***************************************************************** 01/16/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.15 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 SA: Nuclear power is safer than alternatives 2 SA: PBMR project moving ahead with Stone Webster 3 SA: New SA nuclear plant 'safe' 4 Austria: Haider plays nuclear power games 5 US: Board allows nuclear critics to see Vermont Yankee bid materia 6 US: Fuel contract back to benefiting region 7 US: Crony Capitalism, U.S.A. 8 US: Democrats ask GAO to look into nuke safety issues NUCLEAR REACTORS 9 Chernobyl: Victims of aid, not radiation: The biggest damage to health 10 US: Cook Nuclear reopens visitors center amid high security 11 US: Limerick nuclear power plant is cited for faulty safety valve NUCLEAR SAFETY 12 US: Govt. Reports on Missing Nuke Fuel 13 Canada: Big crowd hears Brush Wellman safety concerns 14 US: Hatch Staff, Justice to Help Downwinders Press Claims 15 US: State reassessing its policy on radiation-blocking pills NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 16 Norway: Environment Minister: We'll keep up the pressure on Sellafie 17 US: Federal study OKs nuclear waste dump in Utah 18 US: Experts Convene at Moab On Fate of Atlas Mill Site 19 US: LETTERS: Nevada, Yucca Mountain and the test site 20 US: Homeland security means more when it's your homeland, your secur 21 US: Editorial: This match was made in heaven 22 US: Letter: Abraham's intelligence, motives suspect 23 US: County discussion centers on terrorism, nuke waste 24 US: Reid pushes nuke waste option 25 US: Board nixes plan to cut fees at S.C. nuke dump 26 AU: Democrats plan human barrier against radioactive waste. 27 US: Waste site has officials concerned NUCLEAR WEAPONS 28 Russia's Nuclear Arsenal 29 Putin comments Pasko-case 30 IAEA team to visit Iraq, inspect nuclear facilities 31 Price dispute imperils U.S. purchase of uranium from Russian warhead 32 Dmitry Chirkin: Journalist Pasko ruined president’s plans 33 Neutralizing Nukes 34 U.S. Nukes Should Be Destroyed, Not Stashed Away US DEPT. OF ENERGY 35 DOE's King program Tuesday; scholarship banquet this Friday 36 Cleanup review expected soon 37 Conversion plant for uranium hits new political snag - 38 Opinion: K-25, Y-12, X-10: Perhaps not just random letters, numbers OTHER NUCLEAR 39 World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Approved for Irish Sea 40 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.03 | 9 - 14 January 2002 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 SA: Nuclear power is safer than alternatives Business Day IN STATING her concern about spent nuclear fuel (Letters, January 10), Bronwen Jones describes herself as an engineering geologist. Fair enough. But she will agree that there are scores, even hundreds, of engineering geologists who are satisfied that nuclear waste can be disposed of safely. They include those now optimising the various possible disposal technologies on behalf of competent organisations established for that purpose in the US, Switzerland, Germany, France, Sweden, the UK and elsewhere. A poll of professionals with knowledge of the field would be interesting. More than 30 countries operate nuclear power stations. All have established independent nuclear safety authorities. It would clearly be worse than irresponsible for them to allow continued nuclear power generation if there were serious concerns about disposal of the waste. Of course nuclear power is not safe, at least not absolutely safe. Of course we all wish that solar and wind generation were economically viable. There would be a rush to use them if they were. The point always missed in the nuclear debate is that, relative to viable alternative technologies, particularly the burning of coal, nuclear power is safe and environmentally vastly to be preferred. John WalmsleyInstitution of Nuclear Engineers(SA Branch) ? BDFM Publishers 2001 ***************************************************************** 2 SA: PBMR project moving ahead with Stone Webster Business Day Associate Editor THE construction of SA's pilot mini-nuclear project has taken a further step forward with the appointment of US-based firm Stone &Webster and two local firms to provide professional services to develop the scheme. The deal, announced in the US late yesterday, also involves construction firm Murray &Roberts and empowerment contractor Proman Management Services. The contract is to provide consulting services to SA nuclear technology company PBMR developing the demonstration plant in engineering, procurement, construction management and project management. The pilot project is scheduled to be built in 2003. Eskom has been working on the 110MW pebble bed modular reactor since 1993 as part of its quest to find alternative sources of power. Investors in the scheme include British Nuclear Fuels, the US power utility Exelon and the Industrial Development Corporation, the state-owned agency. The reactor is being billed as safe, cost-efficient and clean, but is meeting opposition from some environmental groups. A government-appointed task team is presently studying the outcome of a feasibility study, which showed that the project was broadly viable. David Nicholls, CEO of PBMR, said yesterday that, with the support of the companies appointed to provide professional services, PBMR would be able to bring the nuclear technology to the US and other countries. "We will seek to leverage our knowledge and experience, and that of our technology partners, to deliver innovative solutions for PBMR," said Sean Flanagan, MD of Murray &Roberts Engineering Solutions. Phumzile Tshelane, technology strategy executive of the PBMR, said recently that, should government give it the go-ahead, the approval process for the pilot project should be completed by the end of this year. ? BDFM Publishers 2001 ***************************************************************** 3 New SA nuclear plant 'safe' South Africa KwaZulu-Natal 15/01/2002 15:29 - (SA) Johannesburg - A US-based company, Shaw Group Inc, has signed an agreement with two South African firms to help build South Africa's second nuclear plant, using a new technology which it says is "safe and economical". The deal between Shaw, South African nuclear techology firm PBMR and engineering company Murray and Roberts was announced late on Monday and will enable South Africa to build a test plant with pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) techology. This generates power with tennis-sized balls of uranium instead of the rods used in conventional nuclear plants. PBMR says the technology is inexpensive, clean and cost-efficient. The trial plant would emit no environmentally damaging greenhouse gases and be radiologically safe. A PBMR spokesperson on Tuesday said the aim was to develop the test plant in 2003, but could not be more specific. The "preferred site" was Koeberg outside Cape Town, but the group is still doing feasibility studies and environmental impact assessment. Koeberg is currently the location of South Africa's only nuclear power plant, operating two conventional PWR reactors in a country which remains largely dependent on fossil fuels coal and oil. In a statement, Shaw said its subsidiary Stone and Webster will provide consulting services for PBMR and its investors - electricity utility Eskom, British Nuclear Fuels Plc, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa and the giant US utility Exelon. PBMR's Communications Manager Tom Ferreira on Tuesday rejected charges by anti-nuclear activists that the United States sought to develop the new technology in South Africa, rather than in its "own back yard". "Eskom started working on this in 1993 - and it was really only Eskom," Ferreira said. "Then we got Exelon and British Nuclear Fuels as partners." "The initial goal was to prove the technical and commercial viability (of PBMRs)." Eskom has announced plans to acquire about 10 such plants to provide power to coastal regions remote from the Gauteng coalfields, Ferreira added. Nuclear power accounts for less than 7% of South African electricity production. Almost 93% of the 187 billion kilowatts of energy supplies in 1999 came from fossil fuels, according to government figures. - Sapa-AFP News24 ***************************************************************** 4 Austria: Haider plays nuclear power games Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search Austria dispatch Austria's rightwing Freedom party hopes to exploit fears surrounding a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, writes Kate Connolly Kate Connolly Guardian Unlimited Wednesday January 16, 2002 On Monday Austria's rightwing Freedom party (FPO) launched a referendum against the Temelin nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, under the slogan: "Yes to Life, No to Temelin". It would be heartening to think that the government junior coalition partner had suddenly turned over a new leaf, abandoning its anti-immigrant, populist and nationalist policies and embracing instead environmental concerns. But those who believe that should think again. Instead there is something quite sinister at play. The plant, many of those who have been following its development would agree, could well be considered something of a dubious construction. Designed in the Soviet era, many environmentalists in Prague (90 miles to the north), in nuclear-free Austria (30 miles to the south) and in Germany (38 miles east) have expressed their concerns about its safety. Since construction began on it in 1986, the 2000-megawatt plant has been dogged with technical problems, and several times since it began going online in the autumn of 2000, it has had to be shutdown due to safety concerns. The Czech government, led by the prime minister, Milos Zeman, for whom the plant has become something of a badge of national pride, insist it poses no safety risk, due to the huge amounts of money pumped into it by western authorities. The row has been brewing for years, with activists staging road blocks in September 2000 which severely disrupted the heavy traffic between Austria and the Czech Republic. Austrian politicians have long been calling for the plant to be suspended, insisting that the Czech Republic's entry into the EU should be dependent on such a move. But, in his true populist style for which he has become renowned the world over, Jörg Haider, governor of the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, has managed to seize the issue, turning it into a referendum -something which is becoming almost an annual occurrence for his party. This is the FPO's seventh. In theory, the referendum is not binding and has no legal effect. But, should it collect more than 100,000 votes, the government would be forced to act. Even the staunchest Temelin-opponents are against such a move, saying that it should not be politics that motivates the plant's closure. Wolfgang Schüssel, the Austrian chancellor and head of the conservative People's party (OVP), who at the end of last year had reached an agreement with the Czechs over the safety of the plant and agreed not to block the Slav country's negotiations on its EU entry, has urged Austrians not to sign. In a letter released to the media and addressed to the entire country, which has been nuclear-free since 1978, he suggested that a referendum is unnecessarily threatening and would damage Austria's international standing just as it is trying to regain its status following the introduction of EU sanctions due to the FPO's participation in government, in February 2000. The debate has served to illustrate the growing divisions within the two-year-old government coalition, and led analysts to suggest it could collapse under the weight of the Temelin debate. The referendum can easily be interpreted as a rather vicious attempt by Mr Haider to use the safety concerns as a way of keeping the Czech Republic out of the EU: according to the referendum, EU accession should be blocked if the Czech Republic fails to close the plant. Environmental organisations have threatened to boycott the referendum. The leader of Austria's Green party, Alexander van der Bellen, said it was "totally the wrong instrument to reach the right goal". The FPO has never before shown particular concern about the atomic energy debate. For them the fear involved here has far more to do with the "dangers" European Union expansion to the east might pose for Austria, rather than the threat of radiation. And Mr Haider is playing on that fear for as many votes as they can possibly obtain. A joint anti-Temelin campaign with the hugely popular tabloid Kronen Zeitung, has secured the support so far of such international personalities as former motor racing driver Niki Lauda. Mr Haider has expressed his hope that 1m people will sign his referendum slips. It is highly likely that were that to happen, one of Europe's most controversial governments would collapse. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 5 Board allows nuclear critics to see Vermont Yankee bid materials By Associated Press, 1/15/2002 13:39 BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (AP) Anti-nuclear activists will get to see secret documents that tell how the winning bid for Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant was selected, the Vermont Public Service Board has ruled. The board had ruled last month that neither Frederick Katz, persident of the Citizens' Awareness Network, nor David Pyles, a trustee of the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, could see the bid documents, which Vermont Yankee has argued should be confidential. But in a ruling Monday, which came after CAN submitted more information about Katz' qualifications, the board reversed its December order. ''We're, of course, really pleased,'' said CAN attorney Jon Block. Block, who earlier was given permission to review the documents, now will be able to conduct that review with Katz. The December order had angered CAN Executive Director Deborah Katz, who said it ''puts a price tag on information'' because the board allowed paid expert witnesses to see the information, but not citizen activists like her husband and Pyles. However, the board in its December ruling invited CAN to submit more information about Katz' qualifications, and apparently was swayed by Katz's decade-long career as an anti-nuclear activist. As president and a founding member of the group, Katz has participated in sale or shutdown hearings involving eight nuclear power plants and considers himself ''an educated lay person.'' ''... CAN has demonstrated that these proceedings will benefit from Mr. Katz's access to the bid-confidential information,'' the board wrote. During review of the previous sale agreement with AmerGen Energy Co., which the board rejected a year ago, CAN hired two expert witnesses. The group hasn't submitted any expert testimony this time around. Also in Monday's order, the board declined to hire a researcher from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to testify about investing some of the sale proceeds in renewable energy. Another intervening group, the Conservation Law Foundation, which is not opposed to the sale but wants to see $25 million go to develop wind, solar, and other renewable technologies in Vermont, had made the request. ***************************************************************** 6 Fuel contract back to benefiting region Published Jan. 15, 2002 The names have changed, but the relationship would be a familiar one and good for the Mid-Columbia. Last week, Energy Northwest, formerly Washington Public Power Supply System, announced it was interested in buying future nuclear fuel loads from Framatome ANP, formerly Siemens Power Corp. If Energy Northwest's executive board approves the preliminary acceptance of a proposal to supply its Columbia Generating Station plant, the two companies will have come full circle. Just eight years ago, Washington Public Power Supply System generated considerable controversy when it announced it intended to discontinue its relationship with its Richland neighbor Siemens and award its fuel contract to ABB Combustion Engineering Nuclear Fuel. Officials feared major economic fallout at Siemens' Richland plant, a major Tri-City employer. Community members, including this newspaper's editorial board, begged the Supply System to reconsider, but the utility sealed the deal with ABB, which offered $2 million a year savings over the Siemens bid. The state House held hearings and ultimately the Legislature passed a law requiring the Supply System, a state agency, to consider the economic impacts on the state next time it negotiates a contract. Now, an Energy Northwest evaluation panel has recommended Framatome's proposal to start delivering fuel for the nuclear reactor by 2005. If the utility's executive board approves the recommendation later this month, the contract could be worth between $45 million and $75 million and be good for up to five fuel reloads. Typically, the reactor is reloaded every other year. In the intervening years, Energy Northwest has changed its name, lowered its operating costs and proved its power to be gold during last year's energy crunch. And Siemens' German-based parent company has merged with France-based Framatome, resulting in the name change at the Richland plant, which escaped merger-prompted layoffs. An Energy Northwest spokesman said Framatome's bid for the new contract "represented the best combination of price, product, experience and service." If Energy Northwest seals the deal, the contract will cap an excellent year for Framatome, which employs 700 in Richland and has recently sealed deals with the Tennessee Valley Authority and buyers in Japan and Taiwan. It's good to see both organizations prospering and to have the business back at home. What's your opinon? Copyright 2001 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 7 Crony Capitalism, U.S.A. January 15, 2002 By PAUL KRUGMAN Four years ago, as Asia struggled with an economic crisis, many observers blamed "crony capitalism." Wealthy businessmen in Asia didn't bother to tell investors the truth about their assets, their liabilities or their profits; the aura of invincibility that came from their political connections was enough. Only when a financial crisis came along did people take a hard look at their businesses, which promptly collapsed. Does this sound familiar? On the face of it, the sudden political storm over Enron is puzzling. After all, the Bush administration didn't save the company from bankruptcy. But then why did the administration dissemble so long about its contacts with Enron? Why did George W. Bush make the absurd claim that Enron's C.E.O., Kenneth Lay, opposed him in his first run for governor, and that the two men got to know each other only after that race? And why does the press act as if there may be a major scandal brewing? Because the administration fears, and the press suspects, that the latest revelations in the Enron affair will raise the lid on crony capitalism, American style. Cronyism is hardly novel in America; the Clinton administration took us to the edge of a trade war on behalf of Chiquita bananas, a major campaign contributor. But the Bush administration, with its sense of entitlement, seems unconcerned by even the most blatant conflicts of interest — like the plan of Marc Racicot, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, to continue drawing a seven-figure salary as a lobbyist. (He now says he won't lobby — but he will still receive that salary.) The real questions about Enron's relationship with the administration involve what happened before the energy trader hit the skids. That's when Mr. Lay allegedly told the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that he should be more cooperative if he wanted to keep his job. (He wasn't, and he didn't.) And it's when Enron helped Dick Cheney devise an energy plan that certainly looks as if it was written by and for the companies that advised his task force. Mr. Cheney, in clear defiance of the law, has refused to release any information about his task force's deliberations; what is he hiding? And while Enron has imploded, other energy companies retain the administration's ear. Just days before the latest Enron revelations, the administration signaled its intention to weaken pollution rules on power plants; late last week it announced its decision to proceed with a controversial plan to store radioactive waste in Nevada. Each of these decisions was worth billions to companies with very strong connections to Mr. Bush. CBSMarketWatch.com declared, in its story about the nuclear waste decision, that "one group of major energy-business political donors just hit the jackpot." Notice the source of that quote. In recent months, while political reporters have been busy waving the flag, business reporters have taken the lead in telling us what's really going on. And they seem disgusted by what they see. It was CBSMarketWatch's executive editor, not some whining political commentator, who warned that "a small group of business leaders exert enormous clout over Bush and his team in getting the rules changed to their benefit." And the business magazine Red Herring has published the biggest exposé to date of the secretive Carlyle Group, an investment company whose story sounds like the plot of a bad TV series. Carlyle specializes in buying down-and-out defense contractors, then reselling them when their fortunes miraculously improve after they receive new government business. Among the company's employees is former President George H. W. Bush. Among the group's investors, until late October, was the bin Laden family of Saudi Arabia. Another administration would have regarded the elder Bush's role at Carlyle as unseemly; this administration apparently does not. And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently gave his old college wrestling partner Frank Carlucci, head of Carlyle, a very nice gift: Mr. Rumsfeld decided to proceed with the much-criticized Crusader artillery system, which even the Pentagon wanted to cancel. The result was another turnaround for a Carlyle-owned company. Sad to say, none of this is clearly illegal — it just stinks to high heaven. That's why the Bush administration will try to keep the Enron story narrowly focused on one company during its death throes. Just remember that the real story is much bigger. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 8 Democrats ask GAO to look into nuke safety issues Planet Ark Environmental News: USA: January 16, 2002 WASHINGTON - Two House Democrats have asked Congress' main investigative arm to scrutinize the security of the nation's nuclear power plants, fuel storage sites and other nuclear facilities. Nuclear safety issues have gained extra urgency since the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York, which raised public and political concern about guarding the nation's radioactive material. Michigan Rep. John Dingell, ranking minority member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, last week formally asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to launch a review of nuclear safety issues. The letter, also signed by Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been reluctant to "establish and maintain adequate security measures." It described current agency preparedness levels as "unrealistic." Markey is a long-time critic of the nuclear industry. The Democrats asked the GAO to evaluate security at a variety of nuclear-related installations, including the 103 operating civilian reactors, decommissioned plants, spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and uranium enrichment factories. The lawmakers said they urged the NRC to assess the threat of a coordinated suicide attack by people with sophisticated knowledge of nuclear facilities using modern weaponry. They also want the NRC to strengthen the force-on-force security exercises it conducts at nuclear facilities amid worry that the agency may weaken the program. NRC Chairman Richard Meserve is scheduled make a public appearance on Thursday at which he is expected to address nuclear security. Yesterday, NRC staff will make recommendations to the commission on potential policy issues for 2002. Issues to be discussed do not arise directly from congressional pressure on safety issues, an NRC staffer told Reuters. The agency's meeting will address control of radioactive sources, federal guidance on suitable public radiation exposure and security clearances at NRC facilities, the staffer said. Story by Chris Baltimore REUTERS NEWS SERVICE ***************************************************************** 9 Victims of aid, not radiation: The biggest damage to health has come from hypochondria and misguided attempts to help people, writes Anthony Browne Daily Mail&Guardian: January 14, 2002 ANTHONY BROWNE It is seen as the worst man-made disaster in history, killing tens of thousands, making tens of millions ill and afflicting generations to come. But a United Nations report on the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 15 years after the event comes to a very different conclusion. It says the medical effects of radiation are far less than was thought. The biggest damage to health has come from hypochondria and misguided attempts to help people. The report suggests the relocation of hundreds of thousands of people “destroyed communities, broke up families, and led to unemployment, depression, and stress-related illnesses”. Generous welfare benefits, holidays, food and medical help given to anyone declared a victim of Chernobyl have created a dependency culture, and created a sense of fatalism in millions of people. More than 100 emergency workers on the site of the accident on April 26 1986 suffered radiation sickness, and 41 of them died. The biggest direct result of the radiation is increases in childhood thyroid cancer, but the report says that other evidence of increases in radiation-related diseases is limited. There is no evidence of an increase in other cancers, and there has been no statistical increase in deformities among babies. “The direct effect of radiation is not that substantial,” said Oksana Garnets of the UN Chernobyl programme. “There is far more psychosomatic illness than that caused by radiation.” The evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, particularly from less contaminated areas, is seen as an overreaction, which in some cases did more harm than good. “The direct influence of radiation on health is actually much less than the indirect consequences of relocating people,” said Garnets. Among relocated populations, there has been a massive increase in stress-related illnesses, such as heart disease and obesity. The UN is concerned about the corrosive effects of handouts to those classified as Chernobyl victims. In Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, they get 50 different privileges and benefits. “There is an incentive to get classified as a victim. People getting benefits think they should get more and more. They think everything should be done for them by someone else — it creates a sense of fatalism and pessimism, which means they don’t get on with their life,” said Garnets. -- The Mail&Guardian, January 14, 2002. [http://www.mg.co.za/mg/za/contact-dmg.html] ***************************************************************** 10 Cook Nuclear reopens visitors center amid high security South Bend Tribune Online Edition Thursday, 17-Jan-2002 00:59:04 EST By CHRISTINE COX Tribune Staff Writer BRIDGMAN — Elementary school buses are once again rumbling into Cook Nuclear Plant’s Cook Energy Information Center after four months of the center’s closing. Only now, the buses are greeted by guards with rifles strapped to their backs who stop and search vehicles that enter and carefully check names off pre-submitted lists. Though security has always been tight at the plant near Bridgman, safeguards have been increased even more since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. On Tuesday, Cook officials provided an idea of how much security has changed at the power plant in the past four months. When he heard about the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, Cook Corporate Communications Manager Bill Schalk said, he knew changes at the plant would immediately follow. He was right. That day, Cook and every other nuclear plant in the United States were put on their highest level of security alert. Cook closed the information center and sent home employees who were not essential to the plant’s operation. The plant expanded its security perimeters and added extra security patrols. That day, Cook officials met with Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey and other state and local law enforcement officers. The plant also kept in constant contact with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and received national intelligence information to keep the plant safe. Since Sept. 11, Cook has spent more than $2.7 million on security and expects an ongoing cost of $2 million annually to maintain its new level of security, said Chris Bakken, senior vice president for nuclear generation for American Electric Power. The extra costs paid for weapons, equipment, staff, barriers and a new check station at Cook’s entrance. Bakken said. That covered, well-lit entrance is staffed by armed guards 24 hours and is the most visible change to the plant. All employees and visitors must show their identification before they pass through the check station each day, said Jerry McMahon, director of Cook’s site protective services. Cook has 1,325 employees and will have an additional 800 to 1,000 workers on site for a 30-day refueling outage that starts Friday, Schalk said. As before Sept. 11, Cook security employees go through extensive training, firearms training instructor David Barricklow said. The security guards get more than 300 hours of initial training in the first six weeks, he said. Handcuff training alone is an 8-hour course, he added. Guards take a minimum of 40 hours of on-the-job training and also receive advanced training. About 65 percent of the security force, which is the size of a mid-size police department, have previous military or law enforcement experience, officials said. Forty percent of those who try to become officers fail. Cook officials declined to disclose how many security officers are employed at the plant or how many new officers were added after Sept. 11. Bakken did say that there have been several graduating classes since Sept. 11. In addition to local, state and on-site law enforcement, the National Guard knows the site layout and has participated in drills. Indiana police authorities have also been involved with security drills, McMahon said. “It’s the securest facility in Berrien County,” Bakken said about the plant. As well as having increased guarding, the facilities at Cook are secure in themselves, officials said. The plant’s two nuclear containment buildings have concrete walls more than 3½-feet thick and have a steel lining reinforced with three layers of steel rebar. There are multiple walls of protection around the reactor vessel, which sits on a 10-foot thick concrete pad. The buildings are engineered to withstand tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and the impact of airborne objects at a high force. Schalk said 767 and 747 airplanes “would not penetrate our buildings.” Spent fuel rods are stored in steel-lined pools and would not be a “direct impact threat,” Schalk said. At Tuesday’s news conference, Schalk specifically addressed the issue of a plane hitting the plant as it hit the World Trade Center. He pointed out that the containment buildings are much shorter and not as wide as the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, making Cook a more difficult target. The Cook buildings are also shielded by sand dunes that would make it difficult to maneuver a plane near the plant on Lake Michigan. Though there have been no specific threats to nuclear plants or the Cook plant, Schalk, who has fielded dozens of concerned phone calls since Sept. 11, encouraged Berrien County residents to read the annual calendar Cook provides that explains emergency safety measures. The plant will also be mailing out a brochure to Berrien County residents concerning safety at the plant. The Cook Energy Information Center reopened last week with an elementary school tour. Other prearranged tours, meetings and events are starting up as well. Weekend shows have not been authorized, primarily because it is impossible for the plant to monitor who is coming into its gates and what they are bringing. Staff writer Christine Cox: ccox@sbtinfo.com [ccox@sbtinfo.com] (616) 983-3927 Copyright © 1994-2002 South Bend Tribune ***************************************************************** 11 Limerick nuclear power plant is cited for faulty safety valve mcall.com - From The Morning Call Limerick nuclear power plant is cited for faulty safety valve Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it ‘opened and did not immediately reclose.’ January 15, 2002 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found the Limerick nuclear power plant in violation of safety regulations. The Unit 2 plant was cited when the agency conducted an inspection from Sept. 30 through Nov. 10 last year, according to an agency press release on Monday. The commission found a worn-out safety/relief valve. The Montgomery County plant did not have proper measures in place if the valve were not able to close after opening, according to the release. Limerick personnel had been monitoring the temperature of the valve and planned to repair or replace it if “the component’s temperature dropped below 497 degrees Fahrenheit,” the release said. Analysis showed the valve may not close if opened at lower temperatures. The valve was “opened and did not immediately reclose,” according to the statement. The infraction was given a white ranking on the commission’s safety classification scale, which begins at green followed by white, yellow then red. Limerick is operated by Exelon Nuclear Corp. Officials at the commission, Limerick and Exelon were unable to be reached for comment Monday. Copyright © 2002, The Morning Call ***************************************************************** 12 Govt. Reports on Missing Nuke Fuel Las Vegas SUN Today: January 16, 2002 at 9:10:29 PST WATERFORD, Conn.- Two radioactive fuel rods missing from a nuclear power plant for at least two decades were likely mistaken for other radioactive waste and safely disposed of, federal investigators have concluded. Inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday they were considering whether to sanction or fine Dominion Inc., which owns the Millstone One nuclear power plant, for the lapse in record-keeping and mishandling of highly radioactive spent fuel. Dominion bought the Millstone complex of three nuclear reactors last year and said it would seek compensation from former owner Northeast Utilities if fined. A final report is due from the NRC in a few weeks. Fuel rods have never before gone missing in the history of commercial nuclear power in the United States, according to the NRC. The investigation into the missing fuel rods began in December 2000 after NU conducted an inventory of the plant's spent fuel pool. Neither NU nor Dominion could determine conclusively where the rods ended up. The NRC and Dominion insist the rods could not have been stolen. The 13 1/2 -foot-long rods emit lethal doses of radiation. Anyone removing them would have to use proper equipment and would have to get past numerous radiation monitors and other security measures, the NRC said. "There is nothing that indicated that as a possibility in any way," said Todd Jackson, the NRC's head investigator. Based on records, the NRC and Dominion agreed the rods were probably mistaken for other radioactive material being stored in the spent fuel pool, such as monitoring equipment, and shipped off for long-term storage. The shipping containers are buried on arrival and never opened. The most likely storage sites are in Barnwell, S.C., and Hanford, Wash., investigations by the company and the NRC said. Officials at the Barnwell site, upset that spent fuel rods may have been shipped to them without their knowledge and stored in violation of their license, are refusing to accept more radioactive material from Millstone until the rods are found. "Even though this happened 20 years ago, it is still painful to hear the description of it," said Alan Price, acting vice president of operations at Millstone. The company said it has implemented procedures to ensure nuclear rods never disappear again. While Millstone One is in the process of being decommissioned and has not operated since 1995, the other two plants in the complex are in operation. Dominion, based in Virginia, inherited the missing fuel rod problem from Berlin-based NU when it paid $1.3 billion for the complex last year. NU advised Dominion before the sale that the fuel rods were missing. NU paid more than $9 million to investigate, said Bill Matthews, vice president of Millstone. NU spokeswoman Deborah Beauchamp said the company is pleased that the NRC's investigation backed up NU's findings. She said it was premature to discuss fines. Joe Besade, an anti-nuclear activist, said Tuesday that NU had paid more than $10 million in penalties in the past for violating nuclear and clean-water regulations. "Nobody's been held accountable for anything I've seen," Besade said. "This is going to be another whitewash." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 13 Big crowd hears Brush Wellman safety concerns PortClintonNewsHerald.com - Ottawa County's Daily Newspaper Wednesday, January 16, 2002 By JENNIFER FUNK Staff writer GENOA -- A standing room only crowd Tuesday night weighed in on what they thought needed to be done to protect the safety of workers and residents near the Elmore Brush Wellman plant. Brush Wellman processes beryllium, a metal that in dust form can cause those sensitive to it to develop chronic berylliosis disease. The meeting, held by the non-profit group Ohio Citizens Action, had several purposes -- to inform the public about the disease, to get input on what measures residents would like to see taken to improve safety, and to encourage residents to sign up for a federal exposure investigation. Brush Wellman Spokesman Pat Carpenter said this morning the Ohio Citizens Action is an "agitator" that comes into town to "monger fear" unnecessarily among residents. "What I think about the meeting is that it's another example of Ohio Citizens Action, which is an out-of-town activist group, trying to malign the good name of Brush Wellman by misstating the facts," he said. "I think they do a real disservice to Brush Wellman and a real disservice to the community." Carpenter was not at the meeting, but Brush manager Larry Chako was there. Carpenter added that his company is interested in finding answers about CBD, but wants a "well thought-out and properly constructed scientific review." He said there is not documentation of anyone living near the Brush Wellman plant who did not work there contracting CBD. Several people at Tuesday night's meeting in the Genoa Public Library have been diagnosed with the disease, and spoke up about what they'd like to see done. For example, residents wanted independent testing of air, soil and water around the plant to see if there are any contaminants. Mike Czeczele of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said his agency has been splitting the testing of nine residential wells with Brush Wellman, and all tests turned up negative for beryllium. In April, he continued, Brush and the Ohio EPA will open the testing to other organic compounds, which have been found under the Brush facility, to ensure none have migrated any farther. Residents again, as they have at past meetings, expressed distrust of Brush Wellman and the Ohio EPA, saying they would prefer outside testing. Bernadette Eriksen, who has been outspoken during many of the meetings, added that she is interested in seeing an evacuation plan for area residents in case of a release or emergency at the plant. Fred Petersen of the Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency explained the procedure for various situations at Brush Wellman are available at the courthouse. During the course of the two-hour meeting, residents brought up several other points, such as insurance deficits for getting blood tests to diagnose chronic beryllium disorder, the shortages of the blood test itself and other medical concerns. Dr. Kathleen Fagan, an expert on work-related toxic exposure out of Lorain, was at the meeting to speak about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of CBD and take related questions. Fagan also is on the board of directors for Ohio Citizens Action and is a professor at Case Western Reserve. "We don't know how to cure it, so the most important thing is to try to prevent it," she told the audience of about 50. The disease can take a long time to develop, sometimes as much as 20 to 30 years after the initial exposure, and doesn't occur in everyone exposed. For example, one study showed only 5 percent of workers exposed contracted the disease, while in another study 38 percent had CBD. She stressed that beryllium doesn't seem to absorb through the stomach lining or the skin well, so the main concern is breathing the dust. "In most cases in toxic exposure, the more exposure the more likely you are to get the disease," she said. "In beryllium, that doesn't always seem to be the case, which has been confusing to scientists." Some residents were encouraged by Tuesday's meeting, saying it's a start in the right direction, while others said it was the same thing that is said every meeting. "I've been to all the meetings, and it's about the same place," said Wayne Lemke after the meeting. Lemke delivered gas and kerosene to the plant for more than 20 years, and said he was diagnosed with asthmatic bronchitis. He took the blood test once to determine if he had CBD, but it was negative. "I was in there every week, sometimes twice a week," he said during the meeting. He said later he wanted to see more safety requirements to protect workers and residents, and more testing to ensure the air isn't contaminated. Fremonter Mike Bauer worked in the plant doing maintenance for five years before leaving in 1994, and he was diagnosed last spring with CBD. "I would have liked to have seen more people here," he said after the meeting. "The community needs to take an active part, because it affects them." He felt the meeting was progress, though, and that Ohio Citizens Action and the local residents should push for tougher safety standards. "I did everything I was supposed to, I wore all the safety equipment, and I still have it," he said. Copyright © 2002 News-Herald. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Hatch Staff, Justice to Help Downwinders Press Claims The Salt Lake Tribune -- Tuesday, January 15, 2002 This week, U.S. Department of Justice officials and staff members from Sen. Orrin Hatch's Health Policy Office will assist constituents with compensation claims involving radiation exposure from atomic bomb testing in the 1950s and 1960s. Hatch announced Monday that the meetings are geared to provide information about remuneration to citizens under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. "I am aware that many Utahns have been waiting for an undue length of time to receive their compensation, or have questions that have not been answered,'' said Hatch. Government agency representatives will meet with Utahns to try to work out problems with the process, he said. Today, a meeting will be 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Murray at the Heritage Center, 10 E. 6150 South. On Wednesday, two meetings will be conducted: at Snow College South, 800 W. 200 South, Richfield; and at the Dixie Center, 1835 Convention Center Drive in St. George, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. © Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on ***************************************************************** 15 State reassessing its policy on radiation-blocking pills [Florida | Naples Daily News] Wednesday, January 16, 2002 By PAT LEISNER, Associated Press State officials began meeting Tuesday to consider the federal government's offer for free radiation-blocking pills for 230,000 people living close to Florida's three nuclear power plants. Potassium iodide pills have proven effective in preventing thyroid cancer, which is one of the effects of radiation exposure. State officials began meeting Tuesday to consider the federal government's offer for free radiation-blocking pills for 230,000 people living close to Florida's three nuclear power plants. Potassium iodide pills have proven effective in preventing thyroid cancer, which is one of the effects of radiation exposure. Currently, Florida has stockpiled near nuclear plants enough pills for emergency workers and those difficult to evacuate such as prisoners and the disabled in nursing homes, said William Passetti, head of the state Bureau of Radiation. An estimated 15,000 people are within 10 miles of Florida Power Corp.'s Crystal River nuclear plant; 115,000 within a 10-mile radius of St. Lucie near Fort Pierce and nearly 100,000 people near Turkey Point, south of Miami. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in December it would buy more than 3 million pills and make them available to any state. Many states maintain small stockpiles, like Florida. The federal government told states to revisit their policies. "We are in the discussion stage about whether to make changes and what would need to be changed," Passetti said. In the past, the major emphasis was on evacuation. Among the concerns were the risk in giving people iodine pharmaceuticals to keep in their homes and the logistics of distributing the pills from a central location in there were a nuclear accident. In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the NRC and the Food and Drug Administration took another look at potassium iodide. Also, the government offered to make the pills available free. "We're in the process of meeting and discussing all these issues," Passetti said. "These are factors that have not been looked at in quite a while. We have to sit down and look at all the new information and guidance." One recommendation is to have enough pills for each person within a 10-mile radius of the plant. That raises questions about dating of the product and whether people should store it in their own homes. If held in central locations, officials wonder if that would increase confusion as people tried to get to the site and if there would be enough time. Typically, with early warning procedures at nuclear plants, there's several hours lead time before radiation poses a threat from a nuclear accident. This is time in which Passetti says people could be evacuated. Passetti's office comes under the state Department of Health. A number of other agencies are involved in planning for such a disaster, including law enforcement, emergency management, local and county governments. An estimated 15,000 people are within 10 miles of Florida Power Corp.'s Crystal River nuclear plant; 115,000 within a 10-mile radius of St. Lucie near Fort Pierce and nearly 100,000 people near Turkey Point, south of Miami. "Decisions on protection measures are made by states and counties," said Mac Harris, a Crystal River spokesman. "We do not make decisions on public protection." Generally, he said, "the thinking on the issue of potassium iodide deals largely with logistical difficulties of fresh supplies and whether people can find it should they need it." Copyright © 2002 Naples Daily News. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Norway: Environment Minister: We'll keep up the pressure on Sellafield The Norway Post - Doorway to Norway 16. Januar 2002 Norwegian Environment Minister Boerge Brende has promised to keep up the pressure to stop the radioactive emission from the British Sellafield plant. He said this at a protest conference at Stamsund, under the title "Lofoten against Sellafield" on Tuesday, where the Norwegian Fisheries Minister also took part. -The British authorities say the emissions are not dangerous, but they are apparently dangerous enough, since they don't want to store the pollutants themselves. We don't want them either, Brende stated. Fishermen in Lofoten and other regions flew a black flag of mourning in protest against the emisssions from Sellafield. The British authorities claim that the radioactive emissions are too small to become a health danger. Division Director Per Strand from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority says that based on the principle of "better safe than sorry", the emissions should be stopped. The main component, Technetium-99, is a relatively new pollutant from Sellafield, and so far we do not know enough about how it effects the environment, Strand says. (NRK) Rolleiv Solholm ***************************************************************** 17 Federal study OKs nuclear waste dump in Utah Las Vegas SUN January 15, 2002 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a final environmental study that sanctions a plan to store highly radioactive nuclear waste in Utah's Skull Valley. The study cites the economic benefits of consolidated storage for spent nuclear fuel rods from eight of the nation's nuclear-powered electric utilities. It said an industry plan to store up to 40,000 tons of waste in concrete-packed, steel casks had few environmental consequences for the desolate Skull Valley Indian Reservation, 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The Goshute tribe has agreed to accept the waste from the eight utilities, organized as Private Fuel Storage, that are running out of space for their own spent fuel rods. Gov. Mike Leavitt has vowed to spare no effort to block the waste from Utah, which doesn't have any nuclear-power plants. Larry Jensen, an assistant attorney general, said Tuesday the state will cite the danger of earthquake hazards in Skull Valley during two weeks of public hearings set for April before the NRC's Atomic Safety Licensing Board. Private Fuel Storage, led by Minnesota's Excel Energy, and the Goshute tribe have sued to overturn Utah's retaliatory laws. One law bans nuclear waste storage outright and another demands a $150-billion bond should federal authorities override the state's will. The suit is scheduled for a federal court hearing April 11, when Jensen said the state will argue the NRC has no legal authority to license the project. He said Congress has prohibited nuclear waste storage on private land away from power plants. "They have no leg to stand on," Jensen said. NRC spokeswoman Sue Gagner said she was not aware of any law passed by Congress that would prohibit the Skull Valley project. "This certainly is not the last step because we still have to have hearings and expect (the project) to be vigorously fought," she said. The NRC posted on its Web site Jan. 3 a version of the environmental study that had sensitive information excised because of fears it could be of use to terrorists. But the commission released the full report after deciding the information was widely available through other means, Gagner said. The Associated Press received a copy by mail on Monday. The Skull Valley project didn't become unnecessary with last week's approval from U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham for a permanent storage site for nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. President Bush also would have to give his approval, and Nevada can object, although Congress can override Nevada. Then the Energy Department could apply for an NRC license. "Yucca Mountain is far from being approved," Gagner said. Gagner said she couldn't estimate how soon after the April hearings a decision could be made by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the Skull Valley project. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 18 Experts Convene at Moab On Fate of Atlas Mill Site The Salt Lake Tribune -- Tuesday, January 15, 2002 BY JUDY FAHYS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE MOAB -- A National Academy of Sciences team began brainstorming Monday over what can be done to stop pollution from the abandoned Atlas Corp. mill site, which is contaminated by radioactive and hazardous waste leftover from uranium processing. A dozen experts from a range of disciplines, including law, geology, groundwater and government, gathered to hear from local officials, the public, environmentalists and others knowledgeable about the 130-acre tailings pile north of Moab, its impact on residents, harm to endangered species in the adjacent Colorado River and possible affects on millions of downstream water users. U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Department of Environmental Quality Director Dianne Nielson were expected to speak today before the group. A public hearing also is scheduled today from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "Our role is one of scientific appraisal," said Chairman Kai Lee as he opened Monday's meeting. Lee's statement implied a warning for anyone who hoped the National Academy of Sciences panel will tell Congress exactly how to fix the problems, a task with a price tag of between $137 million and $387 million. Ultimately, it will be up to Congress to choose whether to keep the tailings in place or relocate them and to pay for the work. The U.S. Department of Energy assumed title to the site last fall from an Atlas bankruptcy trustee. "What I'm hoping they will be able to lend is an impartial overview of all the factors that are unique to this particular site," said Grand County Commissioner Kimberly Schappert. In the late 1990s, the commission passed a resolution urging removal of the tailings. Commissioners are not only concerned about Moab Valley residents, exposed to high levels of lung-cancer causing radon gas that blows off the pile, but also about more than a million annual tourists, who run the rivers that converge at the base of the pile and who visit the area's national parks. Bill Hedden of the the Grand Canyon Trust, an advocate for removing the tailings, said the panel can focus on long-term solutions, not just inexpensive ones. "The cheap alternative now may turn out to be the expensive alternative in the long run," said Hedden, who used to work at the Atlas mill and also served on the county commission. Panel members and guests visited the pilings Monday afternoon. About four dozen people tugged on two pairs of yellow rubber boots and two pairs of gloves apiece to take the tour. They saw flags marking spots where the red dirt is being analyzed for radioactive contamination. They walked to the riverbank at the bottom of the massive tailings pile for a look at the area where newly hatched pike minnows and humpback chubs -- both endangered species -- die each spring because of ammonia leaching into their nursery. They trudged onto the mound of mine waste itself. Technicians used radiation monitors to check the visitors' exposure as they left the site. Among the possible solutions: the International Uranium Corp.'s suggestion of propelling the tailings via slurry pipeline to the its White Mesa uranium reprocessing facility near Blanding. fahys@sltrib.com © Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Trib ***************************************************************** 19 LETTERS: Nevada, Yucca Mountain and the test site [Las Vegas Review-Journal] Wednesday, January 16, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal To the editor: While I agree with the Review-Journal's Jan. 9 editorial in support of potentially reopening the Nevada Test Site, my agreement has to be presented with a big caution. My caution is that supporting the resumption of nuclear testing might undermine our opposition to nuclear waste disposal at Yucca Mountain. To many Americans, civilian nuclear power and nuclear weapons have never been separate topics. Such people will see Nevadans as hypocritical for supporting nuclear weapons tests but opposing the disposal of nuclear waste. So while it is all well and good that the test site might reopen, be aware that one of the costs might be the opening of Yucca Mountain as well. CHARLES E. FULLER JR. HENDERSON Nonviolent protest To the editor: In response to the Jan. 11 story, "Nuclear waste: Abraham backs dump": Nuclear Information &Resource Service (NIRS) is the information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues. NIRS has fought the proposed Yucca Mountain dump since it was first proposed nearly 20 years ago. In your article on the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain recommendation, you stated that "environmentalist Kevin Kamps, of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, warned that opening a repository could result in violent demonstrations." I said no such thing. Rather, I warned that a Yucca Mountain decision-making process driven by nuclear industry greed and corrupt politics, rather than genuine sound science and public acceptance, would inevitably lead to widespread protests. NIRS would never advocate violence. In fact, NIRS actively advocates the exact opposite. Recognizing years ago that the Yucca Mountain Project was rigged against the public interest, NIRS has since organized numerous, annual Nuclear-Free Action Camps across the country. The heart of these action camps is week-long training in nonviolent civil disobedience, the last resort of peaceful citizens against the nuclear power industry and rogue federal agencies such as the DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In the spirit of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., we are willing to lay our bodies on the line and even go to jail to stop the nuclear establishment from shoving the Yucca Mountain Project down our throats against our will. But our commitment is to entirely nonviolent forms of resistance. KEVIN KAMPS WASHINGTON, D.C. The writer is a nuclear waste specialist with the Nuclear Information &Resource Service. Cut a deal To the editor: Again rises the hue and cry from the anti-nuke dump folks. Instead of dealing with the inevitable, they run around wringing hands and hiding behind the children. Facts are much easier to deal with than emotions. Fact: The waste to be stored is in solid form, not the Hollywood version of rusty drums with green ooze in them. Fact: The areas in question at the Nevada Test Site are so contaminated already that no other use could be envisioned for it. (Maybe a subdivision that doesn't require street lights?) Fact: The money being expended in litigation would go a long way in the education system, thus providing more benefits for the children than the absence of a dump. Instead of running around grabbing poles to hold up the falling sky, we should be negotiating the best possible monetary and safety arrangements with the federal government. This, in my opinion, would be much better all around than any mandated agreement. JON L. LEWIS LAS VEGAS This story is located at: http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jan-16-Wed-2002/opinion/17868561.html [http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2002/Jan-16-Wed-2002/opinion/17868561.html] ***************************************************************** 20 Homeland security means more when it's your homeland, your security Wednesday, January 16, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal COLUMN: John L. Smith "Homeland security" are two of the most powerful words in the post 9-11 world. The phrase conjures romantic images of raw-boned militia taking up their muskets against an army of redcoats, but international terrorism has made the definition far more complex. So last week, when nuclear industry lobbyist John Sununu questioned Nevada's dedication to homeland security in light of our steadfast refusal to accept the high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain, he raised a powerfully loaded question. Sure, it was an asinine thing to do. And his stupid statement only served to harden Nevadans' resolve at a time the nuclear power industry and Department of Energy wished we would go quietly into that glowing night. The latest Review-Journal-sponsored poll on the question shows that, if anything, Nevadans have only grown more wary of the federal government's role at Yucca Mountain. Of Nevadans surveyed by Mason-Dixon Polling &Research, 83 percent opposed the dump, and 73 percent believed the government hasn't done honest scientific research. Homeland security? It all depends on whose homeland you're talking about. Sununu's message was telling, but what about the messenger? Could he really keep a straight face while uttering such a remark? As governor of New Hampshire, Sununu made friends with the generous nuclear power industry, which spent more than two decades attempting to get that state's residents to warm up to the wonders of the proposed Seabrook plant. With Sununu at the helm, the industry needed few lobbyists. Along the way to finally winning licensing approval, Seabrook's costs soared from approximately $2 billion to nearly $7 billion. Seabrook's two-reactor plan eventually was modified as costs mushroomed. Through bailouts, overruns, bankruptcies and rate increases, Seabrook pressed on. New Hampshire residents will be paying for this decision in the form of increased power rates for years to come. Seabrook now is up for sale. The power plant fiasco was briefly an issue in the 1988 presidential campaign, but Sununu proved his worth to the Republican Party by helping George Bush the elder overcome a loss in Iowa to win the New Hampshire primary. From there, Bush rolled right into the White House, and Sununu was rewarded with a coveted chief of staff position. And Seabrook? Well, see if this sounds familiar. According to a variety of published reports, Seabrook managed to be built despite numerous safety and health concerns. One key issue: the lack of a workable evacuation plan in case of a substantial leak from the reactor. Seabrook stood within shouting distance of population centers and a beach that attracted thousands of tourists every summer. In November 1989, The Washington Post's Mary McGrory wrote that Sununu and a key nuclear ally "worked indefatigably to circumvent regulations and downplay the health and safety considerations that result in such sissy stuff as evacuation plans. They exemplified the 'Don't worry, be happy' philosophy of the Bush administration." More than a decade later, Sununu continues his work on behalf of nuclear power interests. Lately, he is under contract to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which endorses the Yucca site. But what about homeland security? As a governor, he worked to ensure high-level nuclear waste generated in New Hampshire would be shipped elsewhere. Now I'm beginning to understand the true definition of homeland security: More secure for their homeland, less secure for ours. After 9-11, federal law enforcement stated unequivocally that the nation's nuclear power reactors were vulnerable to terrorist attack. But I don't imagine Sununu is so concerned with homeland security that he will recommend that those reactors be deactivated and even dismantled. No stranger to hypocrisy, Sununu has picked a fight with Nevada he can't win on the square. Then again, those who have followed the Yucca Mountain issue know the other side isn't above changing the rules as it goes along. Homeland security? You bet. Nevada's. John L. Smith's column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. E-mail him at Smith@lvrj.com or call him at 383-0295. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 21 Editorial: This match was made in heaven Las Vegas SUN January 15, 2002 It was a perfect fit when a U.S. Chamber of Commerce-led coalition of energy groups recently picked John Sununu to be a lobbyist in its drive to push for the construction of a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. For nearly two decades the nuclear power industry has adopted an arrogant, take-no-prisoners campaign to get nuclear waste buried in Nevada, a style of wielding power that Sununu was very familiar with when he was the chief of staff for the first President Bush. As New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd noted in a 1999 column about political payback, typical of Sununu's tenure was the time that he canceled an Ohio Republican's reservation for a presidential box at the Kennedy Center because the congressman opposed the controversial 1990 budget deal, the one where Bush followed Sununu's advice and broke his "no new taxes" pledge. Sununu ultimately resigned following revelations that he not only used military planes to take ski trips and visit his dentist, but he also used the ! White House limousine to travel to a stamp auction in New York. Sununu's hubris probably owes a lot then to his suggestion this week that Nevadans have a patriotic duty to accept nuclear waste. Sununu contends that a centralized dump in the United States is essential to protect our national security. And Sununu warned that if Nevada isn't willing to do its part for homeland security by taking the nuclear waste, which now is stored in 31 states where nuclear power is generated, there could be retribution for our tourist-based economy. Americans who don't want the waste in their back yards, Sununu said, just may decide to vacation elsewhere. It is just plain irresponsible for Sununu to try to chill debate about Yucca Mountain's suitability by invoking patriotism. It's a smokescreen by dump supporters to avoid discussing the dangers posed to our safety and the environment by the transportation and permanent burial of 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. Nevada simply is following the options it has under federal law to register its opposition, including the use of a veto that Congress ultimately can sustain or override. Besides, national security won't be threatened if the waste is left where it is guarded now. If anything, the thousands of trips that would be necessary to send the nuclear waste to Nevada would be an inviting target for terrorists because the shipments would be even more vulnerable than at a secure location. Regarding the issue of this state helping out with national security, Nevadans have done more than their fair share, including support for important military bases located here. But the biggest sacrifice this state's residents have made is living with the Nevada Test Site, the nuclear proving ground for the nation's nuclear arsenal from the 1950s to the 1990s. The atomic tests were necessary, but they did forever scar the land, and the radioactive fallout from the above-ground tests also killed people in Nevada and Utah who lived downwind from the tests. The last thing Nevadans need from the nuclear power industry is a lecture on patriotism. Unfortunately, in the post-Sept. 11 political climate, too many politicians and interest groups have suggested Congress has a "patriotic duty" to pass whatever proposals or legislation they're backing -- often in the form of tax breaks or favors to well-heeled business groups. The nuclear power industry is showing that it's no exception, either. The supporters of a dump at Yucca Mountain are going to use every demagogic trick available to try to turn residents of other states against Nevadans. Last week House Speaker Dennis Hastert characterized those opposed to Yucca Mountain as engaging in "left-wing political grandstanding." The ripostes by Sununu and Hastert are shameless, but they're just the beginning as nuclear dump backers will do anything to get a nuclear waste dump built in Nevada. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 Letter: Abraham's intelligence, motives suspect Las Vegas SUN Today: January 16, 2002 at 8:53:06 PST So our energy secretary, Spencer Abraham, recommends Yucca Mountain as the place to be the recipient of our nation's nuclear waste. Not only do I disagree, I also question his intelligence and his motives. I'm stunned by the mere thought of transporting nuclear waste in the first place. Our energy secretary apparently finds this particular mountain capable of safely storing lethal material that will arrive from various sites via our nation's roads. Isn't anyone paying attention to all the ongoing, incomplete, conflicting reports pertaining to just about every phase of having Yucca Mountain as a nuclear repository? How can a valid decision be made? And how many more billions are going to be poured into this hole before common sense, backed by irrefutable statistics and facts, puts an end to this ludicrous plan once and for all! By the way, where does politician Spencer Abraham hang his hat when he's not jetting in and out of Las Vegas and Washington? CAROLE LA ROCCA All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 23 County discussion centers on terrorism, nuke waste Las Vegas SUN Today: January 16, 2002 at 9:51:51 PST By Adrienne Packer Still reeling from the weakening economy caused by the Sept. 11 attacks, Clark County officials learned last week that Yucca Mountain was recommended as a storage site for the nation's nuclear waste. The two events, potentially devastating to tourism and the Las Vegas Valley's continued growth, dominated an informal "State of the County" discussion Tuesday. Commissioners took turns discussing their accomplishments of last year and major projects for 2002. "The economy slowed, but we continue to have rapid growth," Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said. "Because of the attention and commitment of this board to make sound financial decisions, we're well positioned to weather the economic downturn." Commissioners will continue with new parks and recreation centers, they plan to add two fire stations and 50 additional Metro officers will be hired. The county will also proceed with the Las Vegas Beltway, finishing the initial 33 miles of the 53-mile roadway. Frank Sinatra Drive, a frontage road to Interstate 15, should be completed by the end of the year. Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said construction of Harmon Avenue, which will be extended west over Interstate 15, will also begin this year. Commissioner Erin Kenny said the county is continuing to make strides to fully comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality standards. "Everyone knows when they look out the window and see a hazy day, they're not very happy," Kenny said. "But we have turned the corner." Although the Sept. 11 attacks haven't yet prevented the county from proceeding with projects during the next year, commission Chairman Dario Herrera said it triggered important discussions about diversifying the economy. "The economy in Southern Nevada immediately felt the impact," Herrera said. "I think Sept. 11 showed us we're far too reliant on tourism dollars." The board vowed to fight Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's recommendation to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. "The fate of the economy, health and security is tied to this," Herrera said. Las Vegas SUN main page All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 24 Reid pushes nuke waste option Las Vegas SUN Today: January 16, 2002 at 12:02:11 PST Technology may offer alternative to Yucca project By Mary Manning As Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham closes in on his recommended solution to the problem of nuclear waste -- burying it deep under a Nevada mountain -- two influential senators are throwing their weight behind technology that would reduce the danger and amount of the waste. Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., are working to fund a process that would transform radioactive waste into less toxic material that could be used, for example, in medical research. The two obtained $50 million -- half of what they requested -- to pay the Energy Department to research advanced accelerator technology this year. Reid vows to continue fighting for research money. The senators say the technology may provide an alternative to burying 77,000 tons of waste in a repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Abraham informed Gov. Kenny Guinn last week that he would recommend the repository to President Bush, probably next month. If accelerators are proven effective, the devices could be built near nuclear reactors currently operating throughout the country, said Troy Wade, a former Nevada Test Site manager who also advises the president on nuclear issues. Reid supports building an accelerator in New Mexico at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the Energy Department has done research into the issue. Reid opposes building it at the Nevada Test Site. Reid would oppose transporting high-level nuclear waste to either site, but would support research being done on waste already at the New Mexico site, his spokesman Nathan Naylor said. Accelerators -- which eliminate much of the radioactivity from spent fuel -- could reduce the time radioactive waste is considered dangerous from a million years to less than 1,000, scientists say. Federal law requires a Yucca Mountain repository to contain the radioactivity for 10,000 years. The process would not eliminate the need for a repository, and the radioactive waste would be reduced to 7,700 tons, the experts said. Unless accelerators are built at nuclear sites, the problem of transportation will remain. Still, while Nevada's political leaders have lined up against Yucca Mountain, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and other state officials also have joined Reid as vocal advocates of funding for waste accelerator research. "Many of these technologies are at this moment still in their infancies," Naylor said. "That is why we need to continue to invest in them. ... "Accelerator technology is not a silver bullet to the waste problem." The Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is a less likely candidate, because the DOE's primary mission there is to experiment with nuclear weapons, Wade said. However, not all DOE scientists consider spent nuclear fuel as waste. If Bush is serious about supporting nuclear power as part of a national energy policy, the waste should not be buried, they say. Accelerators don't wait for nature to reduce radiation, said Anthony Hechanova, director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' accelerator research program. "In an accelerator, we make it radiate in a snap," he said, noting that dangerous radioactivity lasting tens of thousands of years lasts for only a few days if processed through an accelerator. During a national meeting Tuesday of the Advanced Accelerator Applications Program, DOE officials said an accelerator that could reduce toxic radioactivity in nuclear waste by 95 percent could be built for $1.1 billion. The earliest an accelerator could be built is 2003, when funding would become available. The design phase could begin with about $50 million, DOE officials said. To supply more funds, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., is re-introducing a bill -- first introduced last year -- that would allow the DOE to use ratepayer contributions totaling $11 billion for Yucca Mountain study and construction to be shared with accelerator research. Congress set up the special nuclear waste fund in 1987. "This project is of critical interest to Nevadans and the congressional delegation," UNLV Vice Provost Stephen Rice said. The DOE this year will concentrate on research, rather than designing an accelerator, John Herczeg, DOE director of the Advanced Accelerator Applications Program, said. Accelerator advocates are preparing a report to Congress, which is due in May. "It's 21st century technology," DOE consultant Thomas Ward said. Sun reporter Benjamin Grove, who covers Washington for the Sun, contributed to this story. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 25 Board nixes plan to cut fees at S.C. nuke dump | The Sun News - Myrtle Beach, SC Wednesday, January 16, 2002 By Jim Davenport The Associated Press COLUMBIA | Companies looking to save money by dumping their low-level nuclear waste in South Carolina were told to look elsewhere Tuesday by leaders of a powerful state panel. Staffers within the Budget and Control Board office had suggested that S.C. coffers might benefit if the price to dump radioactive waste at the Barnwell disposal site was reduced to lure more business. But the five-member board balked at the idea. "Absolutely not. We need to close the door," said Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, a Florence Republican and member of the budget board. Staffers recommended allowing the board's director to set rates without the panel's approval. The staff described the change as a "marketing strategy" to help keep South Carolina from losing business to a Utah facility that now accepts the same type of low-level waste, such as the gloves and booties that protect workers from radioactive materials. "Without discounting the price," the staff recommendation said, "it is estimated that the state could lose approximately $3.5 million in disposal revenues this fiscal year." The fees were expected to generate $31 million for needs-based college grants and an achievement-based scholarship for the state's top students this year. The state currently charges $315 a cubic foot to accept waste. All but about 2,000 cubic feet of the 80,000 cubic feet of waste being accepted this year comes from out-of-state producers. "I don't know ... that I want us to lower the rate to generate more waste even if it costs us $3.5 million dollars," said board member and House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston. 2001 The Sun News ***************************************************************** 26 Democrats plan human barrier against radioactive waste. 16/01/2002. ABC News Online Wednesday, January 16, 2002 . Posted: 12:01:28 (AEDT) The Australian Democrats say they will use direct action rather than words to stop the planned national radioactive waste dump from being located in South Australia. With the dump to become an election issue, the Democrats have announced a campaign of civil disobedience to stop it. Deputy state leader, Sandra Kanck says a human wall will be used to stop the facility. "Well it's a matter of people using their bodies and that means putting them in front of the trucks," she said. "In effect, creating human fences to attempt to prevent this material getting into South Australia." © 2001 Australian Broadcasting Corporation ***************************************************************** 27 Waste site has officials concerned Desert Dispatch Online - Top Story By TERI FIGUEROA/Staff Writer VICTORVILLE Nuclear waste may travel straight through the heart of the Victor Valley and Barstow if the federal government goes ahead with the plan to store the waste at Yucca Mountain opponents said. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is expected recommend the country store its high-level nuclear waste in Nevada. Thursday's announcement about the selection of the southern Nevada site, about 80 miles north of Las Vegas, as a national nuclear waste dump has local officials and activists worried about the transportation of the radioactive material along High Desert routes. San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has twice formally voiced opposition to Yucca Mountain because it would require the transportation of highly hazardous materials through the county. County spokesman David Wert said the board will determine what if any further action it will take in response to today's announcement. "The county believes the U.S. Department of Energy has not adequately addressed the risk posed to communities along the nuclear waste route," Wert said. Wert said the county has been told that it's not only California's nuclear waste that will be hauled through San Bernardino County, but waste generated all over in the United States. That, Wert said, is part of a plan to avoid metropolitan Las Vegas. Nuclear waste coming from eastern states would most likely come into California along westbound along Interstate 40, then up Highway 127 through Baker and into Nevada, said Peter Brierty, San Bernardino County fire marshal. Waste from Southern California would he hauled along I-15. Brierty said county firefighters are ill-prepared to deal with a nuclear waste accident. "We're not prepared to handle emergencies of this sort," Brierty said. "Look at the precautions taken in a nuclear power plant. It's a controlled environment. Then you put it on the back of the truck and drive it down the road at 50, 60 mph. And it's some very brave folks that will have to handle that situation (if something should happen). So far, the Department of Energy has refused to designate routes. "They've always claimed they could not choose a route until they had a site," said Fred Dilger, a Clark County, Nev. transportation planner since 1993. Clark County Commissioners have opposed the selection of Yucca Mountain since 1985. Dilger said Thursday that federal legislation has designated the interstate highway systems as default routes for transporting the radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain. For Southern California, the default travel route is Interstate 15. "It's most probably to be the (route) used, especially in the first few years," Dilger said. Ruth Lopez, executive director of People against Radioactive Dumping, said her organization is worried about the threat to the entire county. Lopez, who has fought the Yucca Mountain site for years, said she anticipates railroad tracks through Needles will become a hub for transporting nuclear waste. Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokeswoman Lena Kent said the Department of Energy has not yet determined if the materials will be shipped by rail. "We don't know what all would be involved in shipping it," Kent said. Figures from the Association of American Railroads show 99.996 percent of hazardous material moved by rail arrives at its destination without incident. In February 2000, state Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight introduced a resolution aimed at preventing shipments of high-level nuclear waste from other states from traveling through San Bernardino and Inyo counties on their way to a Nevada dump. The resolution is not legally binding on the federal government. Copyright © 2000 Desert Dispatch. ***************************************************************** 28 Russia's Nuclear Arsenal January 16, 2002 o the Editor: You report that many Democrats and arms control advocates contend that President Bush's plan to move many of the United States' 7,000 nuclear warheads into storage will do nothing to encourage Russia to address its 6,000 nuclear warheads (news article, Jan. 9). Unfortunately, the situation in Russia is much worse. Russian tactical nuclear weapons are not addressed in these reductions at all. At least 3,500 and as many as 18,000 Russian tactical nuclear weapons exist. Tactical, or "battlefield," nuclear weapons can be as destructive and more susceptible to theft than Russian strategic nuclear weapons. Extraordinarily, these weapons are not covered by any international arms control treaty, and President Bush has given no indication that his nuclear reductions will address the Russian tactical nuclear arsenal. BRIAN ALEXANDER Washington, Jan. 10, 2002 The writer is a research analyst, Fourth Freedom Forum. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company | Privacy Information ***************************************************************** 29 Putin comments Pasko-case The Pasko Case Gregory Pasko, an investigative journalist who worked for the Pacific Fleet's newspaper, was arrested on 20 November 1997 by the FSB and charged with high treason for his writing about the nuclear safety issues in the Russian Pacific Fleet. The case should be solved within the judicial system, the Russian president said, but added that he would evaluate an application for pardon if he got one. Jon Gauslaa, 2002-01-16 07:31 At a one-day visit to France yesterday, Russian president Vladimir Putin told reporters at a news conference that he "did not go into details" of the Pasko-case. He then added that it had been proven that Pasko had passed over to Japan a document with a "secret" stamp. -- Nobody doubts these facts, not even Pasko's own attorneys, Putin said. A deceived president? With these statements the Russian President either served a blatant lie or disclosed that he might have have been decived by his staff. The truth is that Pasko has not been convicted for having passed over a single item of secret information to Japan His crime was that he was in the possession of notes that he made while attending a meeting of the Staff of the Pacific Fleet on September 11, 1997. The Court supposed that Pasko kept the notes at his flat and intended to transfer them to Japanese journalist Tadashi Okano, although no transferral actually took place. Since the difference between passing over to foreigners documents carrying a secret stamp, and keeping your own hand-written notes at home is considerable, Putin's statements are fitted for smearing Pasko in the public eye. Thus, he has stepped rather close to violating Article 6 (2) of the European Convention on Human Rights (see for instance the European Court of Human Rights' decission in the Allenet de Riebemont v. France case from 1995). After all, Putin is not an ordinary humble civil cervant, but the head of state... A juridical case Putin said that the case is purely of juridical character, and he saw no possibilities to interfere in the actions of the judicial system. The president did however, add that Pasko's actions had not damaged the state interests, and that he would be ready to evaluate an appeal for pardon, if such an appeal arrives. According to Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, Pasko thanked Putin through his lawyer, but added that the latter would not get any appeal for pardon, as he prefers to fight for a full acquittal. -- I am not guilty and will continue the fight for my clear name and full acquittal, the imprisoned journalist said. * Grigory Pasko was arrested on November 20, 1997. He was acquitted by the Pacific Fleet Court in Vladivostok of treason through espionage on July 20, 1999, but sentenced to a three-year imprisonment for misusing his position and released on a general amnesty. Both sides appealed the verdict. In November 2000 the Military Supreme Court cancelled the verdict, and sent the case back for a new trial at the Pacific Fleet Court. The re-trial started on July 11, 2001 and ended on December 25, with Pasko being convicted to four years of hard labour for treason and taken into custody. Amnesty International adopted Pasko as a prisoner of conscience on January 7, 2002, saying that the prosecution of Pasko seems "motivated by political reprisal for exposing the practice of dumping nuclear waste". Also the latest decision has been appealed by both sides. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge 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 ***************************************************************** 30 IAEA team to visit Iraq, inspect nuclear facilities KYODO NEWS BAGHDAD, Jan. 15, Kyodo - An experts team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Iraq on Jan. 25 for that the Iraqi government called a routine inspection of Iraqi nuclear facilities. An Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman said the visit is part of a guarantees system the IAEA performs throughout the world. ''This visit has got nothing to do with U.N. resolutions 687 and 715 of 1991,'' the spokesman said in reference to the two U.N. Security Council resolutions that require Iraq to allow U.N. and IAEA weapons inspectors to search and destroy mass-destruction weapons in Iraq. The Iragi government has refused to admit U.N. and IAEA weapons inspectors into the country. The IAEA launched an annual inspection of Iraqi nuclear installations in January last year ''within the framework of Guarantees System and the International Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Arms,'' the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. 2001 Kyodo News (c) Established 1945. ***************************************************************** 31 Price dispute imperils U.S. purchase of uranium from Russian warheads Today's Pioneer Press Published: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON -- A historic 1993 agreement to sell tons of uranium stripped from Russian warheads to fuel American power plants is in jeopardy because of a dispute over price between the Russians and a U.S. company. The standoff between the Russians and the U.S. company responsible for carrying out the deal already has stalled shipment of uranium to the United States. And arms-control specialists are concerned that a collapse of the deal could increase the chance of terrorists or rogue nations obtaining the nuclear material. A Bush administration official, Energy Undersecretary Robert Card, told the American company in a letter last week that "U.S. strategic interests may be at risk if the (firm) cannot ensure continuity of shipments of Russian down-blended (uranium) to the United States." Card said the disagreement also could lead to "a nuclear power fuel shortage" in the United States; the U.S. company relies heavily on the Russian uranium it purchases for sale to American nuclear power plants. The company supplies about 70 percent of the uranium fuel used in American nuclear plants, which generate about one-fifth of all electricity used in the United States. The high stakes illuminate an anomaly in how the United States has handled a crucial national security function: Since mid-1998, the government has ceded to the private company USEC Inc. of Bethesda, Md., far-reaching responsibility for implementing the agreement with the Russians to purchase 500 metric tons of military uranium. Because USEC and the Russians remain at odds over pricing, no shipments have been authorized for 2002. Ordinarily, the year's first load of uranium -- 3 metric tons, or enough for about 120 nuclear warheads -- would have been ordered by October and would begin flowing to the United States in March. In a written response to Card on Thursday, USEC president William Timbers said the energy official's letter "undermines and could significantly affect the ability of (USEC) to reach prompt and successful agreement" with the Russians. Timbers also termed Card's concerns about a possible shortage of nuclear power fuel "unwarranted and disingenuous." Copies of the letters were obtained by the Los Angeles Times. A USEC spokesman said Tuesday that the company expects to resolve its differences with the Russians without any serious consequences. A Bush administration official familiar with the current talks said that USEC and the Russians "seem to be at loggerheads. ... I think (the uranium agreement) is in jeopardy. I would not characterize this as normal negotiations." The official spoke on the condition of anonymity. © 2002 PioneerPlanet ***************************************************************** 32 Dmitry Chirkin: Journalist Pasko ruined president’s plans Pravda.RU Jan, 16 2002 A new turn has appeared in the case of Grigory Pasko. A prehistory: on December 25 the court martial of Russia’s Pacific Fleet declared military journalist Grigory Pasko to be guilty of espionage and sentenced him to a four-year imprisonment, deprivation of his military rank and decorations. Pasko’s defense decided to appeal against the court decision and planned to appeal even to the European court for human rights, if necessary. This could have lasted for a long period, but President Vladimir Putin interfered with the case. Speaking at a press conference in Paris on January 15 he told that Pasko’s case was of a purely juridical nature, and he would not participate in the discussion of the sentence. At the same time the president mentioned that the journalist had been accused of sale of top-secret documents to foreign citizens. It was also stressed that the fact was a proved one, and even Pasko’s attorneys did not call it into question. It was also mentioned, if the journalist hands in an appeal for pardon, the president will take it up. This was exactly what a majority of people expected from the president; for most people it is quite evident that the journalist will be pardoned. It is important here also that recently Federation Council Speaker Sergey Mironov told he was ready to vouch for Grigory Pasko. Moreover, it was he who recommended the journalist to address an appeal for pardon to the president. A rather funny situation would outline then: Pasko hands in an appeal on pardon, the president pardons him, and the West is touched with the whole story. Everyone is pleased then, the president looks nice then, and the rating is going up. But Grigory Pasko broke the whole idyll: he thanked the president for his readiness to take up an appeal for pardon, but declared he would keep on fighting for his good name and a complete acquittal. Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Maria Gousseva In the photo: Journalist Grigory Pasko Read the original in Russian: http://pravda.ru/main/2002/01/16/35602.html [http://pravda.ru/main/2002/01/16/35602.html] PRAVDA.Ru Russian Military Correspondent Seeks Full Acquittal PRAVDA.Ru Trial Of Journalist Grigory Pasko Resumed In ... Pasko Gets Four Years in a Labour Camp for Speaking Out for the Environment RIA 'Novosti' Copyright ©1999 by "Pravda.RU [http://www.pravda.ru/ ***************************************************************** 33 Neutralizing Nukes | csmonitor.com Commentary > The Monitor's View from the January 16, 2002 edition As Russian and US military planners meet this week to discuss mutual cuts in nuclear armaments, a question mark hangs in the air: How can the US on the one hand boost efforts to dismantle Russian nukes, and on the other hand simply shelve its own warheads for possible future use? In early January, the Bush administration made the welcome announcement that it would increase funding to deactivate excess Russian weaponry of mass destruction - a project under way for nearly a decade now. At about the same time, however, the Pentagon said that as the US worked toward reductions in its own nuclear arms, as agreed last year by Presidents Bush and Putin, the warheads would be stored, not dismantled. This apparent inconsistency springs from ingrained cold-war thinking in the Pentagon. Planners there still are thinking in terms of thousands of overseas targets, whether Russian missile silos or other still unforeseen threats. They may also assume that stored warheads in the US don't pose the same dangers as stored warheads in Russia. That, of course, ignores the Russian perspective. Plenty of President Putin's military aides may be only too happy to follow the US lead, storing warheads for what they still see as a future Western threat. The irony in this cold-war mentality is that it could deepen the very danger the other US initiative - aid to help reduce stockpiled weaponry of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union - is designed to address. No one needs even more stacked-up Russian nukes, vulnerable to theft. The US-backed programs to reduce that danger, in effect since 1991, have had considerable success. Thousands of warheads have been deactivated, nuclear material put in safer storage, and weapons scientists redirected to peaceful pursuits. But much remains to be done, and funding has been barely adequate. The Bush decision to sustain funding is positive, though specific figures won't be known until the 2003 budget is out. The administration is leaning toward a little more than $1 billion. Many in Congress are willing to go higher, and a bipartisan commission that issued its findings early last year recommended $3 billion a year. The positive US move to help Russia get rid of excess nukes should be matched with a positive willingness to deactivate permanently America's surplus warheads. If that takes the more formal agreement Russia favors, with verification measures, fine. Copyright © 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 34 U.S. Nukes Should Be Destroyed, Not Stashed Away EDITORIAL Newsday.com - January 16, 2002 A cloud of bad faith hangs over the once- promising negotiations between Russia and the United States to make deep joint cuts in their nuclear arsenals. As talks got under way in Washington yesterday, the main obstacle surfaced immediately: Moscow's valid objections to U.S. plans to put nuclear warheads in storage instead of destroying them. That plan - spelled out in the Pentagon policy study, the Nuclear Posture Review - goes against the spirit of President George W. Bush's pledge to Russian President Vladimir Putin to make deep cuts in the U.S. strategic arsenal. It's disingenuous; Bush should disavow it immediately. If the plan goes through, the United States would destroy a small portion of the nuclear missiles slated for reduction, but "decommission" thousands more - remove their warheads and store them separately, which the Pentagon argues would enable prompt reassembly if a threat were to arise. That eventuality is remote. Even if the U.S. arsenals were slashed from the current 7,200 to a less grotesque 2,000 intercontinental ballistic missiles, there would still be enough available for every conceivable target in the world. It would still be a massive deterrent. So why play games with semantics and the arms-control equivalent of a bait-and-switch gambit, which could seriously derail the arms reduction talks? The Russian Foreign Ministry insists that the reductions discussed by Bush and Putin were intended to be irreversible. The Russians are right. Bush should reassess the Nuclear Posture Review and modify its plans in regards to nuclear cuts. In its other recommendations, the review is largely on the mark. It encourages the Bush administration to move away from overall reliance on nuclear arms and shift its defense emphasis toward a more conventional military armed with precision, high-tech weaponry. It recommends reducing nuclear Trident submarines from 18 to 14, dropping the B-1 bomber as a nuclear arms platform and destroying 50 Peacekeeper ICBM silos. Those are good choices. But they are vitiated by the silly games over nuclear arms reductions. Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc. ***************************************************************** 35 DOE's King program Tuesday; scholarship banquet this Friday The Oak Ridger Online - Community - Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:04 p.m. on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 The Department of Energy's 2002 Martin Luther King Jr. observance program is scheduled for 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the American Museum of Science and Energy. The Rev. Kelly Miller Smith, senior pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Knoxville, will be the keynote speaker for the event. The program is open to the public. For more information, call Frank Juan with DOE's public affairs office at (865) 576-0885. The third annual Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream" Scholarship banquet will be held this coming Friday at the Garden Plaza Hotel. Proceeds fund the scholarship, which honors King's philosophy of excellence in character and citizenship. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and the banquet starts at 6:30 p.m. University of Tennessee Chancellor Emeritus Bill Snyder is the keynote speaker for the event. Before serving as chancellor for seven years, Snyder was the dean of the college of engineering. On campus, Snyder championed diversity and affirmative action and was known for his accessibility and inclusive management style. The scholarship is awarded to Knox, Roane and Anderson county residents who have an interest in science or the humanities, have been accepted to an institution of higher learning, have a reputation as a good citizen, and participate in community-building activities. Since its inception in 1999, seven scholarships have been awarded. Platinum ($1,000), gold ($750), silver ($500) and bronze ($250) corporate sponsorships are available and include 8, 6, 4 or 2 dinner tickets, respectively. All corporate sponsors will be recognized. Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Wackenhut Services Inc., Bechtel Jacobs Co. and the Oak Ridge Community MLK Celebration Committee are organizing and sponsoring this and other Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration events. For more information, call Delores Mitchell at 576-3984 or Anthony Allen at 483-8694 or visit www.ornl.gov/HR_ORNL/mlk2002/mlk2002.htm All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 36 Cleanup review expected soon Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 11:17 a.m. on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff The Department of Energy's so-called "comprehensive" examination of its cleanup efforts is sure to have a major impact on Oak Ridge when it finally sees the light of day. Headquarters officials have visited Oak Ridge in connection with the review launched last April by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, but some groups are concerned by the amount of local and state input DOE has sought in the effort. Joe Davis, a spokesman for DOE headquarters, said the federal agency is wrapping up the review and will be releasing it in the near future. There is speculation that the release date will be later this month or set in connection with President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget. "As we have maintained all along, DOE commitments and successes to cleaning up the environment in the wake of Cold War weapons production have been marked by false starts and high costs," Davis said. "While DOE has realized some successes, DOE has also missed opportunities. "However, we believe we can do better, and DOE is committed to performing and making the tough choices to ensure production and quality performance in its Environmental Management program. We can't do this alone, therefore we will need a firm commitment from our partners in the states and Congress to support an obvious need for reforms that will lead to success." Oak Ridge is home to a significant number of cleanup projects, including several facilities at the Oak Ridge K-25 site where, formerly, uranium-235 was separated from uranium-238 through a gaseous diffusion process. That's why some people find it strange that local agencies, such as the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Oak Ridge DOE oversight office, have not been asked to participate in the review. "We were certainly anticipating that we would," said Doug McCoy, manager for environmental restoration programs with TDEC's Oak Ridge office. "But it hasn't happened." Although also not asked to participate in the review, the Citizens' Advisory Panel of the Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee recently sent a letter to Paul M. Golan, chief of staff with the Office of Environmental Management, outlining some suggestions for improving the cleanup program. The Local Oversight Committee monitors local DOE activities. For one thing, if level funding is maintained, the Citizens' Advisory Panel says it will allow for long-term planning that is necessary for major cleanup projects to proceed expeditiously to completion. The group maintains that the tendency has been to reduce budgets, which ends up costing more money due to increased surveillance and maintenance for facilities requiring cleanup. In addition, when projects are delayed indefinitely, as typically happens when budgets are cut, knowledgeable personnel are lost and resources scattered. The result is excessive restart costs. Other suggestions offered by the Citizens' Advisory Panel include the following: + Examine how contracting options affect the efficiency of a project. Choose contractors based on ability and experience, not just low cost. + If equipment or personnel are known to be necessary for a project, ensure that they are available so schedules are not dragged out. + Technologies successfully applied elsewhere in the DOE complex should be carefully examined as to their relevance to other remediation needs. Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or pparson@oakridger.com All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 37 Conversion plant for uranium hits new political snag - The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Wednesday, January 16, 2002 Tuesday was supposed to be the deadline for announcing a winning bid for construction of the waste-conversion plant. The delay is indefinite. By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 Four years after a federal law was passed to build a uranium waste-conversion facility at Paducah, the project apparently has hit still another political snag in the nation's capital. On Tuesday, the day a contractor was slated to be named after months of bid evaluations, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Louisville, who authored the legislation, talked by phone with Department of Energy and Office of Management and Budget officials regarding concerns with the project. "I can confirm there have been discussions with OMB and DOE," said Robert Steurer, press secretary for McConnell, who is in Kentucky this month during a congressional recess. "He's working really hard to get this project moving forward." Steurer said he could not discuss details of the conversations. Department of Energy officials who had planned to announce the winning bidder provided no insight about the reported indefinite delay. Although official word was unavailable, some sources speculated the OMB, Congress' financial arm, has continuing concerns about the cost and scope of the work. DOE’s preferred option of converting the uranium hexafluoride into safer uranium dioxide is expected to cost $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion and create several hundred construction jobs. Construction must start by Jan. 31, 2004. Rumors surfaced a month ago within the nuclear industry that the OMB had told the Department of Energy the conversion project was not a funding priority. That was despite a 1998 federal law calling for the work and earmarking about $373 million for facilities at Paducah and Piketon, Ohio, to convert about 14 billion pounds of the material in about 60,000 cylinders. About two-thirds of the canisters are at the Paducah uranium enrichment plant and the rest are at closed enrichment plants at Piketon and Oak Ridge, Tenn. Phil Potter, Washington-based policy analyst for Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) International, said he understands the delay is largely due to disagreement over how many plants should be built. "We've not been able to confirm that with anybody with real authority with the OMB," he added. He said the OMB apparently favored no plants and DOE favored two, after which the OMB responded it would back a one-plant plan. "It's been going back and forth now for a couple of weeks and we just don't know what the outcome is and how they're going to deal with it," said Potter, whose union workers would have priority for the jobs. "Everybody seems to believe that if there is only one plant, Paducah would have an advantage because it has more cylinders." That is "totally unsatisfactory" to the Ohio delegation, which co-wrote the legislation with McConnell only to see USEC Inc. close the Piketon plant last summer amid financial trouble, he said. Congress mandated the plan to eliminate the waste while creating about 150 long-term jobs in each community, heavily affected by USEC layoffs. DOE hopes some parts of the material, particularly fluorine compounds, can be used commercially to generate about $200 million in revenue during the roughly 25 years of conversion work. But the project has stumbled again and again since 1998. Labor leaders, civic officials and congressional delegations have repeatedly criticized the OMB and DOE for foot-dragging over budgetary issues. DOE delayed bidding for more than a year before resuming the process in late 2000. There are also concerns by some plant neighbors and watchdog groups about the safety of converting the material, which contains low-level radiation and poses chemical hazards. Some of the cylinders are rusty and have leaked. Chamber of commerce, economic development and county government officials have endorsed the conversion project because of its economic potential and the public safety risk of continuing to store the cylinders. DOE officials say the canisters cover about 42 acres at the three sites and, containing dense uranium, have a total weight about a tenth as much as the Great Pyramid in Egypt. DOE is doing an environmental study to assess worker and public health and environmental impacts of the conversion project. It also will gauge the facilities’ construction and effect on local employment, income, population, housing and public services. A draft environmental impact statement is expected to be issued in June and a final statement in January 2003. ***************************************************************** 38 Opinion: K-25, Y-12, X-10: Perhaps not just random letters, numbers Oak Ridger Online --> Story last updated at 12:08 p.m. on Wednesday, January 16, 2002 The late Ruth Carey was openly proud of a letter from the late Gen. Leslie R. Groves, commandant of the World War II Manhattan Project. Herself an Oak Ridge historian of sorts -- her photography, her reminiscences published in The Oak Ridger during the city's 50th anniversary celebration -- Ruth had written to Groves asking his explanation of the significance of K-25, Y-12 and X-10, the original names for Oak Ridge's three primary nuclear facilities. There was no significance, the general replied. The names were meaningless, chosen utterly at random, he wrote. End of speculation, at least as far as Ruth was concerned. The general had spoken. Now, however -- and with apologies to her, a dear friend who died unexpectedly in the spring of 1994 and one who cared about Oak Ridge as much as if not more than anyone else I've known -- there is evidence that the general was not exactly correct. R.P. Prince and A. Milton Stanley, who have been poring through papers at the Inactive Records Center now established at East Tennessee Technology Park, have found evidence that at least one plant name definitely did not happen at random and some less certain evidence that neither did the other two. Prince, for more than 20 years a records clerk at local plants, and Stanley, a former research associate with University of Tennessee and now a private historical consultant in Oak Ridge, have published an article in the Journal of East Tennessee History: "What Does 'K-25' Stand For?: Deciphering the Origins of the Manhattan Project Code Names in Oak Ridge." Prince and Stanley acknowledge speculation over now more than 50 years that K-25, Y-12 and X-10 may have originated from product names, map coordinates or, like Gen. Groves wrote to Ruth, just happenstance combinations of letters and numbers chosen for security reasons. A. Milton Stanley However, the further they have inspected early records, and especially early records relative to K-25, the more certain they are that K originated with the Kellex Corporation, the subsidiary of the M.W. Kellogg Company formed specifically to design the nation's first large-scale gaseous diffusion plant which was, of course, K-25. The number "25," they've also found, was a World War II-period code for U-235, enriched uranium, which was, of course, the product the gaseous diffusion plant was designed to produce -- separate. Also, in some records the term "25 metal" was used to designate U-235. But why and when were "K," for Kellex, and "25," for enriched uranium, put together? Prince and Stanley believe that Clark E. Center first used the hyphenated K-25 in a March 29, 1943, Kellex technical report. Then, just weeks later, they write in their article, "The earliest reference to 'K-25' as a plant is found in the record of an April 1943 meeting of the so-called 'Intergroup' for gaseous diffusion planning in which the term 'K-25 plant' appears twice." Soon after these 1943 references, Center would become the first Union Carbide manager of all Oak Ridge Operations when Carbide was named plant operating contractor for, first, the Manhattan District and then, after World War II ended, for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. (Union Carbide remained plant contractor until 1983.) The Prince-Stanley article states: "This (Center's) reference suggests that sometime during the two weeks between the Center report and Intergroup report the term 'K-25' came to be used at Kellex not only as a code for the gaseous diffusion plant's product, but for the plant itself." (Strictly speaking K-25 was the name for only the first units of what would eventually become a vast gaseous diffusion complex, the later units designated K-27, K-29, K-31 and K-33. In common usage, however, K-25 came to mean the whole complex with the term still spoken today to refer to what now is the East Tennessee Technology Park and/or the Horizon and Heritage Centers.) R.P. Prince Prince and Stanley note that at first it was "K-25 plant," lower case P, thus suggesting that "K-25" described the type of plant rather than a proper facility name. Just when the "P" got capitalized, thus naming the specific Oak Ridge location, they are uncertain. When the terms "K-25" and "K-25 plant" were first used in March and April 1943, the site of the plant was still uncertain. Two other locations, "Grand Coulee Big Bend" and "Shasta (North Central California)" were still under consideration in addition to "Clinton -- T.V.A.," as Oak Ridge was referred to then. * So how then Y-12 and X-10? "Available information," Prince and Stanley write, "does not form a complete picture of the origin of other plant names ... . However, ... records ... provide tantalizing evidence that suggests that these other plants did not receive their names by completely random selection." "Y," they write, "was used in the 1940s as a code for uranium. ... The evidence is not yet clear, however, on which came first, 'Y' as plant name or product code. ... "Similar evidence exists for the X-10 site, now known as the Oak Ridge National Laboratory," their article states. "X," they say, was Manhattan Project parlance for uranium metal, the fuel used for the original Graphite Reactor at the X-10 site. "But again," they allow, "even assuming a relationship between plant name and uranium code, it is not clear which usage for 'X' came first." Another theory is that "X" was simply short for experimental. The journal writers acknowledge that absolute answers are still elusive. Many records remain classified. But, Prince and Stanley speculate, "It is also possible that persons with knowledge of how these plants got their names are still holding to half-century-old vows of secrecy ... . It is still possible that they will someday step forward and shed further light ... ." -- RDS Richard D. Smyser is founding editor of The Oak Ridger. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 39 World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Approved for Irish Sea Environment News Service: DUBLIN, Ireland, January 14, 2002 (ENS) - Two hundred wind turbines have been approved for Ireland's east coast in a new development that will be the largest offshore wind power project in the world. At a Foreshore Lease signing ceremony in Dublin on Friday, Irish Marine &Natural Resources Minister, Frank Fahey, gave the go-ahead for the construction and operation of the 520 megawatt wind farm in an area of the Irish Sea known as the Arklow Bank. There are currently only 20 offshore developments worldwide, all in northern Europe. When completed, the Arklow Banks project will have three times the combined capacity of all offshore wind farms currently in production in the world. [Fahey] Irish Marine &Natural Resources Minister, Frank Fahey (Photo courtesy [http://www.marine.ie] ) Fahey said, "Today heralds the dawning of a new age of clean green energy, harvested from two plentiful renewable resources, the sea and the wind. I am particularly pleased that this project, the most ambitious offshore wind energy development ever undertaken, is being undertaken by a dynamic Irish company who have already established a track record in renewable energy projects." The wind farm application, which had been subject to full public consultation, had received no objections from members of the public. Ireland is ideally suited to generating wind power as some of the strongest winds in Northern Europe blow from the north and southwest coast. Fahey says this project will be the first of many. He hopes it "will help to establish Ireland as a world leader in this young industry and that the Arklow Banks will become a model development attracting visitors from around the world." During clear bright weather, the development, situated some seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from the nearest onshore point, will be highly visible from Wicklow Head to Courtown Harbour and including such popular beaches as Brittas and Courtown. On the international side, there is a strong possibility that a development of this size will bring large numbers of trade and public representatives on fact finding visits with a positive effect for tourism, the minister said. There may also be an increase in marine tourism with boat trips bringing people out to the wind farm, which will not be open to the public. Fahey expects considerable revenue for Ireland from this development - upwards of €1.9 million ($1.7 million) each year within five years of completion. There is a provision in the Foreshore Lease to increase the maximum output of the wind farm and vary the number of turbines subject to the minister's consent. [turbine] One of two 66 meter diameter rotors is lifted into place a kilometer off Blyth, UK where an offshore wind farm now generates power. (Photo courtesy Blyth Offshore Wind Limited) The Arklow Banks are seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from the nearest landfall. Situated east of Arklow in the Irish Sea and running in a north-south direction for 27 kilometers (17 miles) and are up to a mile and a half wide in places. Water depths from five to 25 meters (16 to 81 feet) make them an ideal location for generating electricity. The pollution free energy produced will be equal to an annual reduction of some 1.1 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide that would have been emitted from a coal fired generating station producing the same amount of electricity. The development will contribute the ability of Ireland to meet its greehouse gas reduction target under Kyoto Protocol, an addition to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that was approved politically during negotiations in 2001. Ireland must reduce its emission of carbon dioxide by eight percent during the period 2008 to 2012. Phase 1 of the project, when operational, will replace some €330 million of imported fossil fuels. The social benefit of avoided pollution is estimated at €25 million ($22.3 million). The wind farm is to be built by eirtricity, a joint venture between Future Wind Partnership and the National Toll Roads. Future Wind Partnership was set up three years ago with its aim being to develop Ireland's wind energy resources. "The development of major offshore wind energy parks will be the biggest energy revolution since the internal combustion engine," according to Eddie O’Connor, managing director of eirtricity and vice president of the European Wind Energy Association. Speaking at the signing of the foreshore lease, Dr. O’Connor said, "The resource is there, the technology is proven, the costs continue to drop - all that is needed is the political will to see it happen." [turbines] Two wind turbines generating power offshore the UK (Photo courtesy Blyth Offshore Wind Ltd.) "The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources are to be congratulated on a foreshore policy that is more advanced than our European neighbors," said Dr. O'Connor, "however, the key next step is for the government to create a business environment that encourages investment in offshore wind energy. Without support in areas such as grid connection costs and capital relief, Ireland risks losing the lead it has now established in offshore wind energy to countries such as the UK, where massive subsidies are targeted at offshore wind energy." Eirtricity hopes to commence construction in the spring and begin power generation of 60 megawatts in autumn of this year. The entire 520 megawatt wind development will have the capacity to meet the needs of more than 400 industrial electricity users or 500,000 homes. The cost of the project will, at current prices, be in excess of €630 million ($563 million). Construction of phase one will result in 360 full time equivalent jobs and 23 permanent jobs from 2002. Fahey said an anticipated increase in marine life means, "There is a real possibility of an increase in boat angling in the area, not to mention the potential creation of a valuable new protected spawning ground for the Irish Sea." The achievement of the targets set down in the European Union's law known as the Renewable Energy Directive will require offshore wind development all over Europe. The onshore resource is simply not there or is too expensive, Dr. O'Connor said. He predicts that offshore wind energy alone could provide up to two thirds of Europe’s electricity needs by 2020. [news@ens-news.com] © Environment News Service (ENS) 2001. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 40 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.03 | 9 - 14 January 2002 A weekly summary of international news relevant to the nuclear energy industry. [NB02.03-1] US energy secretary Spencer Abraham will recommend that president Bush approve the yucca Mountain site in Nevada as a permanent underground repository for spent nuclear fuel. His decision starts the final site approval process. At least 30 days must pass before Mr Abraham's recommendation can be given to the president. If the Department of Energy's (DOE's) recommendation is accepted by Mr Bush, the DOE must then file a licence application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) before it can build and operate the repository. Yucca Mountain would receive spent fuel from US nuclear plants and high-level waste (HLW) from US defence programmes. The state of Nevada will have 60 days in which to object to President Bush's decision, after which Congress will then have 90 legislative days to vote on whether to support the president's decision and overrule the objection. (NucNet News, 10/02, 11 January; NEI InfoWire, 10 January; SpentFUEL, 14 January, p1; see also News Briefing 02.01-14) [NB02.03-2] Finland: A decision on whether to recommend approval of the country's fifth nuclear power reactor will reportedly be made by the government this week. Finnish energy industry officials are 'positive' about the likely outcome, although there still appear to be divisions within the government. If government approves the plan, it will then need to be approved by parliament, with a vote likely to take place this summer. A new opinion poll published by the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper shows that 40% of the 1506 Finns interviewed think the parliament should approve construction of the fifth unit, while 33% were against and 28% undecided. (NucNet News, 09/02, 11 January; see also News Briefing 01.36-5) [NB02.03-3] US: The operating licences of Southern Nuclear Operating Co's Hatch-1 and -2 have been extended for an additional 20 years by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The licences of the two BWRs were due to expire in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Hatch is the fourth US nuclear power plant to receive a 20-year licence renewal. (Nuclear Market Review, 11 January, p2; NucNet News, 14/02, 14 January; see also News Briefing 01.26-4) [NB02.03-4] US: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is seeking public comment on a draft supplement environmental impact statement (SEIS) that examines the environmental impacts of a proposal to extend the operation of Browns Ferry-2 and -3, and possibly unit 1. The company intends to submit an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to extend the operating licences for the Browns Ferry reactors. (Nuclear Market Review, 11 January, p2; see also News Briefing 00.27-13) [NB02.03-5] US: Plans to federalise nuclear facility security forces would bring no advantages and could even complicate responses to acts of terrorism or sabotage, according to a new report published by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The report - entitled 'Implications of Security Force Federalisation on Nuclear Power Plant Security' - says that, because of the high calibre of existing security forces and because a power plant's management must be unified across operational and security functions, legislative proposals to federalise nuclear security forces would not be beneficial. Of the more than 5000 trained professionals who comprise the industry security forces, two-thirds have prior military, law enforcement or industrial security experience. The report is available on the NEI's website, http://www.nei.org. (Nuclear Energy Overview, 14 January, p3; NucNet News, 07/02, 9 January; see also News Briefing 01.50-16) [NB02.03-6] A delegation of North Korean nuclear engineers spent two weeks in South Korea in December touring nuclear power plants. The visit was part of an agreement reached in 1994 for the US-led consortium Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO) to build two nuclear power plants in North Korea and train nuclear experts. North Korea will send 290 nuclear engineers to South Korea for training in 2002. (Far Eastern Economic Review, 10 January, p8) Meanwhile, a technical team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit nuclear facilities in the Nyongbyon area of North Korea from 15-19 January. The visit (not an inspection) will include the Isotope Production Laboratory, an installation that North Korea has stated was involved in the early stages of development of its nuclear programme. (IAEA, 10 January; see also News Briefing 01.49-8) [NB02.03-7] Russia: Construction of Rostov-2 will begin in the first quarter of 2002, director of the nuclear power plant Alexander Palamarchuk announced. He said that more than 18 billion roubles (US$591 million) had been allocated for the construction and adjusting work, which is to be completed in 27 months. Rostov-1 has reportedly generated more than 4.5 billion kWh since it was put into operation. (RosBusinessConsulting, 14 January; see also News Briefing 02.02-8) [NB02.03-8] Czech Republic: The Temelin-1 nuclear power reactor reached full power on 11 January, following permission from the licensing authority. However, later that day a trip occurred in the generator voltage control on the non-nuclear side of the unit. After clarification of the cause of the incident, operator CEZ will resume full power mode and continue testing at that level. (NucNet News, 13/02, 11 January; see also News Briefing 02.02-7) Austria's far-right Freedom Party has launched a petition demanding the closure of the Temelin plant. It is seeking to block Czech efforts to join the European Union (EU) unless the plant is closed. The move has caused a rift within Austria's ruling coalition, with the centre-right Austrian People's Party opposing the initiative. (BBC News Online, 14 January; see also News Briefing 01.49-7) [NB02.03-9] Slovak Republic: The Bohunice nuclear power plant increased output by almost 11% in 2001, while the Mochovce plant experienced a decline of more than 9%, primarily because of a major maintenance outage. (FreshFUEL, 14 January, p5) [NB02.03-10] France: The 'reinforced surveillance' under which the Dampierre nuclear power plant was placed over a year ago has been lifted by the French nuclear safety authority, the ASN. At the time when the measure was imposed, the country's director of safety for nuclear installations was concerned about 'a lack of operating vigour' at the plant and warned that it could be closed down if the situation did not improve. However, the measure has been lifted following 'an improvement in the situation at Dampierre and a tendency to keep up this improvement'. (NucNet News, 15/02, 14 January; see also News Briefing 00.36-6) [NB02.03-11] US: Stone & Webster - a subsidiary of the Shaw Group - will participate in a contract to provide the consulting services to support the development of a demonstration power plant that will utilise the new advanced Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) technology. The demonstration plant will be located in South Africa. (Shaw Group, 14 January; see also News Briefing 01.43-8) [NB02.03-12] Bulgaria: The use of a new radioactive waste treatment, conditioning and storage complex at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant has been approved by Bulgarian officials. The complex comprises a radwaste treatment workshop, a conditioned waste storage facility and a service unit. It has two separate lines for handling liquid and solid wastes. The project was started in 1992 and the cost of construction work is estimated at over US$4.1 million. (NucNet News, 11/02, 11 January; see also News Briefing 01.07-15) [NB02.03-13] Czech Republic: The privatisation of national electricity utility CEZ has been officially postponed. The government - which rejected revised bids for its sell-off of 67.6% of CEZ - will now conduct a fundamental review of its options. Neither of the final two offers - submitted by Electricite de France (EDF) and a consortium of Italy's ENEL and Spain's Iberdrola - met the government's requirements. The decision means that the country's two nuclear power plants - Temelin and Dukovany - will continue under Czech ownership for the immediate future. (NucNet Business News, 3/02, 10 January; FreshFUEL, 14 January, p5; see also News Briefing 01.51-16) [NB02.03-14] The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is to restructure the directorates responsible for regulating the development, production, transport and use of nuclear energy and nuclear substances. The changes - effective from 10 January - will see regulatory responsibilities previously handled by the directorates of reactor regulation, fuel cycle and materials regulation, and environmental and human performance assessment consolidated in a new operations branch. (NucNet News, 16/02, 14 January; see also News Briefing 00.19-7) [NB02.03-15] Electricite de France (EDF) will be ready for liberalisation of the European wholesale electricity market between 2003-2005 so long as liberalisation of the retail market is delayed until a later date, EDF chairman Francois Roussely told the Le Monde newspaper. He said the company will 'doubtless' make certain acquisitions in 2002. (AFX News, 9 January; see also News Briefing 99.48-3) [NB02.03-16] Czech Republic: Vaclav Hanus has been elected as the new president of the Czech Nuclear Society (CNS). Mr Hanus works for the Temelin nuclear power plant and was previously CNS vice-president. He replaces Rudolf Vespalec, who retired at the end of 2001. (NucNet Insider, 2/02, 10 January) [NB02.03-17] Finland: Grapes are being grown at the site of the Olkiluoto nuclear power plant. The vines are expected to survive the cold climate because heated waste water from the plant is being pumped through an underground network of pipes beneath the vines, before flowing out to sea. If the experiment is successful, the plant could be producing 500-800 gallons of wine within a few years. (Nuclear Energy Insight, November/December, p8) Previous News Briefing NB02.02 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************