***************************************************************** 05/30/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.137 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 AEC rejects Taipower waste plan 2 The European Parliament: Nuclear Russian Roulette For Bulgaria? 3 Two new cabinet ministers in Finland after Greens quit 4 US: Enron chief recommended Glenn McCullough become TVA chairman NUCLEAR REACTORS 5 US: NRC Names John Kramer Senior Resident Inspector at Fort Calhoun 6 US: NRC to Meet with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. June 4 To 7 US: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste To Meet June 18 - 20 in 8 Temelin nuclear plant to start second reactor * 9 Temelin nuclear plant to start second reactor NUCLEAR SAFETY 10 US: Terrorist threat to nuclear plants hard to measure 11 *'Nuclear' seafood caught off Wales* 12 US: From Hanford to Salem, agencies on high alert 13 Fears over nuclear pollutant cancer risk 14 UK: Public warned of fish radiation NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 15 US: N-waste triggers outrage 16 US: Turning plutonium into gold 17 US: Waste Editorial: A nuclear hardball team 18 US: Alarm as tribe offers land for nuclear dump 19 Cabinet to fulfill Orchid Island promise 20 US: Promise of tests on nuclear waste casks is long overdue 21 US: Yucca: More nightmares 22 US: Yucca Editorial: Accidents: like death and taxes 23 US: Musicians sound off on Yucca Mountain perils 24 US: Yucca advertising war heats up 25 US: Fremont officials want dirt on N.J. waste 26 UK: MOX LANDS BIG ORDER 27 US: It's 12,000 A.D. Do You Know Where Your Nuclear Waste Is? 28 US: Nuclear waste a mountain of a problem 29 US: Spent fuel from Wolf Creek would be sent to Nevada site 30 US: Yucca Mountain 31 Cabinet to fulfill Orchid Island promise NUCLEAR WEAPONS 32 US: "War on Terrorism" Winking at Nuclear Terror 33 *India's and Pakistan's nuclear nightmare* 34 India: Premier's poems ponder horrors of nuclear war 35 The Most Dangerous Place in the World 36 Recipe for a disaster 37 US: U.S. Border Security Targets Nukes 38 Nuke Fears on India-Pakistan Tension 39 Russia Plans Nuclear Dump for Soviet Test Site 40 Japan: Govt may ax panels on N-arms disposal 41 Nuclear high-wire act 42 Pakistan's nuclear trigger in US hands: Indian expert 43 UK: Worried over nuclear war 44 US: Strengthen nuclear deterrence 45 SEISMIC DETAILS OF PAKISTAN's NUCLEAR TEST CONDUCTED ON MAY 28th, 19 46 US: From Hanford to Salem, agencies on high alert US DEPT. OF ENERGY 47 [psy-op] nuclear bad guys 48 Center gets N-lab lead bricks 49 Livermore Lab warned of foreign 'brain drain' 50 Neighbors of Savannah River Site file suit for compensation 51 Residents join plutonium fight OTHER NUCLEAR 52 [psy-op] News Updates at Fallout Shelter News! 53 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.20 | 15 - 23 May 2002 54 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.22 | 24 - 28 May 2002 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 AEC rejects Taipower waste plan The Taipei Times Online: 2002-05-30 Thursday, May 30th, 2002 IMPRACTICAL: The Atomic Energy Council made clear its once muddled disapproval of Taipower's initiative to build a repository for radioactive waste on a remote islet By Chiu Yu-Tzu STAFF REPORTER Officials of the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said yesterday that the agency would not back a Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) initiative to build the nation's first final repository for low-level radioactive waste on a remote islet in Wuchiu (¯QËú) township, Kinmen County. The officials said difficulties pertaining to logistics and supervision made the site impractical. When examining a draft of the Radioactive Substances Act proposed by the AEC yesterday, lawmakers questioned the council's supervision of Taipower and its management of radioactive waste. "For example, the distances involved would make it difficult for us to supply and supervise the repository." Ouyang Min-shen, chairman of the Atomic Energy Council Answering KMT lawmaker Wang Yu-ting (¤ý¬R´@), AEC Chairman Ouyang Min-shen (¼Ú¶§±Ó²±) said yesterday that conditions on remote Hsiaochiu Islet were not ideal due to its inappropriatelocation. "For example, the distances involved would make it difficult for us to supply and supervise the repository," Ouyang said. Ouyang said that the council wished to base such facilities on Taiwan proper rather than on a remote islet and wishes to complete the task within 10 years. AEC officials have hinted since early last month to the effect that Taipower should give up the idea of building a repository in Wuchiu. It was then that residents of Orchid Island carried out a series of dramatic protests in opposition to an interim radioactive repository. The demonstrations prompted the Cabinet to look into relocating the 97,672 barrels of low-level radioactive waste. Taipower then floated the idea of locating the new repository on a remote islet in Wuchiu as a possible solution. AEC officials stressed several times this month, however, that the islet's proximity to China might cause unforseeable problems, such as possible claims for compensation by fishermen working in waters nearby. On May 15, AEC Vice Chairman Chen Kuo-cheng (³¯°ê¸Û) told legislators that inappropriate geological conditions should also have been taken into account. On May 20, AEC Vice Chairman Chiou Syh-tsong (ªô½çÁo) said that no country in the world builds repositories for low-level radioactive waste near its borders. AEC officials, however, said that the council had no reason to notify Taipower of the idea, because Taipower had not submitted a proposal to build a final repository to the council. The plan is currently being processed both by the Environmental Protection Administration for the environmental impact assessment and by the Ministry of Economic Affairs for a feasibility assessment. In addition, legislators yesterday urged the AEC to more carefully supervise spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and to take more of a long term view about what to do with it. Currently, highly-radioactive spent fuel is stored at the three nuclear power-plant sites. "The AEC should ask the US, the producer of the fuel, to retrieve spent fuel for further treatment," said DPP Legislator Lai Chin-lin (¿à«lÅï). Responding to Lai, Ouyand said that Taiwan had expressed the idea to the US. The international community, however, was promoting regional cooperation to handle spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Several countries having small nuclear programs face the same problems of storing and disposing of spent fuel. From an economic point of view, many countries see little sense in building their own storage facilities. Ouyang said that the International Atomic Energy Agency had started to collect and evaluate plans for on a regional spent fuel storage facility. "We still have to work to join such programs to solve problems pertaining to the storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel," Ouyang said. This story has been viewed 232 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/05/30/story/0000138192] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 2 The European Parliament: Nuclear Russian Roulette For Bulgaria? ENN From CEE Bankwatch Network Thursday, May 30, 2002 SOFIA ? On May 21-22, the European Parliament?s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy adopted a Report on the state of the EU Enlargement negotiations. In the Report, the Parliamentarians refused to reaffirm the EU?s position on the closure of Units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in Bulgaria in 2006. Instead, a number of misleading arguments commonly used by Bulgaria?s nuclear lobby appeared in the document. Thus, the Parliament has taken a significant step backward, away from the EU?s stance in favour of the rapid decommissioning of the most dangerous nuclear reactors in the Central and Eastern Europe region. "The position of the EP Committee is a surprise, but not a big one," says Petko Kovatchev, CEE Bankwatch Energy Coordinator for Bulgaria. "Since November 2001, a huge campaign has been waged by certain politicians, swamping Bulgarian society with misleading information about the potential affects of the decommissioning of units 1-4. There is no doubt that the nuclear lobbyists have also made a number of attempts to convince some of the MEPs to promote such a position," he added. The wording of the Report clearly shows that arguments were successfully transferred from the nuclear lobby to the EP authors of the Bulgarian enlargement chapter. This is a signal that the EP is in a doubtful position to work for the protection of the citizens of EU and of candidate countries from the risks of possible nuclear accidents. There are at least three dimensions to the current position of the EP regarding the state of Bulgarian nuclear energy. First, the prolonging of the operations of Units 1-4 at Kozloduy increases risks to society both in Bulgaria and abroad. In fact, the text of paragraphs 147 and 148 of the Report is a proposal that Bulgaria continue to play a nuclear Russian roulette game with its own future and the future of all Europe. Second, the arguments in favour of exporting cheap nuclear energy is a way to continue "nuclear colonialism" in Bulgaria, considering Bulgaria?s enormous energy dependence on Russia. For the foreseeable future, this approach blocks any possibility of Bulgaria creating an energy effective and modern economy that would lead Bulgaria towards sustainable development. Third, the call upon Bulgaria to "detail what steps it will take to replace lost energy capacity" is a signal that the EU has not learned anything from the failed 1993 Agreement between Bulgaria and the EBRD. "It is a great way to waste a huge amount of EU and other donors? money, shovelling it into the fathomless nuclear sector," stated Kovatchev. It is also doubtful whether new money should be spent for the modernisation of units 5 and 6 at the Kozloduy plant, as the Report proposes, since even the present measures have not been proven to be fully necessary. The present package of measures has already increased the Bulgaria?s external debt with loans totalling about USD 400 million. The European Parliament is slated to adopt the Report at its plenary session on June 12-13, 2002. For more information, contact: Petko Kovatchev CEE Bankwatch Network +359 2 989 2785 petkok@bankwatch.org Web site: http://www.bankwatch.org ENN Toolbox ***************************************************************** 3 Two new cabinet ministers in Finland after Greens quit Wednesday, 29-May-2002 10:00AM Story from AFP Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) HELSINKI, May 29 (AFP) - Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said Wednesday his coalition government would get two new ministers following the departure of the Greens' Environment Minister Satu Hassi in a nuclear power row. Hassi will be replaced by Jouni Backman from the Social Democratic Party, while independent Agriculture and Forestry Minister Raimo Tammilehto will be replaced by Jari Koskinen from the conservative National Coalition Party. The Green League decided Sunday to pull out of Social Democrat Lipponen's five-party left-right coalition after the parliament on Friday voted in favour of building a fifth nuclear reactor in the Nordic country. The Greens will officially leave the government on Friday at the Council of State's weekly session with President Tarja Halonen. The next parliamentary elections in Finland are scheduled for March 2003. The coalition government now consists of the Social Democrats, who won 22.9 percent of votes in 1999 elections, the conservative National Coalition Party, which won 21 percent, the liberal Swedish People's Party with 5.1 percent and the Left Alliance with 10.9 percent. ***************************************************************** 4 Enron chief recommended Glenn McCullough become TVA chairman The Oak Ridger Online -- State News -- 05/30/02 12:27 p.m. on Thursday, May 30, 2002 CHATTANOOGA (AP) -- Former Enron executive Kenneth Lay was among several people who recommended to the Bush administration that Glenn McCullough be named chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority. A White House official confirmed that Lay, who was then Enron chairman, wrote to suggest that McCullough be elevated from director to chairman of the government utility, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on Wednesday. Lay sent his letter to the White House one month before McCullough, the former mayor of Tupelo, was appointed in July. The White House official, whom the newspaper did not name, said that McCullough's selection was due mainly to the backing of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican. "Apparently, Mr. Lay recommended many people for many positions," said U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. "I was not aware that Mr. Lay recommended Mr. McCullough, but I was aware that Trent Lott did, which carried a heck of a lot more weight." McCullough said he was surprised to learn of the endorsement by Lay, who had squabbled with former TVA Chairman Craven Crowell before settling one of the biggest lawsuits in the utility's history. "I never met Kenneth Lay or spoke to him or anyone at Enron," McCullough told the newspaper. McCullough said that "after 14 years in private business and 10 years as Tupelo mayor, a lot of people weighed in about my appointment as chairman." Lay's recommendation was disclosed as the White House continued to gather documents from almost 2,000 staff members about their possible contacts with Enron. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee has subpoenaed information about White House employees' contacts with Enron. The letter Lay wrote on behalf of McCullough was part of a series of efforts made by Enron officials in 2000 and 2001 to try to influence the way TVA buys and sells power. The company also hired former TVA director Johnny Hayes as a lobbyist. TVA provides electricity to some 8.3 million people served by 158 distributors in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 5 NRC Names John Kramer Senior Resident Inspector at Fort Calhoun Station NRC: Press Release Region IV - 2002 - 26 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov No. IV-02-026 May 30, 2002 CONTACT: Breck Henderson Phone: 817-860-8128 Cellular: 817-917-1227 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov [opa4@nrc.gov] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has named John Kramer Senior Resident Inspector at Fort Calhoun Station, a nuclear power plant near Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. He joins Leonard Willoughby, the resident inspector at the plant. Mr. Kramer graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor of science degree in engineering in 1983. Following graduation he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy and served aboard the nuclear-powered cruiser USS Long Beach (CGN 9) until 1989. He left the Navy in 1989 and worked at Florida Power and Light as a senior reactor operator at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. In 1992, Mr. Kramer joined the NRC at its former Region V office in Walnut Creek, Calif., as an operator license examiner. Prior to his assignment as senior resident inspector at Fort Calhoun, he has served as resident inspector at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, near Phoenix, Ariz., and at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, near San Clemente, Calif. Mr. Kramer will reside in the Omaha area with his wife Gwendolyn and sons Blake and Derek. Each U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC resident inspectors. They serve as the agency's eyes and ears at the facility, conducting regular inspections and monitoring significant work projects. ***************************************************************** 6 NRC to Meet with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. June 4 To Discuss Replacement of Davis-Besse Reactor Vessel Head NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 66 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] No. 02-066 May 30, 2002 The staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet June 4 with representatives from FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company to discuss replacement of the reactor pressure vessel head at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station. The meeting will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Commissioners' Conference Room in the agency's One White Flint North Building, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The meeting will be open to the public for observation and NRC officials will be available before the meeting adjourns to answer any questions. The meeting contacts are Stephen Sands at (301) 415-3154 and Douglas Pickett at (301) 415-1364. Interested individuals may listen to the meeting via telephone by calling: (888) 390-5922 and entering passcode 1234 at the prompt. One hundred and fifty phone lines will be available. The plant, located at Oak Harbor, Ohio, shut down February 16 for refueling and maintenance. Inspections revealed a cavity in the top of the reactor pressure vessel head that was likely caused by corrosion from boric acid. The NRC sent an Augmented Inspection Team to the site to gather information regarding the degradation to the reactor pressure vessel head and issued a bulletin requesting prompt information from all of its pressurized water reactor licensees on vessel head inspections. An exit meeting to discuss the team's findings was held in Oak Harbor, Ohio, on April 5. To help keep the public informed of its activities, NRC has established a section on its web site where information about reactor pressure vessel head degradation is posted and updated, including press releases, correspondence with NRC licensees and other related documents. The web address is: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/vessel-head- degradation.html ***************************************************************** 7 NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste To Meet June 18 - 20 in Rockville, Maryland NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 67 - NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] No. 02-067 May 30, 2002 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) has scheduled a meeting on June 18 - 20 in Rockville, Maryland, to discuss, among other issues, volcanic activity considerations at the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a proposed notice of rulemaking on entombment options for the decommissioning of nuclear power reactors, and an NRC staff study on transporting spent fuel. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held in Room T-2B3 of the agency's Two White Flint North building, at 11545 Rockville Pike. It will begin at 12:30 p.m. on the first day, and at 8:30 a.m. on the two remaining days. A complete agenda is attached. For additional information or schedule changes, contact Howard Larson at 301-415-6805. ACNW AGENDA TUESDAY, JUNE 18, CONFERENCE ROOM 2B3, TWO WHITE FLINT NORTH 12:30 - 12:40 P.M. Opening Statement The Chairman will open the meeting with brief opening remarks, outline the topics to be discussed, and indicate several items of interest. 12:40 - 3:30 P.M. Igneous Activity Considerations at the Proposed High-Level Waste Repository at Yucca Mountain The Committee will hear presentations by several Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) consultants on their perceptions on igneous activity efforts by both DOE and NRC. 3:30 - 3:45 P.M. ***BREAK*** 3:45 - 5:15 P.M. NRC's Package Performance Study The Committee will hear an update by representatives of the Spent Fuel Project Office and Sandia National Laboratories on the current and future transportation safety studies and potential confirmatory testing. 5:15 - 6:00 P.M. Preparation of ACNW Reports The Committee will discuss proposed reports on the following topics: -- High-Level Waste Risk Insights Initiative -- Final Research Plan on Radionuclide Transport in the Environment WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19 8:30 - 8:35 A.M. Opening Statement The Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of today's sessions. 8:35 - 10:00 A.M. Entombment Option for Decommissioning Power Reactors The Committee will hear from the NRC staff on comments received on the Rulemaking Plan and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Entombment Options for Power Reactors. 10:00 - 10:15 A.M. ***BREAK*** 10:15 - 1:00 P.M. Long-Term Behavior of Waste Packages The Committee will hear presentations from the NRC and CNWRA staff on issues and activities related to the projected performance of waste packages in the proposed high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV. This will include presentations on risk insights from performance assessment analyses, and presentations on work related to confirming performance and understanding potential failure mechanisms such as from corrosion. 1:00 - 2:00 P.M. ***LUNCH*** 2:00 - 3:00 P.M. Yucca Mountain Review Plan, Revision 2 The Committee will discuss the elements of a letter report on the Yucca Mountain Review Plan, Revision 2. 3:00 - 3:15 P.M. ***BREAK*** 3:15 - 6:00 P.M. Preparation of ACNW Reports The Committee will discuss proposed reports on the following topics: -- ACNW Action Plan for FY 2002 and FY 2003 -- Entombment Option for Decommissioning Power Reactors -- Long-Term Behavior of Waste Packages -- Igneous Activity Considerations -- NRC's Package Performance Study -- High-Level Waste Risk Insights Initiative -- Final Research Plan on Radionuclide Transport in the Environment -- High-Level Waste Performance Assessment Sensitivity Studies THURSDAY, JUNE 20 8:30 - 8:35 A.M. Opening Statement The Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of today's sessions. 8:35 - 8:45 A.M. Election of ACNW Officers Members will nominate and elect members to the positions of Chairman and Vice Chairman for the period July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003. 8:45 - 2:45 P.M. Preparation of ACNW Reports (LUNCH 12 NOON - 1:00 P.M.) The Committee will continue preparation of reports. 2:45 - 3:00 P.M. Miscellaneous The Committee will discuss matters related to the conduct of Committee activities and matters and specific issues that were not completed during previous meetings, as time and availability of information permit. 3:00 P.M. Adjournment NOTE: Presentation time should not exceed 50 percent of the total time allocated for a specific item. The remaining 50 percent of the time is reserved for discussion. Thirty-Five (35) copies of the presentation materials should be provided to the ACNW. ***************************************************************** 8 Temelin nuclear plant to start second reactor * /Wed May 29, 1:30 PM ET/ PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The disputed Temelin nuclear plant near the border with Austria will start activating its second reactor Wednesday, an official said. Plant spokesman Milan Nebesar said management received permission from the State Nuclear Safety Institute to start the reactor on Wednesday. Nebesar said that workers will start pulling out the regulatory rods still on Wednesday night, and, "we expect the fission reaction to begin on Friday." 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. While Prague insists the plant is safe, Austrian government officials and anti-nuclear activists demand that it be shut down. Tests on the first unit of the 2,000-megawatt plant ? based on Russian design and upgraded with U.S. technology ? started in November 2000. But testing has been plagued by frequent technological malfunctions in the plant's non-nuclear part. A request for permission to start an 18-month test run of the first unit was sent to the State Nuclear Safety Institute on Tuesday. (nr/gj) Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 9 Temelin nuclear plant to start second reactor Yahoo! News - Wed May 29, 1:30 PM ET PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The disputed Temelin nuclear plant near the border with Austria will start activating its second reactor Wednesday, an official said. Plant spokesman Milan Nebesar said management received permission from the State Nuclear Safety Institute to start the reactor on Wednesday. Nebesar said that workers will start pulling out the regulatory rods still on Wednesday night, and, "we expect the fission reaction to begin on Friday." 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. While Prague insists the plant is safe, Austrian government officials and anti-nuclear activists demand that it be shut down. Tests on the first unit of the 2,000-megawatt plant — based on Russian design and upgraded with U.S. technology — started in November 2000. But testing has been plagued by frequent technological malfunctions in the plant's non-nuclear part. A request for permission to start an 18-month test run of the first unit was sent to the State Nuclear Safety Institute on Tuesday. (nr/gj) Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 10 Terrorist threat to nuclear plants hard to measure /Reports of potential attacks not always 'wholly reliable' / By Paul Choiniere - More Articles Published on 05/30/2002 The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to issue advisories to nuclear plant operators about potential terrorist attacks while reassuring the public that none of the threats can be considered credible and no specific targets have been cited in intelligence reports. Two new warnings were issued in the past week. One advisory cited intelligence reports that suggest an increased risk of terrorist activity in this country. For security reasons, the advisory and the information contained in it were not made public. Also in the past week, the NRC issued a new order requiring all closed nuclear plants that have nuclear waste contained in storage pools to implement extra security measures ?for the current threat environment.? Falling under that order would be the closed Connecticut Yankee nuclear plant in Haddam. How these increased security concerns should be viewed is unclear. Officials in the Bush administration have warned that more terrorist attacks at some point are a near certainty. Nuclear facilities are known to be in the mix of potential targets, but so are office and apartment buildings, bridges and reservoirs, and government structures, to name a few. The Washington Times reported last month on intelligence reports that suggest Islamic terrorists are planning an attack on a nuclear power plant in the Northeast, perhaps around the time of the July 4 Independence Day holiday. The same intelligence sources told the newspaper, however, that the reports could not be viewed as ?wholly reliable.? Nuclear plants have been ordered to be at the highest level of alert since the Sept. 11 attacks. At Millstone Power Station in Waterford, that has meant all vehicles are stopped by armed guards at the beginning of the access road leading to the plant and only authorized vehicles are allowed to enter. No boats are being allowed within several hundred feet of the plant. David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said security has been inconsistent from plant to plant. During recent visits to the Shearon Harris plant in North Carolina and Sequoyah nuclear plants in Tennessee, Lochbaum said he was able to get close enough to the plants to snap photos without being questioned. He said the only sign of added security were a few orange cones spread across the road. The UCS has distributed the photos on the Internet. Since September, the NRC has suspended drills intended to test security at nuclear plants. Ironically, the agency has cited increased activity associated with plant security as the reason it has not had time to resume the drills. In meetings with the NRC in April, representatives of the UCS urged NRC officials to resume the testing with tougher standards that reflect the increased threat. So far there has been no response from the agency, Lochbaum said. ?They were doing eight plant tests a year before September 11th. Now that we're at war and another attack is being said to be inevitable, they're not doing any security tests. That doesn't seem to pass the common-sense test,? Lochbaum said. Sue Gagner, a spokesman for the NRC, said the agency is satisfied that the nuclear industry is taking the terrorist threat seriously and is doing what it can to prepare for an attack. Industry officials frequently point out that nuclear plants are difficult, hardened targets. There are many other potential targets that are unguarded and so could prove move attractive to terrorists than a nuclear plant, they argue. Kelly Smith, a spokesman for the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Co., said officials there are reviewing the recent order to determine whether they should take any additional security steps. By and large, the new order simply formalizes measures that are in place, she said. While Smith declined to go into detail, the visible changes at Connecticut Yankee have included more security guards and limits on access to the property. According to the NRC, the security upgrades ordered at decommissioning plants with storage pools will include: ?Increased patrols, augmented security forces and capabilities, additional security posts, installation of additional physical barriers, vehicle checks and greater stand-off distances (from the plants) ... and more restrictive site access controls for personnel.? Spent-fuel storage pools are considered among the more vulnerable targets at nuclear plants. Once nuclear fuel rods are spent and removed from the reactor, they are submerged in the pools. The uranium-filled rods will give off deadly radiation for about 10,000 years. The pool water cools the rods and shields the radiation. The storage pools contain far more spent fuel than originally intended because no national central storage facility has been approved. They are typically located outside the reinforced domes that protect reactors, and so are more vulnerable to an attack. The new order calls for increased security only at ?plants with spent fuel stored in water-filled pools.? With space running out, many plants have begun moving fuel rods from storage into steel-lined concrete casks. That is being done at the Yankee Rowe plant in Massachusetts and at Maine Yankee, both decommissioned facilities. Preparations have begun for doing the same thing at Connecticut Yankee. While not indestructible, the casks would be a challenging target and breaching one cask would only release radiation from the fuel rods contained inside. Destroying a storage pool would uncover decades of nuclear waste, creating the potential for a catastrophic release of radiation. /p.choiniere@theday.com/ * * * * theday.com> | 1998-2002 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 11 *'Nuclear' seafood caught off Wales* * Welcome to The Irish Independent* May 30 02 VAST quantities of a nuclear pollutant have been discovered in seafood caught off the Welsh coast. The UK National Radiation Protection Board (NRPB) examined the level of risk presented by tritium after fish caught near a Cardiff factory were found to contain levels of the pollutant hundreds of times greater than expected. Tritium does not pose an "external" radiation threat because the particles released when the atoms decay have so little energy that they can be stopped by a layer of water less than half a millimetre thick. But if water containing tritium atoms is drunk, a cancer-causing change in a cell's DNA could theoretically take place. Medical experts cast doubts on the safety of eating fish caught near centres of tritium pollution. "The finding could have significant implications for people who eat a lot of fish from around the Cardiff plant," Barrie Lambert, a radiation expert from St Bartholomew's hospital in London, said. Tritium is used as a radiation source in exit signs and even some luminous watches. Vast quantities of tritium were released by hydrogen bomb tests in the 1960s, and more could be produced if scientists develop nuclear fusion as a power source. ( Independent News Service) *Charles Arthur* © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 12 From Hanford to Salem, agencies on high alert The Oregonian 05/30/02 Here's a look at how several key Oregon agencies have changed their safety and emergency preparedness since Sept. 11, and in recent weeks: NUCLEAR FACILITIES Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Southeast Washington houses the largest concentration of radioactive waste in the United States. After Sept. 11, officials closed some entries to the site and began checking every vehicle and every person entering Hanford. Badge checks have since been scaled back, but random checks are made and the driver of every vehicle is checked, spokesman Mike Talbot said. The region's only active commercial nuclear power plant, run by Energy Northwest, is at Hanford. "We went to our highest state of alert on Sept. 11," spokesman Don McManman said. "We've been on the highest state since." The closed Trojan Nuclear Plant near Rainier has kept the level of security it has had since Sept. 11 but hasn't increased it, spokesman Mark Fryberg said. CHEMICAL AGENTS The U.S. Army stores two kinds of nerve poison and mustard agent at a depot in Umatilla County. Since October, the Army has significantly beefed up security at the depot, spokeswoman Mary Binder said. Badge and vehicle inspections are stricter. Mustard agents stored in metal sheds were moved in March to concrete igloos. Some strict security measures in place before Sept. 11 remain, including a no-fly zone above the base and an order to use lethal force against intruders in some areas, Binder said. HEALTH/BIOTERRORISM Last fall's anthrax mailings and general concern about bioterrorism spurred many changes in the state health system. Three officials received special training on smallpox, a feared bioterror agent, said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epidemiologist. The state has done much detailed planning about how to deal with a bioterror attack. In the Portland area, emergency medical teams have been trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction, how to use decontamination equipment and give antidotes to chemical weapons, said Dr. John Jui, director of Multnomah County's Emergency Medical Services. AIR The Port of Portland Police, who provide some security at Portland International Airport, continues the heightened security put in place after Sept. 11, spokesman Steve Johnson said. A federal agency now handles screening passengers and bags, and random checks have been stepped up. Oregon State Police will provide the law enforcement that the Oregon National Guard has been providing. New Transportation Security Administration officers are moving into new jobs at the airport and will help with security oversight. In November, federal law enforcement officials will take over all security duties. The Federal Aviation Administration established several no-fly zones after Sept. 11 but has scaled those back, said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the agency's Renton, Wash., office. As before Sept. 11, he said, no flights are allowed above Umatilla and three Washington military bases. The FAA created new, temporary no-fly zones over "huge, large gatherings of people . . . large sporting events, things of that nature," he said. WATER The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which runs several Oregon dams, increased security last fall and has kept it high, spokesman Mike McAleer said. The Portland Water Bureau has proposed raising rates next year to help pay for its own larger security force and to cover four open in-town reservoirs within five years. The bureau added two full-time guards last year to patrol the open reservoirs and increased contact with local police, operations director Mark Knudson said. -- Andy Dworkin © 2002 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 Fears over nuclear pollutant cancer risk BBC News | HEALTH | Wednesday, 29 May, 2002, [Tritium is emitted by nuclear plants] Tritium is emitted by nuclear plants People may be exposed to twice the level of a carcinogenic nuclear pollutant than previously thought, experts have admitted. Tritium - a variation, or isotope, of hydrogen - is produced by hydrogen bomb tests and nuclear plants and factories. Despite their revised estimates, experts say the health risks are still low because even the higher dose is well within international safety limits. However, critics have warned people who eat fish from contaminated waters may have a have been exposed to much higher levels of radiation than supposed, and may therefore have an increased cancer risk. For the most exposed people, we're talking about a dose which is about a tenth of the dose limit Dr John Harrison, NRP The National Radiological Protection Board decided to re-examine tritium exposure levels after it was discovered in the late 1990s that levels in fish near the Nycomed Amersham plant in Cardiff, which makes isotopes for the drugs industry, were hundreds of times higher than expected. The NRPB then looked at how much radiation people are exposed to when they ate fish caught in the Severn Estuary. It now says the dose was twice as high as previously assumed. Weapons tests New Scientist magazine reports animal studies showed tritium-carbon compounds could stay in the body for much longer than previously thought and that the biological effect of tritium in water could be more damaging. The fear is that this means there is a higher chance that the radiation from tritium will trigger tumour growth. Tritium was also released into the atmosphere in 1960s nuclear weapons tests . And nuclear plants such as Savannah River in South Carolina, Sellafield in Cumbria and Chapelcross in southern Scotland still emit enormous amounts of tritium each year. Dr John Harrison from the NRPB who wrote the original research, which was published in the journal Radiation Protection Dosimetry, told BBC News Online international standards assumed different types of radiation, from does of gamma ray, x-rays and beta radiation from tritium were the same. After the Cardiff levels were discovered, this was reassessed by the NRPB. Dr Harrison said: "Why the risk seems to be higher is because we're taking into account the fact that beta radiation produced from tritium can cause more damage per unit, per dose, than gamma rays. "But even with this recalculation, for the most exposed people, we're talking about a dose which is about a tenth of the dose limit." He added: "Tritium is a weakly carcinogenic. In terms of radio toxicity, it's a thousand times less than something like strontium and tens of thousands times less than plutonium 239." Dose fears "People should not be particularly concerned about this". But Barrie Lambert, a radiation expert from St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, told New Scientist the NRPB's finding could have significant implications for people who eat a lot of fish from around the Cardiff plant. He said their current radiation dose could double to 133 microsieverts a year and that the dose could have been twice as high when tritium discharges of tritium were at their highest. International standards say the maximum dose should be no more than 300 microsieverts a year. A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency, which checks tritium levels, said: "In 1998, when the bioaccumulation of tritium near Cardiff became known we asked Amersham to drastically reduce discharges. "As a result of this pressure from the Agency, Amersham is currently developing a plant to recycle tritium instead of discharging it. "In addition, over the past two years we have carried out an extensive study around England and Wales to check if major bioaccumulation of tritium was happening elsewhere including Sellafield. This study confirmed that major bioaccumulation is not occurring elsewhere." © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 14 UK: Public warned of fish radiation BBC News | HEALTH | Thursday, 30 May, [River Severn, Second Crossing] Fish in the Severn were found to have high levels A warning has been issued that fish caught in the Severn Estuary and sold in Wales could contain high levels of cancer-causing radiation. The National Radiological Protection Board has said that higher than expected levels of tritium have been discovered and linked to discharges from the Cardiff-based pharmaceuticals company Nycomed Amersham. [Nycomed Amersham] The tritium was traced to Nycomed Amersham Tritium levels in fish from the estuary were significantly higher than expected, an article in the New Scientist revealed. Consumers have been warned that eating fish caught in the estuary will pass on beta radiation, which in the past has been linked with cancerous tumours. The New Scientist article, though, concludes the health risks associated with eating estuary fish are low although the oversight on discharges into the River Severn was "worrying". Nycomed Amersham said the NRPB findings concluded the amount of tritium was still within recommended safety limits. Plant manager Dr Grahame Guilford said that considerable research was being done to understand tritium and he added company scientists were sure the levels found could not do any harm to public health. Nycomed Amersham is now spending a large amount of money to ensure the levels of tritium released from the plant are minimised. [radiation symbol] The NRPB says tritium levels are not unsafe Nuclear industry author John Harrison, who wrote the NRPB report, said members of the public would have to eat 34kgs of fish a year to reach one tenth of the safety limit for tritium. Mr Harrison added that tritium was far less dangerous than other radioactive material, such as plutonium. "People should not be particularly concerned about this," he said. But Barrie Lambert, a radiation expert from St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, told New Scientist the NRPB's finding could have significant implications for people who eat a lot of fish from around the Cardiff plant. Maximum dose He said their current radiation dose could double to 133 microsieverts a year and that the dose could have been twice as high when tritium discharges of tritium were at their highest. International standards say the maximum dose should be no more than 300 microsieverts a year. A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency, which checks tritium levels, said: "In 1998, when the bioaccumulation of tritium near Cardiff became known we asked Amersham to drastically reduce discharges. "As a result of this pressure from the Agency, Amersham is currently developing a plant to recycle tritium instead of discharging it." © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 15 N-waste triggers outrage [deseretnews.com] May 30, 2002 By Cathy Free Deseret News columnist One of Lolly Seal's earliest memories is of looking out her front window and watching dark specks float through the air like pollen on the day after the sky turned pink over St. George's black hills. Today, she believes those little flecks are the reason so many of her friends and family are dead, their lives cut short by cancers caused by fallout from above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s. Now that the Goshute tribe is hoping to store spent nuclear fuel rods in Tooele County and the federal government is planning to send truckloads of radioactive waste through Utah to Nevada, Lolly, 59, can't help but do what her mother would have done: Speak out. "They've already poisoned our earth and poisoned our skies," she says. "I find it unbelievable that they would consider dumping on us again. Are we going to be complacent and allow them to do this? I would hope not." Lolly, normally a quiet, private woman who prefers a life behind the scenes, met me for a Free Lunch of sweet and sour chicken and pork fried rice at the Jasmine Bistro near her Holladay home to voice her outrage over the government's nuclear waste plans and recall the legacy of her mother, Irma Thomas. "If mother were here today, she'd be out there pounding on doors and raving on national television," Lolly says with a smile. "She was something else. Because of all the work she did, I really do feel obligated to get involved." A feisty woman with a quick tongue and sharp wit, Irma Thomas certainly was no ordinary St. George homemaker. The founder of Downwinders never intended to become a national spokeswoman against nuclear testing, "but she just plain knew it was wrong," says Lolly. "She spoke out against the government at a time when it was very unpopular and unpatriotic to do so. Everybody thought she was off her rocker, but she didn't care." Lolly remembers her mother snatching her baby sister's diapers off the clothesline and rewashing them after each atomic test, and she remembers her going door-to-door to gather statistics when people started getting sick. "Mama made a big map, pinpointing every house in town where people suddenly came down with cancer," says Lolly. "We knew a lot of these people. They were aunts, uncles, cousins, friends." One of Lolly's own school friends — the harvest ball queen — died of leukemia as a teenager and was buried in her gold formal gown. "Almost everyone I know was affected personally in some way by the fallout," says Lolly, who has had several bouts with skin cancer over the years. "People would sit on the black hills and watch the mushroom clouds like they were watching fireworks." Sickened by the thought of truckloads of nuclear waste traveling past the homes of her children and grandchildren, Lolly is determined to do her part to help stop it. "A lot of people are afraid to get involved because it's not always popular to ask questions," she says. "We think that somebody else will take care of the problem. But that's not going to happen. We need to act now, or this stuff will be on our doorstep. "My mama was just little old Irma Thomas from St. George, but she made a difference," says Lolly. "Because of her work, people are being compensated today for what they lost. How I wish she could be here to see that." Irma was 85 when she died of pneumonia in a Salt Lake rest home in 1991. "I know she'd want me to follow her example," says Lolly. "She'd want us all to speak out. We can't allow the government to poison this beautiful state again." © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 16 Turning plutonium into gold Rocky Mountain News: Local S.C. lawyer says each resident should collect ten grand if hazardous material is sent to state By Berny Morson, News Staff Writer May 30, 2002 A South Carolina lawyer wants the federal government to give everyone in the state $10,000 if Rocky Flats plutonium is sent there. The money -- $41 billion -- would compensate 4.1 million Palmetto State residents for the loss of property values as a result of having plutonium around, said Marguerite Willis, who filed a legal action Wednesday in federal district court in Aiken, S.C. "It's the most hazardous material in the universe," Willis said. She filed her action as a motion to intervene in the suit brought against the U.S. Department of Energy by South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges. Hodges is demanding assurances that the plutonium won't be stored in South Carolina indefinitely. Moving the mostly weapons-grade plutonium to the Energy Department's Savannah River Site is a major step in plans to close Rocky Flats by Dec. 15, 2006. Much of the plutonium at Rocky Flats was created at the Savannah River Site, where stockpiles of the material are stored in vaults. Constitutional lawyers weren't advising South Carolinians on Wednesday to begin spending their $10,000. "I don't think that claim is going to go anywhere," said Richard Collins, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Colorado. Claims that a government action reduced property values are difficult to prove, Collins said. "In our legal system, you can claim anything. You can claim payment for the Brooklyn Bridge," he said. Paul Campos, who also teaches constitutional law at the CU law school, said an action by people who live near the Savannah River Site could be plausible. But suing on behalf of the whole state is "a sure-fire loser," he said. Willis also charges that South Carolina is being singled out as a repository for the plutonium, which she says violates the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause. Campos called that argument "ridiculous." If that argument were upheld, the government would have to divide the plutonium among the states on a per capita basis, he said. Willis said she doesn't know of anyone who has won a similar case. But, she added, "I'm not sure a case like this has ever been brought." Lawyers typically take one-third or more of awards in legal cases. But Willis said she's agreed to let the judge decide her fee in the event she wins. An Energy Department spokesman had no comment. 2002 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 17 Waste Editorial: A nuclear hardball team Denver Post.com editorial Thursday, May 30, 2002 - In nuclear politics, the winners must play hardball. South Carolina has done so for almost a year, stalling plutonium shipments and making the U.S. Department of Energy kowtow to its demands. In doing so it delayed the closure of Rocky Flats, the mothballed nuclear bomb factory near Golden, and, by extension, the cleanup of every other federal nuclear facility nationwide. Given the national security stakes, it was necessary for Colorado's congressional delegation to toss some political curve balls, too. U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, a Boulder Democrat whose district includes Rocky Flats, and U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican who serves on a committee overseeing DOE, introduced bills to make DOE honor its promises to Colorado - and thus to every other state awaiting cleanup of federal nuclear sites. Called HR 4744 in the House and S.2523 in the Senate, the bill would accomplish two goals. It would slap DOE with fines of $1 million a day, up to $100 million annually, if DOE doesn't remove all plutonium from Rocky Flats by November 2003. Under an Allard idea, it also would let DOE reopen the environmental study about the disposal of surplus plutonium, giving the feds options if DOE can't send plutonium to its facility at Savannah River, S.C. Notably, the measure seeks the same federal guarantees for Colorado as DOE offered South Carolina, thus ensuring that South Carolina doesn't get preferential treatment compared with all other states that have federal nuclear sites. Plutonium, a manmade element that forms the core of modern atomic bombs, must be trucked out of Rocky Flats to let DOE finish other aspects of the cleanup and closure project. Its removal is the critical path, the long-term project without which other parts of the job simply can't get done. If DOE meets Rocky Flats' 2006 closure deadline, though, the feds can use the $700 million now spent at the Colorado facility annually and apply it toward cleaning up other facilities in the federal nuclear complex. Rocky Flats' closure is a national issue, not just a Colorado matter. Significantly, Udall, a liberal Democrat, got two conservative Republicans, U.S. Reps. Joel Hefley of Colorado Springs and Tom Tancredo of the metro suburbs, to co-sponsor HR 4744. Coloradans are proud that their congressional members set aside partisan differences to work toward such a crucial goal. The bipartisanship may spread. If folks in California and Idaho realize that South Carolina's bombast also is delaying cleanups at Lawrence Livermore and Idaho National laboratories, U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, a liberal California Democrat, and Larry Craig, a conservative Idaho Republican, could suddenly find themselves allies on this cause. Colorado's congressional delegation should make sure that lawmakers from other states understand why closing Rocky Flats by 2006 is important to their states, too. Editorials alone express The Denver Post's opinion. ***************************************************************** 18 Alarm as tribe offers land for nuclear dump Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Thursday May 30, 2002 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] The bleak, barren land in Utah that was given to the Goshute Indians as their reservation in the 19th century could now turn the tribe's few remaining members into millionaires by becoming a nuclear waste dump - to the fury of the rest of the state. The 70 members of the Goshutes have offered their inhospitable land in Skull Valley, Utah, to utility companies looking for a place to store 40,000 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste in advance of the construction of a permanent site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. It is believed that the companies would pay about $48m (£33m) to the tribe over 40 years for the use of the land, which is about 50 miles from Salt Lake City. An agreement has already been reached between the tribe and the eight relevant utilities companies. Now it needs only approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to become a reality. An NRC staff report has already been completed and concluded that the site meets all requirements. The storage facility could open by 2005. "We were given the land to use and this is how we want to use it," Leon Bear, a former security guard who is now the Goshute Indian tribal chairman, told the Los Angeles Times. He said that the tribe needed money for health care, housing and other social programmes. He points out that the military already uses land near the reservation for incinerating chemical weapon stockpiles and as a bombing range. The rest of the state views the plan with alarm. "I have one focus these days: to stop the storage facility from being licensed," said Utah's governor, Mike Leavitt. "We don't produce nuclear waste and we refuse to store it for those who do." The state has filed lawsuits to stop the site being built. The reservations were given to Indian tribes as sovereign territory in the 19th century as a permanent settlement of land disputes with the federal government. In general, the tribes were given the most unfertile and least desirable land. Over the past decade, many tribes have found that casinos - which are illegal in most of the US - can provide the revenue they could never obtain from farming the land. But few imagined that a tribe might one day make its money from nuclear dumping and some members of the tribe are unhappy with the plan. "We're here to defend the land not destroy it," said Sammy Blackbear, a tribal member. Most Utah residents are also alarmed. Polls show that more than 80% are opposed to the reservation being used as a dump. The Yucca Mountain site also faces opposition - mostly from tribes in Nevada who claim the site would be built on their traditional lands. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 19 Cabinet to fulfill Orchid Island promise The Taipei Times Online: 2002-05-30 Ministers Without Portfolio Yeh Chun-jung, second right, and Chen Chi-nan, left, shake hands with members of the new committees yesterday. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES ENVIRONMENT: Two committees that will deal with the relocation of nuclear waste on Orchid Island have been set up, in step with a promise made to Tao Aborigines STAFF WRITER The Cabinet formed two special committees yesterday to handle the relocation of nuclear waste stored on Orchid Island in a move meant to honor a promise made to members of the Tao tribe who reside on the island. The two new groups -- the Orchid Island Nuclear Waste Relocation Promotion Committee and the Orchid Island Community Development Committee -- held the first of what will be regular meetings shortly after their inauguration yesterday. The relocation committee will focus on the selection of a new site for the waste as well as timing, budgetary and safety considerations for its relocation. The community development committee will tackle the issue of compensation for the Tao tribal people -- who have endured the storage of nuclear waste on the island for two decades. Improving the island's standard of living, educational, cultural and health facilities will be among the committee's priorities. The team will also oversee the redevelopment of the site once the nuclear waste is removed. On May 4 the Cabinet promised to form two special bodies within the month to address the thorny relocation problem, after Tao tribesmen staged a sit-in at the site to pressure state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, ¥x¹q) to move the waste out of their homeland. The 27-member relocation promotion committee will be headed by Minister Without Portfolio Yeh Chun-jung (¸­«Tºa), while another minister-without portfolio, Chen Chi-nan (³¯¨ä«n), will lead the 21-member Orchid Island Community Development Committee. The relocation committee is composed of representatives of the Orchid Island Anti-Nuclear Waste Self-Help Association, environmentalists, academics, Taipower executives, indigenous legislators and officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Atomic Energy Council and the Council of Aboriginal Affairs. In addition to meeting once every quarter, the committee will also hold provisional meetings to address relevant affairs. Taipower began to store low-radiation nuclear waste from its three nuclear power plants on Orchid Island in 1982. To date, 97,0000 barrels of radioactive waste have been stored there. Taipower officials yesterday sought to clarify rumors that the waste would be moved to the first and second nuclear power plants in Taipei County. "The nuclear waste on Orchid Island will never be shipped here," Taipower said in a press release. For years, the Tao people have been demanding that Taipower relocate the nuclear waste. As its storage contract with the Orchid Island Land Reclamation Committee will expire at the end of this year, Taipower has been looking for an alternative site, either at home or abroad, in recent years. In the face of the looming deadline, Taipower is now seeking to extend its contract with the Orchid Island committee for another nine years. This story has been viewed 467 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/05/30/story/0000138184] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 20 Promise of tests on nuclear waste casks is long overdue Editorial [online@rgj.com] RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL 5/29/2002 07:59 pm Last week’s promise by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency that it would conduct full-scale tests on the casks that will be used to transport nuclear waste to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain was welcome, though not entirely reassuring. That’s because few of the promises for scientific study of the proposed nuclear waste dump have been kept so far, and when they have been, the standards have been changed to make sure the site passed with flying colors. But the transportation issue, long ignored by the federal government (Energy Secretary Robert Card told a congressional subcommittee last week that his department planned to figure out later how to get waste to the site), may be the most crucial. A recent rash of railroad and highway accidents — including a disastrous train fire in a tunnel under Baltimore — has given Nevadans, and everyone else along the likely routes for moving nuclear waste, good reason to be concerned. The most recent, the collapse of an Interstate bridge in Oklahoma, sent cars and trucks plummeting into the Arkansas River, along with tons of concrete and steel. Even if, as the feds insist, the odds are slim that such an accident would involved nuclear waste, Nevadans know that sometimes the odds are beaten — in this case, the result would be the contamination of one of the nation’s most important rivers. And the computer tests that the feds have relied on for their assurances that everything will be just fine are not sufficient. Serious, scientific tests in real-life situations — such as those we’ve seen in recent months — are a must. © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett ***************************************************************** 21 Yucca: More nightmares Las Vegas SUN May 30, 2002 Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: More nightmares on way Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun. JUST TELL ME it is a nightmare. Please. Either that or all those people around the country and, especially, in the United States Senate who say that accidents will not happen because the government knows what it is doing, better wake up. There isn't much more I can add to the incredible events of this past weekend that took place in Oklahoma -- every newspaper, including ours, has carried the news on the front page and opined as to the consequences -- other than to paraphrase what Porky Pig did not say, "That's not all folks!" There will be more barges taking out a major East-West arterial of the U.S. highway system. There will be more train accidents in tunnels to which firefighters cannot get and from which all kinds of devastating results could flow. There will be trucks plowing down our highways in which drivers will fall asleep at the wheel, careening their rigs across multiple lanes of traffic and spilling their cargoes from here to everywhere. There will be all of that because that is the nature of things. And anyone who would tell us differently is living in a fantasy world that will lead directly to human nightmares like the one we witnessed on the Arkansas River. I am writing about this, once again, to remind people in this state that Nevada's fight against President George W. Bush's decision to send the nation's nuke waste to a site not far from Las Vegas is not a done deal no matter how hard the nuclear industry and its quislings amongst us would have us believe. The news media is just starting to focus on the transportation issues involved with sending 77,000 tons of radioactive poison through our cities, past our schools and over our bridges just to satisfy an economic need of the power industry to build more nuclear plants. Media folks are just beginning to understand the trade-offs that will be necessary to make the nuclear power producers a few extra billion dollars at the expense of underrepresented Americans. And why are we underrepresented? Because we haven't poured tens of millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of senators who plan to vote in favor of Yucca just because they feel beholden to their benefactors. Well, what about the people along the railroads and highways who could die or, worse, live a long and painful life because money spoke too loudly in this case? Who represents them? That will be the media's job, and if they do it well every parent, every teacher, every doctor and lawyer, and every person who cares about the generations that will follow will know the dangers inherent in this ill-conceived plan. And that, my friends, is when you will see some heads turn and some votes turn even faster in the U.S. Senate. So, don't give up and by all means, don't travel over any bridges unless you know who is driving those boats! + All this talk about the government's plan to hurt Las Vegas and everyone along the way makes me sad. It also makes me anxious, angry and causes a good deal of disillusionment. It is good to laugh in a situation like this. So, if nuke waste is getting you down or you just want to spend an hour and a half laughing out loud, let me suggest a trip to New York-New York. That's where you will find one of the funniest people you will ever meet. Rita Rudner has not only taken up residence in Las Vegas -- one of the 4,000 or so who move here monthly -- but she has reached an extended stay agreement with New York-New York to provide her style of comedy nightly for locals and tourists alike. I am not an expert about such matters but I do know one thing: That lady makes me laugh. And she made the rest of the people who filled her cabaret theater do the same. Her comedy is refreshingly wholesome and clean and it is nonstop. When she takes the time to point out the differences between men and women and share with "what women want," there are elbows jabbing and fingers pointing to the beat that Rita creates with her deadpan delivery. And, then, there's Bonkers, a part of the act that you will just have to witness to understand why he's there. Rita Rudner is great fun. If you can't laugh with her, well, maybe you just can't laugh. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 Yucca Editorial: Accidents: like death and taxes Las Vegas SUN May 30, 2002 To Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, to Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, and to all the others who have blithely stated that transportation of high-level nuclear waste by highway, barge and rail is safe, please note this news just from the last couple of days: In Oklahoma, a dozen cars traveling on Interstate 40 plunged into the Arkansas River after a barge struck a bridge; in Michigan, the 2,200 residents of Potterville had to be evacuated after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed; in the Texas Panhandle, two trains collided head-on, killing one and injuring three others. In Oklahoma, it was tragic enough that the barge accident killed at least 14 people. Imagine if the barge had been hauling nuclear waste, or if a truck carrying the lethal load had been passing over the bridge at the time of impact. How safe would the nation feel if a couple of tons of radioactive waste were submerged in the Arkansas River? In Texas, the Forth Worth Star-Telegram reported that the collision caused the trains to "erupt into a fireball that burned for several hours." The casks that will carry the waste -- could they emerge unscathed from such an inferno? In Michigan, the Lansing State Journal quoted a fire captain as saying, "Nothing like this has ever happened here, there's no way you can plan for this." Two of the derailed cars were carrying sulfuric acid and nine were loaded with liquid propane. If such dangerous materials can be derailed near a populated area, why are federal officials so confident it could never happen with nuclear waste? Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas are all prominent on the maps showing proposed routes for the 77,000 tons of waste from nuclear reactors the federal government plans to ship to Yucca Mountain. If the plan goes through, we guarantee there will be another fire official somewhere, someday, saying, "Nothing like this has ever happened here ..." The stark truth is: Accidents happen. Nuclear shipments are not above the law of averages. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 23 Musicians sound off on Yucca Mountain perils Las Vegas SUN May 30, 2002 By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- Veteran musician David Crosby has been an anti-nuclear activist dating to the nuclear energy industry's early days in the 1960s. So he has watched with interest as the government developed its proposal to bury waste from nuclear plants in the Nevada desert. Now Crosby is one of a number of rock 'n' roll artists throwing their star power behind an effort to block the Yucca Mountain project. Crosby has joined a handful of musicians such as Bonnie Raitt and Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil, plus younger performers such as Ani DiFranco, who are making last-minute efforts to help derail the plan to haul nuclear waste to the Yucca site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas for permanent disposal. "I don't want to say I told you so, but all the activists at the time said, 'Don't build these plants -- you don't have any place to put the waste,' " Crosby said in a recent telephone interview from his California home, where he had just pulled fresh accident statistics off his fax machine, sent from the National Transportation Safety Board. "Now they want to move it. Statistically, there isn't a chance in hell they can move this stuff without having a wreck." Crosby is battling Yucca on the front where Nevada officials need the most urgent help: in Congress, where lawmakers are poised to give the project its final seal of approval. The House has approved Yucca overwhelmingly; the Senate is likely to vote in July. Crosby said he had spoken to a number of senators already, some he called friends, urging them to oppose Yucca. The 60-year-old singer-songwriter, who has been a member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, has several more calls to make, he said. Crosby said he has spoken to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., but wouldn't name others or recount conversations. Crosby said he was arguing a simple point to lawmakers: that the Yucca plan is dangerous because so much waste -- 77,000 tons -- would have to be shipped cross-country to Nevada from 131 temporary nuclear waste sites, many of them nuclear power plants. That invites the risk of accidents and terrorist attacks, he said. "This is a suicidal move," the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Famer said, adding, "Our rail lines are in terrible shape, man." Nuclear industry experts, plus government officials from a number of agencies including the Federal Railroad Administration and the Department of Transportation, say waste transportation is safe. And officials at the Energy Department, which manages the project, say the Yucca site is scientifically suitable for isolating waste for thousands of years. Nuclear power officials agree and have prodded Congress to give the project a green light. They argue that the Yucca plan is key to the industry's future. A lobbying war on both sides of the Yucca issue has developed as pro- and anti-Yucca forces muster in an effort to influence the Senate vote. Nevada officials and environmentalists say they have been outnumbered -- and outspent -- by the nuclear industry. But a few musicians can help a little in their bid to even the score, activists say. "This is artists who believe that our children, and our children's children, and our children's children's children, deserve a nuclear-free future," said Tom Campbell of the California-based Guacamole Fund, a nonprofit that organizes benefits for environmental causes. Campbell has worked with artists like Crosby, Raitt and Jackson Browne in recent years on anti-nuclear benefits. "A lot of us are worn out having to constantly struggle with this thing," Campbell said of the 20-year-old Yucca plan. Among the most vocal anti-Yucca rockers now on tour is Peter Garrett, frontman for the Australian band Midnight Oil, who has urged fans to call their senators and wants to meet personally with several senators, activists said. The band is hanging a banner at shows that reads, "Atomic trains and trucks through your state? Stop the Yucca Mountain dump. Urgent: calls needed to your U.S. senator." Garrett, the 7-foot, shaven-headed leader of the group, is also a lawyer and an outspoken critic of a proposed national nuclear waste dump in Australia. He spoke to reporters before a recent show in Portland, Ore., calling the Yucca plan a "harebrained recipe for hell." Raitt, another longtime environmental activist, said Yucca was "a disaster waiting to happen" during an Earth Day rally in Washington last month aimed at lawmakers. She urged people to call their senators. "Yucca is in a very active earthquake zone that leaks water like a sieve," Raitt said. "It sits atop a drinking water supply that would become contaminated with radioactivity if waste is buried there." Raitt, Crosby, Browne and the Indigo Girls were among the headliners on the Honor the Earth tour in 2000, designed to raise awareness of Native American issues, including the Western Shoshone's opposition to Yucca Mountain. The tour played 14 dates, including a few on proposed nuclear waste transportation routes. "Bush and his energy buddies in the industry and Congress have Yucca on the fast track," the Indigo Girls tell fans on their website. The veteran duo, Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, implore fans to contact their senators, and include a sample letter. "Tell your friends, tell everyone you know, write a letter or call your Senator and tell them to stop this dump." Rocker Ani DiFranco has also taken an interest in Yucca, allowing environmental activists to work anti-Yucca information tables at her shows. Activist Susan Alzner of the Citizens Awareness Network, an environmental group in the Northeast, passed out anti-Yucca postcards for fans to sign and send to their senators during DiFranco shows in April in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Providence, R.I. "Ani feels that people in general have become disconnected from the governmental process and she was excited that people have been engaged on this issue with their local governments and members of Congress," Alzner said. Even Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson, who runs an environmental group called Just Within Reach, is reportedly opposed to Yucca. When the topic came up during an episode of ABC's "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher" last month, Richardson argued that waste should be left for now in temporary storage at nuclear power plants. "You don't think there's any risk transporting nuclear waste on the road?" Richardson asked Maher, according to a show transcript. Host Maher, who said he supports Yucca, replied, "I do think there's a risk. I think there's a risk to living, but we're talking about the best solution. Do you think there's less of a risk keeping it in 131 sites around the country above ground?" Richardson: "It's above ground where they can keep an eye on it. If they put it below ground, it's out of sight, out of mind. What if we have an earthquake?" All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 24 Yucca advertising war heats up Las Vegas SUN May 30, 2002 By Benjamin Grove WASHINGTON -- The advertising war over Yucca Mountain continues this week with a pro-Yucca Mountain advertising blitz in newspapers in four key states and new television commercials in Wyoming. The newspaper advertisements, including some full-page displays in Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, ran Tuesday, today and will appear again June 2. The ads were paid for by the Alliance for Sound Nuclear Policy, a coalition of nuclear industry and pro-Yucca groups. The alliance includes the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear power industry's top lobby outfit and a leading Yucca advocate in Washington. The alliance placed the ads at a key time as the lobbying battle over Yucca continues in the Senate. The alliance purposely ran the advertisements just days before an expected June 5 vote on Yucca in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, alliance director Sherry Reilly said. The committee vote would set up a full Senate vote, expected in July. The House earlier this month approved the plan to ship the nation's high-level nuclear waste from 131 temporary storage sites nationwide to a permanent dump in tunnels under Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Among the senators who sit on the Senate Energy panel are four from the states targeted by the alliance: Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Thomas Carper, D-Del.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Gordon Smith, R-Ore. "We're just trying to get the message out there," alliance director Sherry Reilly said. The alliance ran four different ads in the four states, each featuring a different photo image. The Rhode Island ad featured a photograph of Yucca Mountain with the message, "For America's environment and national security, there's only one place for nuclear waste: Yucca Mountain, Nevada." The four ads feature similar ad copy explaining that Yucca Mountain is a permanent solution to the nuclear waste problem. "It just makes sense nuclear waste should be permanently disposed at a secure, specially designed facility far away from our waterways, towns and cities," the ads say. The ads urge readers to call their senators, with phone numbers listed. The ad running in Delaware features sailboats with the message, "Store nuclear waste on the shores of the Delaware River? Or in the remote Nevada desert? It's the U.S. Senate's call." It's not clear yet how effective the advertising might be. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., plans to vote against Yucca despite the alliance's pro-Yucca ad, a Biden spokesman said. Carper has not said publicly where he stands on Yucca, spokesman Brian Selander said. Neither lawmaker had seen the ad yet, the aides said. Selander said the ad had generated "a few" calls to Carper's office. The alliance and anti-Yucca groups have also purchased air time for dueling television commercials in three states: Vermont, Utah, and most recently in Wyoming. The anti-Yucca spots stress the dangers of waste shipping; the alliance commercials argue that shipping is safe. The dueling ads began airing in Wyoming this week. Physicians for Social Responsibility, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning group that opposes Yucca, purchased the $99,000 air time to run the anti-Yucca commercial through mid-June in several Wyoming markets, said Jaya Tiwari, one of the group's research directors. The spot is unlikely to sway the Wyoming senators. Republican Craig Thomas, who sits on the Senate Energy panel, has been a vocal advocate of Yucca. Republican Mike Enzi has supported Yucca in past Senate votes. A Vermont environmental group, in cooperation with Nevada officials, kicked off the TV commercial war in Vermont in April, and the alliance responded with its own spot. Similar ads later aired in Salt Lake City. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 25 Fremont officials want dirt on N.J. waste The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Thursday May 30th, 2002 Thursday May 30th, 2002 By TRACY HARMON The Pueblo Chieftain CANON CITY - Officials here want the dirt on the waste possibly headed this way. Fremont County Commissioners have asked an independent consultant to review an environmental assessment relating to the proposed disposal of 470,000 tons of Maywood, N.J., Superfund site waste soils at the Cotter Corp. uranium mill here. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract for the cleanup of the radioactive soil to Stone &Webster, a company that will oversee the project. Cotter Corp. has been named the subcontractor responsible for disposal of the radioactive soil that was left by Maywood Chemical Co., which extracted thorium to make lantern mantles from 1916 to 1959. Due to strong opposition by local community members, House Majority Leader Lola Spradley, R-Beulah, introduced a house bill which was signed into law last month that requires Cotter get state approval and host public meetings before the waste can be accepted. The new law also allows county commissioners to request an independent review of an environmental assessment and spend up to $20,000 of the applicant's money to do so. "This assessment will cost about $8,000 of Cotter's money to do this," said Jim Schauer, Fremont County Commission chairman. "It just made sense to do it - it is an opportunity for someone, an independent party or disinterested party, to verify the numbers." The commission has selected Sandra Attebery and Tom Grethel of AG Engineering of Canon City to do the review. Grethel has had some experience with environmental review at Rocky Flats, "so he has a super background in what we are looking for," Schauer said. Schauer said opponents, including the group Colorado Citizens Against Toxic Waste, have pointed out that regularly employed Cotter Corp. consultants have conducted the environmental review so "Cotter wrote the book." The "book" is a report about 3 inches thick, Schauer said. "We think it is a good way to go because the county has not had a major role. It is up to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to decide," Schauer said. Cotter Corp. Vice President Rich Ziegler said he is not surprised the commission has requested the review. "It is the normal course of business. It is a routine request especially on material that is coming from out of state. They want to make sure (the assessment) is correct," Ziegler said. CCAT spokesperson Shirley Squier said opponents are "happy about the fact that at least they (commissioners) are doing something. We feel positive about it and if (independent consultants) look at the report and see how incomplete it is, at least they will substantiate what we feel we are concerned about." Ziegler said Cotter hopes to furnish its environmental assessment and transcripts of the May 9 and May 23 public meetings to the state within "the next few days." Once the independent review of the environmental assessment is complete, probably by mid-July, "I have no idea how long it will take the state to make a final decision," Ziegler said. ©1996-2002 Chieftain.com [http://www.chieftain.com] ***************************************************************** 26 UK: MOX LANDS BIG ORDER Whitehaven BNFL has pulled off its biggest order yet for the controversial Sellafield Mox plant. But, amid anti-nuclear claims that it is being too secretive over just how much business it has for the expensive plutonium-recycling plant, the company refuses to go into details. The latest order comes from Germany and was first revealed in The Whitehaven News last May before the government finally gave its go-ahead for the much-delayed plant to go into production. A Heads of Agreement contract was signed at that time and in the last few days BNFL have announced the clinching of the contract with the German utility E.ON, which has shares in 12 of its country's 19 nuclear power stations. Although BNFL will not go into details of the contract because of commercial confidentiality, it is worth many millions of pounds, representing a 14 per cent increase in business on the Mox order book. SMP already has orders from Switzerland and Holland but the German deal may have convinced the British government of the plant's future economic viability. There is still plenty of spare capacity in the £472 facility and BNFL hope to fill up with what are regarded as crucial long-term orders from Japan. However, this will only be possible once the Mox fuel pellets which figured in the data falsification scandal have been returned to Sellafield, enabling negotiations to begin with Japan for its business. John Taylor, BNFL's then chief executive, re-signed in the wake of the scandal and four Sellafield process workers were sacked. Norman Askew, the new chief executive, said: "The new German contract is a major step forward and confirms there is a strong customer demand for Mox fuel for SMP. I am delighted we have signed such an important contract with E.ON who are one of our largest customers. "A key of the package of contracts is a commitment by E.ON to convert all of their separated plutonium arising at Sellafield into Mox fuel. "It is the biggest single Mox contract for SMP to date and will utilise a significant proportion of the plant capacity over the coming years." However, anti-nuclear campaigners at Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth claim the German deal still falls short of giving SMP economic viability and that the German customer was given bargain-basement prices in order to overcome a reluctance to buy Mox. They also warn there could be massive protests against the eventual Mox shipments to Germany. l BNFL will transport the fuel to Sellafield on armed ships equipped with canon to deter potential terrorists. ***************************************************************** 27 It's 12,000 A.D. Do You Know Where Your Nuclear Waste Is? The Village Voice: Features: Deep Time, Short Sight by R.C. Baker A proposed earthwork to warn future generations. (image: Abidi Safdar/Mike Brill) Posted May 25th, 2002 12:30 AM Bracing for Yucca Mountain's Nuclear Forever Deep Time, Short Sight by R.C. Baker n 1945, as the first atomic bomb was detonated in the New Mexico desert, one of its creators, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, recalled a line from Hindu scripture: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." This being America, though, someone smelled a profit behind this almost biblical source of power—nine years later, the Atomic Energy Act allowed private companies to build commercial nuclear reactors, with the promise of "energy too cheap to meter." But the bill for three generations' worth of nuclear power is now coming due. The Department of Energy is proposing to transport highly radioactive material from all over America to a nuclear waste dump inside Yucca Mountain, Nevada. Governor Kenny Guinn estimates construction of the facility will eventually cost more than $60 billion. He and most other Nevadans (with the exception of some local brothel owners, who predict a free-spending clientele among the army of workers expected at the site) are not happy that their state, already host to the radioactive leavings of decades of nuclear weapons tests, would receive 6 billion curies more. (By comparison, the accident at Three Mile Island released 15 curies.) In an interview, Steven Frishman, a geologist with Nevada's Nuclear Waste Task Force, talks about "downwinders," people who suffered deadly, long-term effects from the weapons testing, and how the federal government "knew it was dangerous and they weren't telling people." Now, he says, that same government, along with the nuclear industry, is "spinning the site," using "extraordinary levels of optimism and trying to convince people that it's safe because they have a political need to do it, not because it's actually a safe thing to be doing." The problem? The waste is so lethal that by law it must be completely isolated for a minimum of 10,000 years. But many scientists (including a panel from the National Academy) dismiss that time span as a bureaucratic convenience. Others point out that much of the waste (mostly spent fuel rods from commercial and military reactors) will contain uranium, plutonium, and myriad other "iums" that will be dangerous for hundreds of thousands to millions of years. Nevada's concern is that the site is not sound enough geologically to keep the waste from eventually getting into the groundwater, air, and food chain. DOE's own best case shows no violation of current radiation dose standards for roughly 100,000 years, but, as Governor Guinn's recent letter to Congress points out, DOE's computer models "have an uncertainty factor of 10,000." Still, the Yucca Mountain site is heading for a final, too-close-to-call vote in the Senate, and if it is approved, the maw of bureaucracy must be served. The Environmental Protection Agency has decreed that some kind of marker be erected to deter human beings from entering, drilling, digging, mining, or doing anything that would disturb the site or release its contents into the environment for the 10-millennium regulatory period. So artists, architects, and engineers must grapple with a time span at the outer limits of cultural imagination, a period that must take into account climatic change (will the brutal desert currently surrounding Yucca become wetter in a few thousand years?) and geology (there have been 600 earthquakes of 2.5 or greater magnitude in the area since 1982). And then there is humanity: As Frederick Newmeyer, president of the Linguistic Society of America, points out, any language becomes "unintelligible to the descendants of the speakers after the passage of between 500 and 1000 years." (Read any Chaucer lately?) So how do we warn away people whose language, society, and beliefs we'll never know, who may have undergone revolutions, disasters, wars, or epidemics right out of The Stand? The challenge of communicating danger over vast reaches of time was taken up by an exhibition [http://www.desertspace.org/uwsExhibition.html] earlier this year at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, entitled "Universal Warning Sign: Yucca Mountain." The organizer of the show, Joshua Abbey, wanted to use art to educate the public about the long-term hazards of the proposed dump. He received entries from around the world, many of which used the trefoil symbol for radiation, designed in 1946. But the meanings of symbols change drastically over time and from culture to culture. The swastika, long revered in many parts of the world as a symbol of good fortune, is metaphorically radioactive in others—it will get you jail time in Germany. The winning entry illuminates the problem of communicating tens, hundreds, and thousands of generations into the future. Ashok Sukumaran proposes to seed all of Yucca Mountain with self-replicating, genetically engineered, cobalt-blue cactuses, using this unnatural contrast against the ochre of the desert as a living warning. Clearly, though, this painted desert would be hauntingly beautiful and alluring, and might draw people rather than repel them. And there's the rub: Art and architecture act as our highest expressions of humanity, not as shouts of danger. Libby Lumpkin, the founding curator of the art collection in Steve Wynn's Bellagio Hotel, said one of the reasons she was interested in being a juror was "it was a show that no one could succeed at." Not that the government hasn't been on the case. The template for the eventual marker at Yucca Mountain was conceived in the early '90s for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico, the eternal (or so the DOE hopes) subterranean home of the detritus of the nuclear arms race. Among other things interred there are "contaminated laboratory piping, and booties and masks," says Michael Brill, an architectural theorist and professor at SUNY Buffalo. He led one of two teams of linguists, artists, engineers, archaeologists, and other experts, who were charged by Sandia National Laboratories to design a method of keeping future Indiana Joneses out of this real temple of doom. "Passive Institutional Controls," meaning monuments impervious to harsh climate and sandblasting winds, are mandated, because even the federal government has to acknowledge it might not be around in a few hundred years, never mind millennia hence. Right off, Brill's panel discussed leaving "great piles of this deadly shit above grade" so that anyone wandering near the site would become ill and die. The panel roundly rejected using corpses as "BEWARE" signs, however, due to inter-generational responsibilities: Our electric lights today shouldn't cause death or mutants tomorrow. So Brill's team concentrated on archetypal images of danger, things that are hardwired in all of us regardless of culture, and came up with massive, square-mile complexes such as Landscape of Thorns (50-foot-high concrete spires with sharp points jutting out at all angles), Forbidding Blocks (black, gargantuan, irregular cubes of stone, too narrowly spaced and hot to provide shelter), and other "menacing earthworks," all designed to convey "poisoned and parched and dead land, a place that's really no place." Anti-art, in other words. Buried granite chambers with warnings in the official languages of the UN were also planned, along with space to re-carve them in whatever languages evolve over deep time. DOE has opted for a cheaper design: a 33-foot-high earthen berm, half a mile square, studded by granite monoliths inscribed with warnings and pictograms of radiation danger. It has incorporated the experts' ideas for an information kiosk; high vantage points from which to survey the entire danger area; radar-reflective trihedrals; and small buried markers to warn against excavation or digging. Still, nothing will be built at the New Mexico waste plant until 2083, nor at Yucca Mountain until sometime in the 24th century. Transporting, storing, and finally sealing off such lethal material is a thorny, fraught process that we will not live to see completed. "Art is long; life is short," goes the old saying, but neither can cope with the insidious longevity of radiation. We can only hope our distant, unknowable descendants will understand that their ancestors crossed a line in this century—that our mummy's curse is not metaphorical or metaphysical, but very much the real thing. [http://www.villagevoice.com ***************************************************************** 28 Nuclear waste a mountain of a problem [St. Petersburg Times Online: Opinion: Editorials and Letters] May 28 Letters to the Editors Consider energy alternatives over nuclear power © St. Petersburg Times published May 30, 2002 Re: Nuclear waste a mountain of a problem, May 28. Thank you for the great article, and thank you for putting it at the top of the front page so it stands out in the newspaper racks for everyone to see. We have wasted many years ignoring alternative energy and conservation, and now with the war on terrorism, much talk centers around weaning ourselves from foreign oil. Meanwhile, the nuclear industry is making plans to grow and prosper, hoping no one will notice or that if we do, we will just shrug our shoulders and say it is the price we have to pay for energy and peace. Until there is an honest discussion about what effect alternative energy, conservation and "clean" burning technologies can have on our current energy consumption and pollution control, we shouldn't just roll over and accept more nuclear power plants or the extension of licenses for existing plants. -- Darlene St. Martin, Largo Shipping has a good safety record Re: Nuclear waste a mountain of a problem. How can you sensationalize an otherwise balanced story on nuclear waste by using the subheading, Bombs on wheels? Surely your reporters did enough research to know that the spent fuel or other high-level waste that would go to Yucca is not in a form that could explode, which is the essence of a bomb. If the implication is that some sort of explosive (a bomb) is going to be placed in proximity or fired at one of these robust shipment containers to create a so-called dirty bomb, that may be another matter that should be examined. But you should not have left your readers with the impression that one of these shipping containers could explode on its own. The safety record for past shipments of nuclear waste is excellent (zero accidents that led to any release of radiation or injury), and with vigilence and careful adherence to existing transportation regulations for such shipments, that can be the case in the future. I sometimes ask people in Nevada, "If this was a shipment of silver dollars for the casinos, could safe shipments be made?" -- Brian O'Connell, PE, director, Nuclear Waste Program Office, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Washington, D.C. Tallahassee leadership lacking ***************************************************************** 29 Spent fuel from Wolf Creek would be sent to Nevada site CJOnline.com | The Topeka Capital-Journal | 05/30/02 Wolf Creek has a fuel storage pool that can hold up to 2,353 used fuel assemblies. There are now 925 assemblies in the storage pool. Wolf Creek has about 193 fuel assemblies in its reactor. Fuel assemblies, sometimes called bundles, are about 13 feet long, Maycock said. A fuel assembly is made up of about 264 fuel rods. Fuel rods are filled end-to-end with 288 fuel pellets, which are made of uranium and are about the size of a metal band on a wooden pencil. No high level radioactive waste has been shipped from the plant since it began operation in 1985, and it probably won't be for some time even if the U.S. Senate approves the Yucca Mountain plan, Maycock said. The reason is that the government probably will move fuel out of the oldest nuclear plants in the United States first. The pools used to store the fuel are filling up at the older plants, and that type of fuel is considered less dangerous. "It's not as radioactive," Maycock said. It is difficult to speculate how the pick-ups will be handled since fuel would come through 43 states. Maycock said she imagined that only one nuclear plant would be involved in each shipment, meaning there wouldn't be stops made by a truck or train to pick up spent fuel at several sites along the way. The Nuclear Energy Institute has reported that for every ton of fuel, there are about three tons of protective shielding or more. Tests done have shown the casks are durable. Those tests involving the casks include running trains into them, setting them on fire, submerging them in water and dropping them from 30 feet in the air. According to the NEI, more than 3,000 shipments of used nuclear fuel have occurred in the U.S. since 1964 and no deaths or injuries were involved with the transport of the material. Yucca Mountain was one of three sites being considered in 1983. The other two were located in Texas and Washington. The U.S. Department of Energy was directed to study Yucca by Congress in 1987. Attention was focused on the site because of its remote location, dry climate and deep water table. "A deep water table means that water is about 800 to 1,000 feet below the potential repository," Maycock said. "Having it that low prevents possible contamination." Alicia Henrikson can be reached at (785) 295-1192 or ahenrikson@cjonline.com. © Copyright 2002 Morris Digital Works and The Topeka Capital-Journal. ***************************************************************** 30 Yucca Mountain FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 28, 2002 Accidents a Reminder of Deadly Potential Commissioners Herrera, Williams Met with NRC Today Two high-profile accidents this week – a train derailment in Michigan and a barge accident in Oklahoma -- occurred along routes proposed by the Department of Energy for shipping high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, located just 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The accidents point out a need to have Nevada’s concerns about the safety of the proposed shipments – and the ability of local communities to respond to such disasters -- addressed by the federal government, Clark County representatives said today. Commission Chairman Dario Herrera and Commissioner Myrna Williams today met with representatives of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to express their concerns about nuclear waste transportation and other issues. The implications of this week’s accidents were discussed. The first accident involved a train carrying propane and sulfuric acid derailing in Michigan and prompting the evacuation of 2,200 residents. The NRC is responsible for the safety and security of the proposed routes and the licensure of the casks in which the waste is transported. “What would have happened if that train had been carrying deadly nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain?” Herrera asked. “Just imagine if those two cars were leaking dangerous radiation right now instead of propane. Lives would most definitely be lost and the costs to local and state governments would be in the billions of dollars.” The second accident occurred Sunday when a barge struck a bridge on the Arkansas River in Oklahoma, causing part of the bridge to collapse and killing a number of people. “Had high-level nuclear waste leaked in such an accident, the impact upon the water supply could have had disastrous health, economic and environmental effects upon the surrounding area,” Herrera said. Commissioner Williams agreed: “These nightmare scenarios, God forbid, could come to pass if Yucca Mountain and the DOE transportation plans are not defeated. These accidents really are a wake-up call for the nation.” ***************************************************************** 31 Cabinet to fulfill Orchid Island promise * Thursday, May 30th, 2002* Ministers Without Portfolio Yeh Chun-jung, second right, and Chen Chi-nan, left, shake hands with members of the new committees yesterday. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES ENVIRONMENT: Two committees that will deal with the relocation of nuclear waste on Orchid Island have been set up, in step with a promise made to Tao Aborigines STAFF WRITER The Cabinet formed two special committees yesterday to handle the relocation of nuclear waste stored on Orchid Island in a move meant to honor a promise made to members of the Tao tribe who reside on the island. The two new groups -- the Orchid Island Nuclear Waste Relocation Promotion Committee and the Orchid Island Community Development Committee -- held the first of what will be regular meetings shortly after their inauguration yesterday. The relocation committee will focus on the selection of a new site for the waste as well as timing, budgetary and safety considerations for its relocation. The community development committee will tackle the issue of compensation for the Tao tribal people -- who have endured the storage of nuclear waste on the island for two decades. Improving the island's standard of living, educational, cultural and health facilities will be among the committee's priorities. The team will also oversee the redevelopment of the site once the nuclear waste is removed. On May 4 the Cabinet promised to form two special bodies within the month to address the thorny relocation problem, after Tao tribesmen staged a sit-in at the site to pressure state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, ¥x¹q) to move the waste out of their homeland. The 27-member relocation promotion committee will be headed by Minister Without Portfolio Yeh Chun-jung (¸­«Tºa), while another minister-without portfolio, Chen Chi-nan (³¯¨ä«n), will lead the 21-member Orchid Island Community Development Committee. The relocation committee is composed of representatives of the Orchid Island Anti-Nuclear Waste Self-Help Association, environmentalists, academics, Taipower executives, indigenous legislators and officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Atomic Energy Council and the Council of Aboriginal Affairs. In addition to meeting once every quarter, the committee will also hold provisional meetings to address relevant affairs. Taipower began to store low-radiation nuclear waste from its three nuclear power plants on Orchid Island in 1982. To date, 97,0000 barrels of radioactive waste have been stored there. Taipower officials yesterday sought to clarify rumors that the waste would be moved to the first and second nuclear power plants in Taipei County. "The nuclear waste on Orchid Island will never be shipped here," Taipower said in a press release. For years, the Tao people have been demanding that Taipower relocate the nuclear waste. As its storage contract with the Orchid Island Land Reclamation Committee will expire at the end of this year, Taipower has been looking for an alternative site, either at home or abroad, in recent years. In the face of the looming deadline, Taipower is now seeking to extend its contract with the Orchid Island committee for another nine years. This story has been viewed 468 times. URL=[http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/05/30/story/0000138184] Copyright © 1999-2002 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 32 "War on Terrorism" Winking at Nuclear Terror Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 09:15:04 -0500 (CDT) "WAR ON TERRORISM" WINKING AT NUCLEAR TERROR By Norman Solomon / Creators Syndicate Two countries -- each with dozens of atomic bombs -- are threatening to make war on each other. Large numbers of troops have mobilized. Deadly cross-border clashes are intense. And people in charge of both governments have become more bellicose by the day. Maybe you think this situation calls for U.S. officials and American media outlets to focus on ways of preventing the outbreak of a war that could quickly turn into a nuclear conflagration. If so, your mode of thinking is distinctly out of step with the "war on terrorism." You see, as the summer of 2002 begins, what matters most is the Pentagon's determination to kill as many Al Qaeda fighters as possible. Some of them are located in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and perhaps also Kashmir, the region that's under bitter dispute by India and Pakistan. Since the leaders in New Delhi and Islamabad have their fingers on nuclear buttons, their escalating threats ought to concentrate our minds on the very real perils of the situation. An attack with a single 10-kiloton atomic warhead could cause immediate deaths numbering in the hundreds of thousands. For starters. "American intelligence estimates put the toll in the event of a full exchange of the two nuclear arsenals at 12 million dead with maybe 7 million wounded -- an instant slaughter unprecedented in the history of mankind," Henry Porter wrote in the London-based Guardian. Such figures, applied to human carnage, may be impossible to grasp. You might think of the World Trade Center catastrophe occurring simultaneously about 4,000 times (leaving aside widespread radiation sickness and longer-term agonies). Such comparisons may be needed to galvanize much attention from the U.S. media, still transfixed as it is with stories related to 9/11. By now, America's "war on terrorism" often seems to be a war of narcissism. The world view is so extremely self-engrossed -- and so widely accepted by news media -- that the movers and shakers of the Fourth Estate usually don't bat an eye even when rationales get positively loopy. There was a remarkably myopic -- no, let's not beat around the bush -- there was a remarkably deranged moment on May 28 when Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke voiced concern about the increasing chances of war between the two nuclear-armed states. Why? Because, in order to confront India with additional ground forces, Pakistan was about to pull troops away from its border with Afghanistan and thus weaken efforts against Al Qaeda and Taliban soldiers. Noting that Pakistani troops at the Afghan border have been "enormously, enormously helpful" to the U.S. government, Clarke worried aloud. "Attention and troops that cannot be focused there because they're focused elsewhere, that's a concern for us because we need as much assistance as possible in guarding that very porous border," she said. Those comments didn't raise many eyebrows in America's newsrooms. Hello? While events are rapidly careening in the direction of a war that could bring nuclear disaster to the Indian subcontinent, the Bush administration contends that a brake must be applied -- because of the importance of killing Al Qaeda members this summer? Like quite a few other regimes, the fanatical Hindu fundamentalists running India's government have echoed the U.S. "war on terrorism" mantra to harmonize with their own militaristic intentions. While the Pentagon was complaining that a slippery slope to nuclear war between India and Pakistan would be inconvenient for Washington's policymakers, the Indian foreign minister employed a familiar lexicon. "The world recognizes that today the epicenter of international terrorism is in Pakistan," said Jaswant Singh. "Terrorists targeting not only India but other countries, too, receive support from state structures in Pakistan." Although the consequences of any nuclear detonation in the conflict between India and Pakistan would be a horrific cataclysm, the predictable results are apt to get little advance media attention from major American outlets. In the current war of narcissism -- despite all the self-congratulatory froth after Sept. 11 about the global vistas flung open by the newly enlightened U.S. media -- the news world still revolves largely around the USA and Washington's line of the day. But perhaps, under the news-you-can-use category, some angles can grab appreciable coverage: If a faraway nuclear exchange takes place, Americans who feel that Strontium-90 would not be appropriate for their current lifestyles should forget about consuming dairy products (that includes lattes and cappuccinos) for at least a few years. They would be wise to cultivate indoor gardens in a hurry. And they'd be well-advised to stay indoors with all windows tightly sealed. ___________________________________________ Norman Solomon's books include "Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America's Experience with Atomic Radiation" (Delacorte Press), which he co-authored with Harvey Wasserman in 1982. ***************************************************************** 33 *India's and Pakistan's nuclear nightmare* United Press International By Martin Sieff UPI Senior News Analyst Published 5/30/2002 8:09 AM WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- Twelve million people could die on the first day of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, according to an U.S. intelligence estimate leaked to the media this week. The assessment is spot on. The only problem with it is that it may be far too optimistic. The official assessment was only concluded last week, The New York Times reported Monday. It estimated an immediate death toll of 9 to 12 million people if India and Pakistan threw their full nuclear arsenals at each other. It said there would be another 2 million to 7 million injured. But the report noted that the death toll from radioactive fallout would probably be even higher. What could be worse than that? In fact, two additional factors make the prospects even more nightmarish. First, the death toll from radioactive fallout and burn and blast injuries incurred in a thermonuclear exchange are likely to amount to at least as many as those killed instantly in the initial exchange. This proved to be the case, at the very least, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two Japanese cities atom bombed by the U.S. Army Air Force in August 1945. To this day, they remain the only example of any cities hit by nuclear attack from which lessons can be learned and conclusions drawn. But hideous as the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were, they cannot possibly be nightmarish enough. This is because the two bombs used to obliterate those cities were simple fission weapons, or atomic bombs. Between 1952 and 1954, the United States and the Soviet Union independently developed thermonuclear weapons, or hydrogen bombs which copy the fission processes that take place within the sun and other stars. These weapons are infinitely more destructive and capable of also producing far wider long term effects than a simple A-bomb. The second reason things are even worse than the U.S. intelligence assessment indicated is that both India and Pakistan, but especially Pakistan, looks far more likely to rapidly resort to using thermonuclear weapons in anger than the cautious Americans and Soviets did through the long era of the Cold War. Just in the past week, even since the U.S. intelligence estimate was completed, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has authorized the test firing of three nuclear capable missiles in four days. These actions lend further credence to the assessment over the past week by The Washington Post's Jim Hoagland, by far the most respected and influential foreign policy pundit in current U.S. journalism, expressing his horror at the discovery that Musharraf was a dangerous risk taker. Hoagland focused on the key point. If Musharraf is ready to risk full-scale war with another nuclear-powered nation by defying international pressure to allow Muslim guerrillas and terrorists to continue to attack Indian civilians in such tense times, what is he not capable of? As Jesus says in the Gospel Of Luke, "If they do these things when the wood is green, what will they do when it is dry?" The wood in Kashmir between India and Pakistan is very dry right now, and the slightest spark could set off a potentially nuclear conflagration. The dangers are increased by the possible temptations on both sides to strike while the other is at a relative disadvantage. India is pushing ahead with developing a survivable second-strike nuclear capability by putting homemade cruise missiles on diesel-powered submarines. It appears to be years away still from achieving this capability. But if it does, it will regain the strategic edge over Pakistan. That may give Musharraf the motivation to want to strike first and wipe out India's nuclear deterrent in a single strike, before it can be diversified and protected against any such threat. Currently, both nations have nuclear missile capabilities. But neither has hardened missile silos and the main nuclear bases of each vast nation are well known to the other in both cases. If full-scale war breaks out between them, that consideration could tempt hard-line Pakistan army chiefs into considering going nuclear during the hostilities. Because India and Pakistan both have limited nuclear missile capabilities and hardened silos or ground-mobile missile launchers, the temptation on both sides is correspondingly greater to launch a preemptive nuclear strike that could plausibly annihilate the entire nuclear strategic offensive capability of the other side and leave its cities defenseless. Also, Musharraf runs a direct military government he established through a military coup in 1999. Therefore its decision-making processes are not subject to the same restraints, constraints and complex, consensual processes that India's are in a system where a civilian coalition government tightly controls the military and is itself responsible to a democratically elected parliament. Paradoxically, this could increase the danger of a pre-emptive first strike from India as well as from Pakistan. In the terrifying logic of nuclear war theory, the very possibility that Pakistan may be thought more likely to launch first could also increase the nervousness of India's military and political leaders on their own nuclear buttons. If such a nightmarish exchange occurred, the initial advantage may well be Pakistan's rather than India's. U.S, intelligence experts concluded some years ago that while India's nuclear missiles and their targeting systems were entirely homemade, Pakistan's in large part were supplied readymade by its closest ally, China. And those systems are far more accurate that India's, many U.S. intelligence analysts believe. However, if the conflict does not go nuclear, India may well have the advantage over Pakistan because of its timing. India has twice as many soldiers in its army as Pakistan -- 1.2 million to around 600,000. When the two nations last clashed on a significant scale in the remote Kargil region of the Himalayas four years ago., Pakistan's forces initially took India entirely by surprise. But once India was able to bring major forces to bear, they used their sheer weight and firepower to roll the Pakistanis back. Now, as United Press International's South Asia analyst Anwar Iqbal reported May 22, U.S. diplomats believe that the Indians now envisage launching a limited but large scale offensive operation in the one third of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan. They believe this would destroy the 50 to 60 guerrilla camps there from which an estimated 3,000 guerrillas -- according to U.S. intelligence estimates -- have been launching terror attacks against Indian targets. On May 14, more than 30 people, overwhelmingly women and children, were killed in one such attack in the Kashmir city of Jammu. Such an operation would echo Kargil on a bigger scale. It also offers obvious parallels with Israel's massive April offensive into the West Bank in a retaliatory bid to deter the wave of suicide bomb attacks that had slaughtered scores of Israeli civilians in previous weeks. But Iqbal also reported the assessment of U.S. diplomats that, just as Musharraf does not believe Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will authorize a military offensive in Kashmir, Vajpayee is equally confident Musharraf will not dare respond to such an attack by escalating to full-scale war. Instead, as we have repeatedly noted in UPI Analysis over the past year, both men appear to have equally underestimated the determination and ruthless resolve of the other. That in turn means that mutual miscalculation and escalation to full-scale conventional conflict would also carry the far more terrifying possibility that further escalation to nuclear war could rapidly follow. No nuclear weapon has been exploded anywhere in the world for the past 57 years, since the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But South Asian experts and non-proliferation officials in the Clinton administration grimly agreed that the India-Pakistan conflict was the most likely place for it to happen next. When the Bush administration took office, its senior officials pooh-poohed these fears as alarmist. But now it looks like the Clinton team was right. In all previous wars between the two giant nations, India's overwhelming numerical superiority eventually proved decisive. But Pakistan never had nuclear weapons of its own before. If India attacked and scored major successes, the temptation would rapidly grow for Pakistan to "level the playing field" by using its own strategic "equalizer," its nuclear weapons. In that case, Pakistan could be in an analogous position to the United States and its NATO allies if the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies had launched a conventional military attack across the North German Plain any time in the nearly three decades from the formation of the Pact in 1955 to the death of the last hard-line Soviet leader, Yuri Andropov, in 1984. NATO planners recognized only too well that the Soviet Red Army and its allies had overwhelming conventional superiority. If NATO did not resort to at least tactical nuclear weapons to stop them, the Soviet forces had the capability to drive across Germany to the North Sea and the English Channel, and to the French border and beyond, in only a week. Therefore, NATO planners recognized that the likelihood their own forces would have to "go nuclear" at an early stage in the conflict was very great. In the 57 years since the end of World War II, no full-scale war between mutually nuclear-armed nations has ever been fought. There are no precedents to act as a predictive guide for what might happen. The safest and best option by far would be if this conflict, like the hypothetical World War III in Europe that was never fought, remains consigned to the Field of Dreams. The world can only pray that this will indeed be the case. But the horrific slaughter of Indian women and children in a military housing area in Kashmir on May 14 re-ignited passions in India, and among the public and government decision-makers alike, they are running again at fever pitch. Musharraf's tough talk in the meantime has only escalated rather than diminished and his test-firing of the missiles over the past weekend can only be seen by India as further provocations. The nightmare of full-scale nuclear war in South Asia has never seemed closer. Copyright © 2002 United Press International ***************************************************************** 34 India: Premier's poems ponder horrors of nuclear war news.telegraph.co.uk By Jack Fairweather / (Filed: 29/05/2002) / The Indian prime minister has disclosed his innermost musings on the prospect of nuclear war in a collection of poetry. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee has written several volumes of verse, the most recent of which, 21 Poems, has been translated into English. His collection includes a work entitled The Agony of Hiroshima, which includes the lines: /Sometimes at night, Suddenly, sleep deserts me, My eyes open, I begin to ponder Those scientists who invented nuclear weapons, On hearing the gruesome human destruction Of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, How did they ever sleep at night/ /Those whose invention, Created the ultimate weapon. . . Do they even for a moment, Feel what was inflicted by them, Was monstrous? If they do then time will not put them in the dock, But if they don't, Then history will never, Ever forgive them./ Instead of the bellicose rhetoric used in public to describe the prospect of war with Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee's poetry is devoted to existential ponderings on old age and the nature of the communal violence in Gujarat. In We Shall Not Allow War, Mr Vajpayee offers Pakistan the assurance: Russian bombs or American The blood spilt is the same. We have suffered, we will spare our children this fate Never again will the sky rain fire Never again will Nagasaki burn We shall not allow war! The collection is intended to augment his reputation as a poet and bring his self-image of the "philosopher king" to an international audience. He reflects in the foreword: "Sometimes I am overcome by an urge to leave it all behind and lose myself in books, writing and thought." But the idea of a reluctant philosopher called to office was highly misleading, says Aveek Sen, a literary reviewer with The Telegraph, an Indian newspaper. "I wouldn't trust his pseudo-serenity," he said."His poems are intended for the evening soirees of Delhi's political cadre. I certainly don't think Pervaiz Musharraf will have been sent a copy." Mr Vajpayee's offerings have received raucous disdain from critics. "They are," said Mr Sen, "ponderous and obnoxious". "On the one hand, they try to lift Mr Vajpayee out of contemporary politics. On the other, they are filled with the sort of allusions to Hindu mythology that Hindu nationalists use to suppress India's rich and diverse literary heritage. India awaits nervously his next collection." It seems unlikely, though, that Mr Vajpayee will be put off by a little criticism."I write to make sense of my world and for strength," he said. "My poetry is, to me, not an expression of regret or defeat but of confidence and a will to win. I would have been a leading Hindi poet." ***************************************************************** 35 The Most Dangerous Place in the World The New York Times Opinion *May 30, 2002* *By SALMAN RUSHDIE* The present Kashmir crisis feels like a déjà vu replay of the last one. Three years ago a weak Indian coalition government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party had just lost a confidence vote in India's Parliament and was nervously awaiting a general election. At once it began to beat the war drums over Kashmir. Now another coalition government, still led by the B.J.P. and deeply tainted by B.J.P. supporters' involvement in the massacre of hundreds of Muslims in Gujarat State, may be about to lose another general election. So here goes the government again, talking up a Kashmiri war and asking India to stand firm behind its leadership. Three years ago in Pakistan, the equally weak government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had bankrupted the national economy and was facing well-documented corruption charges. Mr. Sharif, too, had much to gain from war fever ? fed by the various Muslim terrorist groups operating in Kashmir. The hawkish Pakistani general then responsible for communicating with and training those terrorist groups was one Pervez Musharraf. (By the way ? just so we're clear on who Mr. Musharraf, now Pakistan's president, really is ? some of these groups were almost certainly sent by Pakistan's intelligence service to Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.) When Nawaz Sharif succumbed to American pressure and promised to rein in the terrorists, General Musharraf was furious. A few months later he overthrew Mr. Sharif in a coup and seized power. Will the outcome also be a replay of three years ago? Will the conflict be contained again? This time President Musharraf is the one being pressed by the United States to stamp out Kashmiri terrorism. He has been playing a double game, arresting hundreds of members of the groups he once fostered but quietly freeing most of them soon afterward. Caught between two necessities ? placating his major international sponsor and playing to the home audience ? he may well in the end follow his deepest political instincts: to support (overtly or covertly) the Islamist radicals who have terrorized the once idyllic valley of Kashmir for well over a decade. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee of India, with his talk of a "decisive battle," clearly feels that direct military action, resulting in the reconquest of some if not all of the Kashmiri territory now under Pakistani control, is the only way of preventing attacks like the atrocity this month in which women and children were slaughtered at an Indian army base. Mr. Vajpayee knows that Indian rule is unpopular in the valley, that the Indian army looks to many Kashmiris like an army of occupation. But he will also have calculated that in the opinion of the international community, and also of many fearful, near-destitute Kashmiris, Pakistan's protracted sponsorship of terrorism has damaged its claims to moral legitimacy. Would a war between India and Pakistan, if it came, go nuclear? Pakistan, with its suggestively timed missile tests, its refusal to adopt a policy of not being the first to use nuclear arms and its hawkish talk, is trying to give the impression that it would have no compunction about using its nuclear arsenal. India's military leadership has said that if attacked with nuclear bombs it would respond with maximum force and that in such a conflict India would sustain heavy damage but survive, whereas Pakistan would be destroyed utterly. Is it really likely, however, that Pakistan would, so to speak, strap a nuclear weapon to its belly, walk into the crowded bazaar that is India and turn itself into the biggest suicide bomber in history? Mr. Musharraf doesn't look like martyr material. Ah, but if he were losing a conventional war? If India's overwhelming numerical superiority on land, at sea and in the air won the day and Pakistan lost its prized Kashmiri land, would reason be swept aside? Worst of all, if Pakistani fury at a military defeat by India were to result in Mr. Musharraf's overthrow by Islamist hard-liners, Pakistan's nuclear warheads could fall into the hands of people for whom martyrdom is a higher goal than peace, people who value death more highly than life. Pakistan is calling on the international community to intervene, but this call must be heard with caution. For half a century Pakistan has sought to internationalize the Kashmiri dispute while India has consistently described that effort as interference in its internal affairs. Both sides are locked into old language, old strategies and an old game of chicken that's currently playing itself out across the Line of Control. Like two aged wrestlers fighting on a cliff, India and Pakistan are locked together, rolling ever closer to the edge. But their ancient hatred is no longer a matter only for them. The risk of a nuclear battle, however improbable, makes Kashmir everybody's problem. Right now it's the most dangerous place in the world. These pathetic old fighters must be pulled apart, and soon. Yes, that probably does mean intervention by the West, though Russia seems eager to help as well, which is useful. This should not, however, be the intervention that Pakistan wants. The point is not to restrain Indian "aggression," but to make the world safer for us all. The situation can only be stabilized if India and Pakistan are both forced to back away, preferably to outside of Kashmir's historic, unpartitioned borders. This "hands off Kashmir" solution will have to be externally imposed on the reluctant principals and will require that a large peacekeeping force be sent to the region to support Kashmir as an autonomous area. But who in the West wants that ? it's just the old colonialist-imperialist power trip, isn't it? And who's supposed to pay for all this peacekeeping, anyway? The answers to those questions are also questions: What's the alternative? Do you have a better idea? Or shall we just stand back and keep our postcolonial, nonimperialist fingers crossed? Will it take mushroom clouds over Delhi and Islamabad to make us give up our ingrained prejudices and try something that might actually work? In the immortal words of the Spice Girls, "Will this déjà vu never end?" /Salman Rushdie is the author of "Fury: A Novel" and the forthcoming essay collection "Step Across This Line."/ Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 36 Recipe for a disaster Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Wild mushrooms could be used to clean up radioactive land, writes David Bradley Thursday May 30, 2002 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] The French have always had a penchant for fungi, but one day you may be more likely to find a cep cleaning up after a nuclear accident than being served in a souffle. Edible mushrooms might not be an obvious choice, but French scientists believe a wild mushroom might soak up radioactive caesium-137 ions as easily as it can olive oil. Caesium-137 was released in vast quantities by the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station 16 years ago and could be a major contaminant from a terrorist "dirty bomb" (a conventional bomb carrying radioactive material). Removing metal and radioactive contaminants from exposed land is a crucial task. Aside from the threat to the environment and the health of those living nearby, toxic metal ions can be carried into the food chain by vegetation. One clean-up solution, known as bioremediation, involves planting species that might absorb the metals from the soil and then disposing of them safely. However, no plants thrive on soil contaminated by the alkali metal caesium. So, why not a fungus? Anne-Marie Albrecht-Gary and her colleagues at the Louis Pasteur University and the University of Strasbourg think they have found the solution in the unlikely form of the tasty bay boletus, Xerocomus badius. "Fungi often exhibit a remarkable ability to accumulate a large variety of elements, from the heaviest of the transition metals such as lead, to the alkali metals, including radioisotopes like caesium-137," says Albrecht-Gary in a recent issue of Chemical Communications. But, she adds, little is known about how these fungi take up such metal ions. She and her colleagues have studied the chemistry of the two pigments that give the inside of the bay boletus cap its bright yellow colour - norbadione A and badione A. These chemicals can act like molecular crab claws, grabbing hold of metal ions in a pincer movement known as chelation. The yellow colour of the pigments provided the team with the means to test how well each latches on to metals, such as caesium. They exploited the pigments' strong absorption of ultraviolet wavelengths to record a spectrum of the free pigment molecules. Their spectra in the presence of caesium ions are markedly different. UV spectroscopy coupled with chemical analysis revealed that norbadione A, in particular, can bind to radioactive caesium strongly. It can actually bind two caesium ions, whereas its weaker sibling badione A only has the strength to grip one at a time. Albrecht-Gary and her colleagues believe that norbadione gets its strength from an allosteric effect. When one caesium ion enters the claw, the molecule's chemistry changes slightly so that a second gripping position opens up to accept another caesium, working like a double claw. Badione A, on the other hand has only one possible grip. The researchers believe that norbadione A makes the bay boletus so good at sequestering radioactive caesium ions from the soil in which it grows that it should be used to remove this hazardous metal from contaminated land. The team has dashed hopes for its use in removing toxic metals, such as radioactive caesium-137 cadmium and nickel, from the body. Its grip on alkali metals, such as the essential minerals sodium and potassium, is too strong. · David Bradley is a freelance science writer at sciencebase.com Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 ***************************************************************** 37 U.S. Border Security Targets Nukes Las Vegas SUN May 29, 2002 WASHINGTON (AP) - Every Customs inspector will be equipped by January with a pocket-sized radiation detector, but "there are no guarantees" that increased border security will stop a terrorist from smuggling in a nuclear weapon, the Customs commissioner said Wednesday. Fears of a terrorist nuclear assault on the United States have risen since the Sept. 11 jetliner attacks in New York and Washington. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner said in an interview with The Associated Press he knows of no terrorist group trying to smuggle a nuclear device into the country. "The question is, `Should we be concerned about it?'" he said. "This is one of those areas where I don't want to wait and see what happens." Since Sept. 11, the Customs Service, the nation's oldest law enforcement agency, founded in 1789, has shifted its primary mission from detecting smuggled narcotics to stopping terrorists, possibly with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, from getting into the country. Specifically, Customs has increased security and provided better training for its inspectors and agents at seaports, airports and border crossings on land. Customs oversees roughly 300 points of entry into the United States. The agency also is working with other countries to screen cargo containers before their shipment into the United States. Under a recent agreement with Canada, U.S. Customs has put inspectors in Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver to prescreen cargo headed for the United States. Canadian Customs officials have inspectors at some U.S. seaports. Bonner hopes to have similar arrangements worked out with other countries in the next couple of months, possibly including Singapore, France and the Netherlands. With roughly 6 million cargo containers entering U.S. seaports each year, Bonner said it is critically important to ensure that terrorists don't use them to smuggle themselves or their weapons into this country. Still, "there are no guarantees," Bonner said in the interview. "No system is foolproof." Bonner, a former federal judge and chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration in the early 1990s, was sworn in as Customs commissioner on Sept. 24, after the deadliest terror attacks on U.S. soil. U.S. intelligence, Bonner said, believes Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network is "determined to strike the United States again. ... That much is clear." "We don't know if al-Qaida or related terrorist organizations have a nuclear device," he said. "What we do know is that for at least the last five or more years they've attempted to get ... radiological materials to build a nuclear device. They consulted with a Pakistani scientist or engineer who was involved in the Pakistani nuclear development," Bonner said. "Certainly there's been an attempt to get a device." Although bin Laden claimed on a videotape to have a nuclear device, Bonner said, "I don't believe him." About half of Customs' inspectors - 4,000 of them - are now equipped with pocket-sized radiation detecters. They are in scattered locations around the country. By January, the other 4,500 Customs inspectors will get the devices, Bonner said. Customs also is looking to use more sophisticated scanning and detection technology at seaports and land crossings. Even with the shift in its mission, fighting terrorism isn't new to Customs. The agency was credited with thwarting a terrorist attack before the millennium celebration. Customs inspectors stopped an Algerian man at the border at Port Angeles, Wash., in December 1999 and found more than 100 pounds of explosives in the trunk of his car. The man had trained in terror camps run by bin Laden. --- On the Net: Customs: http://www.customs.gov [http://www.customs.gov] All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 38 Nuke Fears on India-Pakistan Tension Las Vegas SUN May 29, 2002 WASHINGTON- A war between India and Pakistan could easily go nuclear. If India, fed up with terror attacks, moved against its smaller and weaker neighbor, Pakistan might view a nuclear missile launch as its only option in response. India might retaliate with nuclear weapons of its own in a scenario that could kill 8 million to 12 million people and bring radiation fallout to millions more, including thousands of U.S. soldiers in the region. Even if the two nations' leaders do not want war, "There is a danger that as tensions escalate, the leaders could find themselves in a situation in which irresponsible elements can spark a conflict," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday. Of course, a nuclear exchange, or even a conventional war, is not inevitable. The Bush administration and European officials are pressuring b both sides to back down from their standoff over Kashmir, the disputed province that has been the source of two of the three India-Pakistan wars since 1947. But if India launched a military strike with conventional weapons, even against a small target such as a Kashmiri militant camp, Pakistan probably would feel compelled to strike back, said Teresita Schaffer, a South Asia expert in Washington. Pakistan might use conventional weapons at first. The risk is that fighting would escalate, with attacks back and forth, "until one side or another - probably Pakistan - says, 'This last attack has put our country in severe danger. We have no choice but to use nuclear weapons,'" Schaffer said. Pakistan, knowing it would lose even a nuclear engagement, might then gamble on a "demonstration" nuclear strike, perhaps on an unpopulated area to try to warn India off, said Anthony Cordesman, a defense analyst in Washington. Even that would create a "a huge risk of confusion and misunderstanding" and probably cause India to fire nuclear weapons, Cordesman said. Both countries are thought to have nuclear weapons numbering in the low dozens, said a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity, with each weapon roughly equivalent in destructive power to the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. Both Pakistan and India can deliver nuclear weapons with either ballistic missiles or small fighter-bomber airplanes. Eight million to 12 million people could die in the short term, if the two countries engaged in a full-scale exchange with both sides successfully using most of their weapons and aiming them at populated areas, according to an analysis by the Defense Intelligence Agency. That estimate does not include long-term deaths caused by radiation fallout, said the U.S. official. Among those at risk: The 7,000 U.S. troops in nearby Afghanistan, plus U.S. troops in Pakistan and aboard ships in the northern Arabian Sea. The two countries have had 1 million troops at full alert along their border in Kashmir since India blamed Pakistan for a militant attack on its Parliament in December. Pakistan denies arming or giving money to the militants. India has said it would not use a nuclear weapon first. Pakistan might consider using nuclear weapons if India seized a chunk of its land, attacked a major city, or tried to cut Pakistan in two by seizing rail lines and roads, Schaffer believes. A pre-emptive Indian strike against Pakistan's military or nuclear sites also might prompt such retaliation. One big risk is that India might believe - wrongly, most U.S. analysts feel - that it can attack Pakistan because the United States will prevent Pakistan from retaliating with nuclear weapons. But Pakistan almost certainly is moving its missiles around the country in a "shell game" to prevent both the United States and India from knowing exactly what it has, and thus to stop any pre-emptive strikes, said Cordesman. "Pakistan has every reason to make sure its capabilities are covert," Cordesman said. "We simply can't physically prevent it, if they go to war." Because of its superior spy satellites, the United States would, however, probably spot any missile launch by either side, before the other side did. "But what exactly would 17 minutes (of warning) mean, in terms of diplomatic intervention?" Cordesman asks. "Especially if that missile was armed with nukes?" All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 39 Russia Plans Nuclear Dump for Soviet Test Site ens MOSCOW, Russia, May 29, 2002 (ENS) - Russia has chosen the former Soviet nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya in the far north as a disposal site for nuclear waste that could be imported from anywhere in the world. The Russian Ministry of Atomic Power (Minatom) and Governor of Arkhangelsk region Anatoly Efremov made the announcement that a dump site for low and medium level radioactive waste would be built at the former Soviet nuclear test site on the Arctic archipelago Novaya Zemlya. Novaya Zemlya is the northern extension of the Ural Mountains which divide the European and Asian continents. Minatom says the project on the strait between two Arctic islands will cost about US$70 million and is scheduled for completion within three years. On May 21, Minatom and Efremov said low and medium level radioactive waste will be moved to Novaya Zemlya from the regional storage site at Severodvinsk, a small city and nuclear submarine base on the site called Mironova Mountain. [map] Map showing location of Novaya Zemlya (Map courtesy Sam Clayton [http://www.samclayton.co.uk/Projects/TBT/novzem.html] ) The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies that the recent activity at Novaya Zemlya signifies preparation for resuming nuclear tests. "Russia, which has ratified all the international agreements on real reductions of nuclear weapons, as well as the CTBT, strictly adheres to the obligations it has assumed, including the obligation not to carry out a nuclear weapons test explosion or any other nuclear explosion," the ministry stated May 17. On May 12, in advance of U.S.-Russia meetings earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov also denied that the recent activity at Novaya Zemlya had anything to do with nuclear weapons testing, calling such suspicions "ungrounded." Russia has been moving in the direction of importing high-level nuclear waste. Last year the country changed its laws to permit import of radioactive waste including spent nuclear fuel from power plants. Government officials estimate that over the next 10 years the project could earn the country about US$21 billion. Anti-nuclear activists say that figure is enormously inflated to justify the program. Activists from EcoDefense and other groups across Russia have been protesting Russian import of nuclear waste for years. "There are no regions across Russia where people would accept radioactive waste dumping. For the past 50 years nuclear industry was unable to create technology for waste disposal that would be safe for people and the environment," said Vladimir Slivyak, co-chair for Ecodefense, environmental group campaigning against unsafe disposal of radioactive waste. "Hundreds of protest actions against possible radwaste disposal took place all over Russia in last three years. But nobody lives on Novaya Zemlya, so nuclear industry hopes nobody would bother them there with protests," Slivyak said. [Novaya] Novaya Zemlya (Photo credit Thomas Nilsen/Bellona [http://www.bellona.org] ) The activists object that no monitoring or public control will be allowed over the nuclear waste dump. They fear it will first be established for low-level waste and then will accept highly radioactive materials as well. "The nuclear industry just wants to build a cheap facility for low-level radioactive waste first and then dump there everything it has to get rid of, mainly spent fuel", said Alisa Nikulina, anti-nuclear campaigner for Socio-Ecological Union, an umbrella for nearly 300 environmental groups across the Russian Federation. "Construction of a dumping site for low level waste costs much smaller then repository for spent fuel," said Nikulina. "One can not build site to dispose all kinds of radioactive waste for 70 million people, unless you ignore all kinds of safety systems." Anti-nuclear activists say that Novaya Zemlya is far from cities or villages where people may organize effective public control over operations of nuclear industry. "That gives Minatom the ability to violate all kinds of law and regulation, as it did many times in the past, and nobody would speak a word about it," Nikulina said. Slivyak said, "Ecodefense greatly concerned over the possibility of radiation leaks to the environment if the dumping site on Novaya Zemlya is constructed, even if the plan looks safe on paper." "The Russian nuclear industry is famous for its inability to construct safe nuclear facilities. Industry cannot be trusted and, in case of Novaya Zemlya project, it would be very hard to monitor what's going on there," he warned. Ecodefense and the Socio-Ecological Union urge that radioactive wastes be stored at sites which produce them. They say the nuclear industry must increase the safety of nuclear waste storage technology. A history [http://www.bellona.org/imaker?sub=1&id=7568] of nuclear explosions on Novaya Zemlya is reported by the Norwegian Bellona Foundation. Bellona has produced a report [http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/7566.html] on dumping of radioactive waste in the Russian Far North. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All Rights ***************************************************************** 40 Japan: Govt may ax panels on N-arms disposal Daily Yomiuri On-Line Yomiuri Shimbun The Foreign Ministry is considering abolishing bilateral cooperation committees on nuclear arms disposal set up with Russia and three other former Soviet republics, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. During a House of Representatives Foreign Committee session Wednesday, Yuji Miyamoto, the Foreign Ministry's director general of arms control and scientific affairs, said: "There are some systematic problems regarding the implementation (of the planned disposal projects). Although we have to see how Russia (and the three other countries) respond, we'd like to give serious consideration to abolishing the committees." Miyamoto made the comment in response to a question by Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) committee member Atsushi Kinoshita, who said he thought the committees should be abolished. Miyamoto pointed out that the counterpart countries--Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus--are ill-equipped to carry out nuclear arms-scrapping projects and disclosed that 16.5 billion yen of 25 billion yen provided by Japan over the past decade to the four committees for projects such as constructing facilities to dispose of radioactive waste has not been used. As for the time frame, Miyamoto failed to indicate a specific date, saying, "We'd like to come to a conclusion as soon as possible." Japan established the committees in March 1994 to provide financial assistance to the countries to scrap Soviet-era nuclear armaments. Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 41 Nuclear high-wire act -- The Washington Times May 30, 2002 Jed Babbin Some wars are avoidable. It appears that the coming war between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region is not. We may not be able to act soon enough to stop war from breaking out, but we must take action to prevent the conflict from escalating to a nuclear exchange. An opportunity to take bold action arises from the war in Afghanistan and from an examination of the belligerents' order of battle. India claims Kashmir as a result of a disputed "accession" signed at the time of Indian independence. Pakistan disputes that because the accession was to depend on a plebiscite in predominantly Muslim Kashmir that India has never allowed. An uneasy truce — memorialized in the "Line of Control" cease-fire boundary — resulted from the last major conflict that ended in 1972. An attack on the Indian parliament last December heightened tensions between the two nations. A May 14 attack on an Indian base that left 34 dead — mostly women and children — was the last straw. Indian demands that Pakistan end the terror were addressed directly to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, whose January speech set him apart from other leaders of Muslim nations by denouncing the terror culture and the religious schools that teach it. But Mr. Musharraf now sounds like every other abettor of terrorism. India's incendiary rhetoric makes clear that war is imminent. It has proclaimed Pakistan the "epicenter" of international terrorism and warned its soldiers to prepare for a "decisive battle." In response, Mr. Musharraf is making some very Arafat-like statements. In English, he said Pakistan would not start a war, and wants only peace. A moment later, in Urdu, he said, "Pakistan will always support the Kashmiris' struggle for liberation." Having been a strong ally in our war against the Taliban, Mr. Musharraf now is backing away. He insists cross-border terrorism is ended but describes "freedom fighters" in the words that any terrorist leader would use. India apparently plans to attack soon, across the Line of Control, and possibly into Pakistan. The two nations' order of battle will probably produce a stalemate. In desperation or in error, that could lead to a nuclear exchange. A nation's "order of battle" — its weapons, people, doctrine and intelligence capabilities — tells a lot about how a war can be fought. India's army outnumbers Pakistan's by two-to-one, and India's air force has four-to-one numerical superiority. India has a much larger navy, including an aircraft carrier. But a general war between them could also be fought in the skies over both countries, and at sea. Some of India's forces, such as its aircraft carrier, don't even enter into the equation. The carrier can't get close enough to strike Pakistan, because if it did it would be sunk by Pakistani land-based aircraft. India's army — 1.3 million troops strong — has about 2500 tanks, including many old Russian T-55s. Its main strength is in size, not mobility. India's army lacks the logistics "tail" that could enable it to mount the massive and sustained ground movements necessary to take and hold all of Kashmir. India's best option to avoid a wider war is limited strikes against terrorists in Kashmir. But it lacks the special forces and intelligence integration that would give it this option. Its only alternative is a massive ground campaign. The nations share about 1,800 miles of border. The military buildup has been in the Kashmiri lowlands northwest of Jammu. "Lowlands" is a deceiving term, because the ground there is as almost as high and rugged as Afghanistan. An Indian attack would likely begin north of Jammu, and move northwest toward Islamabad, Pakistan's capital. In any Indian attack, the ability to move ground forces quickly in the first week of the war will be crucial. If the weather is bad enough to ground the Pakistani air force but still good enough to move on the ground, India could be within a few miles of Islamabad in seven to ten days. If the weather is good, and the Pakistanis use their air forces to best advantage, India will be stopped in its tracks. India's air force is no match for Pakistan's. About one-third of India's combat aircraft are barely flyable. Maintenance is poor. Pilots are in short supply. India's air force is simply not combat-ready or sustainable. Pakistan's air force is better trained and equipped. It flies American F-16 and French Mirage multi-role fighter-bombers that can penetrate Indian air defenses and deliver weapons up to 800 miles into Indian territory within 25 minutes of the beginning of the war. They could be carrying nuclear weapons. Both nations have nuclear arsenals, but Pakistan has a greater ability to deliver them. This was demonstrated last weekend when the Pakistanis conducted three days of successful tests of long and short-range missiles. Pakistan claims to be able to hit 11 of India's 12 largest cities — and 65 million people — with nuclear weapons. We cannot count on common sense preventing the use of nuclear weapons. While diplomatic pressure must continue, it is very unlikely to succeed, and war may commence at any time. If it does, we must act to defuse the conflict before it escalates to nuclear war. Our opportunity to do so arises from reports that one of the terrorist groups in Kashmir, Lashkar-e-Omar, is headed by former Taliban chief Mullah Omar. There also are reports of Taliban and al Qaeda operating there. If their presence can be confirmed, we and our allies should ask Mr. Musharraf's permission to attack, and make clear that we will not take "no" for an answer. At the same time, we have to make India understand that it will not be allowed to take advantage of our intervention to conquer all of Kashmir. American troops should never be used as a buffer for both sides to shoot at. But if we're doing the shooting, India and Pakistan may stop long enough for real peace talks to begin. Jed Babbin was a deputy undersecretary of defense in the first Bush administration. All site contents copyright © 2002 News World Communications, ***************************************************************** 42 Pakistan's nuclear trigger in US hands: Indian expert rediff.com: Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi A leading Indian nuclear expert on Thursday ridiculed Pakistan's assertion that his country would use nuclear weapons against India even in case of a conventional conflict. Munir Akram, Pakistan's newly appointed ambassador to the United Nations, had surprised diplomats on Wednesday by stating that "India should not have the license to kill with conventional weapons while Pakistan's hands are tied regarding other means to defend itself". "The Pakistani nuclear trigger is in the hands of US forces, which are present in their base at Jacobabad. Islamabad fully knows our nuclear deterrence capability. Pakistani assertions regarding resorting to a nuclear strike against India does not impress us," Dr R R Subramaniam of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses said. He said Indian missiles like Prithvi and Agni were "ready". "They know that while a nuclear strike by them against India could cause havoc, our country will survive despite the terrible costs. But if we were to retaliate, which would be several-fold more, Pakistan stands to be wiped out," Dr Subramaniam said. When asked if he was sensationalising the issue, he said, "These are plain facts known to the world community." "They should desist from belligerent postures because the result of an Indo-Pak nuclear conflict, which they are harping about, is written on the international wall and all too obvious," he said. Asked what steps India was taking in the wake of Pakistani belligerence, he said: "There is no question of being caught napping." Dr Subramaniam criticised US nuclear expert David Albright for saying that a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan would result in 12 million deaths. "His estimate about the uranium production in Pakistani is exaggerated and his assessment about lives being lost in the subcontinent [in case of a nuclear conflagration] is wide of the mark," he said. Another expert, who did not wish to be identified, said Pakistan should not forget that after the Pokharan blasts, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said that in case of necessity, India would review its avowed no-first use principle. The country's nuclear establishment had "set in motion all measures necessary to respond to any external aggression", he said. [news@rediff.co.in] ***************************************************************** 43 UK: Worried over nuclear war * Welcome to The Irish Independent* Sir At the moment popular attention in this country seems to be focused, for the most part, on either the domestic political scene or the World Cup, judging by the widespread coverage accorded to both. At the same time, Western diplomats and others are increasingly concerned about the possibility of nuclear warfare between nuclear power countries and the implications this could have for the rest of the world. The Irish Government is taking the matter so seriously that, according to a report on May 20, the Department of Health will send out more than 10m iodine tablets by post next month to households throughout the country to protect people in the event of a nuclear emergency. Accompanying the tablets will be an explanatory booklet detailing how the public should react in the event of nuclear fallouts entering Irish skies. As Ireland is currently faced with what has been described as the most serious postal strike in a decade, with all services to be affected, I trust that there will be either governmental intervention in the matter or an alternative solution found to the problem of the delivery of the tablets. May I suggest that prayers be offered forthwith in all churches and other places of worship that Ireland will be preserved from the horrors of a nuclear disaster. Brenda O'Hanrahan, Park Lane, Dublin 4 © Copyright Unison ***************************************************************** 44 Strengthen nuclear deterrence | csmonitor.com Commentary > Opinion from the May 30, 2002 edition The US should form a defensive coalition with other nuclear states By Hans Binnendijk and James Goodby WASHINGTON – Despite the Bush-Putin nuclear-weapons reduction agreement, nuclear weapons may be making a comeback. Not long ago they were seen as unusable. Ronald Reagan sought to eliminate them or at least make them "impotent and obsolete." Now the Nuclear Posture Review may give them a new life. Some analysts believe the administration is considering support for the preemptive use of nuclear weapons against rogue states. Congress is debating whether to provide funds for developing new low-yield nuclear weapons. The idea is to develop a new weapon that could penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers that protect rogue-state leadership or weapons of mass destruction. The White House has emphasized that deterrence remains the objective of US nuclear forces. This makes sense. A doctrine of preemptive first use would open a door that for very good reasons has been closed since 1945. During the cold war, there was a consensus in the West that nuclear weapons might have to be used first if NATO were under attack by a massive Warsaw Pact invasion. But even in that case, nuclear weapons came to be seen as weapons of last resort. To think of them as weapons of first resort raises fundamental questions. First, it is not a credible option. President Eisenhower could have destroyed the nascent Soviet nuclear capability, but he favored containment. History proved him right. Would a US president be willing to use a nuclear weapon, even a very low-yield one, for the first time since World War II? Probably, if weapons of mass destruction already had been used. Perhaps, if they were about to be used beyond the shadow of a doubt. But solid evidence would be hard to come by. Even then, smart conventional bombs might be a smarter choice. Second, lowering the nuclear threshold would encourage nuclear proliferation by legitimizing their use. The taboo against using nuclear weapons has underlined the fact that these are civilization-destroying machines. The United States, of all countries, should not want to make their use more likely. US superiority in high-accuracy weapons and target-acquisition technology means that America is less in need of nuclear weapons than any potential adversary the nation faces. The US should prefer to fight a 21st-century "conventional" war rather than a 20th-century nuclear war. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has stressed that the goal should be to reduce dependence on nuclear weapons. Third, a unilateral nuclear policy, symbolized by a preemptive doctrine, would be the straw that broke the camel's back among America's key alliances. US international partners already are worried about unilateral behavior. The US would find it harder to line up support for the fight against terror. US nuclear weapons, instead of being a shelter for friendly countries, would impel them toward independent solutions. Deterrence against erratic regimes remains a serious, even existential question. But deterrence cannot be considered totally within the bounds of military constructs. Political and psychological dimensions must be added to US military might. All governments now have a practical reason for opposing weapons of mass destruction: transnational terrorism. The time may be ripe for America to join other nuclear weapons states in a joint policy: to refrain from use of any weapon of mass destruction unless another state or terrorist network used such a weapon first or is unambiguously about to do so. The form of retaliation against use of chemical or biological weapons would not necessarily be in kind. Nuclear weapons might be unleashed against a state that used biological weapons first. This bold step would make the permanent members of the UN Security Council – each a nuclear power – de facto partners in acting together against any entity that thought the use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons would give it some advantage. It would be a powerful coalition that strengthens deterrence. If a low-yield weapon were to be built, it would be placed in the proper context of enhancing deterrence, not threatening preemption. This would be a departure from traditional thinking. But with the US starting to treat nuclear weapons like conventional ones, it would recognize the reality that fears of a US strategy of nuclear preemption would erode the support the US needs to fight terror – and would encourage an increasingly nuclear-armed world. • Hans Binnendijk is Roosevelt Professor of National Security Policy at the National Defense University and was senior director at the National Security Council for Defense and Arms Control. James Goodby was special representative of the president for Nuclear Security and Dismantlement during the Clinton administration. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the National Defense University or the US government. For further information: • Nuclear Resources [http://www.fas.org/nuke/] FAS • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace [http://www.ceip.org/files/nonprolif/default.asp] • The Pressing Need for Tactical Nuclear Weapons Control [http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2002_05/millarmay02.asp] Arms Control Today • National Defense University [http://www.ndu.edu/] Copyright © 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights ***************************************************************** 45 SEISMIC DETAILS OF PAKISTAN's NUCLEAR TEST CONDUCTED ON MAY 28th, 1998 Pakistani Nuclear Test The nuclear test conducted by Pakistan took place at 30 May 1998. The preliminary source parameters of this event determined by the IDC (International Data Center) are as follows: SOURCE PARAMETERS DATE: 30-MAY-1998 ORIGIN TIME: 06:55:06 EPICENTER: 28.56N 63.84E REGION: SOUTHWESTERN PAKISTAN AMPLITUDE: PERIOD: MAGNITUDE: 4.3 mb (IDC) This figure shows a map of the test site in the region Baluchistan near the border to Afghanistan. This is the second nuclear test conducted by Pakistan since May 28, 1998. This figure shows the frequency-wavenumber (f-k) analysis of the seismic signals recorded at the GERESS array located in the Bavarian Forest, Germany . The bright spot determines the direction and the velocity of the seismic signal arriving at the GERESS array. This data can be used to locate the origin of the nuclear explosion. This figure shows the seismic signals recorded by the 25 seismic stations of the GERESS array including the beam (first trace on top). The beam is obtained by summation of the aligned individual traces. It is formed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in order to detect weak seismic signals from small events. GERESS is part of the International Seismic Monitoring System, which is being established for monitoring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. GERESS is operated and maintained by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) [http://www.bgr.de/] , Hannover, Germany. ***************************************************************** 46 From Hanford to Salem, agencies on high alert The Oregonian 05/30/02 Here's a look at how several key Oregon agencies have changed their safety and emergency preparedness since Sept. 11, and in recent weeks: NUCLEAR FACILITIES Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Southeast Washington houses the largest concentration of radioactive waste in the United States. After Sept. 11, officials closed some entries to the site and began checking every vehicle and every person entering Hanford. Badge checks have since been scaled back, but random checks are made and the driver of every vehicle is checked, spokesman Mike Talbot said. The region's only active commercial nuclear power plant, run by Energy Northwest, is at Hanford. "We went to our highest state of alert on Sept. 11," spokesman Don McManman said. "We've been on the highest state since." The closed Trojan Nuclear Plant near Rainier has kept the level of security it has had since Sept. 11 but hasn't increased it, spokesman Mark Fryberg said. CHEMICAL AGENTS The U.S. Army stores two kinds of nerve poison and mustard agent at a depot in Umatilla County. Since October, the Army has significantly beefed up security at the depot, spokeswoman Mary Binder said. Badge and vehicle inspections are stricter. Mustard agents stored in metal sheds were moved in March to concrete igloos. Some strict security measures in place before Sept. 11 remain, including a no-fly zone above the base and an order to use lethal force against intruders in some areas, Binder said. HEALTH/BIOTERRORISM Last fall's anthrax mailings and general concern about bioterrorism spurred many changes in the state health system. Three officials received special training on smallpox, a feared bioterror agent, said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epidemiologist. The state has done much detailed planning about how to deal with a bioterror attack. In the Portland area, emergency medical teams have been trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction, how to use decontamination equipment and give antidotes to chemical weapons, said Dr. John Jui, director of Multnomah County's Emergency Medical Services. AIR The Port of Portland Police, who provide some security at Portland International Airport, continues the heightened security put in place after Sept. 11, spokesman Steve Johnson said. A federal agency now handles screening passengers and bags, and random checks have been stepped up. Oregon State Police will provide the law enforcement that the Oregon National Guard has been providing. New Transportation Security Administration officers are moving into new jobs at the airport and will help with security oversight. In November, federal law enforcement officials will take over all security duties. The Federal Aviation Administration established several no-fly zones after Sept. 11 but has scaled those back, said Mike Fergus, a spokesman for the agency's Renton, Wash., office. As before Sept. 11, he said, no flights are allowed above Umatilla and three Washington military bases. The FAA created new, temporary no-fly zones over "huge, large gatherings of people . . . large sporting events, things of that nature," he said. WATER The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which runs several Oregon dams, increased security last fall and has kept it high, spokesman Mike McAleer said. The Portland Water Bureau has proposed raising rates next year to help pay for its own larger security force and to cover four open in-town reservoirs within five years. The bureau added two full-time guards last year to patrol the open reservoirs and increased contact with local police, operations director Mark Knudson said. -- Andy Dworkin © 2002 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 47 [psy-op] nuclear bad guys Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 23:01:41 -0500 (CDT) a complete and official table, dilineating ALL the main nuclear and radiation bad guys including carlyle, wackenhut, bechtel, battele memorial, brookhaven, lockheed, sandia, wackenhut, and westinghouse! from: http://www.hanford.gov/pmm/icpt/eligibility_list.html - department of energy hanford site ELIGIBILITY LIST DOE Sites, Contractors or Designated Affiliates The Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA) found on this web site are specially designed to meet the procurement needs of DOE employees and contractors and are available for use by the DOE management and DOE contractors listed in the table below, unless otherwise explicitly indicated in the BOA. The list below is subject to change and is updated as necessary. If you find information that is incorrect please contact FH Contract Support Services, providing the correct information if possible. ACRONYMS USED IN THIS LIST ERMC -- Environmental Restoration Management Contractor M&I -- Management and Integrating Contractor FFRDC -- Federally Funded Research and Development Center TAR -- Technical Assistance and Remediation FOS -- Facilities Operation and Support OPERATOR FACILITY NAME/TITLE MAILING ADDRESS PHONE NO. FAX NO. E-MAIL ADDRESS AlliedSignal Federal Manufacturing and Technologies Kansas City Plant Doug McCrary, Director, Materiel Management AlliedSignal Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, P. O. Box 419159, Kansas City, MO 64141-6159 (816) 997-2259 (816) 997-5492 dmccrary1@kcp.com Battelle Memorial Northwest National Laboratory (FFRDC) Jack A. Barnaby, Manager of Contracts Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 3200 Q Ave., P. O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 (509) 375-2766 (509) 375-3725 ja_barnaby@pnl.gov Bechtel Bettis Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory Mary Hutchings, Manager of Procurement Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, P. O. Box 79, West Mifflin, PA 15122-0079 (412) 476-6222 (412) 476-7320 hutching@bettis.gov Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC (BBWI) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (FFRDC) Scott Harrison, Director of Procurement and Property BBWI, 2525 Fremont Ave., P. O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-1625 (208) 526-3016 (208) 526-7744 harrsw@inel.gov Bechtel Hanford Corp. Environmental Restoration Contractor for the DOE Hanford Site Dennis H. Houston, Project Procurement and Property Manager Bechtel Hanford Company 3350 George Washington Way Richland, Washington 99352 (509) 375-4670 (509) 372-9703 dhhousto@bhi-erc.com Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC Environmental Management Enrichment Facility Contractor for the DOE Sites in Oakridge, TN; Paducha, KY; & Portsmouth, OH Darell von der Linden, Procurement Manager Bechtel Jacobs Company LLC, P.O. Box 4699, K-1225, MS-7294, oak ridge Tennessee, 37831-7294 (423) 241-1134 (423) 576-8512 vonderlinde1@bechteljacobs.org Bechtel National Inc. Michael Jewell, Procurement & Property ManagerBechtel National Inc, 3000 George Washington Way, Richland, WA 99352, MS 11-C509-371-0285509-371-0291mjewell@bechtel.com Bechtel Nevada Corp. Nevada Test Site Doris M. Burnett, Department Manager, Procurement and Property Department Bechtel Nevada Corp., 2621 Losee Rd., North Las Vegas, NV 89030 Bechtel Nevada Corp., MS NLV018, P. O. Box 98521, Las Vegas, NV 89193 (702) 295-2337 (702) 295-2088 burnetdm@nv.doe.gov Brookhaven Science Associates Brookhaven National Laboratory (FFRDC) Mary-Faith Healey, Manager, Division of Contracts and Procurement Brookhaven National Laboratory, 50 Brookhaven Ave., Upton, NY 11973-5000 (516) 344-3179 (516) 344-5499 healey@bnl.gov BWXT of Ohio Mound Site Barbara Hood, Purchasing Manager Babcox and Wilcox Ohio, Inc., 1 Mound Road P.O. Box 3030, Miamisburg, OH 45343-3030 (937) 865-3074 (937) 865-3816 hoodbs@doe-md.gov Duke Cogema Stone & WebsterSavannah RiverMitch Laney, Procurement ManagerDuke Cogema Stone & Webster, PO Box 31847, 128 S. Tryon Street, Mail Code: FC12A, Charlotte, NC 28231-1847 (704) 373-5425 mllaney@dukeengineering.com Dyn McDermott Petroleum Operations Co. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Michael Vermeulen, Director, Procurement and Contracts Dyn McDermott Petroleum Operations Co., 850 S. Clearview Pkwy., New Orleans, LA 70123 (504) 734-4625 (504) 734-4502 michael.vermeulen@spr.doe.gov Fluor Daniel Environmental Management Corp. Fernald Environmental Management Restoration Project (ERMC) Rex Norton, Director of Contracts and Asset Management Fluor Daniel Environmental Management Corp., MS 3, P. O. Box 538704, Cincinnati, OH 45253 (513) 648-4322 (513) 648-3091 rex.norton@fernald.gov Fluor Hanford, Inc. Hanford Site (M&I) Jim L. Jacobsen, Director of Contracting Fluor Hanford, Inc., P. O. Box 1000, Richland, WA 99352 (509) 376-3845 (509) 372-1476 jim_l_jacobsen@rl.gov Fluor Daniel Services, Inc. Naval Petroleum Reserves Casper Stephanie Tischer, Subcontract Supervisor Fluor Daniel (NPOSR), Inc., 907 N. Poplar, Suite 100, Casper, WY 82501 (307) 437-9661 (307) 437-9623 None General Atomics General Atomics L. Denyce Carter, Director, Contracts and Purchasing General Atomics, 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, CA 92121-1122 (858) 455-2070 (858) 465-3545 denyce.carter@gat.com Hanford Environmental Health Foundation Hanford Environmental Health Services Organization R. O. Volk, Director, Financial Division Hanford Environmental Health Foundation, P. O. Box 100, Richland, WA 99352 (509) 376-2309 (509) 376-9818 rainer_o_volk@rl.gov Iowa State University Ames Laboratory (FFRDC) Jack Cummings, Acting Head of Procurement Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, 211 TASF, Ames, IA 50011-3020 (515) 294-4582 (515) 294-6166 cummings@ameslab.gov Kaiser-Hill Co., LLC Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (M&I) Norm Sandlin, Director, Contracts and Procurement Kaiser-Hill, LLC, State Hwy. 93 & Cactus, Rocky Flats, CO 80007 Kaiser-Hill, LLC, P. O. Box 464, Golden, CO 80402-0464 (303) 966-8243 (303) 966-1453 norm.sandlin@rfets.gov Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp./Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (FFRDC) /East Tennessee Technology Park and Y-12 Plant Gary Draper, Director of Procurement Lockheed Martin Energy Systems, Inc., 175 Oak Ridge Turnpike, P. O. Box 2002, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6501 (423) 576-8500 (423) 576-8634 drapergj@y12.doe.gov Lockheed Martin Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory Mark Rybaltowski, Contract Administrator KAPL Inc., 2401 River Road Schenectady, NY 12309 (518) 395-4525 (518) 395-6627 rybalma@kapl.gov MACTEC Environmental Services, LLC Grand Junction Project Office (TAR) Russ Cook, Lead, Contracts and Procurement MACTEC Environmental Services, LLC, 2597 B and 3/4 Rd., Grand Junction, CO 81502-5504 (970) 248-6321 (970) 248-6320 rcook@gjpomail.doegjpo.com Mason & Hanger Corp. Pantex Plant J. Brian Bidwell, Manager, Procurement, Procurement Department Mason & Hanger Corp., Pantex Plant, Bldg. 1612, P. O. Box 30020, Amarillo, TX 79120-0020 (806) 477-3856 (806) 477-3839 bbidwell@pantex.com Midwest Research Institute National Renewable Energy Laboratory (FFRDC) Dan Cornell, Acquisition Services Center Director National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401 (303) 384-7549 (303) 384-7397 dan.cornell@nrel.gov MK-Ferguson Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project Robert Tumbarello, Procurement Manager Weldon Spring Site, 7295 Highway 94 South, St. Charles, MO 63304 (314) 441-8086 X7052 bob_tumbarello@wssrap-host.wssrap.com Oak Ridge Associated Universities Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (FFRDC) John E. Bennett, Manager of Procurement Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 230 Warehouse Road, P. O. Box 117, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0117 (423) 241-4887 (423) 576-9385 bennettj@orau.gov Princeton University Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (FFRDC) Rodney Templon, Director of Procurement Princeton University, Plasma Physics Laboratory, P. O. Box CN-17, Princeton, NJ 08543 (609) 243-2443 (609) 243-2021 rtemplon@pppl.gov Sandia Corp. (Lockheed Martin Corp.) Sandia National Laboratories (FFRDC) Dave Palmer, Director Procurement Sandia National Laboratories, 1515 Eubank, Albuquerque, NM 87123 Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0200, P. O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, NM 87185-0200 (505) 844-8001 (505) 284-3773 dlpalme@sandia.gov Southeastern Universities Research Association Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (FFRDC) Mark J. Waite, Procurement Director Southeastern Universities Research Association, Jefferson Lab, 12000 Jefferson Ave., Newport News, VA 23606 (757) 269-7532 (757) 269-7057 waite@jlab.org Stanford University Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (FFRDC) Robert S. Todaro, Purchasing Officer Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, 2575 Sandhill Rd., Menlo Park, CA 94025 Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, M/S #1, P. O. Box 4349, Stanford, CA 94309 (650)-926-2425 (415) 926-2000 rocker@slac.stanford.edu TRW Energy Safety Systems, Inc. National Civilian Radioactive Waste Program, Yucca Mountain Edward J. McDonnell, Director of Contracts and Subcontracts TRW Environmental Safety Systems, Inc. 1261 Town Center Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89134 (702) 295-6932 (702) 295-0797 Ed_McDonnell@ymp.gov University of California Chuck McDonald, Manager, Procurement and Property University of California, 300 Lakeside Dr., 10th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612-3550 (510) 987-0783 (510) 839-3831 chuck.mcdonald@ucop.edu University of California Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (FFRDC) Rich Arri, Procurement Manager Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720 (510) 486-4593 (510) 486-4380 rjarri@lbl.gov University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (FFRDC) Ed Cunniffe, Jr., Procurement and Materiel Manager Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P. O. Box 5012, Livermore, CA 94551 (925) 422-9562 (925) 422-3301 cunniffe1@llnl.gov University of California Los Alamos National Laboratory (FFRDC) Bill Barr, Procurement Manager Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS P274, P. O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (505) 667-5984 (505) 665-6202 barr_william_a@lanl.gov University of Chicago Argonne National Laboratory (FFRDC) Dennis Bugielski, Manager of Procurement Argonne National Laboratory, Bldg. 201, 9700 S. Cass Ave., Argonne, IL 60439-4873 (630) 252-7028 (630) 252-4517 debugielski@anl.gov Universities Research Association, Inc. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FFRDC) Joe Collins, Procurement Manager Universities Research Association, Inc., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P. O. Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510 (630) 840-4169 (630) 840-2457 jcollins@fnal.gov Wackenhut Services, Inc. Paramilitary Security Services at Westinghouse Savannah River Lorri Wright, Procurement Administrator Wackenhut Services, Inc., P. O. Box W, Aiken, SC 29802 (803) 952-7598 (803) 952-7731 lorri.wright@srs.gov Wackenhut Services, Inc. Security Services at Nevada Test Site and Las Vegas Mike Ebert, General Manager Wackenhut Services, Inc., 2950 S. Highland Ave., Suite E, Las Vegas, NV 89109 (702) 295-0805 (702) 295-1838 None WASTREN, Inc. Hank Nachtsheim, Director, Contracts and Procurement WASTREN, Inc., 2597 B and 3/4 Rd., Grand Junction, CO 81503 (970) 248-6625 (970) 248-7636 hanknachtsheim@doegjpo.com Westinghouse Savannah River Co. Savannah River Technology Center (FFRDC) Tom Robinson, Manager, Procurement and Materials Management Westinghouse Savannah River Co., 730-4B Room 222, Aiken, SC 29808 (803) 952-6167 (803) 952-6168 thomas05.robinson@srs.gov Westinghouse Waste Isolation Division Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Jose Legarreta, Manager of Procurement and Material Control Westinghouse Waste Isolation Division, P. O. 2078, Carlsbad, NM 88221 (505) 234-7566 (505) 234-7051 legarrJ@wipp.carlsbad.nm.us Westinghouse-West Valley Nuclear Services Co., Inc. West Valley Demonstration Project Philip C. Weddle, Manager, Procurement and Support West Valley Nuclear Services Co., Inc., P. O. Box 191, West Valley, NY 14171-0191 (716) 942-2329 (716) 942-4110 weddlep@wv.doe.gov ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Wherever you see media wrapped around media wrapped around media, you know there's a meme in there somewhere." - Douglas Rushkoff from "Media Virus" http://www.connix.com/%7Ewbrady/psyche4.htm http://www.pieman.org/ http://www.webcom.com/%7epinknoiz/covert/seberg.html --------------------------------- Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup ***************************************************************** 48 Center gets N-lab lead bricks [deseretnews.com] May 29, 2002 IDAHO FALLS (AP) — The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is giving its excess lead bricks a new life at the Idaho Accelerator Center. "We have received 80 tons or so of lead at no cost to improve the shielding in our accelerator operations," Frank Harmon, director of the center, said. "Lead is an efficient shield because it is compact and of high density, so it takes up less room than an equivalent weight of concrete." The lead is used to shield areas where radioactive material is handled. This year the laboratory has shipped about 160,000 pounds of lead bricks to the center. Particle accelerators generate high radiation fields that would make laboratories unusable if they were not shielded with the lead. "Rather than just disposing of this valuable metal, we look for ways it can be used where it's really needed," Jeff Mousseau, manager of the laboratory's waste generator services group, said. "By doing that we prevent the need to mine, smelt and handle more lead." In recent years about 625,000 excess pounds of lead has been shipped offsite by the laboratory. All but 2.7 percent was used for lead shielding at other U.S. Department of Energy sites. "We provide it to them at not cost," Mousseau said. © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 49 Livermore Lab warned of foreign 'brain drain' Tri-Valley Herald Thursday, May 30, 2002 - 2:59:38 AM MST By Matt Carter Staff Writer LIVERMORE -- A new generation of foreign-born scientists will spurn work at the nation's nuclear weapons labs if changes aren't instituted in the wake of the Wen Ho Lee case, a prominent Chinese-American leader warned officials at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory on Wednesday. Nelson Dong, a high-profile technology industry lawyer and a spokesman for an influential group of Chinese-American leaders -- the Committee of 100 -- has already delivered the same message during recent lectures at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico. "I suppose you could call this my grand slam," Dong said of his third and final stop on the Department of Energy weapons lab lecture circuit. Prohibiting racial profiling and eliminating glass ceilings that keep minorities from rising into management ranks is not only the right thing to do, Dong said, it's in the nation's best interest. Drawing an analogy to World War II -- when a "brain drain" of atomic scientists fleeing Nazi Germany helped the United States win the race to build the first atomic bomb -- Dong called on the Department of Energy to mend relations with Asian-Americans. Dong pointed out that America's atomic bomb program benefited enormously from the expertise of foreign-born scientists such as Albert Einstein, Edward Teller, Enrico Fermi, Otto Frisch and Lise Meitner. The Hungarian-born Teller was one of Livermore Lab's founders. "It's extremely sobering to think of what (Nazi atomic scientist Werner) Heisenberg would have been able to do if even half of those names had stayed" in Europe, Dong said. "What language would we be speaking in this auditorium today?" Doctoral wonders Citing statistics from the National Science Board, Dong said America continues to benefit from an exodus of some of India and China's best and brightest students. In 1997, foreign-born students received 49 percent of all the doctorate degrees awarded by U.S. universities in engineering, and 36 percent of natural sciences degrees. The report also found that 97 percent of students from China who received doctorates in engineering from U.S. universities in 1992 were still working in the country five years later. Ninety percent of those who came from India to earn engineering doctorates stayed. At the same time, fewer U.S.-born citizens were pursuing careers in math, science and engineering. Stock options It was hard enough for the weapons labs to compete for top talent with high-flying technology firms -- "You don't offer stock options" -- Dong said. Now, with the economy flagging and the labs facing allegations of racial profiling in the aftermath of the Wen Ho Lee case, the risk is that foreign-born students will be lured back home -- where the work they do won't necessarily be in the United States' best interest, Dong said. "Clearly the brain drain has become more of a two-way street between Asia and the U.S.," Dong said. If not made to feel welcome as Americans, "These people can leave, building someone else's rockets, and developing someone else's nuclear program." The labs also must contend with charges by Asian Americans that they are paid substandard wages, have limited opportunities for promotion and can't always get security clearances needed to perform the most coveted work. After Lee was jailed, a group of university professors -- Asian Pacific Americans for Higher Education -- urged Asian Americans not to apply for jobs at the labs. The boycott is still in effect but could be lifted soon. Recruitment efforts A Livermore Lab spokeswoman, Lynda Seaver, said the lab has had "no conclusive indication" that the boycott or the Wen Ho Lee case had damaged recruitment efforts. "Prior to both, the lab was already increasing its efforts to recruit a diverse work force," Seaver said. "That increase naturally continued through the boycott and Wen Ho Lee case and is reflected in our hiring statistics." 649 at lab At the height of the boycott, Seaver said, there were 596 Asian Americans working at the lab. Today there are 649. The lab has created a number of career development and mentoring programs, Seaver said, and has promoted 41 Asian-American employees in the last few years. A report released last week by the U.S. General Accounting Office found that, although Asian men at Sandia and Los Alamos made the same amount as white men with comparable titles and experience, at Livermore Lab, they made 5 percent less. The report found that although 49 percent of Asian men in managerial and professional positions at Livermore Lab held a doctorate or equivalent degree -- compared to 40 percent of white men -- only 53 percent held a high-level security clearance. Among white men, 66 percent held the "Q" level security clearance. But more of the white managers and professionals -- 96 percent -- were U.S. citizens, compared to 88 percent of their Asian counterparts. Dong said that in addition to eliminating barriers to promotion and making sure that security measures are implemented equally for all employees, the Department of Energy can improve relations with AsianAmericans by releasing the full text of the Bellows Report, its investigation of the handling of the Wen Ho Lee case. Lee, a Los Alamos scientist who was imprisoned for nine months before federal prosecutors dropped 58 counts of mishandling nuclear weapons information, pled guilty to one felony count of downloading classified information to an unclassified computer system and was released in September 2000. Too quick to focus Critics said investigators looking into the possibility that China had stolen U.S. nuclear secrets were too quick to focus their investigation on scientists of Chinese descent. Dong pointed out that the most egregious espionage cases in U.S. history have been perpetrated by native-born citizens such as Robert P. Hansen, the FBI agent convicted last year of spying for the Soviet Union. By creating an atmosphere of suspicion around Asian Americans, the government also sends the wrong message to private industry, Dong said. "The lessons taught by the national labs ... sends a signal to the companies in private industry that work with classified information," he said. After Lee was jailed, the Committee of 100 received many reports from Asian-American defense workers who found their right to work on classified projects challenged, delayed or denied, Dong said. The Committee of 100 was formed in 1990 by Chinese-American leaders including architect I.M. Pei and classical musician Yo-Yo Ma. Its board of directors also includes John S. Chen, chairman of Dublin-based Sybase Inc. ©1999-2001 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 50 Neighbors of Savannah River Site file suit for compensation 05/30/02 The Oak Ridger Online -- State News -- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A group of residents who live near the Savannah River Site filed a motion Wednesday to intervene in a federal lawsuit and to require the Department of Energy to pay them if plutonium is brought into South Carolina. The group's motion is now part of the lawsuit brought by Gov. Jim Hodges to keep the federal government from permanently storing the weapons-grade nuclear material at the facility near the Georgia border. Danny Black, president of the Tri-County Alliance in nearby Barnwell, said even though the federal government produced dangerous radioactive material for bombs at SRS for years, "the site has never paid a dime as far as impact fees." "We have pretty much stoically existed with the nuclear plant out there," said Edward Lemon, Barnwell's mayor and a third-generation resident of the area. "We've done our patriotic duty and never complained about it." The sprawling facility used to mean full employment, "but now those jobs are petering out," as SRS hiring has fallen from 26,000 to 13,000 people, Lemon said. "We just feel that it's time for the government to treat us like the rest of America and compensate us accordingly," he said. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie is scheduled to hear arguments in Hodges' lawsuit on June 13, two days before the Energy Department could begin shipping surplus plutonium from the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado. "I'm not sure of the relevance of this case," said DOE spokesman Joe Davis. He would not comment on the new legal action apart from saying the federal agency does not pay impact fees. The governor has said the state will take the plutonium and process it into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors or for an immobilization project if Energy officials agree to operate under a court-ordered consent decree. That would mean the state could stop shipments or force the removal of material if DOE failed to live up to its end of the deal. The agency has said that would require it to give up sovereignty to the state and it asked Currie to rule immediately in its favor. The Energy Department contends the shipments to South Carolina are essential to meeting its goal of cleaning up and closing the Rocky Flats site by 2006. Neil Robinson, a lawyer for the group of residents, said Wednesday's request for compensation is a Fifth Amendment right. "The federal government is taking property from the citizens of South Carolina by imposing the most deadly substance known to man upon our state against its will and without any compensation," he said. Without a clear plan to get the plutonium out of South Carolina "we're simply going to be the dumping ground," Robinson said. "The entire country will benefit from that." Robinson and another lawyer, Marguerite Willis, said their firm is taking the case on a reduced contingency fee basis -- not to run up legal fees. "I didn't like the notion of waiting 10 to 15 years for a penalty," Willis said, referring to federal legislation that would require the government to pay only if certain deadlines for processing the material aren't met years down the road. Attorneys for the residents said the federal law cited in the motion allows people in a class-action lawsuit to collect up to $10,000 each. Hodges has asked the court to stop the plutonium from being shipped to SRS because Energy officials failed to conduct tests to evaluate the effects the material would have on the environment. "This lawsuit focuses on what could or should happen if the federal government stores plutonium in South Carolina," Hodges said. "I'm working to keep the plutonium from being shipped here in the first place unless we have legally enforceable safeguards in place to protect South Carolinians' health and safety. "This new suit doesn't interfere with my goal. It's just another sign of the growing opposition to plutonium-dumping in South Carolina." All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 51 Residents join plutonium fight Augusta Georgia: Technology: 05/30/02 By Jim Davenport Associated Press [http://wire.ap.org/] COLUMBIA - A group of residents who live near Savannah River Site filed a motion Wednesday to intervene in a federal lawsuit and to require the Department of Energy to pay them if plutonium is brought into South Carolina. The group's motion is now part of the lawsuit brought by Gov. Jim Hodges to keep the federal government from permanently storing the weapons-grade nuclear material at the facility near the Georgia border. Danny Black, the president of the Tri-County Alliance in nearby Barnwell, said that even though the federal government produced dangerous radioactive material for bombs at SRS for years, "the site has never paid a dime as far as impact fees." "We have pretty much stoically existed with the nuclear plant out there," said Edward Lemon, Barnwell's mayor and a third-generation resident of the area. "We've done our patriotic duty and never complained about it." The sprawling facility used to mean full employment, "but now those jobs are petering out," as SRS' work force has fallen from 26,000 to 13,000 people, Mr. Lemon said. "We just feel that it's time for the government to treat us like the rest of America and compensate us accordingly," he said. U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie is scheduled to hear arguments in Mr. Hodges' lawsuit June 13, two days before the Energy Department could begin shipping surplus plutonium from the Rocky Flats facility in Colorado. "I'm not sure of the relevance of this case," said DOE spokesman Joe Davis. He would not comment on the new legal action apart from saying the federal agency does not pay impact fees. The governor has said the state will take the plutonium and process it into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors or for an immobilization project if Energy officials agree to operate under a court-ordered consent decree. That would mean the state could stop shipments or force the removal of material if DOE failed to live up to its end of the deal. The agency has said that would require it to give up sovereignty to the state and it asked Judge Currie to rule immediately in its favor. The Energy Department contends the shipments to South Carolina are essential to meeting its goal of cleaning up and closing the Rocky Flats site by 2006. [http://augusta.com] . ***************************************************************** 52 [psy-op] News Updates at Fallout Shelter News! Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 23:02:41 -0500 (CDT) EMERGENCY BROADCAST NEWS http://falloutshelternews.com/EMERGENCY_BROADCAST_NEWS.htm RADIOACTIVE ARTICLES http://falloutshelternews.com/RADIOACTIVE_ARTICLES.htm Karl Rove's Daybook http://falloutshelternews.com/Karl'sDaybook.html Carol Schiffler Karl Rove's Daybook, Page 2 http://falloutshelternews.com/Karl'sDaybookPg2.html Carol Schiffler Lori R. Price http://legitgov.org http://falloutshelternews.com/ Petition to Senate - Investigate Oddities of 9/11: http://www.petitiononline.com/11601TFS/petition.html ***************************************************************** 53 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.20 | 15 - 23 May 2002 A weekly summary of international news relevant to the nuclear energy industry. [NB02.21-1] Finland: The parliament started a debate on Tuesday (21 May) about the proposed construction of a new nuclear power reactor in the country. The debate is expected to end on Thursday evening (23 May) with a final vote on the issue on Friday afternoon. An opinion poll published in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper showed 92 members of parliament in favour of the new unit, with 82 against and 25 undecided. (NucNet News, 179/02, 21 May; see also News Briefing 02.20-4) Meanwhile, 54% of the Finnish public support the construction of the fifth reactor as long as other energy sources are also expanded, according to a Gallup poll. Another Gallup poll in January indicated that some 40% of citizens supported the project. (International Herald Tribune, 20 May, p7; see also News Briefing 02.19-4) [NB02.21-2] Japan: Electricity tariffs could increase by 7% in real terms over the period to 2025 if the government stops building nuclear power plants, the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) has warned. The tariff increase would have an adverse impact on Japan's gross domestic product (GDP), as well as increasing carbon dioxide emissions by 12%, CRIEPI said. (Power in Asia, 16 May, p20) [NB02.21-3] Replacing the UK's ageing nuclear power plants with new reactors could save national industry and domestic users up to 40% on the cost of meeting government carbon reduction targets, according to a new report. Research by Cambridge Econometrics, commissioned by the British Nuclear Industry Forum (BNIF), suggests that measures proposed in a recent national energy policy review are unlikely to be sufficient to achieve the government's objective of reducing carbon emissions by 20% by 2010. Without a nuclear replacement programme, electricity consumers could pay up to 55 UK pounds (US$80) for each tonne of carbon discharged, while if existing nuclear capacity were replaced, the carbon tax could drop to 33 UK pounds (US$48) per tonne. BNIF director general Adrian Ham said that government policy on nuclear energy 'needs to be reviewed with some urgency'. He said 'the economic cost of meeting carbon reduction targets puts nuclear in a new perspective'. (NucNet Business News, 29/02, 21 May) [NB02.21-4] The European Supply Agency (Euratom) has again urged nuclear power utilities to maintain 'strategic' uranium inventories at all stages of the fuel cycle to avoid possible supply disruptions or shortages. In its annual report for 2001, Euratom said that while no 'major difficulties' are anticipated with regard to short-term supplies of uranium fuel, the ongoing imbalance between current world demand and production of uranium is 'not sustainable in the long run'. The report also says that ongoing consolidation, particularly in the conversion industry, gives 'some cause for concern'. The agency is therefore recommending that utility inventories should be equivalent to a least one to two years' forward requirements. It also recommends utilities to contract for most of their requirements with primary sources, and to diversify sources of supply. Euratom's annual report can be downloaded from http://europa.eu.int/comm/euratom/ar2001full.pdf. (NucNet News, 181/02, 21 May; see also News Briefing 01.21-14) [NB02.21-5] Belarus plans to participate in the construction of new nuclear power reactor in Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko announced. He said the joint construction project - probably at Russia's existing Smolensk nuclear power plant site - is now being considered in detail by the government ministries responsible for economic affairs and the power industry. The amount of electricity that Belarus would receive from the plant would depend on the country's financial contribution to the project. The Belarus government is also considering the possibility of constructing its own nuclear power plant. (NucNet News, 180/02, 21 May; see also News Briefing 02.19-9) [NB02.21-6] Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHPN) plans to increase its capacity by building eight new reactors, with 9600 MWe of total capacity, over the next 12 years. The plants will cost 24 trillion won (US$18.7 billion), equating to a cost of almost US$1950 per kilowatt. Four of the plants will each comprise 1000 MWe of capacity and are scheduled to enter service between 2008 and 2010. The other four plants will each comprise 1400 MWe of capacity and are scheduled to enter service between 2011 and 2014. The sites for most of the plants remain to be decided, although at least two are expected to be constructed in Kyongsan province. (Power in Asia, 16 May, p20; see also News Briefing 01.29-2) [NB02.21-7] US: An independent task force will 'assess the lessons learned' relating to the degradation of the reactor vessel head at FristEnergy's Davis-Besse nuclear power plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said the group would complete its review by early September and then prepare a public report of its conclusions and recommendations. The group will consider the following issues: the reactor oversight process; the regulatory process; research activities; international practices; and, the generic issue process. (NucNet News, 177/02, 21 May) Meanwhile, FirstEnergy has signed a 'non-binding' letter of intent to purchase a reactor pressure vessel head from Consumers Energy's abandoned Midland plant as a replacement for the Davis-Besse reactor head. (Nucleonics Week, 16 May, p1; see also News Briefing 02.20-9) [NB02.21-8] US: Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has approved a staff recommendation to restart Browns Ferry-1, which has not operated since June 1985. The project to restart unit 1 will take an estimated five years and will entail increasing the reactor's generating capacity from 1050 MWe to 1280 MWe at a cost of between US$1.7billion and US$1.8 billion. The board also authorised TVA staff to apply for 20-year life extensions for all three units at the plant. The licence for unit 1 expires in 2013, followed by unit 2 in 2014 and unit 3 in 2016. (Nuclear Energy Overview, 20 May, p2; NucNet News, 176/02, 17 May; see also News Briefing 02.20-8) [NB02.21-9] US: The transfer of Vermont Yankee's operating licence to Entergy has been approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The Vermont Public Service Board must still approve the transfer. (Ux Weekly, 20 May, p4; see also News Briefing 02.14-8) [NB02.21-10] Canada: The four-unit Pickering A nuclear power plant will not now be restarted until late December 2002 or even early 2003, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced. The delay has been put down to unexpected technical problems. (FreshFUEL, 20 May, p4; Ux Weekly, 20 May, p4; see also News Briefing 01.47-2) [NB02.21-11] More than 77% of Bulgarians disagree with the European Union's (EU's) insistence that several units of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant should be closed 'within a certain time frame', according to a new poll. The poll shows 66.3% of Bulgarians think the government 'should be firm' in postponing the closure of units 1 and 2 at the end of 2002, even if that means slowing down the EU accession process. Those against were 7.5%, with 25.2% undecided. 69.5% of those polled thought there was 'another reason' - other than safety arguments - behind the EU's demand. With regard to the country's unfinished Belene nuclear power plant, 59.8% thought completion was 'the right thing to do', with only 9.3% against and 30.9% undecided. The poll, which surveyed 1022 Bulgarians aged 18 and over, was conducted by Gallup International on behalf of the Bulgarian atomic forum (Bulatom). (NucNet News, 182/02, 22 May; see also News Briefing 02.16-10) Meanwhile, upgrades at Kozloduy-5 and -6 will extend their operational lives by over 25 years. Set to begin in 2006, the six-year project involving Framatome ANP, Atomenergostroy and Westinghouse will benefit from a 212.5 million euro (US$197 million) loan from the EU. (Ux Weekly, 20 May, p5; see also News Briefing 01.08-9) [NB02.21-12] The Lithuanian parliament authorised negotiations with the European Union (EU) regarding conditions for decommissioning the Ignalina-2 reactor. The resolution suggests a timetable of between 2009 and 2015 to shutdown the reactor, but does not mandate a specific date for closing the reactor. (Ux Weekly, 20 May, p4; see also News Briefing 02.10-6) [NB02.21-13] India's Department of Atomic Energy Site Selection Committee has identified seven sites for possible construction of new nuclear power plants. The committee is expected to publish a report regarding possible new plant sites in June. The Indian government wants to increase the country's nuclear capacity to 20 000 MWe by 2020, from 2720 MWe at present. (Ux Weekly, 20 May, p5; Nucleonics Week, 16 May, p8) Meanwhile, the 1000 MWe plant proposed by Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NUPCIL) for Daroli, Punjab, has met opposition from the state's newly elected government. The site received full backing from the earlier Punjab government. (Nucleonics Week, 9 May, p4; Power in Asia, 16 May, p11; see also News Briefing 00.18-3) [NB02.21-14] Germany: The state of Lower Saxony awarded a general licence on 30 April for completion of the low- and intermediate-level waste (LLW/ILW) repository at the former Konrad iron mine. However, the Federal Radiation Protection Agency (BFS) immediately took a legal step to delay the project further. Industry sources said it might be 10 or more years before the facility can be used. (Nucleonics Week, 16 May, p11; see also News Briefing 02.17-14) [NB02.21-15] Taiwan: Authorities are considering moves towards the eventual relocation of the temporary Orchid Island low-level waste (LLW) storage facility. Economy minister Lin Yi-fu signed an agreement on 4 May with the island's inhabitants pledging the government to establish a relocation committee within one month to discuss the removal of waste under a 'definite timetable'. 97 672 drums of LLW are now stored at the site, operated by Taiwan Power Co (TPC). TPC officials are said to be looking at extending the land lease contract for the facility, which expires at the end of 2002. (NucNet News, 178/02, 21 May; see also News Briefing 96.30-12) Previous News Briefing NB02.20 ***************************************************************** 54 WNA NEWS BRIEFING 02.22 | 24 - 28 May 2002 A weekly summary of international news relevant to the nuclear energy industry. [NB02.22-1] The Finnish parliament approved plans for the construction of the country's fifth nuclear power reactor by a majority of 107 votes to 92. The result was welcomed by the nuclear energy industry. Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO), the utility that applied to build the reactor, is now in a position to finalise details of the proposed unit. The new unit will be either a boiling water reactor (BWR) or pressurised water reactor (PWR) with an output of 1000-1600 MWe, and will be sited at an existing nuclear power plant at either Olkiluoto or Loviisa. The cost estimate for the new unit is 1.7-2.5 billion euro (US$1.6-2.3 billion), depending on the plant size. Juhani Santaholma, President of the Finnish Energy Industries Federation (Finergy), said that Finland would continue to focus on renewable energy sources, domestic fuel, wind and natural gas, alongside nuclear. He said, 'additional nuclear power will give us time to develop renewable energy sources as we are moving towards increasingly-demanding energy technologies, such as hydrogen technology, over a long time span'. Mr Santaholma continued 'this positive nuclear power decision will facilitate the achievement of the national climate objectives in Finland during the first commitment period 2008 to 2012 of the Kyoto Protocol and especially during the subsequent commitment periods with even stricter emission limitations'. Finland's Green Party announced that it was leaving the country's coalition government following the parliamentary vote. The party's departure will not threaten the ruling coalition's majority. A press release concerning the parliamentary vote is available on the [http://www.world-nuclear.org/news/finn.htm] . (NucNet News, 187/02, 24 May; TVO, 24 May; Finergy, 24 May; Reuters, 26 May; see also News Briefing 02.21-1) [NB02.22-2] UK: BNFL has won 'substantial' contracts from German power utility E.ON covering the supply of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and associated recycling services. A key element of the package of contracts is the commitment by E.ON to convert all of its separated plutonium arisings at Sellafield into MOX fuel in the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP). This will be the largest single MOX fuel contract for SMP to date and will utilise a significant proportion of the plant capacity over the coming years. BNFL Chief Executive, Norman Askew, said 'this new MOX contract is a major step forward for BNFL and E.ON, and confirms that there is a strong customer demand for MOX fuel from SMP'. A preliminary agreement for the contract was signed in 2001. (BNFL, 24 May; NucNet Business News, 30/02, 24 May; see also News Briefings 01.18-1 and 02.01-12) [NB02.22-3] The Vietnamese government has approved a prefeasibility study prepared by the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute and the Ministry of Industry addressing the construction of a nuclear power plant in the central coastal region of the country. Twenty potential construction sites were evaluated, with six being short-listed in the provinces of Quang Binh, Phu Yen, Binh Thuan, and Ninh Thuan. The prefeasibility study concluded that the optimal project capacity would be 1200-1400 MWe and could enter commercial operation as early as 2017. (FreshFUEL, 27 May, p4; see also News Briefing 02.15-4) [NB02.22-4] US: Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) is assessing various options for the future of the Cooper nuclear power plant. MidAmerican Energy Co - which currently purchases 50% of the plant's output - has told NPPD that it will not renew its contract when it expires in September 2004. Lincoln Electric Systems has also announced that it will not renew its contract for 12.5% of Cooper's output when its deal with NPPD expires in September 2003. Options under evaluation include electricity sales from the 800 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR), selling the plant or shutting it down. A decision is expected later in 2002. (Nucleonics Week, 23 May, p1; FreshFUEL, 27 May, p4; see also News Briefing 02.13-6) [NB02.22-5] Germany: A thorough investigation of criticality safety issues related to a series of boron management problems that arose in 2001 at the Philippsburg-2 reactor is expected to be organised by the Reactor Safety Commission (RSK). At issue is whether deficiencies in boron concentration and water levels in reservoirs holding emergency coolant would have had an impact on the criticality behaviour of fuel in the core in severe accident scenarios in which emergency coolant would have been called upon to prevent recriticality. The plant operator - Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) - has maintained that the reactor had at no time been at risk of getting out of control. Should the RSK's findings confirm that the safety of Philippsburg-2 had been jeopardised, EnBW could face legal challenges from regulators or private third parties. (Nucleonics Week, 23 May, p1; see also News Briefing 01.51-7) [NB02.22-6] Armenia: The international community should provide the funds needed to upgrade the Metsamor nuclear power plant, instead of calling for its closure, according to Aram Gevorgyan, head of the department of atomic energy in the Armenian Ministry of Energy. He said it would take just US$25-30 million to finish the 'high-importance' measures identified for upgrading the 407 MWe Metsamor-2 reactor. Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) has already spent between US$50-60 million on upgrading the VVER-440, Mr Gevorgyan reported. (Nucleonics Week, 23 May, p8; see also News Briefing 02.13-9) [NB02.22-7] North Korea: A total of US$850 million has been spent since February 2000 on the project to build two nuclear power reactors in North Korea, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organisation (KEDO) reported. So far, South Korea has funded US$595.2 million, while Japan has provided US$255.1 million. In addition, KEDO has spent another US$509.8 million for fuel oil and general operations since 1995. (FreshFUEL, 27 May, p4; see also News Briefing 02.03-6) [NB02.22-8] Iran: Russia has proposed international inspections of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which it is helping to construct in Iran, in a move to calm US fears that the facility might be used by Iran to produce atomic weapons. (Reuters, 26 May; see also News Briefing 02.13-10) [NB02.22-9] Canada: A modular above-ground storage (MAGS) facility has officially been opened at Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd's (AECL's) Chalk River Laboratories site. The C$2.5 million (US$1.6 million) facility comprises a low-level waste (LLW) sorting and handling building, with a supercompactor and storage buildings in a new waste management area. The supercompactor is expected to reduce overall waste volume by 50% annually. (NucNet News 183/02, 23 May) [NB02.22-10] US: An incident involving accidental over-exposure of an industrial radiographer has been given a final rating of level 3 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). The incident occurred in June 2000 while the radiographer was using a 3 terabequerels (TBq) iridium-192 radiation source to perform radiographs of pipe welds. The incident went unreported until January 2002, after the worker's condition worsened. (NucNet News, 184/02, 23 May) Meanwhile, a hospital that reported a radiation source as missing found it the following day buried at a landfill site in Alabama. The brachytherapy source - used in nuclear cardiology procedures and containing 9.25 gigbequerels (GBq) of iridium-192 - was discovered still in the catheter, which was unbroken. The incident has provisionally been rated at level 2 on the INES scale. (NucNet News, 185/02, 23 May) [NB02.22-11] Nine European Union (EU) countries are lagging behind their targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). While the EU as a whole managed to cut its emissions by 3.5% between 1990 and 2000, its success was almost wholly thanks to the efforts of Germany and the UK. According to the EEA's data, Spain, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Belgium and Greece are failing to reach their targets, even though some were allowed to increase emissions considerably under the EU's burden-sharing deal. The EEA said that US emissions had increased more than 14% during the 1990s. (Financial Times, 24 May, p9; see also News Briefing 01.25-7) Notice: The WNA office will be closed on Monday, 3 June, and Tuesday, 4 June, due to public holidays in the UK. Accordingly, next week's News Briefing (NB02.23) will be written and distributed on Wednesday, 5 June. Previous News Briefing NB02.21 ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************