***************************************************************** 11/15/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.296 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 FPIF News: North Korea: Asking Too Much in the Nuclear Crisis? 2 The Osirak Option 3 Inspectors can go anywhere, anytime, any palace. But will they 4 Official: Nuclear Materials Vanished 5 US seeks to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear capability: 6 Leave us to discover the truth, says chief nuclear inspector - 7 U.S. Allies Back N.Korea Punishment 8 US: Pro-Industry Senator to Chair Environment Committee 9 Second N.K. nuclear crisis: lessons and prospects 10 NK Editorial: Independent cooperation 11 N.K. faces cold winter without oil supply 12 KEDO May Review LWR Project 13 US: Congress Gives US President Three-Year Waiver on Nunn-Lugar 14 US: Nuclear concerns 15 Canada: Watchdog urged to get tough on national nuclear agency 16 Armed guards planned for nuclear plants 17 `More than nukes' in North's arsenal 18 KEDO Urges NK to Scrap Nuke Program in Visible Manner 19 Bush¡'s Ultimatum Leaves NK With Few Options 20 Chong Wa Dae Says KEDO Decision `Best Option¡¯ 21 Japan: Nuclear institute blasted for excessive entertainment 22 Canada: Watchdog urged to get tough on national nuclear agency 23 US: Unresolved in the U.N. fine print -- The Washington Times NUCLEAR REACTORS 24 Eskom's proposed reactor is 'detrimental' 25 US: FR: Seabrook rule change 26 US: A-plant gets $20.5M to cover costs - 27 US: Prairie Island workers concealed records 28 Japan shuts down nuclear reactor following leakage 29 Japan: Leak shuts down nuclear reactor in Fukui NUCLEAR SAFETY 30 US: Officials to discuss code restrictions in quake-prone areas 31 US: FR: Terrorist attack on np facility 32 Russia Official: Nuke Material Gone 33 'Uranium' seized in Tanzania 34 GAN Says Nuclear Materials Have Been Disappearing From Russian 35 Ireland: Factory staff wary of water after uranium found in local su 36 Supposed list of potential Canadian terror targets betrays few 37 Foreign sites detailed in security analysis NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 38 US: Issues at White Mesa uranium mill (Utah) 39 Russia: Nuclear burial sites discovered 40 Uranium plant proposal has mayor worried * 41 US: FR Nureg 1307 llw decon disposal 42 Dutch plant may reflect Hartsville jobs * 43 Nigeria: Oil firms accused of dumping nuclear wastes in areas of 44 UK nuclear liability fund gets go-ahead 45 US: EPA: Scarboro safe as any neighborhood 46 SA: Nuclear waste risk* NUCLEAR WEAPONS 47 IRAQ: RUMSFELD LETS THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG 48 Russia seeks foreign funding to scrap old nuclear submarines US DEPT. OF ENERGY 49 Oak Ridge to receive toxic waste 50 Livermore says contaminated soil posed no threat 51 Whistle-blower case has doubled in cost Taxpayers to shell out 52 Energy Department gives more money for Ohio plant standby 53 Law would pay S.C. if plutonium stays 54 Secretary Abraham Announces Emergency Oil Stockpile's Receipt of 55 DOE Announces the Signing of a Memorandum of Agreement Between 56 Y-12 builds safety-in-a-can OTHER NUCLEAR 57 Taking Environmentalists Seriously 58 World's First Energy Station Featuring Hydrogen and Electricity 59 NRC: Uranium Recovery Workshop 60 State takes oil spill money ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 FPIF News: North Korea: Asking Too Much in the Nuclear Crisis? Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 15:18:11 -0600 (CST) http://www.fpif.org/ Whats New from FPIF? November 15, 2002 North Korea is Asking for Too Much in the Nuclear Crisis--Or is It? By Anthony DiFilippo Pyongyang is now asking Washington to drop its hostile and aggressive approach toward North Korea, to recognize its sovereignty and to not impede the development of its economy. Pyongyang is especially interested in signing a non-aggression treaty with Washington. This is very a small price to pay to keep North Korea as a party to the Agreed Framework and ultimately to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The last thing that the world needs now is another country with nuclear weapons. Since no one outside of North Korea knows for sure whether or not it has nuclear weapons and because the current crisis is linked directly to a bilateral agreement that both Pyongyang and Washington still want to preserve, despite departures from it on both sides, a commitment by the United States to a non-hostile and non-aggressive policy brings reasoned equanimity to the bargaining table and minimizes the prospects that another Iraqi-like crisis will emerge. There is a big difference between principled diplomacy that genuinely seeks a peaceful resolution to ensure a non-nuclear North Korea and a policy that is perceived as hubristic and hostile--one that sparks reaction and unnecessarily increases the risks of war. (Anthony DiFilippo (difilippo@lu.lincoln.edu) is Professor of Sociology at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. His most recent book is The Challenges of the U.S.-Japan Military Arrangement: Competing Security Transitions in a Changing International Environment (2002). We are pleased to offer his analysis at FPIF (www.fpif.org).) See new Global Affairs Commentary online at: http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0211korea.html With a printer-friendly pdf version at: http://www.fpif.org/pdf/gac/0211korea.pdf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) Siri D. Khalsa Communications Coordinator Email: siri@irc-online.org IRC projects online: IRC | "Local-Global Links for Policy Alternatives, Strategic Dialogue, and Citizen Action" (www.irc-online.org) Americas Program | "A New World of Ideas, Analysis, & Policy Options" (www.americaspolicy.org) Foreign Policy in Focus | "A Think Tank Without Walls" (www.fpif.org) The Project Against the Present Danger | "Standing in Defense of International Law, International Cooperation, and Multilateralism" (www.presentdanger.org) Self Determination In Focus | "Exploring the Future of Self-Determination, Sovereignty, & Governance" (www.selfdetermine.org) Siri D. Khalsa Communications Coordinator Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) siri@irc-online.org IRC Projects Online: IRC (www.irc-online.org) FPIF (www.fpif.org) Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org) Self-Determination In Focus (www.selfdetermine.org) Project Against the Present Danger (www.presentdanger.org) ***************************************************************** 2 The Osirak Option The New York Times Opinion November 15, 2002* *By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF* With U.N. inspectors headed for Baghdad and the clock running out, those of us who are skeptical about the need to invade Iraq need to confront one of the most cogent arguments against us. It is a bombed-out building near Baghdad: the Osirak nuclear reactor, which Israeli warplanes destroyed in June 1981. At the time, there was broad agreement among sensible people that such a pre-emptive strike was outrageous. Even the Reagan administration, normally sympathetic to Israel, chose to "condemn" the attack; France declared it "unacceptable"; Britain denounced it as "a grave breach of international law." A New York Times editorial began: "Israel's sneak attack on a French-built nuclear reactor near Baghdad was an act of inexcusable and short-sighted aggression." In retrospect, the condemnations were completely wrong. (Looking back at yellowed newspaper databases, I see that one of the few people who got it right at the time was my colleague William Safire.) Thank God that Menachem Begin overrode his own intelligence agency, which worried that the attack would affect the peace process with Egypt, and ordered the reactor destroyed. Otherwise Iraq would have gained nuclear weapons in the 1980's, it might now have a province called Kuwait and a chunk of Iran, and the region might have suffered nuclear devastation. So pre-emption sometimes works, and even doves tend to favor cross-border intervention to prevent genocide in the Rwandas of the world. All this suggests that an invasion of Iraq may be acceptable in principle. But what does that tell us about whether we should invade Iraq now? Wars should be principled, but that doesn't mean blindly following every principle into battle. Otherwise you end up with conflicts like my favorite, which occurred in 1739 after a British sailor named Robert Jenkins turned up in London waving one of his ears in his hand and declaring that it had been severed by the Spanish. As a result, England launched the War of Jenkins' Ear. The lesson of Osirak is very limited ? that in extreme cases it is justifiable for a country to make a pre-emptive pinpoint strike to prevent an unpredictable enemy from gaining weapons of mass destruction that would be used against it. That's a reasonable approach toward Iraq if Saddam Hussein refuses to cooperate and if we have intelligence about what sites are worth striking. Indeed, it makes sense to target Saddam's own bed ? if we can learn where he's spending the night. Ari Fleischer quite properly raised the possibility last month of assassinating Saddam; it's messy, but much less so than an invasion would be. Contrary to popular belief, American law does not ban assassination, as Kenneth Pollack notes in his superb new book on Iraq, "The Threatening Storm." Rather the ban on assassination exists only in Executive Order 12333, issued by President Ronald Reagan and renewed by presidents since, and thus can easily be nullified. In any case, a succession of U.S. presidents appear to have attempted to kill foreign leaders (Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya in 1986, Mohammed Farah Aidid of Somalia in 1993, Saddam himself in 1991), partly on the ground that they were command-and-control elements. Likewise, at least in wartime, international law permits the targeting of enemy rulers even if they are civilians. So the real problem is finding Saddam to kill him. With weapons inspectors heading for Iraq, the next key date may be Dec. 8, when Baghdad is due to hand over a declaration of all its nuclear, biological and chemical activities. The U.N. resolution makes any lapse in this declaration a "material breach," giving the White House its license to go to war. Hawks will argue for "zero tolerance," as President Bush put it Wednesday. But one can accept that pre-emption is sometimes necessary yet prefer to rely not on an invasion of Iraq but instead on a less risky combination of containment, pinpoint bombing and assassination. After all, if it's appropriate to carry out pre-emptive strikes on countries that sponsor terrorism and secretly develop nuclear weapons, then we could launch an invasion today ? of Pakistan. *Forum:* Join a Discussion on Nicholas D. Kristof's Columns (Moderated) ***************************************************************** 3 Inspectors can go anywhere, anytime, any palace. But will they will find anything? Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Site visits are less important than the analysis of dual-use equipment Ewen MacAskill, and Ian Traynor in Vienna Friday November 15, 2002 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] Iraqi minders showing journalists around Tikrit, the birthplace of the country's president, Saddam Hussein, recently promised them in English that they could go wherever they wanted, even the enormous presidential palace. But, in Arabic, the minders said to one another that there was no way they were taking journalists anywhere within sight of the palace or to any other place that fell into the category of "not allowed", one of the most commonly used phrases in Iraq. There are many similar no-go areas in Iraq. But restrictions will not apply to the United Nations weapons inspectors who are scheduled to return to Iraq on Monday after an absence of four years. They have been promised unfettered access to all areas, including the presidential sites such as Tikrit. The inspectors will fan out across Iraq in a hunt for chemical, biological and nuclear-related weapons and for banned long-range missiles. They will turn up unannounced at military complexes, factories, government offices and private homes, from Mosul, a green, hilly city in the far north, to Basra, the main city in the barren desert of the south, as well as the heavily-industrialised complexes in and around Baghdad. They will visit the open-cast phosphate mines in the west which can provide President Saddam with low-grade uranium, and the oilfields and petrochemical complexes that could produce biological and chemical weapons. Mandate "We don't have a finite list of sites," said Jacques Baute, head of the nuclear inspection team. "I can't say that there are 100 sites that are very important and 300 more that are quite significant. For us, it doesn't matter. We have a mandate to monitor the whole country." Mr Baute will accompany the chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, to Baghdad on Monday for two days of talks with the Iraqi government about the details of the inspections. They will be accompanied by an advance team which will focus on logistics, establishing living quarters and a functioning office. The following Monday, the first inspectors will arrive, about 10 or 12 in number, from the New York headquarters of the UN monitoring, verification and inspection commission (Unmovic), building up within a few weeks to a full complement of about 80. A further 200 or so will stay at home, ready to take over as the rota requires. As well as setting up shop in Baghdad, the UN sleuths are also intending, for the first time, to open offices in Basra and in Mosul. The crucial test for Iraq will come either on or before December 8 when it has to hand the inspectors a "full and complete" declaration, listing, as required by last Friday's UN resolution, all aspects of banned weapons programmes, including components, sub-components, stocks of agents, and related material and equipment. The resolution also called for Iraq to provide in the declaration all equipment "which it claims are for purposes not related to weapon production or material". The consensus among the inspectors is that the teams hunting chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles have a tougher job than the detectives searching out any nuclear materials because it is much easier to conceal a small-scale installation manufacturing bio-weapons. Even British intelligence does not claim that Iraq is close to making a nuclear bomb. Mr Baute said: "Until now there is not a single event that is related to an amount of nuclear material that would be of significance for a weapon. We don't have a single example." But biological and chemical weapons are another matter. The inspectors will have to return to the 600 to 700 sites monitored by Unmovic's predecessor, the UN special commission on Iraq (Unscom), between 1991 and 1998. These sites are well documented by Unscom, which has thousands of papers relating to their search-and-destroy missions. The same names turn up time and time again: the suspected nuclear sites at Fallujah, Tuwaitha and Furat; the alleged biological and chemical weapons sites at the agricultural research centre at Fudaliyah; the foot and mouth disease plant at al-Dawara; the blood serum institute at Amariyah; and the military complex at al-Qaqa, where the nerve gas, phosgene, is produced, although Iraq claims that it is for commercial use only. These sites are prominent in Tony Blair's dossier - Iraq's weapons of mass destruction - published in September and based on Anglo-American intelligence. The new generation of inspectors will establish what changes have taken place at sites since their predecessors left, but they do not expect to find anything in them. It would be too obvious. The inspectors are also expected to make an early visit to presidential sites. The US claims that these palaces occupy much larger areas than would be needed for a presidential retreat and are suspicious about the hardened bunkers and warehouses that show up on satellite pictures. But the political thinktanks which observe events in Iraq are much more sceptical. They also consider such sites to be too obvious to store weapons or components, and argue that although the inspectors will go to the presidential palaces, they will do so mainly for symbolic reasons: to show that they have the authority to go anywhere in Iraq. Sources at the United Nations said the focus of the search would be not on the big military complexes, such as al-Qaqa, outside Baghdad, but on apparently innocent factories and laboratories making goods for domestic use. Much of the equipment in such factories and laboratories is classified as dual-use, meaning it can be used for the purposes suggested on the gate signs but also be used to manufacture the forbidden weapons. Enrich uranium For example, if a large volume of aluminium tubing was found, it would raise suspicions that it was being used as part of a centrifuge to enrich uranium for weapons purposes. A machine manufacturing pans, for instance, could also be used to make weapon components. In a move that was little noticed at the time, the Iraqi government handed over four CDs to the inspectors in Vienna almost two months ago. The contents have not been publicly disclosed but they contain much information detailing dual-use equipment. This will form the basis of the Iraqi declaration. The inspectors have a considerable body of documentation on imports into Iraq and will spend much of their time checking that this equipment is being used for the purposes for which the documentation claims it was intended. It remains a highly difficult task. The US claims that President Saddam established a 1,000-strong team to hide weapons, and that sensitive documentation has been spread all over Iraq, hidden in people's homes. Weapons have also, allegedly, been dismantled and scattered. There is documentary evidence of links between Iraq and the Serbian government, which had experience during the Kosovo war of such deception, successfully hiding tanks and other material from Nato spyplanes and warplanes. In the face of such odds, the inspectors stress that the human factor can be just as crucial to the mission as site inspections. The inspectors have a list of about 1,000 Iraqi scientists, engineers and technicians that they want to interview to gauge what kind of work they have been performing since 1998. In theory, they can whisk out of the country any Iraqi witness willing to spill key information. Such informants will be allowed to take their families with them so they cannot be used as hostages by the Iraqi government. But Mr Blix is reluctant to use the power, seeing it as impractical. If the Iraqis obstruct the inspectors as they did between 1991 and 1998 or lie about what weapons they possess, as they did in the same period, there will be war. But the Iraqi response this time may not be so clear. Iraq can say in its declaration that the components it has are for innocent, domestic uses only, despite Anglo-US claims to the contrary. And when the inspectors produce their report to the security council in four months, they may be unable to provide anything conclusive. Ewen Buchanan, Mr Blix's spokesman, said it was impossible to pronounce "a clean bill of health". It just meant that the inspectors had not found anything. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 4 Official: Nuclear Materials Vanished Friday, Nov. 15, 2002. Page 3 The Associated Press The head of the country's nuclear regulatory agency said Thursday that small amounts of weapons- and reactor-grade nuclear materials had disappeared from the country's atomic facilities. "Instances of the loss of nuclear materials have been recorded, but what the quantity is is another question," Yury Vishnyevsky, head of Gosatomnadzor, said at a news conference. "Of those situations that we can talk about in actuality, they involve either grams of weapons-grade or kilograms of the usual uranium used in atomic power plants. "Most often, these instances are connected with factories preparing fuel: Elektrostal in the Moscow region and Novosibirsk," Vishnyevsky said. He did not give further details on when the losses were discovered or how the material might have gone missing. The International Atomic Energy Agency lists two known thefts of uranium from Elektrostal, in 1994 and 1995. In both cases, the uranium was seized by police. The agency also lists the 1994 seizure in Germany of 400 grams of plutonium brought in from Moscow. A few grams of Uranium-235, the most common weapons-grade nuclear material, would not be sufficient to make a bomb. But reactor-grade uranium can be enriched to weapons-grade through a complicated process believed to be possessed by some countries trying to develop nuclear weapons, such as Iraq. "After Sept. 11 of last year, the situation with regard to security at all Russian nuclear facilities changed for the better, but it still has not reached perfection," Vishnyevsky said. He estimated that bringing security to its ideal level at Russian nuclear operations would require about 6 billion rubles ($200 million). Vishnyevsky made his statement in the course of criticizing a bill on technological regulation now being considered by the State Duma. He presented a letter to the Duma from a number of prominent scientists criticizing the proposed law for calling for "the minimal necessary demands for security." © Copyright 2002, The Moscow Times. All Rights Reserved. Visit ***************************************************************** 5 US seeks to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear capability: Islamic Republic News Agency ( I R N A )HeadLines News analyst Islamabad, Nov. 15, IRNA -- A noted Pakistani analyst and former secretary for foreign affairs Tanvir Ahmed Khan said on Friday that the US would try "sooner or later" to deprive Islamabad of its nuclear capability. "It is just a matter of time, when the United States embarks upon a plan to take away Pakistan's nuclear capability," the former diplomat remarked during an interview with IRNA here Friday. To substantiate his point, he referred to American think-tank reports, which insist that Pakistan's nuclear program was more dangerous to the US interests than that of Iraq. This American think-tank, Tanvir Ahmed Khan said, has been trying to convince President George W. Bush administration to "deal with Pakistan" first before mounting operation against Iraq. "A nuclear Pakistan is like a bitter pill for the US to swallow," he added. MHA/BH/AR last Update Saturday, 16-Nov-2002 06:35:41 PST ©2000 Islamic Republic News Agency ( IRNA). All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 6 Leave us to discover the truth, says chief nuclear inspector - smh.com.au By Marian Wilkinson, Herald Correspondent in Washington November 16 2002 The United Nations' chief nuclear weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said it is critical that his mission to Iraq is impartial and free of outside interference to ensure that its conclusions "are accepted as objective and credible by all parties". Speaking to a Washington conference on the eve of leaving for Baghdad, where he is to lead a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr ElBaradei said he hoped the UN inspectors would be able to verify the disarmament of Iraq. And he said that in his view the use of force against Iraq "should clearly be the last resort and not the first option". Dr ElBaradei's team hopes to discover the truth about claims by the United States, Britain and Australia that Saddam Hussein is trying to reconstitute his nuclear weapons program. The US President, George Bush, says the Iraqi dictator is on the verge of being able to obtain a nuclear weapon. Extensive leaks in the US media also suggest Baghdad has been trying to acquire nuclear fuel for a bomb - a charge Iraq denies. Dr ElBaradei is a former Egyptian ambassador to the UN and adjunct professor of law at New York University. He will accompany the UN's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, who will try to verify whether Iraq is maintaining a chemical and biological weapons program. Iraq has 30 days to supply an inventory of its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons program to the weapons inspectors following last week's tough new UN Security Council resolution. The US has said it will launch a military attack to overthrow Saddam if he does not co-operate. ");document.write(" advertisement "); } } // --> In an interview, Dr ElBaradei said a comprehensive inventory by Iraq was very important, "because that's the test of their co-operation, and the Security Council made it clear that if there are any omissions there, this could be considered a material breach". A material breach of the UN resolution would be a trigger for the US-led invasion of Iraq. Dr ElBaradei said that if there was a minor breach the inspectors would report it, "but we're not going to rush to the Security Council to say this is a material breach". Mr Bush has said there will be "zero tolerance" of any non-co-operation by Iraq. Dr ElBaradei said it would be up to the Security Council to evaluate "what is or is not a material breach". In contrast to the US and Australian governments, Dr ElBaradei said in his Washington address that he believed North Korea should be treated in the same way as Iraq after it disclosed it was trying to obtain fuel for a nuclear weapon. "For the credibility of the regime, the approach in all cases should be one and the same, zero tolerance." Pyongyang penalised Tokyo: North Korea faces economic sanctions over its clandestine nuclear arms program, after the United States, the European Union, Japan and South Korea decided to suspend oil shipments to the impoverished communist state from next month. However, to give North Korea time to agree to dismantle the arms program, South Korea and Japan persuaded their allies to allow a shipment only days away from North Korea to go ahead. The decision to suspend heavy oil shipments from December was taken in New York on Thursday by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation, or KEDO, the body set up to provide energy aid to North Korea after it agreed in 1994 to freeze its nuclear program. Shane Green Copyright © 2002. The Sydney Morning Herald. ***************************************************************** 7 U.S. Allies Back N.Korea Punishment Las Vegas SUN November 14, 2002 By EDITH M. LEDERER ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK- Demanding the speedy elimination of North Korea's nuclear program, key allies backed the U.S. decision to suspend future oil deliveries to North Korea as punishment for its secret program to develop a uranium-based bomb. South Korea, Japan, the European Union and the United States said in a joint statement Thursday after a daylong meeting that future shipments will depend on North Korea's "concrete and credible actions" to completely dismantle its highly enriched uranium program. This must be done "in a visible and verifiable manner," it said. The isolated communist nation is destitute and depends heavily on the U.S. oil shipments. The United States and its allies are hoping the prospect of a cold winter for millions of North Koreans will pressure Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "We strongly ask North Korea to take our message seriously and scrap its plan to develop nuclear arms immediately," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday. The three allies gave their support to the suspension a day after President Bush made a decision to stop oil shipments, accusing North Korea of violating a 1994 agreement with the United States in which it pledged to become a state free of nuclear weapons. In exchange for the pledge, the United States had promised to provide more than 500,000 tons of heavy oil per year. In addition, South Korea and Japan offered to pay most of the cost for two light water nuclear reactors that are of limited use for a country intent on developing nuclear weapons. The fate of that project is unclear. The European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea are members of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, known as KEDO, which operates the 8-year-old oil assistance program. The KEDO statement said the suspension would begin with the December shipment. In light of the oil cutoff, "other KEDO activities with North Korea will be reviewed," it said. Other programs include economic aid and construction projects. The allies coupled the suspension with a condemnation of North Korea for violating the 1994 agreement and its treaty obligations to remain nuclear-free. They also warned that North Korea's future relations with South Korea, Japan, the European Union and the United States "hinge on the complete and permanent elimination of its nuclear weapons program." North Korea's nuclear program threatens regional and international security and undermines the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the allies said. Bush decided to suspend the oil shipments following North Korea's acknowledgment of its uranium bomb program on Oct. 4 during a meeting with U.S. officials in Pyongyang. His only concession was to agree to allow a vessel already en route to North Korea to deliver a final oil shipment. Before the suspension was announced, Secretary of State Colin Powell told a news conference in Ottawa, Canada: "We cannot continue to provide fuel in this manner, in light of North Korean violation of the understanding." "North Korea has to end this program that we've discovered to enrich uranium," he said. In late October, North Korea offered to negotiate a non-aggression pact with the United States, but Powell has said there can be no discussion until Pyongyang dismantles its nuclear program. The CIA believes North Korea has at least one plutonium-based bomb from an earlier nuclear program. Powell said last week that the North's nuclear weapons arsenal could be increased in a matter of months if Pyongyang decides to reprocess the plutonium now under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Some U.S. officials are concerned that the North may take that step in response to Bush's suspension of the oil shipments. If that occurs, a full-blown crisis on the peninsula could develop, they believe. Associated Press reporter Dilshika Jayamaha in New York contributed to this report. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 8 Pro-Industry Senator to Chair Environment Committee By Cat Lazaroff WASHINGTON, DC, November 14, 2002 (ENS) - The Republican leadership has elected new chairs of all Senate committees and subcommittees, choosing leaders who illustrate vividly the shift in legislative priorities that will come with the Republican controlled Congress. The Republican announcements were followed by Democratic decisions regarding Senate leadership on Wednesday, and today, by the selection of California Representative Nancy Pelosi as the new House minority leader. With the Republican party now holding a four seat majority in the Senate, all committee and subcommittee chairs will be turned over to senior Republicans when Congress returns in January for the 108th Congress. On Wednesday, with little controversy or debate, the party annointed its new Senate leaders, replacing, in many cases, environmental champions with senators who generally vote against increasing protections for the environment. ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS [Inhofe] Senator James Inhofe speaks at a press conference. (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma will take over leadership of the crucial Environment and Public Works Committee, which reviews almost all major legislation concerning conservation and environmental enforcement. As the longest serving Republican senator on this committee, he will succeed Senator Jim Jeffords, the Vermont Independent whose abdication from the Republican party gave power to the Democrats in June 2001. While Jeffords is widely admired by conservation groups for his pro-environment stance, Inhofe is just the opposite. The League of Conservation Voters, a nonprofit group which monitors the environmental voting records of all Congress members, gave Inhofe a 0 percent rating for his lifetime voting record, noting his support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and opposition to increased fuel efficiency standards, among other environmental issues. Inhofe intends to protect the oil and gas industry, as he has stated many times over the past decade. In these February 24, 1999 comments to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol Browner, he said, "I hope we can work together and provide some regulatory relief to the oil and gas industry. I am concerned not about any specific rule, but about all pending regulations across the entire agency." Believing that the states "are in the best position to enforce the environmental laws and regulations," Inhofe can be expected to limit the role of federal agencies, particularly the EPA. He said on June 10, 1997, "The EPA should be limited to an oversight role for consistency only and for providing advice to the States. They should not be in the business of second guessing States or playing the big bully on the block." In contrast, Jeffords scored 76 percent for his votes in the 107th Congress, supporting proposals to require more energy production from renewable sources and opposing a vote to override objections by Nevada lawmakers and citizens and send the bulk of the nation's high level nuclear waste to a repository at Yucca Mountain. Inhofe is considered one of the most conservative senators, and is a strong supporter of Bush administration proposals to increase domestic energy production and offer new incentives to the oil industry. Jeffords used his tenure as committee chair to launch investigations of industry involvement in administration initiatives like the national energy plan. ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES A slightly less conservative senator will take over the helm of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Pete Domenici of New Mexico will chair the energy committee when the panel's senior Republican member, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, steps down to become Alaska's new governor. [Domenici] Senator Pete Domenici in the Senate Banking Committee in the 107th Congress (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has jurisdiction over a sweeping array of issues, including energy resources and development, including regulation, conservation, strategic petroleum reserves and appliance standards; nuclear energy; Indian affairs; public lands and renewable resources; surface mining, federal coal, oil, and gas, other mineral leasing; territories and insular possessions; and water resources. Domenici was in line to chair the Budget Committee, a position he has held before, but opted to take over the energy panel because of the importance of energy issues to his home state of New Mexico. He takes over from Senator Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, keeping state issues front and center on the Energy Committee. But while Bingaman voted in favor of environmental issues 64 percent of the time in the 107th Congress, according to the LCV, Domenici favored environmental issues just eight percent of the time, and holds a 15 percent environmental voting record over this five Senate terms. While Domenici is considered a moderate voter on many issues, he is expected to support the Bush administration's controversial national energy plan, which emphasizes fossil fuels and nuclear power. "I am eager to take on this new challenge as chairman of a committee with such import to issues both nationally and in New Mexico," Domenici said. "The task ahead for me is something both new and exciting, and significant in terms of setting natural resource and land policy for the country. I want to find balanced, common sense approaches to these issues." AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION AND FORESTRY [Cochran] Senator Thad Cochran in his office (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi will chair the Agriculture committee, taking over from Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin. Cochran cast pro-environment votes just eight percent of the time in the 107th Congress, though he did help craft an agriculture proposal supported by many environmental groups: a 1996 bill to phase out federal subsidies for most crops, which has since been overturned by later legislation. However, Cochran opposed February 2002 proposals to end subsidies for large, polluting factory farms, and to offer money to states to buy agricultural water rights to conserve water for fish and other freshwater species. Harkin, who had an 84 percent pro-environment voting record in the 107th Congress, voted in favor of both of these proposals. APPROPRIATIONS The Senate Appropriations committee, which crafts budget proposals for every federal agency, will now be chaired by Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the Senate's senior Republican member. [Stevens] Senator Ted Stevens on a visit to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) While Stevens, who has an eight percent pro-environment voting record for the 107th Congress, votes as a moderate on some issues, he has not been a friend to conservation groups, and is expected to support the Bush administration in its budget priorities. In contrast, the Democratic chair, eight term Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, had a 56 percent pro-environment record in the 107th Congress. But both of these senior senators share a fondness for pork barrel spending, particularly when it comes to pet projects in their home states. Besides taking the Appropriations chair from Byrd, Senator Stevens will also take his title as President Pro Tempore of the Senate, traditionally the most senior member of the majority party in the Senate. Stevens becomes the longest serving Republican in the Senate upon Senator Strom Thurmond's retirement at the end of the 107th Congress. The U.S. Constitution provides for a President Pro Tempore to preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president, and the Senate President Pro Tempore is also the third person in line of succession for the presidency, following the vice president and the Speaker of the House. BUDGET Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles will be the next chair of the Senate Budget Committee, because the committee's senior Republican, Pete Domenici, will take over the Energy Committee. The Budget Committee is responsible for writing Congress' annual budget plan and monitoring the impact of revenue and spending decisions on the federal budget. [Nickles] Senator Don Nickles' official photo (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) The committee also oversees the Congressional Budget Office, which is charged with providing objective, nonpartisan analysis of the budget and economic impact of legislation. Nickles, a conservative who has voted against nearly every major piece of environmental legislation during his four terms in office, takes over from Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat who voted pro-environment 56 percent of the time in the 107th Congress. "The Senate Budget Committee is vitally important to guiding the decisions of the Senate and ensuring that our government works efficiently and effectively," Nickles said after his election as committee chair. "I'm looking forward to working with President Bush and Senators on both sides of the aisle to reinstate a realistic, fiscally responsible budget process that will promote economic growth, homeland security and national security." COMMERCE, SCIENCE AND TRANSPORTATION [McCain] Senator John McCain in his office (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) John McCain, a moderate Republican from Arizona with a 37 percent pro-environment voting record in the 107th Congress, will take over the Commerce Committee from Ernest Hollings of South Carolina. McCain voted in favor of granting so called fast track authority to President George W. Bush, allowing the White House to negotiate trade agreements that Congress may reject but may not alter, a power that some say will result in less emphasis on environmental and human rights protections in international trade. McCain has usually voted in favor of boosting vehicle fuel efficiency and supporting alternative fuels and public transportation. ARMED SERVICES [Warner] Senator John Warner thanks a member of the American Legion. (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator) Virginia Senator John Warner will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee, taking over from Carl Levin of Michigan. This committee determines priorities for the nation's military, and will play a major role in determining whether to exempt military training centers and operations from a variety of environmental laws. For example, the 2003 Defense Authorization Bill sent to President George W. Bush late Wednesday includes a provision to exempt the military from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, meaning the armed services cannot be penalized when their operations kill protected birds on American soil. Warner said last week that as committee chair, he would work to "provide the support and resources necessary for our men and women in uniform, active and reserve, to successfully perform their current missions around the world; and to assist our military in building the capabilities necessary to transform the force to successfully confront future threats." Warner voted in favor of environmental issues 16 percent of the time in the 107th Congress, compared to Levin's 72 percent record. GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS Susan Collins of Maine, a junior senator who begins her second term in January, will chair the Governmental Affairs committee, which oversees the actions of all government agencies. She takes over from environmental champion Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who used his position as chair to launch investigations of Bush administration efforts to overturn or undermine environmental legislation. Collins has a 64 percent pro-environment record for the 107th Congress, compared to Lieberman's 88 percent record. FINANCE, FOREIGN RELATIONS, AND THE REST The remaining committee successions include: + Banking, Housing and Urban Development: Richard Shelby of Alabama, a conservative and former Democrat who switched parties in 1994, will take over from Paul Sarbanes of Maryland. Shelby opposes government regulation of big business, and almost never votes in favor of environmental issues. + Finance: Charles Grassley of Iowa will take over the Finance Committee from Max Baucus of Montana, reversing the switch that took place in June 2001 when the Democrats took control of the Senate. Grassley, a conservative who rarely votes in favor of environmental issues, has said that his priorities as Finance chair will include reforms to welfare, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. + Foreign Relations: Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana becomes senior Republican and chair of the Foreign Relations Committee due to the retirement of Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina. Lugar, who held the Foreign Relations chair 16 years ago before leaving to chair the Agriculture committee, succeeds Joe Biden of Delaware. + Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a moderate, will take over from Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts as chair of the Senate Health Education committee, which oversees some of the nation's largest domestic programs. Gregg is known for his willingness to work with Democrats on liberal issues such as the environment and education, and has a 44 percent pro-environment voting record for the 107th Congress. + Judiciary: Conservative Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah will resume the chair of the Judiciary Committee, putting him in a position of approving the Bush administration's nominees to the federal bench. He succeeds Patrick Leahy of Vermont, whose 96 percent pro-environment voting record in the 107th Congress stands in sharp contrast to Hatch's four percent record. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights ***************************************************************** 9 Second N.K. nuclear crisis: lessons and prospects Korea Herald!!_Oped http://www.koreaherald.com The discovery of a covert North Korean nuclear weapons program should not have been a surprise to the U.S. or South Korean governments, yet it came as a surprise to many who somehow allowed themselves to believe in the Geneva Agreed Framework as a basis for putting trust in North Korea's words. However, the record suggests that there is no basis for trust, and it was misleading to suggest that this limited framework could guarantee that the North would not undertake a secret program of uranium enrichment outside the view of the international community. In fact, it has been entirely logical based on the North Korean record to expect that the opaque North Korean regime would try its best to get away with whatever it could, without scruples. For the North Koreans, the decision to pursue a highly enriched uranium program must have been an intuitively obvious "win-win" option. If the North didn't get caught, it would have a new capability that would undoubtedly surprise foes and enhance North Korea's overall national strength; if they did get caught, Pyongyang's leaders must have assumed on the basis of the Agreed Framework that the program would constitute new leverage that could easily be traded away for economic, political, and security benefits. The viability of the Agreed Framework has now been directly challenged. At its core, that agreement has succeeded in capping the North's plutonium-based nuclear program, though nuclear fuel rods remain stored at the North's Yeongbyeon facilities, under the watchful eyes of IAEA inspectors. This is the fundamental accomplishment of the Agreed Framework that everyone recognizes must be preserved. In return, the United States promised that KEDO would deliver 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil each year and build two light water reactors in North Korea. Now that North Korea has been proven to be in violation of the agreement with the discovery of its uranium-based program, there appears to be no long-term political basis for continuing the construction of reactors or the delivery of heavy fuel oil, although the immediate next steps are to be decided in New York by the KEDO Executive Board. Without a full return to visibly verifiable commitments by the North not to develop nuclear weapons, there is simply no basis for continuing the overall project. However, it remains to be seen whether some core elements of the project may be continued in some form. The fact of the matter is that North Korea's transgression of the framework is an opportunity to set aside and revise the Agreed Framework, which had become politically unsustainable in any event. The onus is clearly on North Korean performance to provide the transparency measures necessary to reassure the international community that it is abiding by its obligations under all its non-proliferation commitments before it can get back on track. It is an intelligence success for the U.S. government to have discovered the North's uranium enrichment program at an early stage, and - despite political fallout - should enhance confidence in our ability both to provide independent verification necessary to deal with unfinished business in North Korea that could eventually lead to the comprehensive capping and freezing of the North's entire nuclear program. At the same time, the transparency principles that the international community now will require of North Korea are directly contradictory to the North's penchant for the secrecy, ambiguity and opaqueness that have contributed to the survival of the North's regime despite extraordinary trials and even collapse of its economic system. No further agreement with North Korea will be possible, given the loss of credibility generated by the North's duplicity, without enhanced verification necessary to assure the international community that the North indeed remains bound to a non-nuclear path. Yet there is every reason to pursue a diplomatic agreement under these circumstances - not as the basis for building trust, but as the basis for achieving greater transparency and more intrusive verification necessary to satisfy justifiable doubts. Nor is it politically viable for the North to receive economic rewards, although I believe it is reasonable for the North to receive political rewards for good behavior as long as those rewards also contribute to the economic transformation and political integration of the North into the international community. As this "second" North Korean nuclear crisis develops, there are lessons from 1993-94 and significant differences from that time that will shape the development of this crisis in certain ways. Some of the similarities and differences between 1993-94 and today are as follows: - North Korea's March 21, 1993, declaration of its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty marked the start of a slowly-developing crisis that took months before negotiations occurred and over a year and a half to reach resolution. Similarly, the revelations in Pyongyang on Oct. 4, 2002, of the North's covert uranium enrichment program mark the start of slowly developing coordination and consultations among the United States, South Korea and Japan. The first U.S.-DPRK talks took almost three months to occur, and serious discussions really did not begin until over one year later. Likewise, it will take time before it is possible to imagine negotiations with the DPRK to solve the current crisis, as practical coordination and negotiation measures will take some time to develop. Most obviously, this process cannot go forward until a new government in Seoul sets its new policies toward the North. - Iraq and North Korea are again linked. Calls for a post-Persian Gulf enhanced international IAEA inspections process in Iraq led to calls for "special inspections" in North Korea. Clearly, there are additional parallels under current circumstances, although the Bush administration appears to be handling each case differently. Nonetheless, both North Korea and Iraq remain charter members of the "axis of evil," and the arguments and feelings that are raised in the respective policy debates over North Korea and Iraq retain many similarities. - Alliance coordination is the key to managing policy toward North Korea, but can these three allies put forward a truly coordinated position, given their respective levels of engagement and regional vs. global interests? Los Cabos was a positive first step, but ultimately the option of negotiation with the North will require that the three allies must craft a clear way out for the North that will satisfy all parties. Nevertheless, all parties may not be satisfied to give the North a way out. - Unlike 1993-94, North-South and Japan-DPRK dialogue channels exist and can be used, but are they effective vehicles for resolution of nuclear/WMD issues? Can either South Korea or Japan be effective intermediaries for the United States on these issues? Neither Seoul nor Tokyo are likely to be willing to either sacrifice their own negotiating channels or allow the United States to borrow too much precious economic leverage over Pyongyang if it is perceived to come at the expense of core Korean and Japan national interests or to sideline Seoul or Tokyo in favor of Washington priorities. - The DPRK has stated again that its objective is dialogue with the United States. Past U.S.-DPRK negotiation dynamics suggest that crisis escalation will be likely before either side will be willing to sit down and negotiate over issues so close to their core respective security interests. - What is the North Korean bottom line? Everyone agrees regime survival. Negotiations at this stage will not be about "economic blackmail," but rather "political blackmail," designed to get U.S. guarantees assuring the existence of the regime in Pyongyang. However, this time North Korea's economic dependence on the outside world is widely known, but viewed very differently in Seoul and Washington. Seoul believes that North Korea's economic dependence means that it can be "reined in," while Washington sees Pyongyang's economic vulnerability as the string, which, if pulled, could bring about the unraveling of the entire regime. Unlike 1993-94, when North Korean leaders' legitimacy came solely from political/ideological factors, now Kim Jong-il has to raise enough money from the outside to improve living standards for his core supporters inside North Korea. Performance legitimacy is becoming a factor in shaping the future success or failure of leadership in North Korea. We now know the outcome of the first North Korean nuclear crisis; whether we have effectively learned lessons from that crisis that can be applied in the management of this crisis remains to be seen. We know much more about North Korea, its negotiation style and its vulnerabilities than we knew in 1993-94. But the situation is different, and North Korea's own strategies and objectives may have also been modified by different circumstances faced during round two. Whether or not there is now an intersection of interests that can lead to a new bargain (if not military action, and not negotiation, then what?), a close analysis of lessons learned from 1993-94 and a recognition of the key differences that are shaping this crisis are necessary prerequisites to defining a mutually acceptable strategy among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington. Scott Snyder is the Korea representative of the Asia Foundation. The article is an edited version of a speech he gave to the Society of Freethinkers 300 of Korea in Seoul on Thursday. - Ed. By Scott Snyder 2002.11.16 (C) Copyright 2000 Digital Korea Herald. All rights ***************************************************************** 10 NK Editorial: Independent cooperation welcome to Korea Herald!!_Oped http://www.koreaherald.com As expected, Washington and its key allies decided yesterday to suspend fuel oil shipments to North Korea starting next month. Now there appear only two options left for Pyongyang: Drop the nuclear development program, or undergo an unusually long and cold winter. From the standpoint of the beleaguered regime, however, things would not - and should not - necessarily turn out that way, if only the related parties shift from confrontation to conversation. But that seems a very, very big if. The decision by the four board members of a U.S.-led consortium for energy assistance to the North can be seen as the first step toward dismantling itself. A spokesman of the Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organization, called KEDO, said other projects of the U.S.-North Korea agreement in Geneva in 1994 could be reviewed. That means the provision of two plutonium-free, light-water reactors is also up in the air. In other words, the entire Agreed Framework might turn into a mere scrap of paper. Disappointing as it may be, the latest development should hardly be surprising for most diplomatic watchers. The U.S. administration under President George W. Bush started its tenure with an attack on the accord signed eight years ago, billing it as a bribe to atomic saber-rattlers. Bush's strategy was to contain disobedient regimes through pressure instead of appeasing them with talks. On the Korean Peninsula, it has nullified almost all achievements by his predecessor and his South Korean counterpart. Washington's logic is quite simple: eye-for-an-eye treatment for the breakers of international promises. To be sure, Pyongyang violated the agreement to denuclearize this peninsula with its secretive uranium enrichment program. But America also breached on the 1994 accord by continuing its nuclear threat against the communist state. It may not be just a coincidence that the North started to enrich uranium in 1998, when the U.S. Air Force conducted a simulated atomic attack on Pyongyang, according to declassified military documents. What North Korea wants from America with its surprise acknowledgement of the nuclear development plans is only this: recognition of its sovereignty and guarantee of security. Pyongyang even downgraded its demand from a peace treaty to a nonaggression pact, without attaching any demand for economic assistance. This is nothing but a plea for survival as an independent state disguised as a threat. And the isolated country's fear of the powerful U.S. military appears real enough to seek some weapons of mass destruction of its own. With the hawks calling for preemptive attacks, the U.S. demand for North Korea's disarmament prior to any dialogue would only deepen the latter's suspicions. As a local analyst put it, Washington is responding to Pyongyang's benign confession with malign neglect. This is irresponsible at best and dangerous at worst. A defense white paper says the two Koreas have military arsenals and manpower 80 times larger than in 1950. It estimates about five million people will be killed or injured within a month of another conflict here, with 90 percent of all facilities destroyed. Even without a second Korean War, the financial losses would be unbearable in case of the bankrupt state's implosion as a result of economic embargoes. A government think tank has set the unification cost to be shouldered by South Korea alone at $3 trillion within 10 years of a sudden collapse of the North. The longer it takes for Pyongyang to acheive economic reform due to external sanctions, the greater the damages not only on Seoul but also on the entire regional economy. Aren't these costs too enormous for America to save its face by bringing a recalcitrant regime to its knees? We believe not all Americans but some defense industry giants and their political supporters want the unconditional surrender of North Korea even in the face of these risks. America should start dialogue with North Korea immediately. By doing so, Washington can best exert its influence on what could fast turn into an even more dangerous and "roguish" regime. If the Bush administration had taken up where its predecessor left off, it would have reached there already. South Korea should play a more active role in the process. A more independent and vocal Seoul is needed to convey the message of growing voices for regional peace and democracy to Washington. Just because the two countries are allies, their positions and interests should not necessarily be the same all the time. When the dovish strategy works better than a hawkish approach by preventing unnecessary conflicts and benefiting a greater number of people, they should follow the former. In this vein, we believe Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun did what he should have done when he called for KEDO to continue fuel shipments at least until January. He might have been neglectful, intentionally or not, of diplomatic tactics or etiquette. But substance should trump formality. Seoul must make its own voice heard in future diplomatic dealings, if for no other reason than maintaining its leverage over Pyongyang. Even if it was a diplomatic gaffe, it was much better than the one made by Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong, who chilled the inter-Korean relationship by praising the U.S. hard-line policy months ago. 2002.11.16 (C) Copyright 2000 Digital Korea Herald. All rights ***************************************************************** 11 N.K. faces cold winter without oil supply Korea Herald!!_National http://www.koreaherald.com North Korea is expected to suffer a severe energy shortage this winter if it does receive part of the annual supply of 500,000 tons of heavy oil provided by the United States, experts and officials here said yesterday. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) decided yesterday to suspend Washington's oil deliveries to the North beginning next month, as punitive measures to its newly disclosed nuclear weapons program. "I believe that North Korea will be hit hard by KEDO's decision as the oil supply has substantially contributed to the North's production of electric power," a KEDO official in Seoul said. With no concrete information on North Korea's energy situation, experts calculated the fuel oil provision is likely to comprise from 10 to 20 percent of the total power supply in the energy-strapped North. According to the Unification Ministry, the heavy oil supplied by Washington accounted for 40 percent of the total 1.25 million tons of oil North Korea imported last year. The total capacity of the North's electric power production stands at 7.75 million kW, but the operating rate is estimated at 30 percent of that figure, or 2 million kWh, as of 2001. "North Korea with its moribund economy, cannot afford to pay $100 million to buy 500,000 tons of heavy oil from foreign countries," the official said. The fuel oil has been funneled into seven thermoelectric power plants in the North Korean cities of Cheongjin, Dongpyongyang, Bukchang, Yeongbyeon, Pyongyang, Seonbong and Suncheon. Use of the heavy oil is confined to power production and heating, as it is part of the compensation package by KEDO for the North's pledge to freeze its nuclear weapons program. The Seonbong Power Plant, which totally depends on the U.S. fuel provision of about 42,500 tons a month, produces 10 percent of the North's generation of electricity. Seonbong-generated electricity has been used to operate factories in the North's special economic zone in Rasin and Seonbong along the eastern coast. "If North Korea cannot receive the oil supply from next month some factories may have to be shut down and the country will have difficulties in pushing for economic reform measures," a government official said. Pyongyang has provided a host of economic initiatives from July, which include elements of a market economy. (shj@koreaherald.co.kr) By Seo Hyun-jin Staff reporter 2002.11.16 (C) Copyright 2000 Digital Korea Herald. All rights ***************************************************************** 12 KEDO May Review LWR Project Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English Updated Nov.15,2002 16:00 KST by Kim Jae-ho (jaeho@chosun.com) South Korea, the United States, Japan and the European Union on Thursday decided to end fuel oil deliveries to North Korea, in response to Pyongyang's violation of a nuclear accord, from the beginning of December. However, after an eight-hour Executive Board meeting of KEDO in New York, the four parties agreed to supply November's batch of 45,000 tons currently en route to the North as scheduled. In addition other agreements within the 1994 Agreed Framework will be subject to review unless the North abandons its nuclear weapons development program and gives tangible proof of this by allowing inspections. The US reiterated its strong stance towards North Korea saying Washington will no longer supply heavy oil to Pyongyang unless the Stalinist country makes an official statement to abandon its nuclear ambitions. To this end, South Korea suggested the US to continue the fuel supply at least until January, while keeping a close eye on the regime's attitude toward its nuclear ambitions. With the fuel shipment ending this month, the future of other items of the 1994 agreed framework including the light-water nuclear reactor project has been thrown into question. Other actions could mean the suspension of training of personnel and even construction, which would effectively suspend the 1994 agreement. The oil suspension is expected to reduce Pyongyang's power supply by more than 15 percent and may trigger the shutdown of factories and worsening of North Korea's economy. Under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the North agreed to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for 500,000 tons of fuel oil a year, paid for by Washington and the construction of two light-water reactors. In a statement made after the meeting, KEDO said North Korea's nuclear weapons program threatened stability in the region and was in danger of breaching the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. It added dialogues between South Korea, Japan and the EU with the North were important to solve international concerns, and urged Pyongyang to respect its pledge to abandon nuclear weapons research quickly and tangibly. Analysts said this indicates three avenues of approach without US participation in solving the problem. Chang Seong-seok, the head of South Korea's Light Water Reactor Planning Team said KEDO would review the suspension of heavy oil decision on December 11 and 12 to ascertain if North Korea had taken any credible action. Cheong Wa Dae Spokeswoman Park Sun-sook said the decision was the result of close cooperation between related countries and the best solution to resolving the nuclear issue while maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Park added the North should immediately abandon its quest for atomic weapons as only then would it get the assistance it wanted from international society. ***************************************************************** 13 Congress Gives US President Three-Year Waiver on Nunn-Lugar MOSCOW - The embattled Nunn-Lugar act cleared a major hurdle to its reopening Wednesday as the US Senate unanimously passed the Defence Authorization bill, which grants the US president authority to waive the act's re-certification requirements for three years, and paving the way to destruction for nearly eight months' worth of backed-up nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in Russia. Charles Digges, 2002-11-14 23:24 The 10-year-old Pentagon-run programme that spends $400 million dollars a year to dismantle Russian weapons of mass destruction has twice this year sat in the doldrums while details about granting the president powers to waive the programme's annual re-certification process — as well as other issues in the $393 billion US defence spending package — were debated on the floor of Congress. "The Nunn-Lugar program is needed to help continue the dismantlement of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons that pose a severe risk of proliferation and is the greatest threat to our national security," said a statement issued by Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana who initiated the Nunn-Lugar programme — officially known as the Cooperative Threat Reduction act, or CTR — in 1991 with then-Senator Sam Nunn, a Georgia Democrat. Under the US law that will be supplanted by new regulations in contained in the Defense Authorization bill, the president must re-certify Russia's commitment to Nunn-Lugar activities on a yearly basis. Earlier this year, President George Bush became the first president in Nunn-Lugar's history to decline Nunn-Lugar's annual certification over concerns that Russia was not being candid about its stocks of Soviet-era chemical weapons. Bush's refusal to certify the programme shut down nearly a third of Nunn-Lugar activities in Russia, and blocked the signing of all new weapons destruction contracts with Russia for six months. Then, in August, Bush signed a temporary waiver that allowed the programme to run until the beginning of the fiscal year, Oct. 1. The programme has been shut down again since then, meaning that it has not been able to accept new contracts for nearly eight months this year. After Bush declined to certify Nunn-Lugar this year, he paradoxically began lobbying Congress to grant him a permanent waiver from the certification requirement. The subsequent haggling over the waiver became, according to some observers in Washington, a tense struggle within the administration itself, with Pentagon brass opposing a waiver of any kind, and Bush National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice phoning members of Congress to lobby them for a permanent waiver, congressional sources said. The compromise that was hit on by the House of Representatives — which also passed the Defence Authorization bill Wednesday — was to require presidential re-certification every three years. The bill goes next to Bush, who has ten days to sign it and make it law or veto it, Lugar's deputy press secretary Nick Weber told Bellona Web. "We haven't really been told whether Bush will sign it or not, but it's a major victory that the waiver language is in there," Weber said in a telephone interview from Washington. Indeed, noted some congressional aides, it is precisely the kind of language Bush had asked for on the waiver, and they saw no reason that Nunn-Lugar would not be up and running again within the next ten days. Once the bill is signed, Nunn-Lugar will not have to be re-certified for the next three years — a task that will fall to Bush, or whoever may defeat him in the 2004 elections. Senator Lugar made it apparent in a statement that the lion's share of Nunn-Lugar efforts this year would be directed toward the destruction of nearly 2 million modern chemical weapons artillery shells and SCUD missile warheads at the Urals chemical weapons storage facility in Shchuchye. The weapons stored there, said Lugar, "are in excellent working condition and many are small and easily transportable. They would be deadly in the hands of terrorists, religious sects or para-military units." At a visit to Shchuchye in May, Lugar was told by the Russians that the weapons stored there in a simple barn-like buildings could kill the world's population some 20 times over. "The size and lethality of the weapons at Shchuchye are clearly a direct proliferation threat to the American people," Lugar said. Under Nunn-Lugar programmes, as of July 7, 2002, 5,970 nuclear warheads have been deactivated, 1,269 ballistic and long-range nuclear cruise missiles eliminated, 829 missile launchers destroyed, 97 long-range bombers eliminated and 24 ballistic missile submarines destroyed in Russia and former Soviet territories, according to the US government's Defense Threat Reduction Agency. In addition, thousands of former Soviet weapons scientists have been supported by US funds in non-weapons related research. Publisher: [bellona@bellona.no] , President: [frederic@bellona.no] Information: [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 14 Nuclear concerns IHT IHT Friday, November 15, 2002 According to U.S. news reports that cited unnamed American intelligence officials and congressional sources, the Bush administration has evidence that Pakistan aided North Korea's nuclear program as recently as three months ago. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair should have courage to acknowledge their erroneous assessments of both Pakistan and General Purvez Musharraf, and take corrective actions now. Iraq is far less a danger to world peace than Pakistan. Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda are more likely to obtain nuclear arms from their supporters in Pakistan than from Saddam Hussein. Vipul Thakore, London If Bush wants North Korea and Iraq to abandon their nuclear weapons programs then not only should he demand the same of Israel and the other countries that have nuclear arms, he should discard America's weapons of mass destruction as well. Hypocrisy is not the best foundation for foreign policy. Bruce A. Gorcyca, Parma, Ohio Draconian sentences Regarding the report "High court weighs tough sentencing law" (Nov. 6): One of the fundamental aspects of justice is proportionality - that people be punished according to the seriousness of their crime. What possible justification could there be for draconian sentences - such as those in the state of California - for petty crimes like shoplifting? So called three-strikes and mandatory sentencing laws are a serious mistake and violate the spirit of the U.S. Constitution, which wisely separates Congress from the courts. Legislators should stay out of the courtroom and leave sentencing to experienced judges and well-informed juries. Laurence King, Leipzig Customs in other lands Regarding "Transparent blouses in a Saudi mall" (Meanwhile, Nov. 12) by Maureen Dowd: Why are we so all-fired het up over how lives are lived in other countries, and why so critical? It can't be all about human rights. Perhaps there is a need to feel superior. The writer failed to mention more moderate Islamic countries. When I lived in Ramallah, a Christian in a Muslim family - as a family member and part of the society - I respected the customs there. No one prevailed on me to change my attitudes and I did not, having been reared by first-generation American European parents who had experienced entry into a new country and understood the importance of assimilation. I have utmost gratitude for my Palestinian in-laws, who openly shared their lives and beliefs with me, taught me the language and cooking, talked about the culture, and made me comfortable. Mine was not a fairy-tale experience, and sometimes I chafed at the differences, but I would return in a minute if travel there were currently safer. I would not choose to live in Saudi Arabia, where the restrictions and rigid application of social customs and traditions (which are not Islamic percepts) were greater than any I experienced in Palestine in the 1960s (the most radical being that women did not singly go to markets, towns or malls). It behooves travelers-to-be to learn about any country they plan to visit - it is only sensible - and decide if what one learns will discourage the trip. Journalists should be especially respectful before, during and after their visits. Lane Pope, Miami Copyright © 2002 the International Herald Tribune All ***************************************************************** 15 Canada: Watchdog urged to get tough on national nuclear agency TheStar.com - News/Canada Nov. 15, 2002. 01:00 AM Manitobans warn federal hearing Say radioactive cleanup too slow PETER CALAMAI SCIENCE REPORTER OTTAWAEastern Ontario could be left with a vast radioactive no-go zone for hundreds of years unless the federal nuclear safety watchdog gets tough with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., provincial and municipal officials from Manitoba warned here yesterday. The warning came at a hearing here by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal regulatory watchdog, as the Manitoba officials challenged a decontamination plan in their own province they say will take too long. They oppose AECL's plan to take 60 years to shut down and decontaminate its sprawling nuclear research lab complex near Pinawa in the province's southeast corner. Nuclear safety experts would still have to monitor the site of the Whiteshell Nuclear Laboratories for another 200 years while radiation levels fell slowly in stored waste reactor fuel at the site. The Manitoba officials said a similar prolonged cleanup could also bedevil Ontario at AECL's much larger Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories 150 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. AECL, a federal crown corporation, runs nuclear research labs in Manitoba and Chalk River and also operates nuclear waste facilities at Douglas Point, Ont., and in Quebec. "This is just the tip of the iceberg to the much bigger problem (Canadians) are going to have to deal with at Chalk River," said David Wotton, a senior Manitoba provincial official. The warning comes as the federal government today enacted a new federal law intended to deal with long-term storage of highly radioactive nuclear fuel waste after more than two decades of promises, studies and commission reports. Under the new law, AECL and public utilities using nuclear energy must set up a trust fund to finance waste fuel management. Radiation from some waste products takes more than 5 million years to drop by half. But Pinawa mayor Len Simpson, a former top AECL official, complained yesterday that AECL wants to drag out the basic Whiteshell cleanup three times longer than necessary so it can spend the money saved to develop a new model of its CANDU reactors. He urged the nuclear safety commission to order AECL to accelerate the cleanup and not allow tonnes of waste fuel to remain for years in unreliable cylinders sunk into the ground. Simpson said nearby communities don't oppose storing nuclear waste locally but wanted the plan done more quickly and better so the prime 4,000-hectare Whiteshell site along the Winnipeg River would be attractive for industry and housing. Without tough enforcement by the federal watchdog, AECL could not be trusted to live up to its promises, he said. Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2002. Toronto Star Newspapers ***************************************************************** 16 Armed guards planned for nuclear plants canada.com RCMP doubts overruled as options weighed Jim Bronskill and Rick Mofina Calgary Herald CREDIT: Herald Archive, Canadian Press No chances are being taken at nuclear stations such as Point Lepreau, N.B. Canada has settled on a plan for armed security at atomic power plants following initial hesitation from the RCMP about "whether it is a good idea to arm-up at nuclear facilities." Internal government memos reveal the issue of defending atomic plants has been a thorny problem for various federal agencies with sometimes differing views. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington sparked fears of an assault on a North American nuclear facility and the devastating fallout that could result. Following the U.S. attacks, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal regulator, ordered plants to increase security, including provision of an "immediate armed response" on site -- at least on an interim basis. In some cases, protection was provided by RCMP or municipal police and, in others, by plant security officers. In the ensuing months, an in-depth review of security at nuclear facilities was conducted. The Nuclear Safety Commission concluded a permanent armed presence was required at atomic plants, though the RCMP required some persuading. "The RCMP has not yet taken a firm position on whether it is a good idea to arm-up at nuclear facilities and, if it is, what would be the most appropriate means of achieving an armed response," said a February 2002 note prepared by a senior official of the Solicitor General's Department. Early last March, the Nuclear Safety Commission met with RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli on the issue, indicates another memo obtained by Southam News under the Access to Information Act. RCMP Sgt. Paul Marsh declined to discuss the matter Thursday. But a hint as to why the Mounties might have been wary of providing ongoing security at nuclear facilities emerged recently when Conservative MP Elsie Wayne complained that two New Brunswick RCMP officers protecting the nuclear station at Point Lepreau were "physically and mentally burnt out" and wouldn't be replaced in coming months without additional federal funding. The internal notes show federal officials have examined three options for a permanent armed presence: - Make security guards, who aren't usually permitted to carry guns, "public agents" under the Criminal Code, with the Nuclear Safety Commission responsible for their actions. - Treat nuclear facilities as "firearms businesses" -- a plan that would entail issuing licences to each plant and individual authorizations to each security guard. - An entirely new scheme, which could involve a "nuclear police" force or several existing agencies. Nuclear Safety Commission spokesman Michel Cleroux declined Thursday to reveal which option had been chosen. "We're not prepared right now to discuss which one it is. And there are good security reasons for that." © Copyright 2002 Calgary Herald ***************************************************************** 17 `More than nukes' in North's arsenal asahi.com : ENGLISH Asahi Shimbun www.asahi.com [http://www.asahi.com/] By JUN SAITO, The Asahi Shimbun Biological and chemical weapons will be raised in talks. North Korea has admitted it has a ``more powerful'' arsenal than nuclear weapons, a disclosure interpreted to mean Pyongyang has biological and chemical arms, according to Japanese officials. The information stemmed from a visit James Kelly, special U.S. envoy to North Korea, made to Pyongyang from Oct. 3-5. The scale and degree of the development of such weapons is not clear, government sources said. It was unclear why Tokyo delayed making the information public. The admission will surely be a factor in Tokyo-Pyongyang dialogue on normalization. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters Thursday the issue will come up in normalization talks. ``In addition to nuclear development, the North has come to have more,'' he said. ``In previous talks, we expressed our concern over weapons of mass destruction,'' he said. ``This issue (suspicions on biochemical weapons) will become a factor.'' Fukuda did not elaborate, but he added, ``It has been noted for many years'' that the North has biological and chemical weapons and that Japan has been wary of such activity. ``We must address this as a national security issue,'' Fukuda said. In Washington, a senior U.S. government official, referring to Kelly's talks with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju last month, said Wednesday, ``What they (North Korea) said was that they had this uranium enrichment capability to create nuclear weapons and that they have even more powerful weapons as well. ``But they did not specify what that meant. We know they have biological and chemical weapons, we have speculated that perhaps that's what they meant.'' North Korea has not signed the international convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. Chemical and biological weapons can be loaded on ballistic missiles more easily than nuclear weapons to reach Japan, sources said.(IHT/Asahi: November 15,2002) (11/15) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction ***************************************************************** 18 KEDO Urges NK to Scrap Nuke Program in Visible Manner KoreaTimes : [KoreaTimes National] Following is the full text of a statement issued by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) after an Executive Board meeting in New York Thursday. _ ED. The Executive Board of the KEDO met today in New York to discuss the implications of North Korea's acknowledgement that it is pursuing a program to produce highly-enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The Executive Board, consisting of the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan and the European Union, agreed on the following: _ To condemn North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear weapons program, which is a clear and serious violation of its obligations under the Agreed Framework, the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), its IAEA Safeguard Agreement, and the Joint South-North Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. _ North Korea's nuclear weapons program is a shared challenge to all responsible states. _ This program threatens regional and international security and undermines the international nonproliferation regime based on the NPT. _ North Korea must promptly eliminate its nuclear weapons program in a visible and verifiable manner. _ South-North Korea, Japan-North Korea, and EU-North Korea dialogues serve as important channels to resolve bilateral and international concerns and opportunities to call upon North Korea to visibly and quickly honor its commitment to give up its nuclear weapons program. North Korea's future relations and interaction with KEDO and the members of its Executive Board hinge on the complete and permanent elimination of its nuclear weapons program. _ Heavy fuel oil deliveries will be suspended beginning with the December shipment. Future shipments will depend on North Korea's concrete and credible actions to dismantle completely its enriched-uranium program. In this light, other KEDO activities with North Korea will be reviewed. The Executive Board will continue to consult on next steps with regard to future activities of KEDO. ÀԷ½ð£ 2002/11/15 18:14 [webmaster@hankooki.com] ***************************************************************** 19 Bush¡'s Ultimatum Leaves NK With Few Options KoreaTimes : [KoreaTimes National] By Oh Young-jin Staff Reporter Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are applying non-military pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to give up the national nuclear program, telling Pyongyang to dismantle the program or face a cold winter with less fuel oil to go around. In a carefully choreographed media blitz that was apparently meant to show Washington¡¯s initiative in dealing with the latest nuclear standoff with the Stalinist country, U.S. President Bush decided to suspend monthly oil supplies from December. Bush¡¯s decision was echoed hours later by the international consortium of the three countries plus the European Union, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), created in 1994 to provide nuclear reactors and fuel oil for the energy-starved North Korea in return for a promise to freeze its then-nuclear program. This show of unity is expected to force Pyongyang to adjust its two-pronged strategy _ defying the U.S. demand for nuclear disarmament, while trying to open a channel of dialogue with Washington. However, this tactic has not worked so far, as Bush repeatedly excluded any talks before Pyongyang dismantles its new nuclear program. According to Seoul experts, the Stalinist country has a slimmer chance of success than eight years ago, when it intimidated the Clinton administration and extracted the gift of the 1994 nuclear pact from it after a protracted period of confrontation. ``Pyongyang is more vulnerable than eight years ago,¡¯¡¯ said Prof. Kim Sung-han of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), a national policy research center. ``The Bush administration is more faithful to the upkeep of its non-proliferation policy than Clinton.¡¯¡¯ The North depends on the annual 500,000-ton fuel delivery, provided under the 1994 nuclear agreement, for a significant portion of its power generation. Cutting this supply off is expected to force it to tough out a cold winter in the immediate future and wreak havoc on its already-debilitated economy in the long term. Kim suggested reading between the lines of Bush¡¯s rhetoric. ``Washington is convinced that it can handle Pyongyang without getting its hand dirty,¡¯¡¯ he said. ``The North has two options _ either comply with Bush¡¯s demand as soon as possible or face Iraq¡¯s fate.¡¯¡¯ He said, however, that Pyongyang will not likely resume its former nuclear program that has been sealed for the past eight years, as feared by Seoul and Tokyo, even if the situation gets worse. ``Threats are effective when they are threats,¡¯¡¯ he said. Others opt for a protracted standoff in a rerun of what happened in the lead-up to the 1994 Geneva Agreed Framework. ``Pyongyang will try to take advantage of whatever disagreements loom in the Seoul-Washington-Tokyo alliance,¡¯¡¯ a U.S. analyst said on condition of anonymity. ``I think that the three allies cobbled together their different agendas this time but the discord exposed in the process regarding whether to continue oil supplies to the North is not a good step to show solidarity.¡¯¡¯ He said that for the next couple of months until President Kim Dae-jung leaves office, this schism may continue, letting Pyongyang use it to maximize its interest. In this regard, Pyongyang may employ other cards in an attempt to prolong its survival. ``North Korean leader Kim Jong-il may decide to make a long overdue return visit to Seoul,¡¯¡¯ another analyst said. In June 2000, President Kim made a landmark visit to Pyongyang to give his inter-Korean engagement policy major impetus and ushered detente on the peninsula. At that time, the North Korean leader promised to make a return visit without specifying the date. Now it is strongly speculated that Pyongyang has decided to keep it as a card to deal with the next administration in Seoul. ``Washington would react negatively,¡¯¡¯ the analyst said. ``Washington would see it as peace by declaration and without substance, which could jeopardize the rationale for its military presence here.¡¯¡¯ oh@koreatimes.co.kr ÀԷ½ð£ 2002/11/15 18:12 [http://www.worldcup.co.kr] [http://www.apecforum.go.kr/index_en.htm] --> [webmaster@hankooki.com] ***************************************************************** 20 Chong Wa Dae Says KEDO Decision `Best Option¡¯ KoreaTimes : [KoreaTimes National] The decision by an international consortium to phase out oil supplies to North Korea in response to its secret nuclear program was the ``best option¡¯¡¯ possible to settle the problem as soon as possible, Chong Wa Dae said yesterday. ``The decision by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization is seen as the best option to resolve North Korea¡¯s nuclear problem while maintaining the peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,¡¯¡¯ presidential spokeswoman Park Sun-sook said Park added the decision was the outcome of coordination between Korea, the United States and Japan, which was agreed on during a trilateral summit in Los Cabos, Mexico last month. ``The North should stop its nuclear development immediately so as to receive international assistance,¡¯¡¯ she said. ``We urge the North to take a prompt and visible steps in response to this international demand.¡¯¡¯ ÀԷ½ð£ 2002/11/15 17:51 [webmaster@hankooki.com] ***************************************************************** 21 Japan: Nuclear institute blasted for excessive entertainment Mainichi Interactive - Top News The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has designated 2003 as the Year of Japan-ASEAN Relations. Click here to learn more about ASEAN's activities. Workers at an institute controlling the controversial "Monju" fast-breeder reactor squandered millions of yen of government-approved budgets wining and dining politicians and reporters, institute officials admitted Friday. The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) questioned employees at its Tsuruga office in Fukui Prefecture, after a weekly magazine reported that the office entertained members of the local press and the Fukui prefectural assembly. After an investigation, JNC admitted that employees had overspent while entertaining influential guests. The institute reportedly found that the office had abused government-approved budgets in 34 out of 55 dining sessions, violating in-house rules. The institute's internal rules provide that JNC executives are able to spend up to 20,000 yen each time they entertain reporters and others. However, each of the Tsuruga office employees spent 40,000 yen in November 2000, a spokesman said. On the 34 occasions, officials in Tsuruga spent a total of 2.5 million yen. The spokesman said that JNC would return funds deemed "inappropriate" to the institute's coffers. On one occasion, two officials from the Science and Technology Agency in charge of safety inspections at the Monju reactor were among those entertained in apparent violation of the law that bans national government servants from being treated by those who they supervise. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which has taken over the agency's jobs, will investigate the case, officials said. The Monju reactor was shut down following a sodium leak in 1995. Residents have argued that it should be shut down permanently. (Mainichi Shimbun, Nov. 15, 2002) © 2002 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Under the ***************************************************************** 22 Canada: Watchdog urged to get tough on national nuclear agency Manitobans warn federal hearing Say radioactive cleanup too slow November 15 2002 at 05:46AM Cape Times < /index.php?click_id=1915 > By Melanie Gosling Reports on studies of the controversial pebble bed nuclear reactor Eskom proposes to build at Koeberg are so biased and full of legal defects that the government cannot lawfully use them as a basis for giving the project the go-ahead. This is the submission made by the Legal Resources Centre, acting for environmental non-governmental organisation, Earthlife Africa, which has handed in its report as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) that is to be given to the department of environmental affairs and tourism on Friday. The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) says in its submission that if the government authorises Eskom's pebble bed project on the basis of the flawed EIA, its decision stands to be legally challenged and set aside. The city of Cape Town and the provincial authorities have severely criticised the EIA as inadequate. *'South African taxpayers and consumers are underwriting the economic gamble'* The LRC report said the EIA "grossly underestimated the safety risks" of the pebble bed reactor. The safety analysis report by PBMR, the company Eskom set up to build the pebble bed reactor, had not been made public, nor had it been subject to independent review, which was a legal requirement. The report said the EIA had not properly assessed the high financial and economic risks associated with the pebble bed reactor, which did not comply with the relevant legislation. "South African taxpayers and consumers are underwriting the economic gamble," the report said. The pebble bed nuclear plant would produce 760 tons of high-level radioactive waste, which cannot be disposed of because South Africa does not have a facility to handle it. Vaalputs in the Northern Cape can take only medium and low-level radioactive waste. *'A substantial detrimental effect on the environment'* Because the government had a constitutional responsibility to protect the environment, the only reasonable action it could take was to refuse the application to build the pebble bed. Government legislation identifies the building of nuclear energy plants as an activity that may have "a substantial detrimental effect on the environment". Because of this, it is a legal requirement that alternatives to building a nuclear power plant be considered in the EIA. The EIA had failed to do this and had failed to demonstrate a need for another nuclear plant. The National Electricity Regulator had said South Africa's electricity needs for the next 25 years could be met without new nuclear power, while Eskom's technical and feasibility study for the new plant had been kept secret. The report says the proposed pebble bed reactor is inconsistent with the government's energy policy and the draft radioactive waste management policy. "The pebble bed modular reactor produces more radioactive waste than other kind of reactor and thus violates the policy of waste minimisation." The EIA lacked objectivity and "a biased report is not the basis for lawful and reasonable decision-making". The report recommends that the government refuse to authorise the plant as the EIA failed to comply with a "plethora of statutory requirements" and was therefore fatally defective. * This article was originally published on page 6 of The Cape Times on 15 November 2002 ***************************************************************** 25 FR: Seabrook rule change FR Doc 02-29062 [Federal Register: November 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 221)] [Notices] [Page 69253-69254] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no02-91] ------ NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 50-443] North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation; Notice of Partial Withdrawal of Application for Amendment to Facility Operating License The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has granted the request of North Atlantic Energy Service Corporation (the licensee) to withdraw a portion of its August 9, 2001, application for proposed amendment to Facility Operating License No. NPF-86 for the Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1, located in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The withdrawn portion of the proposed amendment would have revised the Seabrook Station, Unit No. 1, Technical Specifications (TSs) to relocate TS 3/4.9.3, ``Decay Time,'' to the Seabrook Station Technical Requirements Manual. The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment published in the Federal Register on September 19, 2001 (66 FR 48290). However, by letters dated June 24, 2002, and October 14, 2002, the licensee withdrew this portion of the proposed change as discussed above. For further details with respect to this action, see the application for amendment dated August 9, 2001, as supplemented September 17, 2001, and the licensee's letters dated June 24, 2002, and October 14, 2002, which withdrew a portion of the application [[Page 69254]] for license amendment. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public ElectronicReading Room on the internet at the NRC Web site, http:// www.nrc [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc] . gov/reading-rm/adams/html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1- 800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of November, 2002. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Robert D. Starkey, Project Manager, Section 2, Project Directorate I,Division of Licensing Project Management,Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 02-29062 Filed 11-14-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 26 A-plant gets $20.5M to cover costs - chillicothegazette.com [http://www.centralohio.com] Friday, November 15, 2002 New funds should help keep workers By GREG WRIGHT Gazette Washington Bureau On the Net + U.S. Enrichment Corp.: [http://www.usec.com] + U.S. Department of Energy: [http://www.energy.gov] WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Energy will give southern Ohio's Piketon uranium enrichment plant $20.5 million -- in addition to $65 million believed to be on the way -- to keep up with higher operating costs, Rep. Rob Portman said Thursday. The new funds should keep the plant's operator, U.S. Enrichment Corp., from laying off additional workers, said Portman, R-Terrace Park. The money also will be used to clean up contaminated uranium stored at the 4,354-acre site and improve infrastructure. This uranium is tainted with technetium, a radioactive residue in reactors. It is stored in steel cylinders and does not pose a risk to workers or the environment, said Elizabeth Stuckle, spokeswoman at USEC headquarters in Bethesda, Md. "This funding will help ensure that plant employees can keep their jobs and ensure that workers have the resources to continue their work in a safe and effective manner," Portman said. The Piketon plant used to refine uranium to be used in nuclear power plants, but USEC moved enrichment operations to its Paducah, Ky., plant last year and laid off more than 500 Piketon workers. However, the Energy Department pays USEC to keep the plant ready in case it resumes uranium enrichment work. In February, USEC announced 440 more layoffs at Piketon after consolidating shipping and transfer operations 350 miles west in Paducah. There are now about 1,200 workers in Piketon, Stuckle said. The Piketon plant needed more funds in 2003 to keep up with the increased overhead cost of remaining on so-called "cold standby," USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said. It is still unclear when the money will reach the plant because Congress has not completed work on the Energy Department's budget for fiscal 2003, which began on Oct. 1. Congress passed a bill to keep the Energy Department operating at fiscal 2002 spending levels until Jan. 11, 2003. Earlier this year, the House Appropriations Committee earmarked $65 million for cleanup and highest costs, but the amount was determined to be insufficient to support the cost. The initial funding estimate was short because, Portman said, cold standby is such a new concept that it was hard to estimate the exact cost. USEC is still studying whether to build a new gas centrifuge demonstration project at its Piketon or Paducah site. Gas centrifuge is a new uranium enrichment process that uses less than 10 percent of the electricity used by the 50-year-old gaseous diffusion method, Stuckle said. The Piketon plant could get 500 new permanent jobs if USEC puts its gas centrifuge demonstration there, Stuckle said. A decision on the location is expected by the end of December, she said. USEC shares closed at $7 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, up 16 cents from Wednesday's close. (Gazette Staff Writer Kirran Syed contributed to this story.) Originally published Friday, November 15, 2002 ***************************************************************** 27 Prairie Island workers concealed records Pioneer Press | 11/15/2002 | [twincities.com - The twincities home page] BY DAVID HANNERS Pioneer Press A supervisor at Xcel Energy's Prairie Island nuclear power plant deliberately withheld key documents from Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors who were investigating the forced shutdown of one of the plant's two reactors last year, federal investigators have determined. The records showed that officials at the plant had long known of a potential problem with a critical piece of safety equipment but failed to prevent it, according to NRC investigative documents obtained by the Pioneer Press. Investigators concluded Prairie Island workers twice violated federal regulations by withholding documents from inspectors. The NRC is still deciding what enforcement action to take against the workers and Nuclear Management Co., the Hudson-based company set up by Xcel to run the plant, said commission spokesman Jan Strasma. "We must rely on the forthrightness and integrity of the licensees. Therefore, we consider it a serious matter if there is a question of either a failure to provide complete information or withholding information," said Strasma. Strasma said such violations are rare. Punishment could range from a written order up to a $120,000 fine per violation. Michael D. Wadley, NMC's senior vice president for government affairs and business development, said he couldn't discuss the matter because it was still under investigation. After the NRC began its investigation, NMC officials admitted that an unidentified engineering supervisor "intentionally removed a document from a group of documents about to be given to the NRC" following an unscheduled shutdown of one of Prairie Island's two reactors in May 2001, according to an NRC investigative summary. In another instance, the supervisor and an unidentified subordinate "deliberately failed to provide the NRC with complete and accurate information." The information involved the employees' knowledge of the cause of the problem that led to the shutdown, the summary said. The shutdown lasted a month while workers fixed the problem, which involved an emergency generator. During that time, Minneapolis-based Xcel, which owns the Prairie Island plant, had to make up for the lost power from its other power plants. Xcel declined to make a company official available to discuss the matter. Xcel owns a 20 percent stake in NMC, which it formed in 1999. Just days after federal investigators wrapped up their inquiry in September, state regulators launched an investigation into the utility's non-nuclear operations. The probes are unrelated but involve a common issue: whether Xcel and NMC provided regulators with complete and accurate records. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is investigating claims that Xcel submitted fraudulent reliability data to the state. Current and former Xcel employees have told the Pioneer Press that managers routinely alter repair and maintenance records to make it appear that power failures were shorter than they actually were, thus avoiding fines. Interviews with workers and internal company memos and documents show that maintenance has been cut, repairs are delayed for months or years, record-keeping is lax and service reliability has gotten worse. Xcel, through its subsidiary Northern States Power-Minnesota, provides electricity to 1.3 million customers in the state. Nearly 20 percent of the megawatts generated by NSP come from the two nuclear reactors at Prairie Island. Unit 1 was licensed by the NRC in December 1973, and Unit 2 was licensed a year later. The plant has never been found to be unsafe, and has always passed NRC inspections. But the agency has noted ongoing problems with maintenance, record-keeping, monitoring of equipment and an inability to recognize problems and fix them. The records violations stemmed from a special inspection prompted by an unscheduled shutdown of the Unit 2 reactor on May 9, 2001. The reactor had to be shut down after operators declared that its two emergency diesel generators, or EDGs, were inoperable. EDGs are essential for safety because they power the reactor's emergency cooling system if the plant is cut off from outside sources of electricity. A loss of the cooling system would lead to a meltdown of the reactor core. Because of their importance, EDGs are tested monthly. But four hours into a test of one of Unit 2's EDGs on April 9, 2001, operators noticed the crankcase pressure was too high. They stopped the test and spent the next few days repairing the generator. As NRC inspectors later found, plant officials put the EDG back into operation without fully understanding what caused the abnormal pressure readings. But supervisors had plenty of evidence the problem was caused by something they had known about for nearly five years but had done nothing to prevent, the NRC determined. The problem was first identified in January 1996 by operators of the Calvert Cliffs reactor in Maryland. Workers found that an incompatibility between the EDG's fuel oil and lubricant caused carbon to build up behind the piston rings, damaging the motor. Beginning in May 1996, the NRC, nuclear power groups and manufacturers issued warning notices detailing the problem to plant operators, including those at Prairie Island. Even though Prairie Island used the same kind of French-made generators, NSP officials erroneously believed that the warnings didn't apply to them because they used a different kind of fuel, said Roger Lanksbury, who heads the NRC's Region III operator licensing branch. "We would expect them (operators at Prairie Island) to pay attention to what was going on at Calvert Cliffs. Prairie Island even sent one of their people to France for meetings when it originally came up," Lanksbury said. "They had people that were aware of what happened at Calvert Cliffs." In fact, Prairie Island's EDGs had shown evidence of the incompatibility problem for at least two years before the April 2001 test but no one at the plant noticed it, the NRC found. Although plant officials logged the crankcase pressure during each monthly test, "the results were not adequately reviewed for trends," federal inspectors said. On May 8, 2001, a team at Prairie Island determined that what had happened at Calvert Cliffs five years earlier was now happening at Prairie Island, so they declared both of Unit 2's EDG's inoperable. Because the generators are required equipment, they were forced to shut the reactor down until the problem was fixed. The repairs took about a month. Unit 2 was restarted on June 7, 2001. In a blunt report issued in June 2001, the NRC criticized Prairie Island's preventive maintenance program, saying it "was not adequate to detect degradation of the diesel engines before the problem became self-revealing." David Hanners can be reached at [dhanners@pioneerpress.com] or (651) 228-5551. ***************************************************************** 28 Japan shuts down nuclear reactor following leakage english.eastday.com Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co early Friday shut down a reactor at its nuclear power plant following a worsening leakage of radioactive cooling water from the reactor container, Japan's Kyodo News reported. A total of 5.6 ton of cooling water have been leaked since Tuesday in the Mihama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, Kyodo said. The leaked coolant water contains low levels of radioactivity and the leakage would not pose environmental hazard to the local community, Kyodo reported, quoting officials from the Fukui prefectural government. The leakage came from the primary cooling system of the 826,000- kilowatt pressured-water reactor at the nuclear power plant. Engineers activated the manual system to shut down the reactor as a result of a build-up of leaked coolant water, it said. Xinhua News Copyright (C) 2000 www.eastday.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 29 Japan: Leak shuts down nuclear reactor in Fukui Mainichi Interactive - Top News The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has designated 2003 as the Year of Japan-ASEAN Relations. Click here to learn more about ASEAN's activities. MIHAMA, Fukui -- Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) manually shut down a nuclear reactor in Fukui Prefecture on Friday after finding a leak in a facility adjoining the reactor. Mainichi Shimbun The No. 3 reactor at KEPCO's Mihama nuclear plant was shut down manually. Fukui Prefecture's Nuclear Energy Safety Division said a liquid used to pump coolant into reactors was found leaking from a room next to KEPCO's No. 3 Mihama reactor. Power generation was halted on Friday morning, officials said. The stoppage would not expose the surrounding environment to radiation, the officials added. A worker at the facility reportedly noticed the leak during a patrol in the predawn hours of Nov. 12. Because the radioactivity of the leaking liquid was comparatively low, it was originally decided that the leak could be fixed while the reactor was still running, by covering it with a filling agent. However, officials decided to shut down the pressurized water reactor while working on it Thursday evening after the leak spread. (Mainichi Shimbun, November 15, 2002) © 2002 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. ***************************************************************** 30 Officials to discuss code restrictions in quake-prone areas MyInKy November 14, 2002 PADUCAH, Ky.- Scientists, emergency management personnel and public officials from California to Washington, D.C., will meet Monday in Lexington to discuss ways to ease building code restrictions in earthquake-prone areas like western Kentucky. At stake are high costs and work to make buildings more earthquake-resistant based on county-by-county U.S. Geological Survey maps that experts say are hard to interpret and don't take into account conditions unique to various regions. Meeting organizer John Kiefer, vice chairman of the Kentucky Gov.'s Council for Earthquake Risk Reduction, said the maps put the Paducah-area earthquake risk higher than the risk in California. "We don't belong in that class," said Kiefer, assistant state geologist with the Kentucky Geological Survey in Lexington. "We know we've got a threat in Paducah, but we need to be realistic about it." The findings could lessen the cost of construction generally and improve Paducah's chances of landing a 500-job gas centrifuge plant to enrich uranium. A local nuclear energy task force is concerned about the potential added cost of making the plant earthquake resistant. Kiefer said representatives from U.S. Enrichment Corp. Inc., which will build the plant, and the Department of Energy are expected to attend the meeting. "The meeting is very important to the centrifuge plant and the effects the maps are having on construction in our neck of the woods," said Ken Wheeler, head of the task force and chairman-elect of the Greater Paducah Economic Development Council. Information from: The Paducah Sun [http://www.myinky.com/ecp/home/article/0,1626,ECP_775_856297,00. ***************************************************************** 31 FR: Terrorist attack on np facility FR Doc 02-29059 [Federal Register: November 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 221)] [Notices] [Page 69255] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no02-93] [[Page 69255]] ------ NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION All Nuclear Power Reactor Licensees; Notice of Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206 Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, has taken action on the October 24, 2001, Petition under Sec. 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 2.206) submitted by Mr. Michael D. Kohn (petitioner) on behalf of the National Whistleblower Center. By letter dated January 27, 2002, Mr. Michael D. Kohn submitted an amended Petition. The amended Petition included the names of six additional Petitioners who requested to be added to the Petition. The petitioner requested that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) take corrective action to protect the public against the possibility of terrorists seizing control of a large commercial airliner and crashing it into a nuclear power plant in the United States. In addition, the petitioner requested that the NRC take compensatory measures, as set forth in the Petition, to protect the public and environment from the catastrophic impacts of any type of terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant or a spent fuel pool (SFP). The petitioner also requested that the NRC ensure that these compensatory measures are immediately implemented, and that the NRC issue permanent rules, as discussed in the Petition. As a basis for the request described above, the Petitioner stated that: --No commercial nuclear power plant located in the United States can withstand the impact of a large commercial airliner. --The NRC intentionally misled the public about its failure to adequately consider risks associated with an air assault on a nuclear facility. --The NRC knew or should have known that the current design and security measures at the spent fuel pools [SFPs] located at each nuclear power plant are incapable of protecting the population from the catastrophic release of radiation from a potential terrorist attack and immediate and long-term compensatory measures are needed to protect the United States and its citizens. --The NRC [sic] radioactive material contained in the spent fuel pools are [sic] extremely vulnerable to terrorist attack within six months of a refueling outage. Immediate and long-term compensatory measures are needed to protect the United States and its citizens from an attack on a spent fuel pool within this six month window. --The NRC must work directly with other security offices in approving compensatory security measures and in approving utility security plans and must re-evaluate its 1979 EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] and 1998 Final Rule regarding SFPs. --The current background screening requirements which permit ``temporary'' clearances at nuclear plants do not adequately protect the public. --The current background screening requirements for long-term clearances at nuclear plants do not adequately protect the public. --The NRC ended the public's ability to effectively challenge the NRC's decision not to require nuclear power plants to be able to withstand airborne assaults by changing its rules allowing nuclear plants to obtain new 40 year licenses without permitting citizens to challenge ``generic'' concerns, including risks from terrorist attack. The NRC sent a copy of the proposed Director's Decision to the petitioner by letter dated May 16, 2002. The petitioner responded with comments by letter dated August 10, 2002. The comments and the staff response to them are enclosures to the Director's Decision. The staff has partially granted the Petitioner's request to the extent that the NRC has addressed the Petitioner's concerns by issuing Orders on February 25, 2002, to all operating commercial nuclear power plant licensees to implement interim compensatory security measures for the generalized high-level threat environment. The reasons for this determination are explained in the Director's Decision pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 (DD-02-04), the complete text of which is available in ADAMS for inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room, located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC's Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html] (the Public Electronic Reading Room) at Accession No. ML022470090. If you do not have access to ADAMS or have problems in accessing the documents in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room reference staff at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . A copy of the Director's Decision will be filed with the Secretary of the Commission so that the Commission may review it in accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c) of the Commission's regulations. As provided for by this regulation, the Director's Decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision unless the Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision within that time. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 1st day of November 2002. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Jon R. Johnson, Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 02-29059 Filed 11-14-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 32 Russia Official: Nuke Material Gone Las Vegas SUN November 15, 2002 By JIM HEINTZ ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW- The head of Russia's nuclear regulatory agency says small amounts of weapons- and reactor-grade nuclear materials have disappeared from the country's atomic facilities. "Instances of the loss of nuclear materials have been recorded, but what the quantity is is another question," Yuri Vishnyevsky, head of Gosatomnadzor, said at a news conference on Thursday. "Of those situations that we can talk about in actuality, they involve either grams of weapons-grade or kilograms of the usual uranium used in atomic power plants." "Most often, these instances are connected with factories preparing fuel: Elektrostal in the Moscow region and Novosibirsk," Vishnyevsky said. He did not give further details on when the losses were discovered or how the material might have gone missing. The International Atomic Energy Agency lists two known thefts of uranium from Elektrostal, in 1994 and 1995. In both cases, the uranium was seized by Russian police. The agency also lists the 1994 seizure in Germany of 400 grams of plutonium brought in from Moscow. A few grams of Uranium-235, the most common weapons-grade nuclear material, would not be sufficient to make a bomb. But reactor-grade uranium can be enriched to weapons-grade through a complicated process believed to be possessed by some countries trying to develop nuclear weapons, such as Iraq. Russia's nuclear security has been a high concern in the decade since the Soviet Union's collapse brought financial troubles that reduced funding for state facilities and induced poverty that could motivate nuclear workers to sell atomic materials. Worries have risen in the wake of increasing terrorism, including last month's attack on a Moscow theater by Chechen gunmen who held hundreds of hostages to press their demand that Russia withdraw troops from Chechnya. "After Sept. 11 of last year, the situation with regard to security at all Russian nuclear facilities changed for the better, but it still has not reached perfection," Vishnyevsky said. He estimated that bringing security to its ideal level at Russian nuclear operations would require about 6 billion rubles, or 200 million. Vishnyevsky made his statements in the course of criticizing a proposed law on technological regulation now being considered by the Duma, the lower house of parliament. He presented a letter to the Duma from a number of prominent scientists criticizing the proposed law for calling for "the minimal necessary demands for security at the same time that in the whole world and in our country the demands for security in using atomic energy should be the maximum." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 33 'Uranium' seized in Tanzania BBC NEWS | Africa | Thursday, 14 November, 2002, 15:45 GMT Police in Tanzania say they have seized 110kg of suspected uranium and arrested five people, including a national of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In its raw form - yellow powder - uranium can be used to make radioactive material for the nuclear industries. This is a dangerous issue Director of criminal investigations, Adadi Rajab The suspected uranium, which was ready to be sold in four plastic containers, came from a neighbouring country, but investigators will name it only when an investigation has been completed. The containers were transported through three towns in south-western Tanzania, including Kigoma. 'Just business' One of the five people arrested, a Congolese national, has been named as Makambo Mayunga. The other four are all Tanzanians, including a woman who is an economist with the civil service. Director of criminal investigations Adadi Rajab told the BBC that it was not yet clear if the find was linked to terrorism but thought "they were just doing business". He said that in recent months, five tanks of suspected uranium had been seized. Embassy bombings Mr Rajab warned Tanzanians to beware of handling the hazardous material without taking proper safety precautions. "This is a dangerous issue," he said. Fourteen tonnes of raw uranium are necessary to produce a single nuclear weapon, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna. "Natural uranium is a long, long way from being enriched," IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky told BBC Newsonline. He said that if the substance seized in Tanzania was indeed uranium, it would have had to go through facilities monitored by the IAEA to be enriched. Three countries in Africa are officially listed by the World Nuclear Association as uranium producing countries. They are Niger, Namibia and South Africa. But other sources say Algeria, DR Congo, Gabon, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe also produce uranium. The BBC's Premy Kibanga in Dar es Salaam says that already in 1998, uranium was seized in Tanzania and three people arrested. That same year, the US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were destroyed in bomb attacks which killed more than 200 Kenyans and 12 Tanzanians, and injured an estimated 5,000 others. © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 34 GAN Says Nuclear Materials Have Been Disappearing From Russian Plants for 10 Years MOSCOW - In a rare display of candour from nuclear authorities, Russia's chief nuclear regulator Thursday said that that small amounts of weapons- and reactor-grade nuclear materials had been disappearing from the country's atomic facilities over the last ten years. Yuri Vishnevsky, head of Gosatomnadzor, or GAN, Russia's nuclear regulatory agency. www.lenta.ru Charles Digges, 2002-11-15 14:44 "Instances of the loss of nuclear materials have been recorded, but what the quantity is another question," Yuri Vishnevsky, head of Gosatomnadzor, or GAN, Russia's nuclear regulatory agency, said in televised remarks at a news conference. "Of those situations that we can talk about in actuality, they involve either grams of weapons-grade or kilograms of the usual uranium used in atomic power plants. Most often, these instances are connected with factories preparing fuel — Elektrostal in the Moscow region and Novosibirsk," Vishnevsky said. Vishenvsky supplied no details on when the thefts occurred and offered no theories on how the material could have been stolen. He also listed no other thefts besides those from the Moscow Region and Novosibirsk Elektrostal facilities, which stopped rather short of the dozens of incidents of nuclear theft in Russia logged by nuclear smuggling databases at Stanford University and the Monterey Institute for International Studies, both of which are regarded as the most comprehensive databases of their type in the world. According to researchers at the Stanford database, law enforcement officials worldwide have seized 40 kilograms of Russian-origin uranium and plutonium since 1991. Stanford researchers have also estimated that only30 to 40 percent of the nuclear material stolen from facilities in Russia and other territories in the former Soviet Union are ever recovered by authorities. Vishevsky's televised remarks, for instance, made no mention of a recent possible plutonium theft from the Volgodonsk Nuclear Power plant, a hotly debated case in which an anonymous US official leaked to the media that this material had been stolen by Chechen separatists. The official also said that other radioactive substances where stolen in that theft — caesium, strontium and low-enriched uranium — which pose a threat to human health if detonated with conventional explosives — a so-called “dirty bomb." Russian nuclear officials have strenuously denied the US official's claim. But there have been other, better-documented thefts that have occurred in the past ten-year timeframe Vishnevsky spoke of. There was, for instance, a 1992 theft of 15 kilograms of highly enriched uranium in the far north Murmansk region when a thief cut through a padlock to an unguarded container holding nuclear submarine fuel. A spokesman for GAN reached Friday would not discuss any thefts or attempted thefts not mentioned by Vishnevsky. But added to these thefts — foiled and otherwise — there is currently a group of Russian and international experts scouring arctic Siberia and Russia's far eastern coast for nuclear batteries powered by strontium-90, which were once used as power sources in these remote areas. These devices — suitable for dirty bombs — were not stolen so much as abandoned or forgotten by the government and search teams, according to interviews with officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA — which helped coordinate the effort — said they weren't sure whether the teams were looking for 100 or 1000 of these orphaned devices. Vishnevsky's remarks on Thursday follow the passage earlier this week by the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, of a hefty security bill. But the bill focuses mainly on the country's security forces and diverts several million roubles that were earmarked for nuclear security. He also spoke critically of a proposed law on technological regulation now being considered by the Duma, the lower house of parliament. He presented a letter to the Duma, written and signed by a number of prominent scientists, criticizing the proposed law as calling for "the minimal necessary demands for security at the same time that, throughout the whole world and in our country, the demands for security in using atomic energy should be the maximum." Vishnevsky's appearance also dovetailed with the release of a report by the Russian American Nuclear Safety Advisory Council, or RANSAC, which is a non-profit organization that advises both the US and Russian Governments on nuclear security issues. The report (available at www.ransac.org) offers a less than glowing review of the decade-long Russian-American joint efforts to supply Russia's fissile materials storage facilities with even rudimentary security. According to rough estimates by US non-proliferation officials, only some 25 to 40 percent of facilities storing fissile materials in Russia have been effectively secured against nuclear thieves. The IAEA lists two known thefts of uranium from the Elektrostal facility — one in 1994 and 1995, said an agency spokesman. In both cases, the uranium was seized by Russian police. A spokesman for Elektrostal, reached Friday, said he no comment on Vishnevsky's remarks and would not discuss the details of any of the thefts “for security reasons." The IAEA also lists the 1994 seizure in Germany of 400 grams of plutonium brought in from Moscow, the Associated Press reported. A few grams of Uranium-235, which is the most common weapons grade nuclear material, would be insufficient to build a full-scale nuclear bomb. Reactor-grade uranium can be enriched to weapons-grade, but that would require a reactor and the resources one would only be able to find in — and with the complicity of — a sovereign state. But recent US statements against Iraq have led many to believe that Baghdad and a handful of other countries that would possibly pose proliferation risks may possess those resource and capabilities. Nuclear security concerns have been high since the collapse of the Soviet Union and fears that formerly-state subsidized Russian nuclear scientists would take their knowledge abroad for the right price has been a thorn in the West's side since 1991. Indeed, Russian nuclear expertise is building the controversial reactor at Bushehr, in Iran, a state US President George Bush has labelled as part of the “axis of evil" — a trio of countries that the United States believes to support terrorism and to be on the market for nuclear weapons-usable materials. Added to these woes is the near poverty wages paid to guards protecting many Russian nuclear materials storage sites — wages that Russian and Western officials alike fear could induce security personnel to sell nuclear materials to make extra cash. Local worries are also fanned by rising terrorism, most prominently last months takeover of a Moscow theatre by terrorists, who held hundreds hostage to press their demands that Moscow withdraw troops from Chechnya. "After September 11th of last year, the situation with regard to security at all Russian nuclear facilities changed for the better, but it still has not reached perfection," Vishnevsky said. He estimated that bringing security to its ideal level at Russian nuclear operations would require about 6 billion roubles (US$200 million). 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 ***************************************************************** 35 Ireland: Factory staff wary of water after uranium found in local supply Irish Examiner [http://breaking.examiner.ie] 15/11/02 By Jim Morahan STAFF at a factory in Baltinglass who noticed the water tasted “funny” some weeks ago are now wondering if it’s connected to the discovery of massive levels of toxic uranium in the local supply. “About a month ago everybody here was complaining about the taste of the tea in the canteen,” Michael Patterson, who works at the local Wampher facility, said yesterday. “For about a week nobody would drink the tea or the coffee, because the water was absolutely dreadful. All they’d drink was bottled water or milk,” Michael, a father of three young children, recalled. “It’s only now you hear stories. People tell you they think this was known about last April or May but is only coming to light now.” On Wednesday, Wicklow Co Council shut down Lathaleere well, which supplied one-fifth of the town’s needs. It is located just about 100 yards from the Wampher factory on the Kiltegan road. Tests revealed the concentration of uranium 238 was 65 times above the safety level laid down by the World Health Organisation. The council, which is bringing in fresh water by tanker to the 200 homes who got their supplies from the problem well, informed local people they had shut down the well because uranium was found there. This was recommended by the South Western Area Health Board after a nationwide water testing programme by the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed very high levels of uranium 238 in the Lathaleere well. Dr Brian O’Herlihy, acting director of health, Eastern Regional Health Authority, said it was likely people had been exposed to the levels of uranium for many years and it had not caused identifiable health problems. Currently, there are no national or EU guidelines governing the levels of uranium 238 in drinking water. It is thought that uranium, a naturally occurring metal which is radioactive, could have occurred naturally through the dissolving of local rock. The council will continue to supply fresh water by tanker to the affected 200 homes. The Patterson family, who live on the far side of town, found their own water supply cut off as the council attempted to conserve supplies and ensure everybody in the town has water. “Some of the women here in the factory, with small babies, don’t know what they can do with the water,” said Michael. Factory general manager Brian Bible said: “We’re using a private supply for making tea and coffee for the workforce. My main concern is looking after the people in the company. “I’m also concerned from my own wellbeing and health - because I drink the water and tea here in the company. “The first experience I had that there was something wrong with the water was when the county council notice was sent in through the door this morning,” said Brian. The lowdown on uranium 238 Q. What is uranium 238? A. It’s a naturally occurring, radioactive metal and widespread in nature. Present in the ocean and certain types of rocks, levels are high where radon levels are high and underlying rock is mostly granite. Q. How does it occur? A. Experts believe it happens through the dissolving of rock. In parts of the US and Canada, natural uranium levels in water are particularly high due to sedimentary rocks in those areas. Q. Is there a danger to health? A. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland says uranium does not appear to be a health issue. However, in high doses, there is a risk of kidney damage which may clear up when exposure ceases. © Irish Examiner, 2002, Thomas Crosbie Media, TCH ***************************************************************** 36 Supposed list of potential Canadian terror targets betrays few surprises | GuelphMercury.com November 14, 2002 - 23:11:27 EST Kevin Frayer The CN Tower is seen from the financial district in Toronto Thursday. The tower was among 22 Canadian sites listed as potential terrorist targets in media reports Thursday. (Kevin Frayer/CP) TORONTO (CP) - Canadian security experts and civic officials were less than impressed Thursday with a supposed U.S. State Department list detailing potential targets for terrorists north of the border. The list of 22 sites, which included nuclear power plants, public transport hubs and prominent landmarks like the CN Tower and the Confederation Bridge, was published in the Vancouver Province newspaper. In a report prepared for publication Friday, the Vancouver Province said it had obtained a U.S. study that identified the 22 potential terrorist targets in Canada. The study, Combined Analysis of Potential Foreign Strike Zones, was compiled in September 2002 by U.S. civilian and military agencies, and was distributed on U.S. State Department letterhead, the Province said. "I could have come up with that list in my bathtub," said Chris Mathers, a security expert and consultant with KPMG in Toronto. According to published media reports, Secretary of State Colin Powell was supposed to deliver the list Thursday during a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham. Powell denied those reports Thursday. "I have no such list," he said on his way into the meeting. But even if it isn't authentic, there's nothing wrong with a pointed reminder that keeps Canadians vigilant about terrorism's ever-present threat, said James Young, Ontario's public security commissioner. "The benefit out of it is maybe it brings it back to the public conscience so that we realize why these debates have to take place, and it makes us vigilant again," Young said. "Some of us were worried that people wanted it to go away, and were sort of saying, 'Oh, well, I guess we don't need to worry about it anymore.' " Across Canada, officials at the various facilities - an industrial site in Alberta, a military base in Nova Scotia, tourist attractions from coast to coast - were greeting the list with a blend of vigilance and skepticism. "If you asked anybody in this country, they'd come up with a similar list of 22 places," said Calgary Stampede spokesman Dan Sullivan, whose summer festival is on the list. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, every public venue in the world has stepped up security, and the Stampede is no exception, said Sullivan. Buildings are routinely scoured for bombs, while a bolstered network of plainclothes security guards and closed-circuit cameras are constantly at work during Stampede season in July. "We were taking all kinds of precautions last year just as due diligence in terms of (having) a major concentration of people," he said. "Every part of the park is covered." Toronto police Chief Julian Fantino, whose investigators were unable to verify the existence of the list, said every one of its local targets had already beefed up security after Sept. 11. "We have to be vigilant, we can't be taking things for granted, we can't be dismissive of our security and our safety, and we haven't been," Fantino said. "On the other hand, I think this may have been blown out of proportion." Security at facilities like the CN Tower, arguably Canada's most obvious terrorist target, has become decidedly more stringent in the months since the U.S. attacks, said president Bob Purves. "It's business as usual, and we are carrying on," Purves said. "Our guests are safe." The building, which attracts about two million people a year, has installed extensive security equipment, including sophisticated bomb detectors, Purves said. Tourist traffic has declined by about five per cent since the attacks, but that's more the result of an overall drop in travel, he added. In Montreal, which is no stranger to terrorist threats, executives with the Place Ville-Marie building complex were taking the threat seriously, hiring extra security guards and installing more cameras, said spokesman Louis Garneau. Montreal has been on high alert for more than a year after an FBI affidavit revealed that a group including convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam once contemplated blowing up one of the city's Jewish neighbourhoods. The city is prepared for a terrorist attack and police, fire and transport departments have been working together to protect public safety, said Peter Yeomans, Montreal's head of public security. The city has also assessed the risk of terrorist attacks on other buildings in Montreal, but Yeomans refused to identify which buildings or what preventive measures have been taken. Alberta oilsands giant Syncrude, whose plants in Fort McMurray, Alta., were also on the list, has also stepped up security since the U.S. attacks, said spokesman Randy Provencal. In Winnipeg, where a local synagogue made the list, Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said the province was doing its utmost to protect its residents. "We knew different facilities and institutions in the Jewish community would be vulnerable," Doer said. "It's really tough for the Jewish community in Winnipeg. We are working with our police forces to be very aware." A Doer aide said the province hasn't received any new information regarding the synagogue being singled out as a target. In Nova Scotia, Canadian Forces Base Greenwood was on a heightened state of alert, said spokeswoman Lieut. Nicole Meszaros. "We did increase security measures here at the wing," Meszaros said. "The Wing commander here on the base has as his perogative the right to impose whatever security measures he deems to be appropriate." © The Canadian Press, 2002 Guelph Mercury ***************************************************************** 37 Foreign sites detailed in security analysis Fabian Dawson and Charlie Anderson, The Province Vancouver , Andrew Duffy Ottawa Citizen The Province Vancouver; Ottawa Citizen CREDIT: Grant Black, Calgary Herald Dispatcher Carrie Weidinger performs a security check of the Calgary Stampede Park grounds on Thursday. An American study that identified 22 potential terrorist targets in Canada has also identified potential strike zones in seven other countries. The study -- Combined Analysis of Potential Foreign Strike Zones -- was compiled in September by U.S. civilian and military intelligence agencies. Sections of the study viewed by The Province were printed on U.S. State Department letterhead. In addition to Canada, potential terrorist targets were identified in Britain, Germany, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and Israel. Sections of the report viewed by The Province showed Canada in Section 3, Page 7 of the 48-page study. The Herald on Thursday published the list of 22 potential targets in Canada that were identified in the study. Two of the sites -- the Calgary Stampede and the Syncrude production facility in Fort McMurray -- are located in Alberta. The Province asked the U.S. State Department on Thursday whether American intelligence agencies had compiled a list of potential terrorist targets for Canada. A spokesman declined to confirm or deny its existence. An intelligence source familiar with the study told the newspaper: "You really don't expect the U.S. to publicly confirm the existence of such a study and name the targets. "Can you imagine the economic chaos it will cause if people stayed away from say the Calgary Stampede or did not take the (B.C.) ferry," the source said. Intelligence experts who reviewed the list Thursday contend al-Qaeda is likely to strike at "soft targets" in Canada -- crowded shopping malls, nightclubs and subways -- rather than attempt a complex attack on a more sensational target such as the CN Tower or a nuclear power plant. "I think, for the short term, the indications are that the capabilities they possess better lend themselves to those sorts of soft targets," said University of Toronto Prof. Wesley Wark, a security and intelligence expert at the Munk Centre for International Studies. "But the problem with that," he added, "is that it's probably a short-term truth. It's something we will need to constantly evaluate." Wark said the preparation of such a list is the legitimate function of intelligence agencies. "It's a sort of a road map; it defines the problem," he said. "It's partly second-guessing terrorists overseas, but it's also to provide emergency response measures in the event of some terrible catastrophe." A priority shortlist of potential terrorist targets gives emergency planners the ability to better defend them and to better respond in the event of a successful strike. In Canada, the little-known Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness is charged with doing just that. The office, a civilian organization operating within Canada's Department of National Defence, was created in February 2001. Max London, a spokesman for the infrastructure protection agency, said it was not the author of the list of potential targets published this week. London said it would be "absolutely counterproductive" to release a list of possible targets. "It's like someone standing up after Sept. 11 and saying, 'You think the World Trade Center was something. Check out this.' " The federal agency, he added, is responsible for providing a "comprehensive approach" to the protection of Canada's infrastructure: the key physical and computer-based components of the energy, communications, transportation and government sectors. London said the agency's list of critical infrastructure is much more sophisticated than the one published this week. Wark described the list as "bizarre." "It's oddly commonsensical, and it's the kind of list that any of us could have come up with," he said. The trouble with trying to predict what targets al-Qaeda will strike, he added, is that no intelligence agency has a firm grasp on the group's overarching strategy. War on Terror © Copyright 2002 Calgary Herald ***************************************************************** 38 Issues at White Mesa uranium mill (Utah) (last updated 14 Nov 2002) Contents * Processing of alternate feed material at White Mesa uranium mill (Utah) <#ALTFEED> * License violations at White Mesa uranium mill (Utah) <#VIOL> * Other issues <#OTHER> Processing of alternate feed material at White Mesa uranium mill (Utah) IUC forms joint venture with NFS to recycle DOE's contaminated low enriched uranium "International Uranium Corporation (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has formed a 50/50 joint venture company, "Urizon Recovery Systems, LLC", with Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. ("NFS") to pursue the development of a new, long-term, alternate feed program (the "USM Ore(TM) Program") for the Company's White Mesa Mill that, if successful, is expected to result in the Mill producing two to three million pounds of yellowcake [containing 769 to 1154 metric tonnes U] per year over at least a six-year period. [...] The USM Ore(TM) Program that Urizon is pursuing involves the development of a process and construction of a plant at NFS' facility in Erwin, Tennessee, for the blending of contaminated low enriched uranium with depleted uranium to produce a natural uranium ore ("USM Ore(TM)"). The USM Ore(TM) will then be further processed at the Company's White Mesa Mill to produce conventional yellowcake. The primary source of feed for Urizon will be the significant quantities of contaminated materials within the DOE complex. [...]" (IUC Nov. 14, 2002) Alternate feed processing run at White Mesa Mill underway The White Mesa Mill has begun processing the Ashland 1 FUSRAP (Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Program) material. As of mid August 2002, the Mill had processed over 40,000 tons of material. Currently the Mill has additional stockpiles of over 200,000 tons of Ashland 1 and Linde material, which will be processed during this mill run. In addition, IUC has a contract with Molycorp, Inc. for receipt and processing of approximately 10,000 tons of uranium-bearing material. This material may begin arriving at the Mill in mid-September 2002, pending resolution of a regulatory hearing. (IUC Aug. 29, 2002) EPA expresses concerns about expansion of alternate feed business In a letter to NRC dated Jan. 16, 2002, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expresses concerns about the proposed expansion of the processing of alternate feed at uranium mills and calls for a thorough review: "[...] Mill tailings impoundments were designed to serve as a long-term control measure for radon and other hazardous emissions from source material extraction wastes, and to prevent radiation exposures resulting from inadvertent uses of these wastes by members of the public. It appears that these impoundments are being suggested by the petitioner to serve in a different capacity than for which they were designed and approved. Additional uses as a long-term repository (disposal) for a wide variety and volume of low-level, mixed, and hazardous wastes require appropriate consideration. Such consideration would include a formal review of the new uses for these facilities under the National Environmental Policy Act and possibly licensing and authorization under other relevant environmental statutes. To the extent that some of these suggested wastes might not be regulated under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (e.g., pre-1978 mill tailings), other environmental authorities might still apply. Such a review may very well conclude that these additional new wastes have no significant impact on the impoundment designs and that environmental authorities are satisfied. However, suggested uses such as 'new alternatives to current disposal options' for large volumes of low-level radioactive waste, and other wastes, deserve a thorough review to ensure the uranium recovery facilities continue to be protective, and the public is aware of the proposed change in the use of these facilities. [...]" > Download EPA comment external link (1215k PDF) IUC requests license amendment to process material from Maywood FUSRAP Site, NJ By letter dated June 15, 2001, IUC requests a license amendment for processing of up to 600,000 cubic yards (840,000 short tons) of Uranium Material from the Maywood FUSRAP site in New Jersey. The Uranium Material at this site originated from uranium and thorium-bearing monazite sands. Its uranium content ranges from non-detectable to approximately 0.06 weight percent uranium (0.072 weight percent U308), or greater, with an estimated average grade of 0.0018 percent uranium (0.0022 weight percent U308) for the entire Maywood Site. However, IUC intends to accept Uranium Material for processing at the Mill only if a cut-off level of 0.01 weight percent uranium is satisfied (IUC letter Aug.3, 2001). > See also: Federal Register: Aug. 23, 2001 (Vol. 66, No. 164) p. 44384-44385 (download full notice external link ) Hearing requests were submitted by the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, the City of Moab, and John Darke (FR Oct. 9, 2001, p.51478 external link ) On Sep 21, 2001, NRC issued its Draft Environmental Assessment for the Maywood Alternate Feed Request. "The NRC staff has concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with the proposed action." On Aug. 22, 2002, NRC issued a Finding of No Significant Impact for the processing of the Maywood material. > Federal Register: August 29, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 168) p. 55435-55436 (download full text external link ) Members of the public may provide comments on the subject application *within 30 days of August 29, 2002*. Walk Against Nuclear Waste Citizens and environmental groups in southern Utah held a "Walk Against Nuclear Waste" in the last week of May 2001. More than 40 individuals walked simultaneously from Blanding (San Juan County) to Moab. The eighty-mile walk, led by longtime San Juan County activist Ken Sleight, followed U.S. Highway 191. Cosponsoring groups included Moab-based Living Rivers, Glen Canyon Action Network, and the Sierra Club Glen Canyon Group, as well as HEAL-UTAH from Salt Lake City. The groups opposed IUCs recent application to process radioactive lead waste from a site in California. They fear the White Mesa site will end up in similar mess as the Atlas Moab uranium mill tailings site . The groups demanded the closure of the mill and the cleanup of the mill site. (ENN June 7, 2001) IUC requests license amendment to process material from Molycorp Site, CA Federal Register: Jan. 9, 2001 (Vol. 66, No. 6) p. 1702-1703 (download full notice external link ): "SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received, by letter dated December 19, 2000, a request from International Uranium (USA) Corporation (IUSA), to amend its NRC Source Material License SUA-1358, to allow its White Mesa Uranium Mill near Blanding, Utah, to receive and process up to 17,750 tons of alternate feed material from the Molycorp Site located in Mountain Pass, California. The material is a result of extraction of lathanides and other rare earth minerals and is presently being stored in ponds as lead sulfide sludge. IUSA and Molycorp estimate the amount of material for this amendment request to be up to 17,750 tons and the average uranium content of the material to be approximately 0.15 percent, or greater. IUSA proposes to receive and process the material for its uranium content and dispose of the byproduct material in the mill's tailings cells." (The above mentioned IUC letter to NRC is available through ADAMS external link ) On Nov. 30, 2001, NRC staff issued its final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed action. > see Federal Register Dec. 11, 2001 (Vol. 66, No. 238) p.64064-64066 external link > see also correction in Federal Register Dec. 18, 2001 (Vol. 66, No. 243) p.65232 external link On December 11, 2001, the NRC issued the requested license amendment, on condition that adequate tailings space were available. Otherwise, IUC would have to submit another license amendment request. On January 30, 2002, an NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board granted the hearing requests filed by William E. Love and by the Sierra Club (LBP-02-06). IUC requests license amendment to process material from Lakehurst, NJ Federal Register: July 17, 2000 (Vol. 65, No. 137) p. 44078-44079 (download full notice external link ): "SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received, by letter dated July 5, 2000, a request from International Uranium (IUSA) Corporation to amend its NRC Source Material License SUA-1358, to allow its White Mesa Uranium Mill near Blanding, Utah, to receive and process up to 2000 cubic yards of alternate feed material from the Heritage Minerals Site located in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Heritage site is in decommissioning under NRC Source Materials License No. SMB-1541. The Final Status Survey Plan (''Decommissioning Plan'') includes the removal of a monazite sand pile for shipment off-site. IUSA proposes to process the material for it's uranium content and dispose of the tailings in their tailings cells." A request for hearing must be filed *within 30 days of July 17, 2000*. (The above mentioned IUC letter to NRC is available through ADAMS external link ) Tailings capacity at White Mesa mill insufficient for proposed processing of more alternate feed At the request of NRC, IUC had to admit that the currently available tailings capacity at its White Mesa mill is not sufficient for the requested processing of more alternate feed material. The currently licensed activities would result in 1,150,550 tons of tailings, while the current capacity is 1,174,000 tons, leaving 23,450 tons of remaining capacity. The requested processing of the W.R. Grace material would add 108,000 tons, and potential alternate feed material from other sources (i.e. Linde, Molycorp and Heritage Minerals) would add another 146,200 tons. (1 short ton = 0.907185 metric tonnes) (IUC letter to NRC, dated May 5, 2000, available through ADAMS external link ) USACE agrees to request State approval before sending further material for alternate feed processing at White Mesa mill The Army Corps of Engineers has now agreed to not send additional shipments of radioactive mill tailings to the White Mesa uranium mill near Blanding without prior approval of the State of Utah. The agreement, however, does not extend to the Army Corp's current contract with International Uranium Corp., the owners of the White Mesa mill, to reprocess thousands of tons of radioactive soils from the FUSRAP site in Tonawanda, New York. (Deseret News, April 25, 2000) Questions raised about quality of alternate feed material from Tonawanda FUSRAP site "Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has launched a criminal investigation into early disposal efforts in Tonawanda, probing whether the contractors hired by the Corps mishandled waste and even manipulated data to disguise radioactive material as less dangerous garbage. California regulators are investigating, too; they claim that more than 2,000 tons of Tonawanda debris was buried illegally at a San Joaquin Valley dump without a federal radioactive waste license. On Wednesday, a Senate committee will hold a hearing on the broader Corps decision to dispose of many of its Manhattan Project leftovers in such landfills." (Washington Post, April 10, 2000) Note: the hearing on "Low activity radioactive waste" before the Senate Committee of Environment and Public Works external link had been scheduled for April 12, 2000, but was postponed. "Some of those materials have made it to the White Mesa mill near Blanding where they are reprocessed for uranium left behind from the original processing." (Deseret News, April 25, 2000) IUC requests license amendment to process material from Chattanooga, TN By letter dated April 12, 2000, International Uranium (USA) Corporation requests a license amendment to process 93,000 cubic yards (71,108 cubic meters) material with an estimated average grade of 0.74 percent uranium from the W.R. Grace Corp. external link site in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as alternate feed in its White Mesa mill , Utah. The uranium-bearing material results from the processing of monazite sands for the extraction of thorium and other rare earth minerals. A consortium of four companies - Heavy Minerals Company, Crane Company, Vitro Corporation and Pichney Company - began operations at the Chattanooga site in 1957. W.R. Grace purchased the facility in 1965 and continued operations until 1983. A request for hearing must be filed *within 30 days of May 5, 2000*. > View Federal Register: May 5, 2000 (Vol. 65, No. 88) p. 26243-26244 external link (full text of license amendment request available through ADAMS external link ) IUC requests license amendment to process more material from Tonawanda, NY In a letter dated March 16, 2000, International Uranium (USA) Corp. requests a license amendment to process 100,000 cubic yards (76,460 cubic meters) material with an estimated average grade of 0.07 percent uranium from the Linde site in Tonawanda NY as alternate feed in its White Mesa mill , Utah. The previous license amendments had granted approval for processing the portion of Linde Material that had been transferred to Ashland 1 and 2. This amendment request seeks authorization to process the remainder of the Uranium Material at the original generation and storage site at Linde external link . A request for hearing must be filed *within 30 days of May 5, 2000*. > View Federal Register: May 5, 2000 (Vol. 65, No. 88) p. 26242-26243 external link (full text of license amendment request available through ADAMS external link ) NRC affirms judge's decision for alternate feed processing On Feb. 10, 2000, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission affirmed the decision of a federal administrative judge in favour of processing of alternate feed material at IUC's White Mesa mill in Utah (see LBP-99-5 <#LBP995>). The ruling implies the company can take any suitable waste as long as it contains at least some uranium. (Salt Lake Tribune Feb. 18, 2000) > View Memorandum and Order CLI-00-01 external link Utah seeking State regulation of uranium mills and tailings The State of Utah plans to extend its Agreement State status with the U.S. NRC to the regulation of uranium mills and tailings. This would allow the State to regulate the controversial alternate feed processing at the White Mesa mill by its own. [MORE] Contaminated Tonawanda material spilled in truck accident On Sep 29, 1999, a truck carrying 20 tons of contaminated material originating from the Ashland 1 FUSRAP site at Tonawanda destined for processing in the White Mesa Mill tipped over near Cisco, Utah, spilling about half of its contents. (NRC Preliminary Notification Sep 30, 1999 external link ) NRC approves processing of St.Louis FUSRAP material at White Mesa mill "Staff Approves Alternate Feed Amendment for White Mesa Uranium Mill On July 28, 1999, the staff approved an amendment to the International Uranium Corporation's White Mesa uranium mill license, authorizing the company to receive and process uranium bearing material from the St. Louis external link , Missouri, Formerly Utilized Site Remedial Action Plan (FUSRAP) site. The company intends to recover uranium from the material, estimated to be as much as one million pounds, and dispose of the process tailings in the facility's impoundment. The company has also been authorized to process similar material from the Ashland 1 and 2 FUSRAP sites." (NRC Weekly Information Report for the Week ending July 30, 1999) > See also: Federal Register: May 4, 1999 (Vol. 64, No. 85) p. 23876-23877 (download full text external link ) Utah Radiation Control Board adopts and suspends rule on alternate feed On April 9, 1999, the Utah Radiation Control Board adopted a rule setting a requirement for a minimum uranium contents of 0.05% for materials to be accepted as alternate feed material for processing in a uranium mill. This rule meanwhile was tabled (= suspended). See details Utah House passes bill on alternate feed processing at uranium mills On February 25, 1999, the Utah House passed in a 65-3 vote the revised Brown Bill H.B. 324 S1. The Bill was introduced in the Utah Senate the same day. The bill would make low level waste regulations applicable to the processing of alternate feed material at the White Mesa mill. > View HB324S1 text external link · HB324S1 status external link Judge backs processing and disposal of Tonawanda waste material at White Mesa mill State complaints about the planned processing of uranium contaminated material from Tonawanda, NY, at the White Mesa uranium mill near Blanding are unfounded, a federal administrative judge ruled on February 9, 1999 (LBP-99-5). Utah State officials objected to the shipments, noting IUC received $4,050,000 to handle a material that contained no more than $600,000 worth of uranium. Bill Sinclair called this "sham disposal" because uranium extraction was only a pretext to dispose of the waste in the mill's tailings pond. The Utah Division of Radiation Control external link is looking at the possibility of an appeal to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (The Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 11, 1999 external link ) IUC plans to process waste material from St. Louis area International Uranium Corp (IUC) is planning to request another NRC licence amendment for its White Mesa mill in Utah. IUC wants to process more uranium-bearing material from old defence industry property, with alternate feed stock coming from the St Louis external link area. IUC is already processing 'Formerly Utilised Sites Remedial Action Programme' (Fusrap) material from a New York site at White Mesa. (Uranium Institute News Briefing 99.05, Feb. 3, 1999) IUC wants to process more material from Tonawanda, NY "SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received an application, by letter dated October 15, 1998, from International Uranium (USA) Corporation (IUC) to amend NRC Source Material License No. SUA-1358. By this submittal, IUC is requesting NRC approval to process, at IUC's White Mesa Uranium Mill , uranium-bearing material received from the Ashland 1 external link and Seaway Area D external link Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites, near Tonawanda, New York." [...] "Pursuant to Sec. 2.1205(a), any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding may file a request for a hearing. In accordance with Sec. 2.1205(c), a request for a hearing must be filed within thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this Federal Register notice." (Federal Register notice Nov 3, 1998 (Vol. 63, No. 212) p. 59340 external link ) Processing of the above material was licensed by NRC on February 3, 1999. ASLBP grants petition for a hearing of the State of Utah Re: Receipt of Material From Tonawanda, NY "Pursuant to the Presiding Officer's Memorandum and Order of September 1, 1998, the petition for a hearing of the State of Utah has been granted. This proceeding will be conducted pursuant to 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart L, which requires written presentations. The State alleges that the Ashland 2 external link materials permitted to be shipped to International Uranium (USA) Corporation contain hazardous waste and that its handling and disposal could violate applicable law and could harm wildlife and natural resources, including ground and surface water. A person whose interest may be affected, including a State, county, municipality or an agency thereof, may file a request to participate within 30 days. See 10 CFR 2.1205(e, j, k)." (Federal Register notice Oct 15, 1998 (Vol. 63, No. 199) p. 55412 external link ) NRC schedules meeting September 17, 1998 in Blanding, Utah The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting September 17 in Blanding, Utah, to discuss regulatory oversight of the International Uranium Corporation's nearby White Mesa uranium mill. > View NRC News Release No.98-157 (Sept. 3, 1998) external link Utah uranium mill seeks licence to process wastes from Canadian refinery and conversion plants International Uranium Corp. is reported to be seeking regulatory permission to recycle uranium-bearing materials from Cameco external link 's Blind River and Port Hope refinery and conversion plants at its White Mesa mill in Utah. If NRC and Canadian approval is granted, IUC plans to process of fluoride product, filter ash, calcined product and regeneration product from the Canadian plants. (UI News Briefing 98.31) White Mesa mill (Utah) receives license to process alternate feed material from Tonawanda (New York) FUSRAP site "*Acceptance of Uranium Mill Licensee Request to Process Alternate Feedstock Material* On June 23, 1998, the Uranium Recovery Branch, Division of Waste Management (DWM) approved the International Uranium Corporation 's (IUSA's) request to receive and process uranium-bearing materials from the Ashland 2 external link site, Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) site, near Tonawanda, New York. The material in question, consisting of approximately 24,000 to 25,000 dry tons of uranium ore processing residues and contaminated soils that are associated with activities conducted by the Manhattan Engineering District during the mid-1940s, will be received and processed at IUSA's White Mesa uranium mill , located near Blanding, Utah. The material is considered alternate feedstock, and the staff processing of such amendments was recently discussed at a June 17, 1998, Commission Meeting with the National Mining Association external link . The Ashland 2 site, as well as other FUSRAP sites, are under the management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE external link ). In accepting this request, the DWM staff also is supporting the USACE's objective of a cost-effective method of cleaning up FUSRAP sites." (NRC Weekly Information Report for the Week Ending June 26, 1998) > View F.A.C.T.S. (For A Clean Tonawanda Site) external link information on Tonawanda FUSRAP site Utah uranium mill seeks general license for alternate feed material International Uranium Corporation (IUC) is requesting NRC approval for a performance-based license condition (PBLC) regarding the acceptance of alternate feed materials for processing at its White Mesa Uranium Mill , located near Blanding, Utah. In the past, the NRC has granted approval to IUC for the processing of alternate feed materials on several occasions. With this license condition, IUC would no longer have to seek NRC approval on a case-by-case basis. Any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding may file a request for a hearing within 30 days from April 14, 1998. > See notice in /Federal Register/, April 14, 1998 (Vol. 63, No. 71), p. 18236 (download full notice external link ). Uranium Recovery Licensee Meeting with Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs "On May 12, 1998, the Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs, the Directors of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and Division of Waste Management, and staff from the Uranium Recovery Branch, met with representatives of International Uranium (USA) Corporation (IUC). The purpose of this Meeting was to discuss IUC's proposal to modify the staff's "Final Position and Guidance on the Use of Uranium Mill Feed Materials Other Than Natural Ores," which was published in the Federal Register on September 22, 1995. IUC officially submitted the proposed modifications to the Commission on May 6, 1998. IUC's presentation focused on two aspects of the staff's "alternate feed" guidance: (1) the prohibition of uranium mill licensees to receive and process materials containing hazardous wastes regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and (2) the need for mill licensees to address financial considerations in support of any application to receive and process alternate feed materials. When the staff raised concerns about the potential for dual regulation with EPA at mill sites, IUC stated its willingness to have issues related to hazardous materials addressed at some later Time. If this component was removed from IUC's proposal, the staff expressed some question about the need for the proposal given that IUC has received license amendments in the past allowing it to process alternate feed materials at the White Mesa uranium mill. The staff also noted that, while it agreed with many of IUC's points concerning the requirement to address financial considerations, a Presiding Officer's decision on an earlier Hearing matter raised the need to consider an economics test in the processing of alternate feed materials. Also in attendance at this Meeting were representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which manages the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP external link ). Much of the material on FUSRAP sites can be considered as alternate feed materials, and the USACE sees recycling this material as a cost-effective way of cleaning up FUSRAP sites." (U.S. NRC Weekly Information Report for the Week Ending May 15, 1998) NRC Authorizes Utah Uranium Mill to Receive and Process Material from Pennsylvania The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has granted a request from International Uranium Corporation to receive and process uranium-bearing material from the Cabot Corporation's facility near Boyertown, Pennsylvania, at International Uranium's NRC-licensed White Mesa uranium mill near Blanding, Utah. View NRC Press Release (Aug.15, 1997) external link Leaking Cabot containers discovered in Toronto On October 27, 1997, the Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB) (Canada) notified the NRC and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that liquid leakage was discovered in Toronto, Canada from intermodal containers marked as containing radioactive material that were shipped by railroad from Cabot Corporation (Cabot), Boyertown, Pennsylvania. The material in the containers is a clay-like residue resulting from processing of ores containing uranium and thorium to recover tantalum. The residue contains about 1 percent total uranium and thorium by weight in an insoluble form. View NRC Preliminary Notifications PNO-I-97-066 (Oct.28, 1997) external link and PNO-I-97-066A (Nov.17, 1997) external link . License violations at White Mesa uranium mill (Utah) Empty Transportation Containers Exceeding Contamination Limits NRC Preliminary Notification PNO-IV-00-008 external link (March 2, 2000) High Chloroform levels found in groundwater Chloroform at levels 47 times higher than allowed by Utah state rules was found in a groundwater monitoring well at the White Mesa uranium mill . The discovery prompted the Utah Department of Environmental Quality external link to issue a "notice of violation" of the state's groundwater-protection rules. Denver-based International Uranium Corp. was given 30 days to develop a plan to determine the source of the contamination. (Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Aug 31, 1999) Other issues IUC proposes slurry pipeline for Atlas tailings relocation to White Mesa Mill site > view details NRC to approve reclamation plan from Federal Register Notice Jan 4, 2000 (Vol. 65, No. 2) p.308-309 (download full text external link ): "SUMMARY: The International Uranium (USA) Corporation (IUC) requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) amend its NRC Source Material License SUA-1358, to approve its Reclamation Plan, as amended, for the White Mesa Uranium Mill near Blanding, Utah. An Environmental Assessment (EA) was performed by the NRC staff in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. The conclusion of the EA is a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed licensing action." Any person whose interest may be affected by this proceeding may file a request for a hearing *within thirty (30) days* from the date of publication of the Federal Register notice. compiled by: *WISE Uranium Project* (home) ***************************************************************** 39 Russia: Nuclear burial sites discovered News24 South Africa 15/11/2002 14:45 - (SA) Moscow - A Russian scientific expedition discovered the burial sites of a Soviet nuclear submarine, the K-27, and 237 containers of radioactive waste in the northern Kara Sea, the Interfax-Military news agency reported on Friday. Expedition members also examined the assumed burial site of the reactor section of the K-254, another nuclear submarine, Russia's Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Mikhail Faleyev told the agency. The scientists did preliminary tests of samples of water, sediment and sea life taken from the sites and found that radiation levels there are "stable", Faleyev said. Further tests will be held in Russian laboratories, he said. The K-27 was dumped in the Kara Sea in 1981, 13 years after one of its reactors released radiation and it was taken out of service, according to Bellona, a Norway-based environmental group. Environmental groups say the Soviet Union routinely dumped radioactive waste and nuclear reactors from decommissioned submarines into Arctic waters off the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, a former nuclear testing site. The expedition, which includes experts from the Moscow's Kurchatov nuclear institute and the Emergency Situations Ministry, probed the burial sites using an underwater camera attached to a research vessel, Faleyev said. The experts are compiling a list of "potentially dangerous underwater objects" for the government and have already completed surveys of Siberia's Lake Baikal, the Sea of Japan, and the Baltic Sea, he said. - Sapa-AP About News24 - all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 40 Uranium plant proposal has mayor worried * Friday, 11/15/02* | Middle Tennessee News & Information* By ANDY HUMBLES /Staff Writer/ The mayor of Lebanon says he's on a ''fact-finding mission'' about the possibility of being neighbors to a new uranium enrichment plant planned in Hartsville, Tenn. Mayor Don Fox expressed concerns yesterday if the plant proposed by Louisiana Energy Services is indeed built in next-door Trousdale County. Fox said that he has sent a memo to City Council members asking how the city should address the issue. ''I'm not sure what we can do, but I want the council to start thinking about this because they do represent our citizens. And on my own I want to get all the information I can. From some of the articles I've read, the track record is not reassuring to me.'' Fox expressed reservations about the plant's possible effect on Lebanon and Wilson County's water supply and air quality. He pointed to recent reports of health issues in Paducah, Ky., where a uranium enrichment plant exists. ''If that got into the runoff of the Cumberland River, we're downstream,'' Fox said. ''There may not be a thing wrong, but since our water supply is downstream, we'd like as much information as we can. Can I believe the air (quality) has various safeguards? Even if they are truthful, can we depend on the technology?'' LES spokesman Lora Lee Langford said she would be sending an information packet to Fox. ''The Cumberland River won't be involved at all,'' Langford said. Of the air quality, Langford said, ''Nothing will be emitted from the plant. There are no smokestacks or anything like that.'' Langford said the facility would be maintained at lower air pressure than ambient conditions, so that nothing harmful would be released outside the facility, even in the case of disaster. ''If there were a puncture, everything would be sucked back in, like a vacuum,'' Langford said. *Related story: Dutch plant may reflect Hartsville jobs* © Copyright 2002 The Tennessean ***************************************************************** 41 FR Nureg 1307 llw decon disposal FR Doc 02-29063 [Federal Register: November 15, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 221)] [Notices] [Page 69255-69256] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15no02-94] ------ NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Availability of NUREG-1307, Revision 10, ``Report on Waste Burial Charges: Changes in Decommissioning Waste Disposal Costs at Low-Level Waste Burial Facilities'' AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability. ------ SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is announcing the completion and availability of NUREG-1307, Revision 10, ``Report on Waste Burial Charges,'' dated October 2002. ADDRESSES: NUREG-1307 may be purchased from The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20402-9328; www.access.gpo.gov/su--docs [http://www.access.gpo.gov/su--docs] ; 202-512-1800; or The National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161- 0002; www.ntis.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ntis.gov] ; 1-800-553-6847 or, locally, 703-605-6000. This publication is also posted in the Electronic Reading Room at NRC's Web site address http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html] . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rebecca L. Karas, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 (telephone 301-415-3711). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Nuclear power reactor licensees are required, per 10 CFR 50.75, to adjust annually the estimated decommissioning costs of their nuclear facilities in order to ensure adequate funds are available for decommissioning. The regulation references NUREG-1307 as the appropriate source for obtaining the adjustment factor for waste burial/disposition costs; this Revision 10 of NUREG-1307 provides the current waste burial costs at the Washington [[Page 69256]] and South Carolina disposal sites. In addition, this revision provides costs for low-level radioactive waste disposition using waste vendors. Licensees can factor these numbers into the adjustment formula, as specified in 10 CFR 50.75(c)(2), to determine the minimum decommissioning fund requirement for their nuclear facilities. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of November 2002. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Dennis P. Allison, Acting Section Chief, Policy and Rulemaking Program--Section B, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 02-29063 Filed 11-14-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 42 Dutch plant may reflect Hartsville jobs * * *Friday, 11/15/02* | Middle Tennessee News & Information* By KATHY CARLSON /Staff Writer/ *ALMELO, the Netherlands *? Jobs, particularly how much they'll pay and who will get them, emerged as a prime concern yesterday for the Middle Tennessee group on the second day of a visit to a uranium en-richment plant here. The facility, actually a complex of offices, enrichment plants and related facilities, is run by Urenco, a venture of the Dutch, German and British governments. Urenco has joined a handful of energy companies to form Louisiana Energy Services, a private venture that wants to build an enrichment plant in Trousdale County, about 40 miles northeast of Nashville. The proposed facility would employ about 250 workers. In September, when the selection of Trousdale County was announced, LES officials said about 70% of the jobs would be for skilled technical workers with at least a two-year college degree and experience in a nuclear-related industry. ''There are a lot of people who can't just up and quit their job for two years to go to college to work for your plant,'' Trousdale County Commissioner Tammy Dixon told Urenco and LES officials. The job-related questions arose, in part, from a chart that described the levels of worker education at the Almelo plant. About 15% have what Urenco official Hubert Rakhorst called academic degrees; 20% have received higher education; 50% have middle-level and 15%, lower-level educations. Most of those at the middle and lower levels work in a manufacturing facility at the complex, not in enrichment, raising questions about the required education levels for American workers. LES President George Dials likened the four categories to educations in college, vocational-technical school, high school and less than high school. ''There's no question that people in Tennessee and Hartsville are qualified and smart enough for these jobs,'' he said. He listed potential Hartsville jobs, from equipment operator to computer control room operators, which Middle Tennessee residents could seek. LES will have detailed lists of jobs and qualifications, he said, adding, ''I expect that we will have more than enough qualified applicants from Middle Tennessee.'' Dixon seemed heartened to hear that Urenco was helping one Almelo worker, Edwin Mulder, receive more education. Mulder, who completed middle education in the Netherlands at age 21, is helping with designs for a future Trousdale enrichment plant. The inside of Almelo's newest enrichment area, which the Midstate group toured yesterday, is unlike the typical American manufacturing facility, where workers at individual stations help create a product. Inside huge sections of the facility, workers used a $200,000 machine to move cylinders of uranium into heating and cooling areas. The cylinders alone weigh 4 tons, and as much as 16 tons filled. At the control room, about a dozen people work each shift, 24 hours a day, to make sure the technology is working properly. They wore street clothes. In touring the facility, the Midstate group wore only hard hats when they viewed an area under construction. The centrifuges, where uranium is enriched, appeared to operate in huge rooms, without the need for workers to be immediately present. If the Tennessee facility is built, those landing jobs would be paid a ''good salary but not an excessive one,'' Rakhorst said. Dials said his team is studying Tennessee salaries to come up with appropriate pay scales. © Copyright 2002 The Tennessean ***************************************************************** 43 Nigeria: Oil firms accused of dumping nuclear wastes in areas of operations Vanguard Online : [http://www.vanguardngr.com By Emmanuel Aziken Friday, November 15, 2002 ABUJA—OIL prospecting companies in the country were yesterday accused of endangering lives in their areas of operations through alleged improper and irregular disposal of nuclear radioactive materials used in their operations. At a briefing session for the House of Representatives Committee on Petroluem, Prof. Shamsudden Elegba, Director-General of the National Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), gave 2003 as deadline for the petroleum exploration companies to comply with the authority’s regulations on the use of nuclear materials in the country. Also at the briefing, Mr. Halims Agoda, Chairman of the House Petroleum Committee, directed the exploration companies to furnish the committee with their daily production to, in his words, remove speculation and conjectures on the country’s production level. He also warned that Nigeria must not tie its fortunes to the dynamics of international oil politics in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). According to Prof. Elegba, oil exploration companies in the country are in the habit of dumping their nuclear wastes haphazardly to the detriment of the environment. He alleged that some of them would even leave nuclear wastes arising from their production activities in abandoned oil wells. The oil companies, he said, had consistently failed to disclose the sources of their radioactive materials, putting the regulatory authority in the dark as to the safety of their nuclear material. Vowing to bring the companies under the regulation of NNRA from next year, he said: "We will close the companies where they are not ready to comply." He, however, welcomed the professed readiness of Chevron to abide by the new regime, saying that the American oil giant had recently advertised for oil service companies that would supply it with radioactive materials. That action, he said, would put the nuclear materials used by the company under better analysis. Earlier, Mr. Agoda had lamented the scarcity of information on the country’s production petroleum level. "Very lately, the daily production figures of oil prospecting companies in Nigeria have become a subject of sweeping speculations and conjectures. The House Committee on Petroleum Resources feels uncomfortable with this development. It is counter-productive for the nation and even players in the industry to continue to live with a situation where production and sales statistics are subjects of speculations." He thus directed oil companies to furnish the committee with their production levels to enable it make healthy assessments of the country’s oil industry. Warning that the country should not tie its fortunes to the dynamics of the international oil market as dictated by OPEC, he said: "While it is desirable to act and to be seen as a responsible member-nation of the cartel, Nigeria can not lose sight of its primary obligation to conduct her affairs in such a manner that her potentialities are not unjustifiably tied to the dynamics of the international oil politics of the OPEC and consumer nations." © 2002. Vanguard Media Ltd. ***************************************************************** 44 UK nuclear liability fund gets go-ahead Planet Ark : UK: November 15, 2002 LONDON - Britain said this week it would go ahead with plans to put its 48 billion pounds of state nuclear clean-up liabilities into a special fund, a move that could open the way for a new round of nuclear privatisation. The plan is designed to bundle together the future costs of decommissioning and cleaning up nuclear plants and to make sure the state meets those costs. It came as a surprise to some commentators, who had expected the government to avoid the issue of nuclear industry reform in the wake of recent events. In September, British Energy Plc , a nuclear power firm privatised in 1996, was forced to crawl back under the state umbrella for a government loan to stop it going bust. The British Energy crisis prompted protests from groups opposed to nuclear power and a widespread debate over the future of economic and environmental policy in the energy sector. "Draft legislation will be published on the management of nuclear liabilities," Britain's Queen Elizabeth told parliament in a speech setting out Prime Minister Tony Blair's legislative programme for the next 12 months. The plan to set up the Liabilities Management Authority (LMA) was first proposed a year ago. It is designed to assume the decommissioning and other costs of state-owned British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), and a smaller set of liabilities of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Together these amount to about 48 billion pounds ($76.22 billion). BNFL runs the UK's older and more costly Magnox nuclear power stations that were not privatised with British Energy, and the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in northwest England. UKAEA manages the decommissioning of reactors and other radioactive facilities. It is responsible for the Dounreay plant in Scotland, where 20 workers were exposed to radioactive particles this week. Analysts and critics see the LMA scheme as likely to help BNFL with its plans to join the private sector, making the business more attractive to investors by keeping the liabilities with the taxpayer. Some industry sources have suggested the LMA could end up as the vehicle for a rehabilitation of British Energy itself - taking on the privatised firm's liabilities as well and leaving a restructured company that has more investor appeal. The draft bill, which may be held up by lengthy consultation before being taken forward for legislation, sets out goals to clean up the "nuclear legacy" safely and cost effectively, according to a Department of Trade and Industry document accompanying the Queen's speech. Commercial contracts will remain with BNFL and will be unchanged by the proposals. BNFL Chief Executive Norman Askew, who hopes to get the company privatised within the next three or four years, welcomed the plan, though he said he had initially hoped it might happen sooner. "It's good news," he said. "Initially the intention was to get this in place by April 2004. That probably has slipped six months, but in the scheme of things that's not fatal." Anti-nuclear group Greenpeace, which has been campaigning for British Energy to be put into administration, said the move raised the spectre of new nuclear plants being built. "The new nuclear liability legislation will pass the industry's huge clean-up cost on to the taxpayer and so clear the way for dangerous new plants across the country," said a Greenpeace spokesman. "People living near the sites earmarked for new nuclear stations should today be worried. All this when we have huge untapped reserves of renewable energy in this country." (Additional reporting by F. Brinley Bruton). Story by Andrew Callus and Dominic Evans REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 45 EPA: Scarboro safe as any neighborhood The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News -- 1:46 p.m. on Friday, November 15, 2002 by R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff After almost three months of absorbing heavy criticism for its lack of clarity, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided a definitive statement Thursday about its sampling of the Scarboro neighborhood. "Our data show this community is just as safe as any other community in the area," said Jon Johnson, federal facilities branch chief for the EPA's waste management division. "I want to say it unequivocally -- we didn't find any problems here," said Johnson. The agency held two public meetings Thursday on its draft report of its sampling in Scarboro. Health issues have been a concern in the neighborhood since the late 1990s when stories in The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville questioned whether Y-12 plant contaminants could be causing illness to neighborhood residents. Scarboro sits within about 1,500 feet from the plant. Al Brooks, Oak Ridge Environmental Justice Committee chairman, applauded the EPA for its clarity this time around. Brooks had noted early in the week that the committee planned to submit a highly critical letter to the agency should the EPA not come through with a definitive statement. Instead, the committee submitted a letter of congratulations. "I hope we can put this patient to rest," said Brooks. However, one Scarboro in attendance Thursday night said she still has a question. Helen Lane, 82, asked whether historical contamination could be causing her current illness that she says mirrors illness from exposure to beryllium. She said that she had lived in Scarboro since 1953 and had noted "stuff fly over my property like ashes" and her black car would be gray in the mornings because of the ash-like substance. "I know I've ingested it," said Lane, who noted she has asthma-like symptoms that are severe. "Usually beryllium acts like that Š and I just want to know." Jon Johnson said: "We are only looking at what's there today. (This study) is only going to show what's currently in the soil -- it will not show what was there in 1960." Tyler Johnson, member of the city's Environmental Quality Advisory Board, noted that the Y-12 plant had reimbursed some car owners for ruining paint jobs due to fly-ash from the steam plant. Comments on the draft report are due by Nov. 22, though Jon Johnson said that late comments would be heard. The final draft is due in January. Copies of the report are at the Oak Ridge Public Library and at the Scarboro Community Center. Johnson said that the EPA findings compare "similarly" to earlier DOE's results. Johnson stressed that the agency's role is to look at environmental links, and that a further study on the health of the overall community would be examined by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The meeting was attended mostly by regulators and representatives of oversight organizations and committees. R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or danielsrcd@oakridger.com. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 46 SA: Nuclear waste risk* www.yourguide.com.au BROOKE JACOBSON Friday, 15 November 2002 Nuclear waste could be transported through Dubbo, an environmental group has warned the city council. Friends of the Earth Australia has asked council to oppose the transport of radioactive waste through the Dubbo local government area. The organisation's nuclear campaigner Loretta O'Brien said the Federal Government's preferred site for the waste dump was outside Woomera in South Australia. "An environmental impact statement is being done on the site at the moment," she told the Daily Liberal yesterday. "The Government is looking at approving the site by the end of the year and after that it all depends on how quickly they can push it through - we're hoping to stop it all together. "If the South Australian site is not approved the second preferred site is at Broken Hill." Dubbo is on of the two proposed routes for transporting the waste from Sydney. The waste would be taken through the Blue Mountains, Dubbo, Broken Hill and Port Augusta. The other route is via the Hume Highway, Wagga, Balranald, Hay, Mildura and Port Augusta. "Our concerns are in the case of an accident, the emergency services in the area would be the first port of call - would they be adequately prepared and trained for that," Ms O'Brien said. from front page "Are the emergency services willing to accept those risks and is the community prepared to accept the risk?" The waste, categorised as low-level and short-lived radioactive waste, would be produced from the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney, with smaller amounts from hospitals, industry, the defence department and universities. In her report to the works and services committee, council's sustainable development policy manager Melissa Watkins said it was anticipated more than 130 truckloads of waste would pass through the Dubbo area in the first year. "Road transportation is considered to present the risk of radioactive exposure to people, agricultural land and the environment as a whole," she said. "Accidents associated with the waste would place significant demands on regional emergency services, particularly in regards to planning, resources and response time." "No details have been provided which allow the council to be confident that there will not be any risks to the Dubbo community and surrounding environment." Ms Watkins has recommended that council write to the Federal Government and express its support for Friends of the Earth Australia and their opposition of road transportation of radioactive waste. She also recommended council give consideration to the road transportation of hazardous waste through the Dubbo local government area in the event the Federal Government refers the application to council for comment. The works and services committee will consider the issue at its meeting on Tuesday night. ***************************************************************** 47 IRAQ: RUMSFELD LETS THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 16:50:39 -0600 (CST) Rumsfeld lets the cat out of the bag on Iraq attack (english) from CN 9:51am Fri Nov 15 '02 (Modified on 2:42pm Fri Nov 15 '02) article#217380 Heads we win, tails you lose [ http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=217380&group=webcast ] During an hour-long interview and call-in on Infinity Broadcasting, "Defense" Secretary Rumsfeld tipped his hand. A caller asked what the US response would be if no weapons of mass destruction were found by U.N. weapons inspectors inside Iraq? Rumsfeld replied: "What it would prove would be that the inspection process had been successfully defeated by the Iraqis. There's no question but that the Iraqi regime is clever, they've spent a lot of time hiding things, dispersing things, tunneling underground." So according to Rumsfeld the absence of evidence is proof of guilt. If the inspectors find something, we claim the right to attack, and if they DON'T find anything, we claim the right to attack. We also have the right to attack if the Iraqis fire on our planes (while we're busy bombing the hell out of Iraqi installations), and we can attack if the Iraqis don't cooperate (or if we SAY they're not cooperating), or if we feel like it, or if it's a Tuesday, or .... Maybe it would be easier to ask Rumsfeld if there are any specific circumstances where we would NOT attack. Meanwhile, the Bush fearmongers are busily stirring up America with threats of what Saddam or others MIGHT do to us if we attack Iraq, and using that threat to ram through the rest of its totalitarian agenda. It seems pretty clear that the Bush White House has done what unchecked corporate capitalism has always done best: created the product, the demand, AND the market for an unending nightmare. [...] Criminally Insane gang... (english) pjd 10:29am Fri Nov 15 '02 comment#217387 Amazing, isn't it? I'm sure any big-city detective or DA would immediately recognize Rumsfeld's rationale stated above as very typical of a criminally insane murderer. Of course, in states like Texas, the DA wouldn't mention the "insane" part so he could pursue the death penalty. **************************************** Daily: www.DemocracyNow.org Essays, Analysis, Activist Strategies: http://EconomicDemocracy.org/wtc/ **************************************** Sorry, we cannot readm most UseNet posts/replies, but can be reached by email. "And so we're told that this is the golden age.. ..And gold is the reason for the wars we wage" -U2 "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will live as one" --John Lennon ***************************************************************** 48 Russia seeks foreign funding to scrap old nuclear submarines Vladivostok News :: [http://www.vladnews.ru] November 15, 2002 By Anatoly Medetsky Nuclear submarines docked at Zvezda BOLSHOI KAMEN - The towering rock in the bay that gave this town its name is long gone, blown up by engineers who called it a hindrance to navigation. Gone, too, is the town's one-time livelihood: refueling and repairing the submarines that were once the backbone of the mighty Pacific Fleet. Today, half a century since its birth as a secret Soviet military town, Bolshoi Kamen, Russian for Big Rock, has a less grandiose mission. It's home to Zvezda (Star), one of Russia's two principal centers for scrapping the submarines that Russia no longer needs. For eight years, Zvezda has received tens of millions of dollars from the United States to safely dismantle 22 submarines that were taken out of service under U.S.-Russian disarmament treaties. But next year, after it cuts up the last such submarine, the U.S. funding will dry up - leaving Zvezda in search of new money to tackle the scrapping of dozens of other subs that did not target the United States, yet remain grave security and environmental threats. And Russia says the money needs to be found quickly. "Nuclear things are like a volcano and can explode any time," said Deputy Nuclear Power Minister Valery Lebedev. Altogether, Russia has decommissioned about 190 nuclear-powered submarines over the past 15 years. According to Russian officials, 90 of them still languish dockside with nuclear fuel in their reactors. The abundant fissile material aboard the subs, the poor condition of the Far East naval facilities and their proximity to North Korea and China provoke "significant proliferation concerns," according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at California's Monterey Institute of International Studies. Lack of adequate maintenance has also created a risk of contaminating the sea around the subs with radiation. "People basically didn't look after the hulls properly, and now they are sinking," said Ian Downing, director of U.K. Nuclear Industries Directorate. Russia plans to destroy 131 submarines by 2010, according to Viktor Akhunov, head of the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry's ecology and decommissioning department. Almost all of them were decommissioned in the 1980s, at the end of their service life. Two of these submarines sank off the northeastern Kamchatka Peninsula in 1997 and 1999 but were quickly raised and did no harm, the navy said. Still, submarines of this type cause serious concern. "They are dangerous and the danger will grow with every year," said Vice Admiral Nikolai Yurasov, who oversees submarine dismantlement at the Pacific Fleet. Zvezda Director Yuri Shulgan Akhunov said 55 of the retired submarines are floating in the waters of the Russian Far East. According to Akhunov, it would cost $3.9 billion to scrap the 131 submarines. Yet this year, the Russian government has budgeted just $70 million for improving nuclear safety in the country as a whole, he said. "These funds are obviously insufficient," Akhunov lamented. One of the most pressing tasks is construction of a storage base for 19 reactor compartments that are currently floating in Razboynik Bay, near Bolshoi Kamen, Akhunov said. Because Russia has no onshore facility for storing decommissioned submarine reactors, the practice is to cut three-compartment sections out of the submarines - the reactor compartment in the middle, flanked by compartments on either side that provide buoyancy. The three-compartment sections are stored afloat - but they corrode and can sink with time. And they remain radioactive. Construction of the storage facility, which would cost an estimated $70 million, is slated to start next year, but Russia is still soliciting funds from abroad. The facility would include a dock to raise the sections from water, equipment to cut out the reactor compartments and a reinforced concrete site to store them. Russia is also seeking $18 million to build a shelter for two submarines whose reactors have had accidents and emit high radiation. The subs, currently floated by pontoons in a bay near Bolshoi Kamen, would be stored in the shelter for 300 years until fission capability in their reactors ends. One other challenge is to find $7 million to modernize a rail link to ship casks with spent nuclear fuel to a processing plant. If the upgrade is not done, said Zvezda director Yuri Shulgan, a new U.S.-funded nuclear fuel-removal facility that is due to open in November will be useless, and Zvezda will have to revert to the more dangerous technique of shipping the fuel by sea to a reliable rail link, increasing the risk of radiation exposure. Bolshoi Kamen, about 37.5 kilometers (17 miles) east of the Pacific port of Vladivostok, still remains a secret town closed to foreigners except those with special permission. This is despite the fact that most of Zvezda's equipment to dismantle submarines, which is its main work now, has been donated by foreign governments. In one of the most vivid stages of dismantlement, gigantic guillotine-like sheers, courtesy of the United States, clank deafeningly as they chop up huge chunks of submarine hulls to be sold as scrap metal. Nearby a concrete windowless building processes thick power cables to extract valuable copper, using up-to-date U.S. equipment. In addition to the U.S. funding, Zvezda received a $42 million barge-mounted complex from Japan to treat low-level liquid radioactive waste from the laundry that handles plant workers' clothes. Shulgan said that when work to scrap the nuclear submarines started in the late 1980s, "such waste was dumped in the waters of the Sea of Japan because the infrastructure for its collection, processing and storage was lacking." Later, the plant built underground storage facilities out of reinforced concrete, but these quickly filled up, prompting the resumption of dumping of radioactive water into the Sea of Japan, he said. The problem caused the Russian government to ban the scrapping of subs at the plant in 1997-98. The Suzuran facility treats liquid radioactive waste The Japanese-funded treatment complex went into operation a year ago and has treated all the waste that had accumulated over several years, Shulgan said. The Japanese named the complex Suzuran - Japanese for lily of the valley. "Dismantlement of nuclear submarines wouldn't have been possible without this facility," Shulgan stated. The Japanese government has earmarked $158 million more for cleanup work at Bolshoi Kamen - funding prompted in part by Russian military journalist Grigory Pasko's whistleblowing on nuclear waste dumping in the area. Pasko is in a prison near Vladivostok, serving a four-year term for illegally attending a meeting of top brass and possessing notes he made there. He says his trial for treason and prosecution on lesser charge are punishment for his revelations of the navy's nuclear pollution. The additional Japanese money however has yet to be spent. The Japanese government blamed the delay on red tape in Russia and on what one Japanese diplomat visiting Vladivostok described as "a communication problem." However the diplomat, who wished to remain anonymous, said he saw light at the end of the tunnel. But another Japanese diplomat, Yukiya Amano, director of the arms control agency at Japan's Foreign Ministry, told a recent Vladivostok conference on Russian nuclear legacy that, "Japanese public is beginning to wonder whether Russia needs this money." Other foreign governments also experienced difficulty in donating money toward nuclear cleanup in Russia. The United Kingdom, which in 2001 set aside $125 million to spend in the former Soviet Union, mostly in Russia, to dismantle submarines and improve nuclear safety and waste management, complained that unresolved legal issues stopped implementation of the program. "The Russian government says that after the work is finished it will pass the liability back to us," said Ian Downing, director of the nuclear industries directorate of the U.K. government. "It's not in conformity with the international legal framework." "We have been trying to resolve the issue for the past 18 months and largely have spent nothing," he added, speaking on the sidelines of the Vladivostok conference that took place in September. "We hope that we will have resolved the problem by the end of this year." Write us a letter [ engl@vladnews.ru] Editor Anatoly Medetsky [engl@vladnews.ru] Reporter Anna Malpas

[malpas@vladnews.ru] Translator Alyona Sokolova [sokolova@vladnews.ru] Web administrator Svetlana Gurieva [gurieva@vladnews.ru] Copyright © 2002 "Vladivostok Novosti" 13 Narodny Prospect Vladivostok, 690014 Russia Phone: 7 (4232) 415-590, Fax: 7 (4232) 415-615 Published by Vladivostok Novosti, Ltd. ***************************************************************** 49 Oak Ridge to receive toxic waste Incinerator readied to burn it next year By Frank Munger, News-Sentinel senior writer November 15, 2002 OAK RIDGE - The state has given the U.S. Department of Energy the green light to ship toxic waste to Oak Ridge from around the nation over the next couple of months. The waste could be burned starting early next year at the Oak Ridge incinerator. The federal facility currently is shut down for maintenance. According to correspondence between DOE and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the waste will come from at least eight states from New York to Hawaii. Most of it contains polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as well as radioactive materials. The incinerator is the only facility in the United States licensed to burn wastes containing both PCBs and radioactive elements. There are plans to burn about 1 million pounds of waste in 2003. While allowing DOE to bring out-of-state waste to Oak Ridge for initial processing, Tennessee officials are withholding final approval of the 2003 burn plan until the federal agency takes steps to get rid of certain wastes stored in Oak Ridge. "We want to make sure there is an equitable return to the state," said John Owsley, who heads the state's environmental oversight office in Oak Ridge. DOE has about 50,000 cubic yards of nuclear waste stored in Oak Ridge that doesn't meet criteria for incineration or disposal on the federal complex here. DOE has said it will ship the waste elsewhere by the end of 2005, but the state wants to see significant progress in the coming year. Bob Sleeman of DOE said the holdup is finding the money to pay for disposal of Oak Ridge waste in other states. Some of the nuclear material is bound for the Nevada Test Site, he said. "If we can free up some money, we can go ahead," Sleeman said. Funding isn't in the budget, but DOE officials hope to save money on other cleanup projects and use it for handling the waste. As negotiations continue on ways to reduce Oak Ridge's nuclear legacies, the state promised to work with DOE to maximize use of the Oak Ridge incinerator in early 2003. By bringing out-of-state waste to Oak Ridge before the end of the year, DOE contractors can have it ready when the burning begins in January or February, Owsley said in a letter sent Wednesday to Gerald Boyd, DOE's environmental chief in Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge workers wearing protective suits and respirators will repackage the waste into thousands of small cardboard boxes suitable for incineration. The Department of Energy originally planned to shut down the Oak Ridge incinerator in late 2003, but that date has been extended to 2006. Much of the Oak Ridge waste suitable for incineration already has been burned, and future emphasis will be on waste from federal operations in other states. In the days ahead, Oak Ridge will receive shipments from U.S. Navy nuclear operations including facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; the Puget Sound region in Washington; and Norfolk, Va. Waste also will be trucked to Oak Ridge from DOE sites such as the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. "We have no problem with the material being treated here, but we certainly do not expect this site to be used as storage for out-of-state waste," Owsley said. Before accepting waste in Oak Ridge, the state will insist on proof that an approved facility outside Tennessee has agreed to accept the residual ash left after incineration, he said. Pete Peterson, waste operations manager for Bechtel Jacobs Co., DOE's environmental contractor, said the incinerator was shut down last week for its annual fall maintenance period. "It's a total inspection," Peterson said. "We'll even put a camera down the (emissions) stack to make sure everything is intact there." Besides checking out the incinerator and making necessary repairs, workers will use the down time for refresher training courses and to review safety requirements, Peterson said. Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure operates the incinerator under a subcontract with Bechtel Jacobs. "If we don't run into any major repairs, we'll probably start up in mid-January and begin incinerator operations by February," Peterson said. Additional reviews are being planned to make sure the incinerator is in shape for operations through 2006, he said. After waste operations are completed, DOE's schedule calls for a two-year project to decommission and decontaminate the Oak Ridge incinerator. The estimated cost is $10 million. Frank Munger may be reached at 865-482-9213 or twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 50 Livermore says contaminated soil posed no threat Tri-Valley Herald Online Article Last Updated: Friday, November 15, 2002 - Plutonium at Big Trees Park reportedly below regulatory limits By Mike White, STAFF WRITER LIVERMORE -- The low levels of plutonium found at Big Trees Park were below regulatory limits and are not a health concern, the city reiterated in a statement this week. The statement by Livermore officials came in response to a report released Tuesday by the California Department of Heath Services. The health services report sought to analyze the historic distribution of possibly plutonium-contaminated sewage sludge in Livermore. The report recommends a more thorough research effort to determine the distribution of potentially contaminated sludge. The sludge was distributed from the Livermore sewage plant between 1958 and 1976 as fertilizer. Low levels of plutonium were found in soil samples taken from Big Trees Park in 1993. The city said in its statement that it is believed the material (plutonium 239) emanated from an accidental release into the sewer system by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1967. The health services report noted that there were routine and unintentional releases of plutonium that may have contaminated the sludge at the sewer plant. The health services report concluded that there is not enough information to determine the potential health hazard from exposure to plutonium-contaminated sludge that was distributed to the public in the 1960s. The report recommends that the Department of Energy provide funding to the Alameda County Department of health services to determine the historic distribution of sludge from the treatment plant. Marylia Kelley of Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, or CAREs, said she agreed with the report's recommendation for additional funding and research. "At this time there are no hard and fast statements about the health risks that can be made," she said. "More research and data need to be analyzed before conclusions can be made." The California Department of Health Services is accepting public comments about the report until mid-January. Inquiries about the report should be directed to Marilyn Underwood, Chief, Site Assessment Section, CDHS at (510) 622-4500. Comments about the report can be e-mailed to the CDHS via their website at www.dhs.ca.gov/ehib [http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ehib] The report is also available for viewing at that web site. Copies will also be made available at the Livermore library, according to the city statement. ©1999-2002 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 51 Whistle-blower case has doubled in cost Taxpayers to shell out Tri-Valley Herald Online Article Last Updated: Friday, November 15, 2002 - By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER Officially, Dee Kotla was fired from Lawrence Livermore lab for $4.30 in personal phone calls. A jury found instead it was retaliation, and now the taxpayer bill for damages and legal wrangling in the case has just doubled to $2.6 million and rising. A judge last week awarded $1.1 million in attorneys' fees and costs to Kotla, a former computer tech at the nuclear weapons lab, which is run by the University of California. "We're planning to appeal," said Livermore spokeswoman Susan Houghton. "We were shocked by the judge's ruling in this case. It certainly was not supported by case law ... We believe this only gives us more grounds to talk about a deliberation that we feel was incorrect to begin with." Kotla attorney and veteran lawyer J. Gary Gwilliam was hardly surprised. "They appeal everything. There's no such thing as a ruling they feel is right." Last March, jurors awarded $1 million to Kotla after hearing evidence that a lab attorney said, "If Kotla knows what's good for her, she'll keep her mouth shut" about a sexual har- assment case at the laboratory. The lab launched an investigation of Kotla that turned up the phone calls and ended up in her firing in February 1997. At the university's request, a judge reduced the award to $745,000. The university now is seeking a new trial. Livermore and university legal fees are reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The persistent vigor of those battles against whistle-blowers and against Kotla in particular drew Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., to ask the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, for an inquiry into DOE's legal reimbursement policy. Meanwhile, Livermore is pressing for a lead research role in the new Department of Homeland Security. After seeing the university fight several whistleblowers and internal critics, Gwilliam wonders whether the lab is the right employer for the job. "How can we give this job to the lab when they continue to mistreat their employees?" he said. "Is this the kind of organization we want to entrust our most important national security job to?" University attorneys protest-ed the attorney fee award as motivated by "greed." The actual fees were$714,127, but the judge upped the amount due to the complexity of the case. "This award gives her attorney more money than she gets, which we find more ironic," said Livermore's Houghton. Actually, Gwilliam said, Kotla shares in the fees as well. And when it comes to greed and irony, he says, the university's San Francisco law firm is no shirker: The Energy Department so far has reimbursed UC more than $780,000 in the case. If the university wins its appeal, Kotla will get another trial. "They had a chance to settle this case for $500,000, and they didn't do it," Gwilliam said. Contact Ian Hoffman at ihoffman- @angnewspapers.com [@angnewspapers.com] ©1999-2002 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 52 Energy Department gives more money for Ohio plant standby AP Wire | 11/14/2002 | BEACON JOURNAL Associated Press WASHINGTON - The Energy Department has agreed to spend an additional $20.5 million to keep Ohio's uranium enrichment plant on standby, a move that will save jobs, Rep. Rob Portman said Thursday. The Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio, was put on standby last year when its owner, USEC Inc., consolidated uranium enrichment operations at a sister plant in Paducah, Ky. The "cold standby" status means the plant can be restarted if needed. Earlier this year, Congress approved $65 million for cleanup at the plant and to keep it on standby. More money was needed to continue without additional layoffs, said Portman, a Republican whose district includes the plant. About 1,200 jobs depend on the plant being kept on standby. About 530 workers lost their jobs when the plant closed last year. About Ohio.com | ***************************************************************** 53 Law would pay S.C. if plutonium stays Charlotte Observer | 11/15/2002 | Posted on Fri, Nov. 15, 2002 [story:PUB_DESC] Feds could face penalty of $1 million daily, up to $100 million a year Associated Press COLUMBIA - South Carolina would receive $1 million per day, up to $100 million per year, if the U.S. government fails to remove the weapons-grade plutonium from the Savannah River Site, U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham says. Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that legislation approved in the U.S. House of Representatives "provides unprecedented protections for the state." The U.S. Energy Department called for 34 tons of plutonium to be shipped from Colorado to be reprocessed at a former nuclear weapons facility near Aiken and then moved to a permanent repository in another state. Gov. Jim Hodges had fought the shipments of the nuclear material because he was concerned the Bush administration would use South Carolina as a permanent dumping ground rather than continue with the federal plans. The Democratic governor first threatened to blockade state highways to keep the plutonium out of the state, then went to federal court to try to stop the shipments. His court challenge was rejected in U.S. District Court earlier this year. Morton Brilliant, Hodges spokesman, said the legislation was "better than nothing." "It gives no certainty that the plutonium will leave South Carolina," he said. "It provides no security for the citizens of our state. It's helpful, but it's not a solution." The U. S. Senate is due to vote on the Defense Authorization Act soon. The House-passed measure is a compromise by a joint House-Senate conference committee. "It has a requirement that all plutonium leave the state," Graham said. "Those requirements are backed by unprecedented financial penalties for noncompliance." According to a statement from Graham, the plutonium provision requires that by 2017, if the fuel program is not successfully operating, all remaining plutonium must be removed immediately. In addition, a $1 million per day -- up to $100 million per year -- fee will be assessed during the removal period to ensure speed. Charlotte.com | About Realcities Network | ***************************************************************** 54 Secretary Abraham Announces Emergency Oil Stockpile's Receipt of 592 Millionth Barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve Reaches Historic Level energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2002 WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the nation's emergency oil stockpile, now holds more crude oil than at any time in its 25-year history. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today that oil delivered to the Reserve this week increased its inventory to 592 million barrels, surpassing the largest volume of crude oil ever stored since the federal government began stockpiling oil in 1977. "At a time when America's energy security is one of our highest national priorities, this milestone is especially timely," Secretary Abraham said. "Every barrel of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve provides added energy insurance that helps protect Americans against emergency oil disruptions. That is why the President has committed to filling the Reserve to its full 700 million barrel capacity." The milestone barrel was delivered by Marathon Ashland on Tuesday, November 12, as part of a 520,000-barrel cargo of North Sea sweet crude oil carried by the vessel Tromsco Trust. The oil was off-loaded to the Sun Terminal near Nederland, Texas, and then piped to the Reserve's Big Hill storage site. The final oil transfer into the underground salt storage caverns at Big Hill was completed yesterday. The Reserve's highest previous inventory had been reached in 1994. Two years later, the inventory dropped when the government sold 28 million barrels to raise federal revenues. The level dropped again in 2000 when 30 million barrels was supplied to commercial suppliers under exchange arrangements to increase private stocks. In 1999, the Energy Department began refilling the Reserve using royalty oil produced from federal offshore tracts. President Bush, in November 2001, announced plans to fill the Reserve to its full 700 million barrel capacity using federal royalty oil, and this past July the Administration announced that it would boost the rate at which the Reserve was being filled. Currently, about 100,000 barrels of oil per day from federally owned offshore tracts are being swapped for oil that meets the quality specifications for storage in the Reserve. At the current rate of oil deliveries, the Reserve will reach its 700 million barrel capacity in 2005. Media Contact: Jeanne Lopatto/ Jill Vieth, 202/586-4940 Drew Malcomb, 202/586-5806 Release No. PR-02-238 ***************************************************************** 55 DOE Announces the Signing of a Memorandum of Agreement Between the Federal Government and State Energy Agencies energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2002 [ NAPA, CALIF. – The Department of Energy (DOE) today signed an agreement that will allow state energy officials from across the nation to better collaborate with the federal government on energy research and development projects. The signing ceremony took place at a meeting of the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions Inc. (ASERTTI) in Napa, Calif. The newly signed agreement establishes a State Technologies Advancement Collaborative (STAC) with the Department of Energy, ASERTTI and the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO). David Garman, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy, signed the agreement at the ceremony on behalf of the federal government. "This agreement is a outgrowth of an alliance begun in 1998 between the Department of Energy and the energy agencies of California and New York," Assistant Secretary Garman explained. "The agreement will allow the Department of Energy and states to increase their collaboration and leverage financial resources to accomplish mutually agreed upon energy projects." "Through this new program, states will have the capability for improved cooperation and coordination with the federal government in research, development and deployment projects," Bill Flynn, ASERTTI Chairman and President of the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, said. "It enables us all to make the most out of valuable research dollars in a tight economy." After signing the agreement for NASEO, John Nunley, chairman of the association and a member of the Wyoming Business Council, said, "This pact will also promote public and private partnerships to bring exciting new ideas to the marketplace, helping to make the U.S. economy more competitive and prosperous." The new State Technologies Advancement Collaborative will promote research and deployment in innovative ways to produce, transmit and distribute energy and to use it more efficiently. The pact will make it easier for collaborative members to share information on research and to prevent wasteful duplication of efforts. By jointly funding selected projects, the Collaborative will be able to leverage funds and to simplify the path for promising technologies to enter the market. Media Contact: Chris Kielich, 202/586-5806 Release No. PR-02-239 ***************************************************************** 56 Y-12 builds safety-in-a-can The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News -- 12:44 p.m. on Friday, November 15, 2002 R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff Mission Special Materials Transport: Dock it; lock it; and don't release it. That's basically the concept behind a technology BWXT Y-12 workers have been testing for the past few months. Reminiscent of a miniature space module, the Rapid Transfer Port, a sort of safety-in-a-can device, will be docked at each stage of production at the new proposed Beryllium Manufacturing Facility, expected to be completed in 2010. As beryllium parts are manufactured, they will be transported between steps via the stainless steel chamber. The materials can be transferred from a glove box to the chamber, ported on a heavy-duty wheeled cart, then transferred to a second glove box without leaving containment. "Anytime we're machining parts there is the potential for releases," said Jim Holland, director of special materials at the Y-12 National Security Complex. "Worker safety is the key here as we play catch-up with state-of-the-art technology." Y-12 is undergoing a modernization initiative that includes construction of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility and a special materials complex. Sam Robinson, group leader with technology development at the complex, says the chamber not only is safer, but quicker. "Before we had to double-bag and seal everything, then unseal it and take it out of the bag," said Robinson. "This not only eliminates all those steps, but it eliminates all the nastiness." The technology piggybacks on a pharmaceutical industry technology, but is upgraded to retrofit Y-12 needs, said Robinson. Holland said that so far the chamber has not been applied to today's facilities. Y-12 is responsible for the refurbishment of nuclear weapons components, the storage and protection of special nuclear materials, surveillance of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile and the dismantling of nuclear weapons components. BWXT Y-12, which manages the plant for the National Nuclear Security Administration, is an alliance between Bechtel National Inc. and BWX Technologies Inc. The NNSA is a quasi-independent organization within the Department of Energy. The Beryllium Manufacturing Facility is currently being reviewed for funding authorization by the National Nuclear Security Administration, and if approved will begin design in early 2003, according to a BWXT Y-12 statement. R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or danielsrcd@oakridger.com. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 57 Taking Environmentalists Seriously [The Cato Institute] [25 Years of Advancing Liberty] Cato University [http://www.cato-university.org/] El Cato [http://www.elcato.org/] November 15, 2002 by Jerry Taylor &Peter VanDoren Jerry Taylor is director of environmental studies at the Cato Institute. Peter VanDoren is editor of Regulation, The Cato Review of Business and Government. What if we were to discover tomorrow that a dangerous environmental pollutant was lurking about that was capable of killing millions with little warning and at a moment's notice? What if the best experts were divided about the risk -- some saying it posed a 1-in-5 chance of triggering such a calamity while others argued that the chances are more like 1-in-500? What if some argued that the risk was immediate while others contended that, for various reasons, the risk wouldn't present itself for at least a few years? And what if some worried that the cost of doing something about this pollutant could perhaps prove more costly than leaving the threat unattended, while others argued that this end of the calculation was highly uncertain and that the risks of acting ranged from great to negligible? Would environmentalists argue that we need to learn more about this risk before acting? Almost certainly not. It's safe to say that environmentalists would argue that "the precautionary principle" demands that, in the face of uncertainty, we assume the worst about this threat. Environmentalists have, after all, vigorously crusaded against environmental health risks that range as high as 1-in-1-million and have been willing to spend several billions of dollars to save one statistical life. They have, moreover, militantly opposed any requirement that environmental risk reduction efforts be subjected to cost-benefit or risk-risk analyses. So it's probably safe to say that the Greens would launch the political equivalent of a holy war against this environmental pollutant. Would they be right to do so? Well, substitute the phrase "environmental pollutant" with the phrase "Saddam Hussein" and you've actually got a reasonably fair depiction of the debate about whether the United States should preemptively strike Iraq to prevent chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons from falling into al Qaeda's hands. Risk is risk. Whether we're talking about the risk of global warming or the risk of being subject to a nuclear attack, the fundamentals about how we should think about risk and how we should go about dealing with it shouldn't vary based upon the particular risk at hand. If we are to take Greens seriously about how we should approach risk in the environmental arena, why shouldn't we use their decision-making template when confronting other sorts of risks? It's worth noting, however, that absolutely nobody engaged in the debate about war with Iraq -- even the environmentalists! -- would dream of applying the environmentalists' approach to risk assessment. Hawks and doves both accept that there are great uncertainties; that risks abound both in action and inaction; and that not undertaking cost-benefit and/or "risk-risk" tests would be madness. The "precautionary principle" could cut either way and is accordingly useless. Why do we think one way about environmental risks but another about public risks in other contexts? Or to put it another way, why do some of us have far greater tolerances for some risks (like getting nuked by bin Laden because he got the bomb from Saddam Hussein) but not for others (like getting cancer from PCBs because you ate too many fish from the Hudson)? For no reason that we can see. The science behind many of the environmental risks we worry about, after all, is no more certain than the geopolitical calculations used to justify war or peace. The cost-benefit calculations are just as tough. This isn't to say that we should or should not launch a war against Iraq. It is to say, however, that the decision framework employed by environmentalists would look absurd in any other policy context if it were stripped of its emotional baggage. To focus only on the benefits of action rather than on both the costs and benefits of action, as well as inaction, is logically indefensible whether we're talking about our war against terrorism or our war against pollution. 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. 20001-5403 Phone (202) 842-0200 Fax (202) 842-3490 All Rights Reserved © 2002 Cato Institute ***************************************************************** 58 World's First Energy Station Featuring Hydrogen and Electricity Co-Production Opens in Las Vegas Public-Private Partnership Demonstrates Hydrogen Infrastructure Development Success energy.gov - Headquarters' Press Release RELEASE DATE: November 15, 2002 [Print Friendly Version] LAS VEGAS, NEV. -- The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the opening of the world's first hydrogen energy station featuring the co-production of hydrogen fuel for vehicles and clean electric power using fuel cells. The project, a public-private partnership between the Energy Department, the City of Las Vegas, Air Products and Chemicals Inc. and Plug Power, will be a learning demonstration of hydrogen as a safe and clean energy alternative. The co-production of hydrogen fuel and electricity offers an attractive future business case for the sale of merchant hydrogen or for generating a steady electric-generation revenue stream while hydrogen vehicle sales ramp up. President Bush's National Energy Policy provides for exploring promising alternative energy technologies such as hydrogen. David K. Garman, Assistant Secretary Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who attended the opening ceremony, said, "This project supports FreedomCAR by providing the means for learning about hydrogen infrastructure technologies necessary for clean energy-efficient vehicles." The fueling station is located at the City of Las Vegas vehicle maintenance and operation service center. It is capable of dispensing hydrogen, hydrogen-enriched natural gas and compressed natural gas and consists of an on-site hydrogen generator, compressor, liquid and gaseous hydrogen storage tanks, dispensing systems and a stationary fuel cell. The costs for the $10.8 million project were split evenly between DOE and the Air Products team. The Air Products team was responsible for the design, construction and operation of the hydrogen facility. Plug Power was responsible for manufacturing and installing the proton electrolyte membrane fuel cell. DOE is also sharing the cost with the City of Las Vegas and NRG Technologies Inc. to convert and operate hydrogen-based vehicles for use at the new hydrogen energy station. Future work under this project will evaluate hydrogen operating safety, the reliability of fuel cell power and its overall economic feasibility, and verify the integration of power generation and vehicle refueling designs. This project is one of the Department of Energy's strategies to develop hydrogen and fuel cell technologies which will reduce dependence on imported oil. For more information see http://www.eren.doe.gov/hydrogen [http://www.eren.doe.gov/hydrogen] . Media Contact: Chris Kielich, 202/586-5806 Release No. PR-02-240 ***************************************************************** 59 NRC: Uranium Recovery Workshop AGENDA FOR THE NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION (NMA) and NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) URANIUM RECOVERY WORKSHOP JUNE 11-12, 2002 Denver, Colorado Overview of Uranium Recovery Branch Activities - Gary Janosko, NRC Potential Impact of Informal Hearings - Anthony J. Thompson, Esq. Uranium Consumption, Supply, and Production - Fletcher Newton, Power Resources NMSSS Risk Initiative - Marissa Baily, NRC Alternate Feed - Ron Hochstein, INternational Uranium - Steve Schutt, Nuclear Fuel Services Wyoming's New ISL Groundwater Policy - Donna Wichers, Cogema Status of Mill ISL Standard Review Plans (SRP) - John Lusher, NRC Potential Risks of Uranium and Radium in Drinking Water - Doug Chambers, SENES Consultants Utah's Agreement State Status - William Sinclair, Utah DEQ Alternate Concentration Limits and Institutional Controls - Bill von Till, NRC - Maria Schwartz, NRC Aquifer Exemptions - Mario Salazar, EPA Source Material Unimportant Quanitities + (Panel Discussion) + Current Issues Affecting Source Material + (Part 40 Work Group) - Anthony J. Thompson, Esq. - John Carter, Envirocare + - Jim Lieberman, NRC + - Maria Schwartz, NRC Pitlake 7 Biological Remediation Program - Oscar Paulson, Kennecott Uranium UMTRCA Title II Activities + License Termination Issues + (Panel Discussion) - Art Kleinrath, DOE - Katie Sweeney, NMA - Dan Gillen, NRC Termination of Uranium Milling Licenses in Agreement States - Kevin Hsueh, NRC Status of Environmental Review Guidance - Charlotte Abrams, NRC NRC Efforts to Coordinate ISL Ground-water Compliance Reviews with States - Mike Layton, NRC Emergency Response and Security Issues - Joe Holonich, NRC EPA Uranium Mining TENORM Program - Loren Setlow, EPA Performance Based Licenses - John Lusher, NRC Last revised Monday, October 21, 2002 ***************************************************************** 60 State takes oil spill money GreenvilleOnline.com - News Posted Thursday, November 14, 2002 - 9:01 pm e-mail By Bob Montgomery ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER bmontgom@greenvillenews.com [bmontgom@greenvillenews.com] More than $400,000 from the Reedy River Colonial Pipeline spill settlement was used by lawmakers last spring to help make up a state budget shortfall, a conservation group said Thursday. The Legislature used the interest in 15 special funds -- $90 million in all -- to ease the state's budget problems, and $53 million of the money came from special-purpose funds designated for environmental and natural resources protection, according to the South Carolina Wildlife Federation. The biggest chunk -- $49.3 million -- came from the Barnwell Extended Care Fund, which is designated for monitoring and maintaining the low-level radioactive waste facility near Aiken over the next 148 years. Dan Trout, executive director of the Friends of the Reedy River, said he foresaw that nearly $440,000 in interest from the $6.65 million Colonial Pipeline settlement would be redirected. The Colonial settlement resulted from a 1996 million-gallon diesel fuel spill that killed thousands of fish. Charleston Republican Robert Harrell Jr., who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, said his committee chose to use interest from the funds, not the principal, on a one-time basis. "We're rewriting the budget and we're dealing with shortfalls," Harrell said. "We have to make decisions. Is it more important to leave the interest on Jocassee Gorges or the Heritage Corridor or is it more important that disabled children continue to get their health care? Quite frankly, it's not that hard a decision." Most of the special funds were created by the Legislature for specific purposes, ranging from promoting oil recycling programs and hazardous waste cleanups to researching aquatic life problems in South Carolina's waters. Trout said the river group still has slightly less than $6 million for land acquistions and easements along Reedy River and the loss of the interest will have little impact. "We have been assured that the interest in the future will not be impacted by those kinds of things," Trout said. "Instead of balancing the state budget in a responsible way, South Carolina's legislators robbed Peter to pay Paul by siphoning funds from special accounts that weren't supposed to be touched," said Andy Brack, president of the federation. Federation officials said some of the accounts were specifically meant for park and river beautification and to clean up hazardous waste. They said the Legislature could have found other sources to address the budget shortfall, including raising the cigarette tax. Angela Viney, executive director of the federation, said in many cases the funds consist of private donations. "I realize it is a budget crunch, but there also has to be some trust involved," she said. "Here, it's a breech of trust." Gov. Jim Hodges could not be reached for comment Thursday. Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, said using the funds was unavoidable and neither Republicans nor Democrats are to blame. "If we would have had this horrible truth three years ago, we wouldn't have gotten into this scenario," Thomas said. "At this point, all you can do is the best you can do." Meanwhile, Marion Edmonds of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and Thom Berry of the Department of Health and Environmental Control said the redirection of money will not affect programs. "It would be a different story if they took money from the principal," Edmonds said. "In this case, in this budget crisis, they looked at the interest." Mike Willis of the Department of Natural Resources said his department is already reeling from budget cuts. "The quality of life is always indicative of the quality of environment," Willis said. "We need that money and that revenue to ensure we have a healthy environment in South Carolina." Viney said she will try to prevent the Legislature from doing the same in the next budget. "It happened. Let's not let it happen again," Viney said. Bob Montgomery covers the environment and can be reached at 298-4295. Copyright 2001 The Greenville News. Use of this site signifies ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************