damage that is similar to asbestosis, and beryllium, which also can cause lung diseases, during their employment at these plants during the Cold War years. In addition, the bill would cover the medical benefits of the workers, some who worked at the Nevada Test Site, for the rest of their lives. The first draft of the Energy Department's rule to implement the program, revealed in May of this year, was terrible. It would have made it harder for nuclear weapons workers, many of whom are seriously ill or near death, to get compensation. That draft rule would have allowed government contractors to contest compensation claims, a situation that directly ran counter to the intent of the legislation to get the workers immediate compensation. Most of the contractors are self-insured, so the Energy Department will reimburse them for their costs. But in those cases where contractors carried a private insurance policy or were covered by a state insurance fund, the Energy Department can't compel them to pay the claims, a loophole that doesn't allow the Energy Department to order these employers to pay the claims. But in the interest of decency, the contractors should honor the claims and pay these men and women for all the suffering they've gone through. Nothing less will do. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 14 Thais nabbed in radioactive gambling scam - CNN.com - August 9, 2002 [A radioactive chemical was painted onto the dice and cards, where it could be detected by an electronic sensor held by a gambler] BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thai police have arrested three people suspected of using a radioactive chemical to coat cards and dice designed to help gamblers cheat. Heehok Termsakdiskul, Paisal Trongchitana and Paisal's wife, Ladda, were arrested Thursday after police allegedly found game paraphernalia marked with radioactive strontium, police Maj. Surasit Sangaphong said. The radioactive strontium was painted onto dice and cards, where it could be detected by an electronic sensor held by a gambler, officials said. Police seized the goods in a Bangkok raid at the request of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which intercepted parcels of the items sent to the United States, Surasit said. He did not say how many sets of the cards and dice were found or the amount of the chemical confiscated. U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment. The suspects face charges of possession of radioactive materials without a license, which carries a penalty of one year in jail or a 10,000 baht ($US235) fine. Suwat Bunnag, an official from Thailand's Office of Atomic Energy for Peace, said the raided house had been declared a "danger zone" until the hazardous chemicals were removed. Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. ***************************************************************** 15 U.S. alters policy on ill nuclear workers Daily news from Louisville, Kentucky and Southern Indiana from courier-journal.com Friday, August 9, 2002 Energy Department will tell contractors not to contest claims By James R. Carroll jcarroll@courier-journal.com [jcarroll@courier-journal.com] The Courier-Journal Rep. Ed Whitfield helped press for the new regulations. WASHINGTON -- Bowing to congressional pressure, the U.S. Department of Energy announced yesterday that it would direct its contractors not to contest compensation claims filed by workers made sick by chemical exposure at Paducah and other nuclear weapon sites. The department said it would try to help about 1,750 current and former workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant and 11,000 at other sites with claims that have sat idle for many months. The department's new regulations, which will take effect next month, mark a change of course from an earlier proposal that would have allowed contractors to fight worker claims and obtain government reimbursement for the cost of appeals. That approach reflected decades-old policy that the Clinton administration and Congress sought to reverse in landmark compensation legislation passed in October 2000. When it became clear the Bush administration was crafting a program that would make it difficult for nuclear workers to collect on claims, a bipartisan group of senators and House members -- including Kentucky Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning and Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District -- urged Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to take another look. The new regulations do not affect a separate group of nuclear workers already getting medical care and up to $150,000 each for exposure to radiation, beryllium and silica under a program run by the Department of Labor. Labor union officials and other worker advocates lauded the government's change of heart yesterday but said the new policy didn't go far enough. ''This is the beginning -- it's an important beginning,'' said Randy Rabinowitz, consultant to the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Union. ''But we expect there are going to be a lot of problems and kinks.'' ''The secretary deserves credit for recognizing that what his staff had created was at odds with what the law said and what Congress and his Senate colleagues intended,'' said Richard Miller, a policy analyst with the Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based watchdog group, and a former consultant with the labor union who helped to write the 2000 compensation law. In a statement, Abraham said his department would help contract workers verify their employment histories, determine levels of exposure to toxic chemicals and verify illnesses. ''Employees of DOE contractors have performed important work for their country,'' he said. ''Even though they may have worked for a government contractor, these dedicated individuals are our workers and we are going to take care of them.'' But the regulations do not appear to cover all claims, Miller and officials with the union said. Even if the Energy Department tells its contractors not to contest claims, that covers at best only about half the claims, Rabinowitz said. In the rest of the cases, contractors either no longer work for the department or, in the worst cases, may no longer exist, she said. In addition, Miller said, the department has no power to make its contractors' private insurers pay claims. Those contractors who are self-insured may be reimbursed by the government for claims that are paid, he said. Energy spokesman Joe Davis said the department would make the effort to clear up problems. ''We think that any contractor, current or former, shouldn't fight legitimate, valid claims set forth by these workers,'' he said. ''We'll help in any way we can, even with former contractors, to ensure valid claims move forward. If it takes a call for a former contractor we think is not doing the right thing, we'll make that call.'' But Rabinowitz said the union also was concerned how far the department's aid to workers would go. ''Are they going to be advocates on your behalf at . . . (state) workers' compensation (programs) or just, 'You got your letter, good luck?' We have every reason to believe it will be the latter,'' she said. Davis said the Energy Department's regulations have gone ''as far as we can with respect to the law as currently written.'' Whitfield said he was ''pleased that the final rule issued by DOE . . . contains changes I recommended that are more favorable to the claimant.'' But he said the potential problems with payments from former contractors and their insurers needed to be fixed. He and other lawmakers with Energy Department sites are looking at drafting legislation that would require payments out of government funds for illnesses from toxic chemical exposures, as those with radiation-related illnesses are now paid. Copyright 2002 The Courier-Journal. ***************************************************************** 16 Sick workers' aid sought if 'willing payers' lacking - The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, August 09, 2002 Rep. Ed Whitfield urges workers' compensation for nuclear employees by the Labor Department if necessary. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield wants the Department of Labor to pick up the tab when there is no "willing payer" of state workers' compensation claims by nuclear employees and their families, said Karen Long, his chief of staff. The Sun mistakenly reported Thursday that Whitfield was drafting legislation to force insurers to pay state workers' compensation claims approved by a new three-member physicians' panel. "Clearly our intent is not to force private insurers to pay," Long said Thursday. "It would be for the government to pay, either out of discretionary funding or out of entitlement. We lean toward entitlement." New regulations published Thursday could affect more than 12,000 workers currently seeking help from the Energy Department in getting compensation. Besides current and former workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, most are from eight states with large DOE facilities. Claims are potentially in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Although fixing the problem is complicated, the program would be similar to one that provides $150,000 and medical benefits through the Department of Labor to uranium enrichment workers with chronic beryllium disease, silicosis and certain radiation-induced cancers, Long said. That money comes from an ongoing entitlement fund. Former Paducah plant worker Don Throgmorton has lung problems and had a positive test result for beryllium sensitivity but doesn't yet have beryllium disease. He said he is encouraged by attempts to make the workers' compensation law worker-friendlier. "I just hope it's not the same old deal they're pulling on us," he said. "I think he (Whitfield) has done a lot for us, and I appreciate what he's trying to do now." Throgmorton circulated a petition trying to get Congress to expand the law to give lump-sum benefits to people exposed to heavy metals and chemicals. He has qualified for free monitoring for beryllium sensitivity and has filed a claim, but conflicting test results cloud his chances of collecting the $150,000. Under rules published Thursday, he and other workers potentially sickened from other workplace toxins may seek state workers’ compensation benefits by providing medical evidence to the Department of Energy, which decides whether a claim should be reviewed by the physicians’ panel. The panel decides whether claims are eligible for workers' compensation, which generally pays lost wages and medical costs associated with illnesses. But the law has a big gap, because there is no way to force insurance companies or self-insured employers to pay claims even if they are panel-approved, said Richard Miller, policy analyst for the Government Accountability Project, a Washington-based watchdog group. "The problem arises if DOE really genuinely and fully intends to be sure claims are paid and insurers aren't willing payers," he said. "What Mr. Whitfield wants to do is hold the insurance company harmless and have the Labor Department pay the claim." Miller said the Labor Department is best suited for the task, because it already pays workers' compensation claims for federal employees, miners with black lung disease, and longshoremen and harbor personnel. He said there are several ways payment can be avoided under the new nuclear worker rules: + Private insurers may simply refuse to pay, citing one of many established legal defenses. + Nuclear facility contractors often are self-insured and reimbursed by the Energy Department for workers' compensation costs. Although the new rules say DOE must tell contractors not to contest the claims and will not reimburse them for those costs, they still have the right to appeal. + Many claims may involve employees exposed years ago under a previous contract and now working for a new contractor. It is doubtful the new contractor can be compelled to pay if the old one or its insurer won't. + DOE has no authority to tell self-insured USEC, which operates the 1,500-employee Paducah plant, not to fight claims and has no contract to reimburse those costs. + Ohio and a few other states manage employer self-insurance pools. Those states can't be compelled to pay. ***************************************************************** 17 New Attitude -- Political clout helps local workers [http://www.paducahsun.com/] The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, August 09, 2002 The Office of Management and Budget and its powerful director, Mitch Daniels, could not stop a provision inserted in an anti-terrorism bill that requires federal energy officials to award a contract within 30 days for building uranium conversion plants in Paducah and Portsmouth, Ohio. President Bush signed the bill, opening the door for serious work to finally begin on a facility that will recycle uranium waste at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Department of Energy officials didn't want to reverse a decades-old policy that allowed contractors to contest claims filed by nuclear industry workers exposed to toxic substances. But after months of foot-dragging, DOE did an about-face, deciding to advise its contractors to pay claims approved by a special panel of doctors. The compensation policy change is a significant victory for sick nuclear workers and their families, including workers exposed to toxic chemicals at Paducah's uranium enrichment plant. And the president's signature on the anti-terrorism bill means DOE will take a big step closer to meeting the requirements of 1998 legislation that was supposed to ensure the elimination of a health and safety hazard at the Paducah and Portsmouth plants, create jobs for workers displaced by the privatization of the U.S. nuclear fuel industry and give a boost to efforts to commercially exploit the reuse of depleted uranium. In each case, Kentucky's congressional delegation, led by U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, played the key role in turning the tide in Washington for Paducah and the uranium enrichment workers. Moreover, McConnell, First District U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield and U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning have prevailed on several tough congressional fights related to the gaseous diffusion plant, with the result that sick workers and their families are receiving just compensation from the federal government and the long-delayed Paducah plant cleanup is finally making progress. Paducah and western Kentucky have not received this much favorable attention in Washington since Alben Barkley held the nation's second highest office. It's clear that McConnell's position in the GOP Senate leadership has made a difference for Paducah on plant-related issues. Kentucky's senior senator is respected, knowledgeable and skilled at side-stepping opposition. Equally as important, he works hard to deliver for western Kentucky, a traditional Democratic bastion that has been moving the GOP's way in federal elections. As a member of the House, Whitfield naturally does not wield as much clout as McConnell. But Whitfield has been a tireless advocate for uranium workers, winning respect from labor leaders who generally are not inclined to think well of Republicans. Together McConnell and Whitfield battled to overcome strong opposition to the generous compensation plan for uranium workers exposed to radiation or silica and beryllium. The legislation seemed destined to die in the House, but McConnell and Whitfield were able to rescue it. Now the program, which is overseen by McConnell's wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, is dispensing medical benefits and cash payments to hundreds of workers. With Bunning's help, McConnell and Whitfield also have kept consistent pressure on DOE over the slow pace of the cleanup at the Paducah site. Paducah has done surprisingly well in the allocation of cleanup funding — thanks largely to McConnell, who uses his position on House-Senate conference committees to protect the interests of his western Kentucky constituents. Whitfield pushed hard for the DOE policy changes that will help plant workers exposed to toxic chemicals. He deserves credit for cutting through the bureaucratic thickets and spotlighting the issues of fairness and worker health. McConnell, Whitfield and Bunning are Republicans, but their work on behalf of the plant doesn't have a partisan character. In delivering outstanding constituent service, they've also cooperated with Democrats and performed a service for all ailing nuclear workers. Gov. Patton has helped on the plant cleanup, but he obviously cannot directly affect legislation in Congress. This buck stops with the members of the congressional delegation; they have not shirked their duty to sick and displaced workers in western Kentucky. However, it hasn't escaped our attention that western Kentucky began faring better in Washington at the same time two-party competition developed in the region. Political battlegrounds rarely are taken for granted by either party. In any event, the plant workers and their families are obtaining needed and justified benefits from the federal government, which has admitted failing to deal honestly with them through much of the plant's history. A large measure of thanks for this new attitude in Washington must go to McConnell, Whitfield and Bunning. ***************************************************************** 18 Facts about Dirty Bombs for Industrial Hygienists The American Industrial Hygiene Association “Dirty Bombs†have hit the headlines, and newspapers and other media have raised concerns at all public levels. Considering the questions surrounding these radiological devices, the AIHA Ionizing Radiation Committee has prepared this simple fact sheet with reference information for its members and others. What is a “dirty bombâ€? A "dirty bomb" is a radiological weapon or dispersal device. It consists of a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, that is packaged with radioactive material that scatters when the bomb explodes. A dirty bomb kills or injures because of the initial blast of the conventional explosive. In addition, it disperses airborne and surface radioactive contamination, hence the term "dirty." Such bombs could be miniature devices or as big as a truck. These bombs are not capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction, but they may include fissile material such as enriched uranium or plutonium. What kinds of radioactive material are used and where? Radioactive material is commonly used in industrial, research and medical settings. In the United States, use of radioactive materials is licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) or designated agreement states. In 2001, the NRC reported that more than 37,000 organizations are licensed to use radioactive materials for medical, industrial, academic, and research purposes. Most of these materials do not pose life-threatening conditions to the public if they are exploded and dispersed. The nature of the radioactive isotope and the small quantity of the materials used pose risks only in the immediate area of the explosion and can be remediated in a short time. Sources of radioactive materials that could create a more hazardous environment if dispersed are physically larger and not easily transported. They are shielded and stored in large containers, and in some cases will not fit through the doors and hatches provided for personnel access. Without significant planning, larger radioactive sources like food irradiators and medical teletherapy units are more likely to overexpose the person assembling the dirty bomb and incapacitate them before the bomb can be exploded in a heavily populated area. With the recent situation and warnings, the security provided for these large sources of radioactive materials has been greatly increased. The US military has rejected any use of a dirty bomb. According to a military representative, "The Pentagon has decided that radiation bombs (e.g. dirty bombs) are not militarily effective because no one's been able to figure out a way to take radioactivity intense enough to hurt people and transport it somewhere and make a bomb out of it. It's that simple." (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/23/attack/main507031.shtml [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/23/attack/main507031.shtml] ) Several professional organizations support international efforts to control “powerful†radioactive sources from cradle-to-grave. The United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called for a more formal program to protect powerful radioactive sources from terrorism or theft. A recent press release by the IAEA reported that more than 100 countries “may have no minimum infrastructure in place to properly control radiation sourcesâ€. http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/P_release/2002/prn0209.shtml [http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Press/P_release/2002/prn0209.shtml] ). The Health Physics Society (HPS) recognizes the serious risk posed by “orphan radioactive sources†and supports the recent efforts by the Congress and IAEA to establish better controls. http://hps.org/documents/pressrelease62602.pdf [http://hps.org/documents/pressrelease62602.pdf] ). A bill discussed in the U.S. Senate proposed “safe and economical storage for sealed sources that are no longer in active useâ€. The bill also called for the “formation of a task force to characterize radioactive sources by the risk they pose and to take steps to safeguard those sourcesâ€. What kind of radiation is likely to be used in conjunction with a dirty bomb? Isn’t radiation relatively easy to measure and quantify? Alpha, beta, and gamma radiations are the most common emissions and can be measured with a variety of instruments. Unfortunately, no instrument can measure all types of radiation at all levels of exposure. If an explosive device includes radioactive materials that emit gamma radiation, the most sensitive detector is a scintillation detector (i.e. sodium iodide) or an ion chamber, depending on how close you are and how much radioactive material is present. An ion chamber can measure a relatively large quantity of gamma radiation while a sodium iodide detector is better suited when tracking small sources in the soil or at a distance. If an explosive device contains radioactive materials that decay by alpha radiation, the detector of choice is a scintillation device (i.e. zinc sulfide), but unfortunately, scintillation devices do not respond to gamma radiation. Personal health contamination levels may be detected using a thin-window Geiger-Mueller detector. Radiation survey instruments and detectors come in all shapes and sizes and at various costs. Alarms can be audible and/or visible. The correct choice depends on the radioactive material. What can we do if a “dirty bomb†is exploded? The NRC published a fact sheet on their web page (www.nrc.gov [http://www.nrc.gov] ) that reviews effective measures to limit exposures to the radioactive contamination. The NRC advises people “to quickly move away from the immediate area, at least several blocks from the explosion, and tune in to local radio or TV broadcasts for instructions from emergency officials.†These actions will limit inhalation of radioactive contamination. The NRC makes these recommendations: “Emergency response officials will arrange medical treatment for those injured by the blast, evacuating people from the area, decontaminating those who were contaminated, and assessing any internal or external exposures. It should be noted that the use of potassium iodide would not necessarily be protective in these cases because radioactive iodine is not necessarily the isotope that would be used in these devices. The affected area will be cordoned off from surrounding areas.†The American College of Radiology recently issued recommendations for hospital emergency rooms. The primer, Disaster Preparedness for Radiology Professionals, lists useful methods for limiting the spread of radioactive contamination and minimizing the effects of the radiation exposure received by the victims. The primer is available on the internet at http://www.acr.org/cgi-bin/fr?mast:masthead-about,text:/departments/educ/disast er_prep/dp_primer.html [http://www.acr.org/cgi-bin/fr?mast:masthead-about,text:/departments/educ/disas ter_prep/dp_primer.html] Are there other useful technical references about limiting exposure for the public? The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements issued Report Number 138 entitled, Management of Terrorist Events Involving Radioactive Materials. This report, issued in 2001, provides current recommendations about radiation dose limits and guidance, public communications, and training topics. The report describes medical management of radiation casualties and also covers psychosocial effects of radiological terrorist incidents. To order a copy of NCRP Report 138, go to this web page, www.ncrp.com [http://www.ncrp.com/] . Other web pages that provide useful information, include: + http://www.fas.org/faspir/2002/v55n2/dirtybomb.htm [http://www.fas.org/faspir/2002/v55n2/dirtybomb.htm] + http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/other/sumfear.htm [http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/other/sumfear.htm] + http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/nuclear.cfm [http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/nuclear.cfm] + http://www.terrorismanswers.com/weapons/dirtybomb2.html [http://www.terrorismanswers.com/weapons/dirtybomb2.html] + http://www.hps.org/hpspublications/papers.html [http://www.hps.org/hpspublications/papers.html] This fact sheet was prepared by the Ionizing Radiation Technical Committee of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Questions and inquiries should be directed to the staff of the AIHA at www.aiha.org [http://www.aiha.org/] or call (703) 849-8888. American Industrial Hygiene Association 2700 Prosperity Ave., Suite 250 Fairfax, VA 22031 Tel: +1.703.849.8888 Fax: +1.703.207.3561 email: infonet@aiha.org [infonet@aiha.net] ***************************************************************** 19 Gibbons Pleased with DOE Regulations for Worker Compensation Program FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 8, 2002 Gibbons Pleased with DOE Regulations for Worker Compensation Program Lawmaker Hopeful that Nevada Workers Will Receive Fair Compensation Washington, D.C.— Upon learning that the Department of Energy (DOE) will publish its final regulations on the implementation of the DOE Workers Compensation Program, Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) issued the following statement. “Thousands of DOE workers sacrificed their lives and their health while building our nation’s military arsenal during the Cold War,” stated Gibbons, a leading sponsor of the program when it was created by Congress in 2000. “I am pleased that the regulations to be released by the Department of Energy call for a uniform, federal standard be used in determining compensation eligibility. It is my hope that these regulations will ensure that the DOE workers, including those at the Nevada Test Site, and their survivors receive a fair level of compensation to combat illnesses resulting from their patriotic service to our country.” The DOE Worker Compensation Program compensates DOE workers who contracted illnesses and fatal diseases from exposure to radiation, beryllium, silica, and other toxic substances while employed at the Nevada Test Site and other government weapons facilities during the Cold War. Gibbons was a leading sponsor of the authorizing legislation for the program and tirelessly fought to ensure the inclusion of silicosis as a compensated illness. Since its statutory creation, Gibbons has remained an active advocate for its timely and efficient implementation. ### ***************************************************************** 20 Taiwan: Uranium mines for sale The Taipei Times Online: 2002-08-09 STAFF WRITER, WITH AGENCIES The Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, ¥x¹q) invited international bids on Thursday for its sale of property with uranium mines in the United States. Taipower intends to sell uranium mines in the US states of Arizona and Wyoming, which are jointly owned by Taipower and RME Holding Co of the US. The properties include deposits with proven uranium reserves, established exploration targets, some with ore-grade mineralization, and properties with untested exploration potential, Taipower said in a statement. Bids will be accepted until September 10, Taipower said. Taipower wants to sell the mines because uranium prices on the world market have fallen. "We think it is more economical for mining companies to develop these mines," a Taipower official said by telephone. This story has been viewed 161 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/08/09/story/0000159669] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 Judge Again Rejects State Radioactive Waste Plan Los Angeles Times - latimes.com August 9, 2002 * Court: Material cannot be shipped to ordinary landfills, even though U.S. standard allows it. By GEOFFREY MOHAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER For the second time in three months, a judge has rebuffed efforts by the administration of Gov. Gray Davis to allow waste from decommissioned nuclear facilities that may contain radioactive material to be shipped to ordinary landfills. The ruling Thursday by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Gail D. Ohanesian requires the state to forsake a recently adopted federal radiation standard. That standard was at least 10 times more permissive than one that would have governed waste slated for the Ward Valley low-level nuclear waste facility near Needles, Calif. The Ward Valley site was abandoned because of opposition from, among others, Davis before he was governor. The ruling Thursday came in response to a lawsuit by anti-nuclear activists who argued that the state's policy would allow dangerous radioactive waste to be dumped in community landfills that lack appropriate safeguards. Ohanesian's order also requires the state to submit all recent or pending decommissioning actions for review by the judge, in part to determine whether any such waste already is in municipal landfills. The decision leaves the state in a bind over how to define a "clean" former nuclear site. What is certain is that the state Department of Health Services cannot formally adopt the federal government's standard without public hearings or an environmental study that weighs other alternatives. The judge's decision essentially restates a writ issued in May, when she ordered the state to vacate its new regulation. The state continued to operate under its new rule, arguing that California was required by federal law to enforce at least the federal standard until a new regulation could be written. The judge rejected that position Thursday. Though not ordering the state to stop decommissioning sites, Ohanesian reserved the right to review current or pending decommissionings. "This is sending shock waves through the administration," said Dan Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, one of two anti-nuclear groups that sued the state over the regulations. "They thought they could keep doing it." The state's top radiologic health official said Thursday that his agency would continue decommissioning nuclear facilities on a case-by-case basis, opting to keep radiation "as low as reasonably achievable." Whether any radioactive material from former nuclear sites wound up in landfills since the state adopted the new rule in November is uncertain. "I don't have any knowledge as to what happens to material once a site is decommissioned," said David M. Souleles, chief deputy director of programs at the Department of Health Services. Hirsch said he believes that several thousand tons of radioactive waste were shipped to the Bradley Landfill in the San Fernando Valley over the last few years, and several hundred tons of metals from the former Santa Susana Rocketdyne nuclear reactor site were sent to a recycler in the same period. State regulations do not prescribe any specific radiation level for landfills, said state Deputy Atty. Gen. Barbara Sheldon, who defended the state against the suit. However, rules in place before the federal standard was adopted in November say that all radioactive contamination should be eliminated, and do not allow disposal in anything but a licensed radioactive waste site, Hirsch said. To set a specific standard, the Davis administration would have to begin an environmental impact process that considers more stringent benchmarks than the federal ones. Alternatively, the Legislature could adopt its own standards. Two bills setting stricter radiation levels are pending. Activists like Hirsch are concerned that under the current federal standard, a "hot" item could be unearthed and sent to a landfill unequipped to contain it. Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times ***************************************************************** 22 Nye Cnty Commission beefs up Yucca Mountain resolution - Las Vegas View Neighborhood Newspapers Friday, August 09, 2002 - By MARK WAITE VIEW STAFF WRITER TONOPAH -- Nye County Commissioners passed a more beefed-up resolution on Yucca Mountain, following the passage of legislation by Congress authorizing the waste dump last month. Resolution No. 2002-22 passed without much comment by a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Dick Carver was absent. The heading states the county's intent to actively and constructively engage with the U.S. Department of Energy, the Bush administration and Congress as the Yucca Mountain project proceeds to final design, licensing and implementation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.. The resolution notes the federal government, since 1940, has selected sites in Nye County for nuclear weapons testing, U.S. Air Force fighter training and low-level radioactive waste disposal. The resolution notes similar language in an April resolution about the Nevada Test Site and Nellis Training Range making major contributions to national defense. However, the fourth paragraph states, "the management of 11 million acres of federal lands in Nye County comprising 98 percent of the county's total land area, makes meager contribution to the site county's economic or revenue base and forecloses opportunity for local community development." In another change from the previous resolution, in two places the resolution points to the fact "the Yucca Mountain project, if implemented as proposed, would transfer the nation's highly radioactive wastes, along with its attendant hazards, risks and uncertainties, from 131 sites in 39 states to a single local entity -- Nye County." Though Congress has mandated the DOE should apply for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct the repository at Yucca Mountain, the county resolution adds "many questions and issues remain to be addressed, including the safety and equity of the Yucca Mountain project as proposed and whether the Yucca Mountain project will be implemented as proposed." The resolution states it is the duty of the local government to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, which requires the active engagement of Nye County to ensure the questions and issues are addressed in the design and licensing of Yucca Mountain as well as implementation of storing the 77,000 tons of waste. The county elaborated a little more on its goal of a scientific study facility set up in Nye County in conjunction with Yucca Mountain. The latest resolution talked of Yucca Mountain being more than a repository 12 miles north of Lathrop Wells but a center for a community of synergistic, scientific, engineering, educational and entrepreneurial activities for management and possible reuse of the nation's highly radioactive wastes and for the demonstration of alternative forms of energy for future generations. "It is just such a vision for the Yucca Mountain project that offers the best long-run prospect for converting long-standing resistance and mistrust within the State of Nevada to constructive engagement and cooperation," the resolution states. Nye County resolved to take four steps: to engage "energetically and constructively" with the DOE and Congress as the Yucca Mountain project proceeds to design, licensing and implementation; to make constructive scientific, technical and strategy contributions to address key issues in licensing and transportation; it anticipates constructive engagement by DOE, the administration and congress in addressing the issues that address the concerns of Nye County; and it will use the Nye County Community Protection Plan as a framework for its constructive engagement. The resolution concludes by specifying what the Community Protection Plan is. It requests empowerment of the local community to assure safety and health; equity in transportation and development of community capacity and resources. "We're taking a more proactive stance to the issues and challenges that are unanswered," Nye County Commissioner Henry Neth said. County Commission Chairman Jeff Taguchi said he was pleased delegates at the National Energy Regulatory Association convention in Portland, Ore., last month passed a resolution in support of Nye County's position. In a related matter, Nye County Natural Resources and Federal Facilities Director Les Bradshaw told commissioners he would place on a future agenda a request to consider submitting an unsolicited grant to the DOE to study transportation issues. That would help ensure the transportation system to ship the nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in upcoming years is planned with the best interests of Nye County, Bradshaw said. The county also approved without discussion, an agreement with SRS Technologies, a company that provides support services to the U.S. military, to work on policy analysis, program tracking, policy development and interactions to position Nye County to deal effectively with the mandate from Congress to seek an NRC. The request for up to $50,000 from Bradshaw states, "Events are moving apace. It is important for Nye County to fully understand and be aware of the planning and policy development now going on within DOE and to have regular and frequent interactions with the DOE, NRC and other agencies and entities involved in the project. Nye County has promulgated its Community Protection Plan which sets forth the conditions and parameters it believes should be implemented to best protect the interests of the county. The scope of work is aimed at building a constituency for the CPP within DOE and the other agencies and entities and vigorously presenting and advocating Nye County interests." [http://www.lasvegas.com] ***************************************************************** 23 Judge slaps down state for defying ruling on radiation-using companies SignOnSanDiego.com > News > State/The West -- By Dana Wilkie COPLEY NEWS SERVICE August 8, 2002 WASHINGTON  A Sacramento judge on Thursday ordered California health authorities to hand over records showing which radiation-using companies they've freed from state supervision. Companies that are freed can dump trash that some consider radioactive in regular landfills. And for the second time, the judge forbade the state from using rules that she considers too lax for deciding when to end supervision of radiation-using companies. The court ruling  which could again prevent biotech companies, hospitals and universities from selling or occupying property where they had once used radiation  was seen as a swipe at the state for defying earlier orders. "The (state) got slapped down pretty hard," said Alan Gordon, chief consultant to the state Senate Select Committee on Urban Landfills. "Contrary to the assertion that this is the end of the world as we know it  which is at least what we hear from some in the biotech industry  (health authorities must now) go back to the law as everyone else understood it to be." California has struggled for years to find ways to discard the low-level radioactive waste found on garments, instruments, soil and building materials at the 2,500 hospitals, universities, engineering firms, biotech companies and nuclear reactors that use radiation. The public recently learned that since 1997, California has told places using radiation to clean their properties to levels that would expose a person to no more than 25 millirems of radioactivity a year. The average person is exposed to about 300 millirems of radioactivity each year. But at the same time, the state let the resulting debris  which was still radioactive in the view of some  go to landfills that take household garbage. This was cheaper and quicker than shipping it to radioactive waste dumps in South Carolina or Utah. In April, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Gail D. Ohanesian struck down the rule the state was using to release companies from supervision. This left California without a rule governing whether property was free enough of radioactivity to use for something else, and that meant companies could not occupy, rent or sell property where they had once used radiation. Biotech firms warned Sacramento lawmakers and Gov. Gray Davis about a chilling effect on an industry that has helped revolutionize and enrich the state's economy. In July, the state decided to use an old rule that let companies clean properties to radiation levels "as low as reasonably achievable." The resulting waste could still go to regular landfills. Critics said that standard left things exactly as before. On Thursday, Ohanesian agreed. She said the state could not use the old rule, but she did not say what rule it should use. She also gave the California Department of Health Services two months to hand over records showing which places have been released from supervision since her April ruling. "She wants to see what standard they are applying and whether or not that standard has been lawful," said Larry Silver, an attorney for the Committee to Bridge the Gap, the anti-nuclear group that challenged the state practice. Barbara Sheldon, the attorney representing the state, said Thursday's ruling means "we don't have a standard." She could not say if the ruling will put companies back in limbo  unable to rent, sell or occupy offices until the state adopts, or the state Legislature passes, more solid guidelines. The state Senate has passed a plan requiring contaminated property to be cleaned to the strictest federal standard  a cancer risk of no more than 1-in-a-million people. Another Senate-passed bill would prohibit any radioactive material from going to ordinary landfills. Joe Panetta, president and CEO of BIOCOM San Diego, a trade group for biotech companies, said the ruling shouldn't have to "put the brakes" on decommissionings  the term used for a company released from state supervision. "Based on everything that I've learned ... the (radiation level) that seems to be acceptable is 25 millirems," he said. "Other states have lower standards, I know, but I haven't been convinced that those standards are meaningful." Each year, the state releases as many as 100 companies from their radioactive licenses. Gordon said the state should use a rule requiring companies to try to eliminate all radioactivity from work places. This is a much tougher standard than the one the state was using, and one that companies argue is too much of a burden. "We're talking tons of materials, and they don't want to have to spend the money to ship (it) to Utah or South Carolina," Gordon said. "They would like a © Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 24 Consortium Nears Choice Of Site For US Uranium Plant Yahoo - Thursday August 8, 5:28 pm Eastern Time By Jennifer Morrow, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- A consortium of European and U.S. nuclear companies expects to select a site to build a $1.1 billion uranium processing plant by the end of the month and to request a license to build by the end of the year to meet U.S. demand for reactor fuel, officials with the lead company said Thursday. If licensed, the plant would be first domestic competitor to USEC Inc. (USU), formerly the United States Uranium Enrichment Corporation, which is also seeking to build a new plant by the end of the decade. "The U.S. nuclear industry is operating at an all time high in terms of efficiency, so demand is stable," said Peter Lenny, president and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based Urenco Inc., a unit of the European enrichment company Urenco Ltd., the lead company in the consortium. The plant could be in operation by 2008, Lenny said. By then, new reactors could be under construction, bolstering demand for competitively priced enriched uranium. Representatives of the consortium met with staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week to discuss safety requirements in preparation for submitting a license application. The consortium will pick a site at the end of August and expects to apply for a license from the NRC by December. Previous Attempt Controversial Exelon Corp. (EXC) and Entergy Corp. (ETR), which are preparing to bank sites for future reactor construction, along with Duke Energy (DUK), approached Urenco last year with the idea of reviving an abandoned plan to build a uranium enrichment facility in the U.S. Other partners in the consortium include nuclear engineering companies BNFL PLC (U.BNFL) unit Westinghouse Electric Co. and Fluor Corp. (FLR) unit Fluor Daniel. Canada's Cameco Corp. (CCJ), the world's largest uranium supplier, is also a partner. Framatome ANP, the U.S. subsidiary of French nuclear giant Areva SA (F.ARV), is helping prepare the license application. The consortium is known as LES Inc., for Louisiana Energy Services, a name tainted by the history of LES's previous attempt to site and build a plant in Homer, La. An opposition group in the African-American community claimed that race was behind the choice of their town. LES withdrew its application to the NRC in 1998, citing an unfavorable licensing environment. The consortium plans to change its name once it finds a new site, Lenny said. The company declined to name potential sites. Citizens groups in Lynchburg, Va., and Erwin, Tenn. have begun organizing in hopes of keeping their towns off the short-list of sites LES says it wants to have ready by next week. Competition For USEC If licensed, the 3 million-unit plant would mean real competition for USEC, the only enrichment company in the U.S. Currently, USEC provides more than half of the domestic supply for enriched uranium, which is estimated at 11 million separative work units. At least half comes from Russian weapons-grade uranium blended down under the Megatons-to-Megawatts pact. The remainder is enriched at a Department of Energy facility in Paducah, Ky. USEC's technology, called gaseous diffusion, which transforms uranium into gaseous form to separate isotopes needed for enrichment, dates back to the Cold War and uses large amounts of energy. Urenco, which operates 10 enrichment plants in Europe, argues that its gas centrifuge technology has already been proven safe and efficient. "We have a proven design operating in European plants, and we believe it is the most economically modern proven enrichment technology in the world today," said Chris Andrews, Urenco's manager of design and licensing. The so-called gas centrifuge process separates enriching isotopes by spinning them and uses a fraction of the energy needed in gaseous diffusion. USEC Plans To Build, Too In a bid to stay competitive, USEC announced in June that it would shut its gaseous diffusion plant and build a new $1 billion plant based on technology similar to Urenco's but developed - then abandoned - by the Department of Energy in the 1980's. USEC expects to apply for a license from the NRC by the end of the year and hopes to be producing reactor fuel by the 2010, USEC spokesman Charles Yulish said. "When deployed, it could be four times more efficient than Urenco's," Yulish said. USEC's plan, supported by the Department of Energy, depends on finding partners, which it has yet to do. Urenco officials declined to discuss how the LES project would be financed, but said it was likely that terms would be similar to those agreed to the first time LES applied to the NRC for a license: waiting until funding is fully committed before construction begins, including a minimum equity contribution of 30% from partners and firm commitments ensuring funds for the remaining costs. Whether there will be enough demand for enriched uranium in eight to 10 years depends on the future of nuclear power in the U.S. "What is really necessary is for new nuclear power plants to be built, and those prospects are looking good with the approval of Yucca Mountain," Yulish said. "That tide will raise all boats." -By Jennifer Morrow, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4377; [jennifer.morrow@dowjones.com] Copyright © 2002 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy ***************************************************************** 25 Continued discharges from Sellafield for ten more years Reprosessing plant Sellafield, located at the western coast of England, is the largest source to radioactive contamination of the north-east Atlantic ocean. The British authorities do not show any intention to stop the substantial discharges from Sellafield before 2012. There is however a slight possibility that the controversial discharges of technetium may be reduced. Erik Martiniussen, 2002-08-09 12:36 The British authorities have for the time being allowed the radioactive discharges from Sellafield to continue. They have decided to await the situation until 2012 when the oldest reprocessing plant (B205) will be shut down. Anticipates a solution to the technetium discharges The British Secretary of State for Environment, Food &Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, has however not shut the door entirely on the possibility to take steps against the comprehensive discharges of technetium-99 (Tc-99). The Tc-99 discharges have caused major anxiety and concern in both Ireland and Norway. The Norwegian Prime Minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik, met with his British colleague Tony Blair this spring and discussed the matter with him. Due to this the discharges from Sellafield have been subject to thorough investigation, and when the British Government presented its plan of action against radioactive discharges, their final conclusion to what is to be done with these particular discharges was not yet decided on. If nothing is done now, these discharges too are likely to continue for another ten years. This picture is taken inside the B205-reprocessing plant. Photo. Erik Martiniussen/ Bellona There are two reprocessing plants on the Sellafield site. The almost 40-year old plant B205 was put into operation in 1964 and is responsible for the most severe discharges from Sellafield. Until B205 is shut down in 2012, the British authorities find it difficult to reduce the discharges. If however the British had decided to close down B205 the total discharge from Sellafield would have been reduced with 70%. Nevertheless, the British authorities are not willing to advance the closing of the old plant. On the contrary, they follow in the foot steps of the owner of the Sellafield plant, the one hundred percent government-owned company British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), who is determined to maintain operations at the plant for ten more years. BNFL refuses to end the reprocessing of Britain’s remaining Magnox fuel. Magnox is a highly insecure and environmentally hazardous fuel, which is used in Great Britain’s oldest nuclear reactors. As long as reprocessing of Magnox is sustained the discharges will continue. OSPAR commitments A number of security-related problems at some of the Magnox reactors have however necessitated the shutdown of eight of these reactors as early as next year. Still four Magnox reactors will continue operations. The management of BNFL has for a long time argued that it would be futile to install new purification technology as long as reprocessing of Magnox takes place. And now they will have it their way. The new plan does not request shutdown of B205, nor does it involve any demands on new purification technology before 2012. In a longer perspective however, the British authorities are forced to consider reduction measures as Great Britain has committed themselves through the OSPAR agreement of 1998 to stop all discharges from Sellafield from 2020. Even though the discharges will be dramatically reduced after the shutdown of B205 in 2012, a discharge of approximately 50 terabequerel alpha and beta emitting substances will remain. These discharges, equaling about one third of the current discharges, originate from the reprocessing plant THORP which BNFL intends to keep operative until the middle of this century. The Government is now examining whether this is compatible with the nation’s environmental commitments. “Before any new contracts for THORP are entered into, we will carry out a review of reprocessing which will look closely at whether THORP’s continues operation is consistent with our environmental objectives and international obligations”, Margaret Beckett said when presenting the new strategy. Download the report In this report you can read about the 20-year strategy to reduce the radioactive discharges from the British nuclear industry.  UK Strategy for the reduction of radioactive discharges 2001 -2010. During the OSPAR meeting two years ago Great Britain was asked to consider other ways than reprocessing at Sellafield to handle their nuclear fuels. Neither Great Britain nor France supported this decision, nor have they complied with it. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 26 Letter: Temporary site for nuke storage may be needed Las Vegas SUN: August 09, 2002 In the Sun's Aug. 1 editorial on Yucca Mountain, you ask, "Just what's the rush, anyway?" You allude to the "political deal" made by the Bush administration with Utah's senators because of their interest and concerns with a temporary private storage facility being considered in Utah. The answer to your question lies in the fact that the temporary facility in Utah would not have been required had the Department of Energy met the mandate in the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act to begin waste acceptance from utilities in January 1998. When it became apparent in the early 1990s that DOE would miss that deadline by at least 12 years, two things happened. Many utilities prepared for and filed lawsuits for breach of contract once the 1998 deadlines passed without performance. Further, those whose on-site storage capacity was going to be exceeded took steps to add additional storage. Some combined to form the joint venture that proposed to build a central facility in Utah instead of less economic facilities at individual reactor sites. Well, it has been determined in federal court that the federal government is liable for damages to those utilities for failure to meet the 1998 deadline. Courts are pending determination of extent of damages the government must pay. We do not know what the total damages will be, but it is likely to be in the billions of dollars and that the liability remains until the government finally accepts the waste in each case. Hence, part of the concern for opening the repository by 2010. If you compare the repository waste acceptance rate with the continuing rate at which it is generated, it leads to the conclusion that the Utah facility is needed to take up the slack until Yucca Mountain is nearing its current statutorily limited capacity. If neither facility accepts waste in 2010, it is almost unavoidable that some nuclear power plants would need to shut down as the on-site waste capacity limits are reached. That would mean either reduced power supply in affected areas or substitute fossil-burning plants would be needed. BRIAN O' CONNELL Washington, D.C. Editor's note: The writer is director of the Nuclear Waste Program Office for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The group supported Congress' approval in July of the Yucca Mountain project. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 27 Unicoi Could Learn Soon If Uranium Plant Planned * *125 West Summer Street - Greeneville, TN - (423) 798-0545* * *August 11, 2002* By: /By BILL JONES/Staff Writer / Source:/ The Greeneville Sun / 08-08-2002 Unicoi County residents could learn next week if a 100-acre site in the town of Unicoi is on an international consortium?s short list of potential sites for a uranium enrichment plant. Platt?s Energy, a leading provider of energy-industry news and analysis, reported on Tuesday that officials of the Louisiana Energy Services (LES) consortium had told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Agency that a short list of potential sites would be announced next week and that a final site selection would be made by the end of August. An article posted on Platt?s World Wide Web site quoted Rod Kirch, of the U.S. power company Exelon. The article identified Kirch as ?an interim licensing consultant? to the Urenco-led consortium. Urenco is a European company that operates uranium enrichment plants in England, Germany and the Netherlands. The firm?s gas centrifuge technology is to be used in a U.S. uranium enrichment plant, if the consortium is granted a license to build such a facility. The Platt?s Energy article indicated that, on Tuesday, Kirch, along with Urenco officials and a representative of Framatome ANP DE&S, briefed the NRC about ?instrumentation and control systems at the planned gas centrifuge plant and the consortium's plan for an integrated safety analysis as part of its licensing application.? Framatome, according to the Platt?s article, is helping LES prepare the safety analysis. Also on Tuesday, according to the Platt?s article, LES announced that it had chosen Lockwood Greene, of Spartanburg, S.C., as the architect-engineer for its proposed U.S. uranium enrichment plant. Lockwood Greene, according to the article, is an operating unit of J.A. Jones Inc. Background Of Issue Unicoi County officials have been trying to attract the plant ? and the estimated $1 billion investment it will bring ? but some Unicoi residents oppose the plant on environmental safety grounds. For the past several weeks, a group called ?Citizens for the Preservation of the Valley Beautiful? has been holding meetings and calling for more information from local officials about the proposed plant. This past Monday night, Jim Long, a member of Unicoi County?s Economic Development Board, spoke to the citizens group for about two hours, calling the proposed plant a financial boon to the county and defending the safety of such plants. *Email This Story To A Friend* If you would like to email this story to a friend, simply fill in the information below, and we'll send a copy of this story to them -- free of charge! © 2002 East Tennessee Network - R.A.I.D. (Regionalized Access Internet Database). All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 28 UK: Silent protest speaks volumes Scotsman.com *Friday, 9th August 2002* /Jim McBeth/ THE peace protesters slipped into the water just after midnight, their images dancing on the waves of the Gare Loch. They cupped their forefingers and thumbs and silently offered a gesture of good luck to each other. Then they walked into the darkness. Minutes earlier, at a secret location, they had been dropped by a car after a journey from the Coulport peace camp in Dunbartonshire. They rested during the day, and now, their senses alive, they were to prove that "two middle-aged peace activists" could do what terrorists could easily achieve; infiltrate the heavily guarded Clyde naval submarine base at Faslane and "threaten" a nuclear warship. The activists hatched their plan days ago. They are among dozens of protesters who have flocked to the camp near Faslane and the adjoining naval base at Coulport for two weeks of protest. In a week, 38 have been arrested. The pair carried nothing more deadly than spray paint in bags slung bandolier-fashion across their chests. The planned to daub the word "vile" on the boat. Their purpose was two-fold, to advance the moral argument for nuclear disarmament and prove that the west of Scotland could be placed in danger from a nuclear incident. They achieved the objective. The woman would eventually have to shout to a guard with a machine pistol that she was a peace activist for fear he might shoot. The man would attract attention in more dramatic fashion by clambering on to the hull of HMS Vigilant, a Trident nuclear submarine, and ringing the ship?s bell. But first there would be the long swim, punctuated by evading the sweeping searchlights mounted on the rigid inflatable dinghies manned by Ministry of Defence officers. As they entered the water, the starlight picked out highlights on their black rubber wet suits and the hoods that obscured their heads. An otter, alarmed by unexpected human intrusion, dived for deeper water. A fellow peace protester from the Trident Ploughshares campaign group said last night: "Lights from the base were in the distance, hard, bright, reflected on the water. The water seeped into their suits. It wasn?t cold and it was bright. The stars were out." They saw the dinghies? searchlights. One almost caught them, but they waited and stayed still. The lights criss-crossed the Gare Loch, but they wore hoods and turned their backs to present a black image. The Ploughshares source said: "They told us they felt good, they had rested." All was silent. They edged their way toward the Vigilant. They had chosen the word "vile" as a protest and because the names of all these boats begin with a "V". The base?s lights shone bright, but they moved into darkness, each taking a side of the boat. They knew they were close; they smelled the sewerage, the urine. "Submarines are incredibly sinister when you see them in the water," the Ploughshares source added. The protesters saw three people on the jetty. They were armed. But the pair swam past and the woman began spraying. She had lost sight of her partner; he was on the other side of the hull and out of sight. She knew that the more she sprayed, the easier it would become to spot her. The man with the gun shouted and she shouted back; she didn?t want him to open fire. "It took half an hour to get her out of the water," a friend said. "They hadn?t even seen her partner - then all hell broke loose. He was ringing the ship?s bell next to the conning tower." The protesters have been charged under local bylaws with malicious mischief. The man was remanded, but the woman was released from Clydebank police station. A colleague said: "They are guilty of protesting, not of crime. International law dictated these weapons are illegal. "What is more frightening is that they breached a military base while the world waits in fear of terrorist attack." Police confirmed last night that Gillian Sloan, 40, a social worker from Edinburgh, and David Rolstone, 55, a boat builder from west Wales, will appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court today charged with breaching local bylaws and malicious mischief. *INSECURITY: A GAP IN UK DEFENCES* SINCE 11 September last year, security at militarily or financially important places across Britain, thought to be at threat, has been stepped up. The security service, MI5, has drawn up a secret list of 350 places it considers at risk from al-Qaeda cells. In addition, the service has been surreptitiously sending recruits to some of the potential targets to test defences and response times. But despite the efforts, the extra security has not always been as effective as it was meant to be. Recently, a newspaper reporter twice managed to enter Rosyth, one of Scotland?s key naval dockyards, in Fife. The journalist first held up a card from the out-of-town store Matalan rather than a true ID and a second time an out of date parking permit got him through the gates. Concern has also been raised that the government agency charged with ensuring Britain?s 31 civil nuclear sites are protected from terrorist attack is suffering from a shortage of specialist inspectors. Despite the concerns, security has undoubtedly been pushed to the forefront since the war against terrorism began. An extra £20 million has been given to Britain?s security services while MI5, which looks after security within the UK, intends to recruit 130 more staff. MI6, which has an overseas remit, intends to take on an unspecified number of operatives. ©2002 scotsman.com ***************************************************************** 29 Nagasaki Holds Bombing Anniversary Las Vegas SUN August 09, 2002 By KENJI HALL ASSOCIATED PRESS TOKYO- The mayor of Nagasaki marked the 57th anniversary of the atom bomb attack on his city Friday by lashing out at the United States for reversing efforts toward global nuclear missile disarmament. Itcho Ito said Washington's withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia and its rejection of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty threatened to roll back the movement to prevent nuclear war. He called for the formation of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Asia. "We are appalled by this series of unilateral actions taken by the government of the United States, actions which are also being condemned by people of sound judgment throughout the world," Ito said in his annual peace declaration, broadcast nationwide on TV. Ito also urged Japan to forge agreements with countries in northeast Asia to ban nuclear weapons. He suggested that Tokyo should stop relying on Washington's "nuclear umbrella" for protection. "Nagasaki must remain the final site of nuclear attack," he said. The United States officially abandoned the ABM treaty in June, six months after President Bush announced he would do so to pursue a national missile defense system, which the treaty had forbidden. The Bush administration also said it no longer supports the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and won't send it to Congress for ratification, even though the United States signed the accord. Washington has had a self-imposed ban on nuclear testing since 1992. In Friday's ceremony, survivors, residents, lawmakers and foreign dignitaries stood in silence as a bell tolled and an air-raid siren wailed for 60 seconds at 11:02 a.m. - the minute when a U.S. warplane dropped the atomic bomb dubbed "Fat Man." About 5,500 people attended the hour-long ceremony, and tens of thousands more were expected to pay their respects to the dead throughout the day, said city official Kimiko Ieiri. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945 killed about 70,000 people. This year, the city added the names of 2,564 people to a list of those who have died from long-term illnesses linked to the bombing, putting the total number of victims at 129,193, Ieiri said. On Tuesday, an estimated 45,000 people gathered in Hiroshima to remember 160,000 people killed or injured in the world's first atomic bomb attack there on Aug. 6, 1945. Japan's surrender on Aug. 15, 1945 ended World War II. In an address at the Nagasaki memorial, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi vowed to push for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. "We will continue to press other countries to carry it out," Koizumi said. "We will also stand at the forefront of global efforts to oppose nuclear proliferation and promote the reduction of nuclear armies and the abolition of nuclear weapons." The Nagasaki and Hiroshima ceremonies are among a series of memorials held every summer to honor Japanese who died in World War II. Meanwhile, the government continues to grapple with its own militaristic past. Japanese courts hear dozens of cases filed against the government by Asian victims of forced labor, sexual slavery and germ warfare. Japan's government denies any liability, saying the compensation issue was settled by treaties signed after the war. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 30 Hiroshima: The day the world changed The Manila Times Internet Edition | OPINION > Friday, August 9, 2002 OBSERVER By Fred dela Rosa On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after an atom bomb leveled Hiroshima, another bomb fell on Nagasaki, destroying three-fourths of the city. Today, the residents of Nagasaki, in emulation of their countrymen in Hiroshima, will gather at the city square to remember the dead and to remind the world that the threat of a nuclear holocaust remains.tc "On Aug. 9, 1945, three days after an atom bomb leveled Hiroshima, another bomb fell on Nagasaki, destroying three-fourths of the city. Today, the residents of Nagasaki, in emulation of their countrymen in Hiroshima, will gather at the city square to remember the dead and to remind the world that the threat of a nuclear holocaust remains." The reminder is timely as membership in the Nuclear Club grows and as nations possessing nuclear weapons confront each other or bully smaller neighbors. There is also a growing amnesia over the threat of nuclear annihilation. Many people, espe­cially the young, have no memories, or simply do not care, about what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki 57 years ago.tc "The reminder is timely as membership in the Nuclear Club grows and as nations possessing nuclear weapons confront each other or bully smaller neighbors. There is also a growing amnesia over the threat of nuclear annihilation. Many people, espe­cially the young, have no memories, or simply do not care, about what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki 57 years ago." In 1945, the United States government dropped the first ato­mic bomb in history, changing the world forever. A new nightmare, a new age of anxiety fell on the world. The balance of power shifted. The US became a super­power. Nations wishing to wield a sledgehammer lusted for the Bomb. tc "In 1945, the United States government dropped the first ato­mic bomb in history, changing the world forever. A new nightmare, a new age of anxiety fell on the world. The balance of power shifted. The US became a super­power. Nations wishing to wield a sledgehammer lusted for the Bomb. " In the US, Americans started building fallout shelters for protection. A worldwide peace movement was born to protest the manufacture and storage of nuclear arms. Peaceniks chanted, “make love, not war.”tc "In the US, Americans started building fallout shelters for protection. A worldwide peace movement was born to protest the manufacture and storage of nuclear arms. Peaceniks chanted, “make love, not war.”" Scientists warned about nuclear wars or accidents that would produce massive immediate and long-term consequences. At the same time, many policy makers were saying the Bomb made war unlikely because there would be no winners. A favorite acronym in the Sixties was MAD — mutually assured destruction.tc "Scientists warned about nuclear wars or accidents that would produce massive immediate and long-term consequences. At the same time, many policy makers were saying the Bomb made war unlikely because there would be no winners. A favorite acronym in the Sixties was MAD — mutually assured destruction." On Aug. 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m. (7:15 a.m., Philippine Time), a ­­­­ B-29 called Enola Gay dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima, a city about 700 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. tc "On Aug. 6, 1945, at 8\:15 a.m. (7\:15 a.m., Philippine Time), a ­­­­       B-29 called Enola Gay dropped an atom bomb on Hiroshima, a city about 700 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. " Over 140,000 people died as a direct result of the bombing. The Hiro­shima city govern­ment puts the total number of people who have died of radiation from the bombing at 226,780. tc "Over 140,000 people died as a direct result of the bombing.   The Hiro­shima city govern­ment puts the total number of people who have died of radiation from the bombing at 226,780. " Deaths arising from the bomb con­tinue to this day, according to Hiro­shima city offi­cials. Last year, 4,977 victims died from the effects of long-term radiation and sicknesses, such as cancer.tc "Deaths arising from the bomb con­tinue to this day, according to Hiro­shima city offi­cials. Last year, 4,977 victims died from the effects of long-term radiation and sicknesses, such as cancer." The Hiroshima bombing was followed by the dropping of a second bomb in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, which killed another estimated 74,000. tc "The Hiroshima bombing was followed by the dropping of a second bomb in Nagasaki on Aug. 9, which killed another estimated 74,000.  " Six days later, Japan surren­dered, ending World War Two.tc "Six days later, Japan surren­dered, ending World War Two." The Hiroshima blast, according to the journalist John Hershey, was “the first moment of the atomic age.”tc "The Hiroshima blast, according to the journalist John Hershey, was “the first moment of the atomic age.”" “The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our model of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophes,” warned Albert Einstein.tc "“The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our model of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophes,” warned Albert Einstein." J. Robert Oppenheimer was present at the moment of creation. Recalling the first test of the atom bomb near Alamogordo, New Mexico, three weeks before Hiroshima, the scientist recalled, “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent.”tc "J. Robert Oppenheimer was present at the moment of creation. Recalling the first test of the atom bomb near Alamogordo, New Mexico, three weeks before Hiroshima, the scientist recalled, “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent.”" Hiroshima was leveled in an instant. Survivors straggled like zombies, skin melting from their bodies. Many victims caught on Ground Zero literally evaporated and vanished from sight. tc "Hiroshima was leveled in an instant. Survivors straggled like zombies, skin melting from their bodies. Many victims caught on Ground Zero literally evaporated and vanished from sight. " The image of the dark mushroom cloud that enveloped Hiroshima and towered over the city remains one of the most vivid in the human imagination. Photographs and footage of the smoke, the devastation of the city and the suffering of victims at Zero Hour are frequently used in pacifist literature. tc "The image of the dark mushroom cloud that enveloped Hiroshima and towered over the city remains one of the most vivid in the human imagination. Photographs and footage of the smoke, the devastation of the city and the suffering of victims at Zero Hour are frequently used in pacifist literature. " In 1999, the Newseum Center in Virginia asked about a hundred historians, writers and teachers to list the 100 most important events in the 20th century. The respondents voted the bombing of Hiroshima as the top news story in the past 100 years. The second was man’s landing on the moon.tc "In 1999, the Newseum Center in Virginia asked about a hundred historians, writers and teachers to list the 100 most important events in the 20th century. The respondents voted the bombing of Hiroshima as the top news story in the past 100 years. The second was man’s landing on the moon." Questions on the decision to drop the bomb linger today. Was it necessary to use the terrible weapon? Why Japan, a non-Western nation, ask some critics. Why not Germany, which was a leading partner of the axis powers that fought the US and the free world?tc "Questions on the decision to drop the bomb linger today. Was it necessary to use the terrible weapon? Why Japan, a non-Western nation, ask some critics. Why not Germany, which was a leading partner of the axis powers that fought the US and the free world?" President Harry Truman and his generals said the bomb would save the lives of thousands of American soldiers as well as millions of Japanese civilians and troops. The destruction wrought would demoralize the enemy. It might scare the Russians, who were making noises about dividing the spoils of war with Washington. Dropping the bomb would hasten Tokyo’s surrender and return peace to Asia and the Pacific. tc "President Harry Truman and his generals said the bomb would save the lives of thousands of American soldiers as well as millions of Japanese civilians and troops. The destruction wrought would demoralize the enemy. It might scare the Russians, who were making noises about dividing the spoils of war with Washington. Dropping the bomb would hasten Tokyo’s surrender and return peace to Asia and the Pacific. " From the ashes of a fallen Japan rose a pacifist constitution that turned the nation back on militarism, demoted the monarchy and restricted Japan’s army to a self-defense role. tc "From the ashes of a fallen Japan rose a pacifist constitution that turned the nation back on militarism, demoted the monarchy and restricted Japan’s army to a self-defense role. " Japan, the only nation to suffer nuclear bombing, also survived — like devastated Germany — to become an economic power at the end of World War Two.tc "Japan, the only nation to suffer nuclear bombing, also survived — like devastated Germany — to become an economic power at the end of World War Two." The writers of the Philippine 1987 Constitution remembered the horrors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts and adopted a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in the national territory.tc "The writers of the Philippine 1987 Constitution remembered the horrors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki blasts and adopted a policy of freedom from nuclear weapons in the national territory." The Philippines should ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty outlawing nuclear tests. We ought to add our voice to the call for the abolition of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction.tc "The Philippines should ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty outlawing nuclear tests. We ought to add our voice to the call for the abolition of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction." As we prepare to commemorate the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, let us remember Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, two terrible days when America unleashed the most powerful weapon on earth that killed soldiers and civilians and destroyed military ins­tallations and private homes, when we beheld a vision of the future, a foretelling of more destructions. Copyright (c) 2001 The Manila Times | Terms of Service ***************************************************************** 31 Review call after Faslane security breach Faslane naval base. Scotsman.com *Friday, 9th August 2002* /Jim McBeth/ THERE were urgent calls last night for a review of security at Faslane after two peace protesters infiltrated the Clyde naval base and daubed slogans on a Trident nuclear submarine. The incident, at 2am yesterday, was the most serious breach of security at a military base since the 11 September terrorist atrocities last year. Two anti-Trident protesters, members of the Trident Ploughshares campaign group, swam into Faslane across the Gare Loch from their peace camp at Coulport, in Dunbartonshire. As armed guards patrolled around HMS Vigilant, the protesters sprayed peace symbols and the word ?vile? ? an anagram of evil ? across its hull. One of the protesters caused further panic by clambering on to the boat and ringing the ship?s bell. Last night, Paul Keetch, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on defence at Westminster, said the incident highlighted ?lax? security and demanded that the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, order an immediate review of security at Faslane and military bases in the UK. He said: ?This obviously causes great concern.? Mr Keetch said it was significant that the incident came so soon after a report on nuclear safety in Britain highlighted ?lapses in the integrity of bases?. He added: ?UK warships should be protected with the highest vigilance. ?This highlights how precarious security arrangements are, especially around sensitive nuclear facilities. ?After 11 September, it could be assumed that security around such installations would be tighter. This proves how lax it is.? After yesterday?s incident, the Ministry of Defence admitted that ?no security is 100 per cent foolproof?. It was also apparent that the MoD is becoming exasperated by the embarrassing breaches of security at Faslane. Peace activists claimed that if ?middle-aged protesters? could threaten a submarine, so could terrorists who, according to experts, regard the Clyde naval base as one of the UK?s top five targets. A spokeswoman for the MoD added: ?They [the protesters] run the risk of being mistaken for terrorists. They put their lives at risk.? A security specialist, who did not want to be named, said: ?That is an indication that they could easily be shooting.? But the MoD also claimed yesterday that the incident represented a security ?success?. The spokeswoman said: ?We?re not complacent; security is under constant review. Obviously we prefer to prevent intrusion, but in some ways it was a success because they were seen and challenged. ?Security at Faslane is very, very tight,? she added. David Mackenzie, a spokesman for Trident Ploughshares, said the MoD had a strange way of gauging success. He added: ?Two protesters swimming into Faslane and reaching a nuclear submarine is obviously a matter of concern about security. ?I don?t see how they can feel pleased with themselves.? Joss Garman, a spokesman for the peace camp at Coulport, added: ?Our activists have breached security several times. ?This action proves the security measures at the base are inadequate despite the increased threat from terrorists since 11 September. ?Faslane is Scotland?s top terrorist target and if our people can get in and ?disarm? Trident the risk speaks for itself.? The incident yesterday was part of a two-week campaign of protest based at Faslane. In another incident at 6:30am, four other protesters were arrested as they attempted to cut the perimeter wire of the base. It brings the total of arrests to 38 in the last week. A man and a woman will appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court today charged with breaching by-laws and malicious mischief. ©2002 scotsman.com | contact ***************************************************************** 32 H-bomb caused massive fallout on Rongelap and Utrik Go Asia Pacific Breaking News Pacific - [http://www.abc.net.au/ra] Two American scientists claim the United States government grossly underestimated the nuclear test fallout exposure of a group of isolated Marshall Islanders. Dr Hans Behling and Dr John Mauro claim 167 people on Utrik Island suffered fallout doses 20 to 30 times higher than stated by US Atomic Energy Commission scientists since 1954. Dr Behling and Dr Mauro were in Majuro this week to testify before the Nuclear Claims Tribunal for Utrik. On March 1, 1954, the US exploded "Bravo" - at 15 megatons, its biggest hydrogen bomb ever tested. The 86 islanders on Rongelap and Utrik were not warned about the test and were not evacuated until 48 to 72 hours after the explosion. The islanders are seeking millions of dollars in nuclear cleanup funds and compensation for hardship resulting from their exposure. 09/08/2002 18:40:55 | ABC Radio Australia News Policy [http://www.abc.net.au ***************************************************************** 33 India to set up its nuclear command system soon, says defense minister AP World Politics Aug 9,10:18 AM ET By RAJESH MAHAPATRA, Associated Press Writer NEW DELHI, India - India will soon set up a chain of command for its nuclear arsenal and put the weaponry under the military's supervision, Defense Minister George Fernandes said Friday. Presently, India has no formal nuclear command structure. The prime minister, not the military, has primary control over nuclear arms. The defense ministry said in March a new structure would be set up integrating the arsenal into the military and creating a new post, chief of defense staff, to oversee all strategic weaponry. "The process is on," Fernandes said, though he gave no time frame for putting the structure in place. India carried out its first nuclear tests in 1974 in what the government described as a peaceful nuclear experiment. In the decades that followed, India and its longtime rival, Pakistan, have developed their nuclear capabilities. In 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests, which were followed closely by six in Pakistan. On Friday, Fernandes reiterated India's "no first use" policy on nuclear weapons. "Our nuclear doctrine is very much in place. We will never be the first to strike and we will never use them against a non-nuclear nation" he said. Creation of the command structure comes at a time when the South Asian nuclear rivals have amassed nearly 1 million troops along their border since a December attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan. Islamabad rejected the charge, but similar attacks in disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir pushed the nuclear-armed rivals to the brink of a war in June. Fears of war subsided after intense diplomacy by the United States, Britain and other nations, which the Indian defense minister refused to acknowledge on Friday. Fernandes said the Western powers were concerned over the situation in the region mainly because of the nuclear status of the South Asian nations. He sought to downplay the efforts by the United States and Britain to ease tension in South Asia, saying their appeals for dialogue and peace "don't mean much for the India-Pakistan faceoff." Fernandes also said that the army has intercepts that suggest Pakistan-based Islamic rebels were planning more attacks ahead of the state legislative elections in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. "We are prepared to counter their moves," he said. The government last week announced it would hold elections in September and October. Separatist and militant groups, fighting for Kashmir's freedom from Indian rule, have called for a boycott of the polls. Meanwhile, security forces killed two suspected Islamic militants in a gunbattle along the disputed border in Kashmir, the Indian Border Security Force said. Spokesman Tirath Acharya said the rebels were killed after they entered the Indian territory in the Nowgam sector, 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Srinagar, Jammu-Kashmir's summer capital. India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring the 12-year insurgency that has killed at least 60,000 people. Islamabad denies the charge saying it only supports the rebels' freedom cause, but gives them no material aid. India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over Kashmir, that both claim in its entirety. Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. ***************************************************************** 34 Russia to Keep Nuke Missile Trains The New York Times *By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS* *Filed at 10:16 a.m. ET* MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's nuclear-arms reduction efforts will not include one of its arsenal's most menacing components -- a unit of trains that can carry up to 15 intercontinental ballistic missiles, a top general said Friday. A U.S.-Russian arms deal signed in May calls for each country to reduce its arsenal of strategic nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200, down from about 6,000 for the United States and about 5,500 for Russia. The new arms deal allows each nation decide which weapons to scrap. The Interfax-Military News Agency quoted Russia's Strategic Missile Forces chief, Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, as saying the military will keep one division of train-mounted missiles. One division includes up to five trains, each carrying three RT-23 missiles, the agency said. The missiles each carry 10 nuclear warheads. Multiple-warhead missiles have been the core of Russia's nuclear arsenal since the Soviet era. The Kostroma division of RT-23 train-mounted missiles will remain on duty and another two divisions will be used for storage, the news agency quoted unidentified military officials as saying. Kostroma is a city on the Volga river, 200 miles northeast of Moscow. The decision to keep the division of trains allows Russia to avert the immediate need for a costly effort to build a replacement weapon. The RT-23 missile, known as the SS-24 in the West, joined the Soviet nuclear arsenal in the late 1980s. Russia was supposed to scrap its RT-23s under the 1993 START II nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States -- a treaty which barred Russia from deploying land-based missiles with multiple warheads. However, the treaty never was implemented and Russia formally withdrew from it in June after the U.S. abrogated the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty. ***************************************************************** 35 Fate unclear for signature Manhattan Beta-3 facility The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News -- Friday, August 9, 2002 by R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff There are two-of-a-kind in the world, and one may be on its way out of operation. Unfortunately for the so-called Beta-3 calutron building in Oak Ridge, it's slated to be the odd operation out. The production-level electromagnetic isotope enrichment facility, operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been in cold stand-by at the Y-12 National Security Complex since 1999. The other facility is located in Sverdlovsk, Russia, and should the Oak Ridge production capability be destroyed, the Russian facility would possess the sole capacity of producing approximately 110 stable isotopes that can't be produced by any other enrichment technique, according to documents provided by the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee. "Certainly this is an issue with national interest if not national security," said Susan Gawarecki, executive director. The isotopes include those used in many cancer and medical studies, including prostrate, bone and soft tumor cancers as well as cardiac imaging, coronary restinosis and Hodgkin's disease. Other stable isotopes produced include those used for electronics and explosive detection and atomic clocks for geo-positioning and cellular phone systems. ORNL continues to sell isotopes out of inventory, but the supply is being diminished. From 1995 to 1998 the facility operated at a profit, according to the documents. However, the DOE is poised to drain cooling fluid from the calutrons which would "permanently disable" the machines, according to a June 27 letter Gawareck sent to U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, a Republican. "This facility is not very costly to maintain and operate, compared to the cost of restoring its function," wrote Gawarecki. "A reasonable solution to this problem would be to allow the National Nuclear Security Administration to take over ownership of the building and facility and continue to allow ORNL to operate it. This would preserve the technical capabilities of the process without damaging the facility's historical integrity." Officials at Y-12 are already renting space in Building 9204-3 for unclassified, non-hazardous materials storage, and have considered it for office and other uses. Frank Juan, ORO spokesman, said this morning that draining of the calutrons should occur sometime in the next two to three weeks. "The draining is going to happen, and once the machines are drained they'll go into a storage situation," said Juan, who noted it is unclear who will wind up owning the facility. "It's not in the Environmental Management portfolio right now, and it's unclear whether it will go that way or to NNSA or to the Office of Science. "Discussions on that will begin in earnest once the draining is completed," he said. The building is owned by DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, and in 1999 that office declared the facility a surplus and requested transfer to the Office of Environmental Management. According to the documents, Environmental Management reviewed the facility in 1999 and specified 10 criteria to be met prior to transfer. Criteria included draining all mineral cooling oil from the magnets; draining all the transformer oil and removing the capacitors from all the power supplies; removing all chemicals, precious metals and nuclear materials; and removing all unattached items in the facility. "There's no reason to drain this oil and cause the internal components to rust, which would permanently disable these calutrons," said Gawarecki. "They are still usable, so why not keep the oil in them and keep them moth-balled? There's no difference in maintenance costs." Expense of meeting the decommissioning criteria has been a hurdle for transfer, according to the documents, as well as compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act, since the calutrons have been identified as one of the eight "signature facilities" of the Manhattan Project. Gawarecki recently nominated the Beta-3 building for the American Nuclear Society's "Nuclear Historic Landmark Award." That award was established in 1985 to memorialize sites where outstanding physical accomplishments took place, and that were instrumental in advancing and implementing nuclear technology, as well as peaceful uses of nuclear technology. For about 20 years the calutrons have operated intermittently as funding permitted, generally in two- to three-year cycles, according to the documents. During that time the commercial market was traded back and forth with Russia, which, according to the documents, had the edge in pricing while Oak Ridge had the edge in "quality, reliability and the availability of related chemical and materials special processing." R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or [danielsrcd@oakridger.com] . [http://www.oakridger.com/contact/index.html] [http://www.oakridger.com] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 36 Lawmaker asks U.S. to join suit in Paducah case - The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, August 09, 2002 The whistle-blower lawsuit alleges damages and cover-up under Lockheed Martin. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 The ranking minority member of the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform wants federal intervention in a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging that former Paducah uranium enrichment plant contractor Lockheed Martin poisoned workers and the public. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wrote Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Thursday, asking him to recommend that the Department of Justice join the suit seeking more than $1 billion in damages for the government. The whistle-blowers who brought the case would get 15 percent to 30 percent of any recovery. Walter Perry, an Energy Department spokesman in Oak Ridge, Tenn., said his agency had not received the letter and any response would come from DOE headquarters in Washington. After 12 court extensions in three years, the Justice Department has until Sept. 1 to decide whether it will intervene in the case it has been extensively investigating. Whistle-blower attorney Joe Egan said earlier that he doubted he would agree to another extension. The suit, filed in June 1999, claims Lockheed Martin filed false environmental reports when it managed the plant and received hundreds of millions of dollars in operating bonuses as a result of those false statements, filed with the Energy Department. The statements allegedly involved illegal storage and disposal of radioactive waste, unlawful exposure of workers to lethal contaminants, and contamination of groundwater and soil with plutonium, neptunium and other radioactive materials. Lockheed Martin, which operated the Paducah site for DOE from 1982 to 1992, has strongly denied the allegations. Waxman's letter said that besides the extensive effect on workers and the environment, plant problems have cost the government $51.3 million in compensation to 342 sick workers and families, and billions of dollars in past, current and future cleanup. "If a corporation has indeed caused this terrible harm at Paducah, it would be outrageous to force the public to pay the bills three times over — first for the contract fees, second in suffering the harm and third for the cleanup to prevent further damage," Waxman wrote. The letter said in part: + The Justice Department gives "substantial weight" to the opinion of a federal agency affected by a whistle-blower suit. "Although DOJ may intervene contrary to the affected agency's recommendation, this occurs rarely, and such a decision must be made by more senior officials within DOJ." + There appears to be "a basis for claims that Lockheed Martin mishandled radioactive materials and waste, inadequately protected workers against exposure and made false reports to the government." According to the whistle-blowers' attorneys, lawyers for the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency believe the case is strong. + Although whistle-blowers may proceed without governmental help, "such a case is less likely to succeed" because the government has substantial litigation resources. + Lockheed Martin "has tremendous political influence with the federal government," including millions of dollars in campaign contributions to both parties and many ties to the Bush administration. "I know you agree that it would be inappropriate for political considerations to influence this decision, and it is unfortunate that Lockheed Martin's political activities could create an appearance problem if DOE recommends against intervention," Waxman wrote. "But if the facts dictate that DOE should not intervene, then I would urge you to make that decision, notwithstanding the perception problems that would exist." Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Campbell said earlier that substantial progress had been made in the investigation, but he would not elaborate. The Sun reported last year that he had recommended to superiors in Washington that the Justice Department join the suit. The agency has spent more than $1 million and reviewed thousands of pages of documents to investigate the claims by three workers and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental watchdog group. ***************************************************************** 37 DOE, State of Texas and EPA Agree to Pursue Accelerated Cleanup Strategy for Pantex Plant DOE Sets Aside Additional $5 Million from Accelerated Cleanup Reform Account; Budget Would Increase to $16 Million energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: August 8, 2002 WASHINGTON, DC - Following a series of meetings between the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and state of Texas officials, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today that a Letter of Intent has been signed to enter into an agreement to accelerate cleanup at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. Under the plan, the parties will work to complete cleanup activities by 2008. This agreement was reached under the Department's Environmental Management Accelerated Cleanup Program, whose goal is to streamline operations by working with states and regulators to clearly target and reduce the greatest health and environmental cleanup risks at the country's Cold War nuclear weapons production facilities. "This agreement provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it is a major step to effectively reduce health risks and expedite the environmental cleanup at the Pantex Plant." Secretary Abraham said. "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 the Department and the states." The Department is setting aside $5 million under the Accelerated Cleanup Reform Account for Pantex, which would provide a total of $16 million for the site. The parties to the agreement will focus on cleanup by streamlining operations and accomplishing real field progress. Initiatives for accelerating cleanup and reducing risks under the Pantex Plant include the following: + Accelerating the remediation of groundwater and soil contamination at the Pantex Plant; + Ensuring that data quality objectives support the cleanup decision making process during the investigation phase of the cleanup; + Identifying regulatory performance standards for ground water cleanup, engineering controls, and risk targets necessary to protect human health and the environment; + Prioritizing cleanup work on a risk basis, completing investigation by May 2005 and final remedial action by the end of FY 2008; + Eliminating duplication of effort in addressing similar statutory requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, since Pantex is a joint jurisdiction facility. "Accelerated cleanup agreements will accomplish results in a manner that is safe, protective of human health and the environment, and in compliance with state and federal environmental laws," Abraham said. "This agreement would not have been possible without the active participation of the EPA and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission." The Pantex Plant Letter of Intent is available on the DOE Environmental Management website at [http://www.em.doe.gov] . Media Contact: Dolline Hatchett, 202/586-5806 Joe Davis, 202/586-4940 Release No. PR-02-160 ***************************************************************** 38 North Korea Adding a Pinch of Capitalism to Its Economy The New York Times *August 9, 2002* *By HOWARD W. FRENCH* KUMHO, North Korea, Aug. 8 ? After a half-century of economic control so complete that even cash had fallen into disuse, North Korea has begun introducing the most significant liberalization measures since the start of Communist rule, diplomats here said. The new measures center on very large wage increases for workers and even larger increases in prices for everything from food and electricity to housing. There are also reports that food rationing coupons are being eliminated and that state subsidies for many failing industries have been halted. For some analysts of this long-isolated bastion of severe Communist orthodoxy, the changes are inspired by China's free market reforms of the late 1980's. Others draw parallels with Vietnam, whose economic reforms have been less bold. But analysts agree that the new steps are unlike anything this government has tried before, and may even represent the first moves toward an economy that mixes capitalism and socialism. Operating in its typically secretive manner, the government of Chairman Kim Jong Il has issued no major statements explaining the changes. But according to Western diplomats who live in the capital, Pyongyang, North Korean workers confirm that they have received as much as a 20-fold increase in their wages, while prices for commodities, including rice, have increased by as much as 30 times since the measures were introduced in July. Although it is not clear how far the government is willing to go, the measures appear intended to bring North Korean prices more in line with world prices. "This is a very important break with the past," said a Western diplomat who had attended a briefing on the economy by the government. "Until now, nobody relied on money. There were deep scarcities, but the government provided for most needs for free, and when they wanted to increase production of something they would rely on banners and slogans, not rewards." Diplomats from a handful of Western countries who have been posted in Pyongyang since the beginning of a diplomatic opening by North Korea in the last year or so say that the political dimensions of the recent changes are at least as important as the economic details. North Korea is the world's only Communist country with hereditary leadership. The man who established the regime in 1948, Kim Il Sung, and his son Kim Jong Il, the current leader, have traditionally been revered as near gods. For a leadership that has never acknowledged failings in its policies or tolerated any challenges to them, the recent economic measures, combined with an equally striking shift in diplomatic tack, suggest a new willingness to break with past practice. "It is something like wisdom to say that we've been on the wrong path for 50 years, even if they don't know the solution to their problems yet," said one senior Western diplomat. "They are no longer going around pretending that this is an infallible leadership that has all the answers, which in itself is a monumental change." However, experts on the country's shrunken economy say the recent actions do little to address disastrously fallen output in both agriculture and industry. "North Korea has essentially functioned without a currency for the last 25 years," said Nicholas Eberstadt, a Korea expert at the American Enterprise Institute, speaking by telephone from Washington. Reintroducing cash into the economy "is a necessary, but not sufficient step to joining the world economy." "You might say they've left Pluto and reached Mars," he added. "This sounds like very central change, and not tinkering at the margins, but it is still a long ways to Earth." A midlevel North Korean official, interviewed here at this desolate port city in a region of the northeast that was the country's thriving industrial belt until the collapse of the Soviet bloc and its trading system, denied that systemic changes were under way. "We are only trying to improve our socialism," the official said laconically. He spoke during a tour of the construction site of two nuclear reactors being built here by an international consortium as part of an arms control agreement. The need for major reform cried out to foreign visitors who spent the day here inspecting the nuclear plant site. The sole North Korean vehicle in evidence during an entire day was a rickety old locomotive that creaked through the town. A musty gift shop contained little more than ginseng products and shoddy trinkets. Fishing boats do not even go out from here in large numbers anymore because of fuel shortages and lack of equipment to freeze the catch. People who had seen the nuclear construction site previously said that crisp white uniforms had been flown in specially for the soldiers and officers, and predicted they would be collected and sent back to wherever they came from at the end of the day. The purpose of the exercise, one regular visitor said, was to have the officers appearing immaculate before the visiting Western press. Diplomats who made the 10-hour drive to the nuclear site from Pyongyang said that much of the route they traveled was along rutted dirt roads. "You see mile after mile of factories just sitting there rusting, idled," said one diplomat. "What is the use in giving a 40-fold wage increase if you are not giving them the possibility of producing something?" To get the economy going again, one diplomat said, North Korea is counting on the introduction of pay incentives to workers based on performance, and on the development of more private farmers' markets in order to increase grain production and fight chronic undernourishment. The misery in North Korea has fueled a growing refugee crisis with China, as starving or unemployed North Koreans have slipped across the Tumen River border in an effort to rebuild their lives in China, and increasingly, in hopes of reaching infinitely richer South Korea. American journalists, rarely permitted in North Korea, were allowed to travel here for a foundation-laying ceremony at the nuclear power plant. North Korean officials barred contact with ordinary citizens during the visit. Diplomats and other experts on North Korea say that what makes the recent economic changes more unusual is that they come against the backdrop of a remarkable, if still tentative, diplomatic about-face by North Korea. Relations with South Korea and with the United States and Japan plummeted after a maritime firefight in waters disputed by the two Koreas on June 29. A few days later though, North Korea, which customarily offers fire-breathing rhetoric during moments of tension, issued a rare statement of regret to South Korea. Since then, North Korea has been reaching out simultaneously to South Korea, the United States and Japan, North Korea's three historic enemies. Only recently, Western diplomats said that power was held so narrowly in North Korea that the government was too understaffed to mount a broad diplomatic offensive. Tactically speaking, as well, diplomats say North Korea has usually preferred to focus on relations with one of the three countries at the expense of the others. Taken together, the new economic and diplomatic initiatives suggest two possibilities. After two years of stalled reconciliation with the South, and worsening relations with the United States and Japan, advocates of economic reform and conciliation, presumably including Kim Jong Il, may have finally won the upper hand against conservatives in the military and Communist Party. "The only way to avoid more starvation, and maybe even collapse, is to get some foreign capital in here, including some big businesses to help them develop things," said one diplomat posted here. "Perhaps they've begun to understand that." A different, more tactical view is that the economic situation of failed crops, famine and little income from exports had already begun to threaten the government's survival. Only by blunting the hostility of the Bush administration and locking in gains in relations with South Korea and its leader, Kim Dae Jung, before a new president is elected there in December, can North Korea hope for continued aid on a large scale. "If you look at any one of these things in isolation you can say, well North Korea always does strange things," said Marcus Noland, a Korea expert at the Institute for International Economics, who has written extensively on North Korea. "But put them all together and it speaks of a clumsy attempt to reach out to the world, to deal with some major economic problems and to begin the process of modernization. The internal contradictions have become so great that they are desperate now." Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 39 Russian scientists get ready to obtain element 118 Pravda.RU Aug, 07 2002 Russian scientists are getting ready to obtain super-heavy element 118 on the periodic table. The press service of the State Research Center 'Scientific Research Institute for Nuclear Reactors' (GNTs NIIAR) at Dimitrovgrad disclosed that the center's scientists are to take part in an experiment due at a scientific center in Dubna north of Moscow next year. It should take the scientists about half a year to prepare the research. The experiment will be jointly conducted by physicists of three Russian research institutions: the Unified Institute for Nuclear Research at Dubna, the Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics at Sarov, Volga River Region, and Dimitrovgrad's GNTs NIIAR. In 1999, America's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory claimed its researchers had been able to synthesize element 118, which they named ununocticum. However, physicists in Japan and Germany failed to replicate the experiment the Americans had patented, one reason why element 118 came to be thought of as particularly elusive. On July 27, US scientists publicly acknowledged an error and retracted their discovery. GNTs NIIAR general director Alexei Grachyov said in a statement: "Errors in science are possible and unavoidable, particularly in the field of it that studies the life of elementary particles." Scientists at NIIAR hope the periodic table will not go without element 118 too long. But if the experiment is successful, that element would almost certainly have a different name, the press service noted. © RIAN ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************