***************************************************************** 03/29/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.80 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 US: Some Plants Take Name 'Nuclear' Out 2 canada: AECL article lopsided 3 US AND NORTH KOREA Meltdown 4 US: Jobs tied to USEC question on taxes 5 UK: Letter: Energy policy disarray NUCLEAR REACTORS 6 Britain's oldest nuclear power station closes 7 US: PPL nuclear plant wins top safety award 8 Taiwan: Lawmakers blast severance plan 9 Britain's oldest nuclear power station closes 10 US: NRC to Meet With Exelon Generation Co. April 3 to Discuss Dresde 11 US: NRC Inspection Team to Present Findings April 5 On Davis-Besse 12 UK: Nuclear plant closes amid ceremony and celebration 13 US: Federal officials order repeat of evacuation drill 14 Nuclear experts seal Temelin's second reactor NUCLEAR SAFETY 15 US: Congress pressing for help for weapons-plant workers 16 Activists say nuclear safety measures are falling short 17 US: Radiation incident prompts shipyard review 18 Activists say nuclear safety measures are falling short 19 US: Cranes to screen for radioactive bombs 20 Uranium in Soil Found at Sites in Balkans 21 Bulgaria: Experts criticize agreement to decommission nuclear NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 22 US: Fishing for Yucca votes 23 US: Jury awards $7.25 million to farmers in pollution lawsuit 24 US: Radioactive material hauler blows over in Wyoming 25 US: Shoshone fights for tribal lands 26 US: Yucca Mountain's Other Story 27 US: Wasting a mind, minding the waste 28 UK: Keating and Mumba pulled from Sellafield campaign 29 US: `Wing' plot to feature nuke waste road wreck 30 US: DOE, Nevada lawmakers in war of words 31 US: Businesses disappoint Guinn 32 Minister Jacob speaks on dangers of Sellafield 33 US: Governor faces Yucca battle 34 US: Political notebook: Yucca fight gets help in prime time 35 Sellafield protest move 36 US: Plume's edges plotted 37 US: PSR reply to Abrahams Yucca editorial 38 US: Sierra Club Letter: One site is okay, if it's safe - Carl Pope 39 US: Response to One Safe Site Is Best By Spencer Abraham NUCLEAR WEAPONS 40 CIA a tool of anti-Russian U.S. pols? 41 US: A-bomb documents fetch record prices at Christie's - 42 RU: Nuclear minister laments shortage of funds for submarine dismantling 43 RU: Supreme Court Overturns Defense Ministry Order Ruling - 44 RU: Opinion - How Many Have Died So Far? - US DEPT. OF ENERGY 45 Board questions move to shut down SRS plant ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Some Plants Take Name 'Nuclear' Out Las Vegas SUN March 29, 2002 NEW YORK- They still make energy by harnessing the power of the atom, but at least a few plants from Connecticut to Washington state have scrubbed "nuclear" from their signs and stationery. Anti-nuclear activists say such name changes are an attempt to mollify a nervous public that still remembers the Three Mile Island accident 22 years ago and now fears terrorists could target the plants. Among the renamed plants is the now-christened Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y., 35 miles north of Manhattan. Entergy Corp., based in New Orleans, decided to remove "nuclear" from the name after completing the purchase of Indian Point's two nuclear generators last year. "To identify it as a nuclear site does not fully describe it any longer," spokesman Jim Steets said. "It wasn't this calculated, planned thing. We're very proud of the fact that these are nuclear power plants." The name change reflects, in part, Entergy's plans to add a gas turbine to the site, Steets said. He noted that the decision was made before the World Trade Center attack, after Entergy completed its purchase of Indian Point 2 on Sept. 6. The Millstone Power Station in Waterford, Conn., and the Columbia Generating Station in Richland, Wash., both deleted nuclear from their names within the past three years. The government, the industry and watchdog groups do not keep track of name changes, but it's clear the changes are not uncommon. "The industry is trying to use some public-relations spot remover," said Paul Gunter of the watchdog group Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C. James Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst for Greenpeace, called the practice "greenwashing." "If they're so proud to be splitting atoms why not leave it in the name?" he asked. Steve Kerekes, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents plant owners, said the naming of plants is done by the individual companies. His agency, for one, is proud of its name. "We have every intention of keeping our name the Nuclear Energy Institute for the foreseeable future," Kerekes said. In Connecticut, Millstone's name was changed after its purchase by Virginia-based Dominion last year. Spokesman Jim Norvelle said the company calls all of its plants "power stations." Dominion's two Virginia nuclear stations, North Anna and Surry, each built in the 1970s, never had 'nuclear' in their names. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 canada: AECL article lopsided FP Letters March 29, 2002 Nuclear reactions I read with disappointment and concern Tom Adams' lopsided attack on Canada's nuclear industry (Last Call for AECL Subsidies, March 20). Disappointment because of the lack of balance in the article. Concern because these sentiments had misguidedly been connected to me. Mr. Adams notes that there is currently a review ongoing for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. This is hardly news or newsworthy. The government of Canada periodically reviews its own services, agencies and programs. As for my alleged "skepticism" about AECL's business case, I would say that good governance and due diligence about the way we invest Canadians' tax dollars are not the same as skepticism. Mr. Adams suggests that the world is abandoning nuclear power. In fact, nuclear energy generates 14% of Canada's electricity and 16% per cent of the world's electricity. There are 438 nuclear power plants operating in the world today, and 32 countries rely on nuclear power plants for a quarter of their total electricity needs. Mr. Adams reports that the federal government has invested $19-billion in the nuclear industry between 1947 and 1994. In fact, the government of Canada has invested about $6-billion in nuclear R&D since 1952. This investment has helped create a technologically sophisticated industry consisting of more than 150 companies employing tens of thousands of well paid, high tech workers. Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa. Nuclear reactions Ontario Hydro did not "pull the plug" on seven reactors. Mr. Adams is surely aware that Ontario Power Generation is, in fact, engaged in restarting four reactors at Pickering, and Bruce Power is planning to restart at least two of the reactors at Bruce. Hardly a pull-out as Mr. Adams pretends. The industry cares very much what the cost of nuclear power is. That is precisely why the above-mentioned reactors are being restarted. Quite simply, the electricity they provide is cheaper and cleaner than that of any alternative. The unpalatable fact that Mr. Adams is attempting to avoid is that nuclear power means economic electricity supplied without atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides. The unpalatable fact is that Mr. Adams' recommendations for Ontario's energy needs mean greater costs and greater pollution, not less. William Clarke, president, Canadian Nuclear Association Nuclear reactions I wish to respond to comments of mine taken out of context and misrepresented by Energy Probe, in its latest tirade against the nuclear industry. "Cost" means much more than the dollar value of building a new electricity plant. It means balancing all negative socio-economic and environmental impacts against benefits, from start to finish, and making the best choice among alternative technologies. It does require an open mind, and certainly leaves no room for the Seventies' "no-nukes" mentality. Since the first CANDU reactor started supplying electricity 40 years ago, nuclear power in Canada has avoided the emission of over 1.5-billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, and saved something like 10,000 lives, due directly to the displacement of coal plants. By not buying fuel for these coal plants, the Canadian public investment in nuclear power has long been paid back, and the returns continue. Jeremy Whitlock, reactor physicist, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., Deep River, Ont. Tom Adams responds: Canadians enjoy some of the most economical electricity in the world, but -- Mr. Dhaliwal take note -- not in Ontario and New Brunswick, the two provinces that rely on nuclear power. Because nuclear has proven uneconomic, no Canadian utility has ordered a plant since 1973, when Ontario Hydro ordered Darlington, a plant that came in 270% over-budget and now produces the highest cost power in the country. And that's despite federal subsidies to nuclear power of $19-billion, according to Canada's leading impartial analyst, Lethbridge University's George Lermer. Canada's experience is consistent with that of the rest of the industrialized world. Because nuclear power cannot compete with cheaper and cleaner forms of electricity, no private company, anywhere in the world, has ever built a nuclear reactor in which nuclear would be forced to compete for customers. In the 1990s, no longer able to support its money-losing nuclear program, Ontario Hydro shut down eight obsolete reactors. The Canadian Nuclear Association doesn't like my characterizing that decision as "pulling the plug" because, with fresh subsidies, Ontario Hydro's successor partially reversed its decision. The restart program that the CNA seems so proud of illustrates nuclear power's uncontrollable costs. Hydro's successor expected the refurbishment to take four years, and be completed in 2002. The project is already 90% over-budget and three years behind schedule. Because nuclear power cannot stand up to economic scrutiny, people like AECL's Mr. Whitlock employ non-economic factors, a highly subjective exercise that could justify just about anything. Mr. Whitlock estimates immense social and environmental costs for fossil fuel emissions, for example, but ignores the immense environmental and social costs associated with nuclear wastes and uranium mining, which have lain waste vast tracts of Canada and uprooted many communities, particularly northern and aboriginal communities. Return to our accounting roots Well done. Readers are well served with such articles (Earnings Abuse series, March 26-29.) One cannot truly clean up until the rug is lifted and the dirt is there for all to see. Investors would do well to pay attention. Whenever companies book charges in one year that are equivalent to their reported net earnings of the past decade (as one NYSE listed company recently did), it becomes clear that "we're not in Kansas anymore." The wisest comment I ever heard in regards to accounting came from Warren Buffett. He once said if an accounting entry was too complicated to understand, "it was because the company didn't want me to understand it." John Zemanovich, chief executive officer, Raven Investment Management Ltd., Oakville, Ont. Return to our accounting roots Thank you for your excellent article on Nortel earnings. It should be clearly stated that Nortel senior management knew exactly what they were doing in 97 - 01. In 1998-2000, Nortel was doing every trick in the book to push revenues on the telephony side, in respect of which I have some inside industry knowledge through a client. I blame the regulators, firstly, and then the analysts who just didn't do their respective jobs. Your fine article is tarnished by your choice of ending with inane quotes from Robert Reid, an analyst at Independent Equity Research. He is dead wrong, as the contrast to Enron is invalid. Public company, cross-border non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) tricks are beyond 99% of the industry, never mind the ordinary investor. That's why they get away with such tricks. Grant Buchan-Terrell, business attorney, Oakville, Ont. Return to our accounting roots Congratulations for your series and its real analysis. The most sneaky part is not always to reconcile GAAP to "adjusted" but to figure out if the non-recurring charges have not been inflated with recurring elements. I like the idea of direct-method cash flow statement a lot. The funny thing is that this is probably the way accounting started in ancient Egypt. Maybe we are due (overdue) for a return to our "accounting" roots. Matthieu Lachance, Outremont, Que. Return to our accounting roots I would like to congratulate you and your team of reporters for the excellent recent articles on corporate accounting. The investing public needs the insights that these articles provide. Eamon Hoey, Toronto. Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Natural Resources Canada. Copyright © 2002 National Post Online | Privacy Policy | Corrections ***************************************************************** 3 US AND NORTH KOREA Meltdown The Daily Star: Features Volume 3 Number 908 Fri. March 29, 2002 [http://www.onirban.com] John Larkin and Murray Hiebert TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS to be erected at a remote part of North Korea's eastern coast are starting to cast an ominous shadow, and the concrete hasn't even been poured yet. As the payoff for Pyongyang's undertaking to freeze its nuclear weapons programme, the reactor project has dominated international policy toward the hermit nation for nearly 10 years. But it's a troubled endeavour. The next year will determine whether the reactors will be built at all, and more importantly, it will decide whether the Korean peninsula is plunged into a security crisis even more threatening than the tense stand-off in which the reactor project was forged. Call them the reactors diplomats built. In 1994 former United States President Jimmy Carter brokered a deal with North Korea which defused a potentially explosive military showdown. Washington had readied plans for strikes on North Korean nuclear facilities after Pyongyang refused inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and prepared to step up processing of weapons-grade plutonium. The Carter deal replaced North Korea's Soviet-era reactors with two so-called "peacetime" reactors less easily used for weapons. Now that pact is at a crucial turning point at which it will either unravel, igniting a security crisis, or emerge stronger. U.S. President George W. Bush is expected soon to follow up his inclusion of North Korea in the "axis of evil" by for the first time refusing to certify that Pyongyang is complying with the 1994 nuclear deal, called the Agreed Framework. The catalyst was North Korea's refusal to admit inspectors to ensure it hasn't hidden any weapons-grade plutonium--which it must demonstrate before the core components for the reactors are delivered. Certification is a step Washington must take yearly to release funding for heating oil it agreed to provide Pyongyang until the $4.6 billion reactors are built. The deliveries will still happen, as the White House has issued a waiver which allows it to meet its side of the bargain. But the decision has sent a strong signal to Pyongyang that it is running out of time to admit inspectors. "If they have nothing to hide, why aren't they opening up?" says a Bush administration official. If Pyongyang doesn't open up, the administration will be under heavy pressure from Congress to cut off the heating oil. December elections in South Korea hold the prospect of a conservative government less enamoured with engaging North Korea than President Kim Dae Jung's administration--one that might wish to review South Korea's leading role in the multinational consortium building the reactors. "It sets [Washington] up to turn the screws when the conservatives in Seoul are elected," says Marcus Noland of the Institute for International Economics in Washington. "If the Bush administration refuses to certify and refuses to deliver the oil, the Agreed Framework is dead." The pact's fate hinges on Pyongyang's response. Next year will be crunch time. It marks the original completion date of the reactors, which are now far behind schedule: Basic infrastructure is in place but construction isn't scheduled to begin until August. It will also mark the end of North Korea's self-imposed moratorium on missile tests. Pyongyang has already demanded compensation for the delayed reactors. It may add threats to resume missile tests, or even abandon the Agreed Framework by unpacking nuclear fuel rods. "That indeed would take us down the road of June 1994, probably even faster," says North Korea expert Victor Cha of Georgetown University. It doesn't have to be that way. The White House's refusal to certify may actually force the rehabilitation of the Agreed Framework, which leaves the timing of inspections open to interpretation. The deal requires North Korea to fully comply with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards when "a significant portion" of the project is completed. That, according to those building the reactors, will be around May 2005. As inspections will take at least three years, Pyongyang has at most two months to admit inspectors if it wants to meet that deadline. In other words, Pyongyang must admit inspectors now, according to the pact. But North Korea believes the agreement requires it only to start inspections by May 2005, rather than be fully compliant by then. If that happens, inspections will be pushed back by years, and when they come they may be deemed less of a priority than finishing the projects and collecting on billion-dollar contracts, warns Henry Sokolski, a staunch critic of the Agreed Framework. North Korea has some legitimate complaints too. The reactor construction is behind schedule, as are Washington's oil deliveries. In fact, technically the U.S. is more obviously violating the pact's spirit than Pyongyang. "It raises questions about how committed this administration is to the Agreed Framework," says an aide specializing on Asia for a Republican congressman. But if Pyongyang wants the reactors it can put them back on track simply by admitting inspectors. The logic of early inspections is hard to refute. Resorting to missile and nuclear brinkmanship might be tempting, but Pyongyang's hand is weak. "Bush is less inclined to blink," says Sokolski. The joke around Washington is that Pyongyang never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. But missing this one would prove to many that it's not willing to change. If the reactors never send power flowing throughout North Korea, they will at least have accomplished that much. This piece first appeared in this week's Far Eastern Economic Review. ***************************************************************** 4 Jobs tied to USEC question on taxes The Paducah Sun Paducah, Kentucky Friday, March 29, 2002 A Paducah union leader relates the prospect of job cuts at the plant to the effort on exemption from state sales taxes. By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650 FRANKFORT, Ky.--The president of the union representing production workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant says USEC Inc. is planning more job cuts in a couple of months. Leon Owens, president of the Paper Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers Local 5-550, said the prospect of job reductions is another reason the union is opposing a bill that would exempt enriched uranium produced at the plant from the state's 6 percent sales tax. Owens thinks the tax break should be tied to commitments from USEC, which he says the company won't make. He said the union is willing to remove its opposition if the exemption is tied to commitments for future jobs. USEC spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said the focus at present should be on the tax exemption and not other issues. Granting the exemption would save the company and its customers about $6 million a year. "This is a tax issue, and we need to stay focused on the tax issue at this time," she said when asked about Owens' concern that additional job cuts may be planned. Paducah lawmakers said the prospect of granting a tax exemption is troubling if there are plans to cut jobs in the near future. Sen. Bob Leeper, R-Paducah, said lawmakers don't want to interfere with management decisions but felt it would create a bad public perception if the state gave a tax incentive without something in return from the company. Rep. Frank Rasche, D-Paducah, said he also is concerned about the loss of jobs and about interfering with issues that can be resolved by only the union and the company. Rasche, Leeper and Rep. Charles Geveden, D-Wickliffe, said they didn't want to take sides on the issues between the union and company and were waiting for them to reach an agreement before moving the tax exemption legislation. Rasche and Leeper said they've been told by the union that as many as 100 jobs may be at stake. Asked for details of what jobs cuts are planned, Owens said, "I'll have to refer you to the management out here (at the plant) to see if they'll shed some light on it." USEC, re-emphasizing that its focus was on the tax issue, has not commented. Owens said the job cuts will be tied to additional efforts by USEC to be "more productive ... When the company looked for ways to be productive in the past, they shut down the Portsmouth plant, they laid off workers in Paducah, and they eliminated 440 jobs at Portsmouth by moving the shipping and transfer operation. The only facility remaining is in Paducah, and the only way they can cut costs is to cut jobs in Paducah." He said the union wants to ensure the future of the plant and help make the operation efficient, but he said there may be other factors related to the company's financial condition. He said past efficiency efforts haven't improved the company's financial picture. He said stock prices remain low, and analysts continue to rate USEC stock as a bad investment. Owens said USEC has indicated that it may try to cut jobs by offering early retirement incentives. "When incentives were offered in the past to people close to retirement age, the packages they were offered were not attractive enough to allow enough people to take them." He said there are about 670 hourly union workers at the plant, down from about 875 three or four years ago. There also are 130 union members working in environmental management, he said. "Within the hourly ranks right now in operations, maintenance and support groups, it is just about as bare-bones as it can be," Owens said. He said, however, the employment level remains "well above" what is required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to ensure a safe operation. He said reaching that level, however, would eliminate the flexibility management needs to run the plant and would create shortages in many positions if workers were sick or on vacation. ***************************************************************** 5 UK: Letter: Energy policy disarray The Independent - United Kingdom; Mar 29, 2002 BY BRIDGET WOODMAN Sir: To my astonishment, I almost agreed with something the nuclear industry says ("Nuclear generator warns of California-style power crisis", 22 March). The current emphasis on low prices to the detriment of other issues associated with electricity generation - notably the environmental damage caused by the industry - will act as disincentive to new investment. However, the answer is not to allow price increases so that British Energy can build more nuclear power stations. That will just create more costly and dangerous power, and ever higher mountains of nuclear waste. The answer is for the industry's regulator, Ofgem, to recognise the environmental benefits of new, renewable generators, and to ensure that it creates a market in which they can operate. By shirking this responsibility, Ofgem may well be storing up capacity problems for the future - and is certainly ensuring that an environmentally acceptable generating industry is strangled at birth. BRIDGET WOODMAN London N8 ***************************************************************** 6 Britain's oldest nuclear power station closes Guardian Unlimited | Tania Cocksedge Guardian Friday March 29, 2002 A ceremony was held yesterday to mark the closure of one of Britain's oldest nuclear power stations. Bradwell power station in Essex, pictured above, will stop generating electricity this weekend after 40 years in business. Operator British Nuclear Fuels said in 1999 the station was not financially viable because millions of pounds would be needed to keep it open for a further 10 years. Bradwell cost £50m to build. The first stage of decommissioning will involve defuelling both reactors, removing 99.9% of the radioactivity over a period of up to three years. The fuel will be taken to Sellafield for reprocessing. Station manager Peter Wright said: "The absolute priority for this station has been, and will continue to be, safety first and fore most. As a result of our focus on safety, none of our neighbours has been put at risk by our operations." Between 200 and 250 staff will be kept on for the defuelling stage; on the eve of the closure Bradwell employed 350. Campaigners from Friends of the Earth held a demonstration outside the station at the same time as the closing ceremony. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 7 PPL nuclear plant wins top safety award mcall.com - From The Morning Call Susquehanna facility praised by OSHA for protecting its workers. March 29, 2002 PPL Corp. of Allentown announced Thursday that its Susquehanna nuclear plant in Luzerne County received a top federal safety award. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has awarded the Susquehanna plant Star certification in recognition of the plant's outstanding safety and health performance, PPL said. Susquehanna is one of only five nuclear generating facilities nationwide to receive the OSHA Star certification, PPL said. Fewer than 600 of the 7 million companies OSHA monitors earned Star certification. ''This voluntary program recognizes that safety practices and processes that go beyond OSHA standards can protect workers more effectively than simple compliance,'' said Robert G. Byram, PPL's senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, in a news release. ''This recognition is a result of the teamwork of our employees and a partnership with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1600, in our safety efforts. It's a tribute to the commitment to working safely and maintaining a safe working environment that PPL and the employees of the Susquehanna plant have.'' The Susquehanna plant, which is about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PPL and Allegheny Electric Cooperative. The two-reactor facility can generate more than 2,200 megawatts of electricity and consumes 264 metric tons of uranium fuel annually. The plant opened in 1983. (Staff) Copyright © 2002, The Morning Call ***************************************************************** 8 Taiwan: Lawmakers blast severance plan The Taipei Times Online: 2002-03-29Friday, March 29th, 2002 MALFEASANCE CHARGES: Led by Sisy Chen, lawmakers attacked the Executive Yuan for diverting NT$9 billion once marked for decommissioning nuclear plants By Stephanie Low STAFF REPORTER Lawmakers yesterday attacked a decision by the Executive Yuan to use NT$9 billion earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear power stations on the severance pay of laid-off employees of a state-run company. Lawmakers led by independent Sisy Chen (³¯¤åÓ}) yesterday pressed malfeasance charges with the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office against former premier Chang Chun-hsiung (±i«T¶¯) and former minister of economic affairs Lin Hsin-yi (ªL«H¸q) over the matter. Other lawmakers proposed referring Lin Hsin-yi and Lin Wen-yuan (ªL¤å²W), vice chairman of the Commission of National Corporations, to the Control Yuan for investigation. Tight lipped Lin Hsin-yi, who took over as vice premier and chairman of the Council of Economic Planning and Development in February, said he had no comment on the lawmakers' plan to refer him to the Control Yuan. He insisted that the decision, made in January, was made in accordance with law. The issue was raised in a joint meeting of the Economics and Energy Committee and Budget and Final Accounts Committee, held to review the budget of the funds from which the money was appropriated. Lawmakers Chou Hsi-wei (©P¿üÞ³) and Chiu Yi (ªô¼Ý) from the PFP and Hsu Shu-po (³\µÎ³Õ) and Liu Cheng-hung (¼B¬FÂE) from the KMT argued that the Executive Yuan's decision was unlawful because the money was not spent in accordance with the budget's purposes. Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Yin Chi-ming (¤¨±Ò»Ê) said the NT$120 billion fund was mainly earmarked for the demolition and disposal of the three existing nuclear power plants, and the money would not be needed until the power plants had ceased operation. Severance proposal For this reason, the ministry proposed to the Cabinet in January that the fund be used for the severance pay of employees dismissed by the China Shipbuilding Corp (CSC), Yin said. Yin said that, according to the Budget Law, money from this kind of fund can be spent after the purpose of the spending has been approved by the Cabinet. Yin said the CSC will return the money, along with interest, to the fund in the future. However, Chiu said the ministry had misinterpreted the Budget Law, because a fund earmarked for a special purpose cannot be spent on other purposes. The CSC laid off 2,342 employees in December last year under a project to "revive" the enterprise. The severance payments for these dismissed employees, which totaled NT$9.16 billion, had to be made by January this year. Lacking the funds to pay -- and facing protests from the dismissed employees, the CSC asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs for help in finding the money. This story has been viewed 221 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/03/29/story/0000129662] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 Britain's oldest nuclear power station closes Guardian Unlimited | Archive Search Tania Cocksedge Guardian Friday March 29, 2002 A ceremony was held yesterday to mark the closure of one of Britain's oldest nuclear power stations. Bradwell power station in Essex, pictured above, will stop generating electricity this weekend after 40 years in business. Operator British Nuclear Fuels said in 1999 the station was not financially viable because millions of pounds would be needed to keep it open for a further 10 years. Bradwell cost £50m to build. The first stage of decommissioning will involve defuelling both reactors, removing 99.9% of the radioactivity over a period of up to three years. The fuel will be taken to Sellafield for reprocessing. Station manager Peter Wright said: "The absolute priority for this station has been, and will continue to be, safety first and fore most. As a result of our focus on safety, none of our neighbours has been put at risk by our operations." Between 200 and 250 staff will be kept on for the defuelling stage; on the eve of the closure Bradwell employed 350. Campaigners from Friends of the Earth held a demonstration outside the station at the same time as the closing ceremony. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 10 NRC to Meet With Exelon Generation Co. April 3 to Discuss Dresden Nuclear Power Station Performance NRC: Press Release Region III - 2002 - 9(revised) - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 www.nrc.gov No. III-02-009 (revised) March 27, 2002 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Pam Alloway-Mueller (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov [opa3@nrc.gov] CORRECTED RELEASE - Meeting at 3 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Exelon Generation Co. in Morris, Illinois, on Wednesday, April 3, to discuss the results of the agency's annual assessment of safety performance at the Dresden Nuclear Power Station. The two-reactor facility is located near Morris. The meeting, which will be the open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in the County Board Room of the Grundy County Administration Building, 1320 Union St., Morris. Before the meeting is concluded, NRC officials will answer questions from members of the public. The performance period to be discussed is April 1 through December 31 of last year. A letter sent from the NRC Region III office to Exelon addresses plant performance during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/dres_2001q4.pdf Current performance information for the Dresden facility is available on the NRC web site at: (Unit 2) http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/DRES2/dres2_chart.html and (Unit 3) http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/DRES3/dres3_chart.html (Note: Dresden Unit 1 was shut down in 1978 and is undergoing decommissioning.) ***************************************************************** 11 NRC Inspection Team to Present Findings April 5 On Davis-Besse Reactor Vessel Head Damage - Second meeting to discuss plant performance in 2001 NRC: Press Release Region III - 2002 - 12 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region III 801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532 www.nrc.gov No. III-02-012 March 28, 2002 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Pam Alloway-Mueller (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov [opa3@nrc.gov] Second meeting to discuss plant performance in 2001 A Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection team will meet with representatives of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company on April 5 to discuss the preliminary findings of its inspection into the corrosion damage of the reactor vessel head at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station. The reactor, which has been shut down since February 16 for refueling and maintenance, is located near Oak Harbor, Ohio. The meeting will be at 9 a.m. in the auditorium at Oak Harbor High School, 11661 West State Route 163 in Oak Harbor. The meeting will be open to the public for observation. Before the meeting is concluded, NRC officials will answer questions from members of the public. A second meeting will be conducted at 1 p.m. in the high school auditorium for the NRC staff to discuss the results of the agency's assessment of safety performance at the Davis-Besse plant from April 1 through December 31 of last year. It, too, will be open to the public with an opportunity for questions from the public at the end of the meeting. During the current outage, FirstEnergy personnel discovered significant corrosion damage in a portion of the reactor vessel head. The damage resulted in a cavity in the low-alloy steel vessel head 4 to 5 inches wide, 7 inches long, and about 6 inches deep. The remaining thickness of the vessel head in this area was reported as approximately 3/8 inches of stainless steel cladding on the interior of the head. The NRC dispatched an Augmented Inspection Team to review the vessel head damage on March 12. Information and documents related to the vessel head damage are available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/vessel-head-degradation.htm l A letter sent from the NRC Region III office to FirstEnergy addresses plant performance during the April-December period and will serve as the basis for the 1 p.m. meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/davi_2001q4.pdf Current performance information for the Davis-Besse facility is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/DAVI/davi_chart.html ***************************************************************** 12 Nuclear plant closes amid ceremony and celebration THE IRISH TIMES Last updated: 28-03-02, 18:41 A ceremony was held today to mark the closure of one of Britain's oldest nuclear power stations. Bradwell Power Station in Essex will stop generating electricity this weekend after 40 years in operation. The first stage of decommissioning the plant will involve defuelling both reactors, removing 99.9 per cent of the radioactivity over a two to three year period. The fuel will be taken to Sellafield for reprocessing. Operator British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) said in 1999 the station was not financially viable as millions of pounds would be needed to keep it open for a further 10 years. The official closure ceremony was carried out by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Lord Braybrooke. Station manager Mr Peter Wright said: "The absolute priority for this station - and all of our stations - has been, and will continue to be, safety first and foremost. Campaigners from Friends of the Earth (FoE) held a demonstration outside the station at the same time as the ceremony. FoE welcomed the closure and supporters said they want to see investment in renewable energy such as wind power, and not a new nuclear power station on the site. PA © 2002 The Irish Times/ireland.com ***************************************************************** 13 Federal officials order repeat of evacuation drill By Associated Press, 3/29/2002 07:46 WESTMINSTER, Vt. (AP) The Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered the state to repeat an emergency evacuation drill at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant because of serious deficiencies. FEMA said the Vermont Emergency Management Agency and Westminster failed to process people contaminated with radioactivity fast enough. The state and about 250 volunteers last week practiced what they would do if there was radiation leak at Vermont Yankee. Under the Vermont Yankee emergency plans, more than 10,000 Brattleboro-area residents are expected to evacuate to the Bellows Falls Union High School in the event of an emergency. The reception center is expected to be able to treat people contaminated with radiation, as well as reunite families separated by a mass exodus from any accident at the nuclear power plant. According to federal guidelines, 20 percent of the population, or 9,005 people, in the 5-mile evacuation zone around Vermont Yankee must be scanned for possible radioactive contamination within 12 hours. Based on a review of the drill's scanning of only six people, officials determined that the process was going too slowly. Drill participants took one minute and 25 seconds to monitor the six people, or 14.167 seconds per person, when the federal requirement is 8.57 seconds. Ed Von Turkovich, state director of the Vermont Emergency Management Agency, acknowledged the problems and said the deficiencies would be addressed. Von Turkovich said he wanted another $35,000 scanner to help screen for contamination, bringing the number to three at the high school. Drill participants only had two scanners. Von Turkovich said his agency would wait for a full report from the federal planning agency before going ahead with planning for a new drill. ''Parts of the drill went very well,'' he said. ''The problems are not a reflection in any way on the effort by the volunteers,'' Von Turkovich said. But Westminster Town Manager Glenn Smith, who was a key local player in the drill said he took the deficiencies seriously and that the two areas found lacking would be repeated within 120 days, as required by FEMA. ''They were found by FEMA to be inadequate and were going to correct any deficiencies. Any deficiencies is a significant problem,'' Smith said. [Boston Globe Online: ***************************************************************** 14 Nuclear experts seal Temelin's second reactor - The Times of India AP [ FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2002 3:21:21 AM ] PRAGUE: Experts sealed a reactor in a controversial nuclear power plant near the Austrian border Thursday so the facility can begin active testing of one of its units next month. Officials from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog group, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had already approved the loading of 163 nuclear fuel rods in the reactor in the Temelin plant's second unit on March 12. The active testing is to begin in mid-April, plant spokesman Milan Nebesar said. A spokesman for the State Office for Nuclear Safety, Pavel Pittermann, said that all access to the fuel must now be authorized by the IAEA. Experts from the IAEA sealed the reactor Thursday. Located just 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of the Austrian border, the Temelin plant has been a source of friction between the Czech Republic and Austria since testing of its first unit started in November 2000. Copyright © 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. | ***************************************************************** 15 Congress pressing for help for weapons-plant workers Friday, 03/29/02 By NANCY ZUCKERBROD Associated Press WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are demanding that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham tell them how he plans to help workers exposed to toxic chemicals at the agency's Cold War-era weapons plants. Workers from the Oak Ridge nuclear reservation are among those likely to seek the Energy Department's assistance. The workers were not compensated under legislation passed more than a year ago that provided medical care and $150,000 to sick workers with illnesses linked to radiation, silica or beryllium. But Congress ordered the Energy Department to establish a program that would help those exposed to harmful chemicals file claims under state workers' compensation systems. That would reverse a decades-old policy in which the agency aggressively fought such claims. In a letter sent to Abraham late Wednesday, members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce criticized the Energy Department for taking too long to establish a program. The letter said ''claimants are understandably impatient,'' particularly those who have suffered years of adverse health effects because of exposure in the workplace. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said yesterday the final regulations establishing the program probably would be out within two months. © Copyright 2002 The Tennessean ***************************************************************** 16 Activists say nuclear safety measures are falling short The Taipei Times Online: 2002-03-29Friday, March 29th, 2002 NUCLEAR THREAT: Protesters said yesterday that officials were playing fast and loose with the health of residents near nuclear plants and steel works employees By Chiu Yu-Tzu STAFF REPORTER The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) is failing to ensure the health and safety of residents living near nuclear power plants and workers who have transported scrap metal containing radioactive sources, anti-nuclear activists said yesterday. On the 23rd anniversary of the USs worst ever nuclear catastrophe, the 1979 Three Mile Island incident, activists said yesterday that the government should keep the disaster in mind and improve its radioactive protection measures as soon as possible. The activists, from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU, ¥xÆWÀô«OÁp·ù), urged the government to distribute potassium iodide pills to residents living within 30km of all nuclear power plants, saying that would be the only way for residents to obviate the risk of thyroid cancer in the event of radiation leaks. "It's not easy for residents to keep such pills appropriately at home. Besides, we have confidence that Taipower could distribute pills to people in need as soon as possible after a nuclear power plant mishap." -- Su Shian-jang, director of the AEC's Department of Radiation Protection Nuclear explosions create a lot of radioactive iodine which, when ingested into the body, tends to collect in the thyroid gland. Potassium iodide pills, which contain about 76.5 percent iodine, work by saturating the thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine, thereby preventing a build-up of radioactive iodine if taken before exposure. An experiment by National Taiwan University's atmospheric science department suggests that two hours after a nuclear accident, radiation fallout would spread as far as 30km away. According to the TEPU, the US government has been more careful about preventing nuclear accidents since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US. Two states in the US, Massachusetts and Maryland, have said they would accept the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's offer to provide the pills. "So what are we waiting for? The distribution of the pills will also make sure we don't reduce our vigilance," TEPU Vice Chairman Hsu Kuang-jung (®}¥ú»T) said. In the US, Hsu said, the NRC limited its offer of potassium iodide to those living within 16.1km of nuclear plants, the area that federal regulators have determined must be evacuated if there is an emergency. In a nuclear emergency in Taiwan, Taiwan Power Company (Taipower,¥x¹q) is obliged to distribute potassium iodide tablets to those living within 5km of nuclear plants, Hsu said. AEC officials, however, said it wasn't necessary to distribute counter-radiation pills in Taiwan. "It's not easy for residents to keep such pills appropriately at home. Besides, we have confidence that Taipower could distribute pills to people in need as soon as possible after a nuclear power plant mishap," Su Shian-jang (ĬÄm³¹), director of the AEC's Department of Radiation Protection, told the Taipei Times. Anti-nuclear activists also urged the AEC to arrange physical examinations for workers who unknowingly transported radioactive rods of cesium-137 and krypton-85 hidden in scrap metal recently. Su said that truck drivers and workers at steelworks where the radioactive rods were discovered were not in danger because the length of exposure to radiation was very short. "Taking the cesium-137 rod discovered in Taichung in early March as an example, someone would have to hold the rod for 20 hours before exposure to the person would exceed the recommended limit for the general public," Su said. The danger posed by the rod containing krypton-85 gas discovered in Kaohsiung on Monday was even less, Su said. "You don't need to worry about it [krypton gas] even if you inhale it. It's an inert gas which hardly reacts with others," Su said. Taiwan's discovery of radioactive sources in scrap metal has drawn the attention of non-profit organizations worldwide, including Washington-based Public Citizen. The 31-year-old organization said on March 14 that the discovery of the cesium rod in early March indicated that nuclear materials and waste were being improperly handled and that nuclear regulatory agencies were not sufficiently safeguarding the public. This story has been viewed 179 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/03/29/story/0000129656] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 17 Radiation incident prompts shipyard review By CHRIS BARRON March 28, 2002 A Puget Sound Naval Shipyard worker inhaled low levels of radioactivity after failing to follow proper procedures aboard a nuclear submarine Monday, shipyard officials confirmed. The civilian employee, working in the nuclear reactor compartment of the attack submarine USS Houston, breathed in "a very small amount of radioactivity," PSNS spokeswoman Mary Anne Mascianica said. The incident triggered a re-examination of the shipyard's nuclear safety procedures. The incident is a blemish on the shipyard's nuclear safety record and sent shudders through managers who have worked hard to maintain the yard's nearly spotless reputation. Several longtime shipyard workers said they cannot recall this type of exposure incident at PSNS since it began working on nuclear-powered ships in the 1960s. Mascianica said the exposure occurred because the worker did not follow established safety protocols for working around the submarine's powerplant. The worker was exposed to cobalt-60, a radioisotope generated as a byproduct by naval nuclear reactors. It emits gamma radiation and can cause cancer or other health problems at higher exposures. Because the amount of radioactivity in Monday's incident was so small, however, the worker did not require medical attention, Mascianica said. "The amount of radiation exposure to this individual is less than the additional radiation exposure a person would receive (from the sun) during a round-trip flight between Seattle and Washington, D.C.," Mascianica said. The Houston arrived in Bremerton on Aug. 31 to undergo a $237 million two-year complex refueling overhaul. It is the first nuclear-powered ship to be refueled at PSNS since 1990. Before entering the shipyard, the Houston's nuclear reactor was shut down to avoid a major incident. That's standard procedure any time a nuclear-powered vessel enters the yard for work, Mascianica said. Monday's incident has led PSNS officials to examine and evaluate its work-control procedures. "Any time we have a small problem, what we do is treat it like it's important because we want to prevent a larger event from happening," Mascianica said. "That's why we're so good at what we do because we go after a problem. That's how we do business." Monday's incident comes on the heels of a federal investigation that cited the shipyard with 11 serious health violations last month related to toxic metal exposure. (Contact Chris Barron of The Sun in Bremerton, Wash., at cbarron(at)thesunlink.com) The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 18 Activists say nuclear safety measures are falling short The Taipei Times Online: 2002-03-29 Friday, March 29th, 2002 NUCLEAR THREAT: Protesters said yesterday that officials were playing fast and loose with the health of residents near nuclear plants and steel works employees By Chiu Yu-Tzu STAFF REPORTER The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) is failing to ensure the health and safety of residents living near nuclear power plants and workers who have transported scrap metal containing radioactive sources, anti-nuclear activists said yesterday. On the 23rd anniversary of the USs worst ever nuclear catastrophe, the 1979 Three Mile Island incident, activists said yesterday that the government should keep the disaster in mind and improve its radioactive protection measures as soon as possible. The activists, from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU, ¥xÆWÀô«OÁp·ù), urged the government to distribute potassium iodide pills to residents living within 30km of all nuclear power plants, saying that would be the only way for residents to obviate the risk of thyroid cancer in the event of radiation leaks. "It's not easy for residents to keep such pills appropriately at home. Besides, we have confidence that Taipower could distribute pills to people in need as soon as possible after a nuclear power plant mishap." -- Su Shian-jang, director of the AEC's Department of Radiation Protection Nuclear explosions create a lot of radioactive iodine which, when ingested into the body, tends to collect in the thyroid gland. Potassium iodide pills, which contain about 76.5 percent iodine, work by saturating the thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine, thereby preventing a build-up of radioactive iodine if taken before exposure. An experiment by National Taiwan University's atmospheric science department suggests that two hours after a nuclear accident, radiation fallout would spread as far as 30km away. According to the TEPU, the US government has been more careful about preventing nuclear accidents since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US. Two states in the US, Massachusetts and Maryland, have said they would accept the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's offer to provide the pills. "So what are we waiting for? The distribution of the pills will also make sure we don't reduce our vigilance," TEPU Vice Chairman Hsu Kuang-jung (®}¥ú»T) said. In the US, Hsu said, the NRC limited its offer of potassium iodide to those living within 16.1km of nuclear plants, the area that federal regulators have determined must be evacuated if there is an emergency. In a nuclear emergency in Taiwan, Taiwan Power Company (Taipower,¥x¹q) is obliged to distribute potassium iodide tablets to those living within 5km of nuclear plants, Hsu said. AEC officials, however, said it wasn't necessary to distribute counter-radiation pills in Taiwan. "It's not easy for residents to keep such pills appropriately at home. Besides, we have confidence that Taipower could distribute pills to people in need as soon as possible after a nuclear power plant mishap," Su Shian-jang (ĬÄm³¹), director of the AEC's Department of Radiation Protection, told the Taipei Times. Anti-nuclear activists also urged the AEC to arrange physical examinations for workers who unknowingly transported radioactive rods of cesium-137 and krypton-85 hidden in scrap metal recently. Su said that truck drivers and workers at steelworks where the radioactive rods were discovered were not in danger because the length of exposure to radiation was very short. "Taking the cesium-137 rod discovered in Taichung in early March as an example, someone would have to hold the rod for 20 hours before exposure to the person would exceed the recommended limit for the general public," Su said. The danger posed by the rod containing krypton-85 gas discovered in Kaohsiung on Monday was even less, Su said. "You don't need to worry about it [krypton gas] even if you inhale it. It's an inert gas which hardly reacts with others," Su said. Taiwan's discovery of radioactive sources in scrap metal has drawn the attention of non-profit organizations worldwide, including Washington-based Public Citizen. The 31-year-old organization said on March 14 that the discovery of the cesium rod in early March indicated that nuclear materials and waste were being improperly handled and that nuclear regulatory agencies were not sufficiently safeguarding the public. This story has been viewed 180 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/03/29/story/0000129656] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 19 Cranes to screen for radioactive bombs HAMPTON ROADS - Business By CAROLYN SHAPIRO, The Virginian-Pilot © March 27, 2002 Port officials provided the security update Tuesday at the authority's bi-monthly board of directors meeting in Norfolk. The 20 cranes operated by Virginia International Terminals either now have or will soon have radiation detection equipment that can scan a cargo container for a ``dirty bomb'' -- a mix of explosives and radioactive materials that can cause widespread damage. ``In other words, every container that comes into the Port of Hampton Roads will have been screened for weapons of mass destruction,'' said Robert R. Merhige III, the Port Authority's deputy executive director. The board also discussed a continued decline in traffic this year and the news that Hampton Roads will host a national port authorities meeting in five years. ... Read more in The Virginian-Pilot or at PilotOnline.com ThinkIn--> NORFOLK -- The Virginia Port Authority plans to install radiation detection devices on every container crane at its terminals and hopes to receive $15.5 million in federal funding for that and other security projects. Port officials provided the security update Tuesday at the authority's bi-monthly board of directors meeting in Norfolk. The 20 cranes operated by Virginia International Terminals either now have or will soon have radiation detection equipment that can scan a cargo container for a ``dirty bomb'' -- a mix of explosives and radioactive materials that can cause widespread damage. ``In other words, every container that comes into the Port of Hampton Roads will have been screened for weapons of mass destruction,'' said Robert R. Merhige III, the Port Authority's deputy executive director. The board also discussed a continued decline in traffic this year and the news that Hampton Roads will host a national port authorities meeting in five years. Security remains a top priority for the port, which has applied for a piece of the $93 million in new congressional allocations for antiterrorism efforts, Merhige said. The port should learn by June whether it will receive its sought-after $15.5 million grant, which would help cover the $18 million cost of planned security enhancements. Merhige said the Hampton Roads port has a good chance of getting the grant because of its size and proximity to the Navy's Atlantic Fleet. In addition to the radiation detection devices, the money would help pay for video surveillance technology, new fencing around the terminals, intrusion alarms and a computerized credentials system for anybody coming into the port. ``We are really going to control access to the waterfront,'' Merhige said. Port traffic has continued to decline in 2002, as officials expected. So far this year, the terminals have handled 196,401 20-foot equivalency units -- the standard international measurement for containers ranging in length from 20 feet to 53 feet. That's an 8.4 percent drop from this time last year. But container activity in February was down just 4 percent, indicating signs of a rebound as the national economy slowly emerges from recession. The port has suffered from a decline in demand for machine tools and from one customer's decision to shift some of its business from sea liners to trucks, said Carroll N. Harris, the authority's senior managing director of marketing services. Port officials also have concerns about the Russian embargo of chicken, which Harris believes is an effort to help Russian poultry producers compete against cheaper U.S. imports. A majority of the chicken that goes from the U.S. to Russia is shipped through the local port. But the future looks a little brighter, Harris said. The port hasn't lost any shipping lines this year and stands to gain three vessels from the Lydall paper facility at Newport News Marine Terminal, bringing about 9,000 tons of new business. The Hampton Roads port also just became the first U.S. port of call for some Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Evergreen Marine Corp. lines coming from South America, which means those ships will unload much of their cargo at local terminals for movement throughout the East Coast. That promises the port more business from the fast-growing South American market, Bray said. The Hampton Roads economy will get a boost from the Port Authority in 2007, when Norfolk will host 1,000 visitors for the American Association of Port Authorities' one-week annual convention, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the nearby Jamestown Settlement. The national association agreed last week to hold its 2007 meeting in Hampton Roads, which hasn't hosted the event since 1980, said J. Robert Bray, the authority's executive director. ``We were in competition with Boston and Anchorage, and we managed to prevail,'' Bray said. Reach Carolyn Shapiro at 446-2270 or cashapir@pilotonline.com ***************************************************************** 20 Uranium in Soil Found at Sites in Balkans March 29, 2002 By REUTERS GENEVA, March 28 (Reuters) — United Nations scientists said today that they had found widespread traces of depleted uranium from NATO munitions at five sites in Serbia and Montenegro but that the level of contamination posed no immediate health threat. But they warned authorities to take precautions, particularly before allowing development projects, like house building, on the sites because of the risk of stirring up potentially toxic soil and dust. The team, organized by the United Nations Environment Program, went to six areas in the two republics that once formed part of Yugoslavia and found "widespread but low-level contamination" by depleted uranium at five. Depleted uranium is used to harden the tips of tank-busting shells fired by NATO during its mid-1990's Bosnia action and again during the air war to drive Serbian forces out of Kosovo. "The study concludes that the D.U. sites studied do not present immediate radioactive or toxic risks for the environment or human health," the organization said in a statement, adding that the findings were in line with a similar report last year on Kosovo. The two reports were ordered after a number of soldiers who served in NATO forces in Kosovo and Bosnia contracted leukemia, raising fears that exposure to depleted uranium might have been the cause. The link has been consistently denied by the World Health Organization, which says levels of depleted uranium in the munitions were not high enough to cause cancer. Lower degrees of exposure have been tied to other health problems, including kidney disease. Although it was not directly part of the study, the environmental organization noted in the report that the W.H.O. had also found no evidence to link depleted uranium to chromosome changes reported by Montenegro in six people who carried out decontamination work at its site. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 21 Bulgaria: Experts criticize agreement to decommission nuclear plant BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 29, 2002 Text of report in English by Bulgarian news agency BTA web site Sofia, 29 March: The ratification of the agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the operation of the fund set up in connection with the pending decommissioning of nuclear power facilities in Bulgaria is rash, considering that the country does not yet have a strategy for the development of the energy sector, the new chairman of Bulatom, Evgeniy Balabanov told BTA. The parliament ratified the agreement on Thursday [28 March]. The document follows a memorandum between Bulgaria and the European Commission whereby this country assumed to shut down the first two reactors of its Kozloduy nuclear plant by 2003 and by the same time get a timeframe on the closure of Units 3 and 4. There have to be technical reasons to shut down a nuclear power plant, said Balabanov. How it should have worked, according to him, is first have experts of international institutions such as the International Atomic Energy Agency make a report and give it to the European institutions and the Bulgarian politicians, and only then could a decision be taken. He also said that not a single nuclear plant in Europe has been closed for political reasons and the decision of the Bulgarian parliament sets a precedent. The ratification of the agreement will have all political implications and negative consequences for Kozloduy, he warned. It is hard to estimate with precision the cost of decommissioning the first two units of the nuclear plant as the process will have several stages, but they will surely be between 500m and 1,000m leva, according to Balabanov. Approached to comment the ratification, the deputy chief of the Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, Borislav Stanimirov, said that he "cannot comment political decisions". He said that there is plan for the decommissioning of the two units but it is too early to say when exactly everything will be done. According to Nikita Shervashidze of a civic committee for Kozloduy, the ratification of the agreement is an act of "unstatesmanly thinking". In his words, making commitments in exchange for vague promises for the energy industry is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. He believes that it is a matter of national pride for Bulgaria to manage to arrange a deadline for the decommissioning of Unit 3 and 4 no sooner than 2008-2010 or even after it is admitted to the EU. "The investment made in the power units is much bigger than what they promise us to switch them off. Why should we do that?" he said. Source: BTA web site, Sofia, in English 29 Mar 02 /BBC Monitoring/ © BBC. ***************************************************************** 22 Fishing for Yucca votes Nevada Appeal March 29, 2002 By Nevada Appeal editorial board In the casino industry, the really big spenders are known as "whales." In politics, though, the people with political capital to spend are simply big fish. They would be members of Congress who will hold the fate of Nevada in their hands when they decide whether to send the nation's nuclear waste to a lonely site northwest of Las Vegas known as Yucca Mountain. The nuclear industry, we learned this week from the Associated Press, has done an outstanding job of wining and dining the big fish of Congress -- well, mainly the little schools of aides who swim with them -- during "fact-finding" missions to Nevada. They spend a few hours out in the rocks and sun touring the repository site, then are free to relax in the oasis of Las Vegas. "Free" being the operative word here. "Our staffs are not the highest paid government people in the world," notes Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. "If they get a chance to learn on the issue and to spend a few days (in Vegas), I have never seen that as a problem. "Staffers who have gone found it educational and enjoyable." Darn tootin'. The shame here is that Nevada and Las Vegas are being beaten at their own game. Those casino-owned jets have been sitting idle in their hangars waiting for the next high-roller, when they could have been whisking 28-year-old legislative aides in bad suits into town for some R&R -- research and relaxation. "Pretty nice, isn't it?" would have been the message delivered along with cocktails and show tickets. "Too bad your boss is thinking of voting to make it the nation's radioactive waste dump." We don't know how much influence these junkets have. From all the cynicism generated in regards to campaign-financing reform, we sometimes wonder if congressional votes simply go to the highest bidder. We do know, however, when it comes to casting bait to reel in the big fish, Las Vegas shouldn't be second to anyone. Copyright Nevada Appeal. Materials contained within this site may ***************************************************************** 23 Jury awards $7.25 million to farmers in pollution lawsuit Welcome to NewsOK.com Or Erik Winters 405-475-4033. 2002-03-28 CORDELL (AP) - A Washita County jury awarded $7.25 million to a Canute family that claimed their dairy farm was ruined by pollution from five oil and gas wells. Defendants Mobil Oil Corp. and GHK Corp. have 10 days to ask for a new trial and 30 days to appeal. The jury reached a unanimous decision Wednesday more than a month after the trial began. Attorneys for Floyd, Joyce and Alan Twyman claimed the 80-foot well they used for operating their farm had been contaminated and that they would have to move if they wanted to continue farming. Their attorney, James Browne of Jones, said he is satisfied with the jury's decision and that the sum will allow the Twymans to start farming again if they choose. "I know they want to get back into the dairy business," Browne said. "They love their animals and it is a joy for them to be able to do that." Browne said testimony indicated that one of the Mobil wells was drilled through a uranium deposit. "The whole thing was very unfortunate because their cattle were dying," Browne said. "Some were dying and some were wasting away. That put them in a position where they had to destroy or divest themselves of their entire herd, and it put them out of business." Mobil and GHK argued that the Twymans' problems were brought about by their own poor farming practices that included poor management of sewage runoff from their milking barn and a septic tank. © 2002, Produced by NewsOK ***************************************************************** 24 Radioactive material hauler blows over in Wyoming NewsOK.com 2002-03-29 The Associated Press ARLINGTON, Wyo. -- A tractor-trailer hauling radioactive material blew over on Interstate 80 early Thursday, according to Wyoming Transportation Department officials. No radioactivity was released and no one was injured in the accident, which happened about 7 a.m. about 35 miles west of Laramie, officials said. Transportation Department spokesman Bruce Burrows said the truck was carrying radioactive liquid in two 1-liter padded containers. The containers were the only items inside the trailer. The material remained on board the truck owned by Triad Transport Inc., of McAlester, OK. Winds above 70 mph were recorded in the area when the trailer flipped on its side at the Cooper Cove Road interchange. Westbound traffic was diverted on the interchange ramps around the wreck until the tractor-trailer was righted and towed back to Laramie about 10:30 a.m. Eastbound traffic was unaffected. The material was headed to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, from a Cold War-era plutonium processing facility in Ohio, officials said. The 1,050-acre former nuclear weapons plant, known as the Fernal site, is about 18 miles northwest of Cincinnati. Glenn Griffiths, deputy director of the Fernald office, said the bottles contained a liquid solution of plutonium and neptunium. Although the solution is radioactive, "it is not waste and it is very low-activity from a nuclear perspective," he said. If the solution had spilled, "at these quantities, it would have had to be a very low risk." The material is used to calibrate instruments and help analyze samples that might contain radioactive materials, he said. © 2002, Produced by NewsOK ***************************************************************** 25 Shoshone fights for tribal lands Friday, March 29, 2002 By Jerry Johnston Deseret News staff writer Carrie Dann, director of the Western Shoshone Defense Project, is a tiny American Indian grandmother. In the eyes of some officials in Washington, however, she's a regular grizzly bear. In the fight over land, Carrie Dann says the government tries to "jerk us around any way they want." Michael Brandy, Deseret News Dann stopped by Utah en route to her Nevada home Tuesday to speak at the Hinckley Institute of Politics and attend a special screening of the film "Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain" at the Indian Walk-in Center. Dann had gone to Washington to testify at U.S. Senate hearings on the fate of Shoshone homelands. The Senate had not invited her to testify, which is why she figured she'd better be there. In the end, the hearings were canceled, a decision that Dann sees as a victory for Shoshones who would rather have land than money. "Their attitude is they can jerk us around any way they want," Dann told a dozen listeners at the institute. "That's because they have jerked us around any way they want." The U.S. government offered the Western Shoshones $26 million in compensation for their traditional lands. Dann's position is that the American Indians might have sold Manhattan Island for $24, but for her people even a million times that amount will never suffice. She stands by the original 1863 treaty. All other agreements, she says, have been illegitimate, partisan and even corrupt. "To us, the value of land is not in dollars and cents," she said. "Traditionally, land and water meant life to us. It means life today. To block any quick-fix deals, Dann has kept the pressure on. She's been in court more often than Perry Mason and fires off questions to official Washington like so many arrows. If the land is sold, for instance, how would it be eventually used? Would Western Shoshones have to endure nuclear testing and mining operations? If, as documents say, the Shoshone lands were slowly eroded away by "whites, settlers and others," who were these others? Is that a sly way of saying the U.S. government stole land? And weren't the questions put to Shoshones in a recent straw poll written in a way to benefit government proposals? Dann says all she wants are answers. "Hopefully," Dann says in her inimitable way, "I can be classified as a 'human right' next to you guys instead of being seen as an animal or something. We have to find a way to uphold the honor of the Shoshone people." E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 26 Yucca Mountain's Other Story theGully.com The Shoshone not only oppose the nuclear waste dump, but are hotly contesting the federal government's right to do anything there at all. Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone leader, at a protest against proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, Jan. 12, 2000. Steve Marcus by Toby Eglund MARCH 28, 2002. Senator Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, along with Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, a Republican, has been doing the rounds of talk shows and press conferences to oppose the Bush-endorsed proposal to house nuclear waste at a site in Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles north-west of Las Vegas. According to Reid, the 70,000 tons of radioactive waste generated by the nation's nuclear power plants that is to be stored there, is vulnerable to terrorist attacks during trucking. Due to certain geographical factors, it may also contaminate ground water during storage. While Reid and Guinn have gotten a fair amount of media coverage, the plan's other long-time opponents, the Western Shoshone and other nearby tribes, have been largely ignored. They not only oppose the nuclear waste dump on environmental grounds, but are hotly contesting the federal government's right to do anything there at all. Western Shoshone rights to the land were established in 1863 in the Congress-ratified Treaty of Ruby Valley, but were eroded in 1979, when the federal government decided to buy the land over the tribe's objections. That year the U.S. Court of Federal Claims awarded a payment of $26 million to the Shoshone for the surrendering of 16 million acres of Shoshone Indian title land. When the Shoshone refused to accept the money, the Department of the Interior accepted it on their behalf, in an effort to legitimize the unaccepted payment. Court decisions since then have been mixed. In 1985, solely considering the fact that the federal bureaucracy reported the payment and without reviewing all the other evidence, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Shoshone's argument that their nation had never relinquished the bulk of their ancestral lands. On the other hand, in deliberations during the mid-1990's, the United States 9th District Court of Appeals found that neither leases of lands or federal homestead laws forfeited Shoshone title to the land. The most recent attempt to legalize the land sale to the federal government has been engineered by Senator Reid himself. His controversial Western Shoshone Claims Distribution bill (S. 958) will dole out the $26 million, now $128.8 million, in individual payments of $20,000 to the Western Shoshone. The tribe includes about 6,600 people living in Nevada, California, Idaho and Utah. Proponents of Reid's plan, including the self-selected Western Shoshone Claims Steering Committee, argue that the money will alleviate poverty. But the more representative Western Shoshone National Council, along with the Western Shoshone Defense Project, say the settlement is a boondoggle to get the Western Shoshone to permanently relinquish all claims to the more than 26 million acres that historically belonged to them, so that large mining companies can buy up or lease the gold and mineral-rich land from the federal government. Critics arguments are given weight by information from the non-partisan Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP), showing that Reid's primary campaign donors from 1997 until 2002 were mining concerns, including two regional companies, Newmont Mining and Barrick Goldstrike Mines. Recently, Shoshone activism seems to be taking a toll on Reid. He canceled a March 21 Senate hearing on the bill, apparently disturbed to find that a Western Shoshone Claims Steering Committee poll showing widespread support for the settlement used slanted, misleading questions. The Senator now says he won't push the legislation until the tribe conducts another, fair election that includes all tribal members. Related links: For What's Wrong With the Yucca Mountain Repository? [http://www.h-o-m-e.org/Forum/yucca_wrong.htm] For the Western Shoshone Defense Project [http://www.alphacdc.com/wsdp/] . For the Saga of Litigation to Protect Western Shoshone Territorial Integrity [http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shoshone/] . © The Gully, 2002. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 27 Wasting a mind, minding the waste Thursday, March 28, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury By Michael Green My doctoral dissertation was on the Republican Party's mind during the Civil War. Some Democrats, not hearing the time frame, asked, "They have a mind?" Of course they do. But at times they make you wonder: • Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had declared the nuke dump dead on arrival in the Senate; if he didn't want it debated, it wouldn't be debated. It turns out he didn't know all of the law's provisions. Any senator can bring up the issue and put it to a majority vote. Sen. John Ensign and Rep. Jim Gibbons said Daschle better keep his word, or he's a liar. Daschle suggested Ensign should try recruiting other Republican senators to Nevada's side. • The Clark County GOP wouldn't endorse state Sen. Mark James for re-election. He then withdrew from the race, denying that was the reason. But party chair Steve Wark was a Pat Robertson Republican (Robertson is the "minister" who called the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 punishment for allowing abortion and homosexuality). Some Republicans criticized James for pushing to repeal the antediluvian sodomy law and suggesting maybe we have a tax problem (by the way, they didn't repudiate congressional candidate Lynette Boggs McDonald for receiving the endorsement of liberal Democrat Joe Neal). The Godfather best captured this silliness when Michael Corleone, a political party unto himself, replied to his brother-in-law's denials of aiding in a mob hit: "It insults my intelligence." The GOP is insulting our intelligence. Let's start with Ensign and Gibbons. In 2000, they and Gov. Kenny Guinn assured us that George W. Bush would make his decision on Yucca Mountain based on sound science. It turns out the only sound that mattered to Bush was the change clinking into his coffers from the nuclear power industry. Yes, Daschle was wrong, and should take his lumps for not knowing the rules of the place he's supposed to run. But lying to win electoral votes is far worse. That's what Bush did--or Nevada Republicans lied about him. The problem for Ensign and Gibbons is their comments make them look cowardly. Democratic Sen. Harry Reid received national acclaim for daring to tell Bush he expects him to keep his word, then roasting him when his word proved to be worth about as much as stock in Enron. Whether you think Bush belongs in the White House, he's there, with all the power of a president. Standing up to him is one thing; trying to make people forget your party's lies by getting tough with the opposition party's leader is something else: laughable. For their local counterparts in Clark County, the problem is different. Yes, their party figures to win most, if not all, statewide offices. But they are a minority in the Assembly; the GOP majority in the state Senate is due to its strength in the North; and five of the seven Clark County commissioners are Democrats. Partisans sometimes forget that parties work best when they are inclusive. The rule applies to right-wing Republicans and all three of Nevada's left-wing Democrats. That helps explain the support Pat Buchanan received from Republicans (as Molly Ivins said, he's better in the original German), and why too many liberal Democrats decided that since Al Gore pandered too much to conservatives, they should vote for Ralph Nader. That's true even in Nevada, which often appears to be a one-party state: the gaming party. It's no secret that Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus of Las Vegas has less control over her brood than Republican Majority Leader Bill Raggio of Reno. That's too bad, not for ideological reasons, but because Clark County Republicans cave in all too often as Raggio sends state money to the North at our expense. Besides the strictures against speaking ill of a fellow Republican, Wark ran Guinn's grassroots efforts in 1998. Compared with the Southern Nevada GOP, Guinn is virtually communistic, but it's a lot to ask him to repudiate their views. After all, he won't even repudiate Bush. But his fellow Bush leaguers, Ensign and Gibbons, sure are ready to take on Daschle. Republicans have been more successful than Democrats at maintaining party regularity, especially nationally, in part because the GOP is less inclusive. But both parties sometimes forget that the goal is to win elections, not to maintain ideological purity at all costs. Ideally, a party stays toward the middle. Individual candidates are more likely to reflect their constituencies or--horrors!--their own thinking. If Ensign and Gibbons actually thought before speaking stupidly about Daschle, that's frightening. It's almost as frightening as what local Republican leaders are thinking. ***************************************************************** 28 UK: Keating and Mumba pulled from Sellafield campaign online.ie 29 Mar 2002 The Irish campaign to close Sellafield has hit a setback as a proposed media blitz by stars including Ronan Keating and Samantha Mumba had to be pulled as it breached laws on political advertising. An estimated 1.3 million Irish postcards are to be posted to England next month and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles and Norman Askew, the head of British Nuclear Fuels, will be among the recipients in an effort to close the Cumbrian plant. Ali Hewson, the wife of U2 lead singer Bono, is backing the campaign. However, as the postcards were bagged up and ready to be distributed throughout Ireland it emerged that a €200,000 advertising drive to coincide with the campaign has had to be scrapped. Hewson and her team discovered that the commercials would have breached the Radio and Television Act 1988, which bans the broadcast of advertisements directed towards a political end or over an industrial dispute. It was also believed that The Corrs had booked studio time to record advertisements calling on people to send the postcards. Despite the setback Hewson promised that the postcard campaign would go ahead and UK-based Irish celebrities, including Bob Geldof, would get involved once the cards arrived in England. ***************************************************************** 29 `Wing' plot to feature nuke waste road wreck Friday, March 29, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Correction on 03/30/02 -- A headline in Friday's Review-Journal incorrectly identified the nature of a fictional disaster that will figure in an upcoming episode of "The West Wing." The NBC drama will include a storyline in which a truck carrying nuclear material has crashed in a tunnel in Idaho. By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The nation's awareness of the potential dangers of transporting nuclear waste is about to take a huge jump. On next Wednesday's episode of "The West Wing," President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet and his staff will confront another crisis: a report that a truck carrying uranium fuel rods has crashed in a tunnel in Idaho. Nevada leaders, who are battling the federal government's effort to store the nation's nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, welcomed the free publicity. About 12.5 million households watch the topical NBC drama, and one of next week's story lines will showcase an accident scenario that appears to fit right into the state's case against the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. People who have been briefed by the writers and who have been sworn to secrecy about the episode's outcome said it does not specifically deal with Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The story has the uranium en route to a processing facility of some sort. Still, Nevadans were not about to quibble as the series will raise the possibility that "an unthinkable accident," the narrator intones on previews, could occur in the movement of nuclear materials. "This could be very helpful," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. "It's becoming increasingly obvious this is not just a Nevada issue, it's a national issue. It's getting into the popular culture." "When the number one show in America has an episode dealing with a nuclear waste accident, I think that says it all," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Christopher Klose, a Washington political consultant whose firm Shorr Johnson Klose produces television and radio ads, said viewers realize that "entertainment is entertainment." But he said the show may add to a general concern about nuclear waste. "If you're one of those 12 million viewers who really hasn't thought about this issue and this is your first exposure to it, it's got to get you thinking whether something can happen if this is rolling through your town," said Klose, whose clients include Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "It's not quite on the par of Homer Simpson working at a nuclear power plant, but it's somewhere between that and being treated like a statement of fact," he said. The airing will coincide with an announcement, which Nevada leaders are ready to start airing in other parts of the country, that shipping nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain will be too dangerous, sources said. The scope of the campaign may depend on whether more money will go into the state's $6 million Nevada Protection Fund against Yucca Mountain, sources said. Leaders have not ruled out buying commercial time during "The West Wing," but that could prove to be too expensive. Neither Reid nor Ensign would comment on the state's plans to capitalize on the program. Klose said he would advise a client to be careful about buying a commercial on the show because the fictional account may be more powerful than a fact-based ad. "I would encourage a grass-roots approach," Klose said, which would entail organizing events in cities with local leaders talking about "could this happen here." "The West Wing" episode may carry some Nevada fingerprints. Dee Dee Myers, a former White House press secretary who helps series creator Aaron Sorkin develop story lines, called state and congressional officials early this month inquiring about nuclear waste transportation. Among the questions was how proposed nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain might compare with other nuclear materials. Myers asked what the federal response might be in the case of a nuclear accident on the road. "I did talk to her, I don't know if she used anything; I thought she was pretty interested," said Bob Halstead, a Nevada transportation consultant. Berkley press secretary Michael O'Donovan said he and Myers swapped several e-mails. "They clearly thought this would be a good episode, and she was just doing some research on it and picking the brains of some folks," he said. The nuclear power industry plans to watch. "I think somebody will probably monitor it, and it if comes out with something totally misleading, we probably would have something to say," said Mitch Singer, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute. "It's a safe bet that with Martin Sheen as president, it's not going to come out singing the praises of the nuclear industry," Singer said. Sheen is no stranger to Nevada or nuclear issues. He has been arrested at least 70 times for involvement in protests on issues such as nuclear disarmament and homelessness and has participated in protests at the gates of the Nevada Test Site. Deborah Thomas, a "West Wing" publicist, said she could not discover Thursday what input Sheen may have had on the episode. Three years ago, Nevada was prepared to reap public relations benefits from another NBC show. The "Atomic Train" miniseries was to dramatize the derailment of a train carrying a nuclear bomb and nuclear waste through Denver. But last-minute script changes removed nuclear waste from the cargo and substituted hazardous waste. Review-Journal staff writer J.M. Kalil and Britt Faulstick of the Stephens Washington Bureau contributed to this report. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 30 DOE, Nevada lawmakers in war of words Las Vegas SUN March 28, 2002 Abraham never met with state officials before Yucca decision By Benjamin Grove Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham never met with Nevada lawmakers before he recommended a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, and now Nevada lawmakers and DOE officials are engaged in a war of words over why. Abraham made a good-faith offer to meet with the lawmakers in a Sept. 5 letter, Energy Department officials said. In the letter Abraham told Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., that he had dispatched his Under Secretary Robert Card to attend a public hearing on Yucca. He added, "I also would be happy to meet with you, the Governor, and the members of the Nevada Congressional Delegation to hear your and their views directly." Nevada lawmakers never responded to the invitation and are now "backpedaling" as they try to explain why they never followed through with Abraham, DOE spokesman Joe Davis said. "I would think that the Nevada delegation would take every opportunity to meet with a member of the Bush administration about this issue," Davis said. Abraham's offer to meet was serious, Davis said. "It's poor staff work for them to say that we did not take this seriously," Davis said. "This is a Cabinet member offering to meet with a U.S. senator." Nevada lawmakers dismissed the claims, saying the offer was a flimsy line tossed into a letter about public hearings on Yucca Mountain. "If the secretary ever wanted to meet with us about Yucca Mountain, we were just a phone call away," Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said in a written statement Wednesday. But Abraham never followed up with staffers for Nevada lawmakers to set up a meeting, Ensign said. "We never got that phone call from Secretary Abraham." The DOE and Nevada lawmakers are trading barbs at a time when the lawmakers are bracing for a critical vote in Congress on the Yucca project, a federal plan to bury the nation's highly radioactive nuclear waste 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Meanwhile, DOE officials are fending off criticism that they met mostly with energy company officials as they were drafting a national energy policy, which included an emphasis on nuclear power and called for a permanent waste repository. Abraham knew well the reasons that Nevada lawmakers oppose the Yucca project, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said. The DOE's effort to stress that it reached out to the lawmakers misses the point, which is that the DOE has long been biased in favor of putting nuclear waste in the state and never had an open mind to the opinions of people in the state, Gibbons said. "The Department of Energy is grasping at straws to prove that they have been fair, when they have been unfair all along," Gibbons said. "This is an effort to make us look like we are inconsistent." The context of the letter is important, Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said. At the time the letter was sent, Nevada lawmakers were urging Abraham to attend a public hearing in Nevada, which he later did. But at the time, the lawmakers were concerned that Abraham would consider a meeting with them to be an adequate substitute for attending a hearing in the state, Naylor said. "It is 100 percent spin to say that this was a genuine request to meet with us," Naylor said. "This is him trying to duck out of meeting with Nevadans in the state." That's "absolutely unbelievable" reasoning, Davis shot back. Davis added that Abraham heard plenty of input from Nevadans. In addition to the hearing he attended in Las Vegas, DOE officials attended 66 public hearings on Yucca Mountain during a four-month span late last year, Davis said. Abraham spoke to Gov. Kenny Guinn for an hour at Nellis Air Force Base on Jan. 7, and again for a brief, less formal meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington on Feb. 26. "We had more contact with the governor than with the entire Nevada delegation," Davis said. "(Abraham) was impressed with the governor. He made a firm case." Naylor said Nevada lawmakers did not have time to follow up a meeting with Abraham after he visited the state in mid-December. Shortly afterward -- on Jan. 10 -- Abraham recommended the Yucca site to President Bush, Naylor said. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 31 Businesses disappoint Guinn Las Vegas SUN March 29, 2002 LAS VEGAS SUN Gov. Kenny Guinn said he's "disappointed" with the response of the Nevada business community to his calls for more funds to fight the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. "I wish the businesses would step up to the plate," Guinn said. "We need to bring as much financial resources as we can to help Sen. (John) Ensign and Sen. (Harry) Reid in their battle to collect 51 votes to sustain my veto of the president." But some businesses haven't been contacted or lobbied by anti-Yucca forces, calling into question the effectiveness of the state's public relations campaign against the nuclear waste dumping plan. Officials with some businesses and industries say they would consider contributing to the anti-Yucca campaign, but point out they have not been contacted about the issue by Guinn or other government leaders. A spokeswoman for Las Vegas medical industry giant Sierra Health Services Inc., for example, said Thursday her company has not taken a position on Yucca Mountain but its executives would consider funding efforts if approached by the governor. "We've been focused on health care issues of late, but the Yucca Mountain issue is important to us and will be addressed," said Jenny DesVaux Oakes, assistant vice president for Sierra Health Services. Southern Nevada car dealerships also haven't organized to contribute money to the cause. Tyler Corder, chief financial officer of the Findlay Auto Group, which includes eight Southern Nevada dealerships with four more in Utah and Arizona, said the Yucca Mountain debate hasn't reached dealers' corporate board rooms. "I doubt that individual dealerships would contribute money," Corder said. "It's probably something that should be taken up by the Nevada Franchise Auto Dealers Association. It's not something that Cliff Findlay and I have discussed. It's a little out of our sphere of expertise. We have some opinions individually, but there's been no corporate policy yet." Corder said public officials seeking financial support could probably help their case if they came to the dealers and told them specifically how the businesses could help. If businesses haven't been contacted yet, it's likely they will in the next several weeks. Mark Brown, whose Las Vegas firm was contracted to handle public relations for the anti-Yucca fight, today said the pace of fund-raising efforts will be stepped up substantially in the next several weeks. In addition to a public call to all Nevadans for funds, direct appeals will be made to Nevada businessmen and businesswomen, Brown said. Guinn, Reid and Ensign will participate in those efforts, as will former state leaders, such as former Sen. Richard Bryan. "There's no doubt in my mind that people will step up to support this effort," Brown said. But with the clock running out, why not start earlier? "Before you can ask people to donate to a cause, they have to understand where the money's going to be spent," Brown said. "We now have a better understanding of what our target states are, how to communicate to those states, and have refined our legal strategy. Those two efforts are what someone would be contributing to." Guinn plans to veto the president's recommendation of Yucca Mountain by April 15. That would send the battle to Congress, which could override Guinn's veto. The House of Representatives is expected to do so easily, leaving the Senate as the one ray of hope for blocking Yucca. This Senate vote may happen this summer. To assist in this effort, Guinn, Reid and Ensign have proposed a $10 million national advertising and grass-roots organizing campaign. But with thoughts of a special legislative session on Yucca now dying -- and with the anti-Yucca Nevada Protection Fund nearly tapped -- new funds must come from somewhere. The three have hoped Nevada businesses would be a source. The state's gaming industry pitched in $750,000 through the American Gaming Association and the Nevada Resort Association earlier this year. When contacted by the Las Vegas Sun, Park Place Entertainment Corp. and Station Casinos Inc. both indicated Thursday they would at least consider contributing more if contacted by the governor or other officials. "We're going to be working with the governor and other elected officials to determine how we can best be useful in this effort," said Robert Stewart, spokesman for Park Place. "We're committed to doing everything we can to prevent the federal government from turning Nevada into the nation's nuclear waste dump." But there's also some annoyance running through the gaming community. In their view, casino companies have been the largest contributors so far to Yucca, and many feel it's time other companies and other industries pitched in. "I think gaming has done a great job of stepping up," said Lesley Pittman, spokeswoman for Station Casinos Inc., which donated $50,000 directly to the Nevada Protection Fund in January. "We will certainly consider more funds, but in the mean time, we'd like to see the rest of the business community step up." "It would be about time that the business community, most of which pays no taxes in this state, would at least participate by making a substantial contribution to Yucca Mountain," said Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM MIRAGE. "Consider that the banking industry alone makes as much money in Nevada as the gaming companies, yet they pay no state taxes. They should be at least matching what the gaming industry is doing, and one would think they'd be able to afford much more, since they don't pay any taxes." Non-gaming businesses contacted by the Sun this week were all over the map when asked if they would donate to the Yucca fight or if they supported the proposal for a special legislative session to appropriate more public money for the anti-Yucca fight. In most cases, two events on the Yucca issue this week haven't prompted companies to donate to the fight or increase their planned donation. Those events were the release of a poll conducted for the Sun showing strong public support for the special legislative session and a Wednesday news conference in which Guinn, Reid and Ensign sought more support for the fight. Businesses contacted For example a spokesman for the Howard Hughes Corp., developer of the massive Summerlin master planned community, said Thursday his company is working with local leaders to shape its corporate approach toward Yucca Mountain. Hughes publicly opposed the prospect of transporting nuclear waste through the Las Vegas Valley in a January 2000 hearing conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy. Despite that action, the developer has not yet committed money toward the state's anti-Yucca campaign, although its executives plan to discuss such action at an unspecified date, said Tom Warden, vice president of marketing and community relations. Also: + Although representatives of the Las Vegas air tour industry know the consequences a nuclear transportation accident could have on the local tourism industry, one tour operator said the industry isn't in a position to make financial contributions to fight Yucca Mountain battles. Jim Petty, president of Air Vegas, the No. 2 Grand Canyon air tour operator operating in Southern Nevada, said his company is still recovering from the tourism downturn that occurred after the terrorist attacks Sept. 11. "We're still in survival mode at this point," Petty said. "From Air Vegas' point of view, we have no funds available to contribute to the fight." Petty isn't convinced that the kind of fight lawmakers are envisioning will succeed. Like some business people, he thinks Nevada should consider working toward being compensated for accommodating nuclear waste. Shipments to Nevada appear to be inevitable, he said, so tourism businesses may eventually have to change their tune to assure guests that they'll be safe despite the shipments. + The city's dominant cable television provider made plans to answer the governor's call for assistance even before Wednesday's appeal. Steve Schorr, a local vice president for Atlanta-based Cox Communications Inc., said his company already has pledged to present public service announcements about transporting nuclear waste on Cox cable systems in the Southwest. "We have already notified our congressional delegation that we are committed to provide them PSA (public service announcement) time to put together a spot related to their position on the dangers of transporting nuclear waste," Schorr said. The company has promised a minimum of $10,000 worth of time on the Las Vegas cable system alone. Schorr said affiliated Cox companies in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., and San Diego, Orange County and Santa Barbara, Calif., also would show the spots. While Cox doesn't have production facilities to create a spot, the company would be willing to run whatever commercial the lawmakers come up with, Schorr said. The Greenspun family, owner of the Las Vegas Sun, is a minority investor in Cox's Las Vegas system. + Officials of the local home selling industry association could not be reached for comment Thursday on the funding issue. Earlier in the week, the group said it had no opinion on the issue of whether there should be a special session. "It's a decision the governor makes, and whatever he decides, we'll support it. It's up to him. He's the governor, and we respect him," said Joanne Levy, president of the 6,500-member Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, which last week donated $20,000 to the $4 million fund the Legislature earmarked to fight Yucca Mountain. + The Las Vegas chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties may eventually take a public position on the waste issue, though a NAIOP leader today couldn't say when the commercial real estate executives' group might do so. "What (events this week) have done is brought more to the forefront that we'll have discussions about in the very near future," said Rod Martin, NAIOP's president. "As far as having any official position, as of yet, we don't. It's just a function of needing to get together and seeing where the board of the organization goes with it." + A spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines, the busiest commercial air carrier serving McCarran International Airport, said the company was neutral on the special session question, but "shares the concern for tourism in the state of Nevada and will support any effort to enhance the industry in the state." + Ted Wehking, executive vice president of the Nevada Bankers Association, said today he has not heard any comments on Guinn's proposed special session from representatives of the 45 member banks in his organization. + Barry Hulin, president and CEO of Henderson-based Valley Bank, said his bank's board of directors has not discussed the issue. He doubts it would contribute money to the anti-Yucca fight. "I seriously doubt we'd spend shareholders' money to fund what is essentially a public relations campaign," Hulin said. "I'd rather see (elected officials) take the proposed $10 million from the state or $3 million from the county and spend those funds on fixing the homeless problem or funding education. ... With all the state's budget problems, it seems a little silly to pour all that money down a rat hole." + But the chief executive of Nevada State Bank favors appropriating more public money for the fight. "I was always told once I got in a fight, don't stop swinging because if you lose, you still know you gave it the absolute best fight," said Bill Martin, chairman, president and CEO of the bank, a subsidiary of Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation. "If the people want to stay in the fight (against Yucca), then you ought to spend the money. "You can't (fight Yucca) on moral persuasion; you're going to need some money to finance an effort. ... The polls I've seen show a heavy majority of Nevadans don't want (nuclear waste stored at Yucca Mountain), so I think (Guinn) would be spending the people's money for what the people want," said Martin, whose bank is the third largest in Nevada with assets of more than $2.5 billion. + Brent Bell, chief operating officer of Whittlesea Bell Transportation Co., which operates one of the largest taxi, limousine and shuttle bus services in the city, feels there should be a special session. "Actually, I think they ought to kill two birds with one stone on this and tackle the malpractice insurance issue at the same time," Bell said. "It seems to me those are two pressing matters that could be solved at the same time." + Also fired up over the issue is Larry Ruvo, co-owner of Southern Wine &Spirits, a major gaming industry vendor. Asked whether Guinn should call a special session, Ruvo said, "Without question." "I think the people of the state of Nevada and our government leaders should do everything and anything needed to help defeat and keep the dump from Nevada," Ruvo said. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 32 Minister Jacob speaks on dangers of Sellafield Irish Newspapers - Public concerns about Sellafield have been conveyed to a briefing seminar in London by Minister of State Joe Jacob. The Rathdrum based minister has responsibility for nuclear safety and radiological protection. He told the gathering, organised by the Foreign Press Association, that Sellafield represented a potentially serious threat to Ireland's public health and environment as well as to the country's fishing, agriculture and tourism industries. The reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel was the dominant source of radioactive contamination of the Irish Sea, the minister said. The storage on site of high level radioactive liquid waste, the continued operation of the old Magnox reactors and the transportation of nuclear fuels to and from the plant also gave cause for concern. 'Ireland is totally opposed to the establishment of the Mixed Oxide fuel fabrication plant at Sellafield. The addition of a further activity on the Sellafield site increases the risk of a major accident and the real risk to the health and safety of the public,' Minister Jacob commented. He said that the Irish government was determined to pursue every realistic means, diplomatic and legal, to bring about a cessation of operations at Sellafield. © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 33 Governor faces Yucca battle Las Vegas SUN March 29, 2002 Political, legal hurdles stand in way of more money By Erin Neff < [erin@lasvegassun.com] > In his effort to boost Nevada's efforts to fight Yucca Mountain, Gov. Kenny Guinn faces major political and legal hurdles to find money the state's senators say they will need to stop the nuclear waste dump. U.S. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., have asked Guinn to call a special session to appropriate $10 million for advertising and grassroots campaigns aimed at building support against the dump. But Guinn, who is exploring ways to find the money outside of a special session, faces three main hurdles toward appropriating money. For starters, there isn't much money to find -- the state has a $100 million shortfall, and Guinn has ordered agencies to tighten their belts. If money is discovered there are two additional roadblocks in the way: stringent regulations governing which funds can be tapped and how money can be transferred. If Guinn overcomes those, he then faces an uphill battle on the political front as the Interim Finance Committee of the Legislature will have to approve the expenditure. "The Legislature has got the executive branch very limited without their approval," State Budget Director Perry Comeaux said. Guinn said he thinks it will be easier to find $10 million to add to the state's lobbying efforts "off-budget," as an alternative to convening a special session of the Legislature because there are "less people to vote on it." Guinn said the $10 million is "not a sacred number," but state lobbyists say they will need more money to get the issue in front of the public as it heads to Congress. Congress is expected to decide the issue later this year. But Guinn said drafts showing how the money will be spent have already reduced the $10 million total. The state currently has $6 million in the Nevada Protection Fund, but much of that money has been accounted for. Guinn stressed Thursday that local governments are in better positions to contribute to the fund than the state, which cut $120 million last June and has had a hiring freeze on all noncritical positions for three years. Guinn has sent a letter to state agencies telling them to tighten their belts further in the coming fiscal year because of the expected shortfall of revenues. Some programs, scheduled to begin July 1, may be deferred several months to save money. "I think if the county can come with some money, we can come with some money," Guinn said. "First, we're going to ask the city of Henderson and the city of Las Vegas to give money." Las Vegas has pledged $100,000, and Henderson has pledged $50,000 -- both will donate in July, when the new fiscal year begins. "Can they come with more?" Guinn asked. "The city of Mesquite came with $50,000. Can the city of Las Vegas, because of their size, come with more?" Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said he would look for additional money, but does not think the funds will be available due to a bare-bones preliminary budget. "It's not any more difficult for the city of Las Vegas to cut than it is for the state," Guinn said. Goodman said he's "hopeful the private sector steps up a little more" to help in the fight. If the Clark County Commission approves a $3 million contribution to the fund Tuesday, Guinn said he will begin the process of getting state money transferred to the fund. He will convene a meeting of the Board of Examiners -- composed of himself, Secretary of State Dean Heller and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. That board must recommend any transfers to the IFC, which is scheduled to meet April 10. Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who heads the IFC, said he will "defer" to Guinn to find the money, although he is squarely opposed to a special session. The IFC emergency fund has $8 million. However, a portion of that fund has to be retained to cover potential forest fires predicted due to dry conditions. Although the transfer is possible, it is not wholeheartedly accepted. Senate Republicans and a mixture of Assembly Democrats and Republicans oppose a special session and think there are better ways to spend any money the state can find. "I don't know where we would get the money and I've seen no accounting of how they plan to spend it," said Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said that while she opposes Yucca Mountain, she thinks the state's fiscal reality makes it impossible to add more money to the lobbying efforts. "There are too many obligations already," Giunchigliani said. Guinn noted the difficulty. He said any savings from state agencies will have to be used to offset the expected $100 million shortfall this year in tax revenue for the state. The governor also said the state must make up $21 million to the public schools because the receipts from the sales tax did not come in as high as predicted. When the schools suffer a shortfall in sales tax revenue, the state is obligated to make that up. Guinn said this morning he is looking to see if there is extra money in the state's share of the tobacco settlement money. That amounts to about $40 million a year, but he said he thinks that is all used. Reid and Ensign knew from the beginning this would not be an easy task, aides said this morning. "Anytime you are talking about that kind of money it's not going to be easy," Ensign spokeswoman Traci Scott said. "(Reid) wouldn't ask if he didn't think it would be a good use of our resources," Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor said. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 34 Political notebook: Yucca fight gets help in prime time Las Vegas SUN March 29, 2002 By Erin Neff Nevada can be thankful it's NBC and not CBS calling attention to the dangers of transporting nuclear waste. After all, "Survivor-Yucca Mountain" does roll off the tongue a little easier than "Survivor-Marquesas." NBC's "The West Wing," which reaches 17.7 million viewers, is touted as a leading "realistic" drama. So next Wednesday's episode could resonate on Capitol Hill, and to a much wider audience than any proposed television ad campaign by the state to warn of transportation dangers. The episode features the president's staff dealing with the crash of a big rig carrying uranium fuel rods. Sounds as though the producers are channeling U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. Sure, it's only one of the show's two main plots, and it will be intertwined with worries about online tax filing, presidential proclamations honoring a retiring teacher and a legislative fight over Internet access for the poor. Oh, and there's also that other big plot involving jettisoning the vice president from the ticket. But the Emmy award-winning hourlong drama reaches an average of 17.7 million viewers and consistently draws a 6.4 rating among the top advertising demographic -- 18- to 49-year-olds. What's more, Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe &Co. consistently help the show win its time slot. It ranks seventh for total viewers for the season. It is also the No. 3 drama in all of television. It's nice the topic isn't featured on some of the shows that draw more viewers, as Nevada certainly has no "Friends" in the Energy Department, and really, Nobody Loves Spencer. Democrats hopeful Democrats looked so happy Wednesday that some observers were waiting for state party chairman Terry Care to jump into the reflecting pool at the George Federal Building as if he'd just won the Nabisco Championship on the LPGA Tour. Not only did the setting serve as the launching pad for Las Vegas attorney John Hunt's bid for attorney general, but it also brought dozens of donkeys out of hiding to clap for the first announced Democratic candidate for one of the six constitutional offices. And it also got the "juices flowing" for the world's happiest mayor. Oscar Goodman eyed the gushing crowd and said the support for Hunt gave him "a warm feeling" in his belly. At 10:30 a.m. it probably wasn't the Beefeater warming him up. But hanging out with Sen. Harry Reid and former Rebel coach Jerry Tarkanian did give Goodman visions of the governor's mansion. Then again, he said, "I love being the mayor." Great Debate Newsflash! Not only will there be a Jon Porter sighting next week, the man running for Congress will actually discuss his campaign platform in a mini-debate with his opponent. Porter, the Republican state senator, and Dario Herrera, the Democratic chairman of the Clark County Commission, will square off in the Associated General Contractors' "Great Debate" on Tuesday. Each candidate for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District will be asked to speak about the so-called death tax, highway funding, health care costs, soaring insurance rates and Yucca Mountain. The debate will take place as part of a luncheon during AGC's member expo at the MGM Grand Conference Center. Tickets are $38 for non-members and $25 for AGC members. Call 796-9986 for information. Cegavske endorsed Although she got into the race after the county GOP endorsement process, Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske has picked up an even more important endorsement in her race for state Senate District 8. The Nevada Republican Senate Caucus has unanimously endorsed Cegavske for the seat being vacated by Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas. The caucus blessing carries with it an open line to Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio's fund-raising prowess. Cegavske will face attorney Tom Christensen in the GOP primary. For the record + The Clark County Democratic Party invites all registered Democrats to attend the 2002 county convention April 13 at the Riviera hotel. Registered Democrats wishing to attend must call party headquarters so staff can verify their registration. Call 735-1600 for information. + GOP Congressional candidate Lynette Boggs McDonald will speak at the Nevada Republican Men's Club general meeting April 1 at 11:30 a.m. at Ellis Island casino, 4178 Koval Lane. A $12 buffet lunch is offered. Call 321-2424 for information. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 35 Sellafield protest move FRIDAY 29/03/02 10:04:38 The Irish campaign against the Sellafield nuclear processing plant stepped up a gear today. Ali Hewson, wife of U2 rock star Bono, today launched plans to bombard British prime minister Tony Blair and the Prince of Wales with protest postcards were finalised. In the coming weeks millions of cards will be sent across the Irish Sea from those fearing pollution, terrorist attacks or accidents at the Cumbrian nuclear power plant. Over the weekend 1.3 million pre-paid postcards will be dropped through the letter boxes of every home in the Irish Republic as part of a campaign which has the backing of Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. Another 2.7 million cards will be on sale across the country and everyone will be urged to send one calling for the plant`s closure. The cards come already addressed to Mr Blair, Prince Charles and Norman Askew, the head of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), which runs Sellafield. All cards posted in the Republic will be collected by the postal service and delivered on April 26 - the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Ms Hewson said: ``I have always felt strongly opposed to Sellafield. It is 60 miles away from the Irish coast. ``It is pumping two million gallons of radioactive liquid waste into the Irish sea every day, making the Irish Sea the most radioactive sea in the world. ``Now, we can actually send the weight of everybody`s concerns right through the front door of 10 Downing Street and on to Tony Blair`s desk. ``I think people in Ireland are more aware of what could happen if there was an accident than people in England. ``The Irish are really angry and fed up with Sellafield and with the English Government refusing to listen to our concerns,`` she said. The postcards being sent to Mr Blair will show an eye and carry the message: `Tony, look me in the eye and tell me I am safe`. Another shows a set of human lips calling on Sellafield chief Mr Askew to ``tell us the truth``. And a third, addressed to St James`s Palace, shows an image of Ireland suffering the fallout of a nuclear disaster at the plant. Sellafield has been a contentious issue between Dublin and Westminster for years, with Irish citizens and politicians pointing out that Dublin is closer to Sellafield than London. The commissioning of a new mixed oxide (MOX) reprocessing facility at the end of last year provoked outrage in the Irish Republic amid growing fears that the installation could prove an attractive terrorist target following the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. Mr Ahern`s party, Fianna Fail, recently launched a high-profile protest against Sellafield recently, taking out full page advertisements demanding its closure in British newspapers. Ireland has already taken two legal actions against Sellafield. The first was under the Ospar Convention on nuclear emissions and the second was made to the Hamburg-based United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea. Although Ireland failed to win an injunction banning the opening of the MOX plant, it claimed a partial victory after the Hamburg panel ordered Britain not to exacerbate Irish fears. ***************************************************************** 36 Plume's edges plotted The Hawk Eye Newspaper Archive [http://archive.thehawkeye.com] Friday, March 29, 2002 Contaminated groundwater 20 to 60 feet below the surface. By Dennis J. Carroll The Hawk Eye After many months of plotting the parameters of an explosives–contaminated plume of groundwater south of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, cleanup officials say they finally have determined its boundaries. Kevin Howe, cleanup projects manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Thursday the 4,000–by–8,000–foot plume extends generally from about 500 feet north of U.S. 61 to about one–third of a mile south of the Skunk River. At the northern end, the plume begins about one–half mile east of the Green Valley Estates subdivision and extends another one–half mile to the west. At its widest, Howe said, it is about three–quarters of a mile across. The worst contamination is at 20 to 60 feet below the surface, where groundwater contains RDX contamination at levels 10 to 20 times what is considered safe to drink over a long period of time, Howe said. Residents in the area have been connected to the Rathbun water system. Howe told the members of the plant's Restoration Advisory Board that the parameters were determined by drilling dozens of test wells in and around the plume. Howe said one of the next steps will be to determine in which direction the groundwater is running within the plume. "We are not sure which direction the groundwater is flowing," Howe said. He said he also is not sure whether the plume is moving, but that wells have been drilled at its known boundaries to make that determination. Howe said it has yet to be decided how to go about cleaning up the plume, which resulted from decades of explosives waste flowing off the plant down Brush Creek. He said, however, that it may well be dissipating on its own. "Mother Nature might take of it before we can," Howe said after the RAB meeting. On another matter, Sharon Cotner, project manager for a Corps program designed to assess and clean up radioactive wastes, said her St. Louis office is waiting for a decision by the White House Office of Management and Budget on when the plant will become eligible for funds to clean up wastes left over by the Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC built and in later years tested components of nuclear weapons at the plant from the late 1940s to the mid–1970s. Cotner said she expects a decision within about a month. When and if Congress releases funds for her program, the Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, the Corps will begin assessing AEC–used areas of the plant for residual radiological and other contamination. Suspected contaminated areas include the nuclear weapons production line; firing sites, where depleted uranium has been discovered; the west burn pads, yards C, G and L, and a warehouse on Line 3 where nuclear materials may have been stored. Cotner told the RAB members that additional sites could be added to the list. "We don't want to have loose ends hanging out there," Cotner said. She said it's unlikely that the IAAP would receive any FUSRAP funds until fiscal year 2004, which begins in October of 2003. However, some planning funds might be released for fiscal 2003. The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 Front Desk · 319-754-6824 FAX · 1-800-397-1708 Toll Free ***************************************************************** 37 PSR reply to Abrahams Yucca editorial Physicians for Social Responsibility Letter: Re: Secretary of Energy's Op-Ed - Robert K. Musil Wednesday, March 27, 2002 To the Editor, The March 26th op-ed by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's, "One Safe Site is Best," makes a desperate attempt to justify the Administration's fatally flawed plan to transport and burry 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The whole premise of Secretary Abraham's argument is false and is being perpetuated to mislead the American public. Contrary to Secretary Abraham's assertion, opening the Yucca Mountain repository will not eliminate the waste from the 131 sites. There will always be certain amount of irradiated nuclear fuel stored on site as long as the nuclear power reactors continue to operate. Irradiated nuclear fuel rods coming out nuclear reactors are too hot and radioactive and have to be stored on site in a "cooling pool" for at least five years before they can be transported. This means, Yucca or not, every operating nuclear reactor in the country is going to have at least five year worth of irradiated fuel on site. As for the scientific suitability of the Yucca Mountain site which the Secretary stressed so proudly, federal oversight agencies like the General Accounting Office, the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, the Energy Department's Inspector General and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have produced volumes of material questioning the ability of site to safely isolate highly radioactive waste for thousands of years and have expressed "limited confidence" in Energy Department's claims. There are nearly 300 unresolved technical and scientific issues involving different aspects of the repository. Rather than addressing these issues the Administration is ready to launch a transportation project that, over three decades, would send more than 90,000 truck and rail shipments of highly radioactive nuclear waste through 44 states and within half-a-mile of fifty million Americans. The impacts of an accident or a potential terrorist attack involving such shipments will be especially devastating given the limited training and equipment available to emergency and public health responders. It is clear that, under pressure from the nuclear industry, the Administration has decided to ignore concerns for public health and safety and is hastily moving to initiate a process that could potentially endangering millions of Americans for thousands for years and generations. Sincerely, Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., M.P.H Executive Director and CEO Physicians for Social Responsibility ***************************************************************** 38 Sierra Club Letter: One site is okay, if it's safe - Carl Pope Wednesday, March 27, 2002 Dear Editor, It might not be a bad idea to place all our nuclear site in one site, as Secretary Abraham suggests (3/26), but let's make sure it's a safe site. Nuclear waste is the most dangerous substance we have created and continue to create regardless of the fact that we do not have a scientifically sound plan to dispose of it. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently ordered all 68 pressurized-water reactors to check their lids to see if they are still fit for service, following an incident at a plant in Ohio where acid had eaten a hole nearly all the way through the six-inch reactor lid, nearly leading to the release of thousands of gallons of radioactive water into the reactor's containment building. There are many reasons why Congress should reject Yucca Mountain, including threats to drinking water and transportation of the waste. Perhaps the Administration is so comfortable with the "science" because they tailored standards to fit the site rather than the other way around. When it was clear that the Environmental Projection Agency's existing drinking water safety standards would disqualify Yucca Mountain, the Administration weakened them. The EPA exempted an 11-mile portion of an underground water supply surrounding Yucca Mountain from Safe Drinking Water Act provisions-- placing water quality for Nevadans at risk and setting a dangerous precedent for future federal actions. Secretary Abraham further dismisses legitimate concerns about the safety of transporting nuclear waste. If Yucca is approved, up to 100,000 atomic waste truck and train shipments would travel through 45 states within half a mile of the 50 million people's homes. These shipments are at risk of severe transport accidents and terrorist attacks. And these risks would be taken to bring the waste to one more unsafe site. Nuclear reactors will continue to house waste as it cools and will continue to generate it so long as we continue to rely on this dangerous power source. As this issue moves on to Congress, Representatives and Senators should look at all of the science and vote to reject this unsound site. Sincerely, Carl Pope Executive Director, Sierra Club San Francisco, CA ***************************************************************** 39 Response to One Safe Site Is Best By Spencer Abraham Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force Letter: - Judy Treichel March 28, 2002 To: The Editor Response to One Safe Site Is Best By Spencer Abraham, March 27, 2002 The editorial by the Secretary of Energy, reprinted from the Washington Post in the March 27 issue of the Review Journal was outrageous and clearly shows the fraud that has been perpetrated on the citizens of this nation, particularly Nevadans, by this administration and its Department of Energy. How can anyone possibly believe that the decision to recommend Yucca Mountain resulted from an objective scientific study when the decision maker himself states that the facility is "critical" for both national security and energy security, which in the Secretary's mind means nuclear power. He also states that Yucca Mountain is "essential" for homeland security. So it appears that, science be damned, if Yucca Mountain goes down, we are doomed. Why submit a license application and play out the process with the "independent experts at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who will objectively and scientifically decide whether to approve construction of the repository?" Would the NRC buck the administration, the commercial nuclear industry and stand accused of threatening national, energy and homeland security? Not likely. The Secretary claims that after all of the analysis, scientists concluded that Yucca Mountain would be safe and will meet the radiation release standards for 10,000 years. According to the DOE documents, that happens only if the metal containers holding the waste inside Yucca Mountain resist corrosion and degradation for 10,000 years. When the containers go, radiation heads for the accessible environment. Independent scientists and the DOE agree that it is not if the site will leak, but when. To say that Yucca Mountain alone isolates waste is a great deception as is the statement that even if a volcano hit the repository, there would be no dangerous radiation release. In fact, if a volcano occurred, there would be immediately lethal doses to the people of Amargosa Valley and dangerous levels of radiation carried by the wind. "Safety" is provided by DOE's tricky math that reduces the doses by the probability of the occurrence. An example of this sort of logic is that if a person is directly hit by a meteor they would not be killed but only get a little scratch because it is so unlikely that it would happen. Terrorists may well attack commercial nuclear power plants as the Secretary suggests. The debate rages regarding the safety of those facilities. It is not a scare tactic to say that there are additional risks posed by placing highly radioactive waste on the nation's roads, rails and waterways. Wasn't it this same Secretary of Energy who stopped all shipments of nuclear materials after the attacks on September 11? Much of the cargo involved in that decision was only slightly radioactive and represented a much smaller danger to the public than irradiated fuel. Secretary Abraham states that those of us who oppose Yucca Mountain have "the vain hope a miracle will occur and this problem will just go away." Not so. We know that it won't go away and that Yucca Mountain is not the "solution" to the nuclear waste problem. It appears that the Secretary is still mired in deceptive mathematics. How does the problem get solved if the nuclear power plants continue to create about 2,000 tons of waste per year and Yucca Mountain opens eight years from now and begins accepting about that amount each year? If you use accurate figures, after 30 years Yucca Mountain would have the legal limit of waste and there would be the same amount of waste spread around the country at the reactors as there is now. And there could well be more if decision makers use a repository as justification for building more waste producing nuclear power plants. This phoney plan just results in one more waste site and a lot more waste. It is time for honesty about our nation's energy policy decisions and about nuclear waste. Nevada refuses to be sacrificed and will certainly not agree to be a part of such a dreadful national policy. Judy Treichel Executive Director Judy Treichel, Executive Director Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force 4550 W. Oakey Blvd., Suite 111 Las Vegas, NV 89102 702-248-1127, FAX 702-248-1128 http://www.nvantinuclear.org/ [http://www.nvantinuclear.org/] ***************************************************************** 40 CIA a tool of anti-Russian U.S. pols? WorldNetDaily: MARCH 29 2002 Moscow blasts Director Tenet over testimony before senators By Toby Westerman The Central Intelligence Agency and its director, George Tenet, "are the tools" of "some political and military circles" seeking to undermine U.S./Russian relations, according to official Russian sources. During recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tenet sought "to frighten" the senators when he identified Russia as the "first choice" of nations seeking "to obtain the latest technologies for the development of chemical, germ and nuclear weapons" and their means of delivery, Moscow declared. The statements were carried by the Voice of Russia World Service, the official broadcasting service of the Russian government. Tenet also informed the committee that the sale of these technologies "are a major source of funds for commercial and defense industries," as well as for Russian military research and development. Moscow claimed that Tenet's remarks were made to adversely affect the upcoming May summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Cooperation between Russia and the U.S. is becoming more constructive," Moscow observed. "It is this process," Moscow then asserted, "that causes undisguised discontent in some political and military circles." The "political and military circles" to which Moscow alluded were not identified. Detecting a pattern of "negative" comments when "[positive] prospects appear for bilateral cooperation," Moscow characterized Tenet and the CIA as "tools of those circles which would like to complicate the present political process." Tenet was also criticized in the Moscow broadcast for not providing "evidence to confirm his statement." When contacted by WorldNetDaily, CIA press spokesman Tom Crispell maintained agency silence on the methodology and the sources for Tenet's report. Ironically, Moscow's attack on the CIA and its director came after CIA participation in an unprecedented international spy conference just held in St. Petersburg, Russia, which called for "unification" in the war against terrorism and a permanent spy coordination organization. Russia and its closest allies, however, have been for years continuously implicated in the illicit sale of technology and materials for weapons of mass destruction. Russia's chemical and biological facilities have long been regarded as vulnerable to those seeking to acquire or develop weapons of mass destruction, while Russia's handling of its nuclear stockpile has caused even greater concern. In 1997, Alexander Lebed, former chief of national security and hero of the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan, warned the world that some 100 of Russia's small nuclear devices were lost. Two months following the attacks of Sept. 11, reports surfaced that a number of "briefcase nuclear weapons" could have come into the U.S., along with biological weapons – all of Russian origin. Belarus, united with Russia in a still-developing union state, was cited by U.S. and Israeli intelligence as "the largest supplier of weapons to Islamic radicals," according to an October 2001 report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The same report found Belarus to be "one of the most secretive countries in its weapons deals, and probably one of the most irresponsible. …" Ukraine, under the leadership of President Leonid Kuchma, is both a close friend of Moscow and reputedly a major supplier of arms to Iraq, which is habitually identified as a supporter of terrorism as well as a developer of weapons of mass destruction. The range of material provided to Baghdad includes antiaircraft missile systems and weapons-grade uranium. The level of weapons availability in Russia is reflected by the arrest of a 26-year-old heroin addict in St. Petersburg for possession of an operational, shoulder-held antiaircraft missile launcher. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the man claimed he only wanted to show it to his friends. Local police believe he was attempting to sell the weapon. I.J. Toby Westerman, is a contributing reporter for WorldNetDaily who focuses on current events in the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Balkans. © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 A-bomb documents fetch record prices at Christie's - Japan Today Japan News - News - Thursday, March 28, 2002 at 17:00 JST NEW YORK Historical documents related to the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japan city of Hiroshima at the end of World War II were sold at record prices at Christie's auction in New York on Wednesday. Among the items was Albert Einstein's famous letter dated Aug. 2, 1939, to then U.S. President Franklin D Roosevelt. It sold for a record price of $1.9 million, or some 250 million yen. In it, Einstein wrote about the potential of a chain reaction using uranium for the "construction of extremely powerful bombs." The letter precipitated the Manhattan Project, which eventually led to the "Little Boy" mission of the Hiroshima bombing Aug 6, 1945. Einstein later regretted his role, and wrote in a letter in 1950 that his only contribution was that letter to Roosevelt. Another historically significant document was a minute-by-minute detailed personal account written by the co-pilot of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, which records the horrors of dropping the first atomic bomb. Christie's called it the "only in-flight, firsthand account" of Hiroshima bombing. Winning bidders for both documents were not identified since the transactions were made by phone. The log of Capt Robert Lewis fetched $350,000 or about 46 million yen. In it, he expressed his loss of words over what he and fellow comrades saw as "the greatest explosion man has ever witnessed." "I honestly have the feeling of groping for words to explain this or I might say My God what have we done," he wrote in the logbook. "For the next minute no one knew what to expect...15 seconds after the flash there were two very distinct slaps (air turbulence) that was all the physical effects we felt," Lewis wrote. He went on to describe nine-10ths of the city was "covered with smoke," and a "column of white cloud, which in less than three minutes reached 30,000 feet (about 9.1 kilometers) and then went up to 50,000 (15 km)." "I am certain the entire crew felt this experience was more than anyone human had ever thought possible. It just seems impossible to comprehend. Just how many did we kill?" Lewis recounted, adding, "If I live a hundred years I'll never quite get those few minutes out of my mind." (Compiled from wire reports) ***************************************************************** 42 Nuclear minister laments shortage of funds for submarine dismantling - 3/29/2002 - ENN.com Friday, March 29, 2002 By Associated Press MOSCOW — The Russian government is short of funds to quickly get rid of its rusting fleet of mothballed nuclear submarines and deal with other leftovers of the nuclear era, the top nuclear official said this week. "We carry a heavy burden left by the nuclear weapons program and industrial use of nuclear power," Alexander Rumyantsev said. "We have the necessary technology to dismantle and bury the nuclear waste, but we are short of money." Russia has decommissioned 190 nuclear-powered submarines, but nuclear fuel has been removed from only 97 of them, and most are languishing dockside, waiting to be dismantled, officials said. The entire dismantling effort is estimated to cost US$2.5 billion to $3 billion — a large sum for the cash-strapped Russian government. "Our state isn't ready for the task, and dismantling programs have lagged behind schedule," Rumyantsev said. Last year, the nuclear ministry unloaded spent nuclear fuel from 18 nuclear submarines. Fuel from 18 more will be unloaded this year, but there is no money for any more this year, Rumyantsev said. The wrecked Kursk nuclear submarine is to be among those dismantled this year. The Kursk sank during naval maneuvers in August 2000, killing its entire 118-man crew, and was hoisted from the Barents Sea bottom last October. Rumyantsev said that the number of dismantled submarines could increase starting from 2004, and all submarines could be dismantled around 2007. Environmental groups have repeatedly criticized the deteriorating condition of the decommissioned submarines, some of which have sat in ports for as long as 15 years, with fuel aboard and their hulls rusting through. Rumyantsev voiced hope that imports of spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing would let his ministry earn funds to speed up nuclear dismantling programs. He said that a project of building a storage for low-active nuclear waste at Russia's Shimushir Island was economically feasible but stands little chance of implementation because of strong protests by environmentalists. Copyright 2002, Associated Press ***************************************************************** 43 Supreme Court Overturns Defense Ministry Order Ruling - The St. Petersburg Times. General news from St.Petersburg and Russia #757, Friday, March 29, 2002 By Nabi Abdullaev STAFF WRITER MOSCOW - In a setback for human-rights activists, the Presidium of the Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned an earlier ruling that invalidated part of a secret Defense Ministry document used to prosecute high-profile espionage suspects such as environmentalist Alexander Nikitin, military journalist Grigory Pasko and arms analyst Igor Sutyagin. But the Presidium said the court should take another look at the document, Order No. 055, which gives a list of data that the Defense Ministry considers to be state secrets. "The judges didn't tell us that we were not right. They just returned us to the starting point," Nikitin said. The Supreme Court ruled last September that 10 of the document's 650 articles should be annulled, and said the decision would apply retroactively to 1996, when the order was issued. The Defense Ministry appealed the ruling, and its appeal was denied in November. The chief military prosecutor later filed his own appeal, saying the 10 articles should be annulled only as of November. Thus the use of the secret decree against Nikitin, Pasko, Sutyagin and others would stand. To complicate the case further, the military arm of the Supreme Court ruled in February to invalidate the entire order. This ruling has not gone into effect, and it is unclear how it will be affected by Wednesday's decision. In any event, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal of the February ruling on April 2. Yury Shmidt, Nikitin's lawyer and a human rights activist, urged the 11-member Presidium to let the September decision stand. "It is a practice of the Supreme Court to invalidate legal documents as of their date of issue," he said. "A computer search in the court's database showed that in not a single case was a document invalidated only as of the court decision." Nikitin, whose appeal led to the September ruling, said that what he and his supporters are demanding is a clear legal playing field. "As an ecologist exploring nuclear issues, at any moment I can once again run into a fact that this order considers a state secret," said Nikitin, who now heads the St. Petersburg-based Human Rights Ecological Center. Russia has a federal law on state secrets, but its categories of classified information are very general and it allows ministries and other federal agencies to draw up their own lists of secret data. Nikitin, a former navy officer, was arrested in 1996 and spent more than 11 months in prison, charged with treason for writing a report for the Norwegian environmental group Bellona that divulged information about the navy's dumping of nuclear waste into the North Sea. He was acquitted in 1999. To a considerable extent, the case against him was based on Order No. 055. In annulling the 10 articles in September, the court said the order was not issued solely for the Defense Ministry's internal use and thus should have been registered with the Justice Ministry and made public. But the ministry's representative, Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Rusanov, told the Presidium on Wednesday that the court made a mistake. "This order is just a list of information, it is not a law and it is dedicated for internal use," he said. But Rusanov conceded that the order should not have been used by prosecutors from a different agency - for instance, the Federal Security Service, which filed charges against Nikitin, Pasko and Sutyagin - or against civilians. He warned that if the court, after its review, upholds the September ruling, then the Defense Ministry would issue a new order that would be equally strong. If the court continues to consider such orders to apply to other agencies, the ministry would register the new order and then it could indeed be used to prosecute civilians as well as members of the military, Rusanov said. Shmidt criticized the decision Wednesday to send the order back for a new review. "The court couldn't satisfy the illiterate protest of the military prosecutor and decided to drag out the case to give the Defense Ministry time to register the order or for other surprises," he said. The Presidium deliberated for less than 15 minutes before its decision was read out by the chairperson of the Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev. He gave no explanation. Pasko's lawyer, Ivan Pavlov, said he could not comment on the decision until the Presidium released its written statement. Rusanov was not so reticent. "I am very, very satisfied," he said as he left the courthouse. Order No. 055 was also the basis of the case against Pasko, who was charged with treason in 1997 for giving Japanese journalists information about the dumping of nuclear materials by the Pacific Fleet. He was acquitted of treason in 1999 but convicted of the lesser charge of abuse of office. Last year, after he appealed the decision, Pasko was sentenced on treason charges and is serving a four-year term in Vladivostok. E-mail [letters@sptimesrussia.com ***************************************************************** 44 Opinion - How Many Have Died So Far? - The St. Petersburg Times. General news from St.Petersburg and Russia #757, Friday, March 29, 2002 WASHINGTON - I wonder how many thousands of Russians have been killed by nuclear testing? I have a ballpark figure for how many Americans have been killed: 11,000. And amid talk of a return to nuclear testing in Nevada and Novaya Zemlya - and of "mini-nukes," to be used as conventional weapons - I wonder why no one mentions the fact that detonating nuclear weapons causes cancer. A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates fallout has caused 33,000 cases of cancers - from breast cancer to leukemia - of which 11,000 were lethal (www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/fallout/). And it's not just Semipalatinsk anymore: The CDC study suggests the definition of "down winder" - someone living uncomfortably close to a nuclear-test site - needs revision. "Hot spots due to testing in Nevada occurred as far away as New York and Maine," says Arjun Makhijani, president of the Maryland-based Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. "Hot spots from U.S. Pacific-area testing and also Soviet testing, were scattered across the United States - from California, Oregon and Washington in the west to New Hampshire, Vermont and North Carolina in the east." The CDC's study was completed in August but only published in dribs and drabs over the last few weeks. It was a long time in the making. Robert Alvarez, a Clinton-era Energy Department official, recalls hearing in 1997 of a "suppressed" study of fallout by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and asking for a briefing. "They were showing me these color-coded [fallout] maps of the United States. And I'm looking at this and it's really grotesque stuff, because I know what the numbers mean," Alvarez says. "And I look down at the bottom of the page and it's dated September 1992 - and here I am it's 1997." That NCI study looked at one kind of cancer - thyroid cancer - and concluded that nuclear-test fallout caused somewhere from 11,300 to 212,000 incidences among Americans. When the NCI's findings were finally published in 1997, Congress was shocked (shocked!) and demanded a follow-up. CDC complied. Its report to Congress emphasizes its study's conservative approach. But caveats aside, the estimate of 33,000 cases of cancer among Americans seems restrained - if only because it covers just 11 years, between 1951 and 1962, and the 48 contiguous U.S. states. That omits: all Chinese atmospheric tests, which were conducted from 1964 to 1980; French atmospheric tests from 1963 to 1974; pre-1951 tests in the Marshall Islands and in the Soviet Union; and the original three 1945 atomic blasts - in New Mexico, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. CDC's study also ignores fallout on Hawaii from Pacific tests and on Alaska from Soviet tests on the Arctic Circle island of Novaya Zemlya. And, since it is U.S.-specific, it says nothing of fallout's toll on the rest of the world. Alvarez says 19 atmospheric tests in that 11-year period released Chernobyl-scale radiation levels. So 19 Chernobyls ... 33,000 American cancer cases ... and 11,000 American dead. Nuclear-weapons powers "owe the world a real accounting of what they did to its health," says Makhijani. "It is high time for the United Nations to create a Global Truth Commission that would examine, in detail comparable to the U.S government studies, the harm inflicted upon the people of the world by nuclear-weapons production and testing." Matt Bivens, a former editor of The St. Petersburg Times, is a Washington-based fellow of The Nation Institute ( www.thenation.com [http://www.thenation.com] ). mail [letters@sptimesrussia.com ***************************************************************** 45 Board questions move to shut down SRS plant Augusta Georgia: Technology: Web posted Friday, March 29, 2002 By Brandon Haddock [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] Staff Writer A federal review board has raised more questions about a decision to shut down one of Savannah River Site's largest plants. In a letter, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board urged U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to consider keeping open the site's F-Canyon plant. "The board questions the wisdom of this course of action," board Chairman John T. Conway wrote March 21. The letter was released publicly Thursday. Shutting down F-Canyon probably will lengthen SRS efforts to treat radioactive wastes in the federal nuclear-weapons site's other canyon, H-Canyon, Mr. Conway said. "By prematurely shutting down one canyon, it is likely that the U.S. Department of Energy will significantly extend both the time to complete its stabilization work and the time the remaining canyon must operate," he said. In recent years, the defense board has repeatedly urged the Energy Department to keep both canyons open. The agency is required to respond to the defense board's latest missive within 60 days, the letter states. The Energy Department offered no comment about the letter. Wednesday was F-Canyon's last scheduled day of operation. The Energy Department has said it no longer needs the canyon, and that H-Canyon alone can treat any remaining radioactive materials. And F-Canyon could be reopened if need be, SRS officials have said. The plant is being placed in suspension for now, said its manager, Phil Breidenbach. This fall, site officials will decide whether to deactivate the plant, removing all known hazards from it to prepare for its eventual demolition, he said. Even after deactivation begins, F-Canyon could be restarted, but at a cost, Mr. Breidenbach said. "The further you go down the road, the more expensive recovery becomes," he said. Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com [bhaddock@augustachronicle.com] . ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************