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08/12/02 ****     RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL)       **** VOL 10.205
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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Iran to Retaliate "Forcefully" Against Slightest Provocation: Shamkh
2 DTI presses for an end to 'unfair' tax on British Energy
3 Long-Awaited US Waiver Releases Millions in CTR Funds — 
4 North, South Korea gear up for talks - 
5 North, South Korea Gear Up for Talks as US Watches
6 US: Gov't Nears Nuke Material Decision
7 US: Fearing Theft, U.S. Plans to Relocate Nuclear Fuel
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
8 US: Better days for Cooper?
9 Welcoming the wrong children from Chernobyl 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
10 US: Administration does the right thing on Cold War health claims 
11 UK: Gulf veteran babies 'risk deformities'
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
12 US: [toeslist] Alert: Stop Radioactive Waste to Hanford
13 UK: Nuclear Cargo Heading For Britain   
14 US: Commissioners OK new YMP resolution*
15 Unicoi BMA to consider doing away with zoning *
16 Unicoi Board To Hear Various Proposals On Potential Uranium Plant 
17 15 Citizens File Objection To Nuclear Fuel Systems? Proposed 
18 BNFL pursues US government over £100m shortfall
19 US: Nye County seeks role in nuclear waste project
20 A consignment of spent nuclear fuel arrives from Ukraine at 
21 US: Tribe seeks uranium enrichment Utah leaders fighting Indian 
22 US: Women support Yucca battle
23 US: Uranium relocation expected
24 US: Senators' aides, citizens discuss future of waste site
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
25 Hiroshima pilot tells of US plans to bomb Germany
26 Israel submission to nuclear inspection is international demand
27 US: A new submarine laid in the US
28 UK: Fraud investigation at a nuclear refit dock at Devonport
29 Teens embrace peace on Hiroshima visit
30 For humanity's sake 
31 US: Bangor protesters mark 25th year
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
32 * Pantex Plant Headed for Early Cleanup *
33 Protester receives 60-day sentence
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
34 Lyle Borst, 89, Nuclear Physicist Who Worked on A-Bomb Project, Dies
35 Nevada Democratic candidate criticizes GOP
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 Iran to Retaliate "Forcefully" Against Slightest Provocation: Shamkhani 

August 10, 2002         

  [TehranTimes Navigation] 

TEHRAN TIMES POLITICAL DESK 

TEHRAN -- Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani on Thursday defended the 
Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program and said the army will 
"retaliate" against any aggression on his country's territorial 
integrity.

 "Our nuclear power plant at Bushehr is open to visits by 
experts, the public and even students," Shamkhani said after some 
Internet sites carried picture of the plant taken by U.S. and 
Israeli satellites.

 "In regards to the defense of our country we say that our forces 
will retaliate firmly and with all the means at our disposal to 
any aggression," Shamkhani said.

 He was alluding to rumors circulating in the country suggesting 
that the United States and Israel were ready to attack Bushehr 
power plant.

 Shamkhani further noted Tehran will continue its nuclear 
cooperation with Moscow and; he said Iran is determined to pursue 
the construction of the Bushehr nuclear plant.

 Despite U.S. fierce pressure Russia is continuing its 
cooperation with Iran for the construction of the plant The U.S. 
and Zionist regime have tried in vain to portray Iran as a 
dangerous country and accusing Tehran of trying to develop 
weapons-grade plutonium.

 The Islamic Republic of Iran turned to Russia for the 
construction in January 1994 after that the German firm Siemens 
pulled back from the project under pressure from the United 
States.

 On Monday Russian Atomic Energy Ministry said the power plant 
would begin operating in June 2004. Moscow initially promised it 
would come on stream in September 2003.
 
  Send your questions and comments to:  
[webmaster@tehrantimes.com]   
*****************************************************************
 2 DTI presses for an end to 'unfair' tax on British Energy

Independent.co.uk <http://www.independent.co.uk>

By Clayton Hirst

11 August 2002

Energy minister Brian Wilson is urging the Deputy Prime Minister 
John Prescott to give British Energy tax breaks worth £25m a 
year.

Whitehall sources said that Mr Wilson is worried that the nuclear 
generator is being unfairly disadvantaged by the local rates 
system and is pressing for its bill to be almost halved.

British Energy claimed that because it pays higher local taxes on 
its power stations than coal, wind and gas generators, its rivals 
are in effect receiving state aid through lower bills. The matter 
is being investigated by European Competition Commissioner Mario 
Monti, after a complaint was lodged earlier this year.

However, Mr Prescott's department, which has control over rating 
policy, is set to dig its heels in over the tax. A spokeswoman 
said: "Rates are a tax on property values. The high rateable 
value of modern nuclear power stations reflects their value as 
property, including the value of their reactors."

Modern nuclear power stations have a rateable value of £14,000 
per megawatt of power generated. This compares to £9,500 for gas, 
£9,500 for coal and £5,000 for wind power.

British Energy has argued that because nuclear, gas and coal 
power stations are used to generate essential baseload 
electricity, then it is "illogical" to have different rates.

Its spokesman said: "Whilst we are pursuing the case, we would 
still much prefer to resolve this issue simply and quickly in the 
UK ? and believe that with sufficient political will it is 
possible."

Privatised six years ago, British Energy has seen its finances 
hit hard by the sudden fall in wholesale electricity prices, 
brought on by the introduction of the new electricity trading 
market, Neta.

Companies such as London Electricity manage distribution and 
retail businesses as well as owning generators, and so can make 
up the losses resulting from the fall in prices through other 
parts of their operations. But as British Energy is almost 
totally focused on supply, it is more exposed to the price 
changes.

<http://www.independent.co.uk

*****************************************************************
 3 Long-Awaited US Waiver Releases Millions in CTR Funds — 
Temporarily
 
Non-Proliferation

MOSCOW - US President George Bush signed a temporary waiver this 
week that will allow millions of dollars to be released to 
programmes aimed at reducing the threat posed by Russia's 
deteriorating nuclear, biological and chemical weapons 
infrastructure.

Charles Digges, 2002-08-10 20:07

But the flow of non-proliferation cash will run dry again on 
Oct.1 unless congressional proponents of the so-called Nunn-Lugar 
act — officially known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction act, 
or CTR — can rally enough support in Congress to turn what is 
currently an annual certification process into a permanent 
waiver, a congressional aide told Bellona Web Friday. 

Under current legislation, the Pentagon must "certify" Russia as 
committed to non-proliferation, or else roughly one-third of CTR 
activities controlled by the US military shuts down. That 
certification process is run on a fiscal-year basis, which is why 
the waiver that President Bush signed Wednesday — 11 months into 
the 2002 fiscal year — is valid only for slightly more than a 
month and a half. 

The administration of Bill Clinton signed the certification every 
year. But last spring, the Pentagon and the Bush administration 
told Russia not to expect certification because the Kremlin was 
allegedly withholding information about its chemical and 
biological warfare infrastructure. 

The US administration was further concerned that Russia might 
still be developing unconventional weapons, and thus decided not 
to grant certification, administration sources said at the time. 
Instead, the administration asked Congress to permit President 
Bush to waive the certification on grounds that the CTR 
programmes were in America's national interest. 

The denial of certification also meant — rather embarrassingly 
for the Bush administration — that the warhead cuts agreed to at 
the May summit in Moscow between Bush and Russian President 
Vladimir Putin, could not begin to be realized, even though 
orders for warhead decommissioning began to pile up with the US 
Defence Department several days before the summit, one government 
official said. 

The current waiver, which was signed by President Bush on 
Wednesday, according to the congressional aide, will release some 
$450 million in US Defence Department-managed funding and $70 
million worth of programmes run by the State Department that have 
been affected by the impasse. 

Between now and October — when Congress will debate on whether 
the certification process will continue annually, or will receive 
a permanent waiver as part of the US Defence Appropriations bill 
— the congressional aide told Bellona Web that CTR will pour the 
newly-released funding into a number of new programmes that were 
stalled by the US administration's decision not to certify CTR 
last Spring. 

The source said these new projects will include: security 
enhancements at 10 Russian weapons sites; training to enhance the 
reliability of guards at storage sites; the decommissioning of 
two missile submarines; the decommissioning of 30 sea-to-land 
ballistic missiles (SLBMs); the decommissioning of an unspecified 
number of SS-24 and SS-25 missiles that are loaded on trains and 
shuttled around the countryside; and a verification visit by US 
officials to the Mayak Chemical Combine, which is approaching 
completion of a CTR-funded weapons-grade plutonium repository. 

Conservatives in Congress have resisted granting the latitude 
that a permanent waiver would carry, citing suspicions that 
Russia may still be developing germ and chemical weapons in 
military labs that remain closed to foreigners. 

But both former Senator Sam Nunn, a Democrat from the state of 
Georgia, and Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, 
who created the CTR programme 11 years ago, this week separately 
welcomed the President's signing of the waiver. But they also 
warned that the programme would be in constant jeopardy unless 
Congress granted a permanent waiver. 

"Getting the permanent waiver is crucial. Otherwise we'll get 
bogged down in this re-certification every year, which puts six, 
eight, 10 months' gaps in the programme," the congressional aide 
told Bellona Web. 

"My guess is that we will get the permanent waiver, but Congress 
is going to have to work hard for it," he said. 

The temporary waiver came as Russian scientists, attending a 
smallpox conference in Lyon, France, disclosed new information 
about a suspicious outbreak of that disease in 1971 that some 
experts say was caused by a Soviet biological weapons test on an 
island in the Aral Sea in the now independent Kazakhstan, the New 
York Times reported. 

The congressional aide, however, said there was "no connection at 
all" between the statements made by the Russian scientists in 
France and Bush's signing of the temporary waiver. 

Nevertheless — because the Bush Administration's initial reasons 
for not signing the CTR certification centred around doubts about 
Russia's forthrightness regarding its biological and chemical 
weapons capabilities — officials at the Lyon conference said that 
Russia's willingness to discuss the incident showed progress, the 
Times reported. 

At the conference, the Russian scientists said they had destroyed 
some tissue samples and biological material, which the United 
States had hoped might shed light on the outbreak that killed two 
children and a young woman before it was contained, the paper 
said. 

The Russian delegation said in informal discussions that they 
considered the outbreak in Aralsk to have been of natural causes, 
which is at odds with a report about the incident, released last 
June by the Monterey Institute of International Studies. 

According to the Times, the Monterey report said that the 
outbreak began after a ship doing ecological research in the Aral 
Sea sailed too close to Vozrozhdeniye Island, where a military 
smallpox test then under way sent out a deadly plume of germs, 
infecting a crew member, who carried the virus back to the city. 

Although officials in Kazakhstan have investigated the epidemic's 
origins, Moscow has never acknowledged that it happened or that 
smallpox was ever tested in the open air, the paper reported. 

But the Monterey researchers asserted that the strain of smallpox 
virus in Aralsk appeared to have been unusually potent, raising 
questions about whether America's smallpox vaccine would work in 
the event of an outbreak of this particular strain there, said 
the Times. 

The Russians said, according to officials familiar with the 
discussions in Lyon, that although clinical tissue samples from 
those infected in Aralsk had been taken at the time, the material 
was destroyed when Russia quietly moved its smallpox strains from 
a lab in Moscow to the Vector Institute in Siberia, where the 
country's large collection of smallpox strains is now stored, the 
Times reported. 

The Russian scientists also reported that there was nothing 
irregular about the tissue samples removed from Aralsk, but this 
was viewed with wide scepticism at the conference, the Times 
said.
   
  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
*****************************************************************
 4 North, South Korea gear up for talks - 

CNN.com - 

August 11, 2002
 	 	
  The building of two nuclear reactors in North Korea is seen by 
some as a positive development        

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- North and South Korea begin three 
days of ministerial talks on Monday, and Washington in particular 
will be scrutinizing the meeting to gauge what is motivating 
Pyongyang's latest burst of diplomatic activity. 
				 
North Korea's negotiating tactics veer from pragmatic to 
theatrical and have been the subject of academic studies, so 
predicting the outcome of the August 12-14 talks in Seoul is 
risky. 
				 
Few expect breakthroughs, but there could be surprises. 
				 
What makes these negotiations significant is they are part of a 
broader pattern of inter-Korean meetings and calendar of dialogue 
that embraces two other arch-rivals of the North -- Japan and the 
United States -- just as Pyongyang has introduced tentative 
economic changes to its creaking communist system. 
				 
"The inter-Korean ministerial talks should be an acid test for 
the North, as we can judge based on its attitude whether its 
recent diplomatic overtures carry sincere willingness," South 
Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong told the Korea Herald. 
				 
Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun will head the five-member 
South Korean team, while Kim Ryung-sung, a senior North Korean 
official, leads Pyongyang's delegation. 
				 
The North Koreans are set to fly to South Korea on Monday and 
talks will start after noon (0300 GMT) at a hotel in Seoul. The 
sides are expected to issue a joint statement on Wednesday. Asian 
games
 				 
The two Koreas, bitterly divided since the 1950-53 Korean War 
that ended in a truce rather than with a peace treaty, agreed 
last weekend to resume reconciliation efforts and discuss 
economic and family exchanges as well as military talks. 
				 
The North also agreed to send a team to the Asian Games to be 
held in South Korea's second-largest city, Pusan, from September 
29 to October 14. Sports officials will meet in the North for 
four days starting next Saturday to discuss the logistics. 
				 
Sandwiched between the ministerial and sports meetings, a North 
Korean delegation will attend joint events in Seoul on August 15, 
the anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule. The North's 
KCNA news agency quoted a North Korean official as saying the 
joint event carried "weighty significance." 
				 
"Any time North Korea is willing to talk, we should embrace 
that," said Lee Jung-hoon, an international relations professor 
at Yonsei University. "But we must be very clear on what we want 
and also examine what North Korea's intentions may be." Acrimony
 				 
The last round of ministerial talks in November ended in acrimony 
over the South's security measures following the September 11 
attacks on the United States. 
				 
An envoy of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung -- who won the 
Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to engage the North -- 
subsequently met North Korean leader Kim Jong il in Pyongyang and 
got dialogue back on track, including a round of family reunions. 
				 
But North Korea cancelled economic talks and then, in June, 
relations worsened further when the North and South Korean navies 
clashed across a disputed Yellow Sea border. The North later 
expressed regret for the incident, but did not apologize. 
				 
Political analysts say North Korea's moves could be coolly 
calculated, because it needs to improve ties with Japan and the 
United States as well as South Korea if it is to have any hope of 
securing international financing to shore up its economy. 
				 
The North's ties with giant neighbor Russia have also improved, 
and Kim Jong il may well visit the Russian Far East soon, 
possibly this month, according to diplomatic sources. Nuclear 
reactor
 				 
Yet, as ever, Kim Jong il's main focus is the United States, the 
world's sole superpower. 
				 
Choi, the South's foreign minister, said it was unlikely proposed 
U.S.-North Korea talks would be held before next month. 
				 
Jack Pritchard, the most senior U.S. official to visit the North 
since President George W. Bush took office in 2001, put down a 
marker at a nuclear reactor site there last week. 
				 
A consortium including the United States is building two reactors 
in exchange for Pyongyang giving up its suspected nuclear weapons 
program and letting in international inspectors to prove it. 
				 
The North has not let inspectors in yet. 
				 
Pritchard said they needed to do so "now, not later." 
		
Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may 
© 2002 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
*****************************************************************
 5 North, South Korea Gear Up for Talks as US Watches

ABCNEWS.com : 

August 11, 2002   

[Reuters] 

— By Martin Nesirky

 SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korea begin three days of 
ministerial talks on Monday, and Washington in particular will be 
scrutinizing the meeting to gauge what is motivating Pyongyang's 
latest burst of diplomatic activity.
 
North Korea's negotiating tactics veer from pragmatic to 
theatrical and have been the subject of academic studies, so 
predicting the outcome of the Aug. 12-14 talks in Seoul is risky. 
Few expect breakthroughs, but there could be surprises.
 
What makes these negotiations significant is they are part of a 
broader pattern of inter-Korean meetings and calendar of dialogue 
that embraces two other arch-rivals of the North -- Japan and the 
United States -- just as Pyongyang has introduced tentative 
economic changes to its creaking communist system.
 
"The inter-Korean ministerial talks should be an acid test for 
the North, as we can judge based on its attitude whether its 
recent diplomatic overtures carry sincere willingness," South 
Korean Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong told the Korea Herald.
 
Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun will head the five-member 
South Korean team, while Kim Ryung-sung, a senior North Korean 
official, leads Pyongyang's delegation.
 
The North Koreans are set to fly to South Korea on Monday and 
talks will start after noon at a hotel in Seoul. The sides are 
expected to issue a joint statement on Wednesday.
 
TEAM TO ASIAN GAMES
 
The two Koreas, bitterly divided since the 1950-53 Korean War 
that ended in a truce rather than with a peace treaty, agreed 
last weekend to resume reconciliation efforts and discuss 
economic and family exchanges as well as military talks.
 
The North also agreed to send a team to the Asian Games to be 
held in South Korea's second-largest city, Pusan, from Sept. 29 
to Oct. 14. Sports officials will meet in the North for four days 
starting next Saturday to discuss the logistics.
 
Sandwiched between the ministerial and sports meetings, a North 
Korean delegation will attend joint events in Seoul on Aug. 15, 
the anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule. The North's 
KCNA news agency quoted a North Korean official as saying the 
joint event carried "weighty significance."
 
"Any time North Korea is willing to talk, we should embrace 
that," said Lee Jung-hoon, an international relations professor 
at Yonsei University. "But we must be very clear on what we want 
and also examine what North Korea's intentions may be."
 
The last round of ministerial talks in November ended in acrimony 
over the South's security measures following the Sept. 11 attacks 
on the United States.
 
An envoy of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung -- who won the 
Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to engage the North -- 
subsequently met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang and 
got dialogue back on track, including a round of family reunions.
 
COOLY CALCULATED MOVES
 
But North Korea canceled economic talks and then, in June, 
relations worsened further when the North and South Korean navies 
clashed across a disputed Yellow Sea border. The North later 
expressed regret for the incident, but did not apologize.
 
Political analysts say North Korea's moves could be coolly 
calculated, because it needs to improve ties with Japan and the 
United States as well as South Korea if it is to have any hope of 
securing international financing to shore up its economy.
 
The North's ties with giant neighbor Russia have also improved, 
and Kim Jong-il may well visit the Russian Far East soon, 
possibly this month, according to diplomatic sources.
 
Yet, as ever, Kim Jong-il's main focus is the United States, the 
world's sole superpower. Choi, the South's foreign minister, said 
it was unlikely proposed U.S.-North Korea talks would be held 
before next month.
 
Jack Pritchard, the most senior U.S. official to visit the North 
since President Bush took office in 2001, put down a marker at a 
nuclear reactor site there last week.
 
A consortium including the United States is building two reactors 
in exchange for Pyongyang giving up its suspected nuclear weapons 
program and letting in international inspectors to prove it. The 
North has not let inspectors in yet.
 
Pritchard said they needed to do so "now, not later." (Additional 
reporting by Kim Miyoung and Paul Eckert) 


photo credit and caption: 


  North Korean Chief Cabinet Councilor Kim Ryong Song (L) shakes 
hands with Yoon Jin-sik, South Korean Vice Minister of Ministry 
of Finance and Economy, upon his arrival at Incheon International 
Airport, west of Seoul, August 12, 2002. North and South Korea 
begin three days of ministerial talks on Monday, and South Korean 
media said Seoul was likely to try to force the pace by calling 
for more detailed economic and military negotiations later this 
month. Photo by Pool/Reuters
   
Copyright 2002 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This 
*****************************************************************
 6 Gov't Nears Nuke Material Decision

Las Vegas SUN
 
August 11, 2002 By ROBERT GEHRKE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON- Pending a final environmental review, the Energy 
Department is expected to move as much as several tons of 
plutonium and weapons-grade uranium from a federal research 
laboratory in New Mexico to Nevada because of security concerns, 
according to documents. 

In a department memo, John C. Browne, director of the Los Alamos 
National Laboratory, called the proposed move "the best overall 
decision to meet the post-September 11th challenges for the 
long-term security of nuclear activities." 

An Energy Department spokesman, Bryan Wilkes, said that while no 
final decision has been made, moving the material to the Nevada 
Test Site is the preferred option being studied to increase 
security. The environmental study is being reviewed, he said. 

Several tons of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, which 
could be used to make an atomic bomb, are kept at Technical 
Area-18 at the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico where critics have 
said it cannot be adequately protected. 

"There is no doubt that that facility was at high risk. They 
simply could not defend it," said Pete Stockton, an analyst for 
the Project on Government Oversight, a private watchdog group 
that Sunday released a copy of the Browne memo and other 
documents involving the expected move. 

Built in the 1940s, Technical Area-18 is located at the bottom of 
a steep canyon, where the high ground and an adjacent highway 
makes the site difficult to defend. 

In repeated security exercises, troops have been unable to 
protect the material. In a 1997 exercise, Army Special Forces 
posing as attackers wheeled away a garden cart full of props 
representing the nuclear material. In another test, attackers 
obtained access to the facility where they could detonated an 
explosion, had they been terrorists. 

Had actual material been stolen it would have been enough to make 
several weapons, said Stockton, who three years ago chaired a DOE 
team that recommended to then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson 
that the material be moved. Richardson ordered the environmental 
studies into moving the material. 

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a frequent critic of security at federal 
weapons facilities, urged the department to complete the move as 
quickly as possible and safeguard the material from potential 
terrorists. 

POGO, which has criticized DOE security of nuclear weapons 
material, obtained a draft press release from the National 
Nuclear Security Administration, an agency within the DOE, that 
indicated that plans are going forward to move the material to 
Nevada with a decision anticipated next month. 

Everett H. Beckner, deputy NNSA administrator, has given his 
approval to begin design activities and other steps to implement 
the move, according to a memo obtained by POGO. 

The material is part of a research project in which scientists 
examine how electronic components of nuclear weapons respond to 
small, short-lived nuclear detonations. 

On the Net: Project on Government Oversight: http://www.pogo.org 
[http://www.pogo.org] National Nuclear Security Administration: 
http://www.nnsa.doe.gov [http://www.nnsa.doe.gov] Los Alamos 
National Laboratory: http://www.lanl.gov [http://www.lanl.gov] 

All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 7 Fearing Theft, U.S. Plans to Relocate Nuclear Fuel

The New York Times <

 *August 12, 2002*  

*By MATTHEW L. WALD*

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 ? The United States is moving rapidly toward 
shipping tons of bomb-grade plutonium and uranium out of a 
vulnerable laboratory in New Mexico, according to Energy 
Department officials and internal documents. Experts said it 
would be the first time the government has moved nuclear weapons 
fuel to reduce the risk of terrorists stealing it.

The plutonium and uranium would be shipped to a complex at the 
Nevada Test Site, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, that was 
formerly used to assemble nuclear devices for detonation. It 
would be taken from a place called Technical Area 18, or T.A.-18, 
at Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory.

Several internal Energy Department documents describing the plan 
were obtained by a nonprofit group based here, the Project on 
Government Oversight, which has been lobbying for better security 
at nuclear weapons sites.

In one document, the director of Los Alamos wrote on June 28 to a 
deputy administrator of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration that the laboratory supported moving the material 
as "the best overall decision to meet the post-September 11th 
challenges for the long-term security of nuclear activities."

The National Nuclear Security Administration is the part of the 
Energy Department that manages the inventory of weapons, weapons 
components and weapons fuel.

The Project on Government Oversight has previously released 
documents that show that T.A.-18 has performed poorly in security 
drills. According to one document, a team sent to play terrorists 
in 1997 used a cart from Home Depot to remove 200 pounds of 
simulated bomb fuel.

The laboratory, with some buildings that are 50 years old, is at 
the bottom of a shallow canyon in a spot experts say is difficult 
to defend.

The documents released by the Project on Government Oversight 
include a draft of an Energy Department news release announcing 
that an environmental impact statement on the move had been 
completed and that the Nevada Test Site is the preferred 
location. An official at the Energy Department said that the 
assessment was not finished but that "the department is heading 
in that direction."

Peter Stockton, who was special assistant to the last energy 
secretary in the Clinton administration, Bill Richardson, said 
Mr. Richardson had worked for two years to get the weapons 
material out of the area but had been stymied by bureaucrats at 
the department. Officials are often reluctant to give up weapons 
materials, Mr. Stockton and others say, because it means a loss 
of prestige and resources for their programs.

"It is the first time that it's ever been moved for security 
reasons," Mr. Stockton said. "There are multiple tons of 
plutonium and high enriched uranium, certain other things down 
there you wouldn't want a terrorist to get his hands on," he 
said.

Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, who 
has been a critic of security at the energy agency, said he was 
pleased that the department may be taking steps to remove the 
material.

"Al Qaeda terrorists are fully capable of taking advantage of 
poor security at D.O.E. facilities if they remain unaddressed," 
Mr. Markey said.

Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
 8 Better days for Cooper?

Omaha.com

August 11, 2002

Apath appears to be opening up for Cooper Nuclear Station to move 
beyond the near-crisis that has gripped it in recent months.

The Board of Directors for the Nebraska Public Power District has 
publicly committed to keeping the plant open and operating at the 
highest standards. Complicated lawsuits with two of the station's 
partners have been settled. And NPPD is negotiating with a 
private company, experienced in turning around poorly performing 
nuclear facilities, to run Cooper.

These developments will come as welcome news for residents of 
southeastern Nebraska, who had expressed concern about the 
possible closing of the plant. A shutdown of Cooper, with its 760 
workers, would have been a major economic blow to that corner of 
the state.

Not that Cooper has shaken off all its troubles. Members of the 
federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission spoke bluntly in North 
Platte last week about the plant's shortcomings and past failures 
to rectify them.

NPPD has signaled its commitment to get the plant on the right 
track. One positive step came last spring when the power district 
announced an ambitious plan to reduce turnover. The potential 
cost of that is projected to be between $109 million and $114 
million.

Cooper Station appears to be slowly extricating itself from its 
difficulties, although much work remains. The plant seems to now 
have new opportunities. Those in charge of it should make the 
most of them.

©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright
*****************************************************************
 9 Welcoming the wrong children from Chernobyl 

Boston Globe Online: Print it!

By Mary Mulkerin Donius, Globe Correspondent, 8/11/2002 

When Ginny and Jim Hoar heard about the Chernobyl Children's 
Project from their parish priest, they thought helping a sick or 
disadvantaged child would be worthwhile and a good way to teach 
their two boys, ages 6 and 8, about helping others. 

The Hanover couple committed to becoming a host family for the 
month of July and agreed to take in two boys who were, according 
to the project's organizers, suffering physically, emotionally or 
economically as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. 

Then they got to work. Jim, a Boston firefighter, refinished an 
old bureau and hit yard sales in search of an extra bed frame and 
mattress, while Ginny shopped for summer wardrobes for their 
young visitors. 

''When we decide to do something, we don't do it halfway, we take 
it very seriously,'' said Ginny, a nurse in the intensive care 
unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

But when their house guests arrived, the Hoars were stunned to 
discover that they were neither sick nor impoverished. 

The boys, both 10-year-old natives of Ukraine, were not only 
strong and healthy but also wise to Western ways, the Hoars said. 
They hummed along to the theme songs of cable television shows 
and played video games with as much expertise as their own 
children. What's more, the Hoars said, they turned up their noses 
at some of the secondhand clothes they were offered. 

''The project's literature warned us that the kids might not know 
how to use a toilet. Well, ours were experts on computers,'' she 
said. 

Two weeks into the visit, after the Hoars' suspicions about the 
children's medical conditions were confirmed by local doctors, 
they complained to the Chernobyl Children's Project. 

The project arranged their transfer to another family, Dan and 
Brenda McLean of Canton, who had hosted girls the previous two 
years. Dan McLean had only positive things to say about their 
visit, describing the experience as ''awesome,'' and adding that 
''the four weeks the kids are here has an impact all year long.'' 
The contingent returned home on July 25. 

Looking back, Ginny Hoar said, ''Maybe we should have gone along 
with it. But that's not the kind of people we are.'' 

The Hoars had learned from project organizers that a Ukrainian 
doctor was giving free trips to the United States to a number of 
healthy children of influential families, allegedly in order to 
ensure the program for the needy kids would continue. 

''If corruption is the price of doing business over there and we 
have to tolerate a low percentage of ringers in order to help the 
kids who really need it, then [the project] should let everyone 
know that,'' she said. 

The Rev. Bob Bowers, pastor at St. Catherine of Siena in 
Charlestown, has been president of the Chernobyl Children's 
Project for eight years. In that time, the project, one of the 
largest of its kind in the United States, has brought nearly 900 
children to the United States and each year shipped thousands of 
dollars worth of medical supplies to the region around the 
nuclear power plant destroyed in a 1986 accident. 

Bowers said that shortly after this year's delegation of 116 
children and 14 chaperones arrived in the United States on June 
27, it became obvious to several host families that certain 
children didn't meet the criteria for the monthlong, 
all-expenses-paid trip. 

''We got duped,'' Bowers said, ''It's an embarrassment. This 
project is based on integrity, and it's a disaster to have this 
kind of deception.'' 

Chernobyl Children's Project literature indicates that to be 
eligible for a trip to the United States, a child must meet three 
of five criteria: be between the ages of 8 and 15; have 
documented levels of radiation in their bodies; be economically 
disadvantaged; live in a contaminated zone; or be psycho-socially 
at risk. 

Bowers said through medical testing and investigative work, the 
project discovered that eight children, all from Ukraine, made it 
onto the trip under false pretenses. In the past, most of the 
visiting children had come from Belarus and Russia, where 
contamination levels from the nuclear disaster are much higher. 

Bowers said the project places considerable trust in doctors in 
the countries it serves to help in the selection of appropriate 
children, since they are the most experienced in the 
Chernobyl-related problems. The project's medical team then 
checks the selected children. 

In May, the project's doctors examined the Ukraine children, 
noted that some children didn't seem sick, but assumed that the 
children met other parts of the criteria, according to Bowers. 

He said that Dr. Aleksandr Lyutkevich, from Ukraine, admitted to 
project organizers that he had invited healthy children of 
certain families in order to get ''special favors.'' In a draft 
report to the project's board of directors submitted during the 
first week of August, Bowers explained that Lyutkevich 
''maintains it was necessary because there were not enough 
parents who trusted him'' and the only way ''to secure hospital 
space for the American team arriving in May to triage the 
children was to promise trips for the hospital administration.'' 

''This is rare in our project,'' Bowers added. ''We've never had 
to confront something like this before. Relative to the scope of 
our work - 900 children so far - this is relatively minor to the 
phenomenal work the project is accomplishing.'' 

Daniel Boroschoff, president of the American Institute of 
Philanthropy (www.charitywatch.org), a watchdog group, said this 
kind of experience isn't uncommon. 

''It's very difficult to deal with people in developing countries 
and maintain an efficient system of checks and balances,'' he 
said. While organizations should research their partners very 
carefully, ''Should you spend 10 grand to check this guy out? 
That's 10 grand you couldn't use to let kids participate.'' 

Boroschoff said corruption is often an unfortunate byproduct of 
well-intentioned charity work. ''It happens with any social 
welfare program.

People manage to take advantage and get through.'' 

For many of the host families this year, the shadow of corruption 
that hovered over the monthlong trip didn't detract from their 
experience. 

Pat Brennan, a single mother of four in Scituate, has hosted four 
children during the past two years. She said that most of the 
turmoil that occurred during this year's visit can be attributed 
to ''gossip,'' and that it's the host family's obligation ''to do 
what God asked us to do.'' 

Brennan believes that the project's clear mission is to offer 
children respite from radiation, and that anyone who thinks it's 
something else didn't read the literature. ''You either open your 
home, or you don't,'' she said. The nature of the children's 
problems, whether medical, emotional or economic, ''is none of 
our business.'' 

Mike Wankum, a meteorologist at WLVI-TV (Ch. 56) who lives in 
Scituate and has hosted children for the past two summers, said 
that his first reaction to the abuse by the Ukraine contingent 
was ''how dare they.'' But upon reflection, he said, he decided 
that while it ''wasn't supposed to happen, some good came out of 
it. The kids still got a chance to see what America is like and 
maybe diffuse some negative feelings they may have had toward 
us.'' 

But for Bowers, the integrity of the project is the top priority. 
He is proposing to the project's board that they refrain from 
working with Ukraine in the future, perhaps permanently. And he 
guarantees the project will no longer work with Lyutkevich. He 
also is sending letters of apology to religious organizations 
that sponsored the children, and will meet individually with any 
host family who would like additional clarification on the 
matter. The project's money comes from religious organizations, 
individual Catholic parishes, as well as from corporate sponsors. 

Bowers said he feels badly for the Hoars. ''The project folded 
its arms around them, and I spent hours working with them .... 
it's no fun being disappointed.'' 

Although they are sorry that they didn't get to help someone who 
was truly in need, the Hoars are encouraged by Bowers' proposed 
remedies. 

When asked if she would consider volunteering as a host family 
for the project again, Ginny Hoar said, ''We'd like to see the 
program work and work well. If they make all the changes they say 
they're going to, we'd think about it.'' 

This story ran on page S1 of the Boston Globe on 8/11/2002. © 
*****************************************************************
 10 Administration does the right thing on Cold War health claims 

Monday, August 12, 2002
 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal 
EDITORIAL: And end to the foot-dragging
 
Health claims by former workers exposed to toxic chemicals at 
Department of Energy facilities in states such as Nevada are 
generally filed against private contractors. But in fact the 
federal agency calls the shots in determining how zealously such 
claims are contested -- since the DOE has previously reimbursed 
many contractors for the costs of continuing to appeal those 
claims, even if a medical screening panel found them to have 
merit. 

Two years ago, Congress passed a law instructing the Energy 
Department to stop fighting legitimate claims, and instead to 
actually help the injured workers with their claims. 

Lawmakers from some of those states complained an original set of 
regulations proposed by the administration ran counter to the 
intent of that bill. 

But now Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has apparently overruled 
his own staff; final Energy Department regulations issued 
Thursday show the Bush administration will reverse course and now 
tell government contractors not to fight the claims from Cold 
War-era nuclear weapons workers. 

Mr. Abraham "really deserves some credit for reversing some of 
the flaws in the previous rule," comments Richard Miller, policy 
analyst with the Government Accountability Project, a 
Washington-based watchdog group. 

Lawmakers also praised the new, uniform standard for being 
generous rather than restrictive. The new rules say a claimant 
should be reimbursed if exposure to a toxic substance on the job 
was a significant factor in "aggravating, contributing to or 
causing" the worker's illness or death. 

The new rules could affect more than 12,000 workers currently 
seeking help from the Energy Department in getting compensation 
-- workers who for the most part were not included in a year-old 
federal program that provides medical care and $150,000 each to 
weapons plant employees made ill by exposure to radiation or to 
silica and beryllium, which cause lung diseases. 

Although the potential cost of the claims is in the hundreds of 
millions of dollars, those are in fact costs incurred by the 
government in fighting the Cold War, and it is simple justice to 
make sure the workers (or their survivors) are compensated for 
their legitimate damages. 

Yes, the government has a fiduciary duty not to squander taxpayer 
funds. But medical screening panels have long been in place to 
review the merits of these claims. 

The Bush administration has now done the right thing.
 
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002
*****************************************************************
 11 UK: Gulf veteran babies 'risk deformities'

Guardian Unlimited Observer | Politics | 
                                       
[UP] 

Nic Fleming and Mark Townsend Sunday August 11, 2002 The Observer 
[http://www.observer.co.uk]                
 		
Children of British soldiers who fought in wars in which depleted 
uranium ammunition was used are at greater risk of suffering 
genetic diseases passed on by their fathers, new research 
reveals. 

Veterans of the conflicts in the Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo have 
been found to have up to 14 times the usual level of chromosome 
abnormalities in their genes. That has raised fears they will 
pass cancers and genetic illnesses to their offspring. The study 
is the first to analyse chromosome deformation in soldiers. 

Paul Tyler MP, a member of the Royal British Legion Gulf War 
Syndrome working group, said it would be 'outrageous' if the 
findings were ignored by the Government. 

'High levels of genetic damage do not occur naturally. It 
increases the probability of cancer, deformed babies and other 
genetic conditions significantly,' said Professor Albrecht 
Schott, a German biochemist who co-ordinated the research. 

Schott collected blood samples from 16 British veterans last 
year. Fourteen had fought in the Gulf war, one of whom also 
served in Bosnia. Of the others, one served only in Kosovo and 
one only in Bosnia. Two of the veterans are women. The former 
soldiers have between double and 14 times the usual level of 
chromosome abnormalities. The average was five-and-a-half times 
higher than found in civilians. None had less than double the 
normal rate. 

Ex-Warrant Officer Ray Bristow, who served in Saudi Arabia during 
the 1991 Gulf war, has previously been found to have hundreds of 
times higher than the safe limit of depleted uranium in his 
urine. The father of three from Hull, now a wheelchair user, 
suffers problems with his memory, respiratory system, liver, 
kidney, bowels and hearing. He recently had a large tumour 
removed from his hand. 

Schott, who has a £30,000 debt after funding the tests himself, 
said that in the 18 months since they were done the condition of 
many veterans had worsened. Some were suffering from cancers. 

'This confirms that we have been exposed to ionising radiation,' 
said Shaun Rusling, chairman of the National Gulf Veterans and 
Families Association. 'That is the only way we could have this 
level of chromosome damage.' 

Last month the MoD said it was launching an investigation after a 
study revealed 19 Gulf veterans had developed lymphatic or bone 
marrow cancers compared with 11 in a control group. 

A US government survey of 21,000 veterans has also shown that 
those who served in the Gulf were two to three times more likely 
to report birth defects in their children. 

Depleted uranium is used in shells because its high density 
allows maximum penetration of hard targets such as tanks and 
underground bunkers. The US and Britain have admitted using 350 
tonnes of depleted uranium in the Gulf war. Iraqi scientists have 
reported high levels of childhood cancers and deformed babies in 
populations exposed to the ammunition. 

Some 53,000 British troops served in the Gulf. Of these, at least 
552 have died and more than 5,200 have reported a range of 
illnesses. 

Once in the body, depleted uranium can remain for years emitting 
small doses of alpha radiation. Former soldiers who were heavy 
smokers, or had undergone chemotherapy or X-ray treatment were 
excluded from the study as these factors could also lead to 
higher than normal levels of chromosome aberrations. 

Kenny Duncan believes that his children's health problems are 
linked to his service in the Gulf war. All three were born with 
deformed toes and suffer from asthmas, hay fever and eczema. 

His wife Mandy said: 'It's scandalous that while we are suffering 
with the consequences of what the Government has done, 
politicians are just thinking about money.' 

A spokesman for the MoD dismissed Schott's findings. 'We consider 
the tests neither well thought out nor scientifically sound,' he 
said. 

[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
*****************************************************************
 12 [toeslist] Alert: Stop Radioactive Waste to Hanford
 
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 22:58:21 -0500 (CDT)

 
From: "Robert Pregulman, WashPIRG Executive Director"

<RobertPregulman@WashPIRG.org> Subject: WashPIRG update on plans
to import radioactive waste to Hanford Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002
17:08:29 -0400

The risks from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation already threaten
the Columbia River and our health.  Now, the U.S. Department of
Energy wants to dump nearly 70,000 truckloads of radioactive waste
at Hanford, adding to that risk.  No more waste should be imported
to Hanford until the soil and groundwater there is cleaned up.

Please take a moment to ask the U.S. Department of Energy to stop
importing radioactive waste to Hanford and redo their analysis of
the impacts to human health and the environment from importing
waste to Hanford, including risks of groundwater contamination and
the risk from transporting nuclear waste to Hanford.  Follow the
link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail the Department
of Energy.

http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=119

BACKGROUND

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State contains a
legacy of nuclear waste that makes it the single most contaminated
site on this continent.  What's more, it sits directly on the banks
of the Columbia River, one of our region's most valuable natural
resources.  In May, the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) issued
a plan to double the total amount of radioactive waste buried in
Hanford's unlined soil trenches.  The analysis of how this impacts
our health and the environment, the Solid Waste Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS), is now out for public comment.

USDOE's EIS calls for importing more radioactive waste and hazardous
mixed radioactive waste from across the country and dumping it in
unlined soil trenches at Hanford - 70,000 truckloads of waste on
our highways!  The dangers are many:

* Dumping more radioactive waste will contaminate groundwater
flowing towards the Columbia River for "thousands of years."

* The risk of nuclear waste transportation to Hanford is not even
considered in the EIS.  More radioactive waste on the roads means
a greater risk of accidents.

* Dumping radioactive waste in unlined trenches provides no protection
from soil and eventual groundwater contamination.  Even our kitchen
garbage cannot be buried in unlined soil trenches!

* The USDOE plan more than doubles the total amount of radioactive
waste buried in unlined soil trenches at Hanford, and also includes
importing dangerous "transuranic wastes" which contain deadly
plutonium!

The current mission of Hanford is cleanup.  This is NOT cleanup.
This is a U.S. Department of Energy plan to dump radioactive waste
at Hanford.

Please take a moment to ask the U.S. Department of Energy to stop
importing radioactive waste to Hanford and redo their analysis of
the impacts to human health and the environment from importing
waste to Hanford, including risks of groundwater contamination and
the risk from transporting nuclear waste to Hanford.  Follow the
link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail the Department
of Energy.

http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=119

Sincerely,

Robert Pregulman WashPIRG Executive Director http://www.WashPIRG.org

P.S.  Thanks again for your support.  Please feel free to share
this e-mail with your family and friends.

_________________________________________________________________
Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.

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*****************************************************************
 13 UK: Nuclear Cargo Heading For Britain   

Sky News - 

[http://www.sky.com]   

 Nuclear Fuels Report £2.3bn Losses 
Cancer Cluster Near Nuke Plant £48bn Bill For Nuclear Waste
  
Two ships laden with nuclear fuel are heading for Britain amidst 
unprecedented security measures. 

The vessels are returning a consignment of plutonium bought by 
Japan from the Government-run BNFL two years ago. 

Japan ordered the material to be returned after it was found that 
safety records at BNFL had been falsified. 

Protesters are planning a flotilla of more than 100 boats to 
intercept the ships when they move up the Irish Sea towards 
Cumbria, although they will not try to blockade the ships' path. 

Threat of terrorism

"This plutonium is dangerous enough as it is - we don't want to 
do anything to make it more of a risk," said Andrew Clemence of 
Pembrokeshire Anti-Nuclear Alliance, which is organising the 
protests. 

With enough plutonium in the consignment to make 50 nuclear 
bombs, there is also a very real the threat of terrorism. 

BNFL insists the specially strengthened vessels are among the 
safest in the world. 

The Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal are the first commercial 
ships since the Second World War to be armed. 

But security experts warn that the security is inadequate and the 
ships are vulnerable to attack.
   
  Last Updated: 07:04 UK, Monday August 12, 2002   

  © 2002 BSkyB 
*****************************************************************
 14 Commissioners OK new YMP resolution*

By RICH THURLOW, Editor August 09, 2002

*Nye should play lead role in negotiations for protections, 
benefits, they say*

TONOPAH - Still neutral but more aggressive about it might best 
describe Nye County's position regarding the Yucca Mountain 
Project.

Tuesday the county commissioners approved a new resolution 
regarding the plan to store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear 
waste in Yucca Mountain, one spurred by Congress and President 
Bush overriding Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of the project. Yucca 
Mountain is located 12 miles north of Lathrop Wells in southern 
Nye County.

On the surface the resolution doesn't appear to be much different 
from the county's previous position of neutrality on the issue. 
The key, Commissioner Cameron McRae said after the meeting, is 
that the resolution spells out that interaction needs to be 
between the Dept. of Energy and Nye County, not DOE and other 
political entities in Nevada.

"We're still neutral, but now that they have done this (killed 
Guinn's veto) they need to talk to us about mitigation and the 
final transportation plan," McRae said.

Commissioner Henry Neth said it was his desire to make sure "all 
the questions are answered" about the YMP, particularly those 
regarding safety.

To that end, the resolution calls for the county to "engage 
energetically and constructively with (DOE and Congress) as the 
YMP proceeds to final design, licensing and implementation." That 
includes input on scientific and technical issues, an 
not-so-subtle call for more federal money in order for the county 
to continue its oversight work.

The county also plans to "vigorously pursue" objectives listed in 
the community protection plan. That includes local empowerment 
regarding safety and health, equity in transportation, and 
developing community capacity and resources.

That means, as is spelled out in the resolution, that the 
commissioners want Yucca Mountain to be more than just a 
repository where waste is permanently stored. It is envisioned as 
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."

McRae voiced one objection to the wording in the resolution, the 
"fifth whereas" regarding the "skillful and valiant efforts" of 
Guinn and Sen. Harry Reid in trying to have the YMP killed.

"That is absolutely not my position," McRae said. Commissioner 
Joni Eastley said she had similar problems with the paragraph, 
and the commissioners had it removed from the resolution prior to 
its final approval.

/©Pahrump Valley Times 2002/
*****************************************************************
 15 Unicoi BMA to consider doing away with zoning *

Erwin Record

*Do you think investors will choose to locate the uranium-enrichment
plant in Unicoi?*
Definitely. 13% Probably. 56% Doubtful. 31% I don't know. 0%

08/11/02

*/From Staff Reports /*

According to an agenda issued last week, the Unicoi Board of 
Mayor and Aldermen will consider a resolution that would remove 
zoning regulations in the town.

BMA members will consider the resolution at a special meeting 
Monday, Aug. 12, at town hall. The board's regularly scheduled 
meeting was moved from Aug. 19 to Aug. 12 by Mayor Ken Lewis.

The zoning resolution will come only days before an announcement 
may be made concerning Louisiana Energy Services' decision on a 
site location for its $1.1 billion uranium-enrichment plant.

A 120-acre site in Unicoi -- near Tinker Road -- has been 
mentioned as a possible site for the plant, which has led to much 
controversy in the county, especially in the town of Unicoi. A 
group calling itself Citizens for the Preservation of the Valley 
Beautiful organized about two months ago to oppose the plant.

The acreage near Tinker Road would have to be re- zoned for the 
plant to locate there. If BMA members opt to do away with zoning, 
however, LES would be free to locate its plant to that site 
without meeting zoning requirements set forth by the town.

Public meetings with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, however, 
would still be required.

Unicoi City Recorder Marcia Johnson told The Erwin Record that 
Mayor Lewis had requested the resolution be placed on the agenda. 
A copy of the resolution was faxed to The Erwin Record at the 
newspaper's request.

Last week the Unicoi Planning Commission chose not to endorse the 
Unicoi County Economic Development Board's efforts to recruit 
LES' plant to Unicoi until more information was available.

In addition to his role as mayor, Lewis also sits on the Unicoi 
Planning Commission, holds a seat on the county commission and a 
seat on the EDB.

Also to be considered at the meeting will be an agenda item to 
require permits for public demonstrations. Last month, the 
citizens' group opposed to the plant demonstrated at town hall 
holding signs that read "Yes, to the Valley Beautiful" and 
chanting, "Where's our mayor?"

Lewis had canceled last month's meeting of the BMA citing a lack 
of agenda items.

LES officials told the NRC that it should name a short list of 
sites by the end of this week, and its pick for a final site by 
the end of August.

*****************************************************************
 16 Unicoi Board To Hear Various Proposals On Potential Uranium Plant 

<http://www.xtn.net>

*125 West Summer Street - Greeneville, TN - (423) 798-0545* Haze 

By: /By BILL JONES/Staff Writer /
Source:/ The Greeneville Sun <http://greene.xtn.net> /
08-10-2002

The town of Unicoi?s Board of Mayor and Aldermen is scheduled to 
consider three matters that apparently are related to the 
potential location of a uranium-enrichment plant there during its 
Monday afternoon meeting.

Items on the agenda for the 5:30 p.m. meeting call for the board 
to consider:

? a resolution calling for the Unicoi Planning Commission to 
draft a revision of the town?s zoning ordinance, ?returning 
zoning control to rightful owners of the land,? and present the 
revision to the board of mayor and aldermen at its October 
meeting;

? under new business, a request from Alderman Urban Bird for a 
requirement for ?permits for marching, parades and 
demonstrations?; and

? under special business, a request from Alderman Johnny Lynch 
for the holding of a ?uranium enrichment plant forum.?

Town Is Possible Plant Site

An international consortium of nuclear energy firms called 
Louisiana Energy Services (LES) has announced plans to build, at 
an as-yet-undisclosed location, a uranium enrichment plant to 
help meet the fuel needs of U.S. commercial nuclear power plants.

A 100-acre site off Tinker Road, within the boundaries of the 
Town of Unicoi, has been proposed by the Unicoi County Economic 
Development Board as a possible site for the $1 billion plant.

A number of Unicoi County officials, including the members of the 
county school board, have endorsed the location of such a plant 
in Unicoi, but a citizens group, whose members say they have 
concerns about the safety and environmental impact a uranium 
enrichment plant could have, are opposed.

The citizens group, which calls itself ?Citizens for the 
Preservation of the Valley Beautiful,? held a protest last month 
at Unicoi Town Hall after the July meeting of the board of mayor 
and aldermen was canceled.

The group also has been meeting weekly at Alderman Lynch?s 
business, Farmhouse Gallery and Gardens, to discuss concerns and 
publicize the group?s opposition to the uranium enrichment plant.

On Friday, Lynch said members of the citizens group fear that 
Mayor Kenneth Lewis?s proposal to end zoning in Unicoi is an 
attempt to smooth the way for locating a uranium enrichment plant 
in town.

As things now stand, Lynch said, the proposed 100-acre plant site 
would have to be rezoned ?industrial? by the Unicoi Planning 
Commission before the plant could be built.

?They?re taking away the people?s protection when they take away 
zoning,? Lynch said.

Demonstration Permits

A possible requirement for permits for marching, parades and 
demonstrations, offered by Alderman Bird, Lynch says, may be 
related to last month?s demonstration outside Unicoi Town Hall by 
opponents of the proposed uranium enrichment plant.

Alderman Bird staged a one-man counter-demonstration in which he 
drove a pickup truck carrying a large hand-lettered sign around 
anti-Nuclear demonstrators. One side of the sign urged: 
?Troublemakers keep their bloomers on until we can get 
information.?

Public Forum Proposal

Lynch said during a Friday telephone interview that he expects 
his request for the board to hold a public forum on the uranium 
enrichment plant issue to be defeated. He said he expects Mayor 
Lewis and Aldermen Bird and Ted Hopson, who is a member of the 
Economic Development Board, to vote against his proposal.

Alderman Jo Lynn Martin may join him in supporting the measure, 
he said.

Lynch also said that he expects both supporters and opponents of 
locating a uranium enrichment plant in Unicoi to attend the 
Monday afternoon board meeting.

News From The Associated Press 
© 2002 East Tennessee Network - R.A.I.D. (Regionalized Access 
*****************************************************************
 17 15 Citizens File Objection To Nuclear Fuel Systems? Proposed 
Expansion Plans *

<http://www.xtn.net>

*125 West Summer Street - Greeneville, TN - (423) 798-0545*

By: /By BILL JONES/Staff Writer /
Source:/ The Greeneville Sun <http://greene.xtn.net> /
08-10-2002

A Greeneville attorney has filed documents with the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) on behalf of 15 Northeast Tennessee 
residents objecting to an amendment of an Erwin company?s 
?special nuclear material license.?

C. Todd Chapman filed the documents on Thursday with the NRC in 
connection with a request from Nuclear Fuel Services Inc.?s 
request for amendment of its NRC special nuclear material 
license.

Nuclear Fuel Services seeks to build additional buildings and 
begin a new production process in which highly enriched uranium 
will be ?down-blended? to produce low-enriched uranium fuel for 
Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear reactors.

In a cover letter, Chapman wrote to the NRC that the 15 
?declarants? (citizens who filed declarations with the NRC) 
?respectfully request the following:

? that the amendment of Special Nuclear Material License 
(SNM-124) (docket #70-143) be rescinded;

? that a public hearing be conducted; and

? that a thorough Environmental Impact Statement be prepared 
detailing, among other things, the impact on downstream consumers 
of water from the Nolichucky River.

Separate ?declarations? were submitted by Julia Beach, of 
Greeneville; Tamara Davis Chapman, of Greeneville; David Byrd, of 
Erwin; William Cooper, of Erwin; Brandon Davis, of Washington 
County; Julia B. Evans, of Greeneville; Denne E. Evans of 
Greeneville; Toni L. Foreman, of Greene County; Linnea Gilmer, of 
Johnson City; JoAnna Hammonds, of Gray; Whitney Johnson, of Gray; 
Gerald M. O?Connor, Jr., of Kingsport; James Smith, of Unicoi; 
Drew Walsh, of Johnson City; and Peter H. Zars, of Erwin.

Concerns Expressed

Among the concerns expressed in the declarations were several 
relating to the impact of possible increased radioactive and 
chemical emissions from the NFS plant on the Nolichucky River and 
those who use it.

Johnson City resident Linnea Gilmer?s declaration, for example, 
notes that she uses the river for a variety of recreational 
activities, including hiking, swimming and kayaking.

?I have serious concerns regarding the short- and long-term 
effects on water sources,? the declaration states.

James Smith, of Unicoi, states in his declaration that he is 
concerned about whether the plant?s safety procedures, ?in the 
case of a major mishap, might be sufficient.? Smith indicated 
that his children attend school ?very near NFS.?

Several other declarations question the NRC?s decision not to 
require that an environmental impact statement be provided in 
connection with the NFS license amendment request.

Julia B. Evans, of Greeneville, wrote in her declaration that she 
?found no mention? in the NRC?s Environmental Assessment 
?relative to the effect on downstream sources of drinking water, 
downstream consumers of harvest fish (e.g. small-mouth bass) or 
those who use downstream water for recreational activities such 
as swimming. I submit that the effect on all of these activities, 
especially drinking water, need to be closely evaluated.?

Evans also wrote that she feels it to be ?clearly inappropriate 
to allow major federal action which will have a significant 
environmental impact to be approved without requiring an 
Environmental Impact Statement.?

Greeneville?s Julia Beach wrote that she, as well as her family, 
consume municipal water derived from the Nolichucky River. She 
also called for an evaluation of the possible impact on 
downstream drinking water that could result from amendment of the 
NFS special nuclear materials license.

David Byrd, of Erwin, stated in his declaration that he is 
concerned about the impact of possible increased air pollution 
from the NFS plant. Byrd wrote that he lives downwind from the 
NFS plant.

?I don?t want to breathe polluted air that is any worse than what 
it already is,? he wrote.

© 2002 East Tennessee Network - R.A.I.D. (Regionalized Access 
*****************************************************************
 18 BNFL pursues US government over £100m shortfall

Independent.co.uk <http://www.independent.co.uk>

By Jason Nissé

11 August 2002

British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is to pursue the US government for 
more than £100m of compensation over two contracts that have run 
into trouble.

The controversial nuclear waste group is to demand recompense to 
cover £70m of losses it has incurred because the US Department of 
Energy suspended all operations that involved contaminated 
material following the 11 September terrorist attacks.

This hit BNFL's contract to clean up a contaminated site in the 
East Tennessee Technology Park at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which was 
originally set up to process uranium for the Manhattan Project, 
which made the first atomic bomb.

Although the restrictions have now been lifted, BNFL has 
estimated that its losses because of the hold-up are £70m. The 
company made a provision in its accounts, which were published 
last week. It is understood that Hugh Collum, BNFL's chairman, is 
now pursuing the US Department of Energy for compensation to 
cover those losses.

This claim will come on top of an existing dispute between BNFL 
and the department after the company was sacked from a 
multi-billion- dollar contract to clean up the Hanford nuclear 
plant in Washington state.

BNFL was appointed to the clean-up in 1996, in a deal originally 
priced at $4bn (£2.5bn). The estimate of the cost rose to $7bn 
and then $15.2bn by 2000, when the then deputy energy secretary, 
TJ Glauthier, fired the company from the contract.

Mr Glauthier said he had serious concerns about BNFL's "business 
and management approach".

BNFL hired Ernst & Young, which is also its auditor, to frame a 
case for compensation from the US government. The British firm 
has been paid £200m from the contract but is believed to be 
pursuing another £40m.

Ernst & Young has been paid £1.5m in fees for its work on 
Hanford, which is more than the £1.4m it received for its audit 
of BNFL last year. All in all, the company paid Ernst & Young 
£3.9m last year, bringing the total amount of fees paid to the 
firm in the past three years by BNFL to more than £14m.

BNFL's accounts, published last week, show it is also hoping to 
claim nearly £700m in tax rebates because of the £2.33bn loss the 
group made last year. However, most of these tax rebates cannot 
be claimed until BNFL begins to make a profit.


<http://www.independent.co.uk

*****************************************************************
 19 Nye County seeks role in nuclear waste project

Sunday, August 11, 2002
 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal 
 
By STEVE TETREAULT 
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU 

WASHINGTON -- While Nevada's top officials are building lawsuits 
to fight the Yucca Mountain Project, leaders in rural Nye County 
continue to march in the opposite direction. 

County commissioners said last week they plan to strengthen ties 
with the Energy Department as it develops a nuclear waste 
repository within the county's borders. 

They hope to secure an inside track on health and safety 
protections and economic benefits for the county's residents. 

A new commission policy adopted Tuesday declares Nye County 
"intends to engage energetically and constructively" with the DOE 
and Congress as the repository moves into design, licensing and 
construction. 

"We're not only stepping up, we're taking an active participation 
in the process," said County Commission Chairman Jeff Taguchi, a 
minister and businessman from Beatty. "Nye County has chosen to 
step up to the plate." 

The new policy widens Nye County's differences with Gov. Kenny 
Guinn, Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign, and most other elected 
Nevadans who continue to maintain a "hell, no" attitude on the 
Yucca Mountain Project. 

After losing votes in Congress to designate Nevada for nuclear 
waste burial, the state has committed millions in donations and 
taxpayer dollars in its Yucca Protection Fund to continue 
challenging the project in court and in licensing hearings that 
will be organized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

But Nye leaders hear different drums. They are setting aside what 
they once called their "aggressively neutral" position on the 
Yucca project in favor of a more engaged approach. 

They want to deepen the relationship to ensure that the giant, 
but sparsely populated, county doesn't get overlooked as the 
project progresses. County leaders believe the repository will 
become a reality despite budget struggles, continuing questions 
about DOE science and the looming legal battles. 

Taguchi said he wants to talk to the DOE about possibly 
stationing a Nye County employee within the Yucca project to help 
develop local transportation and economic development policies. 
The county already has a similar arrangement with the Bureau of 
Land Management. 

"We would like to spend more time in Washington, D.C., working 
policy-maker to policy-maker to everybody's mutual benefit," 
Taguchi said. 

Nye County officials also have formed a "protection plan" that 
requests privatizing 230,000 acres of federal land for county 
development, along with access to tax credits and bond programs 
to lure in new businesses. 

The county also wants the DOE to create a local research center 
for nuclear waste and to place future Yucca Mountain 
administrative offices in Nye County rather than in Las Vegas. 

Nye County already has a relationship with the DOE. This year 
county contractors wrapped up a three-year, $12 million 
geoscience grant in which they collected modeling data on water 
flow and ground structure from test wells around Amargosa Valley. 
Nye officials are seeking a five-year, $25 million follow-up 
grant. 

Taguchi maintains the financial relationship does not color the 
county's views, other than its research has not turned up any 
"showstoppers" for the repository. 

"We regard our work as independent," added Les Bradshaw, the 
county's Natural Resources Department manager. "We're not doing 
their work, we're doing our work that's in Nye County's best 
interests, its the best way we can protect health and safety." 

State leaders are not pleased that Nye officials do not share 
their belief that the Yucca Mountain Project is poorly conceived 
and probably will jeopardize Nevadans' health and safety if built 
100 miles northwest of Las Vegas to receive 77,000 tons of highly 
radioactive material from all over the country. 

"It's of concern that counties are independently talking to DOE," 
said Bob Loux, who coordinates Nevada's anti-Yucca efforts as 
director of its Agency for Nuclear Projects. "We'd like to see 
people keep an arm's length from DOE but Nye County feels it has 
to look out for its own interests." 

Loux said he did not believe Nye County actions would have any 
impact on the state's own efforts to kill the project. 

"The counties are political subdivisions of the state, so there's 
not a lot they can really do," he said. 

Other rural Nevadans, however, might be interested in working 
alongside Nye County in seeking cooperation with the DOE. Lincoln 
County officials long have sought a station for Caliente through 
which nuclear waste might be transferred on truck or rail for the 
final leg of shipment to Yucca Mountain. 

Taguchi and Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips met Friday over coffee 
in Las Vegas to discuss common interests on nuclear waste. 

"The counties that are really impacted by transportation, if they 
got together and are part of the same transportation solution, 
we're going to accomplish more of our goals of reducing risk, 
mitigating impact and maximizing benefits than we would 
independently," Phillips said. 

The Energy Department said it welcomes the cooperation. 

"As we have done in the past, we welcome and will continue to 
have an open dialogue on the Yucca Mountain Project with all 
effected units of government, including Nye County," DOE 
spokesman Joe Davis said. 

Taguchi said Nye County still is not officially endorsing Yucca 
Mountain Project, and would rather it not happen at all. But he 
acknowledges it's getting harder to convince people that's not 
the case. 

"Realistically what people are going to interpret is that Nye 
County is going to participate," he said.
 

 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002
*****************************************************************
 20 A consignment of spent nuclear fuel arrives from Ukraine at 
chemical processing works near Krasnoyarsk 

Pravda.RU 

Aug, 12 2002   

[http://english.pravda.ru]     

A train of seven armoured wagons-containers with spent nuclear 
fuel on Monday safely arrived from Ukraine at the chemical 
processing works near Krasnoyarsk (Siberia). 

As the head of the public relations service of the works, Pavel 
Morozov, reported, several days later, after appropriate 
procedures at the local customs, another consignment of 
containers with spent nuclear fuel will be stored under a 
ten-metre layer of water. 

On Monday the Krasnoyarsk works completed the placing into the 
storage of the containers which had arrived from the Kalinin 
nuclear power plant (centre of the European part of Russia). Yury 
Morozov said that in 2002 the works had transferred more than 128 
million roubles to the budget of the Krasnoyarsk Territory for 
the storage of spent nuclear fuel. 

© RIAN


*****************************************************************
 21 Tribe seeks uranium enrichment Utah leaders fighting Indian 
proposal to store nuclear waste on reservation
 
By Martin Kasindorf USA TODAY
 
SKULL VALLEY, Utah -- Midday on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian 
Reservation. Nothing is moving. Eighty miles by road from Salt 
Lake City, the broiling desert landscape has the grandeur of an 
Old West painting by Frederic Remington. And the emptiness.

 The tribe's 12 buffalo gaze blankly at 18,000 acres of 
sagebrush. Clerks at the tribally owned Pony Express Station 
convenience store haven't seen a car for 20 minutes. Since a 
rocket-engine testing facility closed in 1998, the only jobs here 
have been at the store.

 ''It's a wasteland -- a beautiful wasteland,'' says the tribal 
chairman, Leon Bear, 46.

 The 112-member Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians, one of the 
USA's smallest and poorest tribes, is desperate for prosperity. 
Opening a casino, the path of many other tribes, is not an 
option. Because Utah has no legal gambling, federal law rules out 
casinos on Indian lands there. So the Goshutes, defying the 
state's most powerful politicians, are trying to make the 
economic leap from buffalo to nuclear energy. 

Hoping for millions of dollars in rent, the obscure tribe has 
formed an alliance with big business to offer the nation's 
nuclear power plants a temporary home for overflowing radioactive 
waste until the controversial Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada 
opens years from now. As one of 562 federally recognized Indian 
''nations,'' the tribe has sovereign status conferring immunity 
from hostile state regulators.

 But Utah's political leaders say 40 years of open-air waste 
storage would gamble with the lives of 2.3 million people in 
fast-growing Utah. Skull Valley, Gov. Mike Leavitt says, is ''40 
miles from Salt Lake City as the radiation travels.''

Waste is piling up

 That an isolated band of Indians is talking about atomic waste 
reflects the nation's protracted struggle over what to do with 
the stuff. Forty-five years after the first commercial power 
plant opened in Shippingport, Pa., the USA is still years from a 
solution. All 50 states shun the nuclear power industry's 
high-level waste, the uranium pellets stacked in metal rods that 
are replaced in reactors when they stop forming chain reactions 
to produce energy. Deadly for 10,000 years, it is the most toxic 
junk on the planet. The spent fuel rods are piling up at 103 
plants in 31 states. 

The country has spent more than 20 years arguing over how to 
permanently dispose of nuclear waste. In 1982, Congress voted to 
take the waste off the utilities' hands and bury it. Later, 
Congress designated Yucca Mountain as the only site to be 
studied. Earlier this year, President Bush approved burying the 
waste at Yucca Mountain. He signed the $58 billion federal 
project into law July 23. Nevada has moved its long fight against 
the plan into the courts.

 Lobbying for Yucca Mountain, Bush and Energy Secretary Spencer 
Abraham argued after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that atomic 
waste kept outdoors at far-flung sites is vulnerable. However, 
even when Yucca Mountain's tunnels reach their 77,000-ton 
capacity in 2046, 44,000 tons of waste still would remain at 
power plants.

 Because Yucca Mountain won't open until at least 2010, the 
Goshutes are proposing a stopgap: a vast parking lot for 4,000 
cylinders of waste, each 19 feet tall. The facility would open in 
2005, enriching the tribe by $48 million or more, if the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission were to issue a license. The agency is 
expected to rule early next year.

Cousins of the Shoshones, the Goshutes once numbered 20,000 and 
dominated 3 million acres of desert. Visiting in 1872, Mark Twain 
wrote in Roughing It that their homeland was a ''rocky, wintry, 
repulsive'' wilderness. But the Goshutes clung to it, refusing 
President Lincoln's 1864 order to move 250 miles east. 

Today, only 560 Goshutes remain on tribal rolls. The 448 members 
of the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation govern 
themselves separately and have their own reservation 75 miles 
from here.

A 1917 presidential order created the reservation at Skull 
Valley, which got its name when early white travelers found human 
skulls scattered on an old Indian battlefield. Only 25 tribal 
members, including three children, live here. The others have 
moved away for jobs.

With the income from the nuclear project, Bear envisions a 
medical clinic, a police and fire station, a cultural center, a 
college scholarship fund. There would be 30 to 40 new jobs, 
mostly as security guards, enabling some of those who have left 
to come home, Bear says.

The Energy Department suggested nuclear waste storage to the 
tribe in 1989 as an economic development tool. In 1997, Bear 
signed a contract with Private Fuel Storage LLC, a consortium of 
eight utilities. Private Fuel Storage wants to ship 44,000 tons 
of waste to flatlands within sight of the ramshackle reservation 
village.

''You have a group of utility companies, exploiting what Indian 
nations value most, who have shopped around America until they 
could find someone who was willing to sell their sovereignty,'' 
says Leavitt, a Republican. He promises state aid if the Goshutes 
drop the project. ''We will go to the point of giving everyone 
who is qualified the guarantee of a college education, job 
placement and transportation in and out if they want to stay on 
the reservation,'' he says. 

Bear's reply: ''We feel that if we follow federal guidelines and 
rules, we can pretty much do what we want to do on our 
property.''

Various opponents

A vocal faction of the band, joined by the separate Confederated 
Goshute tribe, opposes Bear's pro-nuclear stand. ''As soon as one 
piece of that material gets in Skull Valley, it's a dead zone,'' 
says Sammy Blackbear, 38, who is Bear's cousin. 

Blackbear is one of a group suing the Interior Department to void 
the contract. ''They're not going to build a damn thing out here 
until they deal with us,'' Blackbear says. He says the contract 
is invalid because its financial terms have been kept secret; 
Utah officials and many tribal members haven't seen them. 

Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett, both Republicans, say 
the Skull Valley plan is unsafe. Horse-trading for the wavering 
senators' votes, Abraham told them that if Yucca Mountain died, 
''temporary'' Skull Valley was likely to become the permanent 
dump that Utah fears. He acted to undercut Skull Valley by 
promising to give utilities no federal dollars to ship waste 
there. As another inducement, six of Private Fuel Storage's eight 
partner utilities told the senators they would pay for no 
construction at Skull Valley as long as Yucca Mountain ''proceeds 
in a timely fashion.''

Hatch and Bennett voted July 9 for Yucca Mountain.

 Additional Utah actions:

 * State lawyers are stressing to the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission that Skull Valley is on two earthquake faults. It's 
also under the flight path of bomb-laden Air Force F-16s making 
7,000 training flights a year on a nearby test range. Private 
Fuel Storage says chances of a crash into a cask are fewer than 
one in a million. 

* The Legislature has banned high-level nuclear waste from 
entering Utah for storage. Another law subjects any business 
dealing with Private Fuel Storage to daily $10,000 fines and a 
75% tax. The Goshutes sued, calling the laws unconstitutional. A 
federal district judge in Salt Lake City agreed.

 Environmental activists call Utah politicians hypocrites for 
declaring nuclear waste non grata in Utah while backing it for 
Nevada. But Leavitt says Yucca Mountain's storage tunnels, 
studied by scientists for 20 years and guarded by the military, 
are ''substantially different'' from Skull Valley. 

Beyond the money the tribe could gain, Bear says, the nuclear 
deal has an Indian spiritual rationale. ''Much of the uranium was 
mined by Navajos on their reservation, and now it's returning to 
a reservation,'' he says. ''It was taken out of Mother Earth, and 
now it's looking for a place to rest. We're stewards of the 
Earth, and who's better to take care of this than the Native 
Americans?''                                                                                                            
 								     									 				 						
© Copyright 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.                                     
*****************************************************************
 22 Women support Yucca battle
 
Las Vegas SUN
 
Today: August 12, 2002 at 8:54:17 PDT 
 
By Cy Ryan 
<cy@lasvegassun.com [cy@lasvegassun.com] >
 SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

 CARSON CITY -- Women are overwhelmingly in favor of the state 
continuing the fight against Yucca Mountain, while men are evenly 
divided on the issue, according to a published public opinion 
poll.

 And the sentiment against the nuclear dump is stronger in Washoe 
County than in Southern Nevada where the repository would be 
located, according to the survey.

 The statewide sampling of 600 residents in a poll commissioned 
by the Reno newspaper Gazette-Journal and Channel 4 said 55 
percent backed the state in its effort to sidetrack the high 
level nuclear dump from Nevada. Thirty eight percent opposed the 
continued battle and seven percent were not sure. The poll was 
conducted by Research 2000 of Maryland and was done July 22-24. 
President Bush signed the legislation designating Yucca Mountain 
on July 23.

 The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent and those 
surveyed are considered likely to vote regularly in state 
elections.

 The survey said 63 percent of the women questioned favored going 
forward with the battle with the Energy Department, while 28 
percent suggested it be stopped. And nine percent were undecided.

 The sampling of men however found 48 percent opposed to 
continuing the battle, while 47 percent backed the state effort 
to stop the dump from coming to Nevada. Five percent were 
undecided.

 The poll showed that 52 percent of those questioned in Clark 
County favored continuing the fight, while 42 percent suggested 
the state end its battle. Six percent were undecided.

 In Washoe County, 61 percent sided with the state, while 25 
percent favored stopping the battle.
 
All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 23 Uranium relocation expected

SouthBendTribune.com: 

August 12, 2002 

 Security concerns prompt proposed move

 NATION/WORLD 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pending a final environmental review, the 
Energy Department is expected to move as much as several tons of 
plutonium and weapons-grade uranium from a federal research 
laboratory in New Mexico to Nevada because of security concerns, 
according to documents.
 
In a department memo, John C. Browne, director of the Los Alamos 
National Laboratory, called the proposed move "the best overall 
decision to meet the post-September 11th challenges for the 
long-term security of nuclear activities."
 
An Energy Department spokesman, Bryan Wilkes, said that while no 
final decision has been made, moving the material to the Nevada 
Test Site is the preferred option being studied to increase 
security. The environmental study is being reviewed, he said.
 
Several tons of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, which 
could be used to make an atomic bomb, are kept at Technical 
Area-18 at the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico, where critics have 
said it cannot be adequately protected.
 
"There is no doubt that that facility was at high risk. They 
simply could not defend it," said Pete Stockton, an analyst for 
the Project on Government Oversight, a private watchdog group 
that Sunday released a copy of the Browne memo and other 
documents involving the expected move.
 
Built in the 1940s, Technical Area-18 is located at the bottom of 
a steep canyon, where the high ground and an adjacent highway 
makes the site difficult to defend.
 
In repeated security exercises, troops have been unable to 
protect the material. In a 1997 exercise, Army Special Forces 
posing as attackers wheeled away a garden cart full of props 
representing the nuclear material. In another test, attackers 
obtained access to the facility where they could detonated an 
explosion, had they been terrorists.
 
Had actual material been stolen, it would have been enough to 
make several weapons, said Stockton, who three years ago chaired 
a DOE team that recommended to then-Energy Secretary Bill 
Richardson that the material be moved. Richardson ordered the 
environmental studies into moving the material.
 
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a frequent critic of security at federal 
weapons facilities, urged the department to complete the move as 
quickly as possible and safeguard the material from potential 
terrorists.
 
POGO, which has criticized DOE security of nuclear weapons 
material, obtained a draft press release from the National 
Nuclear Security Administration, an agency within the DOE, that 
indicated that plans are going forward to move the material to 
Nevada with a decision anticipated next month.
 
  
[http://www.southbendtribune.com]
*****************************************************************
 24 Senators' aides, citizens discuss future of waste site

Buffalo News - 

WEST VALLEY
   		
By KATHY KELLOGG Cattaraugus Correspondent 8/10/2002

ASHFORD - A citizen advisory group is hoping Sens. Hillary 
Clinton and Charles R. Schumer will stay focused on an array of 
issues facing the 3,300-acre former nuclear fuels reprocessing 
site in rural Ashford, now that continued federal funding is 
nearly secure. 

The West Valley Citizen Task Force was established by state and 
federal energy regulatory agencies five years ago as a volunteer 
group of local residents and industry representatives to advise 
officials on cleanup options and to monitor technical operations 
at the West Valley Demonstration Project. 

As part of the task force's monthly meeting agenda, they talked 
over issues with five aides to Clinton and Schumer, both New York 
Democrats, who were in the area for an overnight fact-finding 
tour of Western New York and the site. 

The aides lauded the task force for providing evidence and 
gathering support in record time for maintaining West Valley 
Demonstration Project funding levels in 2003 in the face of 
threatened congressional funding cuts. They told task force 
members that the Senate has passed an energy and water bill 
containing $95 million appropriation for stable funding at the 
West Valley Demonstration Project, while the House of 
Representatives' version of the energy and water bill contains 
$90 million in funding. Clinton legislative assistant Sean 
Sweeney asked the group to keep up the pressure for the 
appropriations as the Senate and House prepare for a September 
conference on the bill. 

"There is no demonstrable waste of effort or funds" at the West 
Valley Demonstration Project, said Sweeney, pointing to evidence 
he has seen that can be used to support continued funding. 

Several task force members pleaded in turn for the senators' 
continued focus on questions surrounding the Department of 
Energy's accelerated cleanup plan and the lack of a final 
decision on site closure. They also asked lawmakers to keep an 
eye on negotiations between the DOE and state Energy Research and 
Development Authority, which must determine responsibility for 
long-term site stewardship and waste disposal costs. This 
stalemate prompted Congress last year to threaten reduced funding 
if a settlement did not occur before September. 

Elizabeth Lowes of the DOE and Paul Piciulo of the authority 
reported that both agencies will resume talks this month, 
starting with a task both sides feel they can see to completion: 
a near-term work scope to identify funding needs for the next 
couple of years. 

"We want to demonstrate to Congress that we are making progress 
and that we have a few years' worth of work that we can agree 
on," said Piciulo. 

Sweeney said he hopes to return in the fall with some results in 
a "creative" search for funds when the members pressed for help 
to launch a regional economic study to lead to site redevelopment 
and retention of the technical work force. Several task force 
members raised the point that developers and government officials 
promised the nuclear fuel reprocessing center would bring 
prosperity to the area, but it never arrived. 

John Marshall of the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic 
Development Administration said his agency is unable to sponsor 
any project involving the site or its infrastructure until the 
DOE refuses to fund the effort. But he noted the concept of 
environmental justice might support help for the surrounding 
community if it has acquired a "Love Canal" stigma and has failed 
to realize its full potential due to the failed promises of 
prosperity. 

Copyright © 1999 - 2002 The Buffalo NewsTM 
*****************************************************************
 25 Hiroshima pilot tells of US plans to bomb Germany

Scotsman.com <http://scotsman.com/>

Sun 11 Aug 2002

/NICHOLAS CHRISTIAN/

THE US pilot who dropped the world?s first atomic bomb has 
revealed that the Americans planned to strike Germany at the same 
time.

Paul Tibbets, who piloted the Enola Gay, which dropped the atomic 
bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 said 
that concerns over secrecy led to a secret plan being drawn up to 
bomb both Germany and Japan at the same time.

He has also insisted he was right to drop the bomb on the 
Japanese, killing an estimated 137,000 people, and that he would 
not hesitate to do it again if required.

He also challenged current US leaders to show the same 
ruthlessness with the perpetrators of the September 11 terror 
attacks on New York and Washington.

Tibbets - now 87 - said that he had been briefed by General Uzal 
Ent, the commander of the US Second Air Force, at Colorado 
Springs in September 1944.

He said: "He laid out what was going on and it was up to me now 
to put together an organisation and train them to drop atomic 
weapons on both Europe and the Pacific, Tokyo.

"My edict was an clear as could be. Drop simultaneously in Europe 
and the Pacific because of the secrecy problem. You couldn?t drop 
it on one part of the world without dropping it on the other."

In the event, the US plan for a double nuclear strike was 
overtaken by events on the battlefields of Europe, which saw the 
Germans surrender many months before the Japanese.

The focus of the US nuclear strikes then shifted wholly to Japan.

After a series of large-scale bombing raids on Japanese cities - 
which caused huge fire-storms in the mainly wooden buildings - 
the crew flew to the US-held Pacific island of Tinian.

On August 5 they were ordered to prepare for the atomic bomb 
attack on Hiroshima, which was then a sprawling city and a key 
centre of the Japanese armaments industry.

Tibbets said: "I had no problem with it. I knew that we did the 
right thing because when I knew we?d be doing that I thought, 
yes, we?re going to kill a lot of people, but by God we?ll save a 
lot of lives.

"I got into the air corps to defend the United States to the best 
of my ability."

Tibbets also urged the US government to be similarly ruthless 
with terrorists who strike against America.

He said: "When they bombed the Trade Centre I couldn?t believe 
what was going on.

"We?ve got to get into a position where we can kill the b*******.

"None of this business of taking them to court. The hell with 
that. I wouldn?t waste five seconds on them.

"I wouldn?t hesitate if I had the choice. I?d wipe them out. 
You?re going to kill innocent people at the same time, but we?ve 
never fought a damn war anywhere in the world where they didn?t 
kill innocent people."

 ©2002 scotsman.com <http://scotsman.com> | contact
*****************************************************************
 26 Israel submission to nuclear inspection is international demand
 
[http://www.arabicnews.com/]     
">
Egypt-Israel, Politics, 8/12/2002 
									
Egypt's Assistant Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mubarak returned home 
late Saturday from Japan wrapping up a weeklong visit during 
which he attended an international conference against the use of 
atomic and hydrogen bombs.
 
ÊÊÊ The conference was organized and hosted by Japan marking the 
57th anniversary of the 1945 US droping of the atomic bomb on 
Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.
 
ÊÊÊ Upon arrival, ambassador Mubarak said he outlined in his 
address to the conference the bases of the Egyptian foreign 
policy with respect to nuclear disarmament.
 
ÊÊÊ He highlighted President Hosni Mubarak's call in 1991 for 
rendering the Middle East free from all weapons of mass 
destruction as well as his call for an international conference 
to rid the globe of such weapons.
 
ÊÊÊ On the conference message, the assistant foreign minister 
said all participants agreed there must be no Nagasaki and no 
Hiroshima again by getting rid of, and not only reducing, weapons 
of mass destruction.
 
ÊÊÊ Several participants stressed the necessity of Israel's 
signing of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that it 
must be subjected to international inspection, he asserted.
 									
Previous Stories: US to reduce monitor force in Sinai, as some 
still talk of war   (8/3/2002) Egypt will not be subject to 
pressures by any country   (7/22/2002) Egypt said Israel should 
join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (4/10/2002)

1995-2002 Arabic News.com, All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 27 A new submarine laid in the US

Pravda.RU 

  ¹     Aug, 10 2002   

 While Russian shipbuilder crying because of their helplessness 
to change the situation and to obtain money for building Russian 
fleet, US Naval Force gets new submarines.
 

A month ago, US shipbuilders launched the building of a new 
submarine. At the ceremony of laying the new submarine in Newport 
News, Virginia, US first lady Laura Bush attended, whose initials 
were put on the first section of the submarine called Texas. 

This is the second of the four the most up-to-date submarines of 
such class, built for US Naval Force. The Texas displacement 
makes about 7.8 thousand tons. It will be armed with Tomahavk 
cruise missiles, special arm, and torpedoes. The submarine is 
being built according to the Stellce technology. It is almost 
soundless and could move with a speed of 35 knots. The crew of 
the submarine is 134 people. Texas which should be armed with the 
most up-to-date following systems is aimed for long 
reconnaissance of shore objects and for executing operations of 
Special Force in any spot of the world. The new submarine costs 
about 1,650,000,000 dollars. 

To compare: Russian shipbuilders could build at least four 
submarines of Gepard class (according to Russian technologies) 
for this money. Apropos, the Russian state has not paid the full 
sum for the Gepard submarine to the Severodvinsk shipbuilders. 
So, probably Americans should build their submarines in the 
Severodvinsk work, at least to save money of their military 
budget. 

According to numerous publications in US military sites, the 
building of a similar to Texas, the Virginia submarine was 
launched in January 1999. By this year, the Newport News work 
intends to finish the last module and to hand it over to Electric 
Boat company whose shipyard completes assembling all modules. The 
submarine is planned to be completely finished in 2004. 

Vitaly Bratkov PRAVDA.Ru 

Translated by Vera Solovieva 


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 28 UK: Fraud investigation at a nuclear refit dock at Devonport
 
 BBC - Devon - News - 

  Monday 12th August 2002
  
  Number nine dock was specifically built to refit Trident submarines   

A fraud investigation is under way involving misuse of temporary 
passes at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth. 

It centres on financial claims of a subcontractor for 
construction work before the arrival of the nuclear submarine HMS 
Vanguard. 

Devonport Management Limited (DML), which runs the yard, has 
played down the news. 

Number nine dock at the dockyard was specifically built to refit 
Trident nuclear submarines. 


The temporary passes issue raises concerns about about security 
at the base 

A fraud investigation involving at least one and may be up to 
three subcontractors involved in the dock's construction is now 
under way. 

It is said to involve the use of temporary passes and subsequent 
financial claims. But the fact that temporary passes are involved 
raises concerns about about security at the base. 

DML, the private company managing the site, declined to be 
interviewed but said in a statement that it was not aware of any 
direct security implications associated with the investigation. 

The firm said that during the period concerned, the affected part 
of the dockyard was a major construction site and was not 
involved in submarine support or refitting activities. 

DML said it was not aware of any direct security implications 
associated with the investigation   

The investigation, which began in February, will come as an 
embarrassment to DML and the Ministry of Defence. 

The MoD declined to comment on the investigation itself, but said 
security is being reviewed all the time. 

The issue of cost control is also under scrutiny. The National 
Audit Office began its own inquiry into the rising costs of nine 
dock. 

The original figure was set a £417m, increased by 50% earlier 
this year. But some reports say the final figure could be more 
than double that. 

Meanwhile, five anti-nuclear campaigners have gone on trial in 
Plymouth, accused of causing an obstruction outside Devonport 
Dockyard. 

They were taking part in a demonstration against the arrival of 
the nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard in February. 

All five deny the charges. The trial continues. 
  
 [http://www.devonport.co.uk/] 

[devon.online@bbc.co.uk]
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 29 Teens embrace peace on Hiroshima visit
 
  Posted on: Saturday, August 10, 2002 

By Kapono Dowson

A dozen teenagers returned to Honolulu from Hiroshima yesterday, 
more aware of the horrors of war than when they left July 25.

Rachel Hopfe of Waimanalo finds herself surrounded by affection 
from grandmother Claudia Dudoit and sister Rayna when she 
returned from Japan yesterday. Rachel participated in a YMCA 
youth exchange program between Honolulu and Hiroshima.                         

Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser            

The teens, ages 15 to 18, participated in the 41st YMCA youth 
exchange program between Honolulu and Hiroshima. It is the 
longest-running exchange program in the world, YMCA officials 
said.
 
The teens represented five YMCAs across O'ahu. Living with 
Hiroshima host families, they participated in a multi-national 
peace seminar, discussing peace issues and hearing stories from 
A-bomb survivors.
 
"That was the most moving part," said Ikaika Regidor, a Kalani 
High senior. "We had first-hand accounts from atomic bomb 
survivors. You see their wounds, the radiation scars, and you 
ask, 'Why do we have nuclear war?'
 
"What really moved me was when that survivor asked, 'We are all 
human; why are we all trying to kill each other?'
 
"We only see war in history books. We don't know what war can do. 
But here we felt their pain and saw their suffering. Now we want 
to prevent war. We want peace."
 
Sept. 11 and terrorism was brought up, Regidor said. One 
Hiroshima survivor said he would like to have terrorists, all the 
radical groups and President Bush come to Hiroshima and see them, 
Regidor recalled.
 
In preparation for the trip, delegates read about the history of 
Hiroshima.
 
Young people are removed from what took place with Hiroshima, 
said Debbie Bickell, Mililani YMCA executive director.
 
"If people understand that those you are at war with are people, 
too, it becomes personal and harder to do," Bickell said.
 
During the Hiroshima anniversary ceremony, the group observed a 
minute of silence at the atomic dome — the only structure left 
standing after the bomb exploded over Hiroshima. The whole city 
went quiet, said Rachel Hopfe, a 16-year-old Kaiser High senior.
 
"That moved me. But what really changed my opinion was finding 
out there were a lot of teenagers there who did care about 9/11 
and wanted to bring peace," said Hopfe, who represented the 
Kaimuki YMCA.
 
Hopfe met youths from China, Taiwan, the Philippines, as well as 
Japan, who want to work for peace and were truly concerned about 
what happened in America last September, she said.
 
"Our mission is to promote international and intercultural 
understanding and appreciation between the youth of Japan and 
Hawai'i," said Bobby Stivers, YMCA program and training vice 
president. Each year the exchange program alternates between 
Hiroshima and Honolulu.
 
The selected delegates must "earn and learn" their way through 
the program, Stivers said. The YMCA subsidizes a portion of the 
costs, but the delegates raised the bulk of their money through 
fund-raising projects such as car washes and chili sales.
 
The delegates trained for nearly six months, learning about 
Japanese culture, some language as well as basic survival skills.
 
They learned Hawai'i facts and statistics so they could field 
questions from the Japanese. They also learned about Hawaiian 
culture, including some songs and hula.
 
Rayna Hopfe said her sister Rachel told her another part of the 
cultural exchange involved a Hawai'i twist on a Japanese staple: 
Spam musubi.
 
The group prepared it for their Japanese hosts.
 
"Finally, they tried it and really liked it. It ran out quickly," 
Rayna Hopfe said.
 
"It was a real winner," Regidor agreed. He said the Hawai'i group 
wouldn't let the Japanese have the recipe. "We told them they 
have to come to Honolulu next year for it."
 
Reach Kapono Dowson at kdowson@honoluluadvertiser.com 
[kdowson@honoluluadvertiser.com] or 535-8103.
 
© COPYRIGHT 2002 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co
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 30 For humanity's sake 

Jordan Times (Opinion Section)
 
Editorial:
            
  FRIDAY MARKED the 57th anniversary of the dropping an American 
nuclear bomb on Nagasaki. Around 120,000 people were killed as a 
result of the blast, and the Japanese port city was almost 
completely destroyed. It had only been three days before, in 
1945, when Hiroshima was hit by the first ever atomic bomb, also 
dropped by the US. Tens of thousands died immediately. The 
radiation generated by the bomb killed many other people within 
the first few months and many more in later years. It is believed 
that more than 140,000 people died by the end of 1945 and that 
the total number of people who have died due to the bomb is 
estimated to be 200,000. Ever since the international community 
has been trying desperately to outlaw the deployment of nuclear 
arsenals as well as other types of weapons of mass destruction. 
The magnitude of the fires and destruction that engulfed the two 
Japanese cities during World War II still haunt mankind and 
prompted the sober to declare then and there: “Never again,” 
would such weapons be allowed to be used for whatever reason or 
excuse. 

Still, there is no specific repudiation of nuclear weapons in 
international or national laws. The Geneva Humanitarian Law 
outlaws the deployment of weapons of mass destruction but stops 
short of outlawing nuclear and thermonuclear bombs. The Rome 
Statute of the International Criminal Court makes a similar 
finding but only by implication and not by direct and specific 
language. The International Court of Justice complicated the 
issue when in 1996 it rendered an advisory opinion which suggests 
that nuclear weapons can indeed be deployed when the very 
existence of the state is threatened and is in imminent danger. 
Thus the world still stands at a crossroads knowing what should 
be done but not daring enough to say it outright. 

The US stands solidly behind the proposition that no specific 
outlaw of nuclear weapons be adopted in international law. Israel 
is like-minded since it too is heavily dependent on its nuclear 
bombs to checkmate an imaginary overwhelming Arab threat against 
its security and existence. Yet the bitter memories of Hiroshima 
and Nagasaki should compel humankind, including the people of US 
and Israel, to insist that their governments resort to more 
sensible ways to defend their countries from external dangers. 
The thought of slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocent 
people all in the name of defensive war is so absurd that it 
should be removed from the mind of strategic thinkers once and 
for all. Surely there are better and more humane ways for nations 
to conduct wars including defensive wars than mass killings of 
innocent people on the scale of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Given the 
fact that the new generation of nuclear weapons would take a much 
heavier toll on human life and environment than the 1945 vintage 
makes the call for an end to the deployment of all kinds of 
weapons of mass destruction all the more urgent and pressing.
 
Sunday, August 11, 2002
 
Jordan Times
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 31 Bangor protesters mark 25th year

The Seattle Times: 

Monday, August 12, 2002, 12:00 a.m. Pacific 

By The Associated Press 

BANGOR, Kitsap County — The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent 
Action, founded in the 1970s to protest the outfitting of Navy 
subs with nuclear missiles, marked its silver anniversary this 
weekend. 

Near the main gate of Naval Submarine Base Bangor a few days 
earlier, protester Brian Watson struggled to hang a sign on a 
huge, inflatable mock-up of a Trident 2 nuclear missile. It read: 
"This $50 million weapon can kill 55 million people. But it can't 
stop terrorism, or stop drugs or stop wasting your money." 

Watson squinted in the sun as he checked out a truck rumbling by. 
"See that? Look at that, right there," he said as the semi, with 
a label reading "Explosives," left the base. 

"Do you know what's in there, exactly?" he asks. "No, and neither 
do I." For years now, Watson and other members of Ground Zero 
have protested as trucks, trains and Trident submarines carrying 
nuclear weapons left Bangor.

Over the weekend, they celebrated their quarter-century of 
activism with vigils, readings, story circles and a birthday 
cake. 

In the 1980s, thousands of protesters descended on this Kitsap 
Peninsula town, drawing international attention and dismaying 
many local residents. 

Today, only 50 or 60 people turn out to protest. Local 
prosecutors decline to charge them. Neighbors, police and 
Bangor's workers are tolerant. 

Does that mean they've arrived, or that they're going nowhere? 

"It's always important to say what your truth is, no matter the 
result," said Rosemary Russell, a longtime Ground Zero activist 
from Port Townsend. 

"Ask yourself what it would be like without organizations like 
Ground Zero." In 1977, peace activists Jim and Shelley Douglass 
and other protesters bought 3.8 acres of woods bordering the 
base's security fence. The property was dubbed "Ground Zero." 

Four years later, the couple bought a second piece of property 
along the railroad tracks that enter the base. In the early 
1980s, protesters by the thousands massed along those tracks to 
stop "white trains" suspected of carrying nuclear weapons to 
Bangor. 

The FBI launched an investigation, and when activists were 
arrested, respected international-law expert Richard Falk and 
former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark testified at their 
trials. 

Seattle attorney Ken Kagan defended some protesters in a U.S. 
District Court case that featured Falk and Ramsey. The protesters 
were convicted, but Kagan remembers the trial fondly. 

"Every now and then, I pull out the transcript of those court 
proceedings and read them because they are so inspiring," he told 
The Sun of Bremerton. 

But while federal judges sent protesters to jail, Kitsap County 
juries soon began refusing to convict them. County Prosecutor 
Russ Hauge, who as a private attorney defended a Ground Zero 
protester in the 1980s, reviews each case but so far has declined 
to prosecute. 

Bangor's military and civilian leaders told personnel to treat 
protesters with civility, said retired Capt. Dean Kiess, who 
commanded Bangor's Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific from 1985 
to 1992. 

"They believed strongly in their point of view, and we believed 
strongly that we were protecting it," he said. 

Bangor base spokesman Paul Taylor calls Ground Zero protesters 
"model citizens." Sheriff Steve Boyer said his deputies treat 
them with respect "and we've received respect in return." 

In the late 1980s, the Douglasses moved to the South to track the 
"white trains" and did not return. They settled in Birmingham, 
Ala., where they help homeless people. 

"We felt called to serve in other ways," Shelley Douglass said. 

Then the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. The final 
edition of Ground Zero's newsletter circulated in 1992. It seemed 
the battle was over. But Trident submarines armed with nuclear 
weapons still patrolled Puget Sound, said Watson, whose first 
Ground Zero meeting in 1992 was billed as the organization's 
last. 

So he and a few others hung on. 

In 1995, 100 Ground Zero protesters observed the 50th anniversary 
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Bangor gate. Since then, 50 to 
60 protesters have been active, some even getting arrested. This 
year, French TV journalists interviewed Bangor protesters about a 
new treaty. 

In the network of Trident resisters, Ground Zero is still a 
player. 

"Their contribution has been extraordinary," said Stephen Kobasa, 
a Connecticut activist who maintains e-mail communications among 
Trident resisters. "If there weren't any voices out there saying 
so, the system would have won." 

These days, Americans aren't as worried about a nuclear threat. 
Watson said he hopes Sept. 11 and potential war with Iraq brings 
people back to his organization. 

On Sept. 11, "we saw the reality of what violence does," he said. 
"I hope everyone sees this as an opportunity to question our 
whole military-industrial system." 

Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company
*****************************************************************
 32 * Pantex Plant Headed for Early Cleanup *

<http://ens-news.com/index.asp>

*AMARILLO, Texas,* August 9, 2002 (ENS) - Federal and state 
agencies have agreed on a plan to complete cleanup at the 
Department of Energy's (DOE) Pantex Plant in Amarillo by 2008.

The DOE has set aside an additional $5 million from its 
Accelerated Cleanup Reform Account for the Pantex Plant, 
increasing the site's cleanup budget to $16 million.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the DOE, the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state of Texas 
officials have signed a Letter of Intent to accelerate cleanup at 
the Pantex Plant, one of the agency's Cold War era nuclear 
weapon's production facilities.

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 
target and reduce the greatest health and environmental cleanup 
risks at such sites.

"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." 
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."

Initiatives for accelerating cleanup and reducing risks at the 
Pantex Plant include:

    * 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 fiscal year 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.

The Pantex Plant Letter of Intent is available at: 
http://www.em.doe.gov

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights Reserved.
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 33 Protester receives 60-day sentence
 
The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News --

Monday, August 12, 2002

by R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff 

Unusual times beget unusual actions.

 That's the tack the Department of Energy is taking in the arrest 
and recent 60-day jail sentence of John Patrick Liteky, who 
entered a plea agreement Friday in federal court for trespassing 
at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 Liteky received a 60-day jail sentence for his trouble, as well 
as a one-year supervised release and a $25 fine.

 That's the unusual action, as protesters have historically been 
processed and released though state courts with penalty of fines 
and community service.

 The unusual times have been since the Sept. 11 terrorist 
attacks, which led to tightened security at the Y-12 site.

 "Since September 11, we have developed an entirely different 
philosophy about protecting our site boundary," Steven Wyatt, 
National Nuclear Security Administration spokesman, said this 
morning.

 "As we've stated in the past, the rules haven't changed, but the 
circumstances have," continued Wyatt. "Although we certainly 
regret that some individuals choose to violate federal criminal 
laws by trespassing onto the Y-12 National Security Complex, they 
are fully aware that such choices can lead to severe penalties, 
including imprisonment. They must, therefore, bear the 
consequences of their actions."

 Ralph Hutchinson, coordinator with the Oak Ridge Environmental 
Peace Alliance, said this morning:

 "Patrick is a man of conscience and a man of peace and it serves 
no value to this community to lock him up in jail. It points to 
the absurdity of the Department of Energy mindset to imprison a 
person like Patrick Liteky."

 Liteky was charged Aug. 5 with a felony offense when he climbed 
over a barrier and crossed the exterior boundary of the Y-12 
complex.

 Thirteen other protesters were arrested for obstructing a road 
during the biannual protest at Y-12.

 Members of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and others 
hold demonstrations the first week of August in protest of the 
World War II bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. They also protest in 
April.

 Another group, Citizen Soldiers for the Atom Bomb, protests the 
protesters.
 
R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or 
[danielsrcd@oakridger.com] .


 [http://www.oakridger.com] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak 
Ridger 
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 34 Lyle Borst, 89, Nuclear Physicist Who Worked on A-Bomb Project, Dies

August 12, 2002

*By ANAHAD O'CONNOR*

Dr. Lyle B. Borst, a nuclear physicist who helped build 
Brookhaven National Laboratory's nuclear reactor and was an early 
member of the Manhattan Project, died on July 30 at his home in 
Williamsville, N.Y. He was 89.

In 1950, Dr. Borst led the construction of the Brookhaven 
Graphite Research Reactor, which was the largest and most 
powerful reactor in the country and the first to be built solely 
for research and other peacetime uses of atomic energy.

Within the first nine months of operating the reactor, Dr. Borst 
announced that it had produced a new type of radioactive iodine, 
which is used in treating thyroid cancer.

In 1952, based on studies of new types of atomic nuclei created 
in the reactor, Dr. Borst helped explain the mystery behind giant 
stars, known as supernovae, that burst with the energy of 
billions of atomic bombs and flare for several years with the 
brilliance of several million suns.

Dr. Borst found that beryllium 7, an isotope of beryllium that 
does not occur naturally on earth, is formed in supernovae by the 
fusion of two helium nuclei. The fusion takes place after the 
star has used up its hydrogen supply. This reaction absorbs huge 
quantities of energy, causing the star to collapse in the 
greatest cosmic explosion known.

Dr. Borst was also a senior physicist at the Clinton Laboratories 
in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he worked on the Manhattan Project.

After atomic bombs were dropped in 1945 on Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki, Dr. Borst, concerned that atomic energy should be 
internationally regulated, helped organize a group of about 1,300 
scientists who had worked on the bomb project and wanted to keep 
atomic energy under civilian control, rather than military 
control, to prevent a worldwide competitive armaments race.

Speaking in support of an atomic energy control bill in front of 
Congress in 1945, Dr. Borst said he helped start the Federation 
of Atomic Scientists "to create a realization of the dangers that 
this nation and all civilization will face if the tremendous 
destructive potential of nuclear energy is misused."

On a trip to Greece in 1961, Dr. Borst discovered that a 
"Manhattan District Project" in Sparta made steel in large 
quantities as early as 650 B.C.

Based on specimens he obtained from archaeologists, he theorized 
that steel was the secret weapon of the Spartans and that it was 
the reason for their military successes against enemies having 
only soft iron or bronze weapons. Having such a weapon at that 
time, Dr. Borst said in a 1961 article in The New York Times, was 
almost the military equivalent of having an atomic bomb.

Born in Chicago on Nov. 24, 1912, Lyle Benjamin Borst earned 
bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Illinois and 
a doctorate at the University of Chicago.

In 1942, Dr. Borst was a research associate at the metallurgical 
laboratory in Chicago, where Dr. Enrico Fermi conducted the first 
self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

He became a professor of physics at the University of Utah in the 
early 50's and helped design the university's small nuclear 
reactor. Dr. Borst taught at New York University and the State 
University of New York at Buffalo, and was a member of the 
National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruth Barbara Mayer Borst; 
two sons, John Benjamin, of Vancouver, British Columbia, and 
Stephen, of North Brookfield, Mass.; a daughter, Frances 
Elizabeth Wright of Albany; and seven grandchildren.


Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company 
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 35 Nevada Democratic candidate criticizes GOP

Las Vegas SUN: 

August 10, 2002 
 
ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Nevada Democrat inspired to run for Congress 
by the shipping of nuclear waste to his state criticized the Bush 
administration and House Republicans Saturday for failing to 
represent ordinary Americans. 

"The Bush-Cheney environmental record is one of repeated broken 
promises," Dario Herrera said in the Democrats' weekly radio 
address. "It's time for a change in Washington." 

"Here in Las Vegas, we know a thing or two about gambling," he 
said. "We know that Social Security should never be put on the 
Wall Street roulette wheel." 

At 29, Herrera could become one of the youngest members of 
Congress if elected in November to Nevada's new 3rd Congressional 
District seat, created because of the state's population boom. 
Former state Sen. Jon Porter is the Republican front-runner the 
race. The seat is critical to both parties in the battle for 
control of the House, where Republicans now lead Democrats 
222-211, with two independents. 

"Republicans in Congress have had their opportunity to lead, and 
they have failed," Herrera said. "Time and time again, on issue 
after issue, they side with the powerful special interests, while 
Democrats fight to secure America's future for all our families." 

Herrera, chairman of the Clark County Commission, has said he 
knew he for certain he wanted to be a congressman when he was in 
Washington lobbying lawmakers to vote against sending nuclear 
waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. 

President Bush formally approved Yucca Mountain as the nation's 
high-level nuclear waste dump last month. It is scheduled to open 
in 2010, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission still has to issue 
a license. 

All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
    
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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: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
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