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09/20/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.241
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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Don't take away £410m lifeline, plead nuclear unions
2 AU: Nuclear scare fuels gas hopes
3 N Korea 'agrees' to nuclear inspections
4 British Energy lifeline 'illegal'
5 Major nuclear nations to develop six new power systems
6 US: Nuclear regulators to meet on S.C. plant
7 US: North Augusta Questions abounded for the Nuclear Regulatory Comm
8 US: OP: Nuclear Meddling
9 Saddam's letter to U.N. says U.S. wants oil -
10 Japan: More lies on TEPCO reactors
11 Japan: Critics see TEPCO fallout for nuclear industry
12 *UK nuclear power group shuts reactor *
13 Ireland will be forced to use nuclear energy*
NUCLEAR REACTORS
14 Japan Shuts Down Nuke Power Reactor
15 US: Davis-Besse: More staff punished for reactor lid's hole
NUCLEAR SAFETY
16 US: It's time to do the right thing for atomic workers
17 AU: Russia's Rusting nuclear ships warning
18 US: Employee skips 'pat down,' sparking alarms at TVA plant *
19 200 Loose Nukes!!! Really?
20 Northern Fleet reducing — nuclear safety increasing
21 US: Experts Say Nuclear Plants Can Survive Jetliner Crash
22 US: Are nuclear plants safe from attack? It's debatable
23 US: Radiation detecting chopper will fly over parts of Middletown.
24 US: Paul Wilkinson Special report: September 11 one year on
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
25 US: State action angers Canon anti-waste group
26 LES request could bar public from raising questions
27 PFS Waste: Best Option?
28 US: Pro-nuke lobby urges OK on Yucca spending
29 US: Yucca: State to feds: Stop secret meetings
30 US: State action angers Canon anti-waste group
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
31 AU: Saddam denies weapons
32 UK: The Case Against Saddam
33 US: Debate on Iraq moves to Hill Bush resolution cites 'high risk'
34 US: Hawks offer no proof to justify attack
35 U.N. Nuclear Inspectors Know Where to Look in Iraq
36 US: Congress promises quick Iraq vote
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
37 Nuclear attack unavoidable, experts say Livermore Lab panelists
38 Hanford bonuses paid out despite overruns
39 Editorial: They're like canaries in a coal mine
40 Hanford Air Operating Permit (Rev. A)
41 ORNL, USEC enter into $121M pact
42 Will DOE give legs to land-use planning?
43 Reach pact on Generation IV nuclear energy systems
44 Oak Ridge lab to tune gas centrifuge -
OTHER NUCLEAR
45 Late quake shakes prediction confidence (dissappears)
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Don't take away £410m lifeline, plead nuclear unions
Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian |
David Gow Friday September 20, 2002 The Guardian
[http://www.guardian.co.uk]
The government yesterday came under intense pressure from unions
at British Energy to renew its £410m lifeline for the nuclear
power producer when it runs out next week.
Officials from five unions told the energy minister, Brian
Wilson, that the government should avoid putting BE into
administration and opt if necessary for partial
re-nationalisation.
Ministers are coming under contradictory pressures from other
generators, regulators, financiers and traders as they weigh up
options for resolving the crisis at BE in almost round-the-clock
talks said by insiders to be "very sensitive and tender, very,
very tense". Some electricity producers are urging ministers to
withdraw temporary financial backing for BE and allow it to go
into insolvency while power trading arrangements (Neta) are
changed to boost wholesale prices and profitability. Others are
telling the government not to tamper with Neta, which has brought
a 40% fall in prices in four years. The producers' lobby says
measures to help BE should extend to the whole industry. Problems
intensified last night when BE announced the closure of another
reactor - at Heysham 2, Lancashire - after a minor electrical
fault.
It claimed it would soon be back on stream. This prompted
Greenpeace to declare that at least a third of BE's capacity was
now down. Greenpeace is threatening high court action unless the
government withdraws the £410m loan. Tony Aldous, national
officer of Prospect and chief union negotiator, said after talks
with Mr Wilson: "We want the financial underpinning rolled
forward from September 27 and detailed discussions with the
government and company about a financial restructuring in order
to allow it to continue operating whether in the private or
public sector."
As unions pressed for a company statement guaranteeing salaries,
pensions and conditions of employment, Mr Aldous admitted full
renationalisation "is not on the cards."
Unions would prefer a public private partnership, with Mr Aldous
urging ministers to "ride the political storm" of further
financial help and create time for a solution that sustains
nuclear power.
Mr Wilson "kept a very bland, straight face" at yesterday's
talks, according to union sources, and was said by his officials
to have reaffirmed that no decisions on BE's future had been
taken.
"Contrary to some reports the government is not pursuing a
particular outcome [insolvency] and a further announcement will
be made in the next week." The shares rose 1p to 6p, valuing BE
at £40m compared with £500m before the company sought help this
month.
Graphics The Mox ships' journey around the world (pdf)
[http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2002/09/17/nuclear_ship.pdf]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
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2 AU: Nuclear scare fuels gas hopes
NEWS.com.au |
(September 20, 2002)
By Nigel Wilson
September 20, 2002
AUSTRALIA'S natural gas industry is facing a potential export
bonanza on claims that Japan's nuclear power industry has been
hiding deficiencies in plant operations since the 1980s.
Media reports in Japan on safety lapses, fraudulent repairs and
cover-ups at Tokyo Electric, the world's largest private
electricity utility, have led to suggestions that Japan's
endorsement of nuclear power will come under question. Toyko
Electric has admitted 16 years of covering up serious flaws,
including systematic falsification of inspection and repair
records at 13 of its reactors.
According to the Uranium Information Centre in Melbourne, Asia is
the only region in the world where electricity generating
capacity, and specifically nuclear power, is growing
significantly. Japan now generates 34 per cent of its electricity
from from 54 nuclear generating units and has plans to build 12
more nuclear power reactors. By 2010, nuclear power will meet
more than 40 per cent of Japan's electricity requirements, or 50
per cent if greenhouse targets are met. Analysts say that if
Japan halts or curtails its nuclear plans it will mean a bonanza
for the world-wide liquefied natural gas industry. Tokyo Electric
is one of the original customers for the NW Shelf LNG project.
The Japanese energy industry was strongly targeted when the NW
Shelf project joint venturers were planning the fourth production
train, now under construction after being delayed because of the
Asian economic downturn and partly because of Japan's love affair
with nuclear energy. Tokyo Electric last December entered into an
arrangement with Phillips Petroleum for the sale of LNG from the
Timor Sea Bayu-Undan gasfields. ConocoPhillips is keen to sell
more LNG into Asia but any plans to expand its proposed onshore
LNG in Darwin depend on greater access to other gas reservoirs in
the Timor Sea. And ChevronTex aco is beefing up its development
team for the Gorgon reservoirs off Western Australia and plans to
open a Tokyo marketing office later this year.
The Australian
[http://www.ni.com.au]
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3 N Korea 'agrees' to nuclear inspections
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific |
Thursday, 19 September, 2002, 09:11 GMT 10:11 UK
[Kim Jong-il (left) and Junichiro Koizumi shake hands after their
meeting this week] Kim Jong-il (L) has made several concessions
this week
The Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, says North
Korea's Kim Jong-il agreed to allow international inspections of
his country's nuclear facilities when the two men met earlier
this week. It was announced at the time that Mr Kim had only
agreed to abide by international agreements on Pyongyang's
nuclear programme. But Mr Koizumi said on Thursday that the North
Korean leader went further - agreeing to allow the International
Atomic Energy Agency to check the country's nuclear sites.
[Unidentified family members of a Japanese kidnapped by North
Korea weep during a protest] The news that abductees are dead has
shocked Japan
His announcement came as more details emerged on the deaths of
several Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea some 20 years
ago. North Korea agreed with the United States in 1994 to
dismantle its nuclear programme, in return for the building of
two proliferation-proof nuclear power stations. But it has
refused, until now, to allow international inspectors to check
whether it already had enough nuclear material to build a bomb.
North Korea did not mention its willingness to allow the
inspections in a joint statement released after the summit with
Mr Koizumi. The BBC's correspondent in Tokyo, Charles Scanlon,
says that if North Korea does let in the inspectors, that could
help resolve growing tensions with Washington. Pyongyang also
agreed at the summit to extend a moratorium on missile tests
beyond 2003. But the Bush administration has other demands as
well, including an end to the North's export of ballistic
missiles. Anger at home Japan has now agreed to begin
negotiations for establishing diplomatic relations with North
Korea, but that decision has come under attack from the relatives
of the abductees.
[Shuichi Ichikawa (AFP)]
Japan's missing
+ Eight Japanese confirmed dead + Four still alive in North Korea
+ Kim Jong-il says he has punished the culprits See also:
Profiles of the missing
Mr Kim admitted his agents kidnapped at least 12 Japanese
citizens in the 1970s and 80s and that eight have since died.
Japanese foreign ministry officials initially concealed the dates
of their deaths from the families waiting at home. But it emerged
on Thursday that two of them - Keiko Arimoto and Toru Ishioka -
died on the same day in November 1988, two months after one of
them smuggled a letter home. According to Japan's Asahi Shimbun,
of the four women who died, three were in their 20s and one was
in their 30s at the time of death. Mr Kim says the Japanese died
from natural causes or natural disasters. Their apparently
untimely deaths will fuel questions amongst relatives. Despite
the unexpected shock regarding the kidnapped people, polls show
that the popularity of Mr Koizumi has risen since the summit. A
poll by Asahi Shimbun showed support for the prime minister has
jumped 10 points to 61% and that 81% of those polled approved of
his handling of the meeting.
© MMII | News Sources | Privacy
*****************************************************************
4 British Energy lifeline 'illegal'
BBC NEWS | Business |
Thursday, 19 September, 2002, 16:14 GMT 17:14 UK
[European Commission headquarters, Brussels] European Commission
HQ: Stilll weighing up BE bailout
Environmental lobby group Greenpeace has threatened to take legal
action against the government's bailout of struggling nuclear
power firm British Energy.
Greenpeace claims that British Energy's £410m ($638.3m) lifeline
was given without the approval of the European Commission, in
"flagrant breach" of European Union rules restricting state
subsidies for failing companies. The organisation said it may
challenge the British Energy bailout in the High Court if the
government does not agree to withdraw it.
"They are artificially distorting the market for power by
propping up the bankrupt nuclear industry," said Greenpeace clean
energy campaigner Emma Gibson.
Nuclear exit
Greenpeace called on the government to close down British
Energy's nuclear reactors and concentrate on developing
non-polluting energy sources instead. But the government rejected
Greenpeace's claims, saying it had informed the Commission of the
British Energy bailout as required under EU rules. "The point is
that we notified [the Commission] straight away, and were within
Commission guidelines," a spokesman for the department of trade
and industry said.
The bailout package consists of a temporary loan facility worth
up to £410m which is due to expire on 27 September.
Mario Monti, the EU Commissioner with responsibility for
competition issues, last week confirmed that the British
government had asked the Commission to approve the bailout.
The institution has yet to come to a final decision.
Cash crunch
British Energy, which provides one-fifth of the UK's power, has
been hit by lower electricity prices since the wholesale power
market was freed up last year.
Other power firms have been able to offset the weak wholesale
market by maintaining higher retail prices, but this strategy is
not available to British Energy, which does not have a retail
arm.
The firm, which was privatised just six years ago, is thought to
need about £300m this year to pay off debts and cover losses.
© MMII | News Sources | Privacy
*****************************************************************
5 Major nuclear nations to develop six new power systems
Friday September 20, 1:12 PM
A group of 10 leading nuclear nations said it will buy and
develop six next generation nuclear energy systems, which promise
to be a safer and more economic form of power.
The technology would not be available this decade but the
influential consortium -- the Generation IV International Forum
(GIF) -- said it would be ready before 2030.
"Ten countries, key to the future of nuclear power, have now
selected six technologies that they believe represent the future
shape of nuclear energy and are now in the process of partnering
to bring these technologies to reality," said US Secretary of
Energy Spencer Abraham.
The decision to develop so-called Generation IV nuclear energy
systems supports a recommendation US President George W. Bush's
administration to explore the potential of nuclear technology, he
said.
Nuclear power plants are better for the environment than those
which burn fossil fuels, while nuclear energy is more abundant
and affordable, Abraham told a news conference in Tokyo.
But many people remain grossly opposed to nuclear power,
preferring renewable sources instead such as solar energy or
wind.
"We need to do a better job of clarifying the true arguments for
nuclear power," Abraham argued.
"The greenhouse gas question, concerns about the cleanliness of
our skies, dependable supplies of energy... nuclear energy has
something to say to each of these issues," said the US energy
chief.
"Therefore it is incumbent on those of us in the public policy
arena to articulate this case for nuclear power."
The speech came after a two-day meeting in Tokyo of GIF, which
groups Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, South
Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States.
The United States, which generates around a quarter of global
emissions of greenhouse gases, has refused to sign the Kyoto
Protocol, a major international climate agreement that requires
rich industrialised countries to trim output of carbon-based
gases by a deadline of 2008-2012.
Abraham failed to comment on a decision by the OPEC oil cartel on
Thursday that oil production would remain unchanged.
Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
*****************************************************************
6 Nuclear regulators to meet on S.C. plant
Charlotte Observer | 09/18/2002 |
[http://www.charlotte.com]
Energy group hopes to convert plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel
The environmental impact of an S.C. facility's plans to produce
nuclear fuel containing surplus weapons plutonium will be the
subject of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Charlotte
on Thursday.
A business group that includes Duke Energy has asked the NRC's
permission to build the plant at the Savannah River Site near
Aiken, S.C., where 34 metric tons of plutonium would be converted
into mixed-oxide fuel.
The fuel would be used at Duke's McGuire and Catawba nuclear
plants near Charlotte.
The group, Duke Cogema Stone &Webster, filed an environmental
report in 2000 but revised it in July to reflect design changes.
The Charlotte meeting is the last in a series of three this week,
following sessions in North Augusta, S.C., and Savannah, Ga. It
starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government
Center, 600 E. Fourth St., and will include time for questions
and comments from the public.
The NRC's mixed-oxide facility Web site is
[http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/mox/licensing.html]
*****************************************************************
7 North Augusta Questions abounded for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
The State | 09/18/2002 |
Posted on Wed, Sep. 18, 2002
By RODDIE BURRIS Staff Writer
North Augusta Questions abounded for the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission on Tuesday night over plans to build a $3.8 billion
project that would turn weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for
reactors that produce electricity.
"I'm upset because it's a dishonest process," said Don Moniak of
Aiken, representing the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
and referring to cost estimates to build the plant. "Not so much
at the NRC, but at the (Department of Energy). DOE has withheld
information from the public and Congress on this."
The NRC held the meeting to gather public input on new
environmental information on the mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel plant
planned for the Savannah River Site. The agency regulates nuclear
power facilities in the United States.
The federal government plans to build a $1.5 billion conversion
plant at SRS to turn 34 metric tons of surplus weapons-grade
plutonium into MOX, to be used in Duke Power's two commercial
nuclear power plants in the Charlotte area.
Plans have changed for the proposed plant. Mainly, the project
will no longer include an immobilization plant previously slated
to handle about 8.4 metric tons of the bomb-making material. The
NRC wants to know whether the public accepts DOE's plan to go
ahead with the MOX plant without an immobilization plant.
More low-level and high-level waste will be produced without an
immobilization plant, officials said. DOE scrapped the
immobilization plant because of cost restraints.
Secondly, the federal agency wants to know, based on public
input, how the new plan should be presented in a draft
environmental impact statement that will be completed by Feb.
2003. Similar meetings are slated this week for Charlotte and
Savannah.
"We have groundwater contamination and wastewater contamination
at SRS," said William Hooker of Augusta. "Is that level of
(historic) contamination at SRS by DOE being considered?"
It is not, according to NRC officials. The agency will consider
both the environmental impact of building the facility and its
operational safety in determining whether to license the proposed
plant.
A consortium led by Duke Energy is seeking license to operate its
nuclear power plants on the MOX fuel.
At SRS, the bomb-grade plutonium would be blended with uranium to
create MOX , a process used widely in Europe, but tested only
minimally in the United States.
Both Russia and the United States declared an equal amount of
weapons-grade plutonium as excess under a bilateral agreement
struck in 2000. The goal is to eliminate deadly plutonium that
could find its way into the hands of unstable governments or
terrorists who desire to build nuclear weapons.
Plutonium from DOE's Rocky Flats plant in Colorado and the Pantex
plant in Texas is being shipped to SRS, after Gov. Jim Hodges
lost a federal court fight to halt shipment of the material.
TheState.com |
*****************************************************************
8 OP: Nuclear Meddling
Los Angeles Times - latimes.com
September 20, 2002
Re "Nuclear Plant Safeguards," editorial, Sept. 16: A nuclear
plant is just about the safest place to be if terrorists attack.
Making plants still more secure is the aim of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and the utilities. However, a meddlesome
Congress may be one cook too many. We so often have seen
nonexperts try to "fix" a highly complex technical problem, of
which the security at nuclear plants is one, only to make matters
worse. The NRC has the mandate to protect the public without
regard to the impact on the nuclear industry. It needs to be able
to do its job without interference, even in the guise of help.
Dennis Keith
Costa Mesa
Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times
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9 Saddam's letter to U.N. says U.S. wants oil -
CNN.com -
Sep. 20, 2002
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein chairs a meeting of his Cabinet in
Baghdad on Thursday.
[ vspace=] CNN's Richard Roth analyzes Iraqi Foreign Minister
Naji Sabri's speech to the United Nations (September 19)
CNN's Rula Amin talks to a group of men in a cafe in Baghdad to
get their reaction to the idea of a possible war with the U.S.
(September 19)
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri denied
U.S. accusations that Iraq has nuclear, chemical or biological
weapons during a speech Thursday before the United Nations
General Assembly, and accused U.S. President George W. Bush of
using the terror attacks of September 11 as an excuse to strike
Iraq.
Reading a letter from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to the world
body, Sabri said the Bush administration "wants to destroy Iraq
in order to control the Middle East oil and consequently control
the politics as well as the oil and economic policies of the
whole world."
Bush last week called on the United Nations to enforce its
resolutions made after the 1991 Persian Gulf War that mandated
Iraq to disarm, saying the organization's relevance in world
affairs was at stake. On Thursday he continued to call for
action:
"The United Nations Security Council must work with the United
States and Britain and other concerned parties to send a clear
message that we expect Saddam Hussein to disarm -- and if the
United Nations does not deal with the problem, the United States
and some of its friends will," Bush said.
Iraqi official Sabri, reading from Saddam's letter, said: "I
hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons" -- a statement quickly rejected
by the White House.
"That is categorically a lie," said White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer, who described the speech as "more of the same" from
Iraq and "a disappointment and a failure in every respect."
Iraq has offered to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors.
"Now that Iraq has accepted the return of U.N. inspectors, we
will all be able to see how they work," Sabri read. "In our past
experience with them -- 1991-1998 -- Iraq used to ask some of the
inspection teams to do their job in accordance with the declared
goals of the Security Council -- but some of the inspectors went
on doing intelligence and espionage work that had nothing to do
with the official mandate of the inspection teams."
Fleischer said Iraq was "already putting up conditions for the
weapons inspectors that they said, only two days ago, they would
accept unconditionally. When Iraq talks about sovereignty and
independence, history has shown that those are code words for
thwarting the inspectors."
The letter also accused Bush of portraying his proposal to oust
Saddam's regime in a false light.
"He pretended to care for the people of Iraq after he and other
presidents before him have killed by the use of weapons,
including depleted uranium, and by the blockade which is now more
than 12 years old, more than 1 million and 700,000 innocent
Iraqis out of a population of 25 million citizens," Sabri read.
"So after a long time of utilizing the American propaganda
machine, along with official statements of lies, distortion and
falsehood, the focus was basically turned on inciting the
American public against Iraq and pushing them to accept the
American administration's schemes of aggression as a fait
accompli, as if it were the solution or the necessary rescue that
would allow American citizens to live in security and stability,
after what they had gone through in the September 11 attacks."
© 2002 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
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10 Japan: More lies on TEPCO reactors
Asahi Shimbun www.asahi.com [http://www.asahi.com/]
The Asahi Shimbun
Utility hid or ignored other reactor cracks.
Fresh suspicions have emerged that Tokyo Electric Power Co.
(TEPCO) hid or ignored indications of cracks at eight of its
nuclear reactors, in Fukushima and Niigata prefectures, since
1993, sources said Thursday.
The newly disclosed coverups involve cracks in pipes of reactors
in addition to the 29 instances of damage on reactor shrouds that
surfaced at TEPCO facilities in August.
The latest disclosures involve attempts to hide reports on
indications of cracks in pipes that carry primary cooling
water-components of a nuclear reactor far more important than
shrouds.
Officials suspect TEPCO sought to hide the damage from routine
government inspections, the sources said.
Of the eight instances, pipes were later replaced in five
reactors, but other flaws remain in pipes of three reactors.
The pipes carry water under pressure to keep the reactor cool.
About 7,000 tons of water per hour is pumped through the piping
network.
``Indications'' of cracks in stainless steel cooling pipes were
first confirmed 1992. They were found during ultrasound tests of
joints and sections of pipe.
The problems were discovered at No. 1-5 reactors at Fukushima No.
1 power plant, in No. 3 reactor at Fukushima No. 2 plant, and at
the No. 1 and 2 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in
Niigata Prefecture.(IHT/Asahi: September 20,2002)
(09/20)
[Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved. No reproduction or
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11 Japan: Critics see TEPCO fallout for nuclear industry
Asahi Shimbun [http://www.asahi.com/] JAPANESE
The Asahi Shimbun
TEPCO's admission this week that its cover-up of reactor defects
reached high into the company hierarchy should set off alarm
bells throughout the nation's nuclear power industry, observers
say.
An executive at one regional utility said if similar scandals are
uncovered at other nuclear power companies, ``The whole meaning
of using nuclear power could be questioned.''
Many are already saying the scandal at Tokyo Electric Power Co.
(TEPCO) has cast the nation's nuclear fuel recycling program into
doubt. That project aims to extract plutonium from spent nuclear
fuel and use it in further power generation.
Not everyone shares in that sense of urgency, however. At Tohoku
Electric Power Co., Executive Vice President Kenji Okada
dismissed any suggestions such cover-ups could happen at his
company, citing the fact its reactors were ``relatively new.''
An industry insider said such optimism was unrealistic.
``Scandals like TEPCO's arise because their organization has a
problem. It doesn't matter whether the company has a new reactor
or an old one,'' the insider said.
That TEPCO was not alone in the scandal was revealed Wednesday
when regular contractor Hitachi Ltd. was found to have complied
with the utility's request to falsify inspection records to help
cover up reactor troubles.
``No one else could have brought the (TEPCO) scandal to light but
a foreign company like (General Electric Corp.). Domestic
manufacturers wouldn't possibly do it,'' said technology writer
Kiyoshi Sakurai.
TEPCO's cover-up surfaced only after a former General Electric
employee notified the government that TEPCO may have falsified
inspection records of TEPCO reactors by General Electric
International Inc., GE's Japanese arm.
Sakurai said individuals working at TEPCO's Japanese partners, on
the other hand, would have been too afraid of losing contracts by
putting a major client to shame.
``If a domestic partner revealed an electric power company's
misdeeds, it would punish the company by treating it unfavorably
in bidding, for example,'' Sakurai said. ``The rule is for
contractors to always remain silent, even if they know there is
something wrong in what TEPCO is doing.''
The three domestic electronics makers that currently have nuclear
power divisions-Toshiba Corp., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
and Hitachi-rely heavily on domestic power utilities for orders.
Hitachi's involvement in the cover-ups was found in TEPCO's own
in-house investigation into the falsification of inspection
reports for one of its reactors in Fukushima Prefecture.
Hitachi said its staff first found a crack in a safety device in
1992 while inspecting the TEPCO reactor but decided it posed no
threat to the reactor's safety. It said it reported the crack to
TEPCO, which asked that the inspection report say there was no
problem with the reactor. Hitachi complied.(IHT/Asahi: September
19,2002)
(09/19)
[Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
12 *UK nuclear power group shuts reactor *
/online.ie 19 Sep 2002/
Struggling nuclear group British Energy shut one of its reactors
last night after a "minor electrical fault", the group said
today.
The group closed one of the reactors at the Heysham 2 station in
Lancashire at around 5.30pm, a spokesman confirmed.
Spokesman Martyn Butlin said: "One of the reactors automatically
shut down last night because of a minor electrical fault. It will
be back up shortly.
"I don't want to make it sound as though we are complacent but it
is a fact of life ? like sometimes your car doesn't start.
"It happens regularly if not frequently. It is not uncommon for
nuclear reactors."
He stressed there were no safety risks.
Greenpeace campaigner Iain McSeveny said: "Just when you thought
things couldn't get worse for the nuclear industry, another of
their stations shuts down.
"The closure of Heysham is the latest in a long line of failures
for this industry."
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13 Ireland will be forced to use nuclear energy*
PUBLICATION DATE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2002
Belfast Telegraph
Publication Date: 20 September 2002
I am horrified at the ignorance of the energy industry displayed
by the leading article (Belfast Telegraph, September 17).
At present our power is coming from gas which is replacing the
oil and coal fired facilities at our power stations.
But gas is likely to become too expensive as it runs out and
there is no current alternative for provision of the amount of
power we require but for the use of nuclear energy.
So-called sustainable power sources are not available when the
wind does not blow, or for wave power, when there is no swell on
the sea and those who pay the NIE for "green" power receive poor
value in these circumstances as then they receive power generated
from gas or oil.
The other main source of sustainable power is hydro electricity
which is effectively unavailable in Northern Ireland.
The calls in Ireland for the closure of the British nuclear
energy industry disregard the fact that nuclear power is being
circulated throughout the island from Scottish stations through
the new interconnector and that whatever the current politicians
say, Ireland will be forced eventually to build nuclear stations
to maintain its power supplies.
Nuclear power, despite the problems arising from Chernobyl, is
much safer than coal firing if allowance is made for the miners
killed in mine disasters or poisoned by dust from their time at
work.
It also has the huge advantage that it does not, unlike oil, gas
and coal, produce any carbon dioxide so it will not cause any
global warming.
Nuclear power's problem is that nuclear energy began with the
bomb and its use elsewhere cannot seem to become removed from
this in the minds of the protesters.
BRIAN KENNEDY, Holywood, Co Down.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
*****************************************************************
14 Japan Shuts Down Nuke Power Reactor
Las Vegas SUN:
September 20, 2002
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO- A major Japanese power company shut down one of its nuclear
power reactors Friday for an emergency inspection because of
possible cracks in its cooling system.
The No. 3 reactor at Chubu Electric Power's Hamaoka nuclear power
plant was shut down for an inspection of the pipes carrying water
to cool the reactor, Chubu Electric announced on its Web site.
All four of the Hamaoka plant's reactors are now inactive and
undergoing safety checks, it said. A company official who spoke
on condition of anonymity said the suspected damage was minor and
the shutdown did not pose a safety threat. Public broadcaster NHK
said the utility had found the damage previously but did not
report it to the government.
Chubu Electric found a radioactive leak in the same No. 3 reactor
in July, though no radioactivity escaped into the outside
environment. Radioactive leaks were also discovered at the
Hamaoka plant's No. 1 reactor in November and the No. 2 and No. 4
reactors in May and July. The Hamaoka plant is in Shizuoka
prefecture (state), just southeast of Tokyo. The news comes just
weeks after Japan's largest utility, Tokyo Electric Power, was
forced to shut down five nuclear reactors for safety checks after
it admitted to failing to report problems with the reactors to
the authorities. Tokyo Electric admitted in August it didn't
report problems at three of its power plants in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. The problems were brought to light after an
investigation by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
On Friday, Tokyo Electric spokesman Akio Kobayashi said there
were another eight cases of cracks or minor structural damage at
the company's plants besides the 29 reported earlier. Kobayashi
said the problems weren't serious enough to affect safety.
Chubu Electric is Japan's third-largest power company and serves
the central Japan region, including the major city of Nagoya.
Japan relies on nuclear power for 30 percent of its electricity.
However, the Japanese public has become increasingly wary of the
reactors since a 1999 radiation leak at a fuel-reprocessing plant
killed two workers. --
All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
15 Davis-Besse: More staff punished for reactor lid's hole
The Plain Dealer
09/20/02
John Mangels and John Funk
Plain Dealer Reporters
The fallout from the discovery this spring of a big rust hole in
the Davis-Besse nuclear reactor lid continues to spread, with a
new round of firings and disciplinary actions against managers
and staff.
The punishments began Tuesday and continued through yesterday,
unfolding even as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grilled plant
executives on how they would fix the supervisory lapses that
allowed the hole to grow unnoticed for years.
FirstEnergy Corp. nuclear division spokesman Todd Schneider would
not say exactly how many people were disciplined. Davis-Besse
employees learned of the news from a staff meeting Wednesday
morning. ![]()
The Pueblo Chieftain
*Friday September 20th, 2002* By TRACY HARMON
*CANON CITY* - Members of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste
are frustrated with the state health department's decision to
allow limited processing of materials prior to the end of a
public comment period on worker safety issues.
The Colorado Department of Public Health announced last Friday
that it will allow Cotter Corp. to conduct limited processing to
demonstrate whether new safety procedures are acceptable at the
uranium mill here. Cotter is permitted to process 1,500 cubic
yards of uranium material from Cotter's Schwartzwalder Mine near
Golden; and 825 cubic yards of calcium fluoride from the
Metropolis facility in Illinois.
However, Cotter has not started the limited processing yet,
according to Rich Ziegler, Cotter vice president, because the
company wants to be cautious.
"We are having clean-up materials delivered from our
Schwartzwalder Mine and we are getting ready to have the
materials delivered from the Honeywell facility in Metropolis,
Ill. Then, we will get our work plan and radiation work permit in
place - the state has to approve all that," Ziegler explained.
Cotter remains barred from receiving any other shipments for
processing pending the Tuesday deadline for public comment on
worker safety issues and review of those comments by the state
health department. The public comment period was established to
run Sept. 3 through Tuesday.
"We are alarmed by the apparent disregard of the CDPHE for their
own 21-day comment period," said Jeri Fry, co-chair of Colorado
Citizens Against Toxic Waste. "We believe this latest action
erodes the public trust in being heard by the department and
makes a mockery of the public comment period."
"They (state health officials) should have waited until after the
comment period to make people feel their comments would make some
impact. It is so frustrating," said Shirley Squier, spokesperson
for CCAT.
Cotter was directed to suspend processing July 9 until Cotter
established new procedures for eliminating the worker safety
violations.
"They (state officials) came up with these requirements and we
are going to go through what they have requested. Right now they
want us to prove the procedures are in place and will work - they
want us to 'prove up' these things can be done," Ziegler said.
CCAT members also are concerned about apparent contradictions
from the state health department. The department announced July
18 that Cotter's license will allow for processing of Li
Tungsten, N.Y., waste material.
Fry points out that a July 22 letter from state health department
acting executive director Doug Benevento to Reps. Ken Kester and
Lola Spradley said Li Tungsten waste is not approved for receipt
by Cotter.
Ziegler said state approval is in place, but it depends on full
federal approval from the EPA.
"We still need to get the EPA approval of the off-site rule since
the material is coming from a region in New York to be placed in
a our region, so they will make sure it is acceptable," Ziegler
said.
Benevento said the Li Tungsten material would be approved at
Cotter for processing but not during the suspension.
"They are not approved to take delivery of the Li Tungsten
material and they cannot take it until we tell them," Benevento
explained.
Benevento said the suspension will be extended until public
comments can be considered by state health officials and Cotter
demonstrates compliance.
"Despite this action by the CDPHE, all citizens are encouraged to
write letters of comment on Cotter's suspension," Fry said.
The public can view Cotter-related documentation at the Canon
City Public Library or log on to
www.cdphe.state.co.us/lr/lrhom.asp
. Written comments on
worker safety issues can be sent to Jake Jacobi, manager,
Radiation Services Program, Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment, 8100 Lowry Blvd., Denver CO 80230; or via e-mail
to jake.jacobi@state.co.us .
Star-Journal Publishing Corp. Pueblo, Colorado U.S.A.
*****************************************************************
26 LES request could bar public from raising questions
Elizabethton Star - Online Edition
By Kathy Helms-Hughes STAR STAFF khughes@starhq.com
Louisiana Energy Services has asked the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for a ruling that would bar the public from raising
numerous relevant issues in public hearings related to the
licensing of a uranium enrichment plant it proposes to build near
Hartsville, Tenn., according to Nuclear Information and Resource
Service (NIRS).
NIRS said in a press release issued last week that the ruling
sought by LES was described as "unique" by one NRC staffer, and
would prohibit members of the public from addressing such issues
as environmental justice, financial qualifications of the LES
consortium, disposition of thousands of tons of
radioactive/hazardous waste, and the need for the plant, among
other matters.
Citizens Against Nuclear Trash, a Louisiana citizens group,
successfully stopped LES from building a similar plant in Homer,
La., in the 1990s by raising the same issues.
"Rather than clean up its act and play by the rules," NIRS
Executive Director Michael Mariotte said, "LES is attempting to
change the rules so that local people cannot even raise the same
type of issues that defeated its last effort ... This smacks of
desperation before LES even has submitted a license application."
In a Sept. 11 letter to the NRC, NIRS asked that it be allowed to
comment on the LES proposals and also requested a 90-day public
comment period. "The NRC should reject LES' outrageous request
out-of-hand," Mariotte said, "but at the very least, they should
let the public know what LES is doing and give the public an
opportunity to respond."
LES and state officials announced last Monday that the former
Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear plant site had been chosen for
the $1.1 billion gas centrifuge facility.
George Dials, LES president and chief executive officer, said,
"The environmental justice problem was sort of new when the Homer
licensing process was going on. It came from the policy decision
that President Clinton made about that time that environmental
justice had to be included in all decisions on licensing. It sort
of snuck up on them a little bit."
Dials said, however, that LES doesn't foresee any environmental
justice issues with Hartsville. "That was one of the criteria we
went through. There's a lot more understanding of what that means
now than there was when it first came out. We're confident that
that will pass the scrutiny of the NRC."
The next step for LES is to negotiate final purchase of the
Hartsville site and get a sales-purchase agreement in place
before filing a license application within the next six months,
Dials said.
Environmental studies also must be completed, said Rod Krich of
Exelon. "One of the advantages of the Hartsville site is TVA did
an environmental evaluation earlier this year when they
transferred it to Four Lakes Industrial Development Authority.
Some of the environmental work has been done. Because it was a
nuclear site previously, there was a lot of environmental
documentation in existence already."
LES will employ about 250 persons full time. During the screening
process LES looked at availability of labor and technical
confidence levels, according to Dials. "We don't have any doubt
that folks in this area of Tennessee are smart enough and
competent enough to take these jobs, and we intend to hire as
many of them as we can 'locally.' Local means the region. ...
We've got good university systems to draw from," he said, citing
Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee as examples.
"We may have a couple of special operational people or
maintenance people for these centrifuges come from Europe on a
part-time basis until we get the appropriate people trained,
[and] we'll probably send a few of the operating folks to Europe
to be trained in some of our facilities there," he said.
Dials, who hails from West Virginia, said he is setting up LES
corporate headquarters in Washington "because that's where we
need to be to deal with the licensing process. But once we get
the license and start building the plant ... we will move the
corporate headquarters down here."
LES also plans to start a "very active public outreach program"
in Hartsville within the next few weeks, "staffed by somebody
locally who can sort of be our windows and ears," he said. "Then
we can distribute information ... and spend some time down here
ourselves getting to know the people and working with them.
"We need to dispel a lot of these myths about what's happening
here. We've had all kinds of stories out about highly enriched
uranium, weapons-grade stuff, nuclear bombs, nuclear terrorism,
high-level waste. That just isn't true about a facility like
this. It's a very different kind of nuclear facility than people
are even accustomed to thinking about."
According to the LES president, tailings produced during the
process are not waste, but a "byproduct" which is lower in
radiation than naturally occurring uranium in the ground. The
tailings would be stored onsite temporarily "to see if there are
other uses," he said. "Sometimes you can run that back through
the system and enrich it. It's not classified as waste right now
so there are no disposal requirements. We will maintain it onsite
until there is some disposition facility created."
Another option is for LES to develop its own disposition plan.
"That will have to be approved by the NRC before they give us the
license," he said.
At Urenco's facilities in Europe some tailings are stored while
others are sent to the Soviet Union to be re-enriched. "Then we
can use it as feed [fuel] for our plants," he said.
The CEO doesn't believe the Hartsville plant will pose a major
terrorist threat. "There is not much a terrorist could do to this
facility except destroy a billion dollars worth of equipment.
They can't do anything with the material if they got it. We've
got it stored in these casks which are inside the centrifuges
when they're operating. If they got one of them -- it weighs
about 40 tons -- what are they going to do with it? It would be a
little obvious going down the interstate."
Dials also said there are safeguards in place to prevent an
incident like the one which occurred in the 1980s when employees
of a German subcontractor stole some of Urenco's gas centrifuge
blueprints and sold them to Iraq. "When there's a renegade in the
pile, there's a renegade in the pile," he said.
"One of the employees from that German company went to jail for
the unauthorized sale to a foreign government," Dials said. "The
bad news is that, indeed, there was a piece of information that
got to them about centrifuge technology that should not have
gotten to them, but appropriate actions were taken. ... The fact
that the knowledge base may be there [Iraq] is troublesome, but
it didn't go directly from Urenco.
"It's sort of like in the United States: Even with the best
safeguards, sometimes you get a traitor that will release
information," he said.
Copyright © 1996 - 2002 Elizabethton Newspapers, Inc. Direct
questions or comments to webmas [webmaster@starhq.com]
ter@starhq.com [webmaster@starhq.com] Elizabethton Newspapers,
Inc., 300 Sycamore Street Elizabethton, Tennessee 37643 -
423.542.4151
*****************************************************************
27 PFS Waste: Best Option?
The Salt Lake Tribune -- Best Option?
Friday, September 20, 2002
In Judy Fahys' article (Tribune, Sept. 15), "N-Waste: Hot
Material Piles Up With No Solution in Sight," she quotes Private
Fuel Storage Chairman John D. Parkyn about the nuclear industry.
"They feel there's an obligation to provide public safety, and
that means finding a centralized storage facility for spent
fuel," he says. "The idea of letting it sit [at reactor sites] is
the worst option for regular ratepayers."
Clearly, the best option for ratepayers who have used the nuclear
energy is to ship the dangerous waste out here to the deserts of
the Great Basin. They will no longer have to pay for the storage
of the waste that they benefited from, nor will they have to
consider the health risks that come with being exposed to
radioactive waste.
But, then Utah pays for the nuclear waste. We will pay for it if
there is an accident on our "spaghetti bowl" city freeway
exchanges as hundreds of shipments are trucked over I-80 and up
I-15 to go west into Skull Valley. We will pay for it not only
with our health; we will pay for the cleanup as well. PFS, a
limited-liability company, will not be responsible to pay for
emergency response (nor even training for them!) to such
accidents.
So, yes, shipping the waste to the Great Basin, even
"temporarily," is the best choice for the ratepayers who use
nuclear energy. But, it's the worst choice for those of us who
live, work and raise our families in Utah.
TIFFANY ROUSCULP
Salt Lake City
© Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune All material found on
*****************************************************************
28 Pro-nuke lobby urges OK on Yucca spending
Las Vegas SUN:
September 20, 2002
Twelve nuclear industry companies and several other pro-nuclear
groups on Thursday turned up the volume on their plea to Congress
to spend $593 million on Yucca Mountain next year, the highest
annual budget ever. President Bush in January asked Congress for
$527 million for the Energy Department's nuclear waste dump
project. Congress in July then approved construction of the site
90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and Bush asked lawmakers for
another $66 million.
The Energy Department needs the money to complete Yucca studies;
to compile a complex application for a license to construct
Yucca; and to develop a plan for hauling highly radioactive waste
from nuclear reactors and U.S. defense sites nationwide to
Nevada. But as Congress wrestles with complex budget issues in
the waning days of this legislative year, Sen. Harry Reid,
D-Nev., is battling to cut the Yucca funding.
Reid, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, is also a member of the
Appropriations Committee, which controls the purse strings in
Congress. On Thursday, 12 pro-Yucca groups including the Nuclear
Energy Institute, the industry's top lobby group, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, and the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition --
a group of state regulators, state attorneys general and nuclear
utilities -- asked lawmakers to approve Bush's requests.
The groups said they were frustrated that Congress over the years
has not given the Energy Department enough money to develop the
delay-plagued project. "Congress must recognize the obvious
paradox of voting in support of Yucca Mountain licensing but
providing insufficient annual appropriations, which will
ultimately delay this program," the groups wrote in a letter to
Appropriations Committee leaders Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and
Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., "Further delay will cause grave
implications and repercussions for the nation's energy supply,
national security, consumers and the environment."
Lawmakers hope to wrap up their budget-setting in the coming
weeks. Congress already has allocated roughly $7 billion, mostly
for Yucca studies, in the project's 20-year history.
All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
29 Yucca: State to feds: Stop secret meetings
Las Vegas SUN
September 20, 2002
By Cy Ryan SUN CAPITAL
BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and the
director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects Thursday
demanded the federal government conduct all Yucca Mountain
meetings in public. Del Papa, in a letter to Nuclear Regulatory
Commission Chairman Richard Meserve, said, "The state of Nevada
takes strong exception to a growing and apparently unlawful trend
on the part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct
private meetings with the Department of Energy," over Yucca
Mountain and excluding the public and the state. Director Bob
Loux said the letter was a "shot across the bow that said, 'You
(and the Energy Department) are getting pretty cozy here.' "
Nevada officials, in a letter to Margaret Chu, the Energy
Department's Yucca project director, said the department should
not use the excuse of national security to "avoid its duty of
full disclosure to Nevada" of these meetings. The Energy
Department project aims to construct a first-of-its-kind national
nuclear waste dump at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The
Energy Department must apply for a license from the regulatory
commission to construct the repository.
As the department assembles the application over the next 15
months, and as the NRC reviews it -- a process that could take
several years -- the two agencies inevitably exchange
information. Those communications, especially when important
decisions are reached, should be public, Nevada officials said.
Del Papa said it "has become obvious that DOE and NRC staffs are
meeting, conferring and making agreements or commitments" to the
pre-licensing activities for Yucca Mountain. These meetings are
not noticed and Nevada and the public do not have an opportunity
to attend, she said. She said the two agencies have been talking
about the design of the project, the quality assurance program,
procedures to follow, a corrective action plan and work safety.
The Energy Department, said the attorney general, wishes "to
shape the licensing proceedings to mask the inadequacies of the
proposed repository site."
Del Papa said minutes must be maintained and should be provided
to Nevada. She asked if the Energy Department or the regulatory
commission had made any new commitments; why was no notice given
of the meetings; why any commitments were not reduced to writing
and made available to Nevada; and what sessions are scheduled in
the future. Rosetta Virgilio, a spokeswoman for the NRC, said
NRC-Energy Department Yucca meetings are public and records are
in fact made available, adding, "I am not aware of any other
(secret) meetings that are going on." An Energy Department
spokesman was not available for comment. Loux said that at two
public meetings of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, an
independent review panel, in recent months, Chu has described
decisions that were reached at meetings between the NRC and
Energy Department.
"We're going, 'We don't know about these meetings, and we should
be privy to them,' " Loux said.
Nevada lawmakers, who have long battled Yucca, agree.
"This serves as even more evidence of the insidious nature of
this project,' Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "We've known for a
long time that the NRC is in bed with the DOE and the nuclear
power industry. "How can the NRC keep a straight face when they
lie to Nevadans about being an impartial, outside agency that
will judge the Yucca Mountain project only on the scientific
merits?"
"There is a pattern here of deceit and deception," said Michael
O'Donovan, spokesman for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev, siad there
"is a pattern here of deceit and deception."
"Closed doors and secrecy will only breed corruption in the end,"
he said. Sun reporter Benjamin Grove contributed to this story.
All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
30 State action angers Canon anti-waste group
The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Friday September 20th,
2002
[http://www.chieftain.com]
By TRACY HARMON The Pueblo Chieftain
CANON CITY - Members of Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste are
frustrated with the state health department's decision to allow
limited processing of materials prior to the end of a public
comment period on worker safety issues. The Colorado Department
of Public Health announced last Friday that it will allow Cotter
Corp. to conduct limited processing to demonstrate whether new
safety procedures are acceptable at the uranium mill here. Cotter
is permitted to process 1,500 cubic yards of uranium material
from Cotter's Schwartzwalder Mine near Golden; and 825 cubic
yards of calcium fluoride from the Metropolis facility in
Illinois.
However, Cotter has not started the limited processing yet,
according to Rich Ziegler, Cotter vice president, because the
company wants to be cautious. "We are having clean-up materials
delivered from our Schwartzwalder Mine and we are getting ready
to have the materials delivered from the Honeywell facility in
Metropolis, Ill.
Then, we will get our work plan and radiation work permit in
place - the state has to approve all that," Ziegler explained.
Cotter remains barred from receiving any other shipments for
processing pending the Tuesday deadline for public comment on
worker safety issues and review of those comments by the state
health department. The public comment period was established to
run Sept. 3 through Tuesday.
"We are alarmed by the apparent disregard of the CDPHE for their
own 21-day comment period," said Jeri Fry, co-chair of Colorado
Citizens Against Toxic Waste. "We believe this latest action
erodes the public trust in being heard by the department and
makes a mockery of the public comment period."
"They (state health officials) should have waited until after the
comment period to make people feel their comments would make some
impact. It is so frustrating," said Shirley Squier, spokesperson
for CCAT. Cotter was directed to suspend processing July 9 until
Cotter established new procedures for eliminating the worker
safety violations. "They (state officials) came up with these
requirements and we are going to go through what they have
requested. Right now they want us to prove the procedures are in
place and will work - they want us to 'prove up' these things can
be done," Ziegler said.
CCAT members also are concerned about apparent contradictions
from the state health department. The department announced July
18 that Cotter's license will allow for processing of Li
Tungsten, N.Y., waste material. Fry points out that a July 22
letter from state health department acting executive director
Doug Benevento to Reps. Ken Kester and Lola Spradley said Li
Tungsten waste is not approved for receipt by Cotter. Ziegler
said state approval is in place, but it depends on full federal
approval from the EPA.
"We still need to get the EPA approval of the off-site rule since
the material is coming from a region in New York to be placed in
a our region, so they will make sure it is acceptable," Ziegler
said. Benevento said the Li Tungsten material would be approved
at Cotter for processing but not during the suspension.
"They are not approved to take delivery of the Li Tungsten
material and they cannot take it until we tell them," Benevento
explained. Benevento said the suspension will be extended until
public comments can be considered by state health officials and
Cotter demonstrates compliance. "Despite this action by the
CDPHE, all citizens are encouraged to write letters of comment on
Cotter's suspension," Fry said. The public can view
Cotter-related documentation at the Canon City Public Library or
log on to [http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/lr/lrhom.asp] .
Written comments on worker safety issues can be sent to Jake
Jacobi, manager, Radiation Services Program, Colorado Department
of Public Health and Environment, 8100 Lowry Blvd., Denver CO
80230; or via e-mail to [jake.jacobi@state.co.us] .
©1996-2002 [http://www.chieftain.com] The Star-Journal Publishing
Corp. Pueblo, Colorado U.S.A.
*****************************************************************
31 AU: Saddam denies weapons
NEWS.com.au |
(September 20, 2002)
From correspondents in New York
IRAQ is free of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Saddam
Hussein told the United Nations in a speech read overnight by his
foreign minister.
The White House dismissed the speech as a "disappointing
failure".
It was the first comments attributed to the Iraqi leader since
Iraq's surprise announcement this week that it would accept the
unconditional return of international weapons inspectors nearly
four years after they left.
The decision, which followed a tough speech on Iraq last week by
President Bush, has divided the major powers on the UN Security
Council.
"Our country is ready to receive any scientific experts,
accompanied by politicians you choose to represent any one of
your countries, to tell us which places and scientific
installations they would wish to see, particularly those about
which the American officials have been fabricating false stories,
alleging that they contain prohibited materials or activities,"
Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told the world body, quoting the
Iraqi president.
"I hereby declare before you that Iraq is clear of all nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons," Sabri said, further quoting
Saddam.
The speech to the UN General Assembly — one week after Bush
addressed the gathering — was greeted with loud applause by
diplomats from around the world.
But in Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the
speech "presented nothing new and was more of the same".
"The speech is an attempt to lure the world down the same
dead-end road that the world has traveled before and, in that, it
represents a disappointing failure by Iraq," Fleischer said.
Appearing in the afternoon at the homeland security command
center, Bush told reporters he had not heard the speech by Iraq's
foreign minister.
"Let me guess, the United States is guilty, the world doesn't
understand, we don't have weapons of mass destruction — it's the
same old song and dance we've heard for 11 years," he said,
calling anew for the United Nations to pass a get-tough
resolution.
In the speech, the Iraqi president said he wanted a comprehensive
solution to its problems with the United Nations to "bring to an
end the cyclone of American accusations and fabricated crises
against Iraq".
The speech heavily criticized the United States and Bush for
trying to link Iraq in some way to the tragedy of September 11.
It charged that "the American propaganda machine, along with
official statements of lies, distortion and falsehood" was being
used for "inciting the American public against Iraq, and pushing
them to accept the US administration's schemes of aggression as a
fait accompli".
Iraq called on the United Nations to help protect its sovereignty
in the face of possible US military action.
And it charged that the United States was working in concert with
Israel and was trying to control the Middle East oil supply.
"The US administration wants to destroy Iraq in order to control
the Middle East oil and consequently control the politics as well
as the oil and economic policies of the whole world," the foreign
minister said.
He also charged that the United States was fomenting problems
with Iraq to prevent the Security Council from lifting economic
sanctions and to keep the Middle East from becoming a
nuclear-free zone as called for in council resolutions.
The United States, he said, does not want to embarrass Israel —
which he referred to as "the Zionist entity" — or deprive it of
the nuclear, chemical and biological weapons it possesses.
Despite Iraq's offer to admit the inspectors, the United States
and Britain have begun crafting a draft resolution that would
tighten the timetable Iraq has to comply with previous
resolutions and authorize force it fails to do so.
But the two English-speaking allies will need to overcome strong
opposition from France, Russia and Arab states, which believe
there is no need for such a move before inspectors can test
Iraq's sincerity on the ground.
The Security Council was set to discuss Iraq this morning.
In Washington, Bush asked Congress for authority to use military
force to disarm and overthrow Saddam, saying the United States
will take action on its own if the Security Council balks.
The president sent to Capitol Hill his proposed wording for a
resolution, a late draft of which would, according to White House
officials, give him permission to use "all means he determines to
be appropriate, including military" to deal with Saddam.
UN sanctions were imposed and inspectors sent to Baghdad at the
end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War to disarm Iraq and certify that
the country's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed.
But after seven difficult years, often peppered with crisis over
access to sites and cooperation, inspectors left Iraq in December
1998 ahead of punishing US and British airstrikes.
At the time, the United Nations disbanded the first inspections
team amid allegations that some members were spying for the
United States. A new inspection team was established and Hans
Blix of Sweden was appointed to head the UN Monitoring,
Verification and Inspections Commission.
Blix has said he could have people on the ground as soon as he is
able to complete details for their return with Iraq in talks
scheduled later this month in Vienna.
The Associated Press
NEWS.COM.AU
*****************************************************************
32 UK: The Case Against Saddam
BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama |
The war of rhetoric between the Bush administration and Saddam
Hussein threatens to spill over into a bloody confrontation that
may change the regime in Baghdad but in the process spark a
conflagration throughout the Middle East.
Amidst this rhetoric, what is the real truth - the real case
against Saddam? Panorama investigates the evidence against the
Iraqi dictator - his ambition to create weapons of mass
destruction, the instability of a leader described as a
psychopath and the corruption of his cronies that has let the
Iraqi people suffer while militarisation continues in secret.
Discovering the truth
Using testimony from top scientists in the west, and from
defectors who have fled the regime carrying its secrets, Panorama
examines Saddam's history of developing nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons and reveals just what he still has in his
arsenal and where it is hidden.
[UN Inspectors pulled out of Iraq in November 1998]
In New York we visit the UN Agency charged with finding and
destroying his weapons of mass destruction and talk to the
weapons inspectors involved with assessing his capability.
Just how close did the Iraqis get to firing missiles with anthrax
warheads during the Gulf War?
And how real now are the claims that Iraq will soon have enough
uranium for four nuclear bombs?
Panorama speaks to the politicians who will be making the case
for war - the Republican Hawks who are busily plotting the next
stage in the War on Terrorism. And we speak to the players in the
last war to see whether they stand by their action then and
whether they support a new war. "The cult of Saddam"
We examine the real motivation of Bush and his inner circle and
explore the fears of would-be allies in Britain and Europe,
afraid of the price both their own troops and the Iraqi people
will pay. We also investigate the cult of Saddam himself and his
cronies to assess how he would react with his back to the wall
and what that means for Israel and the Middle East. It may be
unfinished business for America but what will a war amidst the
oilfields in countries where Islamic extremists wait in the wings
mean for the rest of the world? Jane Corbin, the award winning
Panorama reporter, has made a number of films about Saddam's
secret weapons programmes and first brought the public's
attention to the threat posed by his nuclear, chemical and
biological projects. Panorama: The Case Against Iraq will be
shown on Monday 23 September at 2235 BST on BBC One.
Production Team: Reporter: Jane Corbin Producer: Thea Guest
Assistant Producer: Shabnam Grewal Assistant Producer: James
Giles Editor: Mike Robinson
© MMII | News Sources | Privacy
*****************************************************************
33 Debate on Iraq moves to Hill Bush resolution cites 'high risk'
of attack
By Judy Keen and Kathy Kiely
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- President Bush formally asked Congress on Thursday
to give him the authority to use force to disarm Iraq and warned
of a ''high risk'' that Saddam Hussein will launch a surprise
attack against the United States or give deadly weapons to
terrorists.
The language of the resolution, which the president is willing to
negotiate with the lawmakers, sets the stage for a politically
charged debate. Reaction on Capitol Hill was generally positive,
and the Senate and House of Representatives are expected to vote
in the next two or three weeks. By urging swift action, the
president puts lawmakers in the position of having to cast a
potentially perilous vote just before elections Nov. 5.
The draft says the United States has an ''inherent right'' to
defend itself and charges that members of the al-Qaeda terrorist
network ''are known to be in Iraq.'' The Sept. 11 attacks, it
says, ''underscored the gravity of the threat that Iraq will
transfer weapons of mass destruction'' to terrorists.
Bush asked the U.N. Security Council again Thursday to approve
resolutions demanding that Saddam destroy any chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons. Talks at the U.N. were stalled
Monday when Iraq said it would permit weapons inspectors to
return after a four-year absence. ''If the United Nations
Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States
and some of our friends will,'' said Bush, who reiterated that
one of the goals of any military action against Iraq would be the
removal of Saddam. As the president's proposed resolution was
sent to Capitol Hill, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri read a
letter from Saddam to the U.N. General Assembly. The letter
accused Bush of planning to ''destroy Iraq'' to gain control of
Middle East oil and the global economy. Iraq ''is clear of all
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons,'' Saddam wrote.
The Iraqi leader also said Bush has lied about Iraq's weapons
capability ''to make American citizens believe the deliberate
insinuation that Iraq was linked to the American people's tragedy
of Sept. 11.''
Bush called Iraq's charges ''the same old song and dance that
we've heard for 11 long years.'' The war of words underscores the
belief of some administration officials that there is little
chance military action could be averted. The next skirmish will
be over the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. Sabri said
inspectors must respect Baghdad's sovereignty. That prompted Bush
spokesman Ari Fleischer to charge that Saddam intends to limit
inspections. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a House panel
that the United States will block inspectors' return unless a new
U.N. resolution is passed. Lawmakers favor a quick vote on the
resolution, but the open-ended time frame in the president's
draft is expected to trigger intense debate. Rep. John Murtha,
D-Pa., said he doesn't understand why Bush is moving so quickly.
''I read every intelligence report once a week. I have seen no
information that's different from a year ago,'' he said. But Rep.
Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., said an intelligence briefing last week
persuaded him that ''the threat is very real, it's very serious
and it's very immediate.''
© Copyright 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co.
*****************************************************************
34 Hawks offer no proof to justify attack
Chicago Sun-Times - Andrew Greeley
September 20, 2002 BY ANDREW GREELEY
If Saddam Hussein used his usual stalling techniques against a
new wave of UN inspectors, would the United States be justified
in going to war on the grounds that the UN had failed once again?
The ''just war'' theory is under attack within the Christian
communities. There is no such thing as a just war, it is argued,
because modern weapons are so horrific. All wars are therefore
unjust, and the only alternative for Christians is passive
resistance to those who attack them. Insofar as this position
would deny humans the right of self-defense, it seems to lack
common sense. If it were followed in the early 1940s, either
Hitler or Stalin would have ruled the world, and most of us would
be either dead or never born.
The pacifist argument does serve as a warning that even just wars
create situations where terrible evil is done by the side that is
legitimately defending itself. The Red Army, for example, raped 2
million German women in the final weeks of the war. The weakness
of pacifism is that, if all wars are evil, then one cannot make a
particular case against a specific war. One cannot argue that an
American invasion of Iraq seems unnecessary because by definition
all wars, even necessary wars, cannot be justified.
What causes, in addition to those required for any just war,
might justify a preemptive strike against an enemy who one
suspects of preparing an attack against oneself?
The people who write about just wars normally list two conditions
for a preemptive attack: the seriousness of the threat and its
imminence. If the American Navy had encountered Admiral
Yamamoto's fleet on its way to Hawaii, it would have been
perfectly justified in attacking it. As the admiral himself said,
the Japanese were determined to wipe out the American fleet so
they could run wild in Southeast Asia (serious) and they were
about to bomb Pearl Harbor in a matter of days (imminent).
In the present circumstances, if the UN inspections should fail
(not an unexpected result), is the Iraqi threat to the United
States serious and imminent? The gang of four war hawks around
the president--Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz
and Richard Perle--all insist that it is both. They are doubtless
displeased that Secretary of State Colin Powell was able to
persuade the president to go the United Nations route and force
Iraq to accept the return of inspectors. They have been saying
all along that additional inspection will be a waste of time.
However, they offer no proof other than their own repeated
assertions that an attack by Saddam is both imminent and serious.
They have promised to ''make the case'' to Congress, to America's
allies, to the UN and finally to the American people. They have
in fact not produced such proof. One is entitled to suspect that
none exists. They made up their minds long ago that Iraq was a
threat that must be eliminated.
Iraq lacks the delivery systems to be a serious nuclear threat to
the United States even if it develops atomic bombs. Its
biological and chemical weapons have existed since before the
Gulf War. That it has not turned them over to al-Qaida suggests
that it will not. In both cases, attacks on the United States
would, rightly or wrongly, lead to the elimination of Iraq. It
does not then seem to be a serious threat to the United States.
As for the imminence of such an attack, one wonders how the gang
of four knows that it might happen in three years? If they have
such evidence they should certainly reveal it to the American
people.
Nor should one count them out because Powell has outmaneuvered
them. They still have the president's ear, and in the past, he
seemed to like what they were saying.
So without proof of the seriousness or the imminence of an Iraqi
attack and because of the so-called war on terrorism, and despite
the apparent American diplomatic victory at the UN in forcing
inspectors back into Iraq, the United States may still stumble
into a war that is evil and unjust and in which thousands and
perhaps tens of thousands of people will die horrible deaths.
When good does evil to fight evil, it becomes indistinguishable
from its enemy. God help us.
E-mail: agreel@aol.com
Copyright 2002, Digital Chicago Inc.
*****************************************************************
35 U.N. Nuclear Inspectors Know Where to Look in Iraq
It has been nearly four years since weapons inspectors from the
U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency left Iraq, only hours
before the United States and Britain began bombing.
Under threat of a U.S. military attack, Iraq agreed this week to
the unconditional return of the U.N. arms inspectors. Although
the U.N. Security Council has yet to send the weapons inspectors
back to Baghdad, the inspectors say they are ready to go.
Jacques Baute, head of the U.N. agency's Iraq Action Team, said
the four-year hiatus -- during which detection technology and
analytical tools and software have improved dramatically -- has
not been wasted time. "We've used the last four years to analyze
in detail the masses of data that we had collected (from 1991 to
1998)," Baute told reporters at the agency's Vienna headquarters.
"We have a plan. ... We are ready to leave at short notice."
He said the team has photographs, soil and water samples, as well
as hundreds of hours of video footage, all of which has been
painstakingly analyzed. When the team left in 1998, it concluded
that while there was no indication Iraq had produced a nuclear
weapon, it had achieved many major steps on the path to
constructing one. Asked if the commercial satellite imagery of
locations in Iraq which the agency has been collecting recently
have given Baute and his team clues of where to look, Baute said
there were suspicious locations that would be examined.
"We've been using satellite imagery for more than two and half
years, and we've registered some changes," he said, adding that
they would need on-site inspections to determine whether specific
facilities had been used for making nuclear weapons.
'A QUESTION OF FACTS'
The agency's 18-member Iraq action team handles all
nuclear-related issues. The New York-based U.N. Monitoring,
Verification and Inspection Commission looks after biological and
chemical arms and missile technology. Baute said he had no idea
when the Security Council would give them the green light to head
to Iraq and start work. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov
said Thursday that U.N. arms inspectors can "easily determine"
whether Iraq is pursuing weapons of mass destruction. "It's not a
question of trust or mistrust. It's a question of facts," Ivanov
told reporters ahead of Pentagon talks with Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld.
Once the approval from the Security Council arrives, Baute and
his men can be on the ground almost immediately. But it would
take several months before they could begin presenting a coherent
picture of any hidden nuclear weapons program.
"It certainly won't be after the first week," he said.
Responding to criticisms that the team was preparing for a
"mission impossible" and would never get the cooperation
necessary for proper inspections, Baute disagreed.
"We can find things even without full cooperation," he said.
"It's quite difficult to erase all the traces when you're dealing
with significant amounts of nuclear material."
The Iraq team is completely separate from another agency
inspection team, which makes yearly visits to a single and sealed
nuclear waste storage site in Iraq. Those inspections are not
connected to the agency's weapons team for Iraq and have no
mandate from the U.N. Security Council to carry out inspections
of other sites.
Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
36 Congress promises quick Iraq vote
Salon.com on
*By JIM ABRAMS*
Sept. 20, 2002 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress is promising a quick
vote on President Bush's request for authority to use military
force against Iraq, moving toward a show of unity to back up the
president's effort to gain support on Iraq from Russia and other
wary nations.
Leaders from both parties welcomed a draft proposal Bush offered
Thursday in which Congress would authorize the president to "use
all means," including military force, to defend U.S. national
security interests against the threat posed by Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein.
Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said both the House
and Senate could vote on the resolution as early as the first
week in October before lawmakers go home to campaign for the Nov.
5 election. He said lawmakers would review the president's
proposal over the weekend, but "I'm perfectly happy with the
language."
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., agreed that "there is
absolutely no difference of opinion with regard to the threat
that Saddam Hussein poses and the need to address that threat in
a multitude of ways." He said Democrats wanted some changes in
the wording of the proposal, but were confident a broad consensus
could be reached.
On Friday Bush was meeting at the White House with Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov,
part of a full-court campaign to win Russian acquiescence to the
anti-Iraq campaign.
At the same time, the White House was releasing a policy document
emphasizing a change in U.S. military strategy toward reliance on
a first-strike or pre-emptive stance in the post-Cold War era of
terrorist threats.
Bush often has talked of this changing national security posture,
and "The National Security Strategy of the United States" is a
report that the president must, under law, submit to Congress.
"America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are
by failing ones," states the document, first reported by The New
York Times.
Asked about this Friday, Sen. Charles Grassley voiced some
reservations. The Iowa Republican called it "a projection of
America's international leadership."
But in an interview on NBC's "Today" program, he said, "The
United States should never forecast to the rest of the world that
we desire one inch of foreign territory."
Bush initially said he didn't need the approval of Congress to
take military action against Iraq. But a show of support from
Capitol Hill would be a boost to the president as he presses for
a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing force and tries to
put together an international coalition to force Iraq to disarm.
Russia and France, which hold veto power as permanent members of
the U.N. Security Council, have voiced strong reservations to a
new resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.
Sergei Ivanov revealed the gap with the U.S. position on Thursday
when, meeting with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at the
Pentagon, he said he believed U.N. weapons inspectors would
succeed in settling the question of whether Iraq has weapons of
mass destruction.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, meanwhile, repeated to the
United Nations that Iraq was ready to accept, without conditions,
the return of inspectors, and that Iraq had no biological,
chemical or nuclear weapons.
Bush belittled Iraqi assertions that it had nothing to hide,
saying it was "the same old song and dance we've heard for 11
years." He challenged the Security Council anew to show some
"backbone ... or the United States and some of our friends will
do so."
The resolution the president presented to Congress would give him
broad war-making authority similar to what Congress gave his
father, George H.W. Bush, in 1991 before the start of the Gulf
War.
As drafted, it would authorize him to use force unilaterally if
he deemed necessary, without waiting for the United Nations to
act.
It reads: "The president is authorized to use all means that he
determines to be appropriate, including force, in order to
enforce the United Nations Security Council resolutions, defend
the national security interests of the United States against the
threat posed by Iraq, and restore international peace and
security in the region."
Democrats in particular took issue with the final phrase on
restoring international peace and security, saying it was too
broad. Sen. Joseph Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said he was sure the president was "not
asking for unilateral authority to act against Syria or Lebanon."
Democrats also stressed that the resolution should focus on
getting the United Nations to take a tough stand on disarming
Iraq. To talk about unilateral action "is a little premature
now," Biden, D-Del., said.
* Associated Press*
© 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information
*****************************************************************
37 Nuclear attack unavoidable, experts say Livermore Lab panelists
conclude that resulting 'worldwide horror'
Tri-Valley Herald
Friday, September 20, 2002 - 3:00:06 AM MST
will By Ian Hoffman STAFF WRITER
Despite more than a half-century free of nuclear war, a majority
of experts assembled at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on
Thursday concluded a nuclear or radiological attack is inevitable
over the next 50 years, if not this decade.
"The consequence will be worldwide horror that will result in
less reliance on nuclear weapons," suggested former National
Security Council senior director Jane Wales, president of the
World Affairs Council in San Francisco. Experts ranging from a
former U.S. defense secretary to two nuclear weap-ons executives
and a futurist split over who might initiate the attack and how
soon.
They concluded the risk of such an attack was perhaps higher than
ever before, given the moderate to low security over
weapons-grade uranium outside the United States, the global
abundance of radiation sources and fading confidence in Cold
War-style nuclear deterrence. "One consequence is that it will
cause people to become more serious about control," said William
Perry, defense secretary from 1994 to 1997 and currently a fellow
at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Not everyone agreed
among panelists gathered this week by Livermore lab's policy
think tank, the Center for Global Security Research, for a
wide-ranging discourse on future technology for national
security. Victor Reis, former chief of the U.S. Energy
Department's nuclear weapons program, doubted an attack was
likely and pointed to the United Nations' debate over disarming
Iraq for support. "What we're seeing now with Iraq is that a
nuclear weapon has changed that debate," he noted. "Nuclear is
not off the radar screen, and as long as people keep it on the
screen I think there's a very good chance one will never be
exploded in anger."
Today, U.S. nuclear weapons are considered well secured in
heavily guarded bunkers, with elaborate use-control schemes such
as Permissive Action Links or PALs built in to prevent detonation
of a weapon without presidential command authority. But more than
30 nations are deemed capable of amassing sufficient uranium or
plutonium for a nuclear weapon. At the same time, untold
thousands of radioactive sources are available worldwide and
suitable for radiological dispersal devices or "dirty bombs."
Russia alone stores more than 1,500 tons of weapons-grade uranium
under dubious security. Still more resides in about 240 research
reactors that the United States and the former Soviet Union built
for prospective client states at the height of the Cold War.
American and Russian officials joined in the mid-1990s to boost
security over former Soviet weapons and, to lesser degree,
materials. Prior to Sept. 11, the Bush administration proposed
cuts in the programs that fund that work but recently have begun
to restore the original funding levels. "It's almost a race
between (the attackers and) the international community deciding
how we're going to get global control over this technology," said
John Browne, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Control could take many forms, ranging from the U.S. Cooperative
Threat Reduction Program above to major arms reductions to
internationalized control. In event of a nuclear or radiological
attack, Wales suggested the United States and Russia would scale
down their arsenals -- now totaling roughly 30,000 weapons -- to
the level of "minimal deterrence," a few hundred weapons apiece.
Others hinted at the United Nations or another world body keeping
tight inventories of nations' respective arsenals, much as some
weapons scientists proposed in the wake of the Hiroshima and
Nagasaki bombings. If an attack were to occur, said Sandia
National Laboratories president C. Paul Robinson, it would
signify a failure by defense and weapons leaders. He said he
still believes nations are quickly sobered by the possession of
nuclear weapons.
and become hesitant to use them, even more hesitant to lose
control of them. That doesn't necessarily apply to terrorists,
however. "Of course, one measurement of failure is to apply
mutually assured destruction to someone who believes in
martyrdom," he said.
*****************************************************************
38 Hanford bonuses paid out despite overruns
The Seattle Times: Local News:
Friday, September 20, 2002 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific
By Craig Welch Seattle Times staff reporter
The agency that oversees Hanford's $2 billion-a-year nuclear
cleanup paid contractors bonuses despite delays and millions of
dollars in cost overruns, congressional investigators have found.
Eight years after the Department of Energy vowed to overhaul its
oversight of private contractors, half the projects — including
some at Hanford — still are behind schedule and costs are likely
to soar, according to a report from the General Accounting
Office. The audit released this week also found the Department of
Energy relaxed its performance standards for contractors and that
private businesses were paid bonuses that were hard to justify.
The audit, Energy Department financial officials said, ignored
the complexity of cleaning up some of the most contaminated sites
on the planet. At Hanford, birthplace of the nation's Cold War
nuclear-weapons program, officials said they're doing a better
job of overseeing their contractors than other Energy sites and
are quick to penalize companies when deadlines are missed.
But the environmental risks grow by the day. While officials have
temporarily stabilized Hanford's 177 underground waste tanks, a
million gallons of chemicals and radioactive waste have leaked
into the ground, and much of what remains are in gigantic metal
casks already 30 years past their projected lifespan.
For a decade, the Energy Department, which spends $18.2 billion a
year on private contractors, has been criticized by GAO and other
independent investigators. At Hanford, government auditors in the
mid-1990s estimated one out of every three dollars was wasted.
But in 1994, the Energy Department established an oversight group
to reform its contracting. Since then it has nearly doubled the
number of contracts it awards through competitive bidding and is
basing much more of its payments on how well contractors do their
work. While lauding the changes, the GAO report — part of a
continuing review — was blunt in its assessment, concluding "we
found no indication of improved performance."
For every anecdote the Energy Department cites about how well
contract reform is working, GAO said it found other evidence to
suggest problems persist. "The question is ... are things getting
better? We've basically said we really can't tell. And they can't
tell either," said Bill Swick, an assistant director with GAO's
natural resources and environment division. Some at Hanford say
cleanup at the contaminated 560-acre Washington reservation is
more efficient and substantial progress is being made.
By year's end, officials project nearly half of the 2,300 tons of
corroding spent nuclear-fuel rods stored 400 yards from the
Columbia River will have been removed from cooling pools already
30 years past their lifespan. Waste contaminated with plutonium
is being shipped off the site. Construction of a multibillion
dollar plant to turn the 54 million tons of toxic, contaminated
soup in Hanford's tanks into glass is under way. Hanford
officials familiar with contracting contend reform there has
taken root, with contractors and federal officials regularly
battling over how to get cost-effective work done on time.
"The fee structure is now based upon the delivery of things that
can be measured - — based on how well we think they did," said
Wade Ballard, an Energy Department assistant manager for planning
and integration. "They are very much driven to produce."
When it comes to cleanup work, "we have to attain a certain goal
on paper before we get paid, and our goals are more than
challenging," said Michael Turner, spokesman for Fluor Hanford,
one of the reservation's prime contractors. "I think Hanford
prides itself on moving forward with (contracting) changes faster
than the rest of the DOE complex." In fact, Hanford's most recent
setback ended two years ago with the government firing a
contractor and reconfiguring the contract. BNFL Inc. had said its
projected costs to build and start treating waste at the
glass-conversion plant ballooned from $6.9 billion to $15
billion. The government has since given the project to another
contractor, Bechtel National, which proposes completing
construction for less than $5 billion.
But even the agency's top czar on cleanup issues has acknowledged
the depth of problems nationwide.
Earlier this year, Jessie Roberson, the Energy Department's
assistant secretary for Environmental Management, pointed out
that while the agency has spent $60 billion since 1989 to clean
up radioactive and hazardous waste across the country, little
progress has been made. Yet, contractors at cleanup sites earned
90 percent of their available performance bonuses in 2000 and
2001, leading her to conclude contracting guidelines "measured
process, not progress; opinions, not results." And the GAO report
referred to other smaller, recent federal audits and
investigations of sites around the country, including Hanford,
that suggest contracting remains a systemic problem.
For example, last year, the Department of Energy's inspector
general found that the contractor for Hanford's underground
storage tanks had been awarded incentive fees of more than $2.5
million for doing work after it was scheduled to start, and for
completing a project that wasn't needed for several years. In
1999, the same auditor dinged another Hanford contractor for
spending $1.5 million a year on thousands of new telephone lines,
paying outside companies to produce 850,000 photocopies and
hiring commercial photographers. There were phone lines, copying
machines and photography services already available and unused on
site.
In the summer of 2000, the Defense Contract Audit Agency made
more than 500 site visits to one area of Hanford and determined
Fluor Hanford employees spent a quarter of every day idle — from
taking naps to playing table tennis or watching television.
Turner, with Fluor, said that audit ignored the fact that workers
operate on a flexible lunch schedule, and didn't note that
employees who work in contaminated areas are required to spend a
certain amount of time outside the irradiated zones for health
reasons. Craig Welch: cwelch@seattletimes.com
[cwelch@seattletimes.com] or 206-464-2093.
*****************************************************************
39 Editorial: They're like canaries in a coal mine
Las Vegas SUN:
September 20, 2002
Not far from homes, schools, day care centers and nursing homes
in Anniston, Ala., in a few weeks the Defense Department will
begin a seven-year plan to incinerate about 2,200 tons of
chemical weapons. The New York Times, in a story this week,
described the poisonous gases involved as "the most inhuman
weapons ever devised." Unlike the two other Army facilities
located in remote areas that incinerate the U.S. chemical weapons
stockpile -- Tooele, Utah and Johnston Island in the Pacific
Ocean -- the Anniston Army Depot is near a populated area.
Anniston County has 116,00 people and 35,000 of them live within
9 miles of the plant. If a leak happened, the Times writes,
residents would only have between 8 to 15 minutes to evacuate.
It's bad enough the Defense Department wants to incinerate deadly
chemicals so close to residential areas, but it's also
dumbfounding that the Defense Department will incinerate the
chemicals even though the local governments haven't had enough
time to come up with an emergency preparedness plan if there is
an accident.
One of the reasons why local officials aren't ready to react in
case there is a leak is because the Defense Department was late
in providing emergency response funding. Meanwhile, the Army says
it's not responsible for the protection of residents if a
catastrophic accident happens. Besides, the Army contends the
incineration is safe and there's no way an accident can occur.
Despite those assurances, there have been accidental leaks from
incinerators at the Johnston Island and Tooele plants. "Contempt"
is a word that only can begin to convey the Defense Department's
attitude to the residents of Anniston, Ala. It's something that
we're a little familiar with here in light of the federal
government's plans to bury the nation's high-level nuclear waste
in Nevada -- despite evidence that has shown how dangerous that
would be.
All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
40 Hanford Air Operating Permit (Rev. A)
AOP Rev A
This revision includes 23 new Notice of Constructions (NOCs), and
is issued as minor modification to the Hanford Site Air Operating
Permit (AOP) according to WAC 173-401725. The public comment
period was from April 10, 2002 to May 10, 2002. There were no
review comments received during the public involvement period.
Revision A includes 228 pages (A1 to A228). The revised
permitting conditions and requirements are in effect immediately.
Cover Letter
References
Summary sheet of minor modifications
These minor modifications revise attachment 2 of the Hanford Air
Operating Permit issued June 11, 2001.
AIR O1405, dated 4/26/01, (NOC ID 23) Waste Receiving and
Processing Facility (WRAP) 296W4 NOC revised February 6, 2001
and approved via AIR 01405. This revision includes the
recalculation of the MEI and the inclusion of 200 area
diffuse/fugitive emissions. This revision has since been
superceded and replaced by AIR 011001, which is also included in
this minor modification package.
AIR O1606, dated 6/20/01, (NOC ID 5) NOC ID 379 Tank Waste
Remediation System (TWRS) Vadose Zone Characterization, obsoleted
upon receipt of Revision 2 received April 16, 2001, approved via
AIR 01606, June 21, 2001. NOC ID 5 issued to reflect the
Conditions and Limitations of operation for this project.
Includes emission units Air Rotory Drilling, and Air Hammer
Drilling. This revision has since been superceded and replaced by
AIR 02211, which is also included in this minor modification
package.
AIR O1710, dated 7/18/01, (NOC ID 374) Vertical Calciner at the
Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) 291Z1 NOC Revised the process
description approved June 26, 2001. Current revision under
approval letter AIR 01710.
AIR O1711, dated 7/26/01, (NOC ID 289) Canister Storage Building
(CSB) Emission Unit 296H12. NOC Revised to provide inclusion of
shipping port fuel from storage at Tplant and fuel from F and H
Reactor Basins. Approval letter AIR 01711, mailed on July 30,
2001.
AIR O1802, dated 8/15/01, (NOC ID 443) Magnesium Hydroxide
Precipitation Process at PFP Emission Unit 291Z1 NOC Revision
approved July 25, 2001 replaced all previous conditions and
limitations. This revision has since been superceded and replaced
by AIR Ol 1102, which is also included in this minor
modification package.
AIR O1907, dated 9/13/01, (NOC ID 229) Cold Vacuum Drying
Facility (CDV Emission Unit) NOC Revised in the July 24, 2001
RTAM. Activity added to process description. This revision has
since been superceded and replaced by AIR O11206, which is also
included in this minor modification package.
AIR O11001, dated 10/O1/01, (NOC ID 23) WRAP Emission Unit
296W4, and 200 Area diffuse/fugitve emissions. NOC Revised
September 11, 2001 incorporated comments resolved during review
of DOE/RL200034, revision 0, and replaced all previous
conditions of approval.
AIR O11004, dated 10/08/01, (NOC ID 450) PFP Emission Units
296Z5, Z6 and Z7 project W460 Plutonium Stabilization and
Handling NOC Application/Permit Revision submitted and approved
at the October 2, 2001 RTAM. Revised the process description to
include thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and replaced all
previous conditions and limitations.
AIR O11006, dated 10/09/01, (NOC ID 494) Chemical Sciences
Laboratory (329 Building) Emission Unit EP 329O1S. This 300
Area NOC was modified to include research activities using argon
isotopes. This modification superceded and obsoletes the previous
approval (NOC ID 64).
AIR O11013, dated 10/25/01, (NOC ID 209) Disposition of
Plutonium Bearing Alloys at PFP Emission Unit 291Z1. NOC
revised process description to include thermogravimetric
analysis, submitted and approved at October 9, 2001 RTAM. This
revision has since been superceded and replaced by AIR 02203,
which is also included in this minor modification package.
AIR 011102, dated 11/08/01, (NOC ID 443) Magnesium Hydroxide
Precipitation Process at PFP Emission Unit 291Z1 NOC Revision
provided process description changes and replaced all previous
conditions and limitations.
AIR 011103, dated 11/08/01, (NOC ID 451) Waste Sampling and
Characterization Facility (WSCF) Emission Unit 296WOl, 296W02
and 200 area diffuse/fugitive emissions. Inspection on 12/04/00
resulted in issuance of new Conditions and Limitations, on
November 08, to reflect new format and standard conditions and
limitations, and to specify certification requirements. This
approval letter was followed with corrected letter, AIR 011201,
mailed on December 20, 2001 to provide an approval number and
date approved and is also included in this minor modification
package
AIR 011104, dated 11/16/01, (NOC ID 500) 224T Emission Unit
291T1, portable units Typel, Type2, Type3, and 200 area
diffuse/fugitive emissions. Facility Entering and Characterizing
Process Cells NOC revision replaced all previous conditions and
limitations.
AIR 011107, dated 11/16/01, (NOC ID 302) EP325O1S
Radiochemical Processing Laboratory 325 Building Hazardous Waste
Treatment Unit NOC Revision replaced all previous conditions of
approval and provide condition changes/clarifications.
AIR 011201, dated 12/20/01, (NOC ID 451) Waste Sampling and
Characterization Facility (WSCF) Emission Unit 296WOl, 296W02
and 600 area diffuse/fugitive emissions. Corrected letter, AIR
011201, mailed on December 20, 2001 provided an approval number
and date approved.
AIR 011206, dated 12/20/01, (NOC ID 229) CDV Emission Unit.
Revision approved at the November 20, 2001 RTAM. New
Condition/Limitation added to allow delay in leak testing of
stack emissions sample line from December 2001 to January 2002.
AIR 011017, 11/5/01, (NOC ID 435) Tank Farms Restoration and
Safe Operations, Project W314 NOC approved revisions replaces all
previous conditions of approval of AIR 00310. Effects the
Guzzler, Type 1, 2, 3, portables and 200 area diffuse emissions.
AIR 011108, 11/15/01, (NOC ID 484) AY tank farm Emission Unit
296A18, 241AY101 Annulus Primary Tank Wall Cleaning
Activities original NOC approved November 15, 2001 via AIR
011108.
AIR 02203, 2/13/02, (NOC ID 201) PFP 291Z1. Corrected letter
and Conditions/Limitations to reflect correct revision number and
approval date for NOC Revision Form (AIR 011013). The correct
revision number is DOE/RL9679, Rev OF and the NOC Revision Form
approval date is September 5, 2001.
AIR 02206, 2/13/02, (NOC ID 491) Radiochemical Processing
Laboratory (325 Building). Notice of Construction modification
submitted to incorporate a new process that increases the amount
of thorium parent material to 30,000 kg. This approval replaced
all previous conditions/limitations for this NOC.
AIR 02207, 2/14/02, (NOC ID 254) Life Sciences Building 1 (331
Building). NOC Modification, to update facility floor plan
configurations, incorporate proposed research programs, and to
incorporate new radionuclides. This approval replaced all
previous Conditions/Limitations for this NOC.
AIR 02208, 2/22/02, (NOC ID 350) Effluent Treatment Facility
(ETF). Revision allows tanker certification testing. . This
approval replaced all previous Conditions/Limitations for this
NOC.
AIR 02211, 2/26/02, (NOC ID 5) (TWRS) Vadose Zone
Characterization, emission units Air Rotory Drilling, and Air
Hammer Drilling. NOC Revision approved changed wording in the
NOC. This approval replaced all previous Conditions/Limitations
for this NOC.
References:
1. 02RCA085, "Application for Group Processing of Minor
Modifications to the Hanford Site Title V Air Operating Permit
(AOP)Number 0005006," memo from Department of Energy to
Ecology and Health on December 6, 2001.
2. 02RCA0188, "Application for Inclusion of Four Additional
Approval Orders for Group Processing of Minor Modifications to
the Hanford Site Title V Air Operating Permit (AOP) (Number
0005006)," memo from Department of Energy to Ecology and Health
on February 21, 2002.
3.
02RCA0214, "Application for Inclusion of Two Additional
Approval Orders for Group Processing of Minor Modifications to
the Hanford Site Title V Air Operating Permit (AOP) (Number
0005006)," memo from Department of Energy to Ecology and Health
on March 7, 2002.
4. 02RCA0238, "Application for Inclusion of Seven Additional
Approval Orders for Group Processing of Minor Modifications to
the Hanford Site Title V Air Operating Permit (Number
0005006)," memo from Department of Energy to Ecology and Health
on March 22, 2002.
5. "EPA and Affected State Notification of Group Processing of
Minor Modifications to the Hanford Site Title V Air Operating
Permit (AOP)," memo from Ecology to EPA and Affected States on
April 2, 2002.
*****************************************************************
41 ORNL, USEC enter into $121M pact
The Oak Ridger Online -- Feature: Business --
09/20/02
12:30 p.m. on Friday, September 20, 2002
From staff reports
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and USEC Inc. have signed an
agreement worth $121 million to develop and demonstrate a highly
efficient uranium enrichment technology that could greatly reduce
U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources, according to an ORNL
press release. The cooperative research and development agreement
with USEC, a supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial
nuclear power plants, is the largest ever for the Department of
Energy's ORNL. The agreement extends through 2007 and will be
funded entirely by USEC.
Lab officials note, however, that the significance of the
agreement extends beyond the funding.
"This represents a commitment to a proven technology that was
developed by the Department of Energy over more than two
decades," said Gil Gilliland, ORNL associate director for Energy
and Engineering Sciences. "This also represents a commitment to
support the growth of nuclear energy, a clean power source that
is not dependent on foreign suppliers."
USEC employees and technical personnel from ORNL will work to
deploy USEC's lead cascade test facility, which will showcase
improvements to DOE's proven centrifuge technology. The gas
centrifuge process produces a uranium stream concentrated in
uranium-235, a radioisotope suitable for making fuel for nuclear
power plants.
Over the next few years, ORNL will receive $28.5 million for
specific design, testing and analysis work. By 2005, USEC plans
to be operating a commercial-sized module of hundreds of
next-generation gas centrifuge uranium enrichment machines.
The USEC/ORNL gas centrifuge uranium enrichment machines boast
efficiencies four to six times greater than those possible with
competing technologies, Gilliland said.
In the 1970s and 1980s, DOE built thousands of centrifuge
machines, some of which operated for thousands of hours at
performance levels superior to today's best commercially
available centrifuge machines, according to the release. The
improvements USEC will use in its lead cascade program will
further enhance performance and result in a lower-risk
construction program, USEC officials said.
When operations begin in 2005, the test facility will showcase up
to 240 full-scale centrifuge machines enriching uranium in a
closed cycle. USEC will announce later this year a location in
either Kentucky or Ohio for this test facility.
Operation of the full-scale centrifuge test facility will provide
the cost, schedule and performance data necessary to plan
construction of a $1 billion to $1.5 billion commercial
centrifuge uranium enrichment plant. The commercial plant would
provide about 500 jobs when construction is complete.
Construction is expected to create several hundred jobs as well.
"USEC's deployment of U.S. centrifuge technology will meet future
worldwide demand for nuclear fuel, ensure domestic energy
security, better serve customers and ensure USEC's long-term
competitive position," said Dennis Spurgeon, USEC executive vice
president and chief operation officer. Gilliland noted that the
agreement also is likely to lead to significant "work for others"
programs at ORNL over the next few years, and he emphasized the
value of working with USEC.
All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger
*****************************************************************
42 Will DOE give legs to land-use planning?
The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News --
a.m. on Friday, September 20, 2002
by R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff
Sired by the threat of a lawsuit, raised and nurtured by a set of
20 at times contentious environmental, economic and community
experts; a very young land-use planning process is ready to take
it's first step. The question to many is: Will the Department of
Energy allow it? "It would be foolhardy of DOE to walk away from
something that could have such impact on the future, now that
there has been such public investment," said Frank Harris,
associate director of biological and environmental sciences at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
"Will this thing have legs as DOE changes? That's a big concern,"
said Harris, who has lent support to the Land Use Focus Group,
especially on the front-end of development a year ago when then
DOE Oak Ridge Operations Manager Leah Dever, along with
Congressman Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, worked to bring
"stakeholders" together to avoid a threatened lawsuit by
environmental groups.
The focus group recently wound up it's year-long effort, provided
three resolutions to DOE, and ranked community "values" as to
land development and preservation (see related story).
Concerns are that with the current DOE Oak Ridge Operations
planned restructuring, the DOE will lose focus; the input from
the group will be shelved; and the hope of developing a
comprehensive land-use plan for the reservation will dim.
"My understanding is that DOE is taking advice from the (focus)
group and they've encouraged us and said they would use the
advice, but the whole organization (of DOE's Oak Ridge Operations
office) is evolving, so how someone looks at it in the future, I
don't know," said Oak Ridge City Manager Paul Boyer, a focus
group participant. The municipality of Oak Ridge has long battled
to persuade the DOE to transfer more reservation land to city
holdings, and lent aid to the Community Reuse Organization of
East Tennessee's efforts in getting the federal agency to
transfer land to the city.
"It should speed the process if we stick with land that is
considered developable," said Boyer. "But an awful lot of whether
this group in the end is measured as a success depends on what
DOE decides to do with this work, and that's always been
unclear."
When asked whether the group's input would be incorporated into a
comprehensive land use plan, Walter Perry, ORO spokesman replied:
"It is DOE's intent that the information be incorporated into the
next edition of the comprehensive integrated planning process
document or whatever planning document that is required to meet
DOE orders." Congressman Wamp said Thursday that he is committed
to the land-use planning process and that he intends to
"acclimate" any new manager to the group's process and findings.
"(ORO Manager) Mike Holland's replacement, I will acclimate to
this process the same way we brought Mike Holland in and he
successfully navigated it to completion," said Wamp.
"It's the right thing to do -- I'm very proud of the work that
has been done to reach responsible agreement, and I will continue
to monitor and even tout this process as a way DOE can involve
citizens and user groups in a way that builds confidence and
cooperation." The focus group came to consensus on 87 percent of
the over 5,000 acres under its consideration.
"There's no question that everybody for years has been asking for
a comprehensive land use plan for the reservation," said Lorene
Sigal, Oak Ridge citizen and member of the group. "I feel
strongly DOE needs to move forward with that plan, and that plan
needs to involve the city and the stakeholders. I just hope if we
have new management this isn't going to just disappear into the
cracks."
"Obviously DOE will establish some sort of approach based on our
suggestions and it's most critical I think that they should not
continually change the approach," said Bill Pardue, Oak Ridge
Chamber of Commerce representative on the focus group.
"The city needs to understand what the approach is going to be so
it can use it for long term planning themselves."
"This work is just input so DOE can put together a plan," said
Dev Joslin with Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation, one of
the three environmental groups threatening the lawsuit that
started the planning process. "DOE needs to go ahead and do that
-- I don't see how they can do any further land transfers or land
leases without a plan. That was our agreement when we dropped the
law suit
-- that's what Leah Dever announced when this process started,
that otherwise DOE would be subject to being sued for breaking
NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act).
Harris noted the lab, the DOE and citizens would benefit from a
land-use plan for the entire 34,242-acre reservation.
"I have an inherent interest," said Harris. "The land base here
is critical to a lot of the programs we have, and it's also
important to DOE because it gives us an advantage when trying to
site new projects. "And the reservation is also probably the best
example of what the land looked like before European man settled
it, so it's important from a conservation standpoint."
R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or
danielsrcd@oakridger.com [danielsrcd@oakridger.com] .
All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger
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43 Reach pact on Generation IV nuclear energy systems
The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News --
p.m. on Friday, September 20, 2002
U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today that the
Generation IV International Forum, comprised of 10 leading
nuclear nations meeting in Japan this week, have reached
agreement on six Generation IV nuclear energy systems to be
pursued for joint development, according to a Department of
Energy press release.
Generation IV nuclear energy systems are advanced nuclear reactor
and fuel cycle technologies available -- after this decade but
before 2030 -- that represent significant advances in economics,
safety, reliability, proliferation-resistance and waste
minimization, according to the release. Experts from the 10
countries have come up with a road map, which includes
development of gas-cooled fast reactor systems; lead alloy liquid
metal-cooled reactor systems; molten salt reactor systems; sodium
liquid metal-cooled reactor systems; supercritical water-cooled
reactor systems and very high temperature gas reactor systems.
The United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, South Africa, Switzerland and the United
Kingdom are members of the Generation IV International Forum.
All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger
*****************************************************************
44 Oak Ridge lab to tune gas centrifuge -
[http://www.paducahsun.com/] The Paducah Sun
Paducah, Kentucky
Friday, September 20, 2002
Out of $150 million that USEC will spend to build a test plant
either in Paducah or Piketon, Ohio, $121 million will go toward
the technology.
By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650
USEC Inc. has finalized a $121 million, five-year agreement to
work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to fine-tune gas
centrifuge technology that will ultimately go to Paducah or
Piketon, Ohio.
The agreement — with University of Tennessee-Batelle, which
manages the Department of Energy research lab in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
— extends through June 2007. USEC and lab personnel will work to
deploy a 240-cylinder gas centrifuge test facility by 2005 at the
1,500-employee Paducah uranium enrichment plant, or at a closed
enrichment plant in Piketon.
Final incentive packages for the 50-employee test plant are due
by Oct. 25 from Kentucky and Ohio. USEC has said the winner, to
be announced in late November or early December, will have a
distinct advantage in getting a 500-employee commercial
centrifuge plant by the end of the decade. The plant will
eventually replace the outdated, energy-intensive gaseous
diffusion process used at Paducah for the past 50 years. "USEC's
centrifuge program uses the same technology that DOE spent more
than two decades and $3 billion developing and improves its
economics through the use of state-of-the-art-materials and
manufacturing processes," said Dennis Spurgeon, USEC vice
president and chief operating officer. A decade before USEC was
formed, the Energy Department built thousands of centrifuge
machines and ran them for thousands of hours in the mid-1980s.
But the would-be commercial plant never opened because DOE opted
in 1985 to research a laser-based process called AVLIS. Having
abandoned AVLIS as inefficient, USEC has returned to centrifuge.
Spurgeon said the Oak Ridge lab research will produce a
lower-risk, better-performing test plant. The demonstration
facility is expected to provide updated cost, schedule and
performance data for a $1.5 billion commercial plant.
Under the new research agreement, UT-Batelle will receive $28.5
million for specific design, testing and analysis work. The $121
million deal covers most of the $150 million that USEC plans to
spend during the next five years toward the test plant.
Centrifuge research is "of vital importance to our energy
security needs and to the nation," said Gil Gilliland, the lab's
associate director for energy and engineering sciences. "This
represents a commitment to support the growth of nuclear energy,
a clean power source that is not dependent on foreign suppliers."
USEC closed the Piketon diffusion plant last year, leaving the
Paducah plant as the nation's sole remaining uranium enrichment
facility. The company is racing with Louisiana Energy Services,
which plans to build a centrifuge plant in Tennessee. Louisiana
Energy Services is a consortium led by Urenco, a European
enrichment firm and a chief USEC competitor.
*****************************************************************
45 Late quake shakes prediction confidence (dissappears)
Earthquake missing in California bodes ill for prediction models.
19 September 2002
PHILIP BALL
The San Andreas fault zone is now overdue a large 'quake.
© SPL
Earthquakes are not so predictable after all. Two American
geophysicists have found one of researchers' favourite
forecasting techniques wanting, after testing it on one of the
best-studied earthquake zones: the Parkfield section of the San
Andreas fault in California.
Parkfield has experienced moderate-sized earthquakes every 20-30
years for at least the past 150 years. According to the
'time-predictable model', a similar quake should have occurred by
1987, say Jessica Murray and Paul Segall of Stanford University1.
The most recent quake, a magnitude-6, was in 1966.
"The model's poor performance in a relatively simple setting does
not bode well for its successful application to many areas of the
world," say the duo.
The fact that a Parkfield quake seems long overdue has been
recognized for several years. But Murray and Segall are the first
to put rigorous limits on its tardiness.
What's at fault?
Earthquakes occur because of the constant movements of Earth's
crust. As its tectonic plates slide past or over one another,
stresses build up within or between them along cracks called
faults. Because they are naturally sticky, the faults stay locked
in place, deforming the plate nearby. They accumulate energy
until they can take no more, and the strain is released in a
sudden slip that can shake the ground for many miles around.
In the time-predictable model, a fault is assumed to slip once
the stress builds up to a certain level. As plates move at more
or less constant rates, the model suggests that it should take
longer for an earthquake to recur after a large quake than after
a small one - a large quake relieves more stress on a fault, so
it takes longer to build up again to the critical level.
The time-predictable model is popular partly because it seems to
reflect the basic physical processes that are responsible for
earthquakes. It implies that after each quake, one should be able
to predict the next one, based on how much the fault slipped.
This is only possible, however, if the fault zone is relatively
simple - if, for example, there is no other active fault nearby
that might also relieve local stress.
Parkfield satisfies this criterion. It has been monitored closely
over the 40 years since the last quake, particularly since the
inception of the Parkfield Experiment in 1985 by the US
Geological Survey. If the time-predictable earthquake model is
going to apply anywhere, it should work here.
Murray and Segall have calculated how much strain has been
building up since 1966. They find that at some time between 1973
and 1987, the fault reached the same strain state as it was in
just before the 1966 event.
In other words, if there was indeed a critical threshold above
which an earthquake is bound to occur, then it should have
happened at least 15 years ago. So what's wrong?
Perhaps, argue the researchers, each earthquake is actually
unique, depending on the complex local details of the fault and
its rupture process.
This would make the future of earthquake prediction gloomy
indeed.
Or perhaps the time-predictable model just isn't the correct one.
Another possibility is that stress always falls to the same level
after a quake - the so-called slip-predictable model. This, say
the researchers, cannot be put to the test until the next
magnitude-6 quake occurs.
References
1. Murray, J., Segall, P. Testing time-predictable earthquake
recurrence by direct measurement of strain accumulation and
release.. Nature, 419, 287 - 291, (2002). |Article|
© Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2002
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NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this
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