***************************************************************** 06/19/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.155 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: U.S. residents can sue for nuke exposure 2 US: Judge strikes down South Carolina plutonium blockade 3 US: Just Say No to Nuclear Power 4 Nuclear-plant witch hunt goes on 5 US: States Receiving Bioterror Money 6 US: High-Tech Uranium Plant to Be Built 7 US: Nuclear warhead upgrade sought; initiative at center of Senate 8 US: Nuclear energy plant may locate in Unicoi County 9 U.S. firm to get Russian uranium -- 10 US: Bush Policy on North Korea a Failure, Experts Say 11 US: Bush administration, uranium enricher reach deal on nuclear fuel 12 Navy offers sunken battleships for scrap NUCLEAR REACTORS 13 US: Bereuter says Cooper plant operating safely 14 US: Industry official admits N-plants may be vulnerable 15 US: OPPD plant wins praise at relicensing hearing 16 US: Critics hit Browns Ferry financing 17 US: Duke Energy gets preliminary extension on Catawba - 18 US: Lightning near nuke site spurs repairs NUCLEAR SAFETY 19 US: Iowans near nuclear plant won't get pills 20 US: Court revives downwinder claims 21 US: Anti-radiation pills kept from public 22 US: Counties reject federal pill offer 23 US: McCall critical of nuclear plant evacuation plan 24 US Lawmakers In London To Investigate 'Gulf War Syndrome' -- 25 US: Residents living downwind of former plutonium site win appeal 26 US: Radiation Compensation Rules 27 US: Way to allot radiation pills is still undecided 28 US: Health Department: Iodine no help in nuclear disaster NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 29 US: Caravan of Mock Nuclear Waste Transportation Casks 30 US: How Secure Is a Nuclear Waste Truck? 31 US: Judge overturns S.C. nuclear ban* 32 US: Workers stopped radioactive waste from going into landfill* 33 US: Uranium rods need to be taken off site* 34 US: Jim Hall: Better plan is needed to ship nuclear waste 35 US: S.C., DOE spar over Rocky Flats 36 Deal reached on nuclear fuel supply 37 US: Nebraska Judge to visit site of proposed nuclear waste dump 38 US: S.C. Gov. Banned From Shipment Block 39 US: Nuke dump vote could impact trench debate 40 US: Nevada continues in role of ‘David’ 41 US: Senate Republicans call on Daschle to open Yucca debate 42 US Official Says Mayak Warhead Storage Facility to Open in 43 US: Las Vegas SUN: Yucca ad campaign takes hit 44 US: NRC to examine testing of casks used to haul waste 45 US: Cameco buys Smith Ranch mine in Wyoming 46 US: Judge bans Hodges' blockade 47 US: Judge strikes down South Carolina plutonium blockade - 48 Greenpeace Activists Block Dutch Toxic Waste Train 49 US: Carolina governor still hoping to keep plutonium out of state 50 US: Yucca site might resist lava intrusion NUCLEAR WEAPONS 51 India: Nuclear Deterrent Averted War 52 North Korea urged to allow international nuclear inspection 53 Speech Contradictory to Japan's Promise: Commentary 54 US: End the Nuclear Danger: An Urgent Call US DEPT. OF ENERGY 55 S. Carolina opens door for Flats shipment 56 DOE report cites conflict over security accounting 57 Nuclear materials stir DOE conflict 58 Coalition appeals to White House to keep FFTF on 59 Fluor Hanford to reorganize staff 60 Wash. Court Revives Two Lawsuits 61 Companies want FFTF isotopes, study says 62 Hanford budget veiled in secrecy 63 Hanford lawsuits given new life after court reverses ruling 64 BNFL project surpasses safety mark 65 Livermore lab gains role in terror fight 66 Appeals court revives claims of residents living near former OTHER NUCLEAR ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 U.S. residents can sue for nuke exposure Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 09:23:20 -0500 (CDT) U.S. residents can sue for nuke exposure, says court Wednesday, June 19, 2002 By Reuters SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled thousands of Washington state residents could sue over illnesses blamed on a Cold War plutonium plant, reversing a lower court dismissal of most of the claims. The ruling rebuffs defense lawyers' efforts to limit damage awards against contractors who operated the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the most highly contaminated nuclear site in the United States, which spewed radiation as it produced fuel for U.S. atomic weapons as far back as 1943. Many of the plaintiffs claimed radiation had caused thyroid cancer, as well as bone, breast, and salivary cancer. Damage awards could reach tens of millions of dollars. The defendants include several industrial companies that ran the plant until 1986, including General Electric Co. and DuPont Co. "We are of course disappointed. We are studying the ruling, and we are not sure exactly where we will go from here," defense lawyer Randy Squires said of the 12-year-old case. Hanford, a former nuclear weapons production site in south-central Washington state, released radioactive materials into the air, water, and soil, sometimes intentionally and sometimes by accident, according to Washington state health officials. Many of those who lived downwind from Hanford or who used the Columbia River downstream were exposed to radiation that could cause illness at some point in their lives, state officials said. The appeals court panel in San Francisco overturned a ruling by Judge Alan McDonald in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington that would have eliminated claims of about 90 percent of some 4,000 plaintiffs from southeast Washington and nearby Oregon and Idaho. On Tuesday the appeals court lowered the amount of exposure to radiation required to prove physical harm, thereby allowing thousands to sue, but also limited damages for emotional distress to only those plaintiffs who had actually been made sick. Defense lawyers could ask for a hearing before the full appeals court or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Barring settlement talks, plaintiffs' attorneys were preparing to seek class certification for their clients and to present their full case before the circuit court. "We are looking at another year of development and preparation, but who knows what could happen to this case in that time," said plaintiffs' attorney Tom Foulds. Both sides said the case could go on for several more years. "It's hard to see how this decision brings the outcome closer," Squires said. "If you have to look at each one of one of these claims, it's going to take some time." The federal government has begun cleaning up or stabilizing some of the Hanford waste. Copyright 2002, Reuters ***************************************************************** 2 Judge strikes down South Carolina plutonium blockade Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 09:30:06 -0500 (CDT) Judge strikes down South Carolina plutonium blockade Wednesday, June 19, 2002 By Reuters AIKEN, S.C. -- South Carolina cannot physically block federal shipments of weapons-grade plutonium from entering the state, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a legal battle between the state and the U.S. Department of Energy. The ruling clears the way for the department to begin shipping more than 30 tons of the radioactive material from its Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado to its Savannah River nuclear facility in South Carolina as early as Saturday. Gov. Jim Hodges signed an executive order last week declaring the plutonium a threat and ordering state police to block any vehicle attempting to carry it into South Carolina. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie criticized the governor in ruling the blockade would violate the U.S. Constitution, which gives federal law supremacy over state law. "It is a sad day in South Carolina when a governor ... who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution must be ordered by a court to obey it," the judge said. At the Savannah River site 160 miles southwest of Charlotte, the plutonium is to be converted into fuel for commercial reactors. The Department of Energy is under pressure to begin shipping it soon because it plans to shut down the Colorado facility by 2006 and must move the plutonium this year to stay on schedule. South Carolina has never objected to temporarily holding such plutonium. But Hodges questioned the environmental impact and sought legal guarantees that the federal government would follow through on plans to convert the plutonium to reactor fuel, saying he feared the state would become a permanent dumping ground for nuclear waste. Hodges' only recourse is a pending appeal before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia. The Democratic governor, who is seeking re-election in November, had no immediate comment. Copyright 2002, Reuters ***************************************************************** 3 Just Say No to Nuclear Power Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 15:27:53 -0700 Say No to Nuclear Power Karl Grossman, AlterNet June 13, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The alleged al-Qaeda plot to build and denotate a "dirty" bomb is a grim reminder of the widespread proliferation of nuclear materials. Tens of thousands of pounds of "spent" nuclear are produced yearly at every atomic power plant -- fuel rods loaded with Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 and other lethal radioisotopes. Fifty or 100 pounds of this stuff is enough for a "dirty" bomb. Atomic power plants, meanwhile, remain sitting ducks for terrorists -- their "containments," the government admits, unable to withstand a strike by a big airplane or heavy weapon. But the Bush administration wants to build dozens more. How to deal with this threat? Trying to put the atomic genie back in the bottle might sound like an impossible proposition, but the alternative is equally daunting: to survive the 21st Century with atomic materials becoming ever more available. By "rebottling that [atomic] genie, we could all move to energy and foreign policies that our grandchildren can live with. No more important step could be taken," energy analyst Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute has said. Parts of the planet have already been designated by treaty as "nuclear free zones." It is time for us to work for the entire world to be a nuclear free zone. Alice Slater, president of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE), says what we need now is a "Bronx Project" ­ the polar opposite of the Manhattan Project which produced nuclear technology. It would be a crash program to bring on the widescale use of safe, clean energy technologies and "end to the horrendous experiment with atomic technology." But the Bush administration is moving in the opposite direction. Nuclear plants typically are fueled by 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of uranium. The fuel is not very radioactive in the initial stage -- but as the Uranium-235 (3 percent of the fuel) is fissioned, it quickly splits into lethal poisons like Cesium-137 and Strontium-90. Uranium-238 ( 97 percent of the fuel) transmutes into Plutonium-239 -- raw material for atomic bombs. The administration would like to build 50 new nuclear plants to add to the 103 now operating in the United States. "It’s like reviving Frankenstein -- this is the sequel," says Robert Alvarez, executive director of the group Standing for Truth About Radiation. The terrorist threat further underlines the lethal folly of relying on atomic power. Harvey Wasserman, senior advisor to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Greenpeace U.S.A., notes that one of the jets, for instance, that flew into the World Trade Center passed over the Indian Point nuclear plant complex, 28 miles north of New York City. If Al-Qaeda had targeted the plant instead, the number of casualties would be somewhere around 3,000,000. The U.S. government has not dealt -- and still does not deal -- realistically with this threat. In 1982, a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Board, while considering an operating license for the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant in North Carolina, dismissed the argument by a plant opponent named Wells Eddleman that the safety analysis for the plant was deficient because it didn’t consider the "consequences of terrorists commandeering a very large airplane ... and diving it into the containment." The NRC board declared: "Reactors could not be effectively protected against such attacks without turning them into virtually impregnable fortresses at much higher cost … The applicants are not required to design against such things as artillery bombardments, missiles with nuclear warheads, or kamikaze dives by large airplanes." Nuclear plant owners are still not asked to protect against such attacks because it is impossible. The three- to four-foot concrete containment of nuclear plants simply cannot withstand such assaults. But the Bush administration not only wants to build more nuclear plants, but also use Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a repository for nuclear waste. Trucks and trains carrying deadly nuclear material from around the nation to Nevada would be potential hijack targets. The truth is we don’t need atomic technology. Indeed, we now have fully-developed safe, clean, renewable energy technologies. Wind power, solar energy, hydrogen fuel technologies including fuel cells, and other renewable energy technologies are more than ready to use. Coupled with energy efficiency, they can be tapped and widely utilized, and render atomic power completely unnecessary. We need to stop sowing the seeds for terror and create instead a nuclear-free world where technology works in harmony with life rather than threaten it. *** Karl Grossman is professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury and the author of "Cover Up: What You Are Not Supposed To Know About Nuclear Power." He is also the writer and narrator of TV documentary "The Push To Revive Nuclear Power." ------------------------------------------------------------------- ***************************************************************** 4 Nuclear-plant witch hunt goes on The Taipei Times Online: 2002-06-19 SHODDY CONSTRUCTION: The government is looking to punish more officials from two state-run companies for their role in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant fiasco By Ko Shu-ling STAFF REPORTER The Ministry of Economic Affairs may punish more officials involved in the fiasco over structural flaws in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, according to Cabinet spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (²øºÓº~). "The punishments meted out last Friday were for those who are directly involved in the project. The ministry will make public its further handling of the matter in the near future, including the punishment of more officials," Chuang told reporters yesterday evening. Reliable sources at the Cabinet told the Taipei Times yesterday that the chairman of the China Shipbuilding (¤¤²î) will step down soon. On June 15, the ministry punished 22 officials of the two state-run firms responsible for the fiasco, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and China Shipbuilding Corp. The officials were punished for allowing sloppy workmanship that resulted in structural defects in the reactor pedestal of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. The China Shipbuilding Corp is responsible for constructing the plant's reactor pedestal. The punishments -- in the form of demerits -- drew immediate criticism from both the media and the public because not a single high-ranking official was asked to step down. Speculation is rife that Premier Yu Shyi-kun was unhappy with the punishments, which he reportedly considered too light. But Chuang yesterday dismissed the speculation. "The premier totally respects the ministry's handling of the matter," he said. Speculation was also rife that the punishments were light because some DPP lawmakers are involved in the project. Chuang said the Cabinet respects the prosecutors' authority because the case has become a legal one. On May 8, Taipower Chairman Lin Wen-yuan (ªL¤å²W), who had only been on the job for 69 days, tendered his resignation to take responsibility for announcing a power-rationing measure on too short notice. His resignation was later granted, but it was widely believed that Premier Yu, instead of the economics ministry, was behind the approval of Lin's resignation. The power-rationing measure, which surprised those affected when it was announced, reduced power to about 2,000 companies, including those in the petrochemical, textile and electronics industries, after a late delivery of natural-gas supplies left Taipower unable to generate enough electricity. The shortage came only weeks after Taipower declared that it would have ample electricity for the peak summer season, with electricity reserves at their highest levels in decades. Chinese Petroleum's chairman, Chen Chao-wei (³¯´Â«Â), and Taipower President Lin Ching-chi (ªL²M¦N) also offered to resign. The Cabinet approved Chen's offer. Chen offered his resignation over what he said was Chinese Petroleum's failure to provide natural gas to Taipower on time. Chinese Petroleum reduced its gas supplies to Taipower, forcing the power company to abruptly cut electricity supplies. This story has been viewed 424 times. Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 States Receiving Bioterror Money Las Vegas SUN June 18, 2002 Congress approved $1.1 billion in January for states and localities to prepare for bioterror. Most of that money came through this month. The bulk of it is for improving disease tracking, especially through computer networks, hiring and training. States can use some of the money for their particular circumstances. A new law adds more than $4 billion for stockpiling vaccines, improving food inspections, boosting security for water systems and more. It's unclear when those funds will get to the states. Here's a breakdown of what will go to the states and four cities directly once all the money is disbursed, and some examples of planned bioterror defenses. -Alabama - $16,873,276. -Alaska - $6,888,597. A new security office oversees threats to ferries, ports, airports, roads and bridges in this state of far-flung communities, and has proposed stockpiling replacement parts and temporary spans in case bridges are hit by terrorists. -Arizona - $18,659,807. -Arkansas - $12,237,400. -California - $70,779,150. -Chicago - $12,819,246. -Colorado - $16,492,100. Colorado's acute-care hospitals have received new protective "moon suits," and the state will hire 14 epidemiologists to improve disease tracking and identification. -Connecticut - $14,151,041. -Delaware - $7,298,076. -District of Columbia - $11,995,177. -Florida - $47,022,750. Florida's computer network, which will be coordinated with Georgia and Alabama, will also reach some of the region's Indian tribes. -Georgia - $26,646,732. -Hawaii - $8,416,564. -Idaho - $8,631,973. -Illinois - $30,140,755. Four communities will receive money to assess the vulnerability of their drinking water. -Indiana - $21,142,415. The state veterinarian and Purdue University will get money to prepare for responses to outbreaks of livestock diseases like foot and mouth and avian influenza, as well as the detection of plant pests and diseases. -Iowa - $12,898,461. -Kansas - $12,276,652. -Kentucky - $15,813,872. Kentucky is enhancing two veterinary labs to track agro-terror. -Los Angeles - $28,250,343. -Louisiana - $16,930,453. -Maine - $8,582,235. -Maryland - $19,093,295. A hospital and the state stadium authority plan a bioterror drill in July in which hundreds of volunteers will evacuate the Baltimore Ravens football stadium. -Massachusetts - $21,844,479. -Michigan - $31,225,867. -Minnesota - $18,107,921. -Mississippi - $12,685,012. -Missouri - $19,874,066. -Montana - $7,608,045. -Nebraska - $9,722,687. -Nevada - $10,472,795. Nevada is building a lab in the state's south. Officials were disconcerted in October when it took hours to deliver samples from an anthrax scare in Las Vegas to the only state lab, in Reno. -New Hampshire - $8,479,944. The Legislature has mandated broad quarantine and vaccination powers, prompting protests from civil liberties groups. -New Jersey - $27,242,380. -New Mexico - $10,004,395. Officials hope to train Mexican medical personnel to identify an outbreak across the border. -New York - $33,917,260. Officials plan to spend more than $1 million to protect reservoirs. -New York City - $26,181,040. -North Carolina - $26,288,291. -North Dakota - $6,928,502. -Ohio - $34,923,424. -Oklahoma - $14,268,890. -Oregon - $14,192,426. Oregon will hire a mental health professional to draw up plans to deal with the "demoralization" of a population in case of a bioterror attack. -Pennsylvania - $37,348,690. Pennsylvania has set aside money for drug and alcohol treatment services, because abuse tends to increase after a trauma. -Rhode Island - $7,989,965. Rhode Island has staged biological attack drills involving hundreds of volunteers at a naval war college, an airport, a mall and a convention center. The drills discovered that hospitals lacked the proper surgical masks to stop airborne infiltration and that officials used confusing and often meaningless acronyms during a crisis. -South Carolina - $15,736,097. -South Dakota - $7,222,917. South Dakota is outfitting a semitrailer as a mobile bioterror lab. It is also securing likely targets, such as dams and Mount Rushmore. -Tennessee - $20,119,939. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has created a CD-ROM series to train local rescue workers in how to handle nuclear, biological and chemical attacks or accidents. -Texas - $59,749,890. Texas is the only state to include the stockpiling of antibiotics specifically for children. -Utah - $11,086,779. Utah wants to expand the "Real-Time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance" system it tested during the Winter Olympics. -Vermont - $6,841,277. -Virginia - $23,750,941. -Washington - $20,655,319. -West Virginia - $9,976,425. -Wisconsin - $19,268,906. -Wyoming - $6,540,590. The state has plans to counter a livestock disease outbreak that might be caused by a terrorist. Officials tracked the sale of animals from one area of the state to 30 states within 24 hours, showing how quickly infected livestock might be scattered around the country. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 6 High-Tech Uranium Plant to Be Built Las Vegas SUN June 18, 2002 WASHINGTON- The Bush administration says a deal reached with the nation's only uranium enrichment company should help ensure the United States does not become dependent on foreign sources for nuclear fuel. The Energy Department announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement with USEC Inc., of Bethesda, Md., for the company to build a new high-tech uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky or Ohio within a decade. In return, the Energy Department will make government research and employees available to USEC. The plant would replace a 50-year-old facility in Paducah, Ky. USEC will continue producing 30 percent of the nation's nuclear fuel at the old plant until the new, more efficient one is able to do that. If USEC fails to live up to the deal, the Energy Department could take over the Paducah facility's enrichment operations. The Energy Department used to run that plant, but the government sold off its enrichment activities in 1998. That led to the formation of USEC Inc. in a $1.9 billion stock deal. The agreement also requires USEC to continue buying uranium fuel from Russia that is recycled from old Soviet bombs. Under the program, USEC buys the fuel and sells it to U.S. utilities. "With this agreement America accomplishes two very important goals, ensuring our domestic capacity to produce fuel for commercial reactors and meeting important nuclear nonproliferation goals by accepting enriched uranium from Russia," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said. The Energy Department could recommend that USEC lose its status as the government's sole purchaser of the uranium fuel from Russia if the company doesn't live up to its agreement with the agency. USEC signed an agreement with its Russian counterpart earlier this year allowing the company to buy the Russian fuel at a lower price than it previously paid. The State Department is expected to officially approve that contract Wednesday. The Russian fuel accounts for roughly half the enriched uranium used by U.S. nuclear plants. Nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. Critics question the wisdom of placing the future of a key U.S.-Russian agreement with a company that has had a troubled financial record. Since USEC was created in 1998, it has seen its credit rating slide to junk-bond level and its stock price decline. USEC also faced criticism last year when it ceased enrichment activities at its Piketon, Ohio, plant, eliminating around 500 jobs. The new agreement will create some jobs at the Piketon facility. The deal calls on USEC to set up an operation there to clean up part of its uranium inventory that is believed to be contaminated. Still, the representative from that district said he is not satisfied. Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland said he is afraid USEC won't have the resources to build the new enrichment plant. USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said the company hoped to set up a demonstration project within three years and use it to attract partners. An international consortium has said it would like to build a new enrichment plant somewhere in the United States, and Strickland called it unfair for the government to back USEC. He said the Energy Department was "choosing to align and affiliate and support one private sector entity over another with no expected benefit for southern Ohio," Strickland said. Two Republican lawmakers - Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, and Rep. Ed Whitfield, whose district includes Paducah, Ky. - disagreed. Both praised the agreement with USEC. On the Net: USEC Inc.: http://www.usec.com/ [http://www.usec.com/] Energy Department: http://www.energy.gov/ [http://www.energy.gov/] All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 7 Nuclear warhead upgrade sought; initiative at center of Senate debate The Seattle Times: Wednesday, June 19, 2002, 12:00 a.m. Pacific By Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON — With the ink barely dry on last month's nuclear-arms-reduction pact with Russia, the Bush administration is eager to explore new uses and improved designs for the country's ultimate weapons. Administration officials worry existing warheads cannot destroy targets such as deeply buried bunkers in Iraq, Iran and North Korea that may house biological or chemical weapons. The Department of Energy, caretaker of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, wants to form teams of experts to study whether they could modify existing warheads for this kind of target. Working with the Pentagon and the armed forces, these "advanced-warhead concept teams" would also design warheads and conduct tests of components short of full-scale underground blasts. In a related proposal, the administration wants to look at ways to cut the time needed to restart underground nuclear tests if they're needed to ensure the reliability of the nuclear arsenal. President Bush insists he has no plans to end the testing moratorium his father instituted in 1992. Yet taken together, the two initiatives would move the country closer to being able to design, test and build new nuclear weapons than it has been at any time since the former President Bush ended warhead production in 1990. That prospect alarms arms-control advocates and is at the center of a debate in the Senate that began yesterday. Critics fear that if the United States is perceived to be improving its nuclear weapons, other nuclear powers — such as Russia, China, India and Pakistan — will redouble their development efforts. The differences have emerged in a Capitol Hill fight over an administration proposal for a $15.5 million study to determine whether two existing warheads could be turned into nuclear bunker-busters. The study would look at whether the nuclear explosives from the warheads could be repackaged in a new body that could smash into Earth, burrow underground and destroy a reinforced bunker or tunnel. The explosives packages would be modified to limit radioactive fallout and damage to nonmilitary targets. Some scientists say that cannot be done. The study would be the first project for the new teams of scientists the Bush administration wants to set up at the Department of Energy and the Lawrence Livermore, Sandia and Los Alamos nuclear-weapons laboratories. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved the study of the so-called Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator in the version of the 2003 Pentagon budget that it passed last month. But majority Democrats in the Senate are expected to pass a 2003 Pentagon budget barring the Department of Energy from conducting the study. Administration officials said the study and the warhead-concept teams also would allow a dwindling pool of veteran nuclear-weapons experts to pass their skills on to a new generation of scientists and engineers. "We need to train new designers, and encourage their creativity to ensure our responsiveness to future national security needs, and to provide insurance against technological surprise by new weapons developments in other countries," said John Gordon, who heads the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nuclear arsenal. Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company ***************************************************************** 8 Nuclear energy plant may locate in Unicoi County Erwin Record June 25, 2002 *Are in favor of the nuclear energy plant proposed for Unicoi County?* Yes, it's a great opportunity. 35% No, it's the wrong thing for Unicoi County. 54% I don't know. I need more information. 10% 06/18/02 */By Mark A. Stevens -- Executive Editor /* Respond to this story A nuclear energy plant that could increase Unicoi County's property tax by nearly $9 million is considering locating a facility in the area of Tinker Road in Unicoi. County Executive Paul Monk announced the plan late Tuesday afternoon. Unicoi County is one of three locations the unnamed plant is considering for the facility that would employ up to 400 people during its construction and up to 250 once it is complete in 2006. A decision whether the plant will locate to Unicoi County could come as soon as July. "The plant project will create hundreds of high-paying jobs and potentially more than 1,000 other support and retail jobs in the region," said Unicoi County Economic Development Director and State Rep. Zane Whitson. "Our estimates are the plant could increase Unicoi County's property tax by $9 million." Monk called the plant a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Unicoi County, as well as the towns of Unicoi and Erwin, that can eliminate the pressure on our taxpayers and create hundreds of great-paying jobs." "We would be able to not only sustain, but improve our schools and other government services." Unicoi Countians, Monk noted, pay higher property taxes than any of its neighboring counties because about half of the county's 186-square-mile land mass is owned by the federal government with very little in lieu of tax payments. The $1 billion plant will enrich uranium to a maximum of five percent of electric utilities for the purpose of generating electricity. The technology, a press release said, has been successfully employed for 15 years in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and elsewhere and is 98 percent more efficient than similar plants that have provided the service in the United States in the past. The service will enable U.S. utilities to produce electricity at a lower cost to their customers. The facility's process, the release said, does not involve any fission for nuclear material. When operational, the new plant will be capable of providing about 15 percent of the current enriched uranium needs of U.S. nuclear power plants. The property for the facility is in excess of 100 acres. In fact, Monk said, members of the Unicoi County Economic Development Board have already been meeting with landowners in and around Tinker Road. To make room for the plant, several homes -- as well as the newly constructed Lighthouse Baptist Church on Zane Whitson Drive -- must be eliminated. EDB members hope to meet with landowners to see if they are willing to sell their property. Monk said the influx of tax revenue created by the new plant could reverse "three years of budget cuts affecting Unicoi County's 2,480 public-school students." "We have had to reduce our school budget by about $1 million in the past three years," said Unicoi County Director of Schools John Payne. "We are looking to cut another 10 to 12 instructional positions in the upcoming school year. "The plant would turn the tide in our schools with $3.8 million in new local tax dollars going toward the education of our children -- that is more than double the county's current per-pupil allocation for education." Whitson said Unicoi County "has made it through three rounds of the site elimination process." "The county's central location, dependable workforce and ample, low-cost power from the Tennessee Valley Authority has helped us keep Unicoi County on the list of possible sites." The TVA through its local distributer, Erwin Utilities, would provide a significant amount of power to the new facility. The increased power sales by Erwin Utilities would help maintain low energy costs for all of its customers and generate in lieu of tax payments within the county. "Gov. Don Sundquist and the State of Tennessee are solidly behind the plant project," Monk said. "We have already enlisted the support of county commissioners, the mayors and aldermen of the towns of Erwin and Unicoi, county school board members and other community leaders. "If we are successful in locating the plant in Unicoi County, it can have an extraordinary positive impact on our schools, employment, retail sales, housing and much more." While Monk said the support of all three government agencies have been acquired, the issue has never been brought forth in a public meeting -- possibly a clear violation of the state's open-meetings law. Construction of the plant is expected to begin in 2004 with the plant becoming operational in 2006. Monk said he did not know where the other two sites are located that may also be a site for the proposed plant, he did say Unicoi County is the only site being considered in Tennessee. The Tinker Road area is one of the county's most beautiful areas and offers travelers on Highway 19/23 South the first view of what has become known as the "Valley Beautiful." Monk said he did not have specifics of what the plant would look like, but he was sure it "would be very attractive." ©2001 _MyWebPal.com_ . All rights ***************************************************************** 9 U.S. firm to get Russian uranium -- The Washington Times June 19, 2002 U.S. firm to get Russian uranium By Carter Dougherty THE WASHINGTON TIMES The nation's only producer of nuclear fuel yesterday inked a deal that will give it access to uranium from converted Russian warheads and also government support in disposing of its radioactive waste. But Bethesda-based USEC Inc. still faces a tough road ahead as its main rival irons out plans for a new fuel-manufacturing facility to compete with the financially shaky company. USEC President and Chief Executive Officer William Timbers said the agreement with the Department of Energy will "enhance shareholder value and at the same time serve vital domestic energy-security and national-security interests." USEC was created in 1998 through the privatization of the United States Enrichment Corp., the former government monopoly in charge of manufacturing nuclear fuel. Since then, USEC's stock has slid to about half its initial offering price amid worries about its long-term ability to measure up to its European competitors. USEC shares closed yesterday at $8.31, up 93 cents for the day on unusually heavy trading, but still off its six-month high of $9.98 in May. The company also administers an international program created by the Clinton administration called "Megatons to Megawatts." The program, aimed at keeping nuclear material out of terrorists' hands, funnels Russian uranium recovered from dismantled nuclear warheads to electric utilities in the United States. "Our strong cooperation with Russia will help ensure that the important goals of protecting the world from the proliferation of nuclear materials continues," Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said in announcing the deal with USEC. USEC and its Russian counterpart, Tenex, hammered out a deal in February to extend the agreement for 10 years. Access to the Russian material is a vital lifeline for USEC, which operates a single plant in Paducah, Ky., that is owned by the Department of Energy and cannot supply its customers without the Russian deal. But the department held up government approval of the Russian pact until USEC committed to a timetable for developing new technology to manufacture nuclear fuel. The Bush administration has made it a priority to force USEC to create new nuclear-fuel-production technology and to avoid additional dependence on foreign supplies. The administration is expected to announce as early as today its final sign-off for USEC's arrangement with Russia. Currently, USEC uses decades-old, highly energy-intensive technology to produce 30 percent of the nation's nuclear fuel. The rest comes from Russia and a group of Western European companies. Under the deal announced yesterday, USEC will use technology developed by the Department of Energy to build a more advanced plant in the United States by 2010 or 2011. The government will monitor the company's progress and could put a stop to the Russian agreement if USEC fails to meet this goal. The department also agreed to take about $60 million in depleted uranium — a byproduct of the manufacturing process. USEC already faces a tough competitor in the race to build a new facility for "enriching" uranium into nuclear fuel. Louisiana Energy Services, a private consortium, is in discussions with federal regulators to build a new plant that would be using technology pioneered by Britain-based Urenco by 2006. The consortium is made up of major U.S. nuclear-plant operators such as Exelon of Chicago, Houston-based Duke Energy and Entergy of New Orleans. "Our plans are not affected by the agreement between USEC and the department," said James Malone, vice president for nuclear fuels at Exelon. But Leo Payne, a former USEC chief financial officer and independent consultant, said the presence of this major consortium will complicate USEC's plans to raise the estimated $1 billion it takes to build a new fuel plant. "With competing technology out there, one has to wonder whether Wall Street will ever finance this project," Mr. Payne said. "I don't know that the funds are limitless." USEC spokesman Charles Yulish disagreed, but declined to specify whether USEC has made any progress toward this goal. "We're confident that we will be able to raise the money and find a partner," he said. All site contents copyright © 2002 News World Communications, ***************************************************************** 10 Bush Policy on North Korea a Failure, Experts Say -- 06/18/2002 By Lawrence Morahan CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer June 18, 2002 Washington (CNSNews.com) - The Bush administration's policy of viewing North Korea as a belligerent communist state that exports missile technology to America's enemies is not working and should be replaced by active engagement, leading foreign policy analysts said Monday. The reason U.S.-North Korean dialogue has not resumed during the 18 months of the Bush administration is because of the "axis of evil rhetoric - and now the rhetoric about preemptive strikes" said Selig Harrison, a former Washington Post bureau chief in northeast Asia. That rhetoric, Harrison added, "has made North Korea wonder whether there's much to be gained by dialogue." Indeed, the Bush administration's North Korea policy increases the danger that the North Koreans will manufacture nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, said Harrison, author of "Korean Endgame: A Strategy for Reunification and U.S. Disengagement." He spoke at a forum at the Cato Institute in Washington. North Korea desperately wants food aid and help with solving its energy crisis, according to Harrison. "Above all, they want help in modernizing their agriculture so they won't need food aid forever," said Harrison, who has conducted numerous interviews with high-ranking North Korean officials in Pyongyang and at the United Nations since 1972. Pyongyang also seeks normalized relations with the United States, an end to sanctions and access to multilateral aid institutions, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, he said. Economic assistance could serve U.S. interests because a stable North Korea, focusing on its economic problems, would be beneficial for stability in northeast Asia, Harrison said. North Korea's economic woes began in the aftermath of the Cold War, when Pyongyang lost its benefactors China and Russia. During the same period, the South Korean economy boomed. South Korea's gross domestic product is now 36 times that of North Korea, analysts at the event said. Seoul spends more than six times that of Pyongyang on defense and South Korea's population is more than double that of the North, which has about 22 million people. Fifty years after the Korean War, the United States still maintains 37,000 troops in South Korea, including an infantry division and two tactical air wings, not counting U.S. forces in Japan that support the Korean deployment. The United States' principle foreign policy goal in dealing with North Korea should be to make sure that Pyongyang doesn't develop nuclear weapons and missiles, Harrison said. But to achieve that goal, the United States will have to make security concessions in addition to helping with economic reconstruction. North Korea is primarily afraid of a pre-emptive strike by the United States, Harrison said. If the United States were to engage in arms control negotiations with North Korea, it might have to agree to move its combat aircraft from Korea to Japan or Hawaii in return for a North Korean pullback of conventional forces from the demilitarized zone. Similarly, if the United States wants North Korea to give up some of its nuclear options, Washington would also have to change its nuclear posture. Under the 1994 Nuclear Freeze Agreement, Pyongyang is not required to dismantle its nuclear facilities and give up its nuclear options unless Washington gives "formal assurance against the threat or use of nuclear weapons by the United States," Harrison said, quoting the agreement. In other words, the United States would have to give up the right of first use, or the so-called "nuclear umbrella" over South Korea, he said. To break the stalemate, Harrison proposed an agreement that would be endorsed by the United States, China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas not to use, deploy or manufacture nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula. This would be necessary to carry out the commitment in the Nuclear Freeze Agreement, because China is a nuclear power and still has a nuclear agreement with the North. Unilaterally lifting the nuclear umbrella would not be consistent with Washington's obligations to the South, he said. By the same token, if the Bush administration legitimizes a policy of a pre-emptive strike, that would also violate the Nuclear Freeze Agreement and rule out North Korea's carrying out its commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons. After his first policy review on North Korea a year ago, President Bush didn't really propose negotiations, Harrison said. Instead, the president put the burden on North Korea to demonstrate the seriousness of its desire for improved relations by accepting U.S. terms. Recent signals coming from the administration have been more conciliatory, however, with talk of formal contact soon, even possibly a mission to Pyongyang in July, Harrison said. "But even if dialogue is resumed, it's not likely to lead anywhere unless the administration is prepared to talk about carrot as well as stick and to synchronize U.S. concessions with North Korean concessions, instead of expecting Pyongyang to make all the concessions first," he said. Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies with Cato, said Washington should use its engagement with China as a model for dealing with North Korea. That U.S.-Chinese dialogue has dramatically reduced tensions between the two countries, Carpenter said. "The policy of ostracism has failed spectacularly wherever it has been applied," Carpenter said. Carpenter said he was "deeply concerned" by the president's inclusion of North Korea in the "axis of evil" and in the administration's outlining of a doctrine of pre-emptive war. "If one put those two elements together, we come up with some truly alarming possibilities," he said. Unlike Harrison, Carpenter said he would not make a reduction in a U.S. presence contingent on productive negotiations with North Korea, but would withdraw unilaterally. "I think the United States should have eliminated its military presence in South Korea years and years ago," Carpenter said. Moreover, by the United States eliminating its military presence in South Korea, and doing so because it's in America's best interest, it would make it evident to North Korean leaders that they need to negotiate directly with Seoul, Carpenter said. [lmorahan@cnsnews.com] [shogenson@cnsnews.com] ***************************************************************** 11 Bush administration, uranium enricher reach deal on nuclear fuel supply 06/19/02 The Oak Ridger Online -- State News -- By NANCY ZUCKERBROD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration says a deal reached with the nation's only uranium enrichment company should help ensure the United States does not become dependent on foreign sources for nuclear fuel. The Energy Department announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement with USEC Inc., of Bethesda, Md., for the company to build a new high-tech uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky or Ohio within a decade. In return, the Energy Department will make government research and employees available to USEC. The plant would replace a 50-year-old facility in Paducah, Ky. USEC will continue producing 30 percent of the nation's nuclear fuel at the old plant until the new, more efficient one is able to do that. If USEC fails to live up to the deal, the Energy Department could take over the Paducah facility's enrichment operations. The Energy Department used to run that plant, but the government sold off its enrichment activities in 1998. That led to the formation of USEC Inc. in a $1.9 billion stock deal. The agreement also requires USEC to continue buying uranium fuel from Russia that is recycled from old Soviet bombs. Under the program, USEC buys the fuel and sells it to U.S. utilities. "With this agreement America accomplishes two very important goals, ensuring our domestic capacity to produce fuel for commercial reactors and meeting important nuclear nonproliferation goals by accepting enriched uranium from Russia," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said. The Energy Department could recommend that USEC lose its status as the government's sole purchaser of the uranium fuel from Russia if the company doesn't live up to its agreement with the agency. USEC signed an agreement with its Russian counterpart earlier this year allowing the company to buy the Russian fuel at a lower price than it previously paid. The State Department is expected to officially approve that contract Wednesday. The Russian fuel accounts for roughly half the enriched uranium used by U.S. nuclear plants. Nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of the nation's electricity. Critics question the wisdom of placing the future of a key U.S.-Russian agreement with a company that has had a troubled financial record. Since USEC was created in 1998, it has seen its credit rating slide to junk-bond level and its stock price decline. USEC also faced criticism last year when it ceased enrichment activities at its Piketon, Ohio, plant, eliminating around 500 jobs. The new agreement will create some jobs at the Piketon facility. The deal calls on USEC to set up an operation there to clean up part of its uranium inventory that is believed to be contaminated. Still, the representative from that district said he is not satisfied. Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland said he is afraid USEC won't have the resources to build the new enrichment plant. USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said the company hoped to set up a demonstration project within three years and use it to attract partners. An international consortium has said it would like to build a new enrichment plant somewhere in the United States, and Strickland called it unfair for the government to back USEC. He said the Energy Department was "choosing to align and affiliate and support one private sector entity over another with no expected benefit for southern Ohio," Strickland said. Two Republican lawmakers -- Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, and Rep. Ed Whitfield, whose district includes Paducah, Ky. -- disagreed. Both praised the agreement with USEC. On the Net: USEC Inc.: [http://www.usec.com/] Energy Department: [http://www.energy.gov/] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 12 Navy offers sunken battleships for scrap Vladivostok News :: Primorye picks legislature June 18, 2002 The Vladivostok News Pacific Fleet officials recently announced measures to fight pollution from sunken ships and radiation around its bases that run from Russia's southeast near the Chinese border to the northeastern Kamchatka peninsula. Navy and environmental officials headed by Pacific Fleet chief prosecutor Major General Valery Suchkov adopted the measures, including selling off sunken battleships, last week at a meeting devoted to protecting the environment around naval bases, said Yelena Sharlai, a spokeswoman for the fleet prosecutor's office. Sunken naval, merchant and fishing ships are major polluters of the local coastline, officials said. At least 20 half-submerged vessels are rusting away in Vladivostok bays. "In the course of the discussion the ecological situation in the water areas of the Peter the Great Bay and along the coastline of Vladivostok and Russky Island (which is part of the city) was assessed as critical and demanding urgent measures," Sharlai said in a statement. She said the sunken navy and civilian ships will be sold to the highest bidders who will lift and sell them as scrap. She did not say when the bidding would take place. Other polluters are working naval and civilian ships that discharge sewage, oil and bilge water into the sea. Primorye's public Marine Ecological Fund has already purchased five vessels to clean up sewage, industrial waste, bilge and oil. Officials also ordered an inspection of radiation levels at naval storage facilities for solid radioactive waste, which are located at a military garrison in the south of Primorye. The inspection is scheduled for this month. According to Sharlai, officials said the Pacific Fleet had "negative trends" in complying with environmental legislation as far as radioactive waste is concerned. They said the situation requires "drastic" measures, Sharlai said without elaborating. Editor Anatoly Medetsky [engl@vladnews.ru] Reporter Anna Malpas

[malpas@vladnews.ru] Translator Alena Sokolova [sokolova@vladnews.ru] Web administrator Svetlana Gurieva [gurieva@vladnews.ru] Copyright © 2002 "Vladivostok Novosti" 13 Narodny Prospect Vladivostok, 690014 Russia Phone: 7 (4232) 415-590, Fax: 7 (4232) 415-615 Published by Vladivostok Novosti, Ltd. ***************************************************************** 13 Bereuter says Cooper plant operating safely Omaha.com June 19, 2002 *BY NANCY GAARDER* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., has weighed in on the debate over Cooper Nuclear Station, saying the plant is operating safely and can continue to operate indefinitely if proper management is in place. The huge investment that ratepayers have made in the plant can be used to good advantage, Bereuter said, if Nebraska Public Power District, owner of the plant, can implement proper management. Marcia Cady, spokeswoman for NPPD, said the utility is absolutely in agreement that resolving management issues is essential. High turnover among management has been a primary problem at the plant. NPPD is offering a more than $100 million retention package to keep skilled workers from leaving. Bereuter said he has been briefed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees nuclear plants, about Cooper. The plant is an economic asset to southeast Nebraska, employing about 760 people and generating about $56 million a year in payroll and benefits. At the same time, Cooper has struggled to operate efficiently and properly. The NRC has given Cooper the lowest grade that a nuclear plant can have and still operate. NPPD has said that it will decide this year whether it makes sense to continue operating the plant. Bereuter, who represents southeast Nebraska where Cooper is located, said federal regulators have told him that the plant is operating safely. "I have feared that Nebraskans would assume that Cooper has some inherent mechanical or physical problems," Bereuter said. "I want to assure the public that it does not and that it could have substantial operating life ahead." Don't Get It wrote: If the NRC says the Cooper plant is operating on the lowest grade allowed for a nuclear plant, where does Bereuter get off saying it is safe? The only reason he wants it to stay active is so the people that voted for him won't change their mind in the next election. Some Nebraskans think that money and jobs are more important than everyones safety. Think about it, if you get blown up from a nuclear plant, you won't be able to spend that money you earned. Is it worth it? I say close the plant, it sounds unsafe and disorganized. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 14 Industry official admits N-plants may be vulnerable [deseretnews.com] Tuesday, June 18, 2002 Hearst Newspapers WASHINGTON — The nation's nuclear power plants could withstand an aerial assault similar to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, a senior industry official said Monday. However, Stephen Floyd, a director of the nuclear Energy Institute, conceded that in extreme circumstances the nuclear reactors and their highly radioactive fuel could be vulnerable. Citing a study by the NEI, which represents the nuclear industry, Floyd said: "The preliminary results are that it is extremely unlikely that the aircraft would be able to penetrate the containment vessel." The containment vessel — a domed building usually about 160 feet high and 130 feet wide — houses the nuclear reactor and fuel, which are encased in numerous steel and concrete shrouds several feet thick. Some public safety groups have called for stationing air defense batteries around the nation's 103 functioning nuclear power plants for protection against attacks like those used against the Pentagon and World Trade Center. The government is studying such unprecedented protection for the power plants, but the industry opposes the move fearing a commercial jet might be accidentally downed. Protection of the plants is a top priority since September. The nuclear Regulatory Commission currently is conducting its own study about the ability of containment vessels to withstand direct hits by aircraft. But Sen. Jim Jeffords, chairman of a Senate committee assessing the vulnerability of nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks, warned in a congressional hearing on June 5 that the NRC must do more to increase security at the atomic reactors. Jeffords, an independent of Vermont, described a list of problems at power plants, including poor preparations for dealing with commando-style attacks, unrealistic assumptions of what constitutes an enemy threat and personnel troubles that undermine security. Floyd told reporters that the NEI study, which will be completed by the end of the month, relied on computer modeling to determine what would happen if a Boeing 767 struck a containment vessel head on. Terrorists used two 767 jets to destroy the World Trade Center towers and a Boeing 757 to strike the Pentagon on Sept. 11. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. In the assumptions underpinning the scenarios that NEI assessed, the aircraft would be traveling at around 300 mph, like the plane that hit the Pentagon, not at a high speed like the two jets that struck the World Trade Center. The jet that destroyed the south tower was traveling close to 586 mph. Floyd acknowledged that if a jet were to hit a reactor containment vessel at high speeds, then the structure might be penetrated, especially if the plane struck the containment vessel at the top, where the concrete and steel protective shells are thinnest. But, he added, the probability is extremely low because an airliner traveling at such a speed and at such an angle aiming for a low-lying building would be highly inaccurate and aerodynamically unstable. "The plane in all likelihood would destroy itself before it could hit the target," Floyd told reporters. © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 15 OPPD plant wins praise at relicensing hearing Omaha.com June 19, 2002 *BY NANCY GAARDER* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER The Omaha Public Power District received plenty of praise from area business, emergency preparedness and labor leaders Tuesday at a federal hearing on relicensing the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station. Although the purpose of the regulatory hearing was to explore the environmental impact of the continued operation of the plant, most of those speaking talked of its economic benefit and of OPPD's good working relationship with emergency officials. The plant, between Blair and Fort Calhoun, Neb., employs about 645 people and generates a $43 million payroll. Mayors from both towns said the nuclear plant and its workers were welcome members of their communities. "The response we get from OPPD is exceptional. We don't get a smokescreen," said Mayor Larry Halford of Fort Calhoun. OPPD's environmental review has indicated that an additional 20 years of operation should have no significant, adverse impact on water, plants and animals, air or land use. Meteorologist John Pollack was the only person at the afternoon hearing to raise environmental concerns. Pollack said worst-case scenarios for a catastrophic event at the plant should have taken into account a weather phenomenon known as a "strong, low-level inversion." Under that condition, which is fairly unusual, air flow would trap radioactive fallout in the Missouri River valley, rather than allowing it to escape into the atmosphere. Pollack also said winds blowing from the north blow at an overall speed that is faster than the average windspeed in this area, so calculations on the amount of time needed for fallout to arrive in Omaha should be adjusted. North Omaha may merit, he said, warning sirens. Fort Calhoun's 40-year license expires in 2013, and OPPD is seeking an extension. As part of the decision-making process, federal regulators hold parallel reviews on the safety of the plant and its environmental impact. Comments on the environmental impact are due by July 10 to the NRC and may be sent by mail, fax, or e-mail. For more information, contact the NRC at (800) 368-5642, ext. 1120, or by e-mail: ft-calhoun-EIS@nrc.gov ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 16 Critics hit Browns Ferry financing KnoxNews: Business TVA says long-term health is goal By Rebecca Ferrar, News-Sentinel business writer June 19, 2002 TVA plans the $1.77 billion restart of a northern Alabama nuclear plant at the same time it's spending $1 million a day to slash coal-fired plant emissions and pay down its $25 billion debt. Environmental activists say the math doesn't add up and question the wisdom of tackling the costly restart of Unit 1 of the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant at Athens, Ala., while other expensive tasks are on the table. "TVA is making too many promises to too many people,'' said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "They promised the White House, the state and the people they would clean up the air (from coal-fired plant emissions); they're promising the distributors and nuclear power folks they will get this nuclear power plant on line; and they're promising to keep the rates low and keep the debt down. There's a point at which you've promised more than you can deliver. "Do the math. Show me the money.'' TVA spokesman John Moulton said extensive financial and environmental assessments were conducted before the federal agency made its decision to restart. In its financial review to the TVA board, TVA staff said it aims to do the "lowest financing cost that will enhance TVA's long-term financial position.'' The staff contemplated the potential use of TVA internal cash flow and planned to evaluate outside proposals from private investors to finance the project. TVA said this could be done at the same time the agency is reducing its debt. The restart is expected to take five years. The seven-state agency's evaluation of the restart shows that cash flow would turn positive in May 2007 and break even in 2015. John Noel, a Tennessee Environmental Council board member who testified with Smith to the TVA board against a Browns Ferry restart, said he and other members of the public were ignored when the restart decision was made. Noel had urged TVA to allow an "independent'' group of scientists to assess whether it made sense to restart the unit rather than relying on TVA's own "pro-nuclear'' staff. Moulton, however, said public meetings were held in Alabama and said the only opposition was from anti-nuclear activists. He noted that the 29-year-old plant already was licensed and that TVA is not required to go through the licensing process again. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will oversee the restart process and approve the actual restart. "We've had public meetings,'' Moulton said. "We did our draft (environmental statement). The (Environmental Protection Agency) said it's better to operate on an existing site and better than going out and generating on a site that's never generated power.'' Now that TVA's public comment period is passed, environmentalists say the next stop is Congress and the federal General Accounting Office. Hugh Jackson, with Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment, a Ralph Nader group, says the NRC's review of the restart will be useless. "The NRC never met an application they didn't like,'' he said. "I'm more interested in getting Congress to take a look at what TVA is doing,'' Jackson said. "I don't understand the economics of it.'' One of Smith's staff attended a TVA-NRC meeting last week at which the Browns Ferry schedule was discussed. "Our organization will track the process as closely as we possibly can,'' Smith said. "It's a complicated and intimidating process.'' Ed Passerini, a University of Alabama professor of environmental studies and member of the Alabama Environmental Council, claimed TVA's projections for power needs, and thus the need for the additional nuclear power, are "excessive.'' Like other environmentalists, he says TVA needs to invest its millions in alternative energy sources. "We're very concerned this is a hole in which they are throwing money and that money means more trouble in the future,'' Passerini said. "That money would be better used to clean up the coal-fired plants, better manage the hydro plants, in a pro-conservation public relations campaign and an aggressive demand-side management program.'' Such a management program would involve TVA working with large customers to use power during non-peak periods in exchange for lower rates. Rebecca Ferrar may be reached at 865-342-6357 or ferrarr@knews.com. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Duke Energy gets preliminary extension on Catawba - 2002-06-18 - The Business Journal (Raleigh/Durham) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has given preliminary approval for extending Duke Energy Corp.'s license for the Catawba Nuclear Station for 20 years. The staff announced that it finds no environmental effects that would prevent the commission from granting the extension for the twin-reactor power plant on Lake Wylie. Duke applied for license renewal for the 2,258-megawatt York County plant a year ago. Copyright 2002 American City ***************************************************************** 18 Lightning near nuke site spurs repairs [St. Petersburg Times Online: Citrus County news ] [http://www.tampabay.com/] By ALEX LEARY, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published June 19, 2002 CRYSTAL RIVER -- Working to avoid a mandatory shutdown of the nuclear plant, Florida Power crews spent Tuesday repairing an external electricity source hit by lightning during an intense thunderstorm Monday morning. The loss of power triggered one of two emergency diesel generators, which remained in use for several hours Monday while the problem was evaluated. "It's a moderate safety concern because they are down to one off-site power source," said Steve Sanchez, a resident inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Lightning hit a 230,000-volt switchyard a few hundred feet from the plant and knocked out one of the plant's dual power feeds. The electricity that goes into the switchyard is generated by Florida Power's coal-burning plants and mostly goes into the power grid to light homes and businesses. But part of the load is routed to the nuclear plant and used for equipment that shuts down the plant in an emergency and also for safety pumps and valves. If the undamaged power source were also lost, the diesel generators would be available; but "you don't want to challenge your safety systems that way," Sanchez said. Florida Power spokesman Mac Harris said the nuclear reactor continued to produce electricity during the incident. "The plant is designed to take lightning strikes and do exactly what it did," Harris said. He said workers were inspecting the power transformer and cables that run to the plant to determine what is damaged. The repairs could be made as early as today, he said. Under NRC regulations, Florida Power has 72 hours to establish the second power source. If the repair is not completed by then, the plant may have to be shut down. [http://www.digitalcity.com/tampabay/news/] ***************************************************************** 19 Iowans near nuclear plant won't get pills Omaha.com June 19, 2002 DES MOINES (AP) - The Iowa Department of Public Health won't offer pills to Cedar Rapids-area residents that could combat a terrorist attack at the nearby Duane Arnold Energy Center, Iowa's only nuclear power plant. The best protection in the event of a radioactive release is to evacuate the area, said Dan McGhee, a nuclear engineer with the department's Bureau of Radiological Health. "This is a big political issue around the country," McGhee said. "I say, 'How many people in Cedar Rapids are asking for it?' The answer is 'None.' And that's because the folks around Duane Arnold are so educated about this." Fourteen other states have requested or received potassium iodide tablets for their residents. McGhee said the pills protect only the thyroid. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission agreed to make the tablets available to state agencies after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and reports of threats against commercial nuclear generating facilities. About 120,000 people live in Cedar Rapids, near the plant. The NRC would make one or two pills available to people who live or work within 10 miles of each of the nation's nuclear plants. The pill would help prevent thyroid cancers and other thyroid diseases that could be caused by exposure to radioactive iodine. Linn County officials said they support the position taken by state health officials. Linn County's emergency management director, Ned Wright, said he is concerned that area residents won't follow emergency procedures if they have access to the tablets. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 20 Court revives downwinder claims This story was published Wed, Jun 19, 2002 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer The claims of thousands of people were restored Tuesday to suits asking for damages for health problems they believe were caused by radiation releases from the Hanford nuclear reservation. The 9th District Court of Appeals overturned U.S. District Court action in 1998 that dismissed more than 3,000 claims against Hanford contractors. The suits had been reduced to a few hundred plaintiffs. "It's a huge victory," said Roy Haber, a Eugene, Ore., attorney representing about 600 people who lived downwind of Hanford when radiation was released during World War II and the Cold War years. The defense has not made a decision but may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask the 9th District Court to reconsider parts or all of its decision to reinstate plaintiffs. The initial suits were filed beginning in 1990 when the government released information about large radiation releases from Hanford that drifted downwind. Eventually suits were consolidated into two groups of plaintiffs, referred to as the Berg plaintiffs and Hanford nuclear reservation plaintiffs. Claims from both those consolidated suits have been reinstated for people with thyroid disease or cancer. In the Tuesday decision, the appeals court took issue with a ruling by federal Judge Alan McDonald that downwinders must show they received enough radiation to double their risk of illness when compared with the risk faced by the general population. Those who could not meet that standard were removed from the suit in 1998. "It was an arbitrary bright line standard ..., but there is variability in human response," said Tom Foulds, a Seattle attorney representing 2,000 downwinders. The appeals court cited a decision in a case involving Three Mile Island that said common sense disputes that a person exposed to 10 rem of radiation is at risk of cancer, but not a person exposed to 9.99 rem. The appeals court found that the doubling standard had been appropriate in other cases where the risk of substances, such as prescriptions taken during pregnancy, was not known and could only be determined by observing increased incidences of health problems. But radiation is a known health risk, so the doubling standard should not apply, the court found. "It doesn't take a (radiation) dose that doubles the risk to cause cancer," Haber said. In fact, the appeals court decision said that scientific and legal authorities recognized that "radiation is capable of causing a broad range of illnesses, even at the lowest doses." The appeals court said determinations of whether radiation caused cancer should be decided individually using Washington state common law. Foulds said each case would be looked at to see what lifestyle, genetic or other factors, including estimated radiation dose, might have contributed to the illness. Haber interpreted the ruling to mean that plaintiffs had to show that the radiation contributed in some way to the illness, with a jury deciding if the radiation dose was sufficient to be a factor in the illness. However, Randy Squires, a Seattle attorney for the defense, said plaintiffs still have to show that radiation was a substantial factor in causing illness. "This is not a burden they can discharge by showing they might have been exposed to radiation," he said. "The fact is very few had much in the way of exposure above the background limits or had none." The defense was disappointed in the ruling, particularly considering the thoroughness and thought put into McDonald's 762-page order to dismiss thousands of plaintiffs. "We thought he did an almost unprecedented job of dealing with a very complex topic," Squires said. Defendants include DuPont, General Electric, UNC Nuclear Industries, Atlantic Richfield and Rockwell International. However, the defense is being paid for by the federal government, and the government may be responsible for any judgments. The appeals court ruling also addresses experts whose reports were excluded because they did not submit information related to a doubled risk. Those reports will be reconsidered. Most plaintiffs should receive letters in the next few days from their attorneys explaining the appeals court ruling. In addition, Haber may be reached at 800-881-0370 and Foulds at 800-628-3147 or 206-285-8390. Attorneys also will be watching for the results of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study. The final report will be released at a public meeting at 6 p.m. Friday at the Red Lion Hanford House in Richland. A draft report found that increased exposure to radiation did not increase the risk of developing thyroid disease among downwinders. However, researchers have spent the last two years reanalyzing data. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 21 Anti-radiation pills kept from public Kerry Fehr-Snyder The Arizona Republic June 19, 2002 Arizona is one of 15 states stockpiling anti-radiation pills that could protect citizens in a nuclear accident or attack. But the tiny white pills are being kept out of the hands of the public despite pleas from some state residents, some hundreds of miles away. "I'm not going to be giving it to anybody unless it's needed and when it's needed," said Ruth Aud, emergency services planner for Maricopa County's Department of Emergency Management. Arizona officials have decided it's better to stockpile supplies of potassium iodide, also known as KI, rather than distribute them in advance of a release of radioactive iodine. The pill protects the thyroid gland from radiation, although other parts of the body could still be affected. As of last week, federal law requires that the medicine be available to all residents living within a 20-mile radius of a nuclear power plant, instead of an original 10-mile radius. In Maricopa County, an estimated 22,000 people live within that zone around Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix. It includes areas of Buckeye, Luke Air Force Base, Peoria, Glendale, Goodyear and west Phoenix. Only 3,300 people live within a 10-mile radius. The expanded area has state and local emergency officials reconsidering their stockpiling strategy and considering ordering more of the medicine. Meanwhile, some residents are clamoring for the drug, even turning to the Internet where they can buy supplies without a prescription. Some are calling it the new Cipro, the antibiotic in great demand during last fall's anthrax scare. "I've gotten calls from people saying, 'I want KI,' " Aud said. "I say, 'Where do you live?' and they say, 'Prescott.' " Aud tells them no because they're not within the 20-mile radius of Palo Verde. 'Hysteria is setting in' But Neil Peters, who owns a 20-acre ranch six miles west of the plant, said the state's decision to stockpile KI is fine with him. "Hysteria is setting in, and people are afraid of looking like they're not doing anything," the retired mechanical engineer said. KI pills likely wouldn't be used in the event of a so-called dirty bomb, emergency workers say, because such explosives would not include radioactive iodine. Instead, such bombs would use cesium, uranium, radon (a radioactive gas), tritium and even steel exposed to radiation. On Monday, state emergency management officials met to reconsider their decision to hold onto their stash of the medicine in light of a bioterrorism bill signed by President Bush last week that expanded the zone around nuclear plants. "The 10-mile radius was always an arbitrary number," said Mike Austin, director of the state's Division of Emergency Management. "The 20-mile (radius) complicates that." In the case of an accident, emergency management workers believed they'd have no problems distributing the pills in the 10-mile zone within a safe five hours. Emergency workers and radiation regulators stashed the supply of 7,000 pills at the Avondale substation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. In the event of an accident or emergency, the Sheriff's Office plans to take the pills to other centers for residents. Distributing the pills That's in contrast to California and Westchester County, N.Y., both of which are distributing pills to residents near its nuclear power plants. Officials in those states argue that their populations are too large to reach within a relatively short time. Depending on the amount and type of radiation released, residents would be instructed to take the pills within the first five hours. The amount of pills would vary depending on the quantity of radioactive iodine released. Arguing the downsides Officials argue that pre-distributing the pill has downsides, including the possibility that residents may lose or misplace their supplies or take the pill against the advice of health officials. Those with existing thyroid problems and compromised immune systems may suffer side effects from the pills, while others may be allergic to them. "It's a lot of effort for a very little bit of protection," said Aubrey Godwin, director of the Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency. "Many people think it's good for everything, and it's not." Nationally, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been debating whether to distribute the pills to the public for 23 years, ever since the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident. Hoping to settle the matter, Bush has requested the National Academy of Sciences recommend the most effective and safest way of public distribution. The Arizona Republic [http://www.arizonarepublic.com/] - Front ***************************************************************** 22 Counties reject federal pill offer JS Online: Free tablets could help in event of blast at nuclear plants By LEE BERGQUIST of the Journal Sentinel staff Last Updated: June 18, 2002 Wisconsin officials have refused the federal government's offer of free tablets that provide protection against nuclear exposure because counties closest to nuclear power plants don't want them. Just because it is free doesn't mean it is a good idea. - Nancy Crowley, Manitowoc County emergency management director Local officials turned down the offer of the free pills, citing logistical problems and concerns that the pills would provide people living near nuclear plants a false sense of security. Potassium iodide would have gone to three counties that are within 10 miles of nuclear power plants - Manitowoc and Kewaunee on Lake Michigan and Pierce on the Mississippi River. Wisconsin and most other Midwestern states that have nuclear plants have turned down the offer of the free pills from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, millions of people who live near nuclear reactors in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and eight other states received the pills earlier this year, and officials in Ohio and Pennsylvania have requested them. California also plans to distribute the tablets to nearly half a million people living within 10 miles of two nuclear plants. Although potassium iodide doesn't shield against all types of radiation poisoning, it can protect the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine if taken in the first four hours of exposure. Thyroid cancer can result from radiation exposure. The NRC does not require the use of potassium iodide because the agency said it believes that emergency planning is adequate. But it recognizes there is a "supplemental value" to the pill. The Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services made the case earlier this year that the state should reverse its position and accept the pills, according to Ed Gleason, administrator of the state Emergency Management Division. "I think that it is a tool that we should have in our toolbox," Gleason said. "For a long time I did not think this was the way to go, but since September 11, I have changed my mind." Nuclear plants are considered possible terrorist targets because radioactive contamination could spread over wide areas. Federal officials said Monday that they know of no specific threats against any nuclear plants, which have been ordered to complete security upgrades by the end of August. County officials in Wisconsin rebuffed the federal offer. "A lot of this is to make us look foolish," said Nancy Crowley, director of emergency management in Manitowoc County. "Just because it is free doesn't mean it is a good idea." Also, government officials have warned that distribution of potassium iodide tablets on such a large scale and involving such a sensitive public health issue can be fraught with confusion. A registered nurse and an emergency government official for 21 years, Crowley said counties would have to decide whether to stockpile the pills or dole them out in advance. Both present problems. For example, if pills were given to residents, some people might have allergic reactions. There is no easy way to provide child dosages. Also, people would have carry the pills with them all of the time. Another concern is that the federal Food and Drug Administration says that a 14-day dosage is the best defense against radiation, but the NRC provides only a two-day supply. The most important concern: "We don't want people to delay leaving the area," Crowley said. "Getting away is still the best way for people to protect themselves." Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties jointly held two public hearings. A total of about 30 people showed up. "Health professionals, elected officials, pharmacies have been involved, and this is our opinion at this time," she said. Manitowoc and Kewaunee counties are closest to the Point Beach and Kewaunee nuclear power plants on Lake Michigan. Pierce County is closest to the Prairie Island nuclear plant near Red Wing, Minn., on the Mississippi River. In Manitowoc County, officials sent letters to 15,000 people explaining the effectiveness of the drug and the possibility that it could be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription or over the Internet. The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on June 19, 2002. [http://www.jsonline.com/copyright.html] , Journal Sentinel Inc. Journal Sentinel Inc. is a subsidiary of Journal Communications [http://www.jc.com] , an employee-owned company. ***************************************************************** 23 McCall critical of nuclear plant evacuation plan timesunion.com Albany -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate argues Indian Point plan not adequate to protect residents By *ELIZABETH BENJAMIN* , Capitol bureau First published: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 Democratic gubernatorial hopeful H. Carl McCall on Tuesday said Republican Gov. George Pataki should withdraw state certification of the Indian Point nuclear power plant evacuation plan, arguing it won't adequately protect nearby residents from radiation released by an accident or attack. McCall, the state comptroller, said such a release is unlikely, but given the potential consequences, "We must be sure that the required evacuation plan would actually work. The current plan does not.'' The Indian Point plant is fast becoming a significant issue in the gubernatorial race. Both McCall and his rival for the Democratic line, former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, have called for the plant's closure. On Tuesday, McCall criticized the evacuation plan for being limited to a 10-mile zone surrounding the Westchester County plant, failing to address the effect of radiation on New York City and lacking provisions for terrorist attacks or radiation released from pools where spent fuel rods are kept. Pataki, said spokesman Joseph Conway, has asked the federal government to review all nuclear plants, including Indian Point, "to ensure that we meet the new realities we face'' after Sept. 11. Cuomo's camp on Tuesday questioned McCall's record on nuclear power plants, pointing out that he has, as a corporate shareholder overseeing investments made by the state's $112 billion pension fund, voted against proposals to halt the export of nuclear fuel, convert nuclear plants to natural gas and phase out nuclear facilities. "There are clearly some inconsistencies in Carl McCall's stands on nuclear power,'' said Cuomo spokesman Peter Ragone. "It will be up to the voters to decide which position is his real one.'' McCall spokesman Steven Greenberg accused Cuomo's camp of "dragging up issues that have nothing to do with Indian Point.'' Meanwhile, Pataki was endorsed by the 50,000-member Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam Counties, which also backed him in 1994 and 1998. ***************************************************************** 24 US Lawmakers In London To Investigate 'Gulf War Syndrome' -- 06/18/2002 By Mike Wendling CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief June 18, 2002 London (CNSNews.com) - The U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations heard Tuesday from British veterans who are pressing their government to acknowledge the existence of "Gulf War syndrome." It was the first-ever U.S. Congressional committee hearing in the British Parliament. U.S. Reps. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) collected testimony from former servicemen, scientists and veterans' advocates. Former presidential candidate Ross Perot, who in the past criticized the U.S. government's treatment of Gulf War vets, also attended the hearing. The Americans were joined by Lord Morris of Manchester, a former U.K. minister for war pensions, and ex-presidential candidate Ross Perot, who has taken up the Gulf vets' plight as one of his pet causes. Veterans' groups such as the Royal British Legion, which organized Tuesday's hearing, say that the exact causes of Gulf War syndrome are unknown but that more money is needed for research into the symptoms suffered by veterans. During the hearing, panelists and witnesses kept focusing on the toxins that allied troops came into contact with during the Gulf War. "This is not stress," Perot said. "This is troops in combat wounded by chemical agents." Former Flight Lt. John Nichol, who was shot down and captured by Iraqi forces during the war, listed a number of possible chemical, biological and nuclear substances the veterans may have encountered, including: -immunizations and medicines designed to protect against biological and chemical weapons -smoke from oil wells set alight by retreating Iraqi troops -locally bought pesticides -chemical weapons used by Iraq or released during allied raids on weapons plants -depleted uranium (DU) used in allied armor-busting shells "The possible inter-reaction of these many factors is incalculable," Nichols said. "Most of these factors were not present in (other) recent conflicts." Shaun Rusling, chairman of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA), said that recent urine tests on British vets have shown the presence of DU and even enriched uranium - the type used in nuclear reactors and atom bombs. Rusling said the tests raised several possibilities. Enriched uranium could have been inadvertently included in lower-radioactivity DU shells or Saddam Hussein's troops may have used a "dirty bomb" - conventional explosives lined with radioactive material -- against allied forces. "This was the most toxic war ever fought," Rusling told the committee. Last month, Rusling won a pensions case in front of an appeals panel in the northern English city of Leeds. The appeals board became the first British court to acknowledge the existence of "Gulf War syndrome." After serving as an army medic in Saudi Arabia, Rusling suffered a breakdown and was given a medical discharge. "We at the NGVFA have paid for our own investigations into our ill health because our government has chosen to its back on us," he said. Also testifying Tuesday was Samantha Thompson, whose husband Nigel, a former petty officer in the Royal Navy, died of Lou Gehrig's disease in January. While the U.S. government has acknowledged that the disease - called motor neurone disease in Britain - is linked to service in the Gulf, U.K. authorities have made no similar statement. "Very early on it became clear to Nigel and many others that a number of potentially fatal mistakes had been made in the pre-treatment of our troops against a possible chemical or biological attack by the Iraqis," Mrs. Thompson said. "The only way the whole truth will ever come out is if the prime minister orders a full and independent public inquiry," she said. Shays, who praised the witnesses for their tenacity in fighting for veterans, said that U.S. officials had gone further in acknowledging the links between Gulf service and illness than their British counterparts. "Too many minds on both sides of the Atlantic have been closed" to scientific research, he said. "It is time to break that tragic cycle of myopia and insensitivity." The committee's visit continues Wednesday when Shays and Perot will address a group of about 150 British parliamentarians. E-mail a news tip to Mike Wendling. [cnsnews@onetel.net.uk] Send a Letter to the Editor about this article. [shogenson@cnsnews.com] ***************************************************************** 25 Residents living downwind of former plutonium site win appeal CNN.com - June 19, 2002 YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Thousands of people who claimed they were sickened by radiation from a nuclear weapons complex have been given a second chance to have their day in court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived two lawsuits filed by "downwinders," or people living downwind from the Hanford nuclear complex. The court ordered a federal trial court in Washington to reconsider two claims, dismissed in part in 1998, against several Hanford nuclear weapons complex contractors. In one lawsuit, a judge dismissed most of the 4,500 plaintiffs from the case, saying scientific evidence of radiation injury was too complex for a jury to determine. The lawsuit was filed in 1990, after the government admitted secret radiation releases from 1945 to the early 1960s could have harmed anyone living downwind. In the second lawsuit, which includes about 1,000 plaintiffs, the judge dismissed all the claims except those from people who had certain types of cancer, and from those who could show exposure to radioactive emissions put them at great risk for those cancers. "It's a great victory for the people who have suffered from the last 50 years as a result of enormous radiation releases from Hanford," said Roy Haber, a lawyer representing about 600 plaintiffs. Plutonium was made at the 560-square-mile site for more than 40 years for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. The defendants are five former Hanford contractors -- E. I. Du Pont de Nemours &Co., General Electric Co., UNC Nuclear Industries, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Rockwell International Corp. "We're disappointed in the decision, and we strongly disagree with it," said Kevin Van Wart, an attorney for the five contractors. "We're considering our options." In both cases, the appeals panel said the lower court needed to consider whether there was proof that exposure to radiation at the level alleged by the plaintiffs could cause illness in the general population. The appeals panel also rejected the contractors' argument that residents should have to show they were exposed to so much Hanford radiation that it more than doubled the risk of harm. Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 26 Radiation Compensation Rules [http://pubs.ama-assn.org/howtoaccess.html] Vol. 287 No. 23, June 19, 2002 [Author Information] Brian Vastag The US Department of Health and Human Services has issued final rules under which federal workers exposed to radiation will be compensated for job-related cancer. Since the late 1940s, hundreds of thousands of government employees and contractors may have received harmful doses of radiation at nuclear weapons test sites and manufacturing plants. Because the rules cover the early Cold War through the 21st century, the true number encompassed by the law is impossible to calculate, said Larry Elliott, MPH, director of the Office of Compensation Analysis and Support at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Six hundred thousand is probably a low estimate," he said. Given that roughly 25% of the US population receives a diagnosis of cancer at some time, more than 150 000 former employees and their families could eventually qualify, he said. That huge figure has Elliott's office preparing for an onslaught. He is hiring health physicists to help reconstruct radiation exposure histories for each claimant. While simple cases may take just a few days, Elliott said complicated cases could take 6 months or more. The estimated exposure figures are then fed into computer models that predict the probability that radiation caused the cancer. Any federal employee with cancer for whom there is at least a 50% chance that the disease was caused by workplace radiation will qualify for compensation$150 000 plus coverage of future medical bills. © 2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 27 Way to allot radiation pills is still undecided Orange County Register - Top News Residents near the state's two nuclear power plants will receive the drugs, but how is uncertain. June 19, 2002 By JEFF COLLINS The Orange County Register California should receive potassium iodide pills within five weeks to protect residents living near its two nuclear power plants from one of the harmful elements released in a nuclear disaster, a federal spokeswoman said Tuesday. But the state, which decided last week to seek doses for 443,000 residents near the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon plants, has yet to decide how it will get the drug to people. A meeting has been set for June 28 in Sacramento to decide whether to give the pills directly to residents living near the plants in San Diego and San Luis Obispo counties or to stockpile them for distribution only in emergencies, officials said. "We still need to work out the details with local communities on how we're going to distribute it," said Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. "(But) this is a very generous offer by the federal government we didn't want to miss." The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has offered to supply potassium iodide to 33 states with residents near nuclear plants to protect against one of the more serious threats caused by exposure to leaking radioactive materials. Although the pills won't shield people from all the effects of radiation exposure, they're believed to block the absorption of radioactive iodine released from a plant by saturating the thyroid with stable iodine. The pills, which sell for $1 to $2 each over the Internet, are being proposed as a supplement to the need to evacuate residents or get them to shelters, since there's nothing to protect them from other harmful radioactive materials. Demand for potassium iodide has increased since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and concern about the safety of nuclear plants rose after warnings that one may be targeted on the Fourth of July. California became the 14th state to accept the NRC's offer for free pills, requesting two pills for each resident living within a 10- to 20-mile radius of its two plants, officials said. A request for a similar amount by Florida cost the NRC about $140,000, said agency spokeswoman Sue Gagner. There are about 22,000 residents within 10 miles of the Diablo Canyon plant and about 200,000 within 10 miles of San Onofre, including San Clemente and Dana Point. Local and state officials said the plan is fraught with complications, including fears that people will misunderstand or misuse the pills or that their distribution will somehow interfere with the priority of getting them away from a malfunctioning plant. "I think the devil's in the details," said Dr. Mark Horton, deputy director of the Orange County Health Care Agency. "Each (alternative) requires some thinking ... (to overcome) logistical challenges." Among the alternatives being considered at the June 28 meeting of a task force of state, county and city officials: Stockpiling supplies throughout the affected communities to be given out if needed. Providing pill pickup sites people go to voluntarily. Giving them directly to the people now, either by mail or some other means. At San Clemente Hospital, which was swamped by callers Tuesday morning seeking information on how to get free pills, officials said stockpiling the piles could hamper efforts to get them out in time after an accident. But, there's also a danger people could misuse the pills if they're given out directly. "You wonder how many are going to take it the Fourth of July just in case," said Dr. Steven Cullen, chairman of the hospital's department of medicine. Other concerns are that people would mistake a drill for the real thing and take the pills or not understand that the dosage is different for children and adults. "This is not a panacea," said Lamoureux of the OES. "This is only going to protect against one radioactive element, and it's only going to protect one part of the body. ... Evacuation is the best course of action." The Orange County Register ***************************************************************** 28 Health Department: Iodine no help in nuclear disaster TheCabin.net :: Arkansas News :: 06/18/02 LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- The state Health Department has turned down an offer from the federal government for iodine pills, to be stored in case of a nuclear disaster. State health officials say that evacuation is the better solution. They note that the pills -- reputed to protect the body from absorbing radioactive iodine -- still leave people unprotected against other forms of radiation. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission began offering potassium iodide pills last month to 33 states with nuclear reactors. ***************************************************************** 29 Caravan of Mock Nuclear Waste Transportation Casks Public Citizen */June 18, 2002/* Converges at Capitol to Join Lawmakers and Activists* *in Fight Against Yucca Mountain* Senators and Environmental Leaders Urge Rejection of Dangerous Nuclear Transportation Scheme/* WASHINGTON, D.C. ? With giant replicas of radioactive waste transportation casks as a backdrop, national environmental, public interest and consumer groups joined lawmakers and activists at a press conference and rally today to urge the Senate to reject the dangerous proposal to transport high-level nuclear waste to a dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. A final vote in the Senate is expected within the next month. The caravan of six casks converged at the Capitol today after a three-week national tour designed to alert citizens who live near the projected nuclear waste transportation routes. Each dumbbell-shaped cask is 20 feet long and seven feet tall, a life-size replica of the actual casks that would be traveling on the nation's highways, railways and waterways for up to 38 years if the Yucca Mountain project is approved. "We have been overwhelmed by the response of local communities as we've driven through town after town in the last few weeks," said Amy Shollenberger, a Vermont activist who drove one of the casks through New England and the Midwest. "We?ve come to Washington to deliver the message that people across the country are worried about the prospect of regular shipments of deadly nuclear waste through their communities." The potential dangers of this scheme are enormous, opponents said. "The Department of Energy?s Yucca Mountain recommendation fails to address transportation concerns," said Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen president. "Shipping tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste in untested casks to a questionable site, as currently proposed, poses risks that cannot be justified. An accident, crash or attack involving just one of these shipments could be catastrophic." Accidents involving nuclear waste transport already have occurred. A 1996 analysis of Department of Energy accident reports documented 72 "incidents" since 1949 involving nuclear waste shipments, including four instances of "accidental radioactive material contamination beyond the vehicle" and 49 instances in which the surface of the container was contaminated. With Yucca Mountain, the number of nuclear waste shipments would be vastly increased. Since the beginning of the nuclear age, there have been 3,000 shipments of high-level waste; that number could be exceeded within the first two years of shipments to Yucca Mountain. At the press conference, activists unveiled a statement endorsed by more than 200 citizens groups from around the country opposing the Yucca Mountain Project. "We are extremely concerned that these mobile Chernobyls ? more than 100 thousand shipments of waste ? will move across the United States for four decades, past our homes and past our children?s schools," said Gene Karpinski, executive director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Leaders of national environmental and public interest organizations emphasized the dangers of transporting high-level nuclear waste and problems with the Yucca Mountain site itself, calling last Friday?s earthquake in southern Nevada "a wake-up call from Mother Nature." U.S. Sens. Harry Reid, assistant majority leader from Nevada, and John Ensign (R-Nev.) spoke at today?s event. Other participants included representatives of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, Clean Water Action, Friends of the Earth, League of Women Voters, National Environmental Trust, Nuclear Information Resource Service, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Public Citizen, Safe Energy Communication Council, Sierra Club, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and Women's Action for New Directions. ### The following groups participated in today's press conference: Alliance for Nuclear Accountability * Clean Water Action * Friends of the Earth * League of Women Voters * National Environmental Trust * Nuclear Information Resource Service * Physicians for Social Responsibility * Public Citizen * Safe Energy Communication Council * Sierra Club * Transportation Safety Coalition * U.S. Public Interest Research Group * Women's Action for New Directions * 20/20 Vision Public Citizen is an independent voice for citizens in the halls of power. We take NO government or corporate money. ***************************************************************** 30 How Secure Is a Nuclear Waste Truck? New York Times Opinion *June 19, 2002* *By JIM HALL* WASHINGTON With the arrest of Jose Padilla, our worst fears were confirmed: Al Qaeda was planning to build and detonate a dirty bomb containing nuclear material in an American city. A danger previously relegated to Hollywood screenplays is now a reality. At the same time, the Senate is in the process of making the most important transportation decision of the new century ? whether or not to move 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste from power plants nationwide to Yucca Mountain in Nevada. For more than 20 years, debate on the Yucca Mountain project has centered on only half of the issue. The Department of Energy has spent more than $7 billion and 24 years studying the geology of potential repository sites, but only four percent of that has been spent on transportation issues. Yet even despite that spending, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said recently that the department is "just beginning to formulate its preliminary thoughts about a transportation plan." Now, in light of Sept. 11, proceeding with the Yucca Mountain project without a fully secure transportation plan that takes into account terrorism threats is dangerous and irresponsible. Government officials believe Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have sought to purchase uranium and the other necessary tools to make a dirty bomb. According to experts, each truck container of spent nuclear fuel (containers used for rail and barge transport would be bigger) headed for Yucca Mountain would carry more radioactive material than was released by the nuclear bombs used in World War II. If one of these containers were breached, in an accident or a terrorist attack, the results would be catastrophic. Before Congress makes any decision on where to store this country's nuclear waste, it must first determine whether that waste can be safely transported on our highways, waterways and railways. Congress must require that the Department of Energy conduct a comprehensive risk assessment considering all potential hazards, including terrorist threats. Congress must also demand that the department develop a transportation safety plan that outlines steps to be taken in the event of terrorist acts and accidents. And there must be full-scale testing of the containers to be used for transporting this waste. The transportation plan must be created in an open process that includes input from state and local officials and the public. With our enemy in active pursuit of dirty bombs, our considerations about nuclear waste management have to change. Secretary Abraham has said there is plenty of time to create a transportation plan before Yucca Mountain begins receiving nuclear waste eight years from now. But safety issues will almost certainly get short shrift if they are not addressed before the repository site is approved. Congress needs to force the Department of Energy to reassess the dangers of transporting high-level nuclear waste and develop a secure plan before proceeding with the Yucca Mountain project. /Jim Hall, a member of the National Academy of Engineering's Committee on Combating Terrorism, was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1994 to 2001./ Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 31 Judge overturns S.C. nuclear ban* United Press International Published 6/18/2002 7:32 PM COLUMBIA, S.C., June 18 (UPI) -- South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges said Tuesday he would abide by a federal judge's ruling allowing federal energy officials to ship plutonium into the state for storage, but said he would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie in Aiken overturned an executive order Hodges issued on Friday that barred shipments of plutonium into the state or on its roads. Shipments could begin as early as this weekend, energy officials have said. Currie said it was "a bad day for South Carolina when a governor who has taken an oath to uphold federal and state laws violates those laws." Hodges declared a state of emergency one day after Currie ruled he had no authority to block shipments planned by the U.S. Department of Energy from the Rocky Flats, Colo., weapons site. He put state troopers at roadblocks at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, where the plutonium is to be shipped. Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that the United States has exclusive authority to regulate the storage and shipment of plutonium. Assistant U.S Attorney Robert Daley, Jr., said Hodges violated the U.S. Constitution and the federal government's authority over interstate commerce. Hodges said he would obey the federal judge's order, even though he believed the plutonium "is a danger to the health and safety of our state and it is a danger to our nation." "As I've said all along, I'll respect the court's order. Against our will, the blockade is over. The courts have ended it. And the bureaucrats at the Department of Energy have prevailed for the moment," Hodges told a news conference. "Our hope for keeping plutonium out of the state now lies with the Fourth Circuit. We will press our appeal there. If necessary, we will take this all the way to the Supreme Court. I am not willing to quietly let the federal government turn our state into the nation's nuclear dumping ground," he said. The Energy Department said it plans to use the plutonium for mixed-oxide fuel that could be used by power plants as part of an international non-proliferation agreement to render plutonium useless for atomic weapons. Hodges accused the federal government of breaking "specific and enforceable promises" by planning to dump the plutonium in South Carolina indefinitely. "The federal government broke its promises. If you or I give our word and then violate it, we get in trouble. But these rules apparently don't apply to the federal government," he said. Copyright © 2002 United Press International ***************************************************************** 32 Workers stopped radioactive waste from going into landfill* SHAWN CLUBB, Telegraph staff writer June 19, 2002 *ROXANA -- Authorities say reports of radioactive waste at the Roxana Landfill pertain to a March incident in which a container of medical waste was prevented from going into the landfill.* Marty Reynolds, Roxana public works director, said all loads brought into the landfill are scanned as they go through the weighing area. He said the scanners are extremely sensitive and pick up even a small amount of radiation. In March, Reynolds said, a load came into the landfill that was determined to have radioactive material in it. "They caught it coming in," he said. "The safety features worked." Reynolds said landfill officials turned the load away. As soon as landfill officials had determined there actually was radioactive material in the container, employees there contacted the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety. Joseph Klinger, chief of the division of radioactive materials for IDNS, said landfills, transfer stations and scrap recycling operations across the state have put radiation detectors in place at great expense to guard against worse problems. Klinger said that when an alarm goes off, landfill workers check to make sure it's a real alarm. "When they're sure, they contact us and set the load aside. We send people down with portable instruments to identify what it is," Klinger said. "In almost all cases, it is medical waste from medical procedures, most often iodine-131 from radiation treatments. It has an eight-day half-life. It just decays out." The radiation comes from bandages or diapers that have been disposed of by a hospital or a resident. Klinger said hospitals are supposed to let the material decay out and then dispose of it, but sometimes they just throw it out. He said it is not a problem once it decays, and most times it can be disposed of in a landfill even before it has decayed, but disposing of it before it decays is a violation of protocol. "Inspectors sometimes have to sort through these mountains of garbage in these trucks," Klinger said. "When we identify where it came from, we get in touch and say, 'Hey. We just spent a lot of time out here, and we don't want to do that again, and you need to follow procedures.'" The medical waste found in a load in March was tracked back to the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Hospital, John Cochran Division, Klinger said. Because the IDNS doesn't regulate the VA hospital, Klinger said the agency contacted the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which does regulate it. e-mail: shawn_clubb@hotmail.com /©The Telegraph 2002/ Copyright © 1995 - 2002 PowerOne Media, Inc. ***************************************************************** 33 Uranium rods need to be taken off site* June 18, 2002* While we appreciate the effort that goes into updating escape routes in the event of terrorist attacks, we really don't believe an escape from a Limerick nuclear plant explosion is a reality. The reason we don't believe there would be much hope of escape in the event of a direct hit on Limerick is due in part to the massive amount of spent uranium rods being stored at the plant. Since the plant's inception, all the rods it uses in the making of electric energy have been stored on site. We believe having all that uranium on site makes the plant a target, and puts our region in danger. Terrorists consider nuclear plants as targets because of the potential for disaster. We believe terrorists would not consider a nuclear plant a target if the potential for destruction is not nearly as high as it would be if the plants were empty of a majority of the spent rods. We should be looking at several places around the country for storing the spent rods. Most of the nation's 103 nuclear power plants are running out of storage space. The Limerick nuclear plant will be out of room by 2009, and many, including the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in York County, are already out of room. Debate has been raging about building a storage site at Yucca Mountain in Arizona. The debate centers around the fact that all the country's spent rods would be shipped to the facility. We don't believe this should be the case. With three or four such sites around the country, we believe the potential for a terrorist attack at a nuclear plant would greatly diminish. An escape route is important for our area, but we believe the amount of destruction we would be escaping from would be much less if a plan is devised for storing spent uranium rods at remote facilities around the country. /©The Phoenix 2002/ Copyright © 1995 - 2002 PowerOne Media, Inc. ***************************************************************** 34 Jim Hall: Better plan is needed to ship nuclear waste Omaha.com June 18, 2002 *BY JIM HALL* The writer was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1993-2001 and currently is chairman of the Transportation Safety Coalition./ WASHINGTON - Our nation's waterways have given rise to hubs of commercial activity and provide us with drinking water and recreational opportunities. This summer, if the U.S. Senate votes to move forward with plans on a nuclear waste dump near Las Vegas, our waterways may also serve as a testing ground for the hazards of shipping high-level nuclear waste. The administration's Yucca Mountain plan involves moving 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste with unprecedented numbers of barge, rail and truck shipments. Despite the Department of Energy's assurances that it has a preferred "mostly rail" scenario, 24 of the 77 operating nuclear power plants have no direct rail connection and the nuclear waste must be shipped on barges. The expected 3,004 barge shipments over 38 years are likely to be transported through 15 American ports including the Port of Omaha, which can expect, according to DOE estimates, 125 barge shipments from the Cooper nuclear power plant. As a current member of the National Academy of Engineering's Committee on Combating Terrorism, I have been working to help the president formulate an effective and timely response to the threat of catastrophic terrorism. The recent arrest of an alleged al-Qaida operative planning to explode a "dirty bomb" in a major U.S. city should raise serious questions about the administration's proposal to transport potential "dirty bombs" on our roads, rails and waterways. In the post-9/11 world, nearly every federal agency has re- evaluated its preparedness to deal with terrorist attacks and adopted new measures to counter this new threat. The Department of Energy, however, has not re-examined the potential terrorist threat against high- level nuclear waste shipments to a national repository. Each of these shipments has the potential to become a "dirty bomb" in the hands of terrorists. This is especially true in the case of barge shipments, which are slow-moving and vulnerable from every angle. And not only ports are at risk. Cities and towns that border these waterways also would be in the path of destruction should an accident or terror incident occur. Despite the risk factors associated with transporting this radioactive material, the secretary of energy himself recently admitted that the DOE has no transportation plan currently in place. In fact, DOE's spending history suggests that transportation planning has never been a high priority. The department has spent $7 billion looking into Yucca Mountain's geology but less than $200 million on transportation of high-level nuclear waste; that averages to less than $10 million a year. Given that there is no comprehensive transportation plan in place, it is even more alarming that the appropriate federal agencies have not conducted full-scale tests of the containers that would be used for these shipments. In short, there is no plan in place to ensure the safety of these shipments, and should accidents occur (DOE admits they could), the only thing preventing an "average" accident from becoming a widespread disaster are untested shipping containers. We need look no further than the May 26 barge accident (in which a 600-foot section of a bridge on Interstate 40 over the Arkansas River was destroyed) to know that the consequences of such an accident can be deadly. If the barge had been transporting nuclear waste, the consequences could have been far more devastating. Coincidentally, the section of I-40 that collapsed is identified in DOE's Final Environmental Impact Statement as a transport route from Arkansas Nuclear One power plant to Yucca Mountain. While we cannot predict what will happen with these barge shipments, we do know that nuclear material is a weapon of choice for terrorists and that even without this national security threat, barge accidents will occur. It is vital for the safety of our citizens that the Senate reject the Yucca Mountain proposal in its current form, because there is no transportation plan and because the Energy Department has not presented Congress with a comprehensive assessment of and plan to address the threats posed by terrorists and accidents. The Transportation Safety Coalition includes the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, the American Public Health Association, the Environmental Working Group, the National Environmental Trust, Physicians for Social Responsibility and U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group). Regular Joe wrote: The author used comparisons that mean nothing in this context since they are for general transportation, not nuclear waste transportation. Here's an exerpt describing the waste containers' strength: "Shipping containers have been loaded onto trucks that were crashed, first at 60 miles per hour and then at 80 mph, into a 700-ton concrete wall. They have been broadsided by a 120-ton locomotive traveling at 80 mph. Another physical test involved dropping containers in a 30' free fall onto steel-reinforced concrete-comparable to hitting a concrete slab head-on at 120 miles an hour. They've been dropped onto a 6" diameter spike. And the containers have been burned in a pool of aviation fuel for 90 minutes at temperatures of more than 2,000° F. The result in each case: there were no ruptures or significant damage to the used fuel containers themselves. Although dented and charred, the containers remained totally intact to protect the used fuel they would carry." ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 35 S.C., DOE spar over Rocky Flats Rocky Mountain News: Local More environmental studies needed, state tells appeals court By Berny Morson, News Staff Writer June 18, 2002 South Carolina and the U.S. Department of Energy issued a flurry of legal paper Monday over proposed shipments of plutonium from Rocky Flats to the Palmetto State. But the issue appeared to be heading toward a resolution in favor of the shipments. District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie of Aiken, S.C., hinted strongly last week that she will issue an injunction if South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges tries to make good on his threat to block the shipments at the border. Hodges has conceded that he won't defy a court order, which could bring a prison term for contempt. On Monday, the DOE went back to Currie seeking an injunction. Sparking the DOE's action was an executive order by Hodges on Friday, which declared plutonium illegal on state highways and directed law enforcement agencies to enforce the ban. Meanwhile, lawyers for Hodges asked a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., to issue an injunction blocking the shipments. Currie had turned down that request last week. Moving the plutonium to the Savannah River Site near Aiken is a major step toward closing Rocky Flats by the target date of Dec. 15. The shipments were supposed to begin last fall, but were stalled by objections from Hodges. He sought assurances from the DOE that the plutonium will not remain in the state permanently. Hodges has said repeatedly that he will lie down in front of trucks carrying plutonium. But Hodges and his attorneys declined to repeat that threat in front of Currie last Thursday. The executive order a day later turns everything around, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Daley of Columbia, S.C. "This is not just an idle threat. This is an executive order," Daley said. In the case before the Richmond appeals court, lawyers are trading briefs over Hodges' contention that the federal government failed to perform an environmental impact statement on the possible effects of storing plutonium at the Savannah River Site. Currie rejected that argument last week, saying previous environmental impact statements are adequate. Currie also noted that the estimated 6 tons of plutonium coming from Rocky Flats will be safer than the 2 tons of material already at the Savannah River Site. The Rocky Flats plutonium has been repackaged using newer methods. Hodges' lawyer, William Want, declined to say whether he is optimistic about the appeal. "The governor feels strongly these shipments are illegal, and we lost at the district level and now we're appealing," Want said. 2002 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 36 Deal reached on nuclear fuel supply KnoxNews: National By The Associated Press June 19, 2002 WASHINGTON - The Bush administration says a deal reached with the nation's only uranium enrichment company should help ensure the United States does not become dependent on foreign sources for nuclear fuel. The Energy Department announced Tuesday it had signed an agreement with USEC Inc., of Bethesda, Md., for the company to build a new high-tech uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky or Ohio within a decade. In return, the Energy Department will make government research and employees available to USEC. The plant would replace a 50-year-old facility in Paducah, Ky. USEC will continue producing 30 percent of the nation's nuclear fuel at the old plant until the new, more efficient one is able to do that. If USEC fails to live up to the deal, the Energy Department could take over the Paducah facility's enrichment operations. The Energy Department used to run that plant, but the government sold off its enrichment activities in 1998. That led to the formation of USEC Inc. in a $1.9 billion stock deal. The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 37 Nebraska Judge to visit site of proposed nuclear waste dump Omaha.com June 19, 2002 LINCOLN (AP) - Federal Judge Richard Kopf plans to visit the proposed site of a nuclear-waste dump in Boyd County. Kopf is presiding over a trial to determine whether the State of Nebraska acted in bad faith in denying a license in 1998 to construct the facility near Butte. Kopf said Monday that he wanted to see the site for himself. He said the trip may take place June 29. The trial in U.S. District Court is in its third week and is expected to last several more weeks. The Boyd County site was meant to store low-level radioactive waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Nebraska is being sued by the four other states in the compact as well as waste generators that have paid to help develop the site. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 38 S.C. Gov. Banned From Shipment Block Las Vegas SUN June 19, 2002 AIKEN, S.C.- Gov. Jim Hodges said he would abide by a ruling barring him from blocking a federal shipment of bomb-grade plutonium bound for South Carolina, but his anger was evident. "I make no apologies for the fact that I have aggressively pursued efforts to keep plutonium out of South Carolina without the assurances that we need," Hodges said after the ruling Tuesday. "You want to talk about sad? That's a sad day for South Carolina when we cannot get the federal government to agree to keep its promises to us." Hodges was reacting to the stinging rebuke he received Tuesday from U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie, who banned him from blocking the Energy Department shipments from the Rocky Flats weapons plant in Colorado to South Carolina's Savannah River Site. "It is a sad day for South Carolina when the governor, who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, must be ordered by a court to obey it," Currie said. Tuesday's ruling was a permanent injunction against the blockades. Currie ruled last week that physical blockades of the plutonium shipments are illegal and present a possible terrorist target. The governor has appealed that ruling to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., and is awaiting a response. The Energy Department wants to ship the plutonium to South Carolina to be converted into fuel for nuclear reactors. But Hodges worries that the program will never be funded, leaving the nuclear material in the state indefinitely. Last Friday, Hodges dispatched state troopers to the Savannah River Site, near the Georgia state line, to begin inspecting vehicles for the radioactive material. The governor ordered authorities to prevent anyone from transporting plutonium into South Carolina. Hodges filed a lawsuit last month to prevent the shipments. The governor, who is up for re-election this fall, has threatened to lie down in the road if necessary to block the trucks. The issue has many political undertones. Hodges, a Democrat up for re-election, has long accused President Bush of trying to remove the plutonium from Colorado to help get Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., re-elected and restore GOP control of the Senate. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 39 Nuke dump vote could impact trench debate [online@rgj.com] 6/18/2002 10:31 pm The U.S. Senate will vote on Yucca Mountain next month — if not before — a decision that will have profound effects on the “trench” debate. Harry Reid and our delegation, along with the governor and attorney general, are mounting a masterful campaign to stop this travesty. We all hope they will be successful. However, “they have an uphill fight.” What if we lose? Instead of the time and effort spent in the courts, our local officials should be working on that “what if” plan. Downtown Reno will be subjected to more train traffic and noise but also the threat of a nuclear disaster. The Truckee River from Truckee to Fallon and Pyramid Lake will be exposed to a nuclear spill. Since the government seems insistent on ramming this dump down our throats, its up to them to reroute the tracks and pay most, if not all, the cost. Lets hold off all decisions on the “trench” and not get involved in costly bond sales or construction contracts until after the Senate vote. When the tracks are rerouted, and they must be if Yucca Mountain is approved, we don’t want to be stuck with a multimillion-dollar trench. Why the rush? Frank L. Titus, Reno © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett ***************************************************************** 40 Nevada continues in role of ‘David’ Editorial [online@rgj.com] RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL 6/18/2002 10:32 pm Nevada has always been an underdog in its fight to keep Yucca Mountain from becoming the permanent home to thousands of tons of nuclear waste. Nevada’s small congressional delegation was outnumbered in 1982 when the bill designating Yucca Mountain as the only potential nuclear waste dump site was approved, and the battle has been an uphill one ever since. However, the recent spate of TV ads airing across the country make clear exactly how overpowered this David may be when matched with the Goliath of the nuclear power industry. Residents of Vermont, Utah and several other states — whose senators are thought to be potential converts to the anti-Yucca Mountain vote expected at the U.S. Senate by July 5 — have been hit with Nevada ads touting the dangers of transporting nuclear waste. Bucolic scenes of children at the playground are contrasted with the voice of an announcer talking about deadly waste being shipped through the nation’s communities. While these ads would appear to be a powerful effort to sway public opinion in opposition to Yucca Mountain, that hasn’t happened quite like Nevada officials had hoped. Many of the local and national lobbyists, lawyers and consultants hired to stop the dump in its tracks admit that the ads haven’t been as effective as they had expected; public opinion is slow to change. What’s even more unfortunate, though, is that the effectiveness of the ads seems to have been offset by the nuclear industry’s own offensive, buying ad time both before and after the Nevada ads. If you’re a Vermont resident who watches TV, you see two pro-Yucca Mountain ads to every one ad in opposition to the dump. While the state has raised millions for the fight, our bank account is a pittance compared to the resources the nuclear industry has at its disposal. Nevada has relied on local governments, businesses and residents to fund the fight against the dump, and so far, about $6.5 million has been collected, money that is being frugally divided between lobbying potential swing vote senators and running ads in their home states. In comparison, the nuclear industry has tens of millions it can, and will, spend to dilute Nevada’s message. It doesn’t take a political genius to do the math. The nuclear power industry has more money, and in American politics today more money means more votes. It seems we’ll wait only a few more weeks to see if the gambling state can defy the political odds. Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 Senate Republicans call on Daschle to open Yucca debate Wednesday, June 19, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate began to sharpen its focus on Yucca Mountain on Tuesday as supporters of the proposed nuclear waste repository initiated a strategy that soon will lead to a showdown with Nevada's senators over the project. Republicans sent notice to Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., suggesting the Senate begin debate today on a resolution finalizing the Nevada site's designation as the burial ground for 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel and government radioactive waste. Daschle did not publicly respond, but instead got the Senate working on a major defense authorization bill that is expected to occupy the body until it recesses at the end of the month for a weeklong Fourth of July break. Senate officials described the notice, which came in the form of a proposed parliamentary consent request, as an opening move by pro-Yucca senators who want to make nuclear waste the order of business sooner rather than later. The Senate needs to act by late July. It also sharpened focus among participants that a Yucca Mountain showdown is nearing. Both sides dusted off their parliamentarians to prepare for a fight that will focus not so much on the merits of Yucca Mountain 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas but on Senate procedures and customs. "This is raw politics at its best," said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who has emerged as a lead senator pushing the Yucca Mountain resolution. The Republican proposal called for Daschle to bring up the Yucca Mountain resolution for debate, while the majority leader has said he will refuse to do so because he opposes the project. Speaking at a nuclear industry conference earlier in the day, Craig said he expects pro-Yucca Republicans will deliver speeches until the recess criticizing Daschle for "denying his appropriate role as majority leader." When senators return to work on July 8, Craig said that's when he expects the Senate will have its long-anticipated fight over the nuclear waste project. Craig said a clear majority, between 58 and 62 senators, will vote for the Nevada repository. But he added it has become increasingly clear that a procedural hurdle erected by Daschle and Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., is complicating the Senate's consideration. With Daschle refusing to open debate on the Yucca resolution, it's expected some Republican will do so instead. At that point, the Nevadans will contest the move, arguing that Senate custom permits only the majority leader to call up a bill for consideration. Senators are expected to vote at that point whether to continue on the bill despite the Nevadans' protest that they would be setting bad precedent if they defied the majority leader. Pro-Yucca senators say a special 1982 nuclear waste law gives them the green light to proceed despite Daschle's refusal to cooperate, but Craig said the procedural vote will be close. Reid and Ensign have said that if they win on the procedural vote, it could allow Daschle to run out the clock until the late July deadline passes, killing the repository. Craig said he has convened sessions between senators and Martin Gold, a parliamentarian hired by the nuclear industry, to explain the complicated process. In the meantime, lobbying continues heavily on both sides. Craig said that Reid is using his position as chairman of the energy and water subcommittee to cut deals for votes. Reid didn't deny that. "I don't have any enemies, but I try to make sure I take better care of people who are good to me and Nevada," he said. Meanwhile, Reid and Ensign joined environmental activists who had driven cross-country in mock nuclear waste casks to draw attention to the prospect that nuclear waste may be shipped through hundreds of towns on its way from power plants to Nevada. Samantha Young of the Stephens Washington Bureau contributed to this story. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 42 US Official Says Mayak Warhead Storage Facility to Open in November Reprocessing at Mayak The Mayak plant (South Urals) reprocesses fuel deriving from civilian and naval PWR type reactors. Jump to section [Site Map - Nuclear Russia] MOSCOW - The Mayak Fissile Materials Storage Facility — one of the longest running construction projects funded by the Pentagon's Cooperative Threat Reduction Act (CTR) — will likely open, complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony, on Nov. 1, 2002, a senior US Government official told Bellona Web in a recent interview. Charles Digges, 2002-06-19 13:26 But Mayak Deputy Director Alexander Demidov — who is the plant's point man for the warhead plutonium storage facility — warned in an interview that construction between now and the prospective November opening would have to progress flawlessly to meet the deadline. He added that a number of sticky equipment negotiations would also have to be resolved. Nevertheless, the 10-year-long, $400 million construction of the facility — which will hold 50 tonnes of plutonium from decommissioned warheads was, according to another US Government official, "CTR's original effort in Russia to secure nuclear materials" under the decade-old programme, also known as the Nunn-Lugar act. 50 tonnes is around 40% of Russia's weapons grade plutonium stockpiles. The Mayak project has also been beset during that ten years with political, bureaucratic and financial set-backs, both from the Russian and American sides that at times appeared insurmountable. Its completion, therefore, will represent a milestone in US-Russian cooperation in literally burying the remnants of the Cold War. The senior US Government official said work on the facility will be complete by Aug. 31. All that will remain then, the official said, was a "punch list" of last minute items that need to be fine tuned, which workers will pursue throughout October prior to the ribbon cutting, before the facility can receive 50,000 containers of weapons-grade plutonium from 12,500 dismantled nuclear warheads for permanent storage. Late last week US officials, including CTR's Mayak project manager Thomas Rutherford and high level representatives of the US construction firm Bechtel — CTR's primary contractor on the Mayak project — visited Moscow for meetings with officials of the Russian Ministry of Nuclear Energy (Minatom), which controls the Mayak facility, US Embassy officials said. Neither Bechtel's Mayak project manager, Surendra Sethi, nor Rutherford, would comment on the Mayak project or their Minatom discussions when reached in Moscow by Bellona Web. Rutherford referred questions to his Pentagon press attaché, who had not responded by press time. Minatom officials, likewise, refused to comment on the talks. But US Embassy officials said that Senator Richard Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn, co-authors of the Nunn-Lugar act, inspected the Mayak site two weeks ago. According to news reports, construction is 85 percent complete and installation work, such as wiring, is 75 percent done. Additionally, the Mayak project has been scratched off the Bush administration's budget request for non-proliferation projects in Russia on the basis that it will be finished this year, said Bill Hoehn of the Russian American Nuclear Security Advisory Council (RANSAC), a private organization that advises both governments. The Mayak plant Located in the closed city of Ozersk, near the Urals city of Chelyabinsk, the Mayak Chemical Combine was originally constructed in 1948 with one plutonium reactor as part of early Soviet efforts to acquire an atomic bomb. Over the years, four more weapons-grade plutonium-producing reactors were built. The plutonium production at Mayak was brought to a halt in late 1980s early 1990s. But the facility remains one of Russia's worst nuclear polluters, all but evaporating nearby Lake Karachay with the liquid radioactive wastes it has dumped there over the decades. Today Mayak houses the primary reprocessing site for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from civilian and submarine reactors in Russia. Known as RT-1, this reprocessing facility went into service in 1956 to reprocess weapons-grade plutonium from the waste of Mayak's five plutonium production reactors. It now reprocesses fuel from nuclear icebreakers, research reactors, fast breeder reactors of the BN-30 and BN-600 type, as well as from first and second generation Soviet VVER-440 pressurised water reactors. RT-1's annual reprocessing capacity is about 400 tonnes of fuel, but in recent years that output has fallen off despite last year's legislation inviting the world to send SNF to Russia for reprocessing or storage in a Minatom plan to reap billions for the state. The world has not answered that call, however, and Russia has yet to sign any reprocessing contracts, mainly because the United States controls 70 to 90 percent of the world's SNF. Problems remaining for warhead storage This autumn, though, Mayak will begin receiving weapons-grade plutonium from dismantled warheads — the sorts of things for which SNF is reprocessed — which will, presumably, be locked up and never touched again. "This is a decade long project — it was one of the first, kind of the first project out of the box [for CTR], and it's taken an enormous amount of time," said RANSAC's Kenneth Luongo in a recent telephone interview with Bellona Web. "It's a positive step that's been troubled all along — the plans have changed, the dates have been stretched out, people haven't been too thrilled with all of this stuff to be moved, but the facility should be much improved over what the Russians use now, so it's a positive development," Luongo added. Some of those troubles included an embarrassing work stoppage enforced by Russian State Environmental Committee in 1998, when documentation and methods for the project were found to be in conflict with Russian environmental legislation. The incident was solved, but it provoked a hail of criticism from Russian environmentalists — mostly aimed at Mayak, but which targeted CTR efforts as well. There were also access problems for US officials coming to Mayak for monitoring visits — all things US officials are, no doubt, anxious to put behind them in November. Mayak's current reservations To meet that deadline, though, Mayak Assistant Director Demidov said that "a lot of work has to be done quickly and very, very well. In my opinion [meeting the November deadline] is a complicated, difficult to achieve task." "But everyone is pushing for this date," said Demidov in a telephone interview Monday. "What can I tell you — it is a very complicated question." According to Demidov, who gave a worrisome interview four months ago to Pro Mayak newspaper, the CTR goal of opening the plutonium repository anytime close to schedule is nearly impossible. Among several impediments he cited was the fact that South Urals Construction, the local subcontractor of Bechtel, was working without contracts of its own. Demidov also said that Pentagon officials had turned down a request for a $700,000 telephone communications system for the fissile materials storage site — though Demidov would not discuss the capabilities of the requested system. Additionally, Demidov said that the Pentagon had not yet approved a monitoring system for radiation around the fissile materials storage facility — a system that Demidov said the Russians had been negotiating for two years without making headway. Speaking on Monday, Demidov said of those three problems, only the contract issue for local workers has been resolved. "I don't know how we'll be expected to run a plutonium storage facility without a radiation monitoring system and proper communication equipment, especially if they are planning to open by November," said Demidov. "If all these complicated questions get solved, and everything comes together as it should everywhere else, then maybe," the November deadline can be met, Demidov said. Mayak's area is considered to be the most radioactively contaminated place on earth. Pentagon answers scarce Pentagon officials refuse to comment on the record about the Mayak Fissile Materials storage facility. Repeated emailed requests either went unanswered or came back, days later, as "no comment." Off the record, though, the senior US Government official was sanguine about the telephone system hold up. "I've got to tell you, I've been to a lot Nunn-Lugar dismantlement sites, probably over 25 to 30 of them, and they've always had telephones," he said. But Demidov's precise concern about the communications system is who would be financing it — the Russians or the Americans. "If the Russians are left to finance it, then they will by all indications allow themselves to bargain shop," said Demidov in his Pro Mayak interview. "And then the local bosses will get a bargain from the bargain." But the senior US Government official — who was not familiar with the particulars of the Mayak phone request — nonetheless hinted that the communication system debacle may have stemmed from American security concerns. "Here's the concern — it's a not a specific concern about Mayak and it's not a specific concern about this request," he said. "But one of the things one always does is to make sure in our assistance — Nunn-Lugar and otherwise — is that the assistance we're providing is as focused and directed as possible for a number of reasons — one is so that our assistance cannot be used for purposes other than it was intended." Russian/American safeguards According to Vladimir Rybachenkov of Russia's Foreign Ministry, the American investment in the project has far outweighed the contribution of the Russian side. In a recent lecture, Rybachenkov credited the Americans with not only the development of the 50,000 $2,000 containers that will be required to store the fissile waste, but also with the monitoring process that will verify that the stored containers contain fissile plutonium. "The agreement stipulates that the construction of the storage facility is under American control," Rybachenkov's lecture read. "The Americans have first to be sure we are loading weapons-grade plutonium into the facility, and second, they need to make sure we aren't going to take the plutonium anywhere." To assure that it doesn't happen, said Rybachenkov, gamma meters, which detect whether containers have weapons grade plutonium — and which were also financed by CTR — will safeguard the facility. The meters, for some time at least, will be monitored by American staff. "It's an un-intrusive measure," Rybachenkov added, as if apologizing for the American dominance of the project. Pulling it all together Even at this late stage in the game, RANSAC's Luongo anticipates at least a few more snafus, and says that the Mayak Fissile Materials Storage Facility has provided an object lesson in all the unexpected mini-disasters that crop up in long-term non-proliferation projects. "The point is that everything related to securing Russia's nuclear materials through the Department of Energy, the Department of Defence, and the State Department is necessarily a step-by-step process, so Mayak is a perfect example of how […] petty differences over this issue or that issue stretched things out," he said. "So [Mayak is] kind of a lesson in how this process works — it's imperfect, it's expensive […] and its frustrating, when in the end, the result is necessary. And you can't get away from your focus on the end result because you have all these impediments," he added. 1999-09-23 International Co-operation Chelyabinsk authorities rule out new fuel storage 1998-05-05 Mayak Construction of the Mayak store resumed 1998-04-16 Mayak Construction of plutonium storage site continues despite of review: Mayak goes its way 1998-04-13 Mayak Russia stops construction of plutonium storage site Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 43 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca ad campaign takes hit ----------------------------------------------------------------- Las Vegas SUN ----------------------------------------------------------------- June 19, 2002 Yucca ad campaign takes hit By Cy Ryan SUN CAPITAL BUREAU CARSON CITY -- Nevada's fight against Yucca Mountain took an unexpected hit Tuesday when a state legislative committee was told it could release only $434,000 to the campaign against the proposed nuclear repository. The state has raised $1.9 million in public and private donations that officials thought would be matched through a $3 million fund set up by the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee. But the committee was told by its attorney that it couldn't match the bulk of that money -- a $1.5 million donation from Clark County -- because that money was designated to pay for legal fees. The matching fund was designated to pay for a public relations and advertising campaign. "It sounds like the $1.5 million can't be used for the matching fund," said Senate Majority Leader and committee chairman Bill Raggio, R-Reno, ending the discussion. Raggio had asked if it was legal to match the Clark County donation and said he was surprised by the opinion. Brenda Erdoes, legal counsel to the Legislature, said the $1.5 million could only be used as a matching fund if the finance committee changed its resolution that created the fund to allow Clark County's donation to qualify. The committee couldn't address that at Tuesday's meeting because the item wasn't on the agenda. The next meeting of the committee isn't until September, well after Yucca Mountain will be decided by the U.S. Senate. Raggio can call a meeting at any time, but no one asked him to do so a Tuesday's meeting. It was immediately unclear if the committee will act before it next meeting. The ruling means only $434,000 can be released to help the state promote its fight against the nuclear repository. The issue is expected to be voted on by the U.S. Senate in the next few weeks and opponents have tried to mount an advertising campaign to derail the proposal. The Senate's vote is the last step in the federal government approving the Yucca Mountain site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as a repository for 77,000 tons of nuclear waste. Gov. Kenny Guinn's spokesman Greg Bortolin said the legal opinion was "disappointing." "From day one, we've been counting this as part of the match," he said. "We need every dollar against a foe that has a huge funding advantage." Bob Loux, head of the state's Nuclear Projects Office, said he wanted to talk to Guinn if there should be additional fund raising efforts. There's enough money now to pay the bills incurred, he said. "We're not in the hole," he said, noting he was already "slowing down expenditures." But he said he will have to assess if there is enough money for additional advertising against Yucca Mountain. Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who sits on the committee, said he thought the matter had been settled. "We made our votes on this at a previous meeting when I thought the matter was settled on matching," he said. "It was my belief that funds from Clark County could be matched even if they were earmarked for legal." Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera said his initial discussions with both Guinn and Bob Loux involved the county's donation being earmarked for the legal expenses. "From my understanding, they said if the county was able to allocate $1.5 million, that would free up money the state had committed to the legal side for the important public relations battle," Herrera said. He said he was not happy with the Legislative Counsel Bureau's legal opinion, because he thinks it cripples the state's efforts to block the dump. "I'm disappointed because I think that limits our ability to reach out and explain the dangers of transporting nuclear waste, especially as we are making progress in that area," Herrera added. Loux told the finance committee that $4 million has been spent; there are bills of $1.5 million to process and $3.5 million is earmarked for the legal fight. If the Senate votes to approve the nuclear dump, the fight will progress to the courts, where there are at least six suits pending to sidetrack Yucca Mountain. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., asked the state for more money in the fight against Yucca Mountain to mount a public relations and advertising campaign. The senators hoped to drum up grassroots support against Yucca Mountain. Reid was disappointed Clark County's donation will not be matched, his spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. "We are up against an administration that has made this a top priority and we are being outspent nearly 10 to 1," Hafen said. "We have made progress with the ongoing ad campaign and additional money would greatly help in stopping Yucca Mountain." Nevada isn't on its own in paying for the anti-Yucca campaign -- environmental and activist groups have helped pay for the television commercials Nevada officials ran in Vermont, Utah, Wyoming and Iowa. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group helped pay for the Vermont ad; Physicians for Social Responsibility paid for the air time in Wyoming and Iowa. Sun reporters Benjamin Grove and Erin Neff contributed to this story. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Las Vegas SUN main page ----------------------------------------------------------------- Questions or problems? Click here. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 44 NRC to examine testing of casks used to haul waste Las Vegas SUN June 19, 2002 By Benjamin Grove ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Under pressure from Nevada officials and other Yucca Mountain critics, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is examining how new tests will be conducted on the steel containers used to haul high-level nuclear waste. Nevada officials have long said the NRC should conduct full-scale stress tests on modern casks used to transport the waste on trucks and trains. They say such tests should be conducted before any final Yucca approvals are granted -- including by Congress. NRC and nuclear industry officials have said new tests aren't necessary, because scale-model cask tests and computer simulations give them an accurate portrait of how waste containers would hold up in a fire, in water, in a fall, even under terrorist attack. But NRC officials, prodded by Nevada officials, environmental groups and others who have submitted public comment to the NRC, are reconsidering, especially in light of public concern over terrorist attacks. They have hired Sandia National Laboratories, which has conducted a number of cask tests over the year, to do a new round of experiments in which casks would be burned and dropped. The fire and "impact" tests likely would be completed in fall and summer of 2004, Sandia's Ron Sorenson told the NRC's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste during a briefing Tuesday. The panel advises the Commission on Yucca Mountain issues. The panel must decide key issues: -- Which cask model to use in the tests. -- Whether to use full-scale casks or smaller-scale models. -- A variety of specific test "protocols" such as the temperature of the fire in the burn test; placement of the cask in the fire; and the height from which the casks should be dropped onto an unyielding surface in the impact test. NRC officials have said the tests depend in part on Congress, which would pay for the tests. Cost estimates were not available Tuesday. Although the NRC seems committed to some sort of new tests, several panel members questioned whether full-scale tests, which would be more expensive than smaller scale or computer tests, would yield any new information and be worth the money. And the tests likely would not yield any useful information for the NRC about how likely an accident -- or terrorist attack -- would be, panel member John Garrick said. "I don't think you are going to learn anything," Garrick said. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 45 Cameco buys Smith Ranch mine in Wyoming - CANOE Money June 19, 2002 SASKATOON (CP) -- Uranium producer Cameco Corp. is buying the Smith Ranch uranium mine and other properties in Wyoming.  The Saskatoon company announced Wednesday it will buy the assets from Rio Algom Mining, the Toronto-based subsidiary of global metals giant BHP Billiton.  The mine includes a two-million-pound uranium processing mill that began operation in 1997, together with proven and probable uranium reserves of 27 million pounds. In exchange for Smith Ranch and other Wyoming properties, Cameco has agreed to assume about $11 million US in decommissioning liabilities associated with the mine and to buy about $6 million US of Rio Algom's uranium inventory.  Other financial details were not revealed.  "These are the right assets, in the right place at the right price," Cameco chief executive Bernard Michel said in a release. These "reserves are the most economic after our large, high-grade reserves in Saskatchewan and Smith Ranch is right next to our existing U.S. operations. We are obtaining these assets at a time when the uranium price is low, but on a rising trend."  Cameco (TSX:CCO) said it has already struck deals to sell more than 900,000 pounds of Smith Ranch uranium production at prices substantially above the current long-term price indicators.  The company said it expects the purchase to increase profits this year and cash flow beginning in 2003.  Smith Ranch will be operated by Power Resources, Inc., a wholly owned Cameco subsidiary. PRI operates the Highland mine about five kilometres from the Smith Ranch site.  The deal is expected to close in 45 days.  Shares of Cameco closed at $41.25, down 13 cents, on the Toronto stock market Wednesday. [http://www.canoe.ca/copyright.html] © 2002, Canoe, a division ***************************************************************** 46 Judge bans Hodges' blockade Augusta Georgia: Metro: Web posted Wednesday, June 19, 2002 By [matthew.boedy@augustachronicle.com] South Carolina Bureau AIKEN - Gov. Jim Hodges' fight to stop planned plutonium shipments into Savannah River Site effectively ended Tuesday when a federal judge banned him from blocking delivery trucks. U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie called any such blockade unconstitutional. Mr. Hodges has said he would not defy court orders. After his request for an injunction against the U.S. Department of Energy failed, the governor declared a state of emergency Friday and had state troopers check trucks entering the federal nuclear weapons site. The shipments, which could begin Saturday, are not expected to be impeded. The ruling came at the Department of Energy's request, which the judge initially denied last week. Judge Currie said Thursday that although she believed a blockade would be unconstitutional, she wouldn't sign an order stating such because she had assurances from the governor he wouldn't do anything illegal. To read U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie's complete ruling, go to [http://www.scd.uscourts.gov/Opinions] She asked the governor to notify the court if he was ordering a blockade. The notification never came, despite actions Friday at the gates of SRS. The judge's harshly worded order Tuesday showed her response: "I took Governor Hodges at his word, and I now see this was a mistake," the judge said. "It is a sad day for South Carolina when a governor who has taken an oath as an officer of the state and as a lawyer to uphold the state and the United States constitutions must be ordered to obey it." Judge Currie voided the governor's executive order and banned Mr. Hodges or any of his successors from impeding the shipments. Mr. Hodges did not attend Tuesday's 15-minute hearing. His office said he had to sit as the chairman of the Budget and Control Board in Columbia. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, though, the governor said he would continue the fight in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and if needed, the U.S. Supreme Court. "As I've said all along, I'll respect the court's order," he said. "Against our will, the blockade is over. The courts have ended it. And the bureaucrats at the Department of Energy have prevailed for the moment." Observers say the 4th Circuit isn't likely to rule in the governor's favor because of its conservative leanings and what it sees as the governor's thin legal argument. Last Thursday, Judge Currie dismissed Mr. Hodges' claim that the DOE didn't properly study the environmental impact of long-term storage of plutonium at SRS. U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-Seneca, said Tuesday that it was time for the governor to abandon his "ill-conceived and risky" court strategy. Mr. Graham continues to back legislation sponsored by himself and Sen. Strom Thurmond that would levy fines against the DOE if the plutonium is stored in South Carolina long term. The DOE is expected to ship 6 tons of plutonium from Rocky Flats, its former nuclear weapons facility near Boulder, Colo. In all, about 34 tons of plutonium will be sent to SRS during the next 18 months. Mr. Hodges argued the DOE was breaking its promise to fund and build a mixed-oxide facility that would make the plutonium usable in nuclear power plants. The broken promise, the governor said, would make his state a dumping ground. "I don't apologize for our efforts, our suit, or our blockade. I make no excuses. The federal government broke its promises," he said in a statement. "If you or I give our word and then violate it, we get in trouble. But these rules apparently don't apply to the federal government." Reach Matthew Boedy at (803) 648-1395 or [matthew.boedy@augustachronicle.com] . [http://augusta.com] . ***************************************************************** 47 Judge strikes down South Carolina plutonium blockade - 6/19/2002 - ENN.com Wednesday, June 19, 2002 By Reuters AIKEN, S.C. — South Carolina cannot physically block federal shipments of weapons-grade plutonium from entering the state, a federal judge ruled Tuesday in a legal battle between the state and the U.S. Department of Energy. The ruling clears the way for the department to begin shipping more than 30 tons of the radioactive material from its Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado to its Savannah River nuclear facility in South Carolina as early as Saturday. Gov. Jim Hodges signed an executive order last week declaring the plutonium a threat and ordering state police to block any vehicle attempting to carry it into South Carolina. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie criticized the governor in ruling the blockade would violate the U.S. Constitution, which gives federal law supremacy over state law. "It is a sad day in South Carolina when a governor ... who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution must be ordered by a court to obey it," the judge said. At the Savannah River site 160 miles southwest of Charlotte, the plutonium is to be converted into fuel for commercial reactors. The Department of Energy is under pressure to begin shipping it soon because it plans to shut down the Colorado facility by 2006 and must move the plutonium this year to stay on schedule. South Carolina has never objected to temporarily holding such plutonium. But Hodges questioned the environmental impact and sought legal guarantees that the federal government would follow through on plans to convert the plutonium to reactor fuel, saying he feared the state would become a permanent dumping ground for nuclear waste. Hodges' only recourse is a pending appeal before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia. The Democratic governor, who is seeking re-election in November, had no immediate comment. Copyright 2002, Reuters Network Inc. Copyright © 2001 Environmental News Network Inc. ***************************************************************** 48 Greenpeace Activists Block Dutch Toxic Waste Train WorldNews: The Associated Press BORSSELE, Netherlands (AP) — Greenpeace activists blocked a train carrying radioactive waste from a Dutch nuclear reactor to processing facilities in France, the environmental group said Wednesday. One of the eight protesters chained himself to the train tracks. The train's cargo of seven used nuclear fuel rods, which will remain toxic for 240,000 years, were being sent for storage to the Cogema storage site in La Hague, France, Greenpeace said. The protest was meant as a message to the next Dutch government, said the Amsterdam-based international lobby group. The three right-wing parties that won elections on May 15 have said they want to keep the nuclear reactor in Borssele open until 2007 to break even on investments. The outgoing government under Prime Minister Wim Kok had planned to shut the plant in the southwestern province of Zeeland in 2003. French processing plants dump radioactive material in the sea and release toxins into the air measurable several hundred kilometers away on the Dutch coast, according to Greenpeace. The Borssele reactor, build in 1973, produces a small amount of energy for the national grid, which Greenpeace argues can easily be replaced by renewable sources such as a wind or solar park. [http://www.worldnews.com/] ***************************************************************** 49 Carolina governor still hoping to keep plutonium out of state The Oak Ridger Online -- State News -- 11:58 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19, 2002 AIKEN, S.C. (AP) -- An angry Gov. Jim Hodges, scolded by a federal judge, says he won't lie down in the road to block federal plutonium shipments from entering South Carolina. His frustration evident, the governor said Tuesday he's still holding out hope he can keep the nuclear material out of the state, even though he has few options left. A federal judge has banned Hodges from taking any action to block U.S. Energy Department plutonium shipments, which are scheduled to begin as early as this weekend. And last week U.S. District Court Judge Cameron Currie dismissed Hodges' plea to halt the shipments from the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado to South Carolina's Savannah River Site. The governor has appealed that ruling to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., and is awaiting a response. It's unlikely the higher court would reverse Currie's ruling, said Bob Guild, a lawyer and member of the Sierra Club, which has sided with Hodges during the dispute. The Energy Department wants to ship the weapons-grade plutonium to SRS to be converted into fuel for nuclear reactors. But Hodges worries that program will never be funded, leaving the nuclear material in South Carolina indefinitely. Hodges' actions in the past six weeks have strained relationships with the federal government and Currie, further damaging his chances of halting the plutonium shipments. "I took Governor Hodges at his word, and I now see this as a mistake" Currie said. "It is a sad day for South Carolina when the governor ... who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution must be ordered by a court to obey it." Last Friday, Hodges dispatched state troopers to SRS near the Georgia state line to begin inspecting vehicles for the radioactive material. The governor ordered authorities to prevent anyone from transporting plutonium into South Carolina by declaring a state of emergency. Currie told Hodges on Friday that physical blockades of the plutonium shipments are illegal and present a possible terrorist target, but she did not specifically order Hodges to refrain from blocking roads. In her ruling Tuesday, Currie blasted the governor for not heeding her warning and was upset Hodges didn't notify the court of his blockades. Hodges said his lawyers sent the executive order to the U.S. Attorney's office, who in turn, said they forwarded it to Currie's office. But the judge said Tuesday she never got the order. Hodges blew off questions on that dispute. "I think there is a misunderstanding on that," he said. The governor said he would abide by Currie's ruling but fired a few shots back at the judge during a news conference three hours after the hearing. "I make no apologies for the fact that I have aggressively pursued efforts to keep plutonium out of South Carolina without the assurances that we need," Hodges said. "You want to talk about sad? That's a sad day for South Carolina when we cannot get the federal government to agree to keep its promises to us. I'm angered by that." Energy Department officials said they've done everything possible to satisfy the Hodges' concerns. "We have delayed shipments, publicly committed to budget requirements ... offered the governor a written agreement he refused to sign and supported bipartisan legislation he refused to help get enacted that would make the federal government's commitments enforceable," department spokesman Joe Davis said in a prepared statement. Workers in Colorado are preparing the plutonium shipments, which could begin this Saturday, Davis said. Hodges doubts the department will continue its practice of notifying him when the shipments leave. "Historically they have. Under the circumstances that exist, I'm not sure whether or not that would occur," he said. The court's decision is the latest development in the lawsuit Hodges filed last month to prevent Energy officials from transporting the weapons-grade plutonium to South Carolina. The Democratic governor, who is up for re-election this fall, has threatened to lie down in the road if necessary to block the trucks. Hodges said he wasn't playing politics with this issue and called such comments "baloney." All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 50 Yucca site might resist lava intrusion United Press International By Scott R. Burnell UPI Science News From the Science & Technology Desk Published 6/18/2002 8:31 PM ROCKVILLE, Md., June 18 (UPI) -- A "hot" storage design for the proposed nuclear waste complex at Nevada's Yucca Mountain might use the waste's excess heat to divert any upwelling of magma that might migrate near the storage containers, scientists reported Tuesday. Derek Elsworth, a consultant with the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, said the "hot" design could heat surrounding rock to almost 150 degrees Celsius (302 F). This would alter stress patterns in the strata around the storage tunnels significantly, he told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste. "The compressive ring that might develop around the (storage) drift could actually deflect a (magma) dike from getting into the drift," Elsworth told the committee. Because molten rock seeks the path of least resistance, the "deflection" would occur as the magma flowed around the stressed area, he said. As the drift warms, a body of magma would have to generate more and more pressure to overcome the stress, Elsworth said. The Yucca Mountain site would maintain its maximum thermal levels from about 65 years after the first waste canister was emplaced until about 2,000 years into the site's expected 10,000-year lifetime, he said. Vulcanism is one of many concerns Yucca opponents have. Lava could release the spent nuclear fuel and other waste into the environment, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Elsworth's study did not included hard data to determine how much damage a lava intrusion might cause. Scientists have not reached a decision on whether the "hot" design would protect against lava drifts, Elsworth said. Data available from belowground nuclear weapons detonation at the nearby Nevada Test Site might provide clues on actual stress levels in the strata around Yucca, he said. Planned Department of Energy studies into several aspects of the interaction between magma and existing strata appear to be well suited to providing firmer answers, he said. Bruce Marsh, another NWTRB consultant, asked Elsworth if any physical modeling had been done to explore the phenomenon. Some techniques do exists to simulate magma in a rock formation, Elsworth responded, but scaling those results to the real world is difficult. Marsh questioned some of the assumptions in the study. He told the ACNW that evidence of deep magma formations near Yucca implies they are confined to a nearby valley, rendering interacting with the storage area even less likely. Marsh and Elsworth agreed widening the separation between drifts could enhance the "hot" design's possible protective effect, since cooler rock between drifts would give magma more routes around the waste. In a separate presentation, consultant Meghan Morrissey critiqued models of how a magma intrusion could generate a shock wave inside the storage area. As seen in eruptions such as Mount St. Helens, when gas-rich magma reaches the open atmosphere, the pressure difference is equalized violently, she said. Although existing models fail to account for many real-world factors, such as less-than-flat surfaces, which could mitigate the overall blast wave, those same factors could increase damage to waste canisters, Morrissey told the committee. Storage drift designs could include energy-absorbing walls or shock-wave-resistant mounts for the packages, she said. Marsh again called into question the assumptions behind the presentation, arguing that deep magma formations lack the amount of gas necessary to generate a shock wave. Morrissey agreed surface eruptions often occur after a plug of hardened lava allows gas to accumulate, but said even a minor gas percentage could have substantial consequences inside a storage drift. Copyright © 2002 United Press International ***************************************************************** 51 India: Nuclear Deterrent Averted War Las Vegas SUN June 19, 2002 NEW DELHI, India- The nuclear arsenals of India and Pakistan are what have prevented a fourth war between them, the former military scientist chosen to be India's next president said Wednesday. "Nuclear deterrents on both sides have helped avert a war," said A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who developed India's missile program and played a key role in making it a nuclear power. Kalam his expected election to the presidency by lawmakers will send "the right signal" to the world. "The right signal is that technology is going to boost (economic) development of our nation," Kalam said at his first news conference after being nominated Tuesday by the governing coalition and the main opposition party. He mentioned peaceful uses of nuclear technology and harnessing the nation's scientific research for development. The president will be elected July 15 by members of the national parliament and state legislatures. Kalam's election is considered assured because his only opponent, Lakshmi Sehgal, is a candidate of the Communist parties, which hold less than 10 percent of the votes in the electoral college. The presidential post is largely ceremonial, but can be used to press the government for action on certain matters. Kalam defended India's decision to go nuclear, saying the subcontinent had been repeatedly invaded by foreign powers for centuries because of its weak military. "When they had guns, you had swords," he said of the battles that Indian kings fought and lost to colonial powers Britain and France. In the past month there have been increased fears of a fourth war between India and Pakistan as the nations deployed 1 million troops along their frontier. Tensions soared after attacks on the Indian parliament and an army base that India blamed on Pakistan-based militants. Kalam, 72, worked with India's premier defense and space research organizations for more than four decades before joining the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as its principal scientific adviser in 1999. He quit three months ago to teach at a university. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 52 North Korea urged to allow international nuclear inspection Korea Herald!!_National http://www.koreaherald.com With dialogue between North Korea and the United States expected to resume sometime soon, Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have again urged Pyongyang to allow U.N. watchdogs to inspect its suspected nuclear sites. The three countries "called on North Korea to move forward with steps needed to begin full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," their joint statement said. The statement was issued after a two-day Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday, in which senior officials from the three governments coordinated their strategies on the communist country. Officials in Seoul said the agenda for the session included the envisioned visit to Pyongyang by a U.S. special envoy, which would signal the resumption of U.S.-North Korea negotiations. Talks between the two sides have been stalled since President George W. Bush took office in early 2001. "We did not determine during the TCOG meeting, however, the level of the envoy and the timetable for his trip," a senior Foreign Ministry official said. South Korean officials previously said they expect Jack Pritchard, Washington's point man on North Korea, to travel to Pyongyang as early as this month. The ministry official, who attended the three-way consultations, said, "The United States appeared to feel pressure, thinking it should make sure talks with the North proceed 'well.'" In June last year, President Bush suggested discussing with the Pyongyang government its nuclear and missile development programs and conventional forces. North Korea froze its suspected nuclear weapons program following a deal with the United States in 1994, under which a U.S.-led international consortium is building two safer light water reactors in the energy-starved country. With suspicion lingering that the North might have amassed enough plutonium to make one or two atomic bombs before shutting down its facilities, Washington has called on Pyongyang to admit IAEA inspectors to clarify the matter. North Korea promised to cooperate in such inspections in the 1994 agreement, but without specifying when the process would begin. During the TCOG session, the three countries also discussed ways to end escalating disputes between Seoul and Beijing over China's recent detention of a North Korean asylum seeker, as well as the fate of 22 other defectors currently holed up in diplomatic missions in Beijing. "(The three governments) also expressed their desire for a humanitarian resolution to the North Korean refugee issue," the statement said. Seoul has criticized Chinese guards for entering the South Korean consulate without permission to seize the ill-fated asylum seeker, while Beijing denied the claim, accusing the Korean side of leveling unfounded blame against it. (jihoho@koreaherald.co.kr) By Kim Ji-ho Staff reporter 2002.06.20 (C) Copyright 2000 Digital Korea Herald. All rights ***************************************************************** 53 Speech Contradictory to Japan's Promise: Commentary A Japanese official said in meeting on May 31: Theoretically speaking, Japan is able to possess nuclear weapons, adding that "it is not without reason that Japan should possess small type of atom bombs". The "disturbance caused by speech on nuclear weapons" in Japan's political circle has created an uproar from top to bottom over the last few days. The "disturbance caused by speech on nuclear weapons" in Japan's political circle has created an uproar from top to bottom over the last few days. At first, the person spoke about nuke in the name of "the head of government", then he denied he had made any speech about that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, on the contrary, he accused the news media of making trouble out of nothing. Getting into a temper, the news media simply brought out the truth in its entirety. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said in meeting with correspondents on May 31: Theoretically speaking, Japan is able to possess nuclear weapons, adding that "it is not without reason that Japan should possess small type of atom bombs". On the same day, when he had an informal meeting with correspondents, he said, "Recently plan has been made to revise the constitution, if the international situation (changes), and the nationals deem it necessary to possess (nuke), 'the three non-nuclear principles' may also be changed." The news media reported the contents of his remarks made to correspondents in accordance with usual practice in the name of the "head of government" or "the government side". After attending the opening ceremony for the World Cup Football Match held in Seoul on May 31, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated while answering reporters' related questions, "My cabinet does not change the 'three non-nuclear principles'." On June 1, when distributing a copy of "the speech by the head of government", Yasuo Fukuda said, my cabinet has no idea to change the "three non-nuclear principles", nor are we probing into it as a topic for the future. On June 3, while meeting with correspondents, Fukuda admitted, the so-called "head of government" is he himself. That same day, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi indicated that there was nothing wrong in what Fukuda said about Japan's possession of nuclear weapons. Fukuda's speech has aroused strong resentment in Japan. In 1967, the Japanese government formally announced the "three non-nuclear principles", i.e., "not possessing, not making and not shipping in" nuclear weapons, which was approved to become "national affair" by the House of Representatives in 1971. Thereafter, all previous Japanese governments have regarded the "three non-nuclear principles" as the basic national policy. It is only natural that Fukuda, as a current cabinet member, is severely criticized by Japanese people in and out of government for his rash talks. A representative of the Association for the group of victims of the atom bomb explosion in Hiroshima said that considered whether from the angle of the victims or of the peace of humanity, Fukuda's remarks were intolerable In the opinion of the head of the Memorial Hall of the Hiroshima Atom Bomb Explosion, if it fails to uphold the "three non-nuclear principles", how can Japan, as the only country once suffered nuclear blast disaster, appeal to the world for the prohibition of nuclear weapons? Fukuda's speech has also aroused strong repercussion internationally. Japan's close Asian neighbors and even the entire international community have expressed deep concerns about this. Today, when peace and development have become the mainstream of the times and international nuclear disarmament has made incessant headway, Fukuda's "speech on nuke possession" not only shows his ignorance of the times, but also is an open breach of the Japanese government's long-standing promise, so it causes the peace-loving people to feel worried and disturbed. In terms of the question of world nuclear disarmament, Fukuda's speech is bound to weaken Japan's right to speak and its stringency in this field. Fukuda's speech has increased the international community's doubts and misgivings about Japan's development of nuclear arms. Not long ago, a Japan's party chief declared in his speech: "Japan has the ability to make nuclear weapons". In his non-public speech made in mid-May, ABE Shinzo, a Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary, said, "There is no problem with Japan to possess a small type of atom bombs." Judging from the series of actions, from these dangerous speeches, to Japan's active participation in sending troops overseas in recent years, the "emergency legislation related bill" passed by the cabinet and its preparation to revise the constitution, etc., people have reason to believe that Fukuda's "speech on nuclear possession was given out of "sincerity", while his subsequent "correction" speech seemed like "insincerity" in pretending to do something. "One can't stand erect without faith" are the words always on the lips of Japanese politicians. If the words "national affair" seriously promised by a country are only made half-hearted, or if the "national affair" is even said as one thing, but means another thing, then how can the country win the confidence of the world people? And how can she stand unperturbed in the galaxy of nations? By People's Daily Online China Hopes Japan Will Keep Commitment to Non-nuclear Principles China Criticizes Japanese Official's Remarks on Nuke Principles Japanese PM Says Japan Will Stick to 3 "No-Nukes" Principles Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 54 End the Nuclear Danger: An Urgent Call A DECADE after the end of the cold war, the peril of nuclear destruction is mounting. The great powers have refused to give up nuclear arms, other countries are producing them and terrorist groups are trying to acquire them. THE EVENTS of September 11 brought home to Americans what it means to experience a catastrophic attack. Yet the horrifying losses that day were only a fraction of what any nation would suffer if a single nuclear weapon were used on a city. THE DRIFT TOWARD catastrophe must be reversed. Safety from nuclear destruction must be our goal. We can reach it only by reducing and then eliminating nuclear arms under binding agreements. by Jonathan Schell, and an] by Raffi Khatchadourian. The Nation [http://www.thenation.com/special/nukearchive.mhtml] features articles on the nuclear threat from Albert Einstein's 1931 warning to Arundhati Roy's call for sanity as tensions build between India and Pakistan. The anniversary of the historic June 12, 1982, rally will be the occasion of protests, seminars and rallies--listed [http://www.thenation.com/special/2002june12.mhtml] . DISARMAMENT 101 The Nation has compiled a guide to some of the major and not-so-major groups working in the field. Here's a look at who they are, and what they're doing: [http://www.abolition2000.org] In 1995, during the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference, more than 2,000 organizations worldwide signed a document calling for the eradication of nuclear weapons. That gesture began the Abolition 2000 network, which has since coordinated numerous grassroots and public-education projects. [http://www.ananuclear.org] This national antinuclear umbrella group was founded in 1987 under the name Military Production Network. Currently, it includes roughly 30 local, regional and national peace and environmental organizations "representing the concerns of communities in the shadows of the US nuclear-weapons sites and radioactive-waste dumps." This April, in its annual DC Days, the Alliance brought over 80 activists from across the country to meet with legislators and Bush Administration officials to discuss issues ranging from the harmful effects of nuclear weapons production to Yucca Mountain. [http://www.armscontrol.org] When talk of nuclear weapons, missile defense and other related topics drifts into a haze of hysteria, inaccuracy and conflicting information, one place to turn to for the facts is the Arms Control Association. The organization has built a deserved reputation for precise reports on the real problems of proliferation, and nuclear dangers. [http://www.backfromthebrink.org] Two years ago, Back From the Brink began as a simple idea: getting Russia and the United States to remove their nuclear weapons from high-alert status. Today, it is a network comprised of more than 40 national arms-control and disarmament organizations and hundreds of local and regional groups. Back From the Brink's director, Ira Shorr, says the network just initiated a major national grassroots public-education campaign about the Bush Administration's Nuclear Posture Review, and the threats it raises to peace and security. [http://www.thebulletin.org] It may be just a magazine, but for over 50 years, the Bulletin has also been home to The Doomsday Clock, a running barometer of global nuclear danger. This February, the clock's hands were nudged closer to the final hour's end--to seven minutes to midnight, its 1947 position. Since the cold war ended, the clock's readouts have reflected the world's increasingly dire nuclear predicament. In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the time read 17 minutes to midnight--its most assuring setting yet. [http://www.cdi.org] CDI began in 1972 when retired US military officers realized they could play an important role in monitoring the Pentagon, and keeping an eye on wasteful defense spending. During the 1980s, the organization was instrumental in shaping the debate over contentious US nuclear weapons programs, such as the MX missile. The organization is also credited for the first detailed study of so-called black projects at the Pentagon, which are so clandestine that their budgets do not come under public scrutiny. CDI runs timely and well-researched articles on its website. [http://www.fas.org] It is one thing to vehemently oppose, say, a bunker-busting nuclear weapon. It is another thing to know how one works and exactly why it is so devastating. And arguably no one knows the hows and whys better than the analysts at the Federation of American Scientists. FAS was founded in 1945 by members of the Manhattan Project (the engineers of the first atomic bomb), making it the oldest organization dedicated to ending the worldwide arms race, achieving complete nuclear disarmament, and avoiding the use of nuclear weapons. The group's board includes 58 Nobel laureates. [http://www.fcnl.org] This Quaker lobby group has been working since 1943 to shift budget priorities in government away from military spending. It has also been a longtime advocate of arms control and disarmament initiatives, including matters pertaining to nuclear weapons. FCNL's small staff works with a nationwide "network of Quakers and like-minded people to advocate social and economic justice, peace, and good government." This May, the organization assisted activists in Rhode Island to block a piece of legislation in a Senate committee that would allow the government to study designs for a new nuclear weapon. [http://www.space4peace.org] When the US Space Command announced its intention "to control space in order to protect US interests and investments," it may not have thought anyone was paying much attention. But members of the Global Network were, and have developed a far reaching campaign to block the weaponization of space and the development of the Bush Administration's missile defense plans. The group's website can be frustrating to navigate, but there is good information here. [http://www.gsinstitute.org] Former US Senator Alan Cranston believed that civilization deserved a better foundation for its peace and security than nuclear terror. So he founded this group, GSI, which has since targeted influential powerbrokers to "promote incremental steps that enhance security and lead to the global elimination of nuclear weapons." This January, GSI endorsed the Middle Powers Initiative, which brings eight nonprofit groups together to educate so-called "middle power" governments how to reduce nuclear dangers. [http://www.grandmothersforpeace.org] Almost twenty years ago, Barbara Wiedner had a life-altering realization: The Mather Air Force Base, located only 15 minutes up the road from her home in Sacramento, California, had 150 nuclear weapons pointed at the Soviet Union--and the Soviet Union had perhaps just as many warheads pointed back. The thought, she says, catapulted her out of the kitchen and into a life of activism. Yes, she picketed and got arrested. And, yes, that brought her attention--the kind of attention that soon snowballed until she decided to found an organization called Grandmothers for Peace International. According to Wiedner, "the world is a safer place 'in grandma's arms,' but one need not be a grandmother to participate in our work." [http://www.greenpeace.org] Ira Shorr, director of Back from The Brink, is fond of reminding people that the ultimate environmental issue is nuclear winter. It is an idea that appears to resonate with members of Greenpeace, a leading global environmental advocacy organization. Recently, Greenpeace has been waging a number of action campaigns to block the shipment of plutonium and nuclear waste by sea. The organization is also very active in raising awareness about the dangers of nuclear energy. [http://www.ippnw.org] This Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization has long been an important pillar of the disarmament community. It began when a group of Soviet and American doctors decided to educate their respective medical communities about the consequences of nuclear conflict "Today, IPPNW continues to unite people across political divides to prevent nuclear war.... [It] works to divest the charter members of the nuclear club (the US, Russia, the UK, France, and China) of their huge arsenals. IPPNW is also active in South Asia, North Asia, and the Middle East where nuclear arms races are in early stages." [http://www.lawscns.org] Headed by Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr., a former Special Representative of the President for Arms Control, the alliance is made up of senior lawyers, former government officials, retired senators and senior military officers. [http://www.lcnp.org] For more than twenty years, the Lawyer's Committee has provided legal information and analysis to policymakers, diplomats, activists and the media on disarmament and international law. It also publishes books, articles and discussion papers for policy makers, lawyers, legal scholars and laypeople, provides legal resources to individuals and organizations using law to work for disarmament, and works through international diplomatic bodies, including the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, to promote peace and disarmament. [http://www.nci.org] Established in 1981, the Nuclear Control Institute is a research and advocacy center focusing on the urgency of curbing the spread of materials used in nuclear weapons--such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium. NCI's website is a kaleidoscopic jumble of headlines and graphics, but once the vertigo subsides this is a good source of up-to-date information. [http://www.disarmament.org] In order to coordinate activities between grassroots organizations and the Washington DC disarmament and arms-control community, members of Peace Action, Physicians for Social Responsibility, 20/20 Vision and Women's Action for New Direction joined forces to create The Nuclear Disarmament Partnership. On March 10-12, 2002, the group brought 85 people from 20 key states to Washington to discuss the country's post-September 11 nuclear-weapons policies. [http://www.nuclearcommonsense.org] This organization is still in its pre-infancy, which is why the language on its website is written in the future tense. "NPRI will provide important, and now missing, commentary on the risks of nuclear policies," readers are told. But Dr. Helen Caldicott, the institute's president, is no newcomer to disarmament, and whatever she is planning here is likely to have an impact. Caldicott says she wants the institute to serve as a counterweight to conservative Washington, DC, think tanks and policy mills, such as the Heritage Foundation. NPRI is currently seeking donations. In addition to money, gifts of computers, fax lines and telephones are also welcome. [http://www.nonviolence.org/nukeresister] Since 1980, The Nuclear Resister has provided news about anti-nuclear and anti-war activists who have been jailed. [http://www.nti.org] Since the end of the cold war, numerous disarmament groups have found it difficult to attract financial support from philanthropic foundations. But for the Nuclear Threat Initiative, money is not a problem. Established in January 2001 by Ted Turner and former Senator Sam Nunn, NTI operates with a massive budget: $250 million pledged by Turner over a five-year period. It is the most money any individual has given to a nonprofit working in security related issues. Some of NTI's projects take Russia's decaying nuclear arsenal as their focus; others concentrate on biological weapons, or US policy. The NTI website has a newswire service run by The National Journal Group that exclusively covers weapons of mass destruction. [http://www.nukewatch.org] Perhaps the best place on the Web to find original government documents relating to nuclear weapons design and manufacture. This small, Santa Fe-based group also seeks to promote greater safety and environmental protection at regional nuclear facilities and to push for policies that curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Recently, Nuclear Watch has been paying close attention to the development of plutonium pit manufacturing facilities near the Savannah River Site. [http://www.peace-action.org] Washington, DC's Metro system will soon feature backlit panels depicting Uncle Sam and the following command: "I want you to promote a foreign policy built on democratic values." It is part of a month-long ad campaign, beginning June 10, run by Peace Action--a grassroots organization that has been working to alter the political agenda in Washington since 1987. Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze) is the largest activist peace network in the country. It has a membership of 85,000 people, 27 state affiliates, and over 100 local chapters. Visit the organization's website for information about upcoming activities, including a National Protest meeting in Chicago. [http://www.psr.org] PSR represents more than 20,000 physicians, nurses, health care professionals, and concerned citizens devoted to nuclear disarmament, violence prevention and environmental health. Recently, the organization has been fighting various policy initiatives sketched out in the Bush Administration's Nuclear Posture Review. PSR has also been an active opponent of depositing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, and President George W. Bush's decision to withdraw from the 1972 Ant-Ballistic Missile Treaty. [http://www.ucsusa.org] Kevin Knobloch, executive director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, says this is a critical moment for the disarmament community, as the Bush Administration aggressively pursues its nuclear weapons policy and the danger of a nuclear war in South Asia rises. Over the past several months, UCS (a nonprofit alliance of 50,000 citizens and scientists across the country) has stepped up its efforts to combat the development of a nuclear bunker buster known as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, the current cost-ineffective missile defense plans, and the more extreme policy measures described in the Nuclear Posture Review. [http://www.wand.org] Its website describes the group's beginnings this way: "The genesis of WAND was captured on film in the documentary about Helen Caldicott, Eight Minutes to Midnight. It shows Helen speaking out, and women approaching her to see what they could do. Her reply, 'We must start a women's party!' The accent is Australian, and so was her answer--Australia has a multi-party system unlike the US. Helen believed we could have a political party for women. And so began the Women's Party for Survival organized around a kitchen table in Cambridge, Massachusetts." Since those early days, WAND has evolved into a large network of grassroots organizations, and one of the major antinuclear weapons advocates operating today. thenation.com © 2002 The Nation Company, L.P. ***************************************************************** 55 S. Carolina opens door for Flats shipment Rocky Mountain News: Local Governor obeys order from federal court By Berny Morson, News Staff Writer June 19, 2002 South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges pulled state troopers from the border, bowing to a federal court order not to interfere with plutonium shipments from Rocky Flats. "The bureaucrats at the Department of Energy have prevailed for the moment," Hodges told a press conference shortly after the court order came down. Hodges said the state's hope of stopping the shipments now rests with the Federal Appeals Court in Richmond, which is hearing his claim that the energy department must perform an environmental impact statement before moving the plutonium. Shipping the estimated 6 tons of plutonium to the energy department's Savannah River Site is a major step in closing Rocky Flats by the target date of Dec. 15, 2006. More than 700 of the estimated 1,900 containers have been filled. The shipments could start as early as Saturday, Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said. Hodges has been threatening for months to lie down in the road to halt the shipments. But he said last week that he would not defy a federal court order, which could bring jail time for contempt. That order came down Tuesday morning from U.S. District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie in Aiken. The court order was no surprise. In a document released Friday, Currie wrote that Hodges "failed to offer a single citation to legal authority which might support any argument that physical interference with the shipments at issue would not be illegal." In issuing her injunction Tuesday, Currie said, "It is a sad day for South Carolina when the governor . . . who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution must be ordered by a court to obey it." In his statement, Hodges appeared to rule out an appeal of Currie's injunction. The case before the appeals court in Richmond concerns a different Currie ruling last week, rejecting Hodges' claims under federal environmental laws. Hodges is asking the appeals court to issue its own injunction, halting the shipments while the environmental claims are decided. Hodges doesn't object to the plutonium coming to South Carolina temporarily. But he wants assurances the material will eventually be moved somewhere else for permanent storage. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham offered Hodges such assurances in a written contract in April. Hodges refused to sign, saying it would not be enforceable. Under Currie's injunction, the Energy Department is not required to give Hodges any assurances. If Hodges wins under the environmental laws, the Energy Department will have to prepare an environmental impact statement. But eventually, the plutonium could be shipped. William Want, Hodges' attorney, said that the government might decide in the course of preparing the environmental impact statement that the plutonium belongs someplace else. Contact Berny Morson at (303) 892-5072 or morsonb@RockyMountainNews.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 2002 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 56 DOE report cites conflict over security accounting Tri-Valley Herald June 19, 2002 - 2:53:26 AM MST Different systems criticized by officials as redundant By Glenn Roberts Jr. Staff Writer Energy Department internal investigators have clashed with department managers over plans to improve accounting of bomb-making materials at nuclear weapons sites, states a report released this week. The Energy Department Office of Inspector General, in a report on "Nuclear Materials Accounting Systems Modernization Initiative," states that the department lacks a standardized system for tracking radioactive materials. But officials in the Energy Department's nuclear security agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, stated in response that they have not yet determined whether a "common system is beneficial." They stated, "It is more important to establish and maintain a system that provides accurate materials information for each site" than to create a standardized system. Though the department has taken some steps to modernize the various accounting systems for nuclear materials, "the lack of a coordinated approach limited the overall effectiveness of the effort," investigators state in the report. "Specifically, sites ... were not required to cooperate with the effort and specific funding necessary for site-level system modifications was not provided." Activities intended to update the accounting system "remained incomplete, and no current year funding has been provided for finalizing (the effort)." Also, "problems with nuclear materials management systems are long-standing issues with the department." The department spends about $217 million per year on about 50 systems that "manage, use, track and report information on the nuclear materials inventory," the report also states, and the Office of Inspector General estimates that the department could save as much as $66 million per year by streamlining these accounting methods. Anthony R. Lane, of the department's nuclear security agency, said officials are "concerned about the validity" of cost estimates stated in the report. Investigators visited all three U.S. nuclear weapons research labs, including Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and Energy Department offices in Albuquerque, N.M., and Washington, D.C., between October 2001 and February 2002. Livermore Lab, which is allowed to store up to 880 pounds of plutonium in a building called the Superblock, is not specifically mentioned in the body of the report. Livermore completed "a major upgrade" in November 2001 of its nuclear accounting system, said David Schwoegler, a lab spokesman. Though the Energy Department spent about $6 million to develop a materials accounting system now implemented at 10 department sites, Livermore and the two weapons research labs chose not to use system. "The department instead permitted sites to continue the development or upgrade of site-specific accounting ... systems that may not be capable of integration and will ultimately cost in excess of $7.5 million," the report states. Schwoegler said that Livermore Lab did not enact the system because "this 'once size fits all' approach lacked some of the capabilities contained in our upgraded system." Also, the lab's own system is internally maintained around the clock "and not dependent upon off-site, third-party technical support should a problem arise," he said. Office of Inspector General investigators recommended that the department "impose a moratorium" on developing new accounting systems, to reduce redundancy until a standardized system is chosen. But department officials said they rejected the suggestion because it would be too limiting for sites to respond to changes in operations. ©1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 57 Nuclear materials stir DOE conflict Tri-Valley Herald Wednesday, June 19, 2002 - 2:53:57 AM MST By Glenn Roberts Jr. Staff Writer Energy Department internal investigators have clashed with department managers over plans to improve accounting of bomb-making materials at nuclear weapons sites, states a report released this week. The Energy Department Office of Inspector General, in a report on "Nuclear Materials Accounting Systems Modernization Initiative," states that the department lacks a standardized system for tracking radioactive materials. But officials in the Energy Department's nuclear security agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration, stated in response that they have not yet determined whether a "common system is beneficial." They stated, "It is more important to establish and maintain a system that provides accurate materials information for each site" than to create a standardized system. Though the department has taken some steps to modernize the various accounting systems for nuclear materials, "the lack of a coordinated approach limited the overall effectiveness of the effort," investigators state in the report. "Specifically, sites ... were not required to cooperate with the effort and specific funding necessary for site-level system modifications was not provided." Activities intended to update the accounting system "remained incomplete, and no current year funding has been provided for finalizing (the effort)." Also, "problems with nuclear materials management systems are long-standing issues with the department." The department spends about $217 million per year on about 50 systems that "manage, use, track and report information on the nuclear materials inventory," the report also states, and the Office of Inspector General estimates that the department could save as much as $66 million per year by streamlining these accounting methods. Anthony R. Lane, of the department's nuclear security agency, said officials are "concerned about the validity" of cost estimates stated in the report. Investigators visited all three U.S. nuclear weapons research labs, including Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and Energy Department offices in Albuquerque, N.M., and Washington, D.C., between October 2001 and February 2002. Livermore Lab, which is allowed to store up to 880 pounds of plutonium in a building called the Superblock, is not specifically mentioned in the body of the report. Livermore completed "a major upgrade" in November 2001 of its nuclear accounting system, said David Schwoegler, a lab spokesman. The changes "were in response to technology advances, not problems or deficiencies," he added. Though the Energy Department spent about $6 million to develop a materials accounting system now implemented at 10 department sites, Livermore and the two weapons research labs chose not to adopt the system. "The department instead permitted sites to continue the development or upgrade of site-specific accounting ... systems that may not be capable of integration and will ultimately cost in excess of $7.5 million," the report states. Schwoegler said that Livermore Lab did not enact the system because "this 'one size fits all' approach lacked some of the capabilities contained in our upgraded system." Also, the lab's own system is internally maintained around the clock "and not dependent upon off-site, third-party technical support should a problem arise," he said. Office of Inspector General investigators recommended that the department "impose a moratorium" on developing new accounting systems, to reduce redundancy until a standardized system is chosen. But department officials said they rejected the suggestion because it would be too limiting for sites to respond to changes in operations. ©1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 58 Coalition appeals to White House to keep FFTF on This story was published Tue, Jun 18, 2002 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Supporters of restarting Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility have presented their plan at the White House, including a list of companies interested in contracts and potential shifts in federal policies that could increase interest in the reactor. The Department of Energy has said it has no use for the reactor and ordered it permanently shut down. But a coalition of Mid-Columbia governments is requesting that the reactor be turned over as surplus to the community as other excess federal equipment has been. The reactor and supporting facilities have an estimated replacement cost of $2.5 billion. "The bottom line is that we have qualified companies willing to be participants," said Claude Oliver, chairman of the Benton County Commission. Benton County, the Port of Benton and Richland are forming a community reuse agency that would find users for the nuclear reactor, which would remain federal property. At a meeting June 5 with Karen Knutson, the deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, supporters of the reactor presented letters of interest from three national or international leaders in nuclear-related business. Entergy, one of the nation's largest nuclear operators, said it is interested in operating the reactor if the administration decides to restart it. Two representatives of Entergy attended the White House meeting. Framatome, an international leader in fuel and support services to the nuclear industry, said it would be interested in a service contract to support operations. A third company, Reviss Services, an international supplier of isotopes, said it projected buying more than 5 million curies of cobalt 60 from FFTF annually plus other isotopes. The letter was not a firm commitment, but "an expression of considerable interest," it said. In late 2000, the Clinton administration ordered the reactor shut down after a lengthy study, in part because it found insufficient corporate and government interest in using the reactor. But the coalition of Mid-Columbia governments contends that it can do what the federal government could not -- assemble a team of corporations to operate the reactor and market the isotopes it produces. The Bush administration already has shot down as too risky one proposal to privately operate the reactor. But that decision was made by the Department of Energy, and the White House needs to consider a range of possible interests in the reactor from other agencies and the costs of shutting down the reactor, Oliver said. "The DOE mission is dead," Oliver said. "We accept that. We're offering a public-private partnership." Supporters contend that costs to shut down the reactor are greater than most officials in the Bush administration realize, but that restarting the reactor could raise money to decommission the reactor. In the Clinton administration decision to shut down the reactor, the cost of deactivation was set at $250 million over five or six years. But that only would do initial work, such as taking the sodium out of the reactor and washing the fuel, supporters said. A June 4 letter to Oliver from Michael Schlender, DOE deputy manager, estimates the cost of final closure of FFTF will cost about $1.3 billion. That assumes spending $36.1 million in 2003 and $46.1 million in subsequent years. However, costs could be "significantly reduced under different assumptions," and $1.3 billion should be considered an approximate order of magnitude estimate only, the letter said. Supporters of the reactor, relying on other DOE documents, said at the White House that entombing the reactor would cost $850 million. Taking the reactor apart down to the ground would cost $1.3 billion if done quickly, or $2.1 billion if work were extended over more years. They're proposing using the reactor for 30 years and setting aside $1 billion from sales for eventual deactivation and decommissioning. Government agencies also may have uses for the reactor not evident when earlier decisions were made, they said. That includes DOE. In 2000, when the Clinton administration announced its decision to shut down FFTF, it said it wanted to develop an Advanced Accelerator Applications facility and that $68 million had been set aside for planning. However, industry newsletter Nucleonics Week reported this month that DOE has decided that accelerator technologies for fuel cycle work were too expensive and that instead DOE is looking at reactor technologies. The DOE discussion of accelerator technologies came June 4, a few weeks after an agreement by Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin to form a group of Russian and U.S. experts to look at ways to reduce nuclear weapons-grade material. FFTF could be used to give disposal a quick start and for testing of fuels developed from surplus plutonium. In addition, Gammatech, a Ukrainian-Russian company developing technologies for treating nuclear waste, has said it is interested in using FFTF. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also could have a renewed interest in using the reactor under its new director, Sean O'Keefe. He's proposed money in NASA's 2003 budget to study nuclear propulsion systems that would shorten flight times. However, NASA has no test facilities for nuclear fuels, said Ken Dobbin, a West Richland councilman and supporter of FFTF. The Health and Human Services Department also may have some interest in FFTF, Oliver said, citing a letter written by Secretary Tommy Thompson last summer. It told U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., that he wanted to ensure that any decision on FFTF "not jeopardize the availability of isotopes for medical purposes." Those presenting information at the White House included Oliver; Hastings; Tom Tenforde, the president of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement; Alan Waltar, head of the nuclear engineering department at Texas A&M University; and Marc Garland, a technical specialist on FFTF. Supporters' next goal is to get an audience with Cheney, Oliver said. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 59 Fluor Hanford to reorganize staff This story was published Tue, Jun 18, 2002 By John Stang Herald staff writer Fluor Hanford is reorganizing its economic development staff as the company focuses more on moving surplus Hanford equipment to the private sector. This staff of seven people is being reduced to three by this fall. The change reflects Fluor Hanford's switch from predominantly creating jobs to getting rid of surplus Hanford equipment. The Department of Energy had looked at three teams of contractors bidding to become Hanford's lead contractor on Oct. 1, 1996. Fluor's team won, with a major reason being its economic development package. Fluor's contract called for it to help create 3,000 new Mid-Columbia jobs by Sept. 30, 2001, to counter Hanford's work force shrinking in the mid-1990s. In 1999 that contractual goal was changed to 2,550 new jobs to reflect subcontractor Lockheed Martin Hanford Corp. -- now CH2M Hill Hanford Group -- splitting from Fluor's team to become a prime contractor. When Fluor's original five-year contract expired in 2001, its official job-creation count was 2,888. When DOE extended Fluor's tenure in 2001, the new contract did not have a job-creation clause. Instead, Fluor's contract extension calls for it to transfer 200 major pieces of industrial equipment, such as cranes, by 2006 to the Tri-Cities Assets Reinvestment Corp. to be publicly auctioned, said Jerry Schneider, Fluor's assets transition manager. Fluor also is supposed to transfer 100,000 other surplus items to TARC by 2006 to be publicly auctioned. An item would be something like a box or group of tools or furniture. TARC is a subsidiary of the Tri-City Industrial Development Council. Schneider will stay in his current slot, and two people will move to another Fluor section that also handles surplus equipment matters. Fluor recently told the other four that their slots will be eliminated and started efforts to find other Hanford jobs for them. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 60 Wash. Court Revives Two Lawsuits Las Vegas SUN June 19, 2002 YAKIMA, Wash.- Thousands of people who claimed they were sickened by radiation from a nuclear weapons complex have been given a second chance to have their day in court. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived two lawsuits filed by "downwinders," or people living downwind from the Hanford nuclear complex. The court ordered a federal trial court in Washington to reconsider two claims, dismissed in part in 1998, against several Hanford nuclear weapons complex contractors. In one lawsuit, a judge dismissed most of the 4,500 plaintiffs from the case, saying scientific evidence of radiation injury was too complex for a jury to determine. The lawsuit was filed in 1990, after the government admitted secret radiation releases from 1945 to the early 1960s could have harmed anyone living downwind. In the second lawsuit, which includes about 1,000 plaintiffs, the judge dismissed all the claims except those from people who had certain types of cancer, and from those who could show exposure to radioactive emissions put them at great risk for those cancers. "It's a great victory for the people who have suffered from the last 50 years as a result of enormous radiation releases from Hanford," said Roy Haber, a lawyer representing about 600 plaintiffs. Plutonium was made at the 560-square-mile site for more than 40 years for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. The defendants are five former Hanford contractors - E. I. Du Pont de Nemours &Co., General Electric Co., UNC Nuclear Industries, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Rockwell International Corp. "We're disappointed in the decision, and we strongly disagree with it," said Kevin Van Wart, an attorney for the five contractors. "We're considering our options." In both cases, the appeals panel said the lower court needed to consider whether there was proof that exposure to radiation at the level alleged by the plaintiffs could cause illness in the general population. The appeals panel also rejected the contractors' argument that residents should have to show they were exposed to so much Hanford radiation that it more than doubled the risk of harm. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 61 Companies want FFTF isotopes, study says This story was published Wed, Jun 19, 2002 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer Companies and research institutions that require high-quality nuclear medicine isotopes are interested in obtaining them from Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility, according to preliminary results of a marketing study. The study done by Frost and Sullivan, an international marketing consulting firm, was commissioned to answer questions from companies interested in joining the effort to restart the reactor. The $43,250 cost was paid for with $10,000 each from Richland, the Port of Benton and Benton County and the remainder from the Tri-City Industrial Development Council. Supporters of the nuclear research reactor want it restarted for new research and to make isotopes for medical and other industrial uses, such as irradiating food and sterilizing medical equipment. Restarting the reactor would drive growth by expanding the entire field of nuclear medicine, said users of isotopes who were surveyed. The survey is not yet complete, with more agencies expected to respond, but Frost and Sullivan pulled together preliminary comments for supporters of the reactor to take to a meeting at the White House earlier this month. A coalition of the three local governments is looking for support from the Bush administration to allow them to market the reactor as federal surplus. The study said potential users of isotopes believe the reactor would be able to produce large quantities of high-quality isotopes at a reasonable cost because many missions could be carried out at once. Most respondents said they would purchase a sizable percentage of their isotopes from FFTF. They include four research centers: Children's Hospital in Boston, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Garden State Cancer Center in Belleville, N.J., and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. In addition, four companies using isotopes for medical or other products said they would buy a large portion of them from FFTF. Three medical centers doing research using isotopes for medical uses indicated there was a dire need for sufficient quantities of high-quality isotopes. Some of the most promising research uses radioactive isotopes, which can be produced at reactors such as FFTF, to target cancer more selectively than more conventional radiation treatments. The isotopes and their carriers can be used to find and kill cancer cells that have migrated throughout the body and can kill cancer cells with less damage to nearby healthy cells. The survey also found that several companies would prefer to buy their isotopes from U.S. sources. They include Syncor, a 2,500-employee company that distributes medical isotopes to 146 nuclear pharmacies around the world. The report also noted a previous finding by Frost and Sullivan -- that demand for U.S. medical isotopes is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 12.4 percent. Some of the potential for growth is based on isotopes becoming available for research and then products being developed and marketed. That's reflected in the growth of sales of yttrium 90, an isotope obtained from nuclear waste at Hanford. Sales of yttrium 90 increased from less than $250,000 in 1996 to about $4.5 million in 2001. Under the proposal by the coalition of local governments, Entergy, one of the nation's largest operators of nuclear plants, is interested in operating FFTF, and the international firm Framatome is interested in offering fuel and support services. Reviss Services, an international supplier of isotopes, is interested in buying isotopes from FFTF. DOE still would own the reactor, which it says it has no use for. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 62 Hanford budget veiled in secrecy This story was published Wed, Jun 19, 2002 By John Stang Herald staff writer Hanford sent its 2004 budget projections to the Department of Energy's Washington, D.C., headquarters Monday. But for the first time since the mid-1990s, the department won't reveal its preliminary Hanford numbers for two years ahead. The secrecy sparked protests from regulators and Hanford watchdogs, and reverses nearly a decade of openness about Hanford's budget requests to Congress. The reason for the change wasn't clear Tuesday. "That's the official policy," said Tom Welch, a Washington, D.C.-based DOE spokesman, but didn't elaborate. DOE officials in Richland speculated the secrecy stems from the agency's proposal to speed up Hanford's cleanup and to work out a five-year budget plan. Washington Department of Ecology and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials expressed frustration by the lack of candor. "They're putting us off," said Dave Einan, a program manager with the EPA's Hanford's office. The EPA plans to send a formal protest letter over the decision to keep the 2004 Hanford budget projections a secret, he said. Hanford officials traditionally unveiled their spending request for the upcoming year around February, but in the 1990s started also releasing preliminary budget projections for the following year. The detailed public briefings gave a huge dose of public confidence in Hanford's cleanup plans, observers said. "We had a groundbreaking process that worked well from year to year," said Todd Martin, chairman of the Hanford Advisory Board. Gerald Pollet, of Heart of America Northwest and vice chairman of the HAB's budget committee, said: "By being open, DOE had credibility for its budget submissions." Last year, a new DOE leadership delayed public discussions on the budget as they grappled with unfamiliar projects and dollar figures. But officials gradually unveiled 2002 and 2003 budget figures during April and May of last year. This year, DOE still is sorting out its revised 2003 cleanup budget request to Congress. Some dollar figures still are being crunched, but Hanford will get at least $1.46 billion and is trying to get $1.893 billion. The secrecy surrounding the 2004 budget projections, however, will hamper regulatory agencies charged with overseeing Hanford cleanup. Martin, Pollet, Einan and others said the public and the regulators need to know DOE's budget projections for two years in advance so they can ensure Hanford's cleanup won't fall behind schedule. The numbers tell whether DOE is actively pursuing a specific cleanup project or just giving it lip service, they said. "We need to know if any problems are on the horizon. Are they asking for the money to implement this grandiose plan we've been working on?" Einan said, referring to DOE's new master plan for accelerating cleanup at Hanford and its other sites nationwide. DOE set several acceleration goals for Hanford. The EPA and state are studying that proposal and preparing to start talks with Hanford officials that are supposed to be completed by Aug. 1. A key factor in those talks will be how much money DOE allocates to the accelerated cleanup goals. Einan and Pollet said DOE is violating the Tri-Party Agreement, the legal pact governing Hanford's cleanup, by not briefing at least the regulators on the 2004 budget projections. However, Mike Wilson, the state ecology department's nuclear program manager, said DOE has complied with its obligations so far on supplying financial figures to the state. Wilson views the current situation as a new variation in the annual tug-of-war over Hanford's budget requests. The initial requests always are too small, then Congress, regulators and the public fight all fall to ensure Hanford gets sufficient money to meet its obligations, he said. HAB budget committee chairman Harold Heacock, of the Tri-City Industrial Development Council, sees the lack of 2004 budget figures as an extension of the complicated Congressional politics over DOE's still-undecided 2003 cleanup budget projections. For 2003, DOE split its cleanup budget request to Congress into two segments. The first $5.9 billion segment tackles much of DOE's national cleanup obligations but falls short of keeping most individual sites, including Hanford, on schedule. The second segment consists of DOE asking Congress for another $800 million to $1.1 billion to go solely to sites with locked-in plans to speed up cleanup. So far, DOE has promised a possible $757 million of the extra money to five states, including Washington. Four other states with major DOE sites -- including South Carolina's massive Savannah River complex -- still are seeking extra DOE money. All this assumes the states will agree to DOE acceleration plans after studying the details. It also assumes Congress will actually allocate the extra money in accordance with DOE's plans. Heacock speculated DOE is being mum about 2004 because it's dealing delicately with several congressional delegations on how to divvy up the extra $800 million to $1.1 billion for 2003. Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 63 Hanford lawsuits given new life after court reverses ruling The Seattle Times: Wednesday, June 19, 2002, 12:00 a.m. Pacific Seattle Times staff reporter Thousands of Washington, Oregon and Idaho residents excluded from a lawsuit that claimed they were sickened by secret radioactive releases from Hanford during the Cold War can now sue again. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reversed a lower-court ruling that had dismissed most of the 5,500 claims by Hanford nuclear reservation "downwinders." In two lawsuits, they said the radioactive releases, beginning more than a half-century ago, caused their thyroid, bone, breast and salivary cancers. The ruling could expose five companies that operated at Hanford to millions of dollars in liability. The companies, including General Electric, DuPont and Atlantic Richfield, ran the plant until the mid-1980s, producing fuel for atomic weapons first used in the Manhattan Project during World War II. "This is an absolutely wonderful decision," said Trisha Pritikin, a Berkeley, Calif., attorney who grew up outside Hanford. She and her mother have thyroid disease, and her father died of thyroid cancer. "It shows the value and importance of appeals — of moving a case that has festered in one district to another." But while the decision breathes new life into the 12-year-old court battle, other downwinders have grown too weary and mistrustful to celebrate. "I don't believe anything until I see money in my pocket, or our president saying on TV that we're going to do something for these people," said Sally Sanders, an former Hanford worker whose sister died of thyroid cancer and whose other two siblings also suffer thyroid-related problems. "It's been too many years." The decision comes just days before the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle are expected to unveil final results of their own 12-year study of the links between thyroid disease and Hanford's emissions. Their 1999 draft study of 3,440 people showed no such link existed — a finding disputed by downwinders. Downwinders say they don't expect the final results to significantly change. Their cases date to 1988 — a year after Hanford halted weapons-grade plutonium production — when the Department of Energy released previously classified documents showing the plant had released radioactive iodine 131 into the air, water and soil, sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident. About 88 percent of those releases occurred in 1944. Between 1988 and 1990, the U.S. government attempted to map the breadth of fallout. It found that some residents who lived downwind from the reservation or who used the Columbia River downstream were exposed. Others may have been exposed by eating vegetables or drinking milk from cows that grazed on contaminated grasses. Plaintiffs filed suit in 1990. In 1998, after more than five years of discovery, Judge Alan McDonald in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington ruled that each downwinder would have to prove that he or she had been exposed to enough radiation that their risk of disease was double that of people in the general population. That killed roughly 90 percent of the claims. Yesterday, the appeals court dismissed the "doubling dose" standard thereby allowing thousands to sue. But the court also limited damages for emotional distress to just plaintiffs who had been made sick. McDonald's ruling dismissed "individualized factors, such as heredity, that might raise the likelihood of contraction of cancer at lower levels of exposure," the appeals court ruled. "Radiation is capable of causing a broad range of illnesses, even at the lowest doses. This has been recognized by scientific and legal authority." Lawyer Kevin Van Wart, representing the five contractors, said, "We're disappointed ... and we strongly disagree." Van Wart said the lawsuits have become magnets for a number of frivolous, invalid claims and that the District Court's dismissal of many of them was a way to deal with "overreaching" claims. But downwinders' attorneys said the decision was an important precursor to what promises to be lengthy litigation. "This decision will have a lot of ramifications beyond just Hanford," said attorney Tom Foulds, who represents 4,500 downwinders. "We're in a nuclear age. Sooner or later there are going to be other problems and similar suits in the future." "The primary question now is that in each individual case, is the plaintiff able to show their exposure could have had a contributing cause from radiation?" said attorney Bryan P. Coluccio, representing 1,000 downwinders. "I think our experts will be able to show that." Barring settlement talks, plaintiffs' attorneys are preparing to seek class-action status of the two cases. Craig Welch can be reached at 206-464-2093 or [cwelch@seattletimes.com] . Information from Seattle Times news services is included in this report. Copyright © 2002 The Seattle Times Company ***************************************************************** 64 BNFL project surpasses safety mark The Oak Ridger Online -- Feature: Business -- 06/19/02 by Paul Parson Oak Ridger staff Workers at BNFL Inc.'s Oak Ridge cleanup project have surpassed the 500,000 work hours without a lost-time accident mark. Company officials said reaching the milestone is significant due to the inherent difficulties of cutting, lifting and removing the estimated 330 million pounds of metal and material contained in three buildings at the Oak Ridge K-25 site -- K-29, K-31 and K-33. "Reaching this goal is the result of a lot of hard work from everyone on this project site and certainly demonstrates BNFL's commitment to safety," said John A. Christian, vice president of decontamination and decommissioning operations for the company. According to BNFL officials, this is the second safety milestone of its kind for the company to be achieved in Oak Ridge. In May 2001, BNFL celebrated working a million work hours without a lost-time accident. Christian indicated that the enhanced safety performance is due to the implementation of the Behavioral Based Safety program, which provides an opportunity for workers to become more involved in adapting positive safety behaviors through observations of their fellow workers and feedback. BNFL signed a six-year contract with the Department of Energy in August 1997 to decontaminate and decommission the three large buildings at K-25, which was formerly used to separate uranium-235 from uranium-238 through a gaseous diffusion process. Paul Parson can be contacted at (865) 220-5533 or pparson@oakridger.com [pparson@oakridger.com] . All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 65 Livermore lab gains role in terror fight Bush asks Congress to form center to help stop attacks [http://sfgate.com] [zcoile@sfchronicle.com] Wednesday, June 19, 2002 --> Washington -- President Bush is asking Congress to create a national research center at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to help protect Americans against biological and radiological attacks -- almost two weeks after the White House proposed transferring nearly all of the lab's budget to the newly proposed Department of Homeland Security. As Bush sent Congress legislation Tuesday creating the new Cabinet department, his aides spent the day trying to clarify some of the still-fuzzy details about the proposed agency. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge acknowledged that the administration has reversed its earlier decision to move the lab, which is run by the University of California under a contract with the Department of Energy, into the new Homeland Security Department. Scientists and Bay Area officials complained that such a move would complicate the lab's main mission, which is to conduct research that helps maintain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile without having to conduct live tests. White House officials ultimately agreed. "It was decided that there's still some (Department of Defense) responsibilities and Department of Energy responsibilities that are uniquely situated at the Lawrence Livermore Lab," Ridge said. "It would not (be) appropriate to take the entire facility within the Department of Homeland Security." 'CENTER OF EXCELLENCE' Instead, Ridge said the administration would ask Congress to create a new "center of excellence" at Livermore, which would be part of the Department of Homeland Security. The center "could be the conduit for research and development dollars and science and technology dollars" for devices that could detect and could help prevent biological, chemical or radiological attacks, he said. The White House would not say whether it would devote any new federal money to the research center. At Livermore lab, officials expressed glee at the idea of being singled out as a major hub for research into homeland security issues. "Of course, we're excited about it," said lab spokeswoman Lynda Seaver. "The center of excellence is a great idea. We look forward to working with Congress and the president to get this mapped out and under way." Scientists at the lab already have some experience in homeland security, having designed the air-monitoring systems used at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City to detect radiation and chemical and biological agents. The lab also is working on handheld devices that can detect biological and chemical agents and on more sophisticated technologies to track the DNA signatures of anthrax and other pathogens. SMALLER SATELLITE CENTERS White House officials said Livermore would be the main research center, but the new agency would also launch smaller, satellite centers at the Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories in New Mexico. But Ridge suggested there could be competition for the main center. Despite the White House's request to base the center in Livermore, "perhaps Congress may say Sandia" is a better choice, he said. The issue of Livermore lab is one of many thorny topics Congress will have to sort through as it tries to merge all or parts of 22 agencies and 170,000 federal employees into a single department, the most significant reorganization of the government since President Truman created the Department of Defense more than 50 years ago. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, will hold the first Senate hearing on the new agency Thursday, and Ridge is scheduled to testify. House GOP leaders have set up a special committee to consider Bush's legislation, in hopes of approving the new agency before the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. When the White House initially unveiled its proposal for the agency two weeks ago, it left lab officials perplexed. The proposal shifted 80 percent of the lab's budget, $1.2 billion, to the new agency but moved only 4 percent of the lab's 7,500 employees to the department. Administration officials clarified Tuesday that they would not shift the bulk of Livermore's budget to the new agency. The White House was still unclear about the number of lab employees who would join the agency. A Bush administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "What we anticipate is that there will be a building -- or buildings plural -- (on the Livermore campus) that will be dedicated to homeland security and to homeland security research." Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, whose district includes the lab, strongly opposed the White House's original plan, saying the lab should remain under the jurisdiction of the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy, and stay focused on national security. TAUSCHER SUPPORTS WHITE HOUSE Tauscher said Tuesday she supports the White House's effort to designate Livermore as a center for research on homeland security issues. "By drawing on Livermore Lab's expertise in the field of homeland security, we are adding one more tool to our arsenal to better protect the American people," Tauscher said. The administration made several other minor changes to its plan, including leaving an FBI computer crime unit out of the new department. Democrats, many of whom had lobbied for months for a homeland security agency, said they supported much of Bush's plan. But some lawmakers complained that the administration's refusal to budget any new money for administrative costs for the agency until 2004 could stall the effort to build a new department from scratch. "We're talking about a clear and present danger," said House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco. "To come out and say we're not going to put any new money in for two years, that is ridiculous." E-mail Zachary Coile at [zcoile@sfchronicle.com] . ©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.   Page A - 1 ***************************************************************** 66 Appeals court revives claims of residents living near former plutonium site 06/19/02 The Oak Ridger Online -- State News -- By LINDA ASHTON Associated Press Writer YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- A federal appeals court Tuesday revived two lawsuits filed by thousands of people who claimed they were sickened by radiation releases from the Hanford nuclear weapons complex. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a federal trial court in Washington to reconsider the claims, dismissed in part in 1998, against several Hanford contractors. The lawsuits were brought by "downwinders," or people living downwind from Hanford. In one lawsuit, a judge dismissed most of the 4,500 plaintiffs from the case, saying scientific evidence of radiation injury was too complex for a jury to determine. The lawsuit was filed in 1990, after the government admitted secret radiation releases from 1945 to the early 1960s could have harmed anyone living downwind. In the second lawsuit, which includes about 1,000 plaintiffs, the judge dismissed all the claims except those from people who had certain types of cancer, and from those who could show exposure to radioactive emissions put them at great risk for those cancers. "It's a great victory for the people who have suffered from the last 50 years as a result of enormous radiation releases from Hanford," said Roy Haber, a lawyer representing about 600 plaintiffs. The defendants are five former Hanford contractors -- E. I. Du Pont de Nemours &Co., General Electric Co., UNC Nuclear Industries, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Rockwell International Corp. "We're disappointed in the decision, and we strongly disagree with it," said Kevin Van Wart, an attorney for the five contractors. "We're considering our options." In both cases, the appeals panel said the lower court needed to consider whether there was proof that exposure to radiation at the level alleged by the plaintiffs could cause illness in the general population. The appeals panel also rejected the contractors' contention that residents should have to show they were exposed to so much Hanford radiation that it more than doubled the risk of harm. Plutonium was made at the 560-square-mile site for more than 40 years for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki during World War II. [http://www.oakridger.com/dailydouble] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 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. 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