***************************************************************** 02/17/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.42 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: Demonstrators debate merits and dangers of nuclear power plants 2 UK: Stuck in nuclear limbo NUCLEAR REACTORS 3 Contaminated water leaks from Ukrainian nuclear power plant 4 US: Clinton reactor: Shut lake hangs hopes out to dry 5 Contaminated water leaks from Ukrainian nuclear power plant 6 Commissioning Gears up at South China Nuclear Power Plant 7 Scotland - Secret plan to close Chapelcross early 8 Russia: Karelian nuclear power plant to be built on sly NUCLEAR SAFETY 9 US: Defunct phosphate plant remains a big, toxic tough sell 10 Russia: Break-in Highlights Nuclear Security Problems 11 US: State wants pills for nuclear areas NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 12 US: Sen. Harry Reid slams Bush for Yucca decision 13 US: Nevada Files Suit Over Yucca Mountain 14 US: Bay Area May Be in Hot Water Over Dumping 15 US: Warring corporate giants put the yuck in Yucca 16 US: PRO: Nevada site is right for nation 17 US: CON: Yucca Mountain plan flawed 18 US: Texas: State orders uranium sites cleaned 19 US: Reid says Bush lied with nuke waste campaign remarks 20 US: Nevada officials split over fallout of Bush nuke waste decision 21 US: LETTERS: Nuclear waste: no big deal or a threat to our community 22 US: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Republicans 'disappointed' in Bush 23 US: Transporting waste to Nevada a concern 24 US: Reclaimed mine is not as safe as once thought 25 US: Letter: Keep the nuke poison where it was created 26 US: Benjamin Grove: A tale of two mountains -- Yucca and Wasatch 27 US: Yucca: Editorial: So much for all the promises 28 US: Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Let's defy the odds 29 US: More proof of flawed decision 30 US: Readers\' opinions vary on Yucca Mountain 31 US: Reid calls Bush liar for nuke waste campaign remarks 32 US: Shipments to Yucca could pass through Reno 33 US: President Backs Development of Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevad 34 US: Yucca storage plan needs more study NUCLEAR WEAPONS 35 Pasko's Lawyer Finds New Evidence 36 US: U.S. History: Harry Truman: Cornered in the Oval 37 Princess’s husband caught up in anti-nuclear blockade at Faslane bas 38 Hussein rejects development of weapons of mass destruction - 39 Resurgence issue 210 - THE NEED FOR DISSENT by George Monbiot 40 Depoe Bay man has first-hand knowledge of Iraq's nuclear weapons US DEPT. OF ENERGY 41 Deer With High Radiation Level Found at BNL 42 DOE/Brookhaven budgeting correction ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Demonstrators debate merits and dangers of nuclear power plants Newsday.com - February 17, 2002, 7:12 AM EST PEEKSKILL, N.Y. -- Hundreds of protesters from two community groups held opposing demonstrations Saturday over the fate of the Indian Point nuclear power plants. Workers at the plants, union members and residents gathered at Riverfront Green Park to argue that the plants should stay open, while a group of protesters against the plant held a rally nearby, the Journal News reported Sunday. Some activists have said that the plants, which are 35 miles north of New York City, pose a danger in the densely populated metropolitan area. Pressure to close the plants has mounted amid fears that they could be a target for an airborne terrorist attack. Officials have said that the plants are safe, and that an emergency plan is in place. Representatives of both sides of the debate spoke at yesterday's demonstrations, which drew about 1,000 people. "These are among the most skilled workers you'll ever find in one place for one purpose _ to make electricity that is safe, reliable and cost-effective," said Tom Burns, a supervisor at the plant. Anti-nuclear activist Susan Shapiro, of Rockland County, called closing the plant "a win-win situation." "We hear what our president is saying," Shapiro said. "He is saying look for danger in our back yards _ we see Indian point." On Thursday, officials said a small leak in a steam generator at the plants had been detected, but that it was releasing only a tiny amount of radioactive steam and did not present a danger. Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press ***************************************************************** 2 UK: Stuck in nuclear limbo scotsman.com - NO DOUBT British Energy was cheered a little by last week’s publication of the energy review by Downing Street’s performance and innovation unit and its benign outlook for the future of the nuclear industry. Nuance and tone are all-important in such documents and there was a tacit acknowledgement that nuclear power might yet be a solution to this government hitting its targets for reducing carbon emissions should renewable energy sources fall short. As Scotland on Sunday revealed a week ago, one of the PIU’s key recommendations is for tax breaks that would help facilitate the development of new nuclear power stations, in particular exempting them from the proposed carbon tax. But the review, which promised so much when it was launched by Energy Minister Brian Wilson last summer, is something of a damp squib - precious little detail for energy companies to latch on to and use to inform their business plans. For all the positive sentiment in the review, it is not apparent that the incentives proposed would be enough for new nuclear power stations to be financially viable. And because of the long lead time required for new development, the industry needs answers sooner rather than later. But a White Paper is not due until this autumn followed by legislation next year at the earliest. British Energy is still in limbo. Those in both the green lobby and in the Scottish parliament opposed to a new station at Hunterston are probably happy enough for now. Sunday, 17th February 2002 Scotland on Sunday ***************************************************************** 3 Contaminated water leaks from Ukrainian nuclear power plant Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) ( February 17, 2002 ) Kiev (dpa) - Water contaminated with radioactivity has been released through a leaking pipe at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Chmelnizki, the emergency situations ministry said Sunday. The leak had contaminated an area of about 30 square metres outside the plant. Staff at the plant had not been harmed. The leak in the pipe linking the reactor with a special pool had been plugged. Workers were decontaminating the area. An investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched. dpa Copyright 2002 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH ***************************************************************** 4 Clinton reactor: Shut lake hangs hopes out to dry Chicago Tribune | February 18, 2002 By Julie Deardorff Tribune staff reporter Published February 17, 2002 DEWITT, Ill. -- After Ed Jurgens lost his job last year, he and his wife, Laurie, bought a shuttered bait shop on the outskirts of Clinton Lake, optimistically christening their fledgling business Good Times. But so far, the Jurgenses, who moved from Chicago's northwest suburbs to this rural central Illinois town, have had nothing but hard times. Clinton Lake, a popular year-round recreational area, is primarily a cooling source for the AmerGen Energy nuclear power plant. It is one of three Illinois cooling lakes closed since Sept. 11 for security reasons. After the terrorist attacks, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered the nation's 103 nuclear plants in 31 states to the highest alert level. Exelon, owner of Illinois' 10 nuclear power generators, closed lakes at three of its six sites--Clinton, Braidwood and LaSalle. Security experts have been wrestling with how to make the lakes accessible without jeopardizing the safety of the plant. "We know a number of people would like to utilize the lake, and we're working on a plan that would allow us to protect our plants but also get the lakes open to the public," said Exelon spokeswoman Ann Mary Carley. "But the most important thing is protecting the plants." Last week, federal officials ordered nuclear power plant operators to adopt more rigorous employee screening and guard training. The new requirements also mean cars and trucks approaching commercial nuclear plants will be stopped farther away from plant gates for searches. Carley added that those changes and additional information about possible terrorist attacks would not interfere with plans to reopen the public grounds. "We've had ongoing conversations with the FBI and other agencies since Sept. 11 and built [measures] into our plans to make sure we could protect the facility from all types of threats," she said. At Clinton, a decision to open parts of the lake was postponed in October because state officials had lingering security concerns. "If they can demonstrate an equal or higher level of security than when the entire lake was closed, then certainly, for economic reasons, open a part of the lake," said Mike Chamness, director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Now Exelon plans to put up a barrier, which would open most of the lake in the spring, said Tom Ortciger, director of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety. Currently, there are no discussions about reopening the lakes in Grundy and LaSalle Counties, Ortciger said. Gas stations, groceries hurt In DeWitt County, the towns of Clinton and Farmer City, which serve as bookends to Clinton Lake, have been hardest hit by the closure, said Ken Bjelland, chairman of the Dewitt County Economic Development Committee. "It's hard to estimate the economic impact, but it's the gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores and bait shops that are hurting," Bjelland said. "But if the lake reopens by spring, it could offset the negative impact." Even so, small-business owners who depend on anglers and boaters have been stung by the closure of the 5,000-acre reservoir. Shore fishing is allowed, but boat ramps are closed and most people incorrectly assume the entire area is shut down, Laurie Jurgens said. "We're losing about $1,000 a week," said Laurie Jurgens, who had sent her restless husband bank-fishing because business was so slow. He came home with an 8 1/2-pound, 23-inch striped bass and promptly posed for a Polaroid, capturing the bright spot in the day. "Some weekends we made nothing," Laurie Jurgens said. "We've had $6, $12 days." Big decrease in visitors The Clinton Lake area drew more than 217,000 people from September through December 2000, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which manages the fish and wildlife on the property. That number dropped to 133,643 for the same period in 2001. If Braidwood Lake stays closed all season--March through January--visitors to Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area could drop about 400,000, said Mark Meents, the area's superintendent. The Mazonia section of the park, which offers fishing in strip-mining lakes, is still open. Clinton Lake was created when a dam was built across Salt Creek for the power plant, and it has since become a prime fishing spot for striped bass, white bass and catfish. The lake stays warm year-round because of the nuclear power plant. Lake water runs through the plant's condensers and is gradually discharged. In January, water temperatures can be in the high 70s, said Dan Sallee, a regional fisheries biologist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. But fish have trouble adapting to sudden temperature change. Last year, more than 7,000 fish died after the sudden release of cold water during an emergency shutdown at the Clinton plant. Most of the dead fish were large bottom feeders such as buffalo or drum, but several types of bass and catfish also perished. "Summer is more stressful for the fish when the water is very hot," Sallee said. "On the other hand, the lake was built for the power plant. You have to keep in mind the primary purpose." Merchants band together Local business owners Gilbert Kirby of Gibby's Marine Repair and Kevin Heiden of Storage Unlimited spearheaded an effort to raise awareness about the importance of the lake. They sent about 2,000 letters to customers, asking them to contact local, state and nuclear power officials. "We cannot afford not to have this lake open," said Heiden, who relies on the lake for about half his business. "It's the only thing Clinton has going for it." Kirby said his business has been down at least 25 percent, and he laid off an employee he usually keeps through the winter. Clinton also has been hit by factory closings and layoffs, Kirby said. The weather "was nice for so long this year that we would have had another month and a half of business if the lake were open," Kirby said. Trying to start a new life The Jurgenses came to the area after Ed, who worked for an Elgin company for 19 years, was laid off from his job as a machine operator in May. Ed grew up fishing in Chicago's Montrose Harbor. They opened in mid-July, but Sept. 11 put a quick stop to business, which was down about 60 percent from what they had expected. Meanwhile, their home in Crystal Lake is still for sale. But most of the local fishermen see a silver lining. With the noise-polluting Jet Skis and motorboats off the lake, the bank fishing is better than ever. On a recent rainy morning, Tony Adkisson of nearby Downs burst through the front door of the Good Times bait shop with three striped bass between 10 and 15 pounds. "Soon as the 100-horsepower motors are out there, it'll be over," he grumbled. Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune ***************************************************************** 5 Contaminated water leaks from Ukrainian nuclear power plant Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) ( February 17, 2002 ) Kiev (dpa) - Water contaminated with radioactivity has been released through a leaking pipe at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Chmelnizki, the emergency situations ministry said Sunday. The leak had contaminated an area of about 30 square metres outside the plant. Staff at the plant had not been harmed. The leak in the pipe linking the reactor with a special pool had been plugged. Workers were decontaminating the area. An investigation into the cause of the incident has been launched. dpa Copyright 2002 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH ***************************************************************** 6 Commissioning Gears up at South China Nuclear Power Plant Xinhuanet 2002-02-17 16:44:01 SHENZHEN, February 17 (Xinhuanet) -- More than 600 engineers and technicians at south China's Ling'ao Nuclear Power Plant have spent their Lunar New Year holiday finishing the final commissioning, so that the plant can be operational before the peak electricity use period in July this year. Officials at the four-billion-U.S. dollar plant near Shenzhen in Guangdong Province said they expect the nuclear power plant to be put into service on June 30, 15 days ahead of schedule. The plant was loaded with nuclear fuel before the Spring Festival, the officials said. The Ling'ao plant, with two 900,000-kilowatt generating units, will be the third nuclear power plant in service in China. The other two are the Daya Bay plant, also in Guangdong, and the Qinshan plant, in east China's Zhejiang Province. Enditem Copyright © 2000 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 Scotland - Secret plan to close Chapelcross early NEWS.scotsman.com - Sun 17 Feb 2002 The 43-year-old plant at Chapelcross in Dumfriesshire is said to be no longer economically viable. STEPHEN FRASER CHAPELCROSS nuclear power station will close next year with the loss of 450 jobs under secret plans presented to the government by its owners. British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) is pressing ministers to let it shut Chapelcross at the end of 2002, six years earlier than planned. BNFL claims Chapelcross, Scotland’s oldest nuclear power station, in Dumfriesshire, is no longer economically viable. BNFL has been in secret discussions with both the Department of Trade and Industry and the Scottish Executive. The firm claims the plant is only economically viable if it is allowed to preserve its monopoly on supplying electricity to English power supply firms. ‘A closure within two years would just be totally unacceptable’ However, the energy regulator Ofgem is planning to halve the amount Chapelcross can sell. Sources close to the industry claim BNFL’s closure threat may be part of a plan to force the government to overrule Ofgem. The sources also believe BNFL is manoeuvring to ensure it gets the go-ahead to build a new nuclear power station at Chapelcross, which would be cheaper to run and deliver bigger profits. The government is expected to give the nuclear industry the go-ahead to build at least 10 new stations over the next 20 years as other existing stations come to the end of their operational lives. BNFL has also proposed bringing the closure date for the 43-year-old reactor to 2005 as a compromise if the government finds plans to close the plant in 2003 unacceptable. One source said: "There is a fear and a belief that British Nuclear Fuels has a secret plan to close Chapelcross as early as next year." The secret plan is thought to be motivated by the high cost of repairing two of Chapelcross’s four reactors. A modern nuclear plant could generate five times more electricity and require only 90 people to run it, one fifth of the number employed at Chapelcross. The two reactors were closed after an accident during a refuelling process, when fuel rods were dropped around 80ft to the ground. It was later found that radiation exposure had distorted fittings in the reactor. BNFL employs 450 people at the plant, but it is also thought to support at least 1,000 other jobs in the area and is estimated to be worth £20m to the Dumfries and Galloway economy. David Mundell, a Tory MSP for the South of Scotland, said: "A closure within two years would just be totally unacceptable for the local economy. The jobs we are talking about at the plant are high-quality, well-paid professional posts and there is just nothing else in the area that offers the same high value. "Dumfries and Galloway has already suffered through the impact of foot and mouth and losing Chapelcross early would be a disaster. It’s not as if we are close to the central belt. Our location means that people who work at Chapelcross can’t then stay here and travel to another job because we’re too far away from other sources of work." He added: "I will be calling upon the Scottish Executive, and in particular Wendy Alexander, the enterprise minister, to intervene in this situation. "At the very least Alexander should be putting together an economic development taskforce to try and bring some hope to this area." Russell Brown, the Labour MP for Dumfries, said: "I have worked with BNFL to lobby Ofgem on the changes to their access to the interconnector. I am very angry that it appears they might be playing an alternative game." Last night, Brian Wilson, the Westminster energy minister, said he knew nothing of BNFL’s plans. "No one has been near me with the suggestion that Chapelcross might close in the near future," he said. Chapelcross, a magnox reactor, was originally designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium for Britain’s nuclear missiles. The plant has also supplied the gas tritium, which is used in Trident missile warheads, to the Ministry of Defence since a special extraction facility was built in 1980. Chapelcross is the only UK nuclear plant producing tritium. The Ministry of Defence, however, recently put its contract for the supply of tritium out to tender and received a bid from BNFL which was at least double its previous bid. A source said: "There are suspicions they may not have tried too hard to win the contract." A spokesman from the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the contract for producing tritium is due to end in March, and that the MoD is tendering for a new supply contract. "We have had negotiations with BNFL over this new contract," he said. He would not confirm details of the negotiations. He added, however, that the MoD currently had "more than enough stocks" for the foreseeable future. Chapelcross is the only Scottish nuclear power station supplying energy through the Anglo-Scottish interconnector to English power supply companies. The regulator Ofgem is proposing to open the interconnector to two other nuclear power stations, Torness in East Lothian and Hunterston B in Ayrshire, both operated by rival British Energy. It wants to cut the energy Chapelcross sells to English customers by nearly half, from 196 megawatts to 100 megawatts. No one was available for comment from BNFL. ©2002 scotsman.com | contact ***************************************************************** 8 Russia: Karelian nuclear power plant to be built on sly Russia has 10 nuclear power plants (NPPs) in operation. The safety standards of the Soviet designed reactors have been highly questioned by international experts. During the last decade, the social issues at the Russian NPPs have become of major concern in line with the technical flaws. (St Petersburg:) Russian government signed a program, suggesting building a nuclear power plant in Karelia without consultations either with the local authorities, or with the public. image: SPbU magazine Rashid Alimov, 2002-02-17 09:55 Member of Russian parliament, representing Karelia, Valentina Pivnenko, will lodge an official inquiry to the Prime Minister about plans to complete design of the Karelian NPP. “Ignoring the opinion of the local people is exasperating,” IA Rosbalt quoted her as saying. Document in 230 pages On December 29th 2001, Russian government issued a decree No 923 “On changes and additions in the federal Program Energy Efficient Economics for the Years 2002-2005 and till 2010 in the Long-range Outlook”. This document is remarkable not only for its sophisticated title, the Program is a huge volume on 230 sheets. Karelian government at first did not notice a small item about building Karelian NPP. But when this item was noticed, it became a real cause to clutch the head. The Program requires “evaluation and feasibility study” for Karelian NPP, which would operate on four 700 MW power-units, and the plant is planned for the year 2007. The press-service of the Karelian government told Bellona Web: “We saw the Program at first in the Internet, on the site of the Energy Ministry, and we were deeply surprised. We decided, some fault happened. Then we called the Ministry for Nuclear Energy, and they said, they had no relation to these plans.” The statement of the Karelian head Last Monday, the head of Karelia, Sergey Katanandov made an official statement on the Program. “Neither I, nor any other member of the Karelian government was invited to discuss this problem [building of a nuclear plant],” he said. He mentioned that on February 15th 1990, taking into account the public opinion, Presidium of the Supreme Council of Karelia prohibited to build and design Karelian NPP. Katanandov stressed that Karelia is a territory with a unique natural system, bordering on the European Union. The decision to recommence the design work cannot be made without consultations with the government of Karelia, without taking into consideration opinion of the local people and without an accurate environmental impact study. The governmental decree also violates the articles 13 and 32 of the Federal Law On the Environmental Protection, which requires a mandatory assessment of the project’s impact on the environment. “If the governmental decree wouldn’t be nullified, I reserve to myself the right to initiate a referendum in the republic,” the Karelian head claimed. Nuclear Power Plant in Tiiksa In November, Bellona Web wrote about the dismay, caused by a statement of the director of Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (STUK) Hannu Kopponen, that he had information that a new nuclear plant might be built near Tiiksa in Karelia. Karelian authorities told us that time, deeply surprised, that there really had been some ideas to build a NPP in Tiiksa in the early 1990s, some research had been carried out, but the plans had been rejected soon. Tiiksa, a village in the Muezersk district in Karelia, is located in 60km from the Russian-Finnish border. At present, there are about 640 inhabitants in Tiiksa, a half of them are pensioners. The whole Muezersk district has no harmful industries: the majority of its population is engaged in logging. The pulp and paper industry is the most developed industry in Karelia. Natural conditions of Karelia resemble the ones of the neighboring Finland, where producing of energy from the wood, the by-product of the mentioned industry, has been promoted heavily during the last decade and has increased its volume for more than 70%. In 1999 wood fuels supplied 19,5% of the Finnish energy consumption. In Karelia there are a lot of the same wood fuels. The alternative sources of energy seem to be much more preferable, than building a new nuclear giant. The press-service of the Karelian government told Bellona Web: “The republican authorities are going to check, if there is any activity in Tiiksa, connected with building a new nuclear plant.” Finland concerned Moreover, plans to build a nuclear power plant raised concern in Finland. Finnish Greenpeace campaigner, Harri Lammi, said to Bellona Web: “That concerns interest of the Finnish public a lot. We don’t understand, why Russia doesn’t use alternative sources of energy, which are safer? Why Russia should invest in the expensive and potentially dangerous nuclear plants and doesn’t think of energy efficiency, which would be the best? And plans of Russian Ministry for Nuclear Energy to export electricity to Finland, in my opinion, are groundless.” To build a nuclear plant on the sly Official rejection of juridical norms by the Russian nuclear industry is simply shocking. Sometimes representatives of the government fail to recall at a Supreme Court session, whether there had been any environmental evaluation, required by the Law, before the radioactive waste from Hungary had been shipped to the Mayak combine in Siberia. Sometimes, excusing an enterprise in the premises of Leningrad NPP, which was supported by the Nuclear Energy Ministry, but failed to pass the state evaluation, the Ministry’s representative calls the state environmental evaluation itself a legal casuistry. A month and a half passed, until the Karelian government found in a 230-page document a short item to build a nuclear plant in the republic. One can only wonder, whether the activities around Karelian NPP will continue to develop on the sly? And whether it is possible that one day a new shining nuclear giant would grow on the Russian-Finnish border, while the local people would shake their heads: they were said a saw-mill was being built. 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 ***************************************************************** 9 Defunct phosphate plant remains a big, toxic tough sell heraldtribune.com: News posted 02/16/02 By HOWARD M. UNGER howard.unger@heraldtribune.com SOUTHWEST FLORIDA -- After 34 years, five owners, three worker deaths, one toxic cloud, and 1 billion gallons of acidic water still pumping through its radioactive stacks of fertilizer byproduct, Piney Point Phosphates' days are numbered. One year into a Department of Environmental Protection takeover, the fate of Piney Point rests with bankruptcy lawyer Herbert Donica, who wants to sell the plant to a business willing to take on its rocky past. Donica's plan is opposed by the chairman of the Manatee County Commission and local environmentalists. In U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tampa on Wednesday, Donica said he's close to announcing the sale of Piney Point's sister plant in Mulberry, the other offspring of the Mulberry Corp., which abandoned both sites last year. Piney Point is a much tougher sell. The plant north of Palmetto is older, the location isn't as prime as Mulberry Phosphates, and the one-story administration building across from Port Manatee is falling apart, literally. "It can't make money as a phosphate fertilizer plant," Donica said outside the courtroom, surrounded by dozens of lawyers representing Mulberry Corp.'s creditors, who are owed more than $92.7 million. Donica said whoever buys the 650 acres off U.S. 41 won't just produce something other than fertilizer. They also will be responsible for cleaning up and shutting down the fertilizer plant's legacy -- the 1 billion gallons of acidic water stored in the mountainous white stacks of phosphogypsum, or gypstacks. "What's important is placing these assets in the hands of somebody that will become morally bound to clean it up," Donica said. "If you want to process phosphate, go somewhere else." He called policy ideas being tossed around by Manatee County leaders and environmental groups "plans and pipe dreams." While they're doing the right thing by talking, Donica said, solutions aren't going to come from government. Companies may be attracted to the property, he said, because of its proximity to Port Manatee, existing railroad tracks and U.S. 41. County Commissioner Amy Stein, however, said she's wary of Donica's plan. "It might sound attractive at first blush, but who's going to want to spend $50 (million) to $100 million dollars to close down the gypstacks?" she asked. The costly process involves draining the acidic water, lining the bottom of the gypstack with a polyurethane sheet and filling the space with soil. She suggested the Environmental Protection Agency -- which paid a $160,000 Mulberry Corp. electric bill last year -- return to Piney Point and deem the plant's toxic stacks a Superfund site. As for the rest of the property, she called the plant's decrepit buildings a "ghost town" that should be cleaned up and sold. "It needs to be declared a Superfund site because you can't trust a company to go in there and pay for the cleanup," said Glenn Compton, head of ManaSota-88, a local environmental group whose battles with Piney Point date back to the '70s. The industry itself has tried to heal some of the wounds Mulberry Corp. left. The Florida Phosphate Council, a Tallahassee interest group, helped sponsor a bill last year to increase the fund paying for the Mulberry mess. "We don't want to cast aspersions against the Mulberry Corporation," phosphate council spokesman John Joyce said. "Mulberry had an impact on the industry and it's something we regret. But we're trying to put in place safeguards that will help prevent this situation from happening again." Unable to pay annual dues to remain in the phosphate council, Mulberry withdrew in 2000. The remaining six members, many of which were planning to expand phosphate mining projects throughout Southwest Florida, were left trying to explain how a phosphate company could run itself into bankruptcy. A spokeswoman for IMC Global, a phosphate fertilizer company hoping to strip-mine an area along the Peace River, wouldn't discuss Mulberry. In a volatile market like phosphate fertilizer, IMC spokeswoman Diana Youmans said, a company needs to be large enough to weather the storm. Last year, IMC Global's sales totaled $1.96 billion -- 150 times what Mulberry Corp. paid for Piney Point in 1993. "In a market like this, being able to go through production ups and downs gives us the ability to handle the situations that have been a problem for others," she said. An infertile market From his office in Manhattan in 2000, Philip Rinaldi waited for the international fertilizer market to bounce back. For decades, supply and demand charts looked like examples from a macroeconomics textbook. Nutrient-rich phosphate fertilizer allowed countries to produce more crops over less land, allowing cities to grow. The charts always bounced back. There was north Africa, then the Soviet Union, and, in the '80s, South America. In 1993, the newly formed Mulberry Corp. bought Piney Point Phosphates out of bankruptcy for $13 million, becoming the plant's fifth owner in 25 years. The Palmetto fertilizer plant reopened for four months in 1999, but shut down when production became too costly. Mulberry Corp. spent $30 million refurbishing Piney Point, Rinaldi, its president and chief executive officer, said in interviews then. The supply and demand curves, however, didn't do their part. On Feb. 16, 2001, after Rinaldi gave state officials 48 hours' notice that the company wouldn't be able to pay a $160,000 electric bill, state judges in Bradenton and Bartow handed control of Mulberry's two plants to the state. That same week, the company filed for bankruptcy, owing $93 million to creditors, including $1.3 million to a company pension fund and $100,000 in employee wages. After filing for bankruptcy, Rinaldi quickly left his Manhattan office and slipped out of public view. A week earlier, by phone, he had told the Herald-Tribune that Mulberry Corp.'s problems "could be managed with a few tens of thousands of dollars." A 20-year veteran of the phosphate industry, Rinaldi boasted about his knowledge of the market and Mulberry Corp.'s future. The company's records, however, indicate Mulberry Corp. never turned a profit between 1994, when it incorporated, and the time it filed for Chapter 11. One year later, the state has spent nearly $10 million to prevent toxic spills at Mulberry's two plants. China, meanwhile, has joined the World Trade Organization and agreed to import billions of dollars' worth of American phosphate fertilizer. Last week, Gov. Jeb Bush asked the Legislature for an additional $20 million to "protect the environmental security" at the plants for another year. Most residents in the Central Florida town of Mulberry, the namesake of Rinaldi's company, know what a fertilizer plant catastrophe can do. In December 1997, a plant there spilled 56 million gallons of acidic water into the Alafia River, killing most of the aquatic life along a 35-mile path to Hillsborough Bay. Millions of dollars in environmental fines have never been paid. It took two and half years for a five-agency task force to assess the environmental damage. Erik Orsak, a contaminants specialists for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, called his work "wasted" when he learned of Mulberry Corp.'s collapse. State control DEP officials admit that overseeing the plants and Mulberry Corp. workers, who are paid with state funds, has been a learning experience. Initially, the takeover went smoothly. The EPA had already solved Mulberry Corp.'s largest problem by paying the company's $160,000 electric bill. But soon DEP engineers had an even bigger problem on their hands. Giant pumps at both plants keep toxic water from seeping through the stacks and into local ground water. Water levels are regulated so nothing spills into Tampa Bay. But at the Piney Point plant, officials nearly panicked when over four days in mid-September, Tropical Storm Gabrielle dumped nearly 12 inches of rain into the gypstacks, catching engineers off-guard. In Tallahassee, unbeknownst to the DEP officials in Tampa who were running Piney Point, agency secretary David Struhs signed an emergency order to release 500,000 gallons of partially treated water from the gypstacks. The dumping began Oct. 22 and continued for two weeks. Struhs approved dumping 50 million gallons, but after Manatee County officials threatened a lawsuit, the state turned off the pumps at 10 million gallons. "It came to a crisis point after Gabrielle," recalled Stein, who has since taken a central role in finding solutions for what to do with the water at Piney Point. "We realized that there was room for only 3 inches of water in the gypstacks," she said. That's when, she said, she realized that county officials needed to worry about the future of Piney Point. She has since helped broker an agreement allowing the county's water treatment center to process millions of gallons of water from the gypstacks at Piney Point. Besides treating the water beforehand with a process that costs $15 per 1,000 gallons, the DEP will pay for the water to be shipped to the county treatment center. "My job is to make sure none of the water spills," said Louis Timchak, a Tampa lawyer assigned to run the plant's day-to-day operations by a Bradenton judge. Since the DEP took over Mulberry Corp.'s two plants, money to fund gypstack cleanup projects has been coming from a fund earmarked for reclaiming abandoned phosphate mines and paid into by phosphate miners around the state. A bleak history Shortly after Piney Point opened 34 years ago, cattle poisoning was reported at nearby ranches. Over the next two decades, a succession of owners were fined for water and air pollution, including discharges that killed trees and forced workers to be hospitalized. In 1989 a sulfuric acid spill forced hundreds of people to be evacuated -- including 100 Port Manatee workers, 64 ship crew members, 170 prisoners at the county stockade and 60 local families. Three workers died in industrial accidents in 1991, two years before the Mulberry Corp. bought the plant. One worker died when he was crushed by a 300-pound motor, another was killed when when he was impaled by a metal rod after he fell from an elevator platform and a third died after falling 20 feet from a railroad car. That same year, a toxic cloud of sulfur gases was accidentally released, sickening more than a dozen county residents. The situation aggravated Gloria Rains, former chairwoman of the environmental group ManaSota-88, who died in September 2000. "That plant is a disaster waiting to happen -- and it will happen eventually," she was quoted as saying in 1997. She'd still be fighting today, said Compton, who took over the group after Rains' death. "Closing those gypstacks is something that should have been done quite some time ago," he said. ***************************************************************** 10 Russia: Break-in Highlights Nuclear Security Problems By Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer Igor Tabakov / MT Greenpeace activists protesting against the importing of spent nuclear fuel outside the Nuclear Power Ministry in November. In broad daylight, a State Duma deputy, two Greenpeace activists and three NTV cameramen sneaked into a supposedly high-security industrial complex in western Siberia and spent several hours near storage facilities containing 3,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel. The six men took dozens of photographs, shot a video and returned to Moscow undisturbed. "We entered through two-by-two-meter holes in the barbed wire and walked on well-trampled paths, probably made by local citizens," Sergei Mitrokhin, a liberal lawmaker in the Duma's Yabloko faction, said of his break-in at the Krasnoyarsk Mining and Chemical Plant, which was shown in a special report by NTV broadcast Thursday night. "The guards drove past us several times, and we passed by their sentry boxes, but we pretended to be locals and nobody stopped us." In November, the Krasnoyarsk plant received 41 tons of spent nuclear fuel from the Kozlodui plant in Bulgaria under a controversial new law allowing the import of spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing and storage. Advocates of the law, which was signed by President Vladimir Putin in July, argue that Russia could earn $20 billion over the next decade by importing some 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel. However, environmentalists have fought the law, saying that turning Russia into the world's leading nuclear recycling facility would cause far greater ecological damage than the billions earned could repair. When the first consignment of spent nuclear fuel arrived in Russia from Bulgaria in November, Greenpeace activists demonstrated outside the Nuclear Power Ministry in gas masks and chemical protection suits. At a news conference in Moscow on Friday, Mitrokhin said that his break-in at the Krasnoyarsk plant was designed to show that Russia is not ready to import radioactive material. The country's system of nuclear safety is not just poor but "nonexistent," he said. Mitrokhin, a member of the presidential commission on controlling imports of spent nuclear fuel, said that during a hearing on ecological safety in the Duma on Feb. 7, the Nuclear Power Ministry assured deputies that there were no security problems at its facilities. But Mitrokhin said Friday that he could have easily climbed onto the roof of the Krasnoyarsk plant's storage building and got inside it. "I was shaken to see it," he said. "Anybody can come to a depository with extremely dangerous materials and do whatever he wishes near them. And the Nuclear Power Ministry plans to bring 20,000 tons of nuclear supplies from abroad here and leave it adrift." According to Mitrokhin, safety measures at most of Russia's 96 nuclear plants and research centers are not covered by the federal budget at all. As a member of the international coalition fighting terrorism, Russia must be more responsible for the safety of its nuclear facilities, Mitrokhin said, otherwise it will become "the weakest link of the coalition and a potential target for terrorists." Vladimir Chuprov, a Greenpeace nuclear expert, shared his fears. "Several dozen kilograms of regular explosives would be enough to trigger a new Chernobyl there," he said Friday. Chuprov said the plant's storage facilities contain 1 billion curies of radioactive waste. The radioactive discharge from Chernobyl was about 50 million curies, he said. However, the management of the Krasnoyarsk plant insisted last week that security at its storage and transportation facilities remained unbreakable. "We employ several hundred guards, and one regiment of Interior Ministry troops is delegated to guard us," Vasily Zhidkov, the head of the plant, said in the NTV report. It was unclear whether Zhidkov was aware of Mitrokhin's break-in at the time. Zhidkov could be reached for comment about Mitrokhin's claims Friday. Mitrokhin said that he would send a video about the break-in to Putin. In addition, Greenpeace said it has sent letters about the security breaches at the plant to the Federal Security Service and to the Prosecutor General's Office. [http://www.themoscowtimes.com ***************************************************************** 11 State wants pills for nuclear areas » More From The Plain Dealer Ohio News 02/17/02 Susan Jaffe Plain Dealer Reporter State health officials are recommending that anti-cancer pills be supplied to about 200,000 people - including infants under a year old - in Ohio who live within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant. The free potassium iodide pills, provided by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, can prevent one type of cancer caused by radiation exposure in the event of an accident or an attack on the plants. Each person would receive two tablets. "Hopefully you won't need two pills because, if there is an accident, we want people out of there," said Kristopher Weiss, an Ohio Health Department spokesman. "And hopefully, there won't be accident." But before Ohio goes ahead with the distribution plan, health officials have scheduled meetings beginning next week to hear what local officials and residents think of the idea. Meetings will be held near the Davis-Besse plant in Port Clinton, the Perry plant in North Perry and the Beaver Valley plant just over the border in Pennsylvania. FirstEnergy Corp., which owns the plants, has said any radiation release is unlikely. So far nine states have taken up the NRC's offer, some prompted by increased concerns about the vulnerability of nuclear plants. The country's 103 operating reactors remain on the highest security alert following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. New York requested the pills after President Bush announced that new documents found in Afghanistan showed terrorists had targeted American nuclear plants. About half the NRC's supply of 7 million pills will be distributed to New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Florida, Connecticut, Alabama and Arizona, said Patricia Milligan, an emergency planning specialist at the NRC. The agency is spending $1.2 million for the pills. If more pills are needed, additional money would have to be allocated, she said. There are some logistical problems that would have to be worked out before the pills could be distributed, said Jay Carey, a Health Department spokesman. Local officials will discuss whether to give out the pills before an accident or at special distribution centers set up after a radiation release. They also will have to figure out how to persuade people that the pills are not a substitute for evacuation because they only protect against one of dozens of harmful radioactive substances. Contact Susan Jaffe at: sjaffe@plaind.com, 216-999-4822 Cleveland © 2002 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission. ***************************************************************** 12 Sen. Harry Reid slams Bush for Yucca decision Nevada Appeal February 16, 2002 U.S. Sen. Harry Reid addresses reporters Saturday at the top of Heavenly Ski Resort overlooking Lake Tahoe. Brian Corley photo by Susie Vasquez, Appeal Staff Writer Lashing out at President George Bush over the approval of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Saturday that Bush's decision will be brought to bear on his presidency. He said 51 votes in the Senate and 218 votes in the House will be needed to defeat the measure in Congress. Many of those votes will be up for grabs in the wake of this decision, which Reid says will affect Bush's ratings and the outcome of elections in November. "This is not just Nevada's problem. It affects the whole country," Reid said "And it's a lie, as evidenced by the rush to judgment." The senator predicted that the decision to bury the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada will cost Bush votes. "He will lose seats in Nevada and all over the country," Reid said. "Every environmental group in the world is opposed to Yucca Mountain. He thinks he can make an announcement like this, leave the country and it will blow over. That won't work." Within 24 hours of receiving the recommendation from Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Bush rubber-stamped the document, then left for Asia on a diplomatic mission. Reid used Lake Tahoe as a backdrop Saturday to blast Bush's decision. "I thought this would be an appropriate place to talk about an issue that's important to me because this is where Bush came when he campaigned in Nevada," Reid said, standing on an observation deck at Heavenly Ski Resort. According to Reid, Bush knew he was behind in the polls during his 2000 presidential campaign, when he came out against a nuclear waste repository in Nevada. To gain votes, Bush ran TV ads assuring people he would not authorize a nuclear waste facility without "sound science." In a letter on Friday to congressional leaders, however, Bush said a central disposal site for the waste that is building up at locations across the country "is necessary to protect public safety, health and this nation's security." Reid scoffed at that declaration, saying the U.S. Department of Energy did not properly consider environmental impacts or the security risk posed by transporting the 77,000 tons of waste stockpiled at U.S. nuclear plants and defense facilities. Reid said transporting the waste won't necessarily ease the risk, because each nuclear plant will have a measure of nuclear waste and nuclear fuel. If Yucca is used to store waste, shipments will be in transit across the nation. In light of Bush's ties to the energy industry, Friday's decision may represent a precursor to future nuclear energy development, according to Reid. Reid also responded to former Gov. Robert List's opinion that instead of fighting the issue, officials should be trying to get the best deal possible for Nevadans. "If this is how he helps Nevada, tell him we don't need his help," Reid said. "Did Governor List show you his checkbook? I'm not impressed with anything he has to say." List works for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm. "The President put us in a hole and we will see what happens, after the governor vetoes the dump," Reid said. Following Bush's decision Friday, Gov. Kenny Guinn has 60 days to veto establishment of a nuclear dump in Nevada. He said he will meet with the congressional delegation to determine the best strategy concerning when that veto should be made. Congress has 90 days to override that veto. The Energy Department wants to start shipping 77,000 tons of waste to Yucca Mountain by 2010. The site is 90 miles north of Las Vegas. The project was initiated in 1982 by the Reagan administration. The Department of Energy has studied the mountain for 15 years and has spent about $8 billion on the project. Nevada Appeal News Service reporter Susan Wood contributed to this report. Copyright Nevada Appeal. Materials contained within this site may ***************************************************************** 13 Nevada Files Suit Over Yucca Mountain Reuters February 16, 2002 09:46 PM ET Reuters Photo By Chris Baltimore WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nevada has filed a lawsuit against the Bush administration to fight a decision to dispose of 70,000 tons of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican, filed the lawsuit late Friday in U.S. District Court against President Bush, the Energy Department and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. The plaintiffs were the state of Nevada, Las Vegas and Clark County. The Bush administration said on Friday that Yucca Mountain would be the final resting place for radioactive material from the nation's 103 nuclear power plants for an estimated 10,000 years. Guinn and other critics of the plan worry that radioactive material might seep into the ground, posing health risks for residents, and cite the risks of transporting nuclear waste over great distances. The lawsuit alleges that the Energy Department violated the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act when it announced in December that Yucca Mountain would require man-made barriers as well as the mountain's natural geology to contain the waste. The 1982 act had specified that the geology of the chosen site had to be sufficient to safeguard the waste without additional construction. "Instead of geology they're now studying engineering. That's an abrupt change," said Greg Bortolin, a spokesman for Guinn. Bortolin accused the Energy Department of "changing the rules to suit their needs." The lawsuit also accuses the Energy Department of breaking rules by not allowing the state to review environmental studies 30 days before approving the site. "The governor's office received the environmental impact statement only hours before the president made his recommendation," Bortolin said. On Friday, Abraham said no such action was necessary. "The law does not require that the final statement be offered to the governor of Nevada prior to being offered to the president," he said on a conference call with reporters on Friday. By law, Nevada's state government has the right to appeal Bush's decision to Congress, where a simple majority vote would decide the case within 90 days. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must also approve a license for the site. The energy department hopes to activate the site by 2010. ***************************************************************** 14 Bay Area May Be in Hot Water Over Dumping February 17, 2002 Environment: Radioactive waste site near Golden Gate Bridge is raising concerns over unknown contamination levels. By COLLEEN VALLES, ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN FRANCISCO -- Over 24 years, the government and private research agencies dumped almost 48,000 55-gallon drums of radioactive waste just a few miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge. That waste now is leaking into the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary--and no one knows how much contamination it is causing in seafood. Federal officials say they don't have the money to determine the extent of the damage. Scientists have studied and mapped only 15% of the disposal site, and the little they did see suggests that most of the radiation leaking from the barrels is not higher than what occurs naturally. Still, environmentalists say more research must be done to gauge the effect on the area's rich marine life. "If it is getting into the food chain, what precautions are being taken?" said Maurice Campbell, a member of Community First Coalition, which has pushed for a government cleanup of radioactive waste in San Francisco's former Navy base. "There should be an independent study." The marine sanctuary surrounds the Farallon Islands, themselves a national wildlife refuge, and protects 1,225 square miles of ocean. The area is home to 36 species of marine mammals, and teems with so much sea life that albatrosses have been known to fly 5,000-mile round trips from Midway Island and back to feed themselves and their young on what they gathered at the Farallones. Commercial and sport fishermen also harvest a variety of deep sea and shallow water fish there. Only limited testing has been done on sediment and ground fish at the dump site, and no agency has budgeted closer looks at the problem, said sanctuary manager Edward Ueber. Worried residents and environmentalists hope an ongoing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration review of the sanctuary's management plan will address monitoring of the dump site. Most agree that cleaning the area could make things worse. Some of the drums were sunk with bullet holes, and most are so corroded that moving them would spread more radioactive waste. Even with money, getting to the drums would be difficult. They were dumped over 540 square miles in water 300 to 6,000 feet deep along the edge of the continental shelf, an area crisscrossed with canyons and gullies. Most submarines that dive deeper than 2,000 feet aren't available on the West Coast, Ueber said. Most of that waste is radioactive material and contaminated gloves and uniforms from national laboratories administered by the University of California and now-defunct Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory in San Francisco. It was dumped between 1946 and 1970 at what then was called the Farallon Islands Nuclear Waste Site. Two other primary radioactive waste dump sites for the United States, located about 120 miles off the coast of Maryland and Delaware, were also used before the Ocean Dumping Act banned such dumping in 1972. Herman Karl, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, acknowledged that his agency hadn't surveyed most of the radioactive mess. "We weren't able to go to the area where 40-some-thousand were dropped," Karl said. "We didn't have the time or the money." In the early 1990s, Karl surveyed what he could from a submarine, and unmanned submersibles mapped the barrels. The USGS study concluded that leakage raised radiation levels only slightly in nearby sediments. A 1991 survey by NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency also found only low-level radiation. "A big concern is that there was so much dumping in the '50s, and is it continuing to have problems?" said Janet Hashimoto, of the EPA's regional office in San Francisco. "All of the balances indicated that there was very low radiation, and sometimes, it was at background level." Most of the commercial fish harvested in the region--Pacific herring, salmon, rockfish, albacore tuna and Dungeness crab--live at depths shallower than the nearby drums, and government tests on seafood every few years have not shown cause for alarm, said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assn. "The last thing we want is to have any tainted fish getting on the market," Grader said. "That's just risking consumers' health and we want to assure them what they're buying is safe." However, elevated radiation levels have shown up in Dover sole and some other deep-sea fish that people eat, according to a study published in 1996 by Thomas Suchanek, then a research ecologist with UC Davis. To see just how far the radioactivity has spread, more testing should be done on organisms that live their entire lives near the barrels, said Suchanek, now a deputy director of environmental contaminants with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Though a USGS study concluded that currents probably won't carry contaminants through the Golden Gate and into the bay, some Bay Area residents want more monitoring to make sure the radioactivity isn't entering the food chain or washing onto Northern California's beaches. "The real solution there is ongoing monitoring and taking tissues from the sea life and water fowl," said Saul Bloom, executive director of Arc Ecology, a public interest group that has followed the issue. "That has to happen on a regular basis." But the effect of the waste on the rich life of the sanctuary is unknown, Bloom said. "As far as I know, we know the most about it, and that's pretty . . . sad." If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives. For information about reprinting this article, go to www.lats.com/rights. Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times ***************************************************************** 15 Warring corporate giants put the yuck in Yucca Denver Post.com By Jon Margolis --> Sunday, February 17, 2002 - The scientific debate over Yucca Mountain may be devilishly complicated, but the politics are simple: Nevadans - a whopping 83 percent of them asked in one recent poll - don't want the radioactive waste from the nation's 103 nuclear power plants shipped to their state for storage. The electric utility industry insists on it. Elsewhere, the average person doesn't give a hoot, but the average member of Congress does, especially those from the 35 states where the spent fuel sits in pools near the power plants. The nuclear energy industry has argued, reasonably, that most locals would rather get the gunk gone. It has also made campaign contributions. So most politicians are inclined to go along with the industry, especially since the opposition has not agreed on an alternative solution. But there is little doubt that those who do care about this issue care deeply. As soon as Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that he found Yucca Mountain a suitable site, those on both sides of the debate went, well, nuclear. From Las Vegas, Mayor Oscar Goodman, displaying his city's well-known sense of proportion, described the energy secretary - a decent and honorable fellow - as "that piece of garbage." From Washington, John Sununu, the first President Bush's chief of staff, proclaimed that if "Nevada is not willing to do its part in what is part of a national plan for homeland security maybe Americans ought to vacation somewhere else." Sununu is lobbying on behalf of the Yucca Mountain repository for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and both his employer and his reputation indicate how this dispute may transcend itself. The leadership role taken by the U.S. Chamber shows that the country's corporate establishment in general, not just the utility industry, wants the Yucca Mountain dump. Sununu's former life as a partisan gut-fighter is a reminder that, though there are Democrats and Republicans on both sides of this issue, it is the Republicans who are now in charge, and who could pay the price. Though more polite than Mayor Goodman, Nevada's Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. John Ensign, and Rep. Jim Gibbons restated their opposition to the Yucca Mountain project. Still, it is a Republican administration pushing it, and it is Nevada's Democratic senator, Harry Reid, who leads the opposition. It isn't going to be hard for Nevada Democrats to paint themselves as the good guys this fall. Thanks to the Yucca Mountain fight, there is a possibility that Nevada's House delegation could switch from even-steven to two-to-one Democratic. That would be one of just six pick-ups the Democrats need to take control. Reid acknowledges that he faces "a real uphill battle" to get the Senate to vote against Yucca Mountain. Perhaps Sen. Reid can convince - or shame - Bush into rejecting Abraham's recommendation, which now seems to be the senator's goal. Bush won Nevada narrowly, and only, Reid said, because he pledged not to approve the Yucca Mountain project unless "good science" supported it. If Bush accepts Abraham's recommendation, Gov. Guinn then has 60 days to veto the president's decision. But his veto can be overridden by Congress, and persuasion has already begun on both sides. Both the Energy Department and the industry's lobbying group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, insist that Abraham's recommendation is based on "sound science." They continue so to insist, even though the draft report of a study by the General Accounting Office concluded that "DOE is not ready to make a site recommendation because it does not yet have all of the technical information needed." Not quite an accusation of sloppy science, but a strong suggestion that the claim of soundness is premature. The weak scientific evidence seemed to give President Bush a slight pause when Nevada stalwarts made their case to him Feb. 7. It also probably did the advocates of putting the yuck in Yucca no good when it turned out that the law firm the Energy Department was using on the project - Chicago's Winston &Strawn - was paid by the Nuclear Energy Institute. Sound familiar? No, it isn't really much like immoral Enron, except that in both cases public policy seems designed largely to benefit the corporate giants of the energy sector. Jon Margolis, a former political correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, now covers the nation's capitol from his home in Vermont. He is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News. All contents Copyright 2002 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 16 PRO: Nevada site is right for nation Denver Post.com By U.S. Sen. Larry E. Craig --> Sunday, February 17, 2002 - Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham made the right decision: He told Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn that he intends to recommend to President Bush that Yucca Mountain is scientifically suitable for burying the nation's high-level nuclear waste. This is a significant milestone in our effort to find a resting place for spent nuclear fuel and the radioactive wastes that are the legacy of our Cold War victory. Although these high-level wastes are now safely stored at approximately 150 locations around the country, those sites were never intended to be permanent. Moreover, the Department of Energy took on a legal obligation to begin managing spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants. That obligation began Jan. 31, 1998, and the meter is now running up a significant bill for taxpayers. The urgent need for a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel is why the Yucca Mountain site has been subjected to extensive scientific study. A total of nine sites were studied between 1982 and 1987, and the cost of continued technical investigation of other potential sites did not make Yucca Mountain the designated repository by default. While Congress narrowed the field to only one site, scientists collected a lot of information about Yucca Mountain. A comparison of the sites pointed clearly to Nevada as most promising, which is why scientific attention has been focused on Yucca Mountain since then. Opponents of Yucca Mountain expound at length about how dangerous it would be to transport nuclear waste to a repository site. I confess to being very confused by these arguments. Apparently, the only time it is dangerous to transport nuclear waste is if it is on its way to Nevada. Tons of high-level nuclear waste have crossed America for decades, including more than 2,400 shipments of spent nuclear fuel. Idaho alone has completed more than 4,600 shipments of high-level nuclear waste. In not one instance - ever - has a shipment cask released radioactive material. Further, waste is being shipped from 40 countries around the world right now to the United States for storage, and research reactors across America are also shipping nuclear waste. The United States has never had any problems with these shipments because nuclear-waste transportation casks have been subjected to every imaginable test to ensure their safety. Casks have been dropped onto steel spikes, hit by locomotives, crashed into walls at 70 mph. In addition, an extensive process for public hearings has already started in which states, local communities and emergency response authorities can express concerns, have questions answered and receive appropriate emergency-response training. But it is not useful to conduct the training and hearings now, when this program is at least a decade away and the DOE has not selected transportation routes. Some have asserted that our nation's reluctance to reprocess used nuclear fuel made a geologic repository the only option. Such an assertion ignores the recommendations made in 1990 by the National Academy of Sciences, which found there is worldwide consensus that deep geologic disposal in the best option. Reprocessing does not even eliminate the need for a repository. Every time spent fuel is reprocessed, its radioactive byproducts require disposal. In fact, 16 nations are studying geologic repositories, including every nation that currently reprocesses its spent nuclear fuel. Although I support federal funding to explore new technologies to handle nuclear waste, it is our duty to continue the process of repository development - one which will result in a safe, permanent resting place for these wastes. It would be irresponsible to hope for a technological silver bullet and ignore the environmental obligations of today. Opponents of Yucca Mountain mischaracterize national policy that would allow continual study of Yucca Mountain for 50 to 300 years after spent fuel disposal begins. Having a repository that is more easily monitored can only strengthen public confidence in Yucca Mountain. The decision about the site's suitability as a geologic repository should be based on sound and thorough science. I have great respect for the governor of Nevada and for my colleagues in Congress who admirably represent the Silver State. I appreciate the difficulties of this process and their need to do whatever they can to advocate the views of Nevada's citizens. Our nation's energy future, however, demands that we evaluate Yucca Mountain on its scientific merits alone and proceed accordingly. Sen. Larry E. Craig can be reached through his website, www.senate.gov/~craig [HTTP://www.senate.gov/~craig] . He wrote this for Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia. ***************************************************************** 17 CON: Yucca Mountain plan flawed Denver Post.com By Gov. Kenny Guinn --> Sunday, February 17, 2002 - Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham informed me of his decision to press ahead with plans to bury 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. "This decision stinks," I told him, "and Nevada will redouble its fight." In implementing its rich propaganda campaign, the nuclear industry now paints Nevada as unpatriotic, obstructionist and a NIMBY warrior. However, this is America's fight, not just Nevada's. Something that should concern every citizen of this nation is the fact that Abraham made his decision without requiring any analysis of the transportation risks to the 43 states and hundreds of cities and towns through which this dangerous, volatile waste will travel. The citizens of this country have not been told of the danger to them, their children and future generations caused by shipping through their neighborhoods - and possibly alongside their schools, stadiums or through their downtown and industrial areas - 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear fuel at a rate of 3,000 to 4,000 truck and rail shipments per year for 38 years. Such risks include individual exposure to radiation from the mere fact that the waste travels through their community, raising the likelihood of accidents that could release deadly radiation. I urge every citizen who lives in one of the states through which this extremely hazardous material will travel to review the report "Radiological Consequences of Severe Rail Accidents Involving Spent Nuclear Fuel Shipments to Yucca Mountain: Hypothetical Baltimore Rail Tunnel Fire Involving Spent Nuclear Fuel," which can be found at the website for the Agency for Nuclear Projects, Nuclear Waste Project Office, at www.state.nv.us/nucwaste [HTTP://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste] . This report examines the circumstances surrounding the July 18, 2001, rail accident that occurred in Baltimore's Howard Street tunnel, igniting a fire that burned for five days. The report assesses the consequences of this accident had the train been carrying spent nuclear fuel, and concludes that a deadly amount of radiation would have been released from the container. This is what can happen when this waste travels through your community. The likelihood of an accident raises additional issues, such as who will pay for and train emergency response crews in each of the hundreds of cities and towns through which this dangerous waste will travel. Who will pay for and provide the protection to ensure that each shipment is safe from terrorist attack? Many claim Yucca Mountain will somehow aid national security. To the contrary, even if the project proceeds, shipments of highly radioactive spent fuel - some 100,000 individual terrorist targets - will not begin for years. Spent fuel will accumulate at reactor sites across the country for at least the next 50 years, even if more plants are not built. The key to addressing this problem is to secure those sites now, possibly with the anti-aircraft guns and troops proposed this month by the Department of Energy, not simply shipping the spent fuel to another site where it will be stored above-ground for years. Under that industry-boosted scenario, Yucca Mountain will only create a massive new target, as well as thousands of smaller, mobile ones. There is no need to push through a questionable project; we have time to find a storage site that does not fail the test of science or endanger the citizens of this country, as the Yucca Mountain plan does. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said spent fuel can be safely stored at reactor sites for at least the next 100 years, and perhaps up to 1,000 years. Only by acknowledging that the plan involving Yucca Mountain is dangerous and unnecessary can we finally begin the process of finding a safe and workable solution to the nation's spent nuclear-fuel problem. Fortunately, this is a nation of laws, and one of considerable common sense. With our backing, good scientists and good lawyers can now unravel the house of cards created by years of ineptitude and political maneuvering at Yucca Mountain. I have confidence in President Bush, who promised me that the project would not be mindlessly advanced in the face of bad science. I believe President Bush is a man of his word. If he changes course, however, my duty is clearly to Nevadans, and I will spare no effort to ensure that science and the law will ultimately stop the Yucca Mountain proposal from going forward. Gov. Kenny Guinn can be contacted via his website, www.gov.state.nv.us [HTTP://www.gov.state.nv.us] . He wrote this for Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News in Paonia. All contents Copyright 2002 The Denver Post ***************************************************************** 18 Texas: State orders uranium sites cleaned [http://www.caller2.com/subscribe.htm] Caller-Times Emergency demand surprises Corpus Christi company that used facilities By Laura Elder Caller-Times The Texas Department of Health has issued an emergency order to Everest Exploration, demanding that the Corpus Christi company clean up its uranium processing and mining facilities in Karnes and Live Oak counties. "The bureau determined that failure to timely and adequately decommission these facilities constitutes an emergency that requires immediate action to protect the public health and safety and the environment," the agency said in a Feb. 8 notice in the Texas Register. But Everest Exploration President James Clark said the Texas Department of Health, which issued the order through its Bureau of Radiation Control, might be overreacting by designating an emergency order. "This caught us a little by surprise since we've been working with the state for years," Clark said. "This emergency order seems a little dramatic." Everest Exploration has been working with state regulators, including the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, on coming up with a plan to clean up its Hobson, Mount Lucas and Tex-1 sites, Clark said. Everest Exploration already has cleaned up ground water at its sites, but still is working on cleaning up the ground surface at its facilities, Clark said. "We're working with the state on an alternative reclamation plan," Clark said. Hobson is a uranium processing facility and Tex-1 is a mining facility in Karnes County. Those two sites are just southwest of Falls City and about 120 miles north of Corpus Christi. Mount Lucas is in Live Oak County, just south of Dinero, about 60 miles from Corpus Christi. Way past deadline The state gives companies two years after they've stopped mining to clean up areas. Everest hasn't processed or mined for uranium in the Hobson, Mount Lucas and Tex-1 facilities since the 1980s, according to Bureau of Radiation officials. Clark, however, said the Tex-1 site was active in the 1990s. Everest Exploration intends to use the Hobson site in the future, Clark said. But first, the company will have to work with the state in getting permits and meeting regulatory requirements. Radiation Control officials say they issue emergency orders several times a month, but such orders aren't considered the standard course of business at the bureau. They say Everest Exploration should have cleaned up the sites long ago. Expensive cleanups Uranium ore is buried deep in the Earth and brought to the surface through various methods. Everest Exploration uses a form of mining known as in situ, which uses chemicals to separate and extract the uranium and involves little change to the surface, and is considered by state regulators to present fewer environmental problems than strip mining. Still, in some cases, spills and leaks can occur. Uranium ores are radioactive and can pose harm to people and the environment if companies don't take precautions. A company's work at a facility isn't supposed to end when the ore deposits are depleted. When companies stop using facilities, the state requires them to clean up sites and restore the area to its previous condition. Average cleanup costs could run as high as $1 million, said Arthur Tate, director for the division of compliance inspection for the Bureau of Radiation. Everest Exploration has 30 days since the time of the notice to obey the order or appeal. Everest plans to appeal, Clark said. "I'm sure we'll come to some resolution," Clark said. "We've been working with the state for years." Contact Laura Elder at 886-3678 or elderl@caller.com February 17, 2002 [http://www.scripps.com] ©2002 Caller-Times Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 19 Reid says Bush lied with nuke waste campaign remarks Las Vegas SUN February 16, 2002 SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) - Sen. Harry Reid said President Bush lied when he told Nevadans he would base a decision on whether to send the nation's nuclear waste to Nevada on "sound science, not politics." At a news conference here Saturday, Reid criticized Bush's approval Friday of Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the site for long-term disposal of thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste. "So this is the big lie," Reid, D-Nev., said. "The president didn't tell the truth ... If this is an example of how he helps Nevada, we don't need his help." White House spokesman Jimmy Orr insisted Bush based his decision on "sound science." "The fact that the senator disagrees with him on the science is a shameful excuse to personally attack the president," Orr said. Reid's news conference was held at Heavenly Ski Resort's observation deck, where Bush stood in 2000 when he told Nevadans that he would base his Yucca Mountain decision on "sound science." Reid accused Bush of breaking the campaign promise. He said the Energy Department did not properly consider environmental impacts or the security risk posed by transporting 77,000 tons of waste stockpiled at U.S. nuclear plants and defense facilities. On Friday, Bush said his decision was "the culmination of two decades of intense scientific scrutiny" and that he is certain the science is sound. Reid, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, said Bush "would not be president today" if Nevadans had known what was in store for Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Bush won Nevada's four electoral votes en route to his slim victory over Al Gore. "(Bush has) left the country, and he thinks this (issue) will be gone when he gets back, but it won't be," Reid said. Reid said he's also concerned that, given Bush's close ties to the energy industry, Friday's decision may lead to future nuclear energy development. "No doubt that weighed in part on his decision," he said. Nevada's top three Republican elected officials - Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. John Ensign and Rep. Jim Gibbons - also have pledged to fight Bush's decision. Nevada officials have argued that the government can't ensure the public will be protected over the thousands of years the waste will remain dangerous. Guinn has 60 days to veto the project and has said he will do so. Congress then will have to decide, by majority vote of both houses, whether to uphold the decision. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 20 Nevada officials split over fallout of Bush nuke waste decision Las Vegas SUN February 17, 2002 LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada political leaders are split over the political fallout of President Bush's decision to send the nation's nuclear waste to Nevada. Republicans say they are disappointed in Bush's Friday approval of Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the dump site, but think its damage to GOP candidates will be minimal at worst. Democrats accuse Bush of breaking a campaign promise, and say the decision could help their party's candidates in Southern Nevada congressional races this year. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said it would be a defining issue in her expected race against Republican Lynette Boggs McDonald, a Las Vegas city councilwoman opposed to the Yucca Mountain site. Berkley said she thinks voters will examine what she has done to protect them and contrast that with House Republicans who want to open Yucca Mountain as soon as possible. "I would imagine that Nevadans are going to evaluate who they feel will best protect them from nuclear waste coming to Yucca Mountain," she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. But Boggs McDonald said she thinks voters will realize it's a non-partisan issue that pits Nevada against other states. "It's an issue, not the issue," she said. Boggs McDonald said she would welcome a visit by Bush on her behalf because, as someone from a small state, she "looks for the opportunities to have that face time with national leaders." Jon Porter, who's vying for the new 3rd Congressional District seat, pointed to his longtime opposition to nuclear waste and predicted it won't be a defining issue in his race. The state senator said he has asked for help from Laura Bush because she and his wife are librarians. His expected Democratic opponent, Dario Herrera, said the House GOP leaders who support a Nevada storage site should become an issue in the race. "I think Nevadans of all parties should feel betrayed," said Herrera, chairman of the Clark County Commission. "We've been given a right cross by the president and big energy." Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said Bush lied when he told Nevadans during the presidential campaign that he would base the decision on "sound science, not politics." Nevada's top two Republican elected officials - Gov. Kenny Guinn and Sen. John Ensign - said they were "disappointed" in Bush's decision. Bush's speedy decision "has been a slap in the face of everyone, Democrats and Republicans," Guinn said, adding valid scientific issues remain unresolved. But the governor said those who try to make Bush's decision an election-year issue are "small thinkers." Nevada Democratic Party Chairman Terry Care thinks Bush's decision would be fair game as an issue in this year's gubernatorial election. Care also thinks Bush has written off Nevada for 2004. He doubts whether any Nevada Republicans would want Bush to visit on their behalf. Guinn, with $2.5 million in his campaign war chest and no opponent, doesn't need the president's fund-raising help. Ensign isn't up for re-election until 2006. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who has faced only token opposition in recent years, said he may withhold support for Bush on certain issues because of the president's embrace of Yucca Mountain. Asked what Nevadans should think if they voted for Bush based on his Yucca Mountain position, Gibbons replied, "You have to let every Nevadan make that decision." Billy Vassiliadis, an adviser to Guinn and his Democratic predecessor, Bob Miller, predicted no political damage for Nevada Republicans because of Bush's decision. Republican political consultant Pete Ernaut predicted the political fallout "will be a short-term loss to Republicans, but it will be very minimal." All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 21 LETTERS: Nuclear waste: no big deal or a threat to our community? Sunday, February 17, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal To the editor: So, Rep. Shelley Berkley has apparently found a tape showing that an anti-tank missile can blow a small hole in the wall of a nuclear waste shipping container. First of all, such an incident might make a mess, but it would not be catastrophic. The nuclear waste in question is solid and is not under pressure. A hole in the side of a shipping container would not cause large amounts of waste to be released. However, forget the "science" for a moment. How about testing to see if a surface-to-air missile can blow up a shipping cask? Alternatively, someone should look at the potential for a 105mm recoilless rifle shell blowing up a cask. After all, ski area and highway crews in Colorado already use these weapons for avalanche control and hence these weapons would be easy targets for terrorists to steal. The anti-nuclear forces are becoming hysterical in their opposition to the shipment of nuclear waste. Opponents claim that "science" does not support the safe disposal of nuclear waste in the mountain. They may be right; it is extremely difficult to sort out the facts from the rhetoric as presented in the media. When they resort to citing the use of what is clearly a military weapon as a threat to the shipping of nuclear waste, however, they are not using sound "science" either. WALTER F. WEGST LAS VEGAS To the editor: The king of Siam in Rogers and Hammerstein's "The King and I" sings an interesting song titled "Is a Puzzlement!" It could apply today to the whole mess that is Yucca Mountain and the nuclear waste that our good neighbors in 49 other states would like to see dumped in our backyard. And here's the puzzlement: I am told by one pro-dump individual that the containers are absolutely foolproof and safe. So what, then, is all the fuss about? Why move the stuff at all? If it's safe, it should be no problem to just store it anywhere. Why spend all the money to grant Nevadans the privilege of guarding this safe material? To this objection, I was told that the states which have created this waste have storage sites only near populated cities. But it's safe, you said. What did I miss? "Is a Puzzlement!" Yet another pro-dump individual explained to me that the containers hold rods which have low radioactive matter that can spread only if the rods are reduced to fine dust and carried by air to citizens' lungs. So even if the container should be damaged, the rods would not be dangerous to human life. OK, I reply. Then why not just distribute these rods to all the citizens who have a little extra room in their basements, attics and closets where they could sit safely -- harming no pets, children or families -- until the 10,000 year safety warranty on them expires? Just exactly what is going on here? You tell me. "Is a rotten, foul-smelling puzzlement!" DON RAUSCH LAS VEGAS Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 22 YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Republicans 'disappointed' in Bush Gov. Kenny Guinn, flanked by John Ensign and Jon Porter, in September 2000 reads a letter in which presidential candidate George W. Bush described his position on Yucca Mountain. Photo by Jeff Scheid. Sunday, February 17, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal But Guinn, Ensign, Porter avoid criticizing president for nuclear dump decision By JANE ANN MORRISON REVIEW-JOURNAL Democrats charge that GOP leaders who urged Nevadans in 2000 to vote for President Bush were betrayed by the president's decision Friday that Nevada is the right place to store nuclear waste. Three of those Republicans -- Gov. Kenny Guinn, U.S. Sen. John Ensign and congressional candidate Jon Porter -- used the same tempered word to describe their feeling about Bush's quick decision. All were "disappointed" rather than betrayed. Democrats were less restrained, noting that as a presidential candidate, Bush pledged to base his Yucca Mountain decision on "sound science." U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a telephone interview that Bush "lied and would not be president of the United States if he hadn't told the big lie, through press releases and surrogates." State Sen. Dina Titus, Nevada's Democratic national committeewoman, said the three Republicans should feel betrayed by Bush, who could have "made a decision after some pretense of considering it" to make it look like less of a done deal. The two reactions are reflective of the political strategies likely to shape the direction of Nevada's nuclear politics in 2002. Republicans insist nuclear waste is a nonpartisan issue that pits Nevada against the states that need to dump their nuclear waste somewhere. They say the fight should be us against them. Democrats insist the House GOP leaders who support a storage site in Nevada should become a defining issue in Southern Nevada's two congressional races and serve as good cause for voters to reject Republican candidates. Reid and others believe Bush won Nevada in 2000 partly because he matched the stated position of Democratic Vice President Al Gore and promised to rely on "sound science" to decide where the repository should go. Guinn said he has no regrets that he took the lead in advocating Bush's position on nuclear waste in 2000, even though Bush on Friday backed Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste site less than 24 hours after receiving the recommendation of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Guinn said valid scientific issues remain unresolved. Bush's speedy decision "has been a slap in the face of everyone, Democrats and Republicans," Guinn said. "Certainly I wish more time had gone by and the president had a chance to hear more from us." The governor said people who try to make Bush's decision a partisan election-year issue are "small thinkers." Nevada Democratic Party Chairman Terry Care said Bush's decision, in a gubernatorial race, "would very much be a part of the campaign, if at this point we had an announced candidate. Which we don't." Care believes Bush has written off Nevada for 2004. He doubts whether any Nevada Republicans would want Bush to visit on their behalf. "I can't see that happening. It would become common knowledge real quick who attended and who gave." Bush has not come to Nevada as president and is not expected here any time soon. As a candidate, he visited Lake Tahoe, not Las Vegas. Guinn, with $2.5 million in his campaign war chest and no opponent, doesn't need the president's fund-raising help. Ensign isn't up for election until 2006. Porter, a state senator running for the new 3rd Congressional District seat, has asked for help from Laura Bush, since she and his wife share careers as librarians. Billy Vassiliadis of R Partners, an adviser to Guinn as well as his Democratic predecessor, Bob Miller, urged temperance. "Nobody's interest is served by a declaration of war on the president." Issues such as water, highway funding, tourism and public lands are federal issues where Nevadans need to work with the Bush administration, Vassiliadis said. He predicts no political damage for Guinn, Gibbons, Ensign and other Republicans because of Bush's decision. "There are some pretty darn strong Democrats who have supported this dump," said Vassiliadis, who advocates that Republicans and Democrats unite for an ongoing state effort and fight the dump in Congress and in court. It's advice that Guinn and GOP congressional candidates Porter and Lynette Boggs McDonald are following but their Democratic opponents are not. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., defending her seat from a challenge from Boggs McDonald, said nuclear politics will be a defining issue in her race, even though the Las Vegas councilwoman is a stated opponent of nuclear waste. Berkley said the public will look at the work she has done to protect them and contrast that with the House Republicans who want to open the repository as soon as possible, which would be 2010. "I would imagine that Nevadans are going to evaluate who they feel will best protect them from nuclear waste coming to Yucca Mountain," Berkley said. Boggs McDonald said, "It's an issue, not the issue." She also said that the average citizen recognizes it is Nevada versus the other states. She would welcome a visit by Bush on her behalf because, as someone from a small state, Boggs McDonald said she "looks for the opportunities to have that face time with national leaders." Porter pointed to his longtime opposition to nuclear waste, back to his first vote in 1985 against it, and said it won't be a defining issue. Democratic opponent Dario Herrera, chairman of the Clark County Commission, noted House Speaker Dennis Hastert's news release praising Bush's decision and said that is evidence of the GOP House leadership's "tremendous effort to bring nuclear waste to Nevada." "I think Nevadans of all parties should feel betrayed," Herrera said. "We've been given a right cross by the president and big energy." Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who also worked for Bush's election, said he may withhold support for Bush on certain issues because of the president's embrace of Yucca Mountain. "I can't say every vote will be hinged on my reaction to this decision; but when it comes to issues that are important to the administration but not life threatening or critical to the United States, I will weigh this," he said. Gibbons stopped short of saying he felt betrayed by Bush's quick decision regarding the proposed repository site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. As for what Nevadans should think if they voted for Bush based on his Yucca Mountain position, Gibbons said, "You have to let every Nevadan make that decision." In a series of random calls, three Southern Nevadans who voted for Bush all said they had no regrets and would vote for him again if the choice was Bush or Gore. "I would not put all the blame on George Bush," said Robin Humphrey, 42, a mother and Henderson resident. "This started a long time ago and I think there's a long list of people" to blame. Ray Morgan, 82, said Bush has been a great president. "It's going to go somewhere, and wherever it goes, it's going to be a fight. It's a no-win situation." Rebecca Shumway, 31, a mother of four from Las Vegas, said, "It's safe. My husband has done some investigating on it, and a lot of people aren't informed on it." Former Republican Gov. Robert List, a lobbyist for the nuclear power energy, said those who claim nuclear waste will be a defining issue in 2002 are just indulging in "pure spin." "Are we arguing who's more against Yucca Mountain? It's a dead heat. Everybody's against it who's running for office," List said. Republican political consultant Pete Ernaut predicted the political fallout "will be a short term loss to Republicans, but it will be very minimal." However, if Reid and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle can block it in the Senate by lining up 51 senators to support Guinn's promised veto of the project, Ernaut said, "then they deserve all the accolades." "That would make Reid the messiah," said Ted Jelen, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "But I'll believe it when I see it." Stephens Washington Bureau chief Steve Tetreault and Review-Journal staff writer Frank Geary contributed to this report. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 23 Transporting waste to Nevada a concern The Miami Herald | 02/16/2002 | BY SETH BORENSTEIN Herald Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - President Bush's selection Friday of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as the nation's nuclear waste-disposal site opens a new struggle over how to ship the radioactive materials across the country safely. The site in the Nevada desert, about 90 miles from Las Vegas, would store 70,000 tons of radioactive material from the nation's 103 nuclear power plants for up to 10,000 years. Nuclear materials have been stored in 131 aboveground facilities in 39 states, and 161 million Americans live within 75 miles of these sites, according to a White House document released Friday. About 85 percent of the radioactive material is on the East Coast. Trucks and trains would travel through 45 states to haul the waste to the remote Western mountain, which Bush chose after 20 years of scientific study and political debate. Nuclear waste from commercial power reactors is growing by about 2,000 tons a year. The federal Department of Transportation is responsible for safety on the nation's highways and rail lines, which will carry the nuclear waste. But an internal report and a senior federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the agency is woefully unprepared. `NOT PREPARED' A Jan. 10, DOT inspector general report said the transportation agency ''is not fully prepared for the forecasted increase in shipments.'' The report said senior officials ``are unsure whether the current levels of planning, inspection, training and oversight activity will be sufficient for the forecasted levels of nuclear waste.'' Nevada officials, who oppose storing the waste at Yucca, are jumping on the transportation issue to enlist allies across the nation in fighting to reverse Bush's decision. The state intends to file official opposition shortly. Then Congress will have 90 days to vote on the issue. `NATIONAL ISSUE' Nevada's preliminary analysis of the Department of Energy's latest environmental impact statement figures that 170 million people across the country live in counties with highways that would be used to transport the nuclear waste. The report projects more than 100,000 truckloads of waste more than 38 years, up 6 percent from a 1999 estimate, said Bob Halstead, Nevada's transportation consultant. ''It's a national issue, because of where the waste is stored,'' Halstead said. ``The waste [now] is stored a long ways away from Yucca Mountain. When the transportation system uses the most efficient routes it concentrates pretty far east. It will be a daily impact on major metropolitan areas.'' Although the Department of Energy will not discuss specific routes and timetables, the senior federal official, who works on the issue, said Nevada's analysis is on the mark, adding: ``This will be a big battleground.'' ''The president's decision threatens American lives,'' Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Friday in a news release. ``President Bush has dropped the equivalent of 100,000 dirty bombs on America.'' Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said his agency and its European counterparts have never had an accident trucking nuclear waste. ***************************************************************** 24 Reclaimed mine is not as safe as once thought Tallahassee Democrat | 02/17/2002 | By Kevin O'Horan KNIGHT RIDDER TRIBUNE AUBURNDALE - It has been widely hailed as a success story, a sterling effort that two decades ago reclaimed strip-mined phosphate lands and converted them into a state preserve attracting thousands each year. In reality, Tenoroc Fish Management Area in Polk County may be closer to a horror story, the land tainted by high levels of radioactive compounds and toxic metals such as arsenic and lead, according to a federal study. "The park employees are very aware of it," said Danon Moxley, Tenoroc manager. "Just like anyone who looks at the report, obviously there is some concern on their end and mine. I work out here, too." That report, a draft version penned a year ago by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, notes a host of potentially toxic compounds found throughout the park in concentrations noted as "elevated" and of "concern." And officials think the findings warrant a closer look at current and former mine sites across the state. Though stopping short of labeling Tenoroc a danger, the 57-page report calls for a deeper investigation of the risks that workers, visitors and residents face from a slate of dangerous chemicals found in the soil, sediment and water at the site. One of those chemicals - radium-226 - was detected in soil and groundwater at levels up to 25 times higher than the EPA guidelines used to gauge the cancer risk at Superfund sites. Also found at the site were arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel, selenium and zinc, in concentrations at least three times of that in nearby untainted areas. Many skeptical of findings While Moxley said the areas in question are limited and either off-limits to or not easily accessible to visitors, the findings raised eyebrows outside the park. "At Tenoroc, there are significant health concerns," said Glenn Compton, chairman of ManaSota-88, a watchdog group founded in neighboring Manatee County. Those concerns may extend beyond Tenoroc, he added, since the chemicals may move as water on the site flows into creeks and rivers - or into the groundwater tapped just four miles away for Auburndale's drinking supply. Compton has called an in-depth study of the Tenoroc tract. The draft EPA report echoes that call, but it downplays the dangers for the 20,000 people who visit the park each year or the 60,000-plus people who live within four miles of Tenoroc. "We feel pretty comfortable that we're so far below (safety) thresholds on recreation use that it would be OK," said Brad Jackson, an EPA project manager. "It's just that we're so close to the industrial (use) threshold, and for the residential threshold, we're above it." Those concerns prompted Jackson to call for more study, which the EPA could use as a framework for reviewing other phosphate-related sites in Florida. Those sites include abandoned phosphate plants and 13 parks, camps and fishing areas, as well as a half-dozen golf courses. Tenoroc is a 6,000-acre sprawl of scrub and prairie about 40 miles east of Tampa, nestled between Lakeland, Polk City and Auburndale. The land had been mined for decades for its rich reserves of phosphate ore, used to make fertilizer products. By the late 1970s, those reserves had dwindled, mining had slowed and reclamation of the mining pits had neared an end. In 1982, Borden Chemical Corp. officials donated the land to the state, which set it up as a state park. A decade later, the park became a fish management area, after Florida's natural resources and environmental protection agencies merged. Are fish safe? Today, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission oversees Tenoroc. A staff of 10, including two who live on Tenoroc grounds, keeps the site open and ready for the streams of visitors who come to test their angling skills in five fishing pits stocked with largemouth bass and other sport fish, Moxley said. But no one has tested the fish for poisoning, at least not for the record, according to the EPA report. And precious little testing has been done of the grounds and waters. The decision on whether to conduct more tests likely won't come for awhile. Jackson continues to work with higher-ranking officials at the EPA and in a number of states, putting together a framework for phosphate site investigations. "We can't really go any further in saying where we're heading or what we're leaning toward," he said. "That's something they've got to decide. "Hopefully, it will be worked out in the next few months." + Kevin O'Horan writes for the Bradenton Herald, a Knight Ridder newspaper. He can be reached at [khoran@bradentonherald.com] or (941) 745-7037. ***************************************************************** 25 Letter: Keep the nuke poison where it was created Las Vegas SUN February 15, 2002 It has been said that Nevadans who don't want the nuclear waste dumped in our back yard are unpatriotic. I proudly fly my country's flag and support the government of the United States, but I still don't want the nuclear waste dumped in our state. More handling and transportation of nuclear waste increases the chances of an accident, either here in Nevada or somewhere along the heavily populated routes the waste must travel. Minimize the chances by minimizing the handling. All of the proponents for using Yucca Mountain maintain that it is totally safe. If it is as safe as they say, there shouldn't be a problem leaving it where it is created. Increase security at those home sites. Smaller repositories would mean that less hazard to fewer people should an accident occur. Yucca Mountain is on an earthquake fault! How can anyone think that that is scientifically sound? Time was that buses were loaded in Las Vegas for people to go and watch atomic bombs being tested in the desert. You could see the mushroom clouds from downtown. People today are much smarter and as knowledge of the hazards of radiation increase, so does the desire to stay as far away from it as possible. I say to those who accuse Nevadans of being unpatriotic and un-American, step up and show that you are a "true patriot," volunteer your home state. Keep the poison at home where it was created. After all, during this period of accepting responsibility for our actions, shouldn't the people responsible for creating this nuclear mess be the ones responsible for cleaning it up? WILLIAM W. DAVIS All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 26 Benjamin Grove: A tale of two mountains -- Yucca and Wasatch Las Vegas SUN February 15, 2002 Benjamin Grove covers Washington, D.C., for the Sun. He can be reached at grove@lasvegassun.com [grove@lasvegassun.com] or (202) 628-3100, Ext. 269. It's the transportation issue, stupid. That was the key message emerging last week from anti-Yucca Mountain forces in the nation's capital. Having failed to convince President Bush that the site is geologically unsuitable to be a national nuclear waste burial ground, Yucca foes now turn to the courts and Congress. Lawmakers will vote on the fate of the controversial project, possibly by mid-year. Nevada lawmakers have several strategies designed to derail the project, including filing lawsuits that question both the site's suitability and a variety of Department of Energy actions. Nevada lawmakers and environmental groups are also racing to deliver a message nationwide: nuclear waste could be rumbling through your town as soon as 2010. It's a uphill battle that promises no victories. It centers on mustering grassroots support in towns and cities nationwide in order to pressure lawmakers to vote against the Yucca plan. It's an uphill battle for several reasons. The powerful nuclear industry is already mustering its forces on Capitol Hill. Their lobbyists plan to talk to every member of Congress, or at least top aides in each office. And many lawmakers already have their minds made up, a number of Yucca project watchers say. The House is likely to overwhelmingly overrule Nevada's official objection to Bush's endorsement, just as soon as it lands in Congress. A vote in the Senate could be closer, but Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said he has maybe 40 senators on his side. He needs 51. To that end, Yucca project foes rallied on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Valentine's Day, just hours before Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommended Yucca to Bush. "That's not a very nice Valentine to send to the American people," anti-Yucca activist Kevin Kamps told the gathering. Kamps, who works for the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, owns a mock nuclear waste cask emblazoned with the words "Mobile Chernobyl," which he typically hauls behind a rented sport utility vehicle to anti-nuke events. For the occasion, NIRS rented a bright red semi-trailer complete with driver. Kamps managed to have it parked just north of the Capitol grounds. Activists pounced on the fact that police wouldn't let him drive it any nearer to the Capitol. "They won't clear a cask that doesn't even have any waste in it in because of security concerns, but it's safe to let casks filled with radioactive material travel on the highways and through major population centers?" asked Wenonah Hauter, of Public Citizen. Hauter said her organization will be part of a nationwide effort to hold rallies across the nation in the coming months. Meanwhile Nevada lawmakers are still mulling how to use video footage they recently obtained that shows a small missile piercing a nuclear waste transportation container in a 1998 test. It may prove that the containers are susceptible to terrorist strikes, sources say. At the rally, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., invoked the image of a Yucca shipment turning into a "dirty bomb." "We are talking about the most dangerous substance known to man on our roads and rails going past our schools and synagogues and churches in our small towns and cities," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said, preaching to the choir of roughly 50 anti-Yucca activists who cheered her words. "This is an outrage!" Not everyone in the crowd was applauding. Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Steve Kerekes watched quietly and later said rally participants had "grossly exaggerated" the risks of waste shipments. Lost in the rhetoric was the fact that shipments of high-level nuclear waste have been conducted for 35 years -- all without a radiation leak, Kerekes said. "We've done it safely -- and we'll continue to do it safely," Kerekes said. Lots of lawmakers agree. Still, the Nevadans' message may be dribbling out. One mayor -- an acting mayor, anyway -- showed up at the event. Takoma Park, Md., on the northern edge of Washington, D.C., is a nuclear-free zone, said Bruce Williams. But Williams outlined a painful point from the Nevadans' perspective: "We're restricted in what we can do at the local level because it's the federal prerogative to regulate interstate commerce. We're going to have to rely on our federal colleagues up here." Even if the Yucca foes do manage to cobble together some kind of meaningful "transportation issue" campaign on the road, it's a long shot to show results. And it may be too late. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 27 Yucca: Editorial: So much for all the promises Las Vegas SUN February 15, 2002 It was a beautiful morning at Lake Tahoe on June 1, 2000, as George Bush made what turned out to be his only campaign stop in Nevada. Lake Tahoe was the place Bush chose to deliver a speech touting his environmental policies, an address intended to decrease apprehensions that many swing voters in the nation had about what they saw as his pro-business, anti-environmental record. Bush said officials should be "stewards" of the earth, and he added there should be less friction and more cooperation on environmental matters. Not surprisingly, because Lake Tahoe offered a spectacular backdrop with great visual images, the speech received considerable play on the television networks' evening newscasts. Just as Bush started to leave following his speech at Lake Tahoe, a reporter asked him about a proposed nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, an issue he didn't touch on in his remarks. But Bush refused to elaborate: "You have my statement." Bush was referring to a statement he put out in May in which he wrote that he wouldn't sign legislation as president that "would send nuclear waste to any proposed site unless it's been deemed scientifically safe." But even nuclear power industry advocates claim "sound science" should decide Yucca Mountain's fate -- it is a meaningless phrase. "You have my statement" were Bush's only spoken words about Yucca Mountain; the remainder of the campaign offered up a few other written statements about the need for "sound science" in deciding whether Yucca Mountain was suitable for nuclear waste. Bush's supporters said these statements were proof that we'd get a fair deal, despite the fact that he was the darling of the nuclear power industry, which loaded up his campaign with political contributions. Bush's determination to be vague paid off politically, though: He carried the state in the general election. On Friday, however, Bush confirmed the worst fears Nevadans had about him, as he gave his approval to the permanent burial of 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. The dismissive attitude Bush displayed during his campaign stop in Nevada has become a hallmark of this administration's take on other environmental issues as well, a pattern that includes outright stonewalling. Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force, which recommended a renewed emphasis on nuclear power, deliberated in secret and Cheney still refuses to turn over to the General Accounting Office the list of power industry executives and lobbyists who met with the administration's energy task force. Nevada voters were deceived by the assurances of Bush and his Republican political supporters here, the chief of whom was Gov. Kenny Guinn, regarding his true intentions about Yucca Mountain. But Congress, which ultimately will have the final say on the president's recommendation, should learn from our experience. Lawmakers should discount the president's assertion that everything is safe with Yucca Mountain. Yucca Mountain is geologically unsuitable and the dangers inherent with transporting nuclear waste have been swept under the rug by the Department of Energy, which recommended that the president approve a nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Nuclear waste won't one day just magically appear all at once at Yucca Mountain; tens of thousands of shipments of nuclear waste will have to travel hundreds of miles, sometimes close to 3,000 miles, over our nation's hi ghways and railways to get here. Accidents or acts of terrorism would create disasters. Not only is Yucca Mountain bad for Nevada, but it also is bad for the nation. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 28 Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Let's defy the odds Las Vegas SUN February 15, 2002 Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun. SO THE NEWS ain't that good around here. What else is new? On Thursday Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommended to the White House that the nation's nuclear garbage be buried in Yucca Mountain. At issue for President George W. Bush was whether he would keep his promise to Nevadans by sending the recommendation back with instructions to do the science and forget the politics. On Friday Mr. Bush took the easy and the politically expedient way out by deciding to shove that poison down our Yucca Mountain. I would much rather have written today to send a special birthday greeting to someone I love very much. I am also sure that most Nevadans would much rather be reading about something other than nuclear waste. But, I am afraid, the very real threat to our health and safety that is posed by Bush's pending decision to do the nuclear power industry's bidding on this one makes it clear to me that we are just beginning to scratch the surface and that there will be a lot more written on this subject. The controversial judging of the pairs ice skating at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City this past week points out the inherent weaknesses in our fellow human beings. We can be bought, rented, coerced, cajoled or just plain duped into doing those things that make no sense and cause much pain to otherwise innocent people. Oftentimes there is no rhyme or reason to why things are done to us and we must accept the old adage that life, sometimes, just isn't fair. And if people can act so callously and so inhumanely for a piece of gold, just think what they might do when billions are at stake. But that doesn't mean we have to take our beating lying down. If there is anything we have learned during our 225-year history it is that Americans have a keen sense of right and wrong, and when we know we have been wronged, there is hell to pay. In the case of the nuclear power industry, the chamber of commerce, our Republican president, almost every Republican member of Congress and, yes, even some Democrats who have lost their way ... there is no doubt in the minds of almost every Nevadan -- with the notable exception of former Gov. Bob List, who found a pot of gold in his betrayal of his friends and neighbors -- that we have been put upon by our government and that we are being wronged. What still astonishes me at this very late date is the continued "head in the sand" attitude by the leadership of our No. 1 and only industry when it comes to pulling out all the stops in trying to defeat our very popular president's plan to destroy the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Nevada's families. Where's the outrage, guys? Who cares about the NCAA when this nuke waste thing could destroy all that you have built and not just a small part of the action? What will it matter if your taxes go up a little when your bottom lines disappear along with the tourists who refuse to visit a place that poses such a danger to their own well-being? I don't necessarily agree with our good and mostly gracious mayor, Oscar Goodman, when he selects some of his most colorful language to describe Abraham, his ancestors and his progeny when he talks about the man who wants to play God with the health and safety of every Nevadan. I don't agree because a little name calling doesn't help at this point although, I must admit, it sure feels good to recognize a no-good, rotten secretary when you see one. Instead of the epithets, though, what we have to do now is expend every effort and spend every dollar necessary to educate the rest of this country about the evils of trucking and training a minimum of 77,000 tons of the deadliest poison known to man through almost every major city in the country on its way to Las Vegas. We have to call on every resource at our disposal -- the greens, grays and grads who have the ability to reach across the grass roots of America -- and stir the underbrush of public opinion until people understand the dangers they face in their own neighborhoods and unconscionable conditions they are forcing upon the mothers and fathers of Nevada. For it will be our job to find a way to live and not die as a result of President Bush's failure to keep the promise. I realize it isn't popular these days to criticize the man who his doing a pretty darn good job of destroying a worldwide terrorist effort to kill us where we sleep. But it just doesn't make sense to many of us that a man who can be so understanding of what has to be done to do what is right can lack any understanding when it comes to doing what is so very wrong to the 2 million people who live in this state. And, while I am at it, meeting, greeting and pleading with the most powerful man in the world is a good first effort, but our elected leaders must be ready to stand toe to toe with any villain whose actions will poison our futures and destroy our dreams. The last time people in this country decided to impose their will upon another group of citizens, it resulted in a bloody civil war. A war, I suggest, for which some in this country are still bearing grudges. But, in that case, the cause was just and the pain inflicted was necessary to ensure that this country would grow up to be the home of the brave and the land of the free. In the present case, it is just a matter of money and expediency that drives President Bush toward a decision to send the nation's high-level radioactive waste through Las Vegas on its way to Yucca Mountain. In a way, it is too bad the Congress didn't pass campaign finance reform years ago because then we wouldn't have so many lawmakers and an entire executive branch so beholden to the big money players in the power industry. But all of that doesn't help Nevadans with the fight ahead. What we need for victory is the knowledge and determination that our cause is just. We will also need money, the will to succeed and the full and unqualified attention of our major industry to carry this fight to the front porches of every American. There is a certain pleasure people get when they defy the odds and post a victory that should not have happened. Imagine the pleasure we will get when we beat the evil ones in America who would poison us to save themselves. Imagine what happens if we don't. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 29 More proof of flawed decision [RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL] If anyone needed more proof that the Department of Energy is forcing nuclear waste on Nevada they got it Friday. Hours before President Bush decided to follow Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham’s recommendation that Yucca Mountain house 77,000 tons of nuclear waste, Gov. Kenny Guinn received an environmental impact statement, hundreds of pages long, on the project. The law passed in 1987 setting up this mess of an approval process called for the governor, prior to the site recommendation, to receive all decision documents for a complete and meaningful review of the facts. Getting a fat stack of papers a few hours in advance hardly qualifies as “meaningful.” In his statement (available at www.doe.gov), Abraham says, “…the arguments against its designation do not rise to a level that would outweigh the case for going forward. Not completing the site designation process and moving forward to licensing the development of a repository, as Congress mandated almost 20 years ago, would be an irresponsible dereliction of duty.” Not quite. Abraham’s recommendation and Bush’s decision are an irresponsible dereliction of duty. © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett ***************************************************************** 30 Readers\' opinions vary on Yucca Mountain [RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL] I was sure that I was the only one in Nevada who felt we are going to get the nuclear waste in this state no matter what we do. I think we should wise up right now and start making a deal with the companies and the states that have waste to store. We should trade storage space for water. A system of pipelines and aqueducts to be paid for by the nuclear waste producers could bring water from rivers and watersheds that flood every year and dump this extra water into Walker Lake or into some of the dry lake beds in the middle of the state, for later use by Nevada cities. Our “leaders” have to wake up and admit that this waste dump is a “done deal” and quite possibly there is already a large amount of waste already being stored at Yucca Mountain. I have seen many black trucks with no visible company name traveling between Las Vegas and the Test Site. Let’s get something back for becoming the dumping ground of the good ol’ USA. Frank Jackson, Sparks Objections to the dump at Yucca Mountain have been going on since the Screw Nevada Bill passed. The facility was supposed to be a shaft for scientific study to determine if high-level waste could be safely stored at the site. It became apparent that they were actually constructing the storage facility, and plenty of objections and attempts were made to halt the project. The DOE and NRC both conduct tests that will suit their goals, without consideration of the long-term effects. If the tests on the cask had breached the cask, the test would have been changed, rather than the cask. The DOE cannot guarantee that when an accident occurs it will be within the parameters of the tests they have done on the cask. If the casks are so safe, put the spent rods in them and store it right where it is. The cask we see now may not be the one used. If the design is accepted, will the production be given to the lowest bidder? What corners will be cut to make them cost-effective? The dump is not a done-deal. Nevada is still not a wasteland. Let’s keep it that way. Sue Frishman Yerington (via e-mail) **** ***************************************************************** 31 Reid calls Bush liar for nuke waste campaign remarks [RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL] SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (AP) — Sen. Harry Reid called President Bush a liar for telling Nevadans that he would base a decision on whether to send the nation’s nuclear waste to Nevada on “sound science, not politics.” At a news conference here Saturday, Reid criticized Bush’s approval Friday of Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as the site for long-term disposal of thousands of tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste. “So this is the big lie,” Reid, D-Nev., said. “The president didn’t tell the truth … If this is an example of how he helps Nevada, we don’t need his help.” A Bush spokesman didn’t immediately return a phone call for comment. The news conference was held at Heavenly Ski Resort’s observation deck, where Bush stood in 2000 when he told Nevadans that he would base his Yucca Mountain decision on “sound science.” Reid accused Bush of breaking the campaign promise. He said the Energy Department did not properly consider environmental impacts or the security risk posed by transporting 77,000 tons of waste stockpiled at U.S. nuclear plants and defense facilities. On Friday, Bush said his decision was “the culmination of two decades of intense scientific scrutiny” and that he is certain the science is sound. Reid, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, said Bush “would not be president today” if Nevadans had known what was in store for Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Bush won Nevada’s four electoral votes en route to his slim victory over Al Gore. “(Bush has) left the country, and he thinks this (issue) will be gone when he gets back, but it won’t be,” Reid said. Reid said he’s also concerned that, given Bush’s close ties to the energy industry, Friday’s decision may lead to future nuclear energy development. “No doubt that weighed in part on his decision,” he told the Tahoe Daily Tribune. Nevada’s top three Republican elected officials — Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. John Ensign and Rep. Jim Gibbons — also have pledged to fight Bush’s decision. Nevada officials have argued that the government can’t ensure the public will be protected over the thousands of years the waste will remain dangerous. Guinn has 60 days to veto the project and has said he will do so. Congress then will have to decide, by majority vote of both houses, whether to uphold the decision. © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a [http://www.gannett.com] Newspaper. Use ***************************************************************** 32 Shipments to Yucca could pass through Reno [RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL] A new report filed with President Bush favors rail over trucking for the shipment of nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, with a route through Reno and Sparks as one of five railroad line options, according to a preliminary state analysis made last week. The final environmental impact report from Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham also has eliminated the Feather Canyon route, leaving Donner Pass as a likely northern Nevada rail route from California and the Pacific Northwest, said Robert Halstead, a transportation adviser to Nevada’s Nuclear Projects Agency. No choice has been made on five possible routes into Nevada, but Halstead said he believe one through Carlin, Reno and Sparks is most likely because it would take the waste through sparsely populated valleys rather than mountain ranges or Las Vegas. “They are holding the entire state of Nevada hostage on the rail choice issue,” said Halstead, who is analyzing the report for the state. “When you look at the maps, there may be as many 13 counties affected. But former Nevada Gov. Bob List, who is a consultant with the Nuclear Energy Institute, said the Department of Energy has 10 years to work on that. If licensed, the site is not expected to take waste from the nation’s nuclear power plants until 2010 at the earliest. And state officials say a 2020 date is more likely because of possible legal challenges. In a related development, the Nuclear Projects Agency has issued a new report that shows property values along the potential nuclear waste shipping routes could be substantially reduced, affecting Clark, Washoe and Elko counties. For Washoe County, the report says $8.1 billion of $9.4 billion worth of property on the county’s tax assessment roll is located within three miles of the Interstate 80, which runs parallel to the railroad line. If Yucca Mountain is opened, the report contends the county could lose $1.9 billion to $2.2 billion in assessed property values. Assessed values are 35 percent of near market values. Reno, Sparks in nuclear crosshair Of five railroad options through the state, Halstead said he considers the Carlin route the most likely to be chosen. For trains from the West Coast, he said the nuclear-laden trains would go through Reno and continue east on the Union Pacific line to Beowawe, about 20 miles west of Carlin, and then south on a 310-mile railroad spur costing $1 billion or more. He said two southern routes would go through Las Vegas, which he considers > difficult. Two others would start in Caliente and go through Area 51 or> around Tonopah to the north, and involve crossing several mountain ranges. But so far the government has not made its preference known. “In my personal opinion, it’s gutless to take this approach,” Halstead said. “My professional position is they are bluffing about how much confidence they have to make this decision.” If they were really confident, he said the government would be naming routes and starting to build the railroad now. Bigger nuclear casks, fewer railcars Initial calculations show that up to 4,138 railroad cars loaded with nuclear waste could pass through Reno from western states in a worst-case scenario after analyzing the draft environmental report. In the new report, he said the government contends larger casks can be built to contain the nuclear waste, reducing the number of rail cars by 20 percent to 25 percent. If the rail cars were to carry 25 percent more waste, that could reduce the number of rail cars through Reno to 3,331 cars. Spread equally over 38 years scheduled for shipments, that equates to three nuclear waste filled rail cars going through Reno every two weeks. But Halstead emphasized the shipments through Reno would still represent 20 percent of the 77,000 tons of nuclear waste headed for the Yucca Mountain ridge, which is about 110 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Robert Loux, head of Nevada’s nuclear projects office, said he expects the state to sue President Bush for his decision Friday recommending Yucca Mountain to Congress for the nuclear repository. A stamp of approval has not been given to the project’s environmental impact statement, which Bush received last Thursdayif run Sunday, it is last Thursday. And he said he believes that means Bush made his decision without having all the facts. State “scare tactics?” Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa filed a lawsuit Friday to challenge Bush's decision. “Most of the defects we saw in the draft environmental report are still present,” Loux said. “There’s no final repository design. No identification > or analyses of the transportation routes.” Bob Fulkerson, head of the Nevada Progressive Alliance in Reno, said he doubts Bush had time to review much of the new, 10,000-page environmental report. “He promised his decision would be made on science in his election swing through the state. This shows he had no intention of making an informed decision,” Fulkerson said. “It’s an exclamation point on a long series of travesties. “There’s going to be a lot of people going to jail before this is over,” Fulkerson said, promising civil disobedience. “You can’t let a catastrophe like this go on without putting your body on the line.” List said the state is resorting to “scare tactics” in all-out effort to kill the project. The new state report, for instance, details the increased cancer risks to a gas station attendant in Nevada who’d regularly fuel the nuclear-laden trucks under the trucking option. The worker could see an increased risk of 2 percent in getting cancer over his lifetime, which the report equates to a risk that’s five times higher than dying in a car accident. “That’s absurd. That’s crazy,” List said, of the example in the report. “We may not want it here. But there’s an increasing likelihood it’s going to be here.” List also said he believes most of the shipments will come to Nevada by rail because of safety concerns. Trains can haul larger, thicker casks, less likely to crack during an accident. © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a [http://www.gannett.com] Newspaper. Use ***************************************************************** 33 President Backs Development of Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada News from the Washington File [Washington File] 16 February 2002 (Yucca Mountain site selected after years of study) (430) President Bush proposed to Congress February 15 that a nuclear waste repository be developed at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. A White House statement noted that the presidential recommendation follows decades of study and said the president gave careful consideration to the views of the leaders and the people of Nevada. Following is the text of the White House announcement: (begin text) THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary February 15, 2002 STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY The President today notified the Congress that he considers Yucca Mountain qualified for a construction permit application, taking the next in a series of steps required for approving the site as a nuclear materials repository. The President's decision to recommend Yucca Mountain is based on sound science. It follows decades of scientific study and a determination by the Secretary of Energy that the site can be safely used to store these materials. In the course of making his decision, the President listened to the Governor, the State's Senators, and representatives of the people of Nevada and gave careful consideration to their views. He also consulted extensively with his science and environmental advisers to ensure that they concurred with the science, safety, and environmental conclusions of the Secretary's recommendation. Finding a safe and central repository is not only mandated by law, but it is in America's national security and homeland security interests. Forty percent of our Navy's fleet depends on nuclear power. Currently, nuclear materials are stored in 131 above-ground facilities in 39 states, and 161 million Americans live within 75 miles of these sites. One central site provides more protection for this material than do the existing 131 sites. One out of every five times someone turns on a light switch, it's thanks to the fact that nuclear power produces 20 percent of our Nation's electricity. Given the environmental benefits of nuclear power, a safe repository for nuclear materials will help us pursue our energy and environmental security goals. Since the Congress passed a law requiring a repository in 1982, this has been a serious issue for the American people. The President recognizes that the law now gives Nevada the opportunity to disapprove the recommendation and, if they do, then the Congress will have an opportunity to act. After two decades, the time has come to resolve this issue once and for all. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) ***************************************************************** 34 Yucca storage plan needs more study The Journal-Standard By:February 17, 2002 The issue: Nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain Our view: While it is necessary to find a highly secure national depository for nuclear waste, too many questions regarding the Yucca Mountain plan remain for it to move forward now. Following the endorsement of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, President George W. Bush on Friday approved a plan which would send all of the nation's highly radioactive nuclear waste to one storage facility site located under Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Energy Department's plan would send the nation's 77,000 tons of spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants and bomb-making facilities to the Yucca storage site - the culmination of a decades-long search to find an eternal resting place for the waste which has accumulated since the beginning of the Atomic Age more than 50 years ago. While the project remains far from certain (since it will most certainly face congressional, regulatory and court challenges), it will have a profound impact on Freeport and Illinois since this state has more nuclear power plants than any other state in the nation - eight facilities, including Commonwealth Edison's Byron plant, which are now storing an estimated 7,100 tons of nuclear waste. In addition, the region is a major railway thoroughfare, and the Energy Department plans to ship the radioactive material (in specially manufactured containers) via railroad to the Nevada facility. The U.S. Government chose the Yucca site in 1987 as best suited to serve as the nation's nuclear waste depository because of its stable desert climate and the fact that the very remote location is adjacent to a former nuclear weapons testing site that remains guarded under the highest security. Critics of the plan, including Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, cite numerous questions regarding the site's safety - including the fact that studies are indeterminant on whether the aquifers running under the site could become polluted by potential leakage of nuclear waste. In addition, the Las Vegas metropolitan area is one of the nation's fastest growing areas according to the 2000 U.S. Census. While we agree with the Bush and other previous administrations that a secure national depository for nuclear waste is desperately needed, it seems to us premature to designate the Yucca Mountain facility as the only viable site when serious questions - like whether the ground water serving a fast-growing region could become contaminated by leaking nuclear waste - remain unanswered. The safety questions regarding the movement of nuclear waste from its current locations - such as the nearby Byron facility - to Yucca Mountain must be adequately answered as well. While proponents of the plan suggest the containers designed to handle this task can withstand a 30-foot drop, fire and immersion in water without releasing radiation, no one in our research on this subject yet has adequately answered the challenge of how the government plans to deal with the potential threat of terrorism. It is an unfortunate reality that in today's world we cannot just load a train with containers (no matter how durable) of nuclear waste and send it on its way without an army of security personnel and procedures to match. The Energy Department should have completed its homework before sending a plan of this magnitude to the president for approval. Fortunately, the Yucca Mountain plan is far from a done deal. We hope that the concerns regarding future environmental impact, transportation safety and security are addressed before the first container of nuclear waste begins its eternal storage in the Nevada desert. ©The Journal-Standard 2002 ***************************************************************** 35 Pasko's Lawyer Finds New Evidence Friday, Feb. 15, 2002. Page 2 By Anatoly Medetsky The Associated Press VLADIVOSTOK, Far East -- A lawyer for jailed military journalist Grigory Pasko said Thursday that he had found new evidence of his client's innocence as he pored through case materials that had been classified during the investigation and trial. Pasko was sentenced by a military court in Vladivostok in December to four years in prison for attending a meeting of naval commanders and possessing notes he made there. The court maintained he could have passed the notes to Japanese media, with which he had worked. Anatoly Pyshkin, a member of Pasko's defense team, told a news conference in Vladivostok on Thursday that the information contained in his client's notes on the naval meeting was in the public domain. He had been unable to see the notes before the trial ended, since the information in them had been considered classified. "Grigory's notes from the meeting are childish pranks compared to what there is in the open literature," he said. He also said Pasko could not have attended the meeting if he had not been invited to sit in. "At such events, an officer is always at the door checking if the names of those who enter are on a special list," Pyshkin said. He said that court records of the trial, including key witness accounts, appeared distorted when he compared them with his own notes from the proceedings. He said the defense had prepared 70 pages of corrections to the 110-page court files. The defense said Pasko would file a libel suit against ORT television, which aired a show Feb. 7 that used mostly footage provided by the Federal Security Service, the agency that investigated Pasko's case. The footage showing Pasko was made when he was under secret surveillance and suggested that Pasko was a spy. But Pyshkin said the actions committed by Pasko in the footage had either not been considered by the court or been ruled legal. For instance, Pasko was shown entering and leaving an office that the show said belonged to Japanese state-run NHK television. [http://www.themoscowtimes.com ***************************************************************** 36 U.S. History: Harry Truman: Cornered in the Oval Cover Story 2/25/02 On a lazy Friday in the spring of 1950, Harry Truman was winding up a monthlong vacation at his Key West, Fla., retreat. In Washington that day, the State Department forwarded a 70-page, top-secret document to the White House, where a National Security Council officer logged it in. Except for its excessive length, little about the paper, code-named NSC-68, stood out. But the report, which cast the Soviet Union as an aggressive, expansionist force of evil and recommended an immediate massive U.S. military buildup to counteract it, would, in time, become America's blueprint for fighting the Cold War. It could just as easily have been ignored. Truman's first impulse was to "reject it by studying it to death," says Alonzo Hamby, a professor of history at Ohio University. He very nearly did bury it in a hash of meetings that dragged on for two months. But presidential decisions often turn on chance, not design. "NSC-68 was a policy in search of an opportunity," writes Cornell University Prof. Walter LaFeber in his history of the Cold War. "That opportunity arrived on June 25, 1950, when, as [Secretary of State Dean] Acheson and his aides later agreed, 'Korea came along and saved us.' " Before North Korean troops marched south, the nation had endured a series of blows of such a scale that–like the attacks of September 11–Americans were already rethinking their place in the world. Moscow tested a first atomic bomb in August 1949, ending America's nuclear monopoly. On October 1, China fell to Mao Zedong's Communists. In January 1950, in a Soviet spy scandal, Alger Hiss was convicted of perjury. Sen. Joseph McCarthy was on the case, saying the State Department was rife with Communists. And then came Korea. In response, Truman ordered a strategy review. Acheson jumped at the chance. The result was NSC-68. Drafted by Paul Nitze under Acheson's direction, it declared that the Soviet Union was "animated by a new fanatic faith" and "seeks to impose its absolute authority over the rest of the world." Nothing short of "civilization itself" was at stake. Ideologically, the document crystallized a hard-line view toward the Soviet Union. In practical terms, it justified quadrupling the defense budget. And by blurring the lines of vital and peripheral interests, it sowed the seeds for later U.S. involvement in Vietnam. "The purpose of NSC-68," Acheson wrote in his memoirs, "was to . . . bludgeon the mass mind of 'top government.' " The president, David McCullough argues in his biography of Truman, "was not to be bludgeoned." Though Truman tended to view the world as a struggle between democracy and totalitarianism, Hamby writes, he feared that NSC-68 would stall the economy, gut his domestic program, and cripple the Democratic Party. Since the end of World War II, he had virtually dismantled the military and converted to a peacetime economy. He planned to put more money into healthcare and education. But Acheson–and events–had cornered the president. The secretary of state had lined up a distinguished collection ofcollege presidents, nuclear physicists, and government officials with "top-secret-restricted data" clearance, all of them in favor of rearming. Had Truman not signed the paper, the debate would have gone public. Republicans in Congress, not least McCarthy, were eager to pounce. "As a matter of practical politics," Harvard historian Ernest May has written, "the question before Truman was not whether there should be more defense spending." The question was how much. No one will ever know whether Truman would eventually have initialed NSC-68 had war in Korea not forced his hand; he fails to mention the document even once in his memoirs. But by signing it, he set the course of the Cold War. Before the document was declassified by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1975, one historian had already dubbed it "the most famous unread paper of its era." -Linda Kulman © 2002 U.S.News & World Report Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 37 Princess’s husband caught up in anti-nuclear blockade at Faslane base Scotland on Sunday - Scotland - Sunday, 17th February 2002 WILLIAM DICK THE Princess Royal’s husband was caught up in last week’s anti-nuclear demonstrations at Faslane submarine base, it has emerged. Commodore Timothy Laurence, 46, was one of several high-powered figures on their way to the home of the Trident submarine fleet when their vehicle was obstructed by dozens of peace campaigners. Laurence was powerless to act as a 55-year-old protester lay down in front of a mini-bus carrying around 15 VIPs. He was eventually forced to walk the final few yards to the north gates of the base when it became clear their official vehicle had little chance of making progress through the crowds. MoD bosses last night admitted Laurence’s visit to the base last Wednesday had been affected by the protest. However, a spokeswoman insisted the disruption had been minimal. She said: "It is true that the commodore was inconvenienced to the extent that he had to walk through the gates - but the purpose of his visit was not affected." Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh, Britain’s First Sea Lord, was also at Faslane during the demonstrations but was flown into the base by helicopter. Anti-nuclear campaigners last night hailed the incident as one of the major triumphs of a three-day demonstration which resulted in almost 200 arrests, including the Scottish Socialist party leader Tommy Sheridan. But the incident is understood to have caused huge embarrassment to Faslane bosses and to Laurence, who is the MoD’s director of naval resources and plans. Scottish CND spokesman John Ainslie, who witnessed the incident, said: "When the van came towards the gates you could see the gold braid from yards away and it was obvious this vehicle was carrying more than your average MoD employee. "One of our peace campaigners immediately stepped in front of the bus and made it clear to the driver he was going under. "The police tried to pull him out but after about 10 minutes it was obvious they were having no success, and the officials on the bus got off and walked through the gates. "There were tremendous cheers from the demonstrators and I got the impression the navy people were very embarrassed." David Mackenzie of the protest group Trident Ploughshares, who helped to stage the demonstration, said: "It’s amazing that the MoD chose to send high-ranking officials to the base on a day when it was known we were planning a blockade. "They should have known vehicles had no chance of getting to the gates. "But obviously we are delighted to know that our point about the evil of nuclear weapons was effectively brought home to some of the most powerful and influential men in the navy." ©2002 scotsman.com | contact ***************************************************************** 38 Hussein rejects development of weapons of mass destruction - CNN.com - February 16, 2002 From Rym Brahimi BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein told a meeting of atomic scientists Saturday that it is not in his country's interest to develop weapons of mass destruction. "Although weapons come as part of fortifying the country against the designs of foreigners and the elements of evil in their minds, it is not in your country's interest to enter the club of weapons of mass destruction armaments," Hussein said, according to the Iraqi news agency INA. He said Iraqi nuclear scientists' mission was to "increase Iraq's knowledge, bring happiness to men and to employ science to serve mankind." The comments marked the second time since President Bush named Iraq as part of an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address that Hussein has said Iraq is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. The first time was in a February 8 letter to Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, in which he said Iraq no longer has weapons of mass destruction "and it has no intention to produce them." U.S. threats against Iraq have intensified since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington and the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan that followed. In his January 29 speech, Bush named Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil" that were trying to build weapons of mass destruction capable of threatening the West. Since then, Iraq has told the United Nations it would consider allowing U.N. weapons inspectors back in. The inspectors left in 1998 just before a series of December 1998 bombing raids by U.S. and British forces to punish Iraq for failing to cooperate with inspections. ***************************************************************** 39 Resurgence issue 210 - THE NEED FOR DISSENT by George Monbiot IF OSAMA BIN LADEN did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. For the past four years, his name has been invoked whenever a US president has sought to increase the defence budget or wriggle out of arms control treaties. He has even been used to justify President Bush's missile defence programme, though neither he nor his associates are known to possess anything approaching ballistic missile technology. Now he has become the personification of evil required to launch a crusade for good: the face behind the faceless terror. The closer you look, the weaker the case against bin Laden becomes. While the terrorists who inflicted the dreadful wound in the world may have been inspired by him, there is, at the time of writing, little evidence that they were instructed by him. But bin Laden's culpability is irrelevant: his usefulness to Western governments lies in his power to terrify. When billions of pounds of military spending are at stake, rogue states and terrorist warlords become assets precisely because they are liabilities. By using bin Laden as an excuse for demanding new military spending, weapons manufacturers in America and Britain have enhanced his iconic status among the disgruntled. His influence, in other words, has been nurtured by the very industry which claims to possess the means of stamping him out. Now the horror of 11th September 2001 is being used by corporations to establish the preconditions for an even deadlier brand of terror. While the world's collective back is turned, Tony Blair intends to allow the mixed oxide plant at Sellafield to start operating. The decision would have been front-page news at any other time. Now it's likely to be all but invisible. The plant's operation, long demanded by the nuclear industry and resisted by almost everyone else, will lead to a massive proliferation of plutonium, and a near certainty that some of it will find its way into the hands of terrorists. Like Ariel Sharon, in other words, Blair is using the reeling world's shock to pursue policies which would be unacceptable at any other time. For these reasons and many others, radical opposition has seldom been more necessary. But it has seldom been more vulnerable. The right is seizing the political space which has opened up where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once stood. Civil liberties are suddenly negotiable. The US seems prepared to lift its ban on extrajudicial executions carried out abroad by its own agents. The CIA might be permitted to employ human rights abusers once more, which will doubtless mean training and funding a whole new generation of bin Ladens. The British government is considering the introduction of identity cards. Radical dissenters in Britain have already been identified as terrorists by the Terrorism Act 2000. Now we're likely to be treated as such. One of the peculiar problems we radicals face is that the targets of the attacks on America represented more clearly than any others the powers we have long opposed. For those of us who have campaigned against the predatory behaviour of the financial sector and the defence industry, the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon had come to symbolize all that was rotten in the state of the world. So, though ours is a movement built on peace, it has not been hard for our opponents to equate our dissidence with terror. The authoritarianism which has long been lurking in advanced capitalism has started to surface. In The Guardian recently, William Shawcross - Rupert Murdoch's courteous biographer - articulated the new orthodoxy: America is, he maintained, "a beacon of hope for the world's poor and dispossessed and for all those who believe in freedom of thought and deed". These believers would presumably include the families of the Iraqis killed by the sanctions Britain and the US have imposed; the peasants murdered by Bush's proxy war in Colombia; and the tens of millions living under despotic regimes in the Middle East, sustained and sponsored by the United States. William Shawcross concluded by suggesting that "we are all Americans now", a terrifying echo of Pinochet's maxim that "we are all Chileans now": by which he meant that no cultural distinctions would be tolerated, and no indigenous land rights recognized. Shawcross appeared to suggest that those who question American power are now the enemies of democracy. It's a different way of formulating the warning voiced by members of the Bush administration: "If you're not with us, you're against us". The Daily Telegraph has set aside part of its leader column for a directory of "useful idiots", by which it means those who oppose major military intervention. Doubtless I will find my name on the roll of honour there. So, perhaps, will the families of some of the victims, who seem to be rather more capable of restraint and forgiveness than the leader writers of the right-wing press. Mark Newton-Carter, whose brother died in the terrorist outrage, told one of the Sunday newspapers, "A military strike is not the answer. Gandhi said: 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,' and never a truer word was spoken." But when the right is on the rampage, victims as well as perpetrators are trampled. Mark Twain once observed that "there are some natures which never grow large enough to speak out and say a bad act is a bad act, until they have inquired into the politics or the nationality of the man who did it." The radical left is able to state categorically that terrorism is a dreadful act, irrespective of provenance. But the right can't bring itself to make the same statement about Israel's new invasions of Palestine, or the sanctions in Iraq, or the US-backed terror in East Timor, or the carpet bombing of Cambodia. Its critical faculties have long been suspended and now, it demands, we must suspend ours too. Retaining the ability to discriminate between good acts and bad acts will become ever harder over the next few months, as new conflicts and paradoxes challenge our preconceptions. It may be that a convincing case against bin Laden is assembled, whereupon his forced extradition would, I feel, be justified. But, unless we wish to help George Bush use barbarism to defend the "civilization" he claims to represent, we on the left must distinguish between extradition and extermination. The terrorist attacks in America may have signalled the beginning of the end of globalization. The recession it has doubtless helped to precipitate, coupled with a new and understandable fear among many Americans of engagement with the outside world, could lead to a reactionary protectionism in the United States, which is likely to provoke similar responses on this side of the Atlantic. We will, in these circumstances, have to be careful not to celebrate the demise of corporate globalization, if it merely gives way to something even worse. The governments of Britain and America are using the disaster in New York to reinforce the very policies which have helped to cause the problem: building up the power of the defence industry, preparing to launch campaigns of the kind which inevitably kill civilians, licensing covert action. Corporations are securing new resources to invest in instability. Racists are attacking Arabs and Muslims and blaming liberal asylum policies for terrorism. As a result of the horror, the right in all its forms is flourishing, and dissenters are shrinking. But we must not be cowed. Dissent is most necessary just when it is hardest to voice. The above article is extracted from George Monbiot's regular Guardian column. Campaign Against Criminalizing Communities (CACC), c/o The Haldane Society, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Tel: Stephanie Harrison (chair) on 020 7353 1633. www.cacc.org.uk [http://www.cacc.org.uk] . from Resurgence issue 210Subscribe to Resurgence ***************************************************************** 40 Depoe Bay man has first-hand knowledge of Iraq's nuclear weapons Depoe Bay City Councilor Jack Brown moved to the coast after working with the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq. (Photo by Joel Gallob) By Joel Gallob Of the News-Times Jack Brown is a man with an unusual resume: the Depoe Bay city councilor is a nuclear engineer who worked with the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq to ferret out Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons. Brown is one of the quiet pillars of the Depoe Bay community; he and his wife, Maggie, were the driving forces behind the Killer Whales Kids Rowing Club and helped in the creation of the youth center in the Ainslee building on U.S. Highway 101. When he was asked why he sought appointment to the city council, he replied, "this city has been good to me. I'm a guy who promotes peace and consensus, and I might have something to add." Brown spent a few years in Iraq with the United Nations Special Commission, "on loan from the U.S. Department of Energy." He had worked for the Batelle National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., and before that, at the Batelle Lab in Columbus, Ohio. "With that background, I had the opportunity to be a U.S. rep for nuclear weapons on UNSCOM," he said, noting that is the UN agency that sought for several years to find and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programs. "We inspected sites after the Gulf War," he said, "and provided some intelligence on what should be destroyed. I played a role in identifying what the experts should look for, and then I became a part of the team, looking for the signatures of plutonium activities, uranium production. "We were one of the greatest proliferators," Brown added of the United States, "so we knew what to look for. Iraq was doing what we had been doing in the 1940s at Hanford, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos. We had a pretty good idea of what we were looking for." But that does not make him an expert in chemical or biological warfare. "I was a nuclear engineer," he said. "There were parallel teams for chemical, biological, and missile technology. "If we found anything leading to nuclear technology," he said bluntly, "we destroyed it. It was very exciting for me, a wonderful way to end my career." Brown, who came to Depoe Bay from Manhattan, after living and working in Vienna and Washington, D.C., as well as the Iraqi desert, is not entirely happy with either the Clinton or the current Bush administration. He said that during one of Clinton's confrontations with Iraq, "they were told by Saddam to get out, and Clinton let it get away from him. Saddam won that round. Now President Bush is trying to get it going again." He added that the program under Bush's father, when the U.S. hired and often moved to America many of Russia's top nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction scientists, has slipped over time. The current President Bush, he noted, has "not been very interested" in that program. But maybe, he said, that will change now. [http://www.newportnewstimes.com/contact.html] 831 NE Avery PO Box 965 Newport, Oregon 97365 | tel (541) 265-8571 | fax (541) 265-3862 | ***************************************************************** 41 Deer With High Radiation Level Found at BNL Newsday.com - By Ann Givens Staff Writer February 17, 2002 A 2-year-old deer found on the Brookhaven National Laboratory's campus had more than twice as much radiation in its body as any deer the lab has tested. This raises concerns for lab officials, who thought they had either fenced off or cleaned up most of the site's radioactive material. Lab officials announced the news to the Community Advisory Council at its regular meeting Thursday, the same day they obtained the test results. Lab officials said they are investigating whether there is a radiation "hot spot” on their property that they don't know about, or if the deer may have wandered into a fenced-off area where there was known radiation. The lab has conducted an intensive cleanup since 1997, when a radioactive tritium leak and other contamination was discovered at the facility. Lab officials said that most likely the deer jumped a fence into a radioactive area they are in the process of cleaning up. "We're checking all avenues, but I'm pretty confident that this is coming from somewhere that we already know about,” said Tim Green, a natural resource manager at the lab. The deer, which lab officials said had been hit by a car, was tested last week. Lab officials routinely test deer that die on the property. Of the 120 deer the lab has tested since 1992, none has had more than 11 picocuries of radiation from the chemical cesium in its system. The deer tested last week had 21 picocuries of radiation from cesium in its system. Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc. ***************************************************************** 42 DOE/Brookhaven budgeting correction Newsday.com - CORRECTIONS February 16, 2002 A story on Feb. 4 incorrectly stated the purpose of the $35.6 million President George W. Bush proposed in his budget for accelerated cleanup of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Roughly one-third would go to rid carcinogenic chemicals from groundwater. And a small portion of that would go toward monitoring the plume of radioactive tritium that originated from a leak in the spent-fuel pool of the now shuttered High Flux Beam Reactor. Another one-third would go to clean up sediments in the Peconic River and pockets of soil at Brookhaven contaminated with radioactive and toxic materials. The final third would go to dispose of radioactive material or clean up contamination from Brookhaven's first nuclear research reactor, which last operated in 1969. Due to an editing error, the population of the Town of Brookhaven was misstated in a Viewpoints article by Dorothy L. Goosby on Tuesday. The population is 448,248. Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************