***************************************************************** 07/31/02 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 10.194 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POLICY 1 U.S. Meets With Russian Nuke Chief 2 UK: 72% prefer renewable to nuclear power 3 ANALYSIS-Iran's atomic reactor not a target for now-analysts* 4 US: Idaho's nuclear industry 5 US officials quiz Moscow on Iran nuclear power deal 6 US: NRC Proposes Amending Combustible Gas Control Standards for NUCLEAR REACTORS 7 US: Security Zone; Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook 8 US: NPPD board to discuss Cooper management plan 9 US: Settlements near in lawsuits over operations at Cooper 10 US: NFS works toward eventual start-up of TVA Project BLEU 11 US: Entergy Buys Vermont Yankee 12 US: Entergy Beats Estimates on Nuclear Improvements 13 Learning to take the blame 14 US: Opposition drops to Vermont Yankee power plant sale NUCLEAR SAFETY 15 US: Anti-radiation pills in state's hands 16 Missing radioactive material recovered in Baja California 17 US: Nuke plant neighbors to get pills at schools 18 US: Sixteenth Child Added to Cancer Cluster in Northern Nevada Town 19 US: NRC Proposes $4,800 Fine Against Virginia Firm for Violation of 20 US: Markey decries lack of security checks on radiation facility sta 21 US: NRC Warns of Nuclear Theft Danger 22 Mexico: Woman Finds Missing Iridium in Dump NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 23 US: Rebuttal witness says proposed waste site safe 24 US: Nebraska: State rests case in waste-site trial 25 Kent Aiken speaks about tourism at the meeting in Unicoi Tuesday eve 26 Decision imminent, Urenco says * 27 US: NFS project may be one of largest in county history * 28 US: Utah Justices hold the n-waste initiative 29 US: Nebraska rebuts nuke dump dispute 30 US: Hanford waste analysis alarms Oregon, activists 31 US: YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT: Director says she wants to shave billion 32 US: OPPOSITION GROWS TO SHIPPING RADIOACTIVE WASTE TO HANFORD SITE 33 US: Scientists to report on ground water flow from Yucca 34 US: Designing a "keep out" sign for a long-lasting radioactive waste 35 US: OP: Reprocessing Works 36 US: Judge Rebuffs (Utah) State on N-Waste 37 US: Nuclear Waste Makes Haste by Teal Krech 38 US: Nebraska rebuts nuke dump dispute NUCLEAR WEAPONS 39 WWII: Japanese Peace Proposal Seven Months Before Surrender? 40 Powell, N. Korea Minister Hold Talks 41 Pyongyang active diplomacy steals spotlight at ASEAN forum 42 Photo exhibit honors Hiroshima victims US DEPT. OF ENERGY 43 CROET concerned with restructuring of DOE 44 Pantex reaches repackaging milestone 45 Report drops bomb OTHER NUCLEAR 46 Nuclear Renaissance 47 *DOI Encourages Geothermal Energy Development* 48 Japan Police: nuclear official peddled stolen software ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 U.S. Meets With Russian Nuke Chief Las Vegas SUN Today: July 31, 2002 at 4:20:12 PDT By STEVE GUTTERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW- Two top U.S. officials met with Russia's atomic energy minister to discuss nuclear proliferation issues Wednesday amid tension over a Russian government plan to increase cooperation with Iran. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Undersecretary of State John Bolton, who handles arms control issues, were meeting with Nuclear Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, the U.S. Embassy said. The visits were planned long ago, but the Americans arrived just days after the Russian government announced a 10-year program for cooperation with Iran that includes plans to build five nuclear reactors there in addition to one already under construction in the Persian Gulf port city of Bushehr. The existing $800 million deal has been a sticking point in Russian-American relations for years because U.S. officials fear the cooperation could help Iran develop nuclear weapons. Russia maintains the aid only serves civilian purposes and that the construction is under international control. Neither Bolton nor Abraham made public comments in Moscow on Wednesday, and a news conference announcing the release of a report by a U.S.-Russian committee exploring ways to cooperate on the development of proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technology was canceled. The U.S. Embassy cited a change in Abraham's itinerary as the reason. In Washington on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the U.S. officials would convey American concerns about Russian-Iranian cooperation while in Moscow. "We've consistently urged Russia to cease all nuclear cooperation with Iran," Reeker said. "Contributing to Iranian nuclear weapons ambitions would be counterproductive ... to Russia's broader strategic interests." The government resolution also calls for Russia to help Iran explore oil fields, launch satellites and build passenger jets and conventional power plants. The debate comes at a time of improved Russian-U.S. ties ushered in by Putin's westward-leaning policies and his support for the U.S. anti-terror campaign following the Sept. 11 attacks. At a May summit, President Vladimir Putin and President Bush signed a treaty to slash American and Russian nuclear arsenals by two-thirds, and the Group of Eight nations last month offered up to $20 billion over 10 years to secure Russia's stockpile of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. Russia's Foreign Ministry said that in a meeting Tuesday, Bolton and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov discussed that effort as well as other nonproliferation issues, the nuclear weapons cuts and anti-missile defense systems. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 2 UK: 72% prefer renewable to nuclear power Jul 31 2002 Nearly three-quarters of the public would rather their electricity came from renewable energy like wind, wave and solar power than nuclear plants. The findings come in a Mori survey of 973 people aged over 15 commissioned by Greenpeace. It found 72% preferring renewable energy to the nuclear option, while 41% are less likely to vote for a political party if it supported nuclear power. Greenpeace activists have projected "72% SAY NO" in giant letters on the Sizewell B reactor dome in East Anglia. Sizewell is a favourite site for a new nuclear power station and already has land set aside and levelled for a Sizewell C plant. The Mori poll results come as the Government is reviewing the UK's energy sources for the next 50 years. Greenpeace says that despite the high risks and already massive public opposition to nuclear power, the Government is seriously considering giving the go-ahead for more nuclear power stations across the UK. The group said that as well as East Anglia, sites are being considered in Gloucestershire, Essex, Anglesey, Gwynedd, Somerset, Ayrshire, Dumfries, Cumbria, Lancashire, East Lothian and Kent. Greenpeace says all of the areas are also strong potential sites for wind farms out at sea. Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Louise Edge, said: "The British public have made their choice, they don't want more dangerous, polluting and expensive nuclear plants which threaten our health and could be a target for terrorists." Trinity Mirror Plc 2002 icHuddersfield^TM ***************************************************************** 3 ANALYSIS-Iran's atomic reactor not a target for now-analysts* zawya* Reuters By Danielle Haas JERUSALEM, July 30 (Reuters) - Russia's readiness to build up to half a dozen nuclear reactors in Iran has alarmed Israel and the United States, but they are unlikely to opt for a military response soon, Israeli analysts say. Tehran says the planned reactors are for peaceful purposes only, but Washington, which has dubbed Iran part of an "axis of evil", is not convinced, and still less so is Israel, which would be the obvious potential target if Iran acquired nuclear weapons capability. Their concerns over Russia's decision to build up to six reactors in Iran and its involvement in the construction of the Bushehr nuclear plant have led to speculation of a pre-emptive strike on the Iranian Gulf coast facility. But experts say that is improbable for now given logistical difficulties, Washington's more immediate concern with a possible strike on Iraq and doubts over Tehran's actual nuclear capability. For the time being anyway, they say, the preferred option is to go on pressuring Russia to stop supplying technology. "The assumption is that it will be complicated to act so the emphasis is on trying to prevent the flow of technology from Russia reaching Iran," said Israeli strategist Gerald Steinberg. The United States has declared its intention to pre-empt threats to its national security, which U.S. and Israeli intelligence suggest may be jeopardised by the Bushehr plant despite Tehran's and Moscow's pledges it is to be used for peaceful purposes. In 1981, Israeli warplanes wiped out Iraq's French-built nuclear facility near Baghdad in an attack Israel said was aimed at stopping Iraq from making atomic bombs. The Bushehr light-water reactor could not by itself make a nuclear bomb, security sources say. But it will use technology crucial for enriching fuel needed for nuclear weapons that the experts say Tehran could construct within 10 years. Those worries are more likely to lead to diplomatic pressure on Moscow rather than a military offensive that could complicate an attack on Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, analysts said. U.S. President George W. Bush has vowed to use "all tools" to oust Saddam, and commentators say the expected U.S. onslaught on Baghdad will come before a strike against the Iranian plant that intelligence suggests could function within a few years. "Israel and the United States are waiting to see what happens," said Efraim Kam, an Israeli intelligence and security expert specialising in Iran's strategic threat to Israel. "The prevailing view is that while Iran is in quite good nuclear shape, it has not passed the point of no return with its projects and still could be stopped by halting the transfer of techology from Russia," he said. That could be hard, analysts predicted, given the lucrative financial gains for Moscow from building the reactors, expanding conventional power stations and developing oil and gas deposits. A Russian government resolution last week approved the plans and also gave the nod to jointly producing aircraft and cooperating in communications and metallurgy -- infuriating Washington. U.S.-ISRAELI CONCERNS MOUNT Uncertainty as to when the Bushehr plant will have full nuclear capability is one reason why experts say Washington is in no hurry to act, and why Israel is not likely to deploy its warplanes as it did 21 years ago against Iraq's facility. "At the moment its just speculation what Iran has," said Shlomo Aronson, author of "The Politics and Strategy of Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East". He said a strike would also pose logistical challenges not present in 1981. "Israel could at that time overfly Saudi Arabia and Jordan and reach Iraq. But to reach Iran it needs to pass over Iraq. It also has to contemplate Iran's response that could be aimed at Israel's nuclear facility which wasn't operational then." At the same time, Iran appears to have learnt from Israel's 1981 Iraq strike by dispersing and fortifying strategic sites. Experts said predictions of internal political change that could direct Iraq away from Islamic fundamentalism meant Washington was most likely to seek Russian compliance to stop construction rather than confront Teheran militarily. "We may even see the opening of a political track where Israel no longer has a monopoly over strategic deterrence and may have to open dialogue with Iran," Steinberg said. ((Jerusalem newsroom, 972-2-537-0502, jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com)) © Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions . ***************************************************************** 4 Idaho's nuclear industry Idaho State Journal 07/30/02 An open letter to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne: Idaho and the nation and the people of both state and nation have a common goal. We all want and need a better energy source. We need one that is inexhaustible, less costly, produced here at home. We want it to be clean, safe and reliable. We have it, but don’t recognize it; and so we are not using it as well as we should. The media, the uniformed part of the populace and most of all, the politicians are holding it back. We need a fearless leader. Could it be you? Nuclear power is (of course), the only source that meets all of the criteria cited above. Check its history and compare its safety with coal and oil and hydro. Check its reliability with wind, water and solar. Check its availability for large, widespread use against all of the things like biomass, geothermal, tides, etc. Now think about the economic impact of such a power source. In Idaho, think of INEEL and the high-tech, high-pay jobs which we have had in the past, and could have again. Think in the same vein as we were thinking 50 to 60 years ago when the first city in the world (Arco) was lighted by nuclear power from INEL. Consider our Navy, powered by nuclear power developed here in Idaho, with the ability to cruise all over the world with only one fueling. Remember the training provided to naval personnel at those great schools at INEL. Check back on some of the new products developed here in Idaho advancing medicine and industry. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go back to those days again? We can. We must not permit those people who are crying wolf to panic us into closing this door to a possible spectacular future by their insistence on immediate action against an imaginary peril. The peril of radioactive waste is imaginary, you know. In the past 60-plus years that we have been producing it, can you name even one person who has died because of it, one crop destroyed by it, or one area made uninhabitable by it? We know how to handle it. The cries of alarm over damage to our aquifer and contamination of our air and injury during transportation are all ridiculous claims with no great danger existing. It’s like claiming my waitress putting her thumb in my soup is poisoning everyone in the cafe. Let’s get back to the pluses. They are all there. Power for industry to recover lost jobs and create new ones. Never any lack of energy to heat or cool our homes, light our rooms and yards, cook our meals and heat our shower, and many other benefits not yet thought of. A surplus of power would bring all of these to the people, plus one yet to be mentioned: A surplus of any commodity brings the rates down and the use up. Governor, help us go nuclear! The state of Idaho would have a real product to sell that is in high demand all around us. The state would be a mecca for industry and business from all over the world. All of the positive, desirable industry would radiate from Idaho. How can I help you to achieve this worthy goal? G.D. Wood, Pocatello ©2002 [http://www.mywebpal.com] . All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 US officials quiz Moscow on Iran nuclear power deal Wednesday, 31-Jul-2002 7:10AM Story from AFP Copyright 2002 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) MOSCOW, July 31 (AFP) - Russian-US relations faced a stiff test Wednesday as two top US officials quizzed Russian ministers on their decision to vastly expand nuclear cooperation with Iran, labelled by the United States as part of an "axis of evil." Highlighting the sensitivity of the talks, US officials barred the press from attending a meeting between US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev. The visits, by Abraham and US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton, had been scheduled before Russia's announcement last Friday that it had approved a new 10-year nuclear cooperation program with Tehran, including the building of another Iranian nuclear power plant. The announcement appeared to stun both the US State Department and the Pentagon, having come after fierce Washington criticism of Moscow's decision to pursue construction of an existing Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr. But Russian officials stuck to their tough new line Wednesday, with one diplomatic source saying that Moscow demanded to see firm proof from Washington that Iran was developing weapons of mass destruction with Russia's help. "Our cooperation is focused on economic aspects that do not undermine the non-proliferation regime," one Russian official told the Interfax news agency under condition of anonymity. "If the US side has any doubts about this, then we want to hear specific facts." Former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, now a leading member of parliament, added: "These accusations are baseless." Both the United States and Israel fear the projects are helping Iran develop a nuclear weapons program, with the Washington Post reporting that the Israeli military is considering bombing the Bushehr plant before it goes on stream. "The press reports that Russia is considering helping in the construction of additional reactors in Iran we find disturbing," said State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker. "We have talked about our concerns over this for some time, and we have consistently urged Russia to cease all cooperation with Iran, including assistance to the reactor at Bushehr." Reeker said stressed that the Iran issue would be raised by Bolton and Abraham in Moscow, although Russian officials countered that the meetings would instead focus on preparations for a Russia-US energy summit due to be staged in the US city of Houston in October. Abraham's visit will "focus on the Russia-US dialogue on the energy industry, which the two presidents initiated during the Moscow summit in May," said foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko. During a summit in Moscow in May, US President George W. Bush raised Washington's concerns about Russian nuclear aid to Iran, expressing fears that Tehran's leaders could put the technology to ill use. While mentioning Bushehr, Bush said he was also concerned that Russian research institutes were supplying Tehran with blueprints for the development of sophisticated long-range missiles that could deliver a devastating nuclear attack. But Russian President Vladimir Putin at the time dismissed the charges, arguing that he had evidence that Iran was using Western, and not Russian, technology to develop its missile program. ***************************************************************** 6 NRC Proposes Amending Combustible Gas Control Standards for Nuclear Power Reactors NRC: Press Release - 2002 - 85 - 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] www.nrc.gov No. 02-085 July 30, 2002 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to amend its standards for combustible gas control in nuclear power reactors by setting new containment system baseline regulations for current licensees, as well as consolidating such regulations for future applicants and licensees. The proposal stems from the Commission's ongoing efforts to increase use of risk information in its regulations. It would impact current and future nuclear power reactor licensees by relaxing or eliminating the requirements for equipment presently used to control combustible gases (hydrogen and oxygen) for nuclear power plant containment following a loss-of-coolant accident which each reactor is designed to withstand. In addition, the Commission proposes to relax the requirements for oxygen and hydrogen monitoring equipment to reflect their risk-informed significance. Over the past 20 years, the NRC has sponsored a research program to improve its understanding of combustible gas generation and behavior in nuclear power reactors during accidents. The studies showed that the hydrogen release stemming from a design-basis loss-of-coolant accident was not risk significant because it would not lead to early containment failure. Therefore, some hydrogen monitoring and control equipment requirements can be relaxed without compromising safety. Sufficient capability remains to mitigate any longer term challenges to containment integrity. Along with the rulemaking, the NRC is also proposing a draft regulatory guide, a draft standard review plan, and a Consolidated Line Item Improvement Process for the necessary draft technical specifications to implement the proposed rule. Comments may be submitted within 75 days after publication of a Federal Register notice on this subject, expected shortly. Those comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is only able to ensure consideration of those received on or before this date. Please submit comments to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff. Comments can be delivered to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 on Federal weekdays. They can also be provided via the NRC's interactive rulemaking web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov [http://ruleforum.llnl.gov] . For information about the interactive rulemaking web site, contact Carol Gallagher, at 301-415-5905, e-mail: CAG@nrc.gov [CAG@nrc.gov] ***************************************************************** 7 Security Zone; Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 13:20:53 -0400 (EDT) http://www.epa.gov/fedreg/ ====================================================== [Federal Register: July 31, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 147)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 49643-49645] >From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr31jy02-29] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 165 [CGD01-02-092] RIN 2115-AA97 Security Zone; Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook, NH AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT. ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Coast Guard proposes to establish a permanent security zone around the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire. This security zone will close off public access to all land and waters within 250-yards of the waterside property boundary of the plant. This action is [[Page 49644]] necessary to ensure public safety and prevent sabotage or terrorist acts. Entry into this security zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Portland, Maine. DATES: Comments and related material must reach the Coast Guard on or before September 30, 2002. ADDRESSES: You may mail comments and related material to Marine Safety Office Portland, 103 Commercial Street, Portland, ME 04101. Marine Safety Office Portland maintains the public docket for this rulemaking. Comments and materials received from the public, as well as documents indicated in this preamble as being available in the docket, will become part of the docket and will be available for inspection or copying at Marine Safety Office Portland between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lieutenant (Junior Grade) R. F. Pigeon, Port Operations Department, Marine Safety Office Portland at (207) 780-3092. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Request for Comments We encourage you to participate in this rulemaking by submitting comments and related material. If you do so, please include your name and address, identify the docket number for this rulemaking (CGD01-02- 092), indicate the specific section of this document to which each comment applies, and give the reason for each comment. Please submit all comments and related material in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying. If you would like to know your comments reached us, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all comments and material received during the comment period. We may change this proposed rule in view of them. Public Meeting We do not now plan to hold a public meeting. But you may submit a request for a meeting by writing to Marine Safety Office Portland at the address listed under ADDRESSES explaining why one may be beneficial. If we determine that one would aid in this rulemaking, we will hold one at a time and place announced by a separate notice in the Federal Register. Background and Purpose In light of terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001 a permanent security zone is being proposed to safeguard the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, persons at the facility, the public and surrounding communities from sabotage or other subversive acts, accidents, or other events of a similar nature. The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant presents a possible target of terrorist attack due to the potential catastrophic impact nuclear radiation would have on the surrounding area, its large destructive potential if struck, and its proximity to a population center. This proposed security zone prohibits entry into or movement within the specified area. This proposed rulemaking will establish a security zone encompassing all land and waters within 250 yards of the waterside property boundary of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant identified as follows: Beginning at position 42 deg.53'58'' N, 070 deg.51'06'' W; then running along the property boundaries of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant to position 42 deg.53'46'' N, 070 deg.51'06'' W. We propose to establish a permanent security zone identical to one we created in a temporary final rule entitled ``Security Zone: Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook, New Hampshire'' that was published December 31, 2001 in the Federal Register (66 FR 67487). That temporary rule originally was effective until June 15, 2002. Its effective period was extended until August 15, 2002 by a temporary final rule with the same title published May 8, 2002 (67 FR 30807). Another extension will be published in the future to accommodate the time necessary for notice and comment rulemaking on this proposed rule. This proposed rulemaking is necessary to provide permanent protection of the waterfront areas of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant. No person or vessel may enter or remain in the prescribed security zone at any time without the permission of the Captain of the Port, Portland, Maine. Each person or vessel in a security zone shall obey any direction or order of the Captain of the Port or designated Coast Guard representative on-scene. The Captain of the Port may take possession and control of any vessel in a security zone and/or remove any person, vessel, article or thing from a security zone. No person may board, take or place any article or thing on board any vessel or waterfront facility in a security zone without permission of the Captain of the Port. Any violation of the security zone proposed herein is punishable by, among others, civil penalties (not to exceed $25,000 per violation, where each day of a continuing violation is a separate violation), criminal penalties (imprisonment for not more than 10 years and a fine of not more than $250,000), in rem liability against the offending vessel, and license sanctions. This regulation is proposed under the authority contained in 50 U.S.C. 191, 33 U.S.C. 1223, 1225 and 1226. Regulatory Evaluation This proposed rule is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, and does not require an assessment of potential costs and benefits under section 6(a)(3) of that Order. The Office of Management and Budget has not reviewed it under that Order. It is not ``significant'' under the regulatory policies and procedures of the Department of Transportation (DOT) (44 FR 11040, February 26, 1979). We expect the economic impact of this proposed rule to be so minimal that a full regulatory evaluation under paragraph 10e of the regulatory policies and procedures of DOT is unnecessary. The effect of this proposed regulation will not be significant for several reasons: there is ample room for vessels to navigate around the zone, notifications will be made to the local maritime community, and signs will be posted informing the public of the boundaries of the zone. Small Entities Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601-612), the Coast Guard considered whether this proposed rule would have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The term ``small entities'' comprises small businesses, not-for-profit organizations that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than 50,000. The Coast Guard certifies under 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. For the reasons enumerated in the Regulatory Evaluation section above, we feel this security zone will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. If you think your business, organization, or governmental jurisdiction qualifies as a small entity and that this rule would have a significant economic impact on it, please submit a comment (see ADDRESSES) explaining why you think it qualifies and how and to what degree this rule would economically affect it. [[Page 49645]] Assistance for Small Entities Under subsection 213(a) of the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 [Publ. L. 104-121], we want to assist small entities in understanding this proposed rule so that they can better evaluate its effects on them and participate in the rulemaking. If the proposed rule would affect your small business, organization or governmental jurisdiction and you have questions concerning its provisions or options for compliance, please contact Lieutenant (Junior Grade) R. F. Pigeon, Marine Safety Office Portland, at (207) 780-3092. Small businesses may send comments on the actions of Federal employees who enforce, or otherwise determine compliance with, Federal regulations to the Small Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombudsman and the Regional Small Business Regulatory Fairness Boards. The Ombudsman evaluates these actions annually and rates each agency's responsiveness to small business. If you wish to comment on actions by employees of the Coast Guard, call 1-888-REG-FAIR (1-888-734-3247). Collection of Information This proposed rule would call for no new collection of information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). Federalism A rule has implications for federalism under Executive Order 13132, Federalism, if it has a substantial direct effect on State or local governments and would either preempt State law or impose a substantial direct cost of compliance on them. We have analyzed this proposed rule under that Order and have determined that it does not have implications for federalism. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1531-1538) requires Federal agencies to assess the effects of their discretionary regulatory actions. In particular, the Act addresses actions that may result in the expenditure by a State, local or tribal government, in the aggregate, or by the private sector of $100,000,000 or more in any one year. Though this proposed rule would not result in such an expenditure, we do discuss the effects of this rule elsewhere in this preamble. Taking of Private Property This proposed rule would not effect a taking of private property or otherwise have taking implications under Executive Order 12630, Governmental Actions and Interference with Constitutionally Protected Property Rights. Civil Justice Reform This proposed rule meets applicable standards in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to minimize litigation, eliminate ambiguity, and reduce burden. Protection of Children We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks. This proposed rule is not an economically significant rule and would not create an environmental risk to health or risk to safety that might disproportionately affect children. Indian Tribal Governments This proposed rule does not have tribal implications under Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments because it would not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes. We invite your comments on how this proposed rule might impact tribal governments, even if that impact may not constitute a ``tribal implication'' under the Order. Energy Effects We have analyzed this proposed rule under Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations that Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use. We have determined that it is not a ``significant energy action'' under that order because it is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under Executive Order 12866 and is not likely to have a significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of energy. It has not been designated by the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs as a significant energy action. Therefore, it does not require a Statement of Energy Effects under Executive Order 13211. Environment We have considered the environmental impact of this proposed rule and concluded that, under figure 2-1, paragraph(34)(g), of Commandant Instruction M16475.lD, this rule is categorically excluded from further environmental documentation. A ``Categorical Exclusion Determination'' is available in the docket where indicated under ADDRESSES. List of Subjects in 33 CFR Part 165 Harbors, Marine safety, Navigation (water), Reporting and record keeping requirements, Security measures, Waterways. For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Coast Guard proposes to amend 33 CFR part 165 as follows: PART 165--REGULATED NAVIGATION AREAS AND LIMITED ACCESS AREAS 1. The authority citation for part 165 continues to read as follows: Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1231; 50 U.S.C. 191; 33 CFR 1.05-1(g), 6.04-1, 6.04-6, and 160.5; 49 CFR 1.46. 2. Add Sec. 165.106 to read as follows: Sec. 165.106 Security Zone: Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, Seabrook, New Hampshire. (a) Location. The following area is a security zone: All land and waters within 250 yards of the waterside property boundary of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant identified as follows: beginning at position 42 deg.53[min]58[sec]N, 70 deg.51[min]06[sec]W; then running along the property boundaries of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant to position 42 deg.53[min]46[sec]N, 70 deg.51[min]06[sec]W. All coordinates reference 1983 North American Datum (NAD 83) (b) Regulations. (1) In accordance with the general regulations in Sec. 165.33 of this part, entry into or movement within this zone is prohibited unless authorized by the Captain of the Port, Portland, Maine (COTP). (2) All persons and vessels shall comply with the instructions of the Coast Guard Captain of the Port, Portland, Maine or designated on- scene U.S. Coast Guard patrol personnel. On-scene Coast Guard patrol personnel include commissioned, warrant, and petty officers of the Coast Guard on board Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary, local, state and federal law enforcement vessels. (3) No person may swim upon or below the surface of the water within the boundaries of this security zone. (c) Authority: In addition to 33 U.S.C. 1231 and 50 U.S.C. 191, the authority for this section includes 33 U.S.C. 1223, 1225 and 1226. Dated: July 23, 2002. M.P. O'Malley, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port, Portland, Maine. [FR Doc. 02-19360 Filed 7-30-02; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-15-P ***************************************************************** 8 NPPD board to discuss Cooper management plan Omaha.com Published Tuesday July 30, 2002 *BY NANCY GAARDER* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Cooper Nuclear Station soon could become Nebraska's first publicly owned but privately run power plant. The board of the Nebraska Public Power District will meet Wednesday in Columbus, Neb., to discuss turning the plant's operating license over to a private firm. Some board members welcome the change as a way out of the plant's nagging problems. But at least one board member worries that NPPD risks giving up too much control. "As a practical matter, you're just not going to be able to get the license back," said board member Gary Thompson of Beatrice. "Local control is essential to the whole concept of public power - we'd be sitting there owning a $1 billion asset that we don't really control." Wednesday's meeting would lay the foundation for negotiating a more extensive contract with Nuclear Management Co. The Hudson, Wis., firm has loaned NPPD two executives since September. Nuclear Management is a nonprofit firm that provides leadership expertise to nuclear plants without actually owning the plants. That's an important distinction, said Bill Mayben, chief executive officer of NPPD. Should the board decide to turn over the operating license to Nuclear Management, NPPD would retain ownership of the plant, control over the budget and control over who can buy Cooper's power and for how much. Nuclear Management's job, Mayben said, would be restricted to running the plant. Furthermore, NPPD would have someone on Nuclear Management's board. The shift to privately managing Cooper is under consideration at a time when the southeast Nebraska plant's problems are coming to a head. Federal regulators have given Cooper the lowest grade a nuclear plant can have and still continue operating. The two outside utilities that contract for about two-thirds of Cooper's power have said they aren't interested in underwriting the plant's expenses anymore. Cooper's costs are above average. Longtime board members Darrell Nelson of Oconto and Ralph Holzfaster of Paxton favor adding Cooper to Nuclear Management's fleet. Nelson said the firm might be able to cut Cooper's costs and make it more competitive. Holzfaster said Cooper could benefit from economies of scale by aligning with a company like Nuclear Management. Access to Nuclear Management's stable of executives also would allow the plant near Brownville to overcome some of the problems it has had with turnover among senior managers. Excessive costs are one of the reasons that NPPD's chief partner at Cooper, MidAmerican Energy Co., has broken off talks on extending its contract past 2004. Lincoln Electric System already has decided to let its contract lapse in 2003. Together LES and MidAmerican underwrite more than half of Cooper's $150 million annual production costs. Nuclear Management operates six nuclear plants on behalf of five utilities: one in Iowa, one in Michigan and two each in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Thompson said he would prefer to see NPPD continue its existing relationship with Nuclear Management. Under that contract, two Nuclear Management executives, David Wilson and Michael Coyle, are on loan to NPPD and help run the plant. Those executives, he said, have done a good job of building a new team at Cooper. If Nuclear Management takes over Cooper's operating license, the plant's 760 workers probably would become employees of Nuclear Management. That worries Thompson, who said he believes that if NPPD took back Cooper's operating license, Nuclear Management would take with it the plant's senior executives. That, he said, would place NPPD back where it finds itself now, with too much turnover at the top. Maureen Brown, spokeswoman for Nuclear Management, said other utilities shared similar concerns. A detailed contract, she said, would address those issues. A decision on how to manage Cooper is independent of a decision on whether to keep the plant open. The board is scheduled to vote on that later in the year. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 9 Settlements near in lawsuits over operations at Cooper Omaha.com Published Tuesday July 30, 2002 *BY NANCY GAARDER* WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Costly lawsuits centering on the operation of Cooper Nuclear Station are on the verge of being settled. The suits are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and the settlements could affect electric rates across the state. Nebraska Public Power District on Wednesday will present its board of directors with the settlements it has reached with MidAmerican Energy Co. and Lincoln Electric System, its two partners in running Cooper. No one would disclose the contents of the settlements Monday. Generally, though, the settlements resolve all outstanding issues between NPPD and its two partners, said Marcia Cady, spokeswoman for NPPD. Electric rates could be affected depending upon how much cost each utility absorbs or dismisses. In the case of MidAmerican, the dispute revolves around MidAmerican's possibly $200 million to $300 million contribution to the decommissioning of the nuclear station. MidAmerican, which is based in Des Moines, had successfully sued NPPD over a portion of that money. The two utilities were set to go to court later this year on the remaining share. NPPD also has sued Lincoln Electric over Lincoln's potentially $60 million share of the cost of the decommissioning of Cooper. Lincoln Electric stopped chipping into the decommissioning fund in December 2000, when MidAmerican won its lawsuit over the issue. NPPD has gone to court to get Lincoln Electric's contributions restored. Lincoln and NPPD also dispute the costs of a prolonged outage in 1994 and 1995. At that time, Cooper shut down for nine months under pressure from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of equipment and operational problems. With the plant off line, Lincoln Electric had to shop elsewhere for replacement electricity. Lincoln Electric successfully sued NPPD for $10 million in damages in that case, but another jury rejected those damages. The case has continued to be litigated. Lincoln also had sued NPPD over access to Cooper's records. NPPD began denying Lincoln Electric access after it took NPPD to court over the 1994-1995 outage. Both the NPPD and Lincoln Electric boards will review the settlements in separate closed sessions Wednesday. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 10 NFS works toward eventual start-up of TVA Project BLEU Story published in the Johnson City Press: 7/31/2002. The project involves converting uranium (Staff Photo by John Palmer Gregg) By Chris Garland Erwin Bureau ERWIN ? Nuclear Fuels Services Inc. continues to press forward with a Tennessee Valley Authority project to convert highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium for commercial power reactor fuel. Called TVA Project BLEU, the contract represents about ?eight years of work and more than $150 million for NFS and the Northeast Tennessee region,? NFS President Dwight Ferguson said when the project was announced in March. The new facility ? which is under construction on the NFS Erwin site in conjunction with Framatome ANP Richland ? and process line are expected to involve more than 100 people. Many of the positions may be absorbed through work force allocations from existing NFS employees. This plant will convert low-enriched uranyl nitrate solution, prepared at the Department of Energy?s Savannah River site and by NFS, into low-enriched uranium oxide. The construction of the new facility will represent a $26 million investment and is scheduled to be operational in late 2003. Nuclear Regulatory Commission local resident inspector Dan Rich said Tuesday that NFS has started the process of licensing applications for the project. Rich said NFS has already submitted several applications and will have more over the next year or so. As the project gets under way, there will also be intermediate projects to achieve the final start-up, he said. NFS Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Marie Moore said about recent modifications to existing permits through the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Division, ?It is important to note that even with the expansion of our operations, the amount of radioactive air emissions from current and new operations will be much less than 1 percent of our regulatory limit. ?In fact,? Moore said, ?while the regulatory limit is a dose of 100 millirems per year we estimate that our emissions will create a dose of 0.202 millirems per year.? A millirem is an accepted unit of measure for radiation exposure. ?To put this small dose in perspective, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American consumer receives five-to-10 times more radiation exposure per year by watching four hours of television per day or 25 times more radiation exposure by flying 1,000 miles in a commercial airliner,? Moore said. There will be no change in NFS?s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System discharge permit for its Waste Water Treatment Facility. ?NFS treats its process liquid effluents in the WWTF prior to discharge to the Nolichucky River. To ensure compliance with the NPDES discharge limits, NFS samples and analyzes treated effluents prior to release to the river,? Moore said. NFS officials say the liquid effluents from the BLEU complex to the town of Erwin?s sewer system were also carefully examined by the NRC and found to pose no threat to the public or environment. The Uranium oxide material from the new NFS plant will be shipped to Framatome ANP Richland?s facility in Richland, Wash., to be manufactured into nuclear fuel pellets. The pellets will be loaded into fuel rod assemblies for use by TVA at one or more of its reactors. According to March NFS reports, the project will help reduce existing stockpiles of highly enriched uranium produced for nuclear defense during the Cold War. /(Contact Chris Garland at cgarland@johnsoncitypress.com )./ © 2001-02 Johnson City Press and Associated Press All Rights Reserved Johnson City Press 204 W.Main St. ? Johnson City, Tennessee 37605 423.929.3111 ***************************************************************** 11 Entergy Buys Vermont Yankee JACKSON, Miss., July 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR ) said today that it has closed the purchase of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant at Vernon, Vt., from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation for $180 million. The Vermont Yankee acquisition is Entergy's 10th nuclear unit and fifth in the Northeast, making the company the second largest and fastest growing nuclear power operator in the nation, and the largest in the Northeast. "Entergy will continue Vermont Yankee's record as a safe, reliable, low- cost producer of electric power and the largest non-emitting power generator in Vermont," said Entergy Nuclear chief executive officer Jerry Yelverton. Vermont Yankee owners were also elated. "I am very pleased to put our facilities in the capable hands of Entergy while gaining substantial benefits for our customers," said Robert Young, chairman of Vermont Yankee and chief executive officer of Central Vermont Public Service, the lead utility in the consortium of eight New England utilities that owned Vermont Yankee. The $180 million deal also included a power purchase agreement under which the former owners will buy back the power produced by the plant at attractive prices for the next decade. Entergy assumed the responsibility for operating the plant at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, July 31. The company agreed to purchase the plant on August 15, 2001, and had been obtaining regulatory approvals since then. Entergy Nuclear, the nuclear businesses of Entergy Corporation, is headquartered in Jackson, Miss. Entergy, a global energy company headquartered in New Orleans, is the third largest power generator in the nation with more than 30,000 megawatts of generating capacity, nearly $10 billion in revenue and almost 2.6 million customers. Besides Vermont Yankee, Entergy Nuclear operates five reactors at four locations in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana under regulatory jurisdictions and four reactors at three sites in Massachusetts and New York. Entergy Nuclear also is now the nation's largest provider of license renewal and decommissioning services to the nuclear power industry. Entergy Nuclear's online address is http://www.entergy-nuclear.com . Web Site: http://www.entergy.com/nuclear ***************************************************************** 12 Entergy Beats Estimates on Nuclear Improvements By Michael Dunn Staff Reporter 07/30/2002 08:01 AM EDT The company earned $241.7 million, or $1.06 a share, up from $238.9 million, or $1.06 a share, a year ago. Excluding charges relating to restructuring in its wholesale power business, Entergy earned $267.1 million, or $1.17 a share. Analysts polled by tracking firm Thomson Financial/First Call had been looking for $1.14 a share on an operational basis. The company said operating earnings at its utility business were $194.9 million, or 85 cents a share, up from $168.5 million, or 74 cents a share, a year ago, due primarily to higher revenue and increased sales volume. Higher electric use increased sales by 7%. Entergy's nuclear division earned 24 cents a share, up from 15 cents a year ago on higher output levels and an absence of refueling outages. Also, results were boosted by the acquisition of Indian Point 2 in September 2001. Looking ahead, the company reiterated its full-year guidance. "Through second-quarter 2002 we continued to achieve strong results despite daily negative revelations in our sector," Entergy said in a statement. "The first half of 2002 has been very positive and we are pleased to confirm our 2002 operational earnings per share guidance at the $3.40 to $3.60 range." First Call analysts are expecting $3.53 a share for the year. Shares of Entergy closed at $36.90 Monday before the earnings release. © 1996-2002 TheStreet.com, Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 Learning to take the blame BBC NEWS | Europe | 31 July, 2002, The Su-27 jet was flying too low By Stephen Dalziel BBC Russian Affairs Analyst Following the world's worst air show disaster in Ukraine on Saturday, officials were quick to arrest the head of the air force and other senior officers. The two pilots of the plane which crashed into the crowd managed to eject to safety and are in hospital, but under suspicion of negligence. The supposed idea of 'collective responsibility' in Soviet times often led to collective irresponsibility It seems that the authorities are searching for a scapegoat who can be blamed for the disaster. But perhaps they should look deeper - into Ukraine's, and the Soviet Union's, past. The supposed idea of "collective responsibility" in Soviet times often led to collective irresponsibility. Someone had to be blamed for things that went wrong, but the finger rarely pointed higher than those immediately answerable for what had happened. Cutting corners The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 - the world's worst nuclear disaster - was a tragic example of this. Everyone who helped to build the power station knew that it was constructed in the same way as any state building. Theft of materials was commonplace, corners were cut, savings were made and siphoned off into the pockets of individuals. There can be no doubt that the actual explosion which caused such devastation at Chernobyl was the direct result of careless practices by those on duty at the time. But no one attempted to look beyond that subject after the accident. Those in charge of the power station received 10-year jail sentences for negligence; yet cutting corners and corrupt practices - even in matters of nuclear safety - continued. Sloppiness Only last week, the Russian authorities finally admitted that the Kursk submarine was sunk by an onboard explosion - nearly two years after the event. The navy's knee-jerk - Soviet - reaction, had been to try to blame anyone, but the system. The closest that any official has come to acknowledging that the problem of sloppy practices and corruption exists came shortly after the Kursk went down in August 2000. When the Ostankino television tower in Moscow went up in flames, President Vladimir Putin admitted that accident was caused by the sort of carelessness which had become endemic in the system. The Ukrainian air show disaster is yet another illustration this lesson has still to be properly understood in the former Soviet Union. The Su-27 jet was flying too low, over an area packed with spectators, and security measures on the ground - such as keeping people behind safety barriers - were being ignored. Somehow though, it seems unlikely that even this catastrophe will be the catalyst to change the sloppy practices which are so deeply embedded in the Soviet psyche. © MMII | News Sources | Privacy ***************************************************************** 14 Opposition drops to Vermont Yankee power plant sale [The Concord Monitor online edition] Wednesday, July 31, 2002 Activists all but gave up their quest to block the sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on Tuesday as regulators throughout New England declined to intervene. The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy and Vermont Public Service Board refused to halt the sale of the plant to Entergy Nuclear of Jackson, Miss. Utility regulators in Maine also turned aside a last-minute appeal, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, and a request in New Hampshire was considered perfunctory, said attorney Mark Sinclair. "It's approaching a virtual certainty the deal will close," Seth Kaplan, senior attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation, which opposed the sale. "At this point the ship has pretty much sailed." Wednesday was the deadline for closing the $180 million sale of the 510-megawatt plant, and its owners were expected to sign final documents as soon as they could. At issue was how much out-of-state owners, including two Massachusetts utilities, would get back from a fund to pay for closing down the plant when it eventually is retired. On Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly made an unsuccessful last-minute appeal to state regulators to delay the deal until public hearings could be held. "We are disappointed that the state Department of Telecommunications and Energy has made a decision about Vermont Yankee without hearing all of the facts or understanding the impact on consumers," Reilly spokeswoman Sarah Nathan said on Tuesday. Reilly's office said two Massachusetts utilities with part ownership in the plant, Cambridge Electric and Western Massachusetts Electric Co., would receive only $83,000 each in exchange for signing over their claims to excess decommissioning funds. He wanted state regulators to hold a hearing on the adequacy of that payment. A DTE spokesman did not return several calls on Tuesday. The Vermont Yankee plant is located in Vernon, along the Connecticut River just west of New Hampshire and north of Massachusetts. Decommissioning funds are pots of money that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires reactor owners to set aside to pay for dismantling the plants and disposing of their highly radioactive components when the plants are retired. The Vermont Yankee sale had been in negotiations and board hearings for a year, and the parties agreed in August that if the sale didn't close by this July 31, it would be off. Eight New England utilities currently own Vermont Yankee. Vermont utility regulators made their approval of the sale conditional on Vermont owners getting back all of their share of leftover money in the decommissioning fund, now worth $300 million. But the Massachusetts and other out-of-state owners, who own 45 percent of the plant, were to share a one-time, $1.5 million payment, which some said was too little. Nathan, Reilly's spokeswoman, said Massachusetts regulators' acceptance of the deal won't be official for another 20 days. She said the Attorney General's Office was weighting whether to ask the DTE to reconsider. © Concord Monitor [http://www.concordmonitor.com] and New Hampshire Patriot P.O. Box 1177, Concord NH 03302 603-224-5301 ***************************************************************** 15 Anti-radiation pills in state's hands 101 North 6th St. Allentown, PA 18101 (610) 820-6500 From The Morning Call -- July 31, 2002 Health Department to say Monday how it will distribute them. *HARRISBURG *| -- Pennsylvania has received nearly 2 million anti-radiation pills to distribute to people who live, work, or attend school within 10 miles of the state's five nuclear plants, state Health Department officials said Tuesday. The department is scheduled to announce on Monday its plans for distributing the tablets, which are intended as a precaution in the event of a nuclear accident, spokesman Richard McGarvey said. The state will have enough pills to provide two doses per person, ''with a little left over for stockpiling,'' he said. In Pennsylvania, 964,000 people are eligible for the free potassium iodide pills. They consist of 640,000 who live within the zone, 182,000 students and school staff and 142,000 nuclear plant employees. The pill, better known by its chemical symbol KI, is meant to prevent thyroid cancer, one of the most common radiation-caused illnesses, and its effects are temporary. The pills do not protect against other health problems that can be caused by radiation, and officials have said evacuation is still the best protection against the release of radioactivity. *(AP)* Copyright © 2002, The Morning Call © 2002 THE MORNING CALL Inc. ***************************************************************** 16 Missing radioactive material recovered in Baja California AP - 7/31/2002 TECATE, Baja California - A missing pellet of radioactive iridium that had caused alert along the northern border and sparked a massive search by authorities was found Tuesday by two garbagemen at a municipal trash dump in the border city of Tecate. Soldiers and firefighters cordoned off the trash dump after the foot-long (32 cm.) container holding the pellet was found there. The container appears to be undamaged, but the area was cordoned as a precaution, said Baja California state civil defense director Gabriel Gomez. The pellet was used to look for cracks in a Baja California pipeline project. It was lost from the back of a truck July 23 near Tecate. U.S. border officials were placed on alert as a precaution. Gomez said the two garbagemen found the container early Tuesday and notified authorities. The foot-long container encloses an inch-long pellet of iridium 192, which emits potentially hazardous gamma rays and is commonly used to check welded joints. Although not harmful if used properly, iridium and other commonplace radioactive materials have sparked concern that, in the wrong hands, they could be used to create a radiological "dirty bomb" that would create widespread panic. © Copyright 2002 AP ©Copyright 2002 TheNewsMexico.com ***************************************************************** 17 Nuke plant neighbors to get pills at schools The Patriot-News Wednesday, July 31, 2002 BY JACK SHERZER Of The Patriot-News Pennsylvanians living or working within 10 miles of a nuclear power plant will soon be able to get pills that offer partial protection against radiation. The state Health Department is scheduled to announce next week how it will make two potassium iodide pills available to each of the estimated 1 million people who live or work near the state's five nuclear plants, officials said yesterday. Distribution points will likely be schools, shopping malls and other easily accessible areas, officials said. Potassium iodide protects the thyroid gland from harm by radioactive iodine, which is one kind of fallout that can be released during a nuclear accident. Thyroids of people younger than 18 are especially susceptible to cancer if exposed. The pills, which have a shelf life of five years, will be offered free by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to 34 states with nuclear sites. Pennsylvania is among 16 that are accepting the medication. NRC officials said distribution of potassium iodide to the states was planned before Sept. 11, but the schedule was moved up after the terrorist attacks to give people an added sense of security. While Pennsylvania has stockpiled potassium iodine for emergency workers since the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident, officials never embraced giving the pills to the public. Evacuation of everyone within 10 miles of an accident is preferable if an accident occurs, officials have maintained. "There is not one pill that can protect you if there is a release of radiation," said Amy Kelchner, a Health Department spokeswoman. "We want to stress that the first level of protection is evacuation. We don't want there to be a false sense of security about potassium iodide, because it is not a radiation pill." But since the federal government was making the potassium iodide available, state officials said they decided to take advantage of the offer. Each pill provides protection for 24 hours, so officials say the two pills provide time to ensure people are able to evacuate safely. But providing two tablets to just those within 10 miles of a nuclear site is insufficient, said Alan Morris, president of Anbex.com, the New York-based company providing the potassium iodide. Morris, who said his firm is receiving $1.6 million to manufacture 9 million tablets, said studies show radioactive iodine fallout can travel much further than 10 miles. And, he said, studies after Russia's Chernobyl nuclear accident showed that thyroid injuries caused by radioactive iodine were the primary health problems suffered by those not in the immediate vicinity of the accident. To protect everyone around the nation's 70 nuclear sites, Morris said, the government needs at least 1 billion tablets. Ken Miller, professor of radiology and director of the division of health physics at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, disagreed. Unlike Chernobyl, U.S. reactors are cooled by water, which would inhibit the escape of radioactive iodine, Miller said. They also are protected by thick containment vessels or compartments, he said. David Allard, director of the bureau of radiation protection for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the 10-mile radius is a reasonable safety zone. After Chernobyl, Allard said, people miles away were primarily poisoned by food contaminated by radioactive iodine, as opposed to being exposed to a radioactive plume. JACK SHERZER: 255-8263 or jsherzer@patriot-news.com Copyright 2002 The Patriot-News. Used with permission. b ***************************************************************** 18 Sixteenth Child Added to Cancer Cluster in Northern Nevada Town (washingtonpost.com) The Associated Press Monday, July 29, 2002; 10:15 AM RENO, Nev. –– A 16th case of childhood leukemia has been confirmed in a cancer cluster that has baffled scientists and frightened residents of Fallon, state health officials announced. Acute lymphocytic leukemia was diagnosed in a 2˝-year-old former resident of Churchill County, according to the Nevada State Health Division. The name and gender of the child were not released. "This is devastating news," Gov. Kenny Guinn said in a statement issued Sunday by the health division. "I can assure you, the childhood leukemia investigation continues to be a top priority. We are diligently working, using every resource, to find answers for the families coping with this health crisis." Health officials have said that given an average rate of about three childhood cases per 100,000 children, they would normally expect to see about one case every five years in the Fallon area, which has a population of 26,000. Of the confirmed childhood leukemia victims linked to Fallon since 1997, two have died. Adam Jernee, 10, and Stephanie Sands, 21, died in 2001. Floyd Sands, Stephanie's father, called news of the latest Fallon case disturbing. Sands lived in the rural agricultural and military town 60 miles east of Reno from 1987 to 1995. He now lives in Pennsylvania and has been critical of the state's investigation of the cluster. "When are these people going to do something real?" he asked the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I don't believe those people have done anything real so far." The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been testing for potential environmental contaminants since September 2001, according to the state. One focus of attention has been a jet fuel pipeline that serves Fallon Naval Air Station. In May, two federal agencies investigating the cancer cluster ruled the pipeline out as a public health hazard. But scientists from the University of Arizona continue to investigate jet fuel as a possible cause of the childhood leukemia. In June, researchers took core samples from trees around Fallon that may help trace the cause of the town's cancer. "Jet fuel is one possible cause and we'll be looking for that in the samples, as well as other long-chain hydrocarbons and trace metals," said Mark Witten, a professor of pediatrics at the university and a national expert on JP-8 jet fuel. Scientists from the university have taken tree samples in Sierra Vista, Ariz., where seven children have been diagnosed with leukemia. Like Fallon, Sierra Vista is home to a military airfield. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Branch is due to begin a study in August to determine whether long-term exposure to arsenic-tainted drinking water has affected the health of Fallon-area residents. Arsenic in the municipal water supply also has been tested at about 100 parts per billion, well above the nationwide acceptable arsenic standard of 10 ppb. Fallon is due to begin treating its water for arsenic in 2003. © 2002 The Associated Press ***************************************************************** 19 NRC Proposes $4,800 Fine Against Virginia Firm for Violation of NRC Radioactive Material Safety Requirements NRC: Press Release Region II - 2002 - 42 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region II 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303 www.nrc.gov No. II-02-042 July 31, 2002 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov [opa2@nrc.gov] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $4,800 civil penalty against Eastern Isotopes, Incorporated, of Ashburn, Virginia, for violation of NRC safety requirements which resulted in a radiation overexposure to the hands of a nuclear pharmacist at a company facility located in Sterling, Virginia. NRC officials said that the company violated its NRC license by failing to limit the annual occupational radiation dose to the hands of a nuclear pharmacist for a period from January 1, 2001, through December 31, 2001, to a required 50 rem limit. The NRC said the pharmacist received the majority of a dose of approximately 127 rem to the right hand and approximately 86 rem to the left hand in September and October of last year due to mishandling of radiopharmaceuticals. The NRC retained the services of a medical consultant and concluded that it is highly unlikely that the dose received by the pharmacist resulted in any significant health effects and that the company's corrective actions have been adequate. However, NRC officials said the violation was characterized as a Severity Level 2, the agency's second most serious, due to the fact that an employee was exposed to more than two times the regulatory limit and a potential was created for what could have been, under different circumstances, a significant hazard to the pharmacist or other company staff. The company has 30 days from receipt of the NRC Notice of Violation to either pay the civil penalty or to protest its imposition, in whole or in part. Members of the public may obtain copies of the letter from the NRC to the company from the Region II public affairs office on the Internet at OPA2@nrc.gov [OPA2@nrc.gov] , by calling the Region II office at (404) 562-4416/4417 or from the NRC Internet Web Site at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the public electronic reading room). ***************************************************************** 20 Markey decries lack of security checks on radiation facility staff [The Boston Globe Online] [Boston.com] By Robert Schlesinger, Globe Staff, 7/31/2002 [W] ASHINGTON - Staffers at some of the nation's largest sources of radiological material - material that could be used to manufacture a so-called dirty bomb - are not required to undergo criminal or security background checks, according to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission letter released yesterday. Representative Edward J. Markey, the Malden Democrat who released the NRC letter, charged that the lack of background checks around industrial irradiation equipment is an inviting target for terrorists. The letter, dated July 24, was written in response to an earlier series of queries Markey had sent the commission. ''We learned after Sept. 11 that we had to fortify cockpit doors on all aircraft to shore up that vulnerability, and the FAA acted quickly to secure those aircraft,'' said Markey, a longtime critic of the commission. ''The NRC in contrast when faced with the reality that irradiation facilities are vulnerable to attack have said essentially please stand by. But the terrorists are not going to stand by.'' An NRC spokesman had ''no immediate comment'' on Markey's charges. At issue are radioactive materials used to irradiate substances to disinfect or sterilize them. They can be found in hospitals and universities, as well as larger industrial-scale facilities. Of greatest concern are these larger sites typically used to sterilize and disinfect a variety of things like food arriving from abroad. Containers are placed in the facility and then bombarded with radiation to eradicate any germs or viruses. Markey and other critics fear that this radioactive material would be an ideal target for terrorists wishing to construct a radiological device or ''dirty bomb.'' With 69 irradiation sources, Massachusetts is one of seven states that have more than 50 sources, according to information provided Markey's office by the NRC. While 63 of the irradiators in Massachusetts each contain less than 9 curies of radiation, one source does contain between 1 million and 5 million curies. Curies are a measure of radioactivity. An April letter from the NRC to Markey stated that a dirty bomb containing one curie of radioactive materials could ''spread low-level contamination over an area of several city blocks.'' This story ran on page A17 of the Boston Globe on 7/31/2002. © Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. © Copyright 2002 New York Times Company ***************************************************************** 21 NRC Warns of Nuclear Theft Danger Las Vegas SUN: July 30, 2002 By MELISSA B. ROBINSON ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON- People with access to irradiation equipment used in medicine or commerce aren't required to undergo background checks, increasing the potential for theft or sabotage, a lawmaker said Tuesday. Workers who transport materials for irradiation aren't checked either, and shipments aren't required to be screened for hidden explosives, said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the co-chairman of a bipartisan congressional task force on nuclear nonproliferation. "Such a detonation could blow a hole in the walls (or) roof of the facility and disperse radioactive materials over a large area," said Markey, who released a Nuclear Regulatory Commission response to questions he raised last month about the security of irradiators used by hospitals, research institutions, food plants and other facilities. A dirty bomb uses conventional explosives to disperse radioactive materials. Most nuclear experts say such an attack would cause radiation contamination over several city blocks, but probably no deaths from radiation because of the low doses as the material is dispersed. Concern about the security of radioactive materials used in medicine and industry increased in June with the announcement that an alleged terrorist, linked to al-Qaida, had been taken into custody, suspected of planning an attack using a dirty bomb. The Justice Department said there was no indication that the suspect, Jose Padilla, ever obtained the radioactive material for such a device. Markey asked the NRC for detailed information on the tracking and security of cobalt 60, used to irradiate food, and cesium 137, used to sterilize medical equipment. Forty-eight states have at least one facility using radioactive materials and 17 states have at least one facility that uses more than 1 million curies of the material for irradiation or sterilization, according to Markey's staff. About 1,000 curies is viewed as a sizable radiation source, according to nuclear experts. In a four-page response, dated July 24, the NRC said that no background checks were required because, "Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the risk of intentional misuse of the radioactive material was considered to be very low." Since the attacks, the NRC has advised irradiator operators to increase security measures, including additional controls on persons and materials entering the irradiator facilities. It is evaluating further measures. Later this year, the agency is to propose a rule on the transport of large quantities of radioactive material. Markey said the NRC should have already ordered heightened security measures. Over the past 5 years, nearly 1,500 radioactive sources have been reported lost or stolen in the United States, but less than half of them have been found, he said. "This failure on the part of the NRC to take action almost a year after Sept. 11 shows it has a blatant disregard for the unacceptable public health risks a dirty bomb poses to America," Markey said. The NRC had no immediate response. Irradiators - both cabinet-sized units and larger ones - are to be kept locked or under constant surveillance, according to NRC rules. Smaller irradiators are usually inspected every 3-5 years, larger ones every 1-2 years. The NRC said that removing a radioactive source with its heavy shielding from a larger unit would require equipment. Anyone who tried to remove a source without shielding would be quickly killed by radiation, it said. On the Net: Rep. Ed Markey: http://www.house.gov/markey/ [http://www.house.gov/markey/] Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov/ [http://www.nrc.gov/] All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 22 Mexico: Woman Finds Missing Iridium in Dump Las Vegas SUN July 30, 2002 ASSOCIATED PRESS TECATE, Mexico- A missing pellet of radioactive Iridium that had sparked a massive search by authorities near the U.S. border was found here Tuesday by a trash picker at a dump. Soldiers and firefighters cordoned off the trash dump after the foot-long container holding the pellet. The container appears to be undamaged, but the area was secured as a precaution, said Baja California state civil defense director Gabriel Gomez. The pellet was used to look for cracks in a Baja California pipeline project. It was lost from the back of a truck July 23 near Tecate. U.S. border officials were placed on alert as a precaution. Gomez said a woman who, together with her husband, makes a living combing through trash for recyclable materials, found the container early Tuesday. The couple then notified authorities. It wasn't immediately known how the material arrived at the dump. The foot-long container encloses an inch-long pellet of iridium 192, which emits potentially hazardous gamma rays and is commonly used to check welded joints. Although not harmful if used properly, iridium and other commonplace radioactive materials have sparked concern that, in the wrong hands, they could be used to create a radiological "dirty bomb" that would create widespread panic. -- All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 23 Rebuttal witness says proposed waste site safe BY BUTCH MABIN / Lincoln Journal Star Testimony was expected to conclude today in the federal trial over Nebraska's refusal to license a proposed nuclear waste warehouse in Boyd County. In testimony Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, an expert witness for the compact of states suing Nebraska said the proposed site met suitability standards for groundwater discharge and contamination. The state has argued it decided to deny the license in 1998 because of concerns with contamination and a high water table. Hydrogeologist David Siefkan testified Tuesday the warehouse's builder, US Ecology, included in the design sufficient buffer zones underneath and surrounding the facility. Also, he said, his review of the site found no evidence of groundwater discharge. Siefkan visited the site in April 2001 and also reviewed environmental data of the area. The plaintiff states called Siefkan to rebut earlier expert testimony from Nebraska that the proposed warehouse posed environmental risks to the area. Siefkan's testimony was expected to conclude today with cross-examination by the state's legal team. The state rested its main defense Monday. Nebraska is being sued by the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission, created in the 1980s by Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska to oversee placement of a radioactive waste facility. The commission is alleging Nebraska officials acted in bad faith during the licensing process and decided to deny the license in 1998 for political reasons. Trial on the lawsuit began June 3. Although testimony was expected to conclude today, attorneys will not make closing arguments in the case until September. In the meantime, the two sides will prepare legal briefs and submit them to U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf. Reach Butch Mabin at 473-7234 or bmabin@journalstar.com. Copyright © 2002, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved. This ***************************************************************** 24 Nebraska: State rests case in waste-site trial Omaha.com Published Wednesday July 31, 2002 LINCOLN (AP) - The State of Nebraska rested its case Tuesday in the trial accusing state officials of conspiring to thwart plans for a multistate nuclear waste site in Boyd County. At stake for Nebraska taxpayers is $200 million - the high-end estimate of what the state could be ordered to pay if it loses the case. The site was meant to store low-level radioactive waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf is hearing the case. He expects to make a decision by the end of September. The state began its defense July 10, about five weeks after lawyers for the group of states suing Nebraska ended their case. Lawyers for the other states were expected to call rebuttal witnesses today to wrap up the trial. Lawyers for both sides will then submit briefs to Kopf and return for final arguments Sept. 10. Most of the lawyers involved in the case expect it to eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. ©2002 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright ***************************************************************** 25 Kent Aiken speaks about tourism at the meeting in Unicoi Tuesday evening Story published in the Johnson City Press: 7/31/2002. (Staff Photo by Tony Duncan) Concerns surface at forum By Chris Garland Erwin Bureau UNICOI ? Less facts and more heart-to-heart sentiments poured out at the meeting of Concerned Citizens for the Preservation of the Valley Beautiful Tuesday night at the Farmhouse Gallery and Gardens. About 60 people attended the meeting, where much of the focus was on a possible loss of tourism and natural resources should the Louisiana Energy Services consortium choose to locate their proposed $1.1billion uranium enrichment plant on 100-plus acres in Unicoi. Town of Unicoi Alderman Johnny Lynch, who owns and operates the gallery, hosted the meeting. In the past week, some of the concerned citizens have attended several forums and public meetings, Lynch said. During a forum held at Unicoi County Middle School, questions for school board candidates were written down by those who attended. According to Lynch, all questions about the proposed LES plant were removed. ?Except for one that slipped by them and the candidate refused to answer it,? Lynch said. However, some questions asked by the group have been answered in a paid advertisement in a local newspaper, said Lynch. Those questions answered were not discussed. To further educate the group on the impact of tourism in the county and surrounding area, Lynch read statistics stating $24.7 million in state tax money comes from tourism. A portion of that, $12.6 million, comes from local taxes in Northeast Tennessee, Lynch said. ?There are $4 billion in wages and salaries earned from tourism in Tennessee,? Lynch said. ?It is the third largest industry in the nation.? According to a 1999 survey, Unicoi County ranked second lowest on a tourism list. ?We have the potential and maybe we are not using it right or promoting it right,? Lynch said. Dave Ramsey, a Unicoi County native who spoke to the group, said that he had read letters to the editor in local newspapers that have caused him concerns. ?They have called us flag-waving tree huggers and even more,? he said. Concerns about a plant involved in the world?s most controversial and stigmatized industry are what worry Ramsey. ?Location, location, location is what Unicoi County has. Unicoi sits as the primary gateway to the entire region and this part of the South,? Ramsey said. Kent Aiken addressed the group in saying the Unicoi County Economic Development Board and city and county leaders need to use what is readily available in the county for an untapped tourist industry instead of bringing a nuclear enrichment plant to the area. Dr. Frances Lambert told the group she was from Germany, where a Urenco plant was operating. Urenco is the main company involved in the LES consortium looking for a site for its plant. Lambert said she had many concerns about Urenco, and things promised to the German people were not always what Urenco provided. LES is continuing its efforts to find a site in the U.S. for its enrichment plant, which will be one step in a process to make fuel to run nuclear energy plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday there is still no formal short list of sites available and they were still waiting for LES to provide the list. /(Contact Chris Garland at cgarland@johnsoncitypress.com )./ ***************************************************************** 26 Decision imminent, Urenco says * Erwin Record 07/31/02 */By Mark A. Stevens -- Executive Editor /* With a final site selection decision expected within days, a proposed Louisiana Energy Services' uranium-enrichment plant is garnering national attention. USA Today and the New York Times have both reported on the plans of the consortium to construct a $1.1 billion plant in the United States, and Unicoi County has played prominently in those reports. In an interview last week with The Erwin Record, Peter Lenny, president of major investor Urenco Inc., said the consortium's timeline is unchanged. A decision, he said, could be announced within days -- certainly no longer than a couple of weeks. Other than that, Lenny would not provide more details. ''As I've said in the past, we're not prepared to discuss the siting process,'' he said. ''When we're prepared to go public with the siting process that we've entered into, at the appropriate time, we will inform the U.S. NRC of the appropriate sites, and we would be in touch with the appropriate people at the selected sites as well. ''These are things that we're in the process of taking forward.'' While Lenny declines to offer specifics on the site selection, the national media have not. In an article published last week in the New York Times, the newspaper quoted ''industry experts'' saying LES was looking at ''sites in Lynchburg, Va., Wilmington, N.C., and Erwin, Tenn.'' for what it dubbed one of the largest private nuclear projects in the United States since the 1980s. The Times went on to say that, ''Environmental advocates in Erwin have already organized to oppose that choice.'' In an article last month, industry magazine NuclearFuel wrote, ''There is growing speculation -- certainly in the Tennessee press -- that LES is very interested in a site in Unicoi County, not far from the Nuclear Fuel Services plant.'' The news, the magazine said, ''has led to a barrage of calls to Urenco officials here in Washington, some from local property owners who want some definitive word on the consortium's intentions.'' It's been nearly six weeks since the Unicoi County Economic Development Board announced that an international consortium was eyeing 120 acres near Tinker Road in Unicoi for its first U.S. plant. Since then, a group calling itself Citizens for the Preservation of the Valley Beautiful has met weekly to strategize about ways to keep Urenco and its partners -- Westinghouse, Fluor-Daniel, Duke Power and others -- out of Unicoi County. EDB officials have received official support from some local entities including the Unicoi County Board of Education and the Unicoi County Planning Commission. Lenny said the consortium is not surprised by local opposition. Indeed, he said, the plant would most likely be opposed anywhere in the world. ''I think today in this country and any other developed country in the world, if you want to locate a chewing gum factory, you're going to run into opposition,'' Lenny said. ''A garbage dump, for example. Everybody produces garbage, but nobody wants a garbage dump. Everybody wants electricity, but nobody wants electricity transmission lines anywhere near them. Everybody uses the highway, but if you say we're going to put a highway near your home, nobody wants it. ''That's a sociological phenomenon of our time. Everybody wants the benefits of a modern society and all the benefits that are derived from that industrial society, but no one wants any of the ill effects from that. ''Anywhere you would possibly want to select as a site, no matter where you went, there's absolutely no site anywhere in the world that you won't find somebody opposed to it. It's a question of what are the benefits, and it's a question of education. It's a matter of telling people what the benefits are and what the impacts are on the community. Those are issues that have to be dealt with.'' ©2001 _MyWebPal.com_ . All rights ***************************************************************** 27 NFS project may be one of largest in county history * Erwin Record 07/31/02 */By Jerry Hilliard -- Associate Editor /* Preparations continue at Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. in Erwin for a project that company officials say will not only create jobs locally but also could save taxpayers a half-billion dollars. ''Project BLEU'' Ń standing for blended, low-enriched uranium Ń is a joint effort of NFS and Framatome ANP Inc., a major nuclear supplier in Lynchburg, Va. In July 2001, Framatome received a contract to supply nuclear fuel and fuel-related services to Units 2 and 3 of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Browns Ferry Nuclear Station in Athens, Ala. Under a TVA contract awarded earlier in 2001, highly enriched uranium will be converted to low-enriched uranium at the Erwin facility beginning in late 2003 or early 2004. ''We will be taking materials that otherwise would have to be disposed of or stored forever and turning them into uranium oxide,'' NFS spokesman Tony Treadway said Monday. ''The uranium oxide will then be taken elsewhere, where another facility will turn it into pellets to be put into fuel rods for use at commercial reactors.'' Treadway emphasized that the materials to be converted here will not come from nuclear warheads. ''These are materials that didnŐt meet exact specifications during the manufacturing process,'' he said. To prepare for the project, modifications are under way inside an existing building in the protected area of NFS. In what Treadway called one of the largest construction projects in the history of Unicoi County, work also will begin soon on a new ''BLEU Complex.'' The complex will be located on property owned by the company adjacent to the currently protected area. Meanwhile, NFS officials are going through the process of gaining government approval for the project. According to the Federal Register of July 9, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed an environmental assessment. It concluded that constructing and operating the new NFS facility would result in no significant impact to human health or the environment. The NRC report said: ''The Blended Low Enriched Uranium (BLEU) Project is part of a Department of Energy (DOE) program to reduce stockpiles of surplus high-enriched uranium through re-use or disposal as radioactive waste. ''Re-use as low enriched uranium is considered the favorable option by the DOE because (1) weapons grade material is converted to a form unsuitable for nuclear weapons (addressing a proliferation concern), (2) the product can be used for peaceful purposes, and (3) the commercial value of the surplus material can be recovered. An additional benefit of re-use is avoidance of unnecessary use of limited radioactive waste disposal space.'' In the process of making its evaluation, the NRC consulted with the Tennessee divisions of archaeology and radiological health, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Included in the evaluation were the potential radiological and non-radiological effects of the new processes on air, surface water and groundwater. The NRC pointed out that Ňconstruction and processing operations will result in the release of low levels of chemicals and radioactive constituents to the environment.Ó It also said small quantities of radioactive material would be released to the atmosphere and surface water. However, the regulatory commission indicated that the levels of potential contaminants are still far below government limits. ''Even with the expansion of our operations, the amount of radioactive air emissions from current and new operations will be much less than 1 percent of our regulatory limit,'' NFS Vice President Marie Moore said Monday. ''While the regulatory limit is a dose of 100 millirems per year, we estimate that our emissions will create a dose of 0.202 millirems per year.'' She said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American receives five to 10 times more radiation exposure annually by watching four hours of television a day, or 25 times more by flying 10,000 miles on commercial airliners. The only area in which the NRC said Nuclear Fuel Services would exceed its current permit limits is the emission of nitrogen oxides, which are not radioactive substances. As a result, the company currently is seeking a modification to its existing air pollution control permit from the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Division. In its report, the NRC said it expects that ''the State, under its authority to regulate air quality, will continue to set permit levels to limit environmental impacts from NFS effluents.'' The NRC report said the permit revision is needed ''because of changes in material input from (the new facility) and installation of additional process and ventilation equipment.'' A public notice published July 24 in The Erwin Record said Nuclear Fuel Services had applied for the modification in its air-contaminant permit. The notice said the proposed construction is subject to the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Regulations, which require public notification and a 30-day public comment period. Treadway called Project BLEU an example of ''true nuclear recycling in action'' and estimated that it would create enough nuclear energy to power TVA reactors for about 14 years. ''This will be saving U.S. taxpayers about a half-billion dollars,'' he said. ''The technology is not new,'' he said, pointing out that NFS has been involved in downblending in the past. ''The application is somewhat new because of the scale of what we'll be doing.'' Although the Project BLEU will mean new jobs at the Erwin plant, officials are uncertain of the exact number. Some workers are expected to be NFS employees currently involved in other projects that are nearing completion. ©2001 _MyWebPal.com_ . All rights ***************************************************************** 28 Utah Justices hold the n-waste initiative [deseretnews.com] Tuesday, July 30, 2002 Court delays decision on an N-waste vote By Donna Kemp Spangler Deseret News staff writer The Utah Supreme Court wants to hear more arguments on the constitutionality of the state's citizen initiative law before deciding whether Utahns can vote this November on an initiative to limit radioactive waste coming to Utah. The high court ruled Monday that it does have the jurisdiction to decide the issue. But before it does, it wants to hear more analysis on the applicability under the state's constitution and whether portions of the law can be struck down. Chief Justice Christine Durham, in a written opinion, said the court would decide by Aug. 30 so the initiative can be on November's ballot if the court so rules. Monday's ruling drew mixed reviews. It was praised by attorneys representing the backers of the Radioactive Waste Restrictions Act — an initiative that seeks to outlaw the import of "hotter" radioactive waste while imposing a range of taxes on the low-level radioactive waste now stored only at Envirocare of Utah. "It's a big step toward having it placed on ballot," said attorney Deno Himonas. But opponents were equally optimistic of ultimately persuading the justices to declare the law constitutional and thereby preventing the initiative from making this November's ballot. "It's not a decision on the merits," said David Jordan, an attorney representing Utahns Against Unfair Taxes and several lawmakers who petitioned the court as intervenors. "I'm confident," he added, that the law won't be struck down. At issue is whether the state's initiative process is unconstitutional under the "one man, one vote" concept because it gives sparsely populated rural areas a greater voice than the populous urban areas of the state in terms of the number of signatures required to place a measure before voters. Lobbyist Frank Pignanelli, Salt Lake advertising executive Mickey Gallivan and Phyllis Sorensen, former president of the Utah Education Association, are the chief sponsors of the initiative that would raise money for public schools and the homeless. The lieutenant governor's office ruled July 5 that despite collecting more than 95,000 signatures — well above the required 77,000 — the initiative failed to make it on November's ballot because not enough registered voters signed the petition in at least 20 of the 29 counties. It failed in part because Envirocare and other opponents persuaded many to withdraw their names from the petition they signed to place it on the ballot. Justices are looking into all provisions under the law, including the one that allows petitioners to remove their names once they sign a petition. "We're pleased with the Supreme Court is giving this serious examination," added Pignanelli. He and Gallivan took their case directly to the Utah Supreme Court in hopes the justices would strike down the 20-county provision in current law and thereby allow the issue to go forward on the November ballot. Justices must consider whether the entire law is unconstitutional or just portions of it. Should the court rule that the entire law is unconstitutional, then the initiative won't be placed on a ballot until lawmakers rewrite the statute. Waste-tax proponents say they win either way. "It keeps us alive for the next 30 days while the Supreme Court decides whether the initiative will be voted on this election year," Pignanelli said. "We still have signatures for the 2004 election. So it's not as if it is fatal to us," he added. E-mail: donna@desnews.com [donna@desnews.com] © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 29 Nebraska rebuts nuke dump dispute Lawrence Journal-World: Lawsuit accuses state officials of thwarting plans for regional waste site The Associated Press Wednesday, July 31, 2002 Lincoln, Neb. — The state of Nebraska rested its case Tuesday in the trial accusing state officials of conspiring to thwart plans for a multistate nuclear waste site in Boyd County. At stake for Nebraska taxpayers is $200 million — the high-end estimate of what the state could be ordered to pay if it loses the case. The site was meant to store low-level radioactive waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf is hearing the case. He expects to make a decision by the end of September. The state began its defense July 10, some five weeks after lawyers for the group of states suing Nebraska ended their case. "I feel very confident we demonstrated that the process was handled properly," said Brad Reynolds, Nebraska's lead attorney on the case. Lawyers for the other states were expected to call one more rebuttal witness Tuesday to wrap up the trial. Lawyers for both sides will then submit briefs to Kopf and return for final arguments Sept. 10. The lawsuit accuses Nebraska of acting in bad faith by not licensing the facility in 1998. State officials said they denied the license because of concerns over possible pollution and a high-water table near the proposed site in northeast Nebraska. Nebraska has rejected allegations that former Gov. Ben Nelson, now a U.S. senator, and other officials conspired to submarine plans for the dump. The lawsuit initially was filed by utilities that generate radioactive waste. The four other states slated to use the dump later joined the lawsuit. The battle had its genesis in 1970, when Nevada, South Carolina and Washington grew tired of accepting low-level radioactive waste from the rest of the country. Congress told states in 1980 to build their own dumps or join regional groups to dispose of the waste, which includes contaminated tools and clothing from nuclear power plants, hospitals and research centers. Nebraska joined Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana in 1983 to form the Central Interstate Low-level Radioactive Waste Compact. The other states voted in 1987 to put the dump in Nebraska. The fight began soon after, with both sides wrestling in court on several issues. Most of the lawyers involved in the case expect it to eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. Copyright © 2002, the Lawrence Journal-World. ***************************************************************** 30 Hanford waste analysis alarms Oregon, activists The Oregonian 07/30/02 ANDY DWORKIN Oregon officials and anti-nuclear activists are criticizing a federal report on the environmental impact of shipping thousands of truckloads of radioactive waste through Oregon to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington. The report is an estimate of what damage might result to the environment. The U.S. Department of Energy drafted the environmental impact statement about its plans to treat chemical and radioactive waste at Hanford -- the waste created at the former nuclear weapons site and refuse shipped in from other Energy Department sites nationwide. The department is seeking public comment on the statement. The draft considers three plans for dealing with waste once it is shipped to Hanford, although one involves no new technology or construction and is included mainly as a comparison for taking no new action. The Energy Department estimates that impacts on the environment "are relatively small and would not be expected to contribute substantially to cumulative impacts of other activities at Hanford or in the surrounding region." But Ken Niles, administrator of Oregon's Nuclear Safety Division, said the document lacks good scientific evidence to back up such claims or even enough specifics about plans to figure out what the environmental impact is likely to be. For instance, he said, the draft report does not "identify volumes or types of materials they might dispose of at Hanford," information he called "a basic necessity" for determining the impact of the solid waste. Rather, the draft mentions three broad categories of waste: low-level; mixed chemical and nuclear waste; and transuranic waste. And it considers a widely varying volume of material, from about 9.2 million square feet to 21.2 million square feet. "We don't believe the Department of Energy has done the type of analysis it needs to do," Niles said. "And we'll ask them to take it back and do a better job." He said the report also doesn't address the probable environmental impact of shipping wastes to Hanford, instead referring to estimates made in a 1997 national report. Those are general, nationwide estimates, Niles said, and don't take into account Oregon's specific concerns, such as the treachery of travel on snowy mountain passes. The draft plan does estimate that traffic accidents during the shipping would cause four deaths. The state of Washington also is reviewing the draft, though officials haven't reached conclusions, said Sheryl Hutchison, a spokeswoman for the Department of Ecology. The agency probably will provide comment next week, she said. Many activist groups plan to file critical comments about the draft plan at a meeting at 7 p.m. today in the Metro Regional Services Building, 600 N.E. Grand Ave. Representatives of five such groups explained some of their worries at a Monday news conference in Portland. Generally, the activists are upset that the draft continues the government's plan to truck radioactive waste from other sites to Hanford. Many also are upset that the plan considers burying much of the low-level radioactive waste in soil trenches without protective liners. They said the plan did not consider many reasonable alternatives, including not shipping waste to Hanford at all. "Many of the risks of moving the waste are not even disclosed or discussed in the environmental impact statement," said Gerald Pollet, executive director of Heart of America Northwest, a Seattle-based anti-nuclear group. A summary of the government's plan is available on the Internet at www.hanford.gov. You can reach Andy Dworkin at 503-221-8239 or by e-mail at andydworkin@news.oregonian.com. THE OREGONIAN © 2002 OregonLive.com. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT: Director says she wants to shave billions Wednesday, July 31, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal Chu proposes ways to save money By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Facing budget pressures stretching years into the future, the Yucca Mountain Project director said Tuesday she is looking to shave billions of dollars from the cost of the Nevada nuclear waste repository. Energy Department administrator Margaret Chu said she hopes over time to slice $10 billion from a program DOE estimates will carry a $58 billion price tag. Chu said savings could be found through a stepped-up science and technology program she plans to put in place beginning next year. Sustained research might develop advances in materials and repository designs, she said. She also said she would evaluate waste packaging and the need for expensive components such as cask-covering titanium drip shields, which add billions to the repository price tag. Some have questioned the level of protection they would provide. "I have told my bosses my personal goal is I would like to reduce the life cycle costs of the program," Chu said at a presentation to a nuclear waste board of the National Academy of Sciences. Chu, the director of the DOE's Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, outlined Yucca Mountain plans now that Congress and President Bush have chosen the Nevada site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, for nuclear waste storage. Chu said DOE's schedule is "really tight" to meet goals of having a license application ready by December 2004 for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review, and to have a repository open and accepting waste by 2010. With site selection finished, DOE now is looking to "jump start" its planning for shipping nuclear waste and spent fuel from government sites and commercial power plants to the planned repository, Chu said. "We have a lot of catch-up to do in the transportation program," she said. Chu said the DOE, later this year, will issue a record of decision declaring its preference to ship nuclear waste to Nevada by rail, and will issue a draft transportation policy that will be finalized in 2003. Also next year, the department plans to select a Yucca railroad corridor within Nevada, begin soliciting bids to buy shipping casks and start working on matters involving emergency responders along transportation corridors. Railroad and highway routes for waste shipping will be selected in 2005, she said. Besides transportation, Chu said budgeting and licensing preparations have been concerns. She said DOE continues to lean toward a "modular" strategy that would build a repository and corresponding above-ground waste preparation facilities in segments so costs can be spread out. "I don't have to ask for billions of dollars in one year," she said. Under that plan, the repository would accept 400 metric tons of waste its first year, 600 the second year and rising to 1,200 tons annually after that. Yucca Mountain by law would be built to hold 77,000 tons of nuclear material. On licensing, Chu said she is trying to shift the culture within the Yucca Mountain program to deal with the "rigorous" review expected from the NRC. She also is "looking around for help" to boost staff expertise on licensing. Chu also said she is committed to more nuclear waste research. A task force is soliciting ideas from within the DOE for a science program Chu said she would like to see funded at between $15 million and $30 million annually. "Regardless of the outcome of he budget this year, there will be a science and technology program," she said. "I will make it happen." Also speaking to the Board of Radioactive Waste Management was a Nevada representative who said its unlikely state officials will warm to Chu's plans anytime soon. Yucca Mountain technical adviser Steve Frishman called on the Energy Department to conduct full environmental studies of its nationwide transportation plans. Frishman said DOE officials "have made unofficial overtures of `Let's be nice and talk about transportation,' but there's nothing to talk about at this point." Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2002 ***************************************************************** 32 OPPOSITION GROWS TO SHIPPING RADIOACTIVE WASTE TO HANFORD SITE The Columbian] Tuesday, July 30, 2002 By ERIK ROBINSON, Columbian staff writer PORTLAND -- Watchdog groups are intensifying a campaign to oppose the shipment of more radioactive waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. During a press conference Monday at a Jantzen Beach hotel, environmental and anti-nuclear groups took issue with Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon. The groups lambasted Smith for not using his influence to block the shipment of nuclear waste through Oregon to the sprawling nuclear reservation in south-central Washington. Afterward, Smith's press secretary said the senator will officially oppose the plan to shift waste from other Department of Energy sites to Hanford. "The senator's opposed to moving nuclear waste for storage at Hanford," said Joe Sheffo, Smith's press secretary. "Part of the reason he voted for Yucca Mountain was to get that stuff out of the region and at a central location." Smith, the only Washington or Oregon senator to share political parties with President Bush, now joins Democrats Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and Ron Wyden in opposition. Smith, who is running for re-election this year, will send a disapproving letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Sheffo said. Smith's declaration comes on the eve of a hearing set for tonight in Portland. The hearing, 6 to 9 p.m. at the Metro Regional Services Building, 600 N.E. Grand Ave., will allow the public to comment on an environmental-impact statement issued by the Department of Energy. The report evaluates the storage, treatment and disposal of radioactive wastes at Hanford. The report also shows how the department proposes to implement a decision to accept at Hanford low-level waste generated at other Department of Energy sites. Gerald Pollet, executive director Heart of America Northwest, one the region's leading Hanford watchdog groups, remained skeptical about Smith's intentions to oppose additional shipments to Hanford. "I'm not sure he's doing anything other than trying to lower the heat a little for today," Pollet said. "We've asked very specifically that he should take these concerns to the White House to stop the Energy Department's plans." U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, also opposes any plan by the Department of Energy to haul additional low-level radioactive waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Baird, like Smith, supports the establishment of a national repository for highly radioactive nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, Nev. "I don't want there to be any excuses for the folks at Hanford," Baird said. PUBLIC HEARING * WHAT: Comment on Department of Energy environmental impact statement * WHEN: 6-9 p.m. tonight * WHERE: 600 N.E. Grand Ave., Portland Copyright © 2002 by The Columbian Publishing Co. P.O. Box 180, Vancouver, WA ***************************************************************** 33 Scientists to report on ground water flow from Yucca Las Vegas SUN July 30, 2002 By Mary Manning < [manning@lasvegassun.com] > LAS VEGAS SUN Members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board are: Mark Abkowitz, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University; Thure Cerling, geology and geophysics professor at the University of Utah; David Duquette, professor and head of the department of materials science and engineering at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York; and Ronald Latanision,professor of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Seattle scientists are scheduled to report in September on a study to determine the direction of ground water flow from a planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Nye County gave the Hydrodynamics Group in Washington state $4.9 million in Energy Department research money to drill five holes in California during the next three years to study the flow, said Andrew Remus, a hydrologist working for Inyo County in California. The direction of the groundwater flow is crucial as Yucca Mountain nears licensing, Remus said. If it is determined that the water is flowing toward major population centers, it could raise major questions about the project, he said. Yucca Mountain is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The independent scientists will work with the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service, which manages Death Valley. Energy Department scientists and independent experts will present updates on the study to the independent Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board on Sept. 10 in Las Vegas. President Bush approved Yucca Mountain as a repository for 77,000 tons of radioactive waste after the Senate overturned Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto on July 8. The Energy Department has been studying the mountain for more than 20 years, but questions remain about groundwater direction, materials proposed for burial containers and volcanism at the site. Incoming board chairman Michael Corradini is scheduled to open the Sept. 10 meeting at the Alexis Park hotel. He replaces outgoing chairman Jared Cohon, who has served on the board since 1995 and as chairman since 1997. The meeting is open to the public. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 34 Designing a "keep out" sign for a long-lasting radioactive waste dump (8/5/02) [usnews.com] Not a single spent nuclear-fuel rod will be shipped to the mountain until construction of the repository is finished–perhaps by 2010–and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Environmental Protection Agency approve a plan for storing the waste. Environmentalists and Nevada officials are vowing to fight the project in court. But the Department of Energy is already starting to ponder how to comply with a federal requirement to mark the site for the next 100 centuries. It has plenty of ideas to choose from. Earlier this year, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas hosted an exhibit ( [http://www.desertspace.org] ) of potential Yucca warning concepts–some sarcastic, some whimsical, such as seeding the mountain with genetically modified, blue-colored yucca shrubs or transforming it into a simulated volcano. But more likely, says DOE spokesman Joe Davis, "We'll take a look at what they're doing at WIPP." That would be the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., which since 1999 has been storing waste from nuclear weapons production in an old salt mine. WIPP consulted panels of academics–including archaeologists, astrobiologists, and materials experts–about the warning-marker conundrum. Scare tactics. They noted that although it might seem sensible to fashion markers from a durable material like titanium, ancient Egypt teaches a different lesson. The fine limestone that originally cloaked the Great Pyramid of Cheops, for instance, was pried off and reused. And scare tactics like the curses on Egyptian tombs can backfire. "Nothing that says, 'Touch this rock and die,' " says archaeologist Maureen Kaplan of environmental consultants ERG. Inevitably, someone would touch a rock and survive, undermining the warning. Of course, writing may not get the message across in the distant future. So the teams also considered ways to embed a warning in the marker structure itself. One proposal: "menacing earthworks" resembling the jagged lightning-bolt insignia of Hitler's SS. "That one would scare the bejesus out of you," says Roger Nelson, WIPP's chief technology officer. But costly, elaborate structures can draw the wrong kind of attention. "The more grandiose you make it, the more likely people will wonder what you're hiding," says Jon Lomberg, artist for the PBS series Cosmos. WIPP eventually chose a plan to surround the site with a plain, 33-foot-high, 100-foot-wide berm of rock, soil, and salt. Inside the berm, to be built sometime after the site closes in 2035, will be 16 granite monuments (shades of Stonehenge) and many buried markers. Some will carry warnings in the six official languages of the United Nations, as well as Navajo; others will feature Edvard Munch-esque distorted faces to represent horror, and changing star positions to illustrate when the waste was buried. At Yucca, where the buried radioactivity will be fiercer, project managers are leaning toward edgier concepts, according to those familiar with their thinking. Two favorites are the menacing earthworks and a field of giant concrete thorns bursting from the ground near the mountain. But University of California-Irvine physicist and sci-fi author Gregory Benford favors the opposite extreme: doing nothing. Well, almost nothing. "Build some kind of monument out of government concrete which will be gone in two centuries and forgotten," he says. He notes that the only major unlooted Egyptian tomb was King Tut's, which was unmarked. Copyright © 2002 U.S. News & World Report, L.P. All rights ***************************************************************** 35 OP: Reprocessing Works The Salt Lake Tribune -- Wednesday, July 31, 2002 I have some knowledge of this issue after 30 years working with the energy industry, both civilian and military, across the world. Countries with nuclear generation capability, other than the United States, have adopted the reprocessing route to avoid the long-term storage problem. Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom are all traveling this road. While used fuel rods await reprocessing they are stored near the reactors in safe, above-ground ponds. I am astonished that America would impose nuclear dumping on Nevada or Utah. Neither of these states has nuclear generation but they are useful depositories due to few votes and limited influence in Washington. The first United Kingdom power reactors were imposed on Scotland for exactly the same reasons -- it is remote and sparsely populated. In those postwar years none of the population understood the threat. All they could see were employment opportunities. Please take great care with this threat -- I'd like to be more than 3,000 miles from any nuclear mausoleum. COLIN G. PATTEN Salt Lake City © Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune ***************************************************************** 36 Judge Rebuffs (Utah) State on N-Waste The Salt Lake Tribune -- Wednesday, July 31, 2002 BY JUDY FAHYS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE A federal judge Tuesday ordered the state of Utah to stop meddling with a utility consortium's plans to store nuclear waste on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Judge Tena Campbell largely sided with the consortium, Private Fuel Storage (PFS), and the Skull Valley Goshute Band, which wanted the court to strike down five state laws intended to foil the $3.1 billion storage project. She also doused the state's legal attack on the federal government's authority to license any private waste sites. "We'll appeal it," said Gov. Mike Leavitt, adding he expects the state's arguments to fare better in a higher court. Yet the state's appeal looked just as dubious to consortium attorney Mike Bailey. "Judge Campbell's decision is extremely detailed and well reasoned," he said. "And I believe the 10th Circuit [Court of Appeals] will feel the same." The court fight began last year after legislators enacted state laws to, among other things, outlaw a high-level nuclear waste facility in Utah. It also promised fines, jail time and heavy taxes for anyone doing business with a high-level radioactive waste facility. PFS filed suit to have the laws deemed unconstitutional. The consortium accused the state of interfering with the Goshutes' ability to manage their own resources, upending federal authority over radioactive materials, and hindering the consortium's rights to free speech, free association, the right to petition the government and the right to legal representation. Campbell's ruling noted the issues raised on both sides probably were bound for the appeals court anyhow. That is where either side can dispute the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision on a license for the proposed facility, she said. A decision could come as soon as December on licensing the storage site, which would be large enough to hold 44,000 million tons of radioactive waste -- roughly all the used power-plant fuel produced in the past three decades of U.S. commercial nuclear energy. Casks would be stored above ground on 100 acres leased from the Goshutes. PFS has applied for a 20-year license that could be extended another 20 years. It plans to send the waste to a permanent disposal site, presumably Yucca Mountain, Nev., when that underground disposal is ready. In her ruling Tuesday, Campbell noted the nuclear industry's struggle with the federal government to relocate the waste away from the 65 nuclear-plant sites where it is piling up. She also pointed out that the federal government is completely in charge of that waste, not the states. That left her with little to say about Utah's impassioned argument that Congress never intended to allow nuclear regulators to decide on a waste-storage site. In a footnote, she shrugged off the state's argument as "irrelevant." Leavitt disagreed and suggested it does not make sense for the state to have so little influence over so important a decision. He pointed out that the Yucca Mountain proposal has benefited from a detailed review, including a congressional vote. "We still think that is a strong argument," he said. Campbell's ruling left the door open for the state to oversee the waste facility in two areas: the drug testing of its employees to ensure the site's safe operation and determining water rights at the site. For the company, though, the ruling was a huge victory. The state has been its most vocal and formidable opponent. "It allows us to continue through the licensing process knowing that the state cannot hinder the project," said Bailey. It also reassured local lawyers and business people they would not go to jail for selling PFS products and services. In addition, it clears the way for Tooele County to provide essential services, such as fire suppression and law enforcement. fahys@sltrib.com © Copyright 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune ***************************************************************** 37 Nuclear Waste Makes Haste by Teal Krech The Village Voice: Features: Nuclear Waste Makes Haste by Teal Krech July 31 - August 6, 2002 What I find most shocking about the Yucca Mountain Project is that DOE [the Department of Energy] has no plan to transport spent nuclear fuel to its proposed repository. Secretary Abraham testified last week that the DOE is "just beginning to formulate its preliminary thoughts about a transportation plan." —Jim Hall, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, in testimony before the U.S. Senate, May 23, 2002 Tons of high-level nuclear waste to be shipped cross-country to Yucca Mountain, a proposed storage facility outside Las Vegas, Nevada, over either 24 or 38 years: 77,000 Number of truckloads of high-level radioactive waste to be shipped through the United States if all the waste is moved by truck over 38 years: 105,685 Number of railcars of high-level radioactive waste to be shipped through the United States if all the waste is moved by rail over 38 years: 18,243 Shipments of spent nuclear fuel within the United States over the last 30 years: 3025 Number of regulatory incidents involving those American shipments: 47 Number of accidents: 6 Number of resulting deaths: 1 Estimated number of shipments of spent nuclear fuel in the first year of the project: 2855 Number of truck accidents the Department of Energy predicts will occur over the 38-year life of the project: 66 Number of truck accidents other experts estimate will occur over the next 40 years: 129 Minutes it takes unshielded radiation from a fuel rod to kill the average person within three feet: 2 Number of rail accidents the Department of Energy predicts will occur over the 38-year life of the project: 10 Number of rail accidents other experts estimate will occur over the next 40 years: 440 Immediate deaths predicted should a train accident occur involving nuclear waste, if that accident is commensurate to last year's Baltimore tunnel fire, in which a train carrying hazmats derailed, exploded, and burned for four days: 250 Estimated cancer deaths in the 50 years following such an accident: 4000 to 28,000 Estimated clean-up costs of such an accident: $10 billion to $14 billion Number of radiation-induced deaths the Department of Energy estimated would occur in a worst-case-scenario rail accident in its draft Environmental Impacts of Transportation Statement: 31 Number of radiation-induced deaths the Department of Energy estimated would occur in a worst-case-scenario rail accident in its final Environmental Impacts of Transportation Statement: 5 Number of train accidents throughout the United States in last 12 years: 88,000 Number of those trains carrying hazardous waste: 14,700 Number of accidents resulting in the release of hazardous materials: 448 Number of defects in tracks and signal equipment cited in 2001 by the Federal Railroad Administration: 108,000 Trade organization that opposes the rail transport of nuclear waste to Nevada on regular commercial freight trains: The Association of American Railroads Number of tractor-trailer wrecks each year on all roads in the United States: 200,000 Number of rollovers: 11,000 Major cities that high-level nuclear waste will be shipped near or through: New York City; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; Pittsburgh; St. Louis; Phoenix; Portland, Maine; Hartford, Connecticut; Des Moines; Omaha; Kansas City; Sacramento; Baltimore; Cleveland; and Salt Lake City. Proximity of Indian Point nuclear power plant to Manhattan: 37.3 miles Metric tons of high-level nuclear waste currently stored at Indian Point: 891 Estimated metric tons of high-level nuclear waste remaining at Indian Point after Yucca Mountain is full: 519 Number of truckloads of high-level radioactive waste shipped through New York State if all the waste is moved by truck over 38 years: 8939 Number of fatal tractor-trailer wrecks from 1994 through 2000 in New York: 866 Number of those wrecks that were on interstates: 141 Number that involved rollovers: 30 Number of railcars of high-level nuclear waste to be shipped through New York if all the waste is moved by rail over 38 years: 1233 Number of train accidents in New York from 1990 through 2001: 1861 Number of New York schools within one mile of a proposed nuclear waste route: 598 New York schools within five miles: 1578 New York hospitals within one mile of a proposed nuclear waste route: 22 New York hospitals within five miles: 55 editor@villagevoice.com [http://www.villagevoice.com ***************************************************************** 38 Nebraska rebuts nuke dump dispute Lawsuit accuses state officials of thwarting plans for regional waste site The Associated Press Wednesday, July 31, 2002 Lincoln, Neb. ? The state of Nebraska rested its case Tuesday in the trial accusing state officials of conspiring to thwart plans for a multistate nuclear waste site in Boyd County. www.cillrwcc.org At stake for Nebraska taxpayers is $200 million ? the high-end estimate of what the state could be ordered to pay if it loses the case. The site was meant to store low-level radioactive waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf is hearing the case. He expects to make a decision by the end of September. The state began its defense July 10, some five weeks after lawyers for the group of states suing Nebraska ended their case. "I feel very confident we demonstrated that the process was handled properly," said Brad Reynolds, Nebraska's lead attorney on the case. Lawyers for the other states were expected to call one more rebuttal witness Tuesday to wrap up the trial. Lawyers for both sides will then submit briefs to Kopf and return for final arguments Sept. 10. The lawsuit accuses Nebraska of acting in bad faith by not licensing the facility in 1998. State officials said they denied the license because of concerns over possible pollution and a high-water table near the proposed site in northeast Nebraska. Nebraska has rejected allegations that former Gov. Ben Nelson, now a U.S. senator, and other officials conspired to submarine plans for the dump. The lawsuit initially was filed by utilities that generate radioactive waste. The four other states slated to use the dump later joined the lawsuit. The battle had its genesis in 1970, when Nevada, South Carolina and Washington grew tired of accepting low-level radioactive waste from the rest of the country. Congress told states in 1980 to build their own dumps or join regional groups to dispose of the waste, which includes contaminated tools and clothing from nuclear power plants, hospitals and research centers. Nebraska joined Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana in 1983 to form the Central Interstate Low-level Radioactive Waste Compact. The other states voted in 1987 to put the dump in Nebraska. The fight began soon after, with both sides wrestling in court on several issues. Most of the lawyers involved in the case expect it to eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. Copyright © 2002, the Lawrence Journal-World. ***************************************************************** 39 WWII: Japanese Peace Proposal Seven Months Before Surrender? Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 00:10:18 -0500 (CDT) CHICAGO TRIBUNE August 19, 1945 Page One ----------------------------------------------- BARE PEACE BID U.S. REBUFFED 7 MONTHS AGO ------------------------------------------------- BY WALTER TROHAN Chicago Tribune Press Service Washington, D.C. Aug. 19 - [1945] Release of censorship restrictions in the United States makes it possible to announce that Japan's first peace bid was relayed to the White House seven months ago. Two days before the late President Roosevelt left for the Yalta conference with Prime Minister Churchill and Dictator Stalin, he received a Japanese offer identical with the terms subsequently concluded by his successor, President Truman. The Jap offer, based on five separate peace overtures was relayed to the White House by Gen. MacArthur in a 40-page communication. The American commander, who had just returned triumphantly to Bataan, urged negotiations on the basis of the Jap overtures. All Acting for the Emperor Two of the five Jap overtures were made thru American channels and three thru British channels. All came from responsible Japanese, acting for Emperor Hirohito. President Roosevelt dismissed the general's communication, which was studded with solemn references to Deity, after a casual reading with the remark, "MacArthur is our greatest general and our poorest politician." The MacArthur report was not taken to Yalta. It was preserved in the files of the high command, however, and subsequently became the basis of the Truman-Attlee Potsdam declaration calling for surrender of Japan. News Kept Secret This Jap peace bid was known to THE TRIBUNE soon after the MacArthur communication reached here. It was not published, however, because of THE TRIBUNE'S established policy of complete covperation with the voluntary censorship code. Now that peace has been concluded on the basis of the terms MacArthur reported, high administration officials prepared to meet expected congressional demands for explanation of the delay. It was considered certain that charges would be hurled from various quaters of congress that the delay cost thousands of American lives and casualties, particlularly in such costly offensives as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was explained in high official circles that the bid relayed by MacArthur did not constitute an official offer in the same sense as the final offer, which was presented thru Japanese diplomatic channels in Bern and Stockholm for relay to the to the for major allied powers. War Lords Feared No negotiations were begun on the basis of this bid, it was said, because it was feared that if any were undertaken the Jap war lords, who were presumed to be ignorant of the feelers, would visit swift punishment on those making the offer. It was held possible that the war lords might assassinate the emperor. Officials said Mr. Roosevelt felt that the Japs were not ripe for peace, except for a small group, who were powerless to cope with the war lords, and that peace could not come until the Japs had suffered more. The offer, as relayed by MacArthur, contemplated surrender of everything but the person of the emperor.. Japanese quarters making the offer suggested that the emperor become a puppet in the hands of American forces. Full Surrender Offered Jap proposals in the MacArthur communication comtemplated: 1. Full surrender of Jap forces on sea, in the air, at home, on island possessions, and in occipied countries. 2. Surrender of all arms and munitions. 3. Occupation of the Jap homeland and island possessions by allied troops under American direction. 4. Jap relinquishment of Manchuria, Korea and Formosa, as well as all territory seized during the war. 5. Regulation of Jap industry to halt present and future production of implements of war. 6. Turning over of Japanese the United States might designate war criminals. 7. Release of all prisoners of war and internees in Japan proper and in areas under Japanese control. [Published on the same date in WASHINGTON TIMES HERALD.] ***************************************************************** 40 Powell, N. Korea Minister Hold Talks Las Vegas SUN Today: July 31, 2002 at 4:50:16 PDT By GEORGE GEDDA ASSOCIATED PRESS BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei- Secretary of State Colin Powell held talks with the foreign minister of North Korea Wednesday in a session that could lead to resumption of a formal dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. Wednesday's meeting represented the first contact between the two countries since President Bush labeled the communist nation part of an "axis of evil." North Korea Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun emerged from the brief session saying, "We have agreed to resume the dialogue between North Korea and the United States." "Everything went satisfactorily," said Paek, who met with his U.S. counterpart in a delegates lounge on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific's largest security forum. Powell, asked about the meeting after a luncheon with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, said, "It was a good meeting, a short meeting over coffee, and I told him that we should stay in touch and see how to pursue our dialogue." Powell's chief spokesman, Richard Boucher, said in a statement that Powell "reaffirmed the president's policy and said that in any future discussions, we would want to emphasize a variety of matters, including proliferation, mutual commitments made under the Agreed Framework, and conventional forces. As for follow on meetings or travel, we would consider the statements the North Koreans have made." Boucher had said earlier that Powell told Paek that in any future discussions, the United States would want to "emphasize a variety of matters, including proliferation and mutual commitments made" under a 1994 agreement designed to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons program. A senior U.S. official said the meeting took place after Powell sent word to the North Koreans that he was in the lounge and available for a conversation. Paek entered the lounge and Powell greeted him. They then sat down at a table, the official said. The meeting took place at 9:25 a.m. local time (9:25 p.m. EDT). Beforehand, Paek had breakfast with members of the Chinese delegation here. Asked by reporters about a meeting with Powell, he said, "If they propose first, I will meet with them." In a commentary coinciding with the meeting, North Korea's official news agency called the United States "the kingpin of evil" and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops from South Korea. It said the United States was eager to undertake "pre-emptive strikes" against North Korea. It made no reference to the Powell-Paek meeting. Powell is on a six-nation tour of Southeast Asia. Brunei, the fourth stop, is hosting meetings of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations and larger gatherings involving delegates from more than 20 Pacific rim countries. Brunei is a Delaware-sized sultanate on the northwest coast of Borneo. The United States and North Korea are looking to revive high-level talks for the first time since late in the Clinton administration when Secretary of State Madeleine Albright traveled to Pyongyang for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Bush proposed in June 2001 that discussions resume but the North showed no interest until this past spring, its enthusiasm possibly diminished by Bush's State of the Union designation of the North as a member of an "axis of evil," along with Iran and Iraq. The two sides seemed headed for renewed talks three weeks ago in Pyongyang but a shooting incident at sea involving vessels of North and South Korea created what the State Department called an "unfavorable atmosphere" for the talks and they were postponed. Just last Friday, Pyongyang showed an interest in establishing contact, perhaps with the Brunei conference in mind. Long-stalled relations between North and South Korea also seem to be moving ahead. On Tuesday, South Korea accepted a North Korean proposal for talks following an expression of regret from the North for the incident at sea a month earlier. The South Korean Unification Ministry suggested talks for early August. North Korea has one of the world's most stricken economies but the country has long range missiles capable of reaching the United States. To Washington's alarm, some missile sales have gone to Iran and Syria. Beyond that, the North has some 700,000 troops stationed near the South Korean border. Some are equipped with chemical and biological weapons. The Bush administration hopes to start a process that eventually will make North Korea a less menacing presence in Northeast Asia. In return, Washington is prepared to provide still unspecified economic benefits to the North. Under the 1994 agreement, the North agreed to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for deliveries of heavy fuel from the United States and two light-water reactors to be financed mostly by South Korea and Japan. They would replace Pyongyang's plutonium-producing reactors. The North also has pledged under the 1994 agreement to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to verify how much plutonium the North has stored away. Under the agreement, concerns about the North's nuclear weapons program must be cleared up before the light water reactors can become operational, probably in 2005. All contents copyright 2002 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 Pyongyang active diplomacy steals spotlight at ASEAN forum Xinhuanet 2002-07-31 21:49:45 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Asian ministers rounded off the annual security talks with their Western counterparts here Wednesday, with Pyongyang's active diplomacy stealing the spotlight at the one-day gathering. The 9th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum (ARF) covered a wide range of security issues, traditional and non-traditional, including the Korean Peninsula, South Asia and terrorism. Host Brunei Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah told reporters after the meeting that the ARF is "a particular occasion" to discuss terrorism and the ministers have agreed to take a number of positive steps to fight "this major non-conventional security concern." The ministers approved a statement on measures against terrorist financing, including freezing terrorist assets and strengthening international cooperation in information exchange. "In the interests of global peace and security, the participants in the ARF are determined to stop the financing of terrorism," the ministers declared in the statement. The ministers also urged India and Pakistan to resume dialogue and welcomed the readiness of Seoul and Pyongyang to restart the inter-Korean dialogue. The separate meetings between Paek Num Sun, foreign minister ofthe Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and his counterparts from the United States and Japan held the spotlight at the event. At the beginning of the ARF, US Secretary of State Colin Powellhad "a 15-minute informal chat" with Paek, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. Powell later told reporters the brief contact was "a good meeting" but that he did not expect another "one-on-one" meeting with Paek here. According to Boucher, Powell told Paek that he noted the recentstatements the DPRK had made. Powell was referring to the DPRK's regret on its naval clash with South Korea last month and calls for resumption of dialogue with the South. "In any future discussions, Washington would want to emphasize a variety of matters including proliferation, mutual commitment made under the Agreed Framework and conventional forces," Powell was quoted as saying. The Agreed Framework is a deal clinched in 1994 on the construction of two light nuclear reactors for the DPRK which promised to freeze its nuclear weapons development program. As for follow-on meetings or visits to the DPRK, Powell was quoted as saying Washington would "consider the statements the North Koreans made." The Powell-Paek contact is the first between the US and DPRK foreign ministers since Paek met Powell's predecessor, Madeleine Albright, on the sidelines of the Bangkok ASEAN meetings two yearsago. Shortly after the end of the ARF, Paek held a 30-minute meetingwith Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, the first high-level contact between the two countries in two years. The DPRK and Japan started talks on normalization of bilateral ties years ago but the process was suspended in October 2000. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two ministers said they agreed to "make serious efforts to solve various issues, including issues concerning the settlement of the past, in order to realize the normalization of relations as early as possible." They also agreed to hold a director-general level meeting in August in order to discuss issues concerning the normalization of bilateral relations and concerns of mutual interest. On Thursday, ASEAN and its 10 dialogue partners will hold the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC). Enditem --by Yang Zhiwan Copyright © 2000 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 42 Photo exhibit honors Hiroshima victims asahi.com : ENGLISH Asahi Shimbun www.asahi.com [http://www.asahi.com/] The Asahi Shimbun HIROSHIMA-In a blinding flash, they were gone. History remembers it as the day an atomic weapon was used against mankind for the first time, killing 140,000 people. Survivors view it differently, however. Many have only precious mementoes of loved ones they lost. Others have nothing. But most have a dog-eared photograph or a portrait of dead family members from six decades ago. As the anniversary of the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing approaches, final preparations are being made for the Thursday opening of the Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, located in the city's Peace Memorial Park. Survivors were asked to donate photographs to help establish a permanent visual memorial to the victims. So far, 3,700 photographs have been collected for display. The photographs will flash across a dozen 42-inch screens placed side by side. Each screen can show 18 images simultaneously. Each photo tells a compelling story. For survivors, though, the pain does not disappear-even after 57 years. Shigeki Tokimori of Hiroshima's Asaminami Ward makes sure he still spends a moment each day in front of his younger brother Eiji's portrait. Tokimori donated the original to the memorial hall. The boy in the picture wears a school uniform, with his hair cropped close. It's the look of a typical teenager of the time. Tokimori, 73, remembers their father taking the picture in the spring of 1945. Eiji was a second year student at Hiroshima's Shudo Junior High School when the students were mobilized to support the war effort. He and his classmates were working at a factory the day the bomb was dropped. Tokimori recalled his brother was very badly burned on the face and arms. He said the skin hung loosely and was peeling from his brother's arms. Tokimori used tweezers to pluck maggots from the putrid flesh. Everywhere, there were scenes of devastation and residents lived in fear of another attack, especially since U.S. warplanes continued to dot the city's skies. The day after the war ended, hearing the sound of aircraft, Eiji asked his brother: ``They won't drop anything anymore, right?'' These words and Eiji's facial expressions are still etched in Tokimori's mind. Eiji died the following morning. He was just 14 years old. Tokimori said he initially felt reluctant to have his brother's photograph on public display. Hiroshi Mochizuki also donated photographs. The 76-year-old lost his parents in the bombing. They owned a kimono store just a few hundred meters from Ground Zero. Mochizuki had left Hiroshima just the day before to enter the Military Academy in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture. His parents saw him off at Hiroshima Station. It was the last time he set eyes on them. When he returned to Hiroshima after the war, he was presented with a plain wooden box. He was told it contained his father's ashes. His mother's remains were never recovered. Mochizuki goes to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima each Aug. 6, to visit the Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound, a monument erected for the repose of souls whose bodies were never claimed. He always offers a prayer for his mother. ``Maybe my mother's ashes are here, too,'' he said. The central government funded the cost of building the hall as a place of mourning and as a means to pass on the horrors of nuclear warfare to future generations.(IHT/Asahi: July 31,2002) (07/31) [Copyright Asahi Shimbun ***************************************************************** 43 CROET concerned with restructuring of DOE The Oak Ridger Online -- Area News -- Wednesday, July 31, 2002 by R. Cathey Daniels Oak Ridger staff A planned local federal management change continues to come under fire. Tuesday the board of directors of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee voted unanimously to send a letter to Department of Energy headquarters outlining concerns about the planned "modified federal presence" in Oak Ridge. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, made his dismay known in an earlier letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, calling the restructuring a "step backwards" that would create higher costs, more red tape and a diminished role of the local site manager. CROET board member Joe Lenhard echoed Wamp's concerns Tuesday that the restructuring sets up four offices, three site offices and one administrative support office, to replace a "single integrated office," and said: "In my judgment that's an incredibly stupid way to operate." Lenhard stressed that Oak Ridge needs integration across all local federal programs, and said dealing with four oversight offices would be difficult and confusing. "If there's a problem with the city of Oak Ridge and they want something to happen they will have to go to four organizations, all of which go to different places in Washington Š and the bureaucracy just wears you down," said Lenhard. Susan Gawarecki, board member, noted that a CROET board letter to headquarters in her view likely wouldn't "change anything," and that Mike Holland, interim manager at the Oak Ridge Operations office, was placed in that position "to reorganize." Pete Craven, board member, indicated that he thinks congressional organization against the move supported by citizens could effect change. According to local DOE officials, the proposed restructuring would likely become effective sometime in January. The new model would set up separate management oversight for local science and cleanup activities, which would report directly to headquarters. The plan includes an "executive council" for administration. According to an ORO initiative report, the new structure would remove the deputy manager and deputies for operations and business as well as the Oak Ridge assistant managers from the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Portsmouth, Ohio, and Paducah, Ky., environmental management sites. The report said that this move would improve "the time it takes to make decisions," and redeploy "employees to the site offices." The CROET board met at 4 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Mall Cumberland Room. R. Cathey Daniels can be contacted at (865) 220-5515 or [danielsrcd@oakridger.com] . [http://www.oakridger.com] All Contents ©Copyright The Oak Ridger ***************************************************************** 44 Pantex reaches repackaging milestone Amarillo Globe-News: Local News: 07/31/02 By JIM McBRIDE jmcbride@amarillonet.com Pantex has repackaged 5,000 plutonium pits into specialized containers designed to provide safer storage, plant officials announced Tuesday. Pantex stores much of the nation's stockpile of plutonium pits, nuclear components that form the core of a nuclear warhead. More than 12,000 are stored in hardened bunkers at the nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly plant. Several years ago, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an agency that oversees U.S. nuclear weapons plants, raised safety concerns about Pantex plutonium storage and urged Pantex to begin placing pits into safer storage drums. Experts have said no pits should be stored in Pantex's primary storage containers because the drums contain corrosive packaging. If the pit's outer metal shell breaks or ruptures, the plutonium inside could form powdery oxides that can contaminate workers. The safety board later issued a formal recommendation calling on the Energy Department to move pits into safer storage. Since then, Pantex officials designed a new sealed insert storage container and began repacking pits into the new containers. Each pit is secured in an airtight vessel, which is placed in a steel storage container. Since February 2001, contractor BWXT Pantex has repackaged an average of more than 200 pits per month and reduced personnel radiation exposures by 40 percent during that period, Pantex officials said. "The Sealed Insert Repackaging Team has done outstanding work in improving productivity while simultaneously focusing on the reduction of radiation exposure to workers," Dan Glenn, director of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Amarillo Site Operations, said in a statement. "This combined success is a real benefit to Pantex." The repackaging program is scheduled to be completed at the end of fiscal year 2005. John Conway, chairman of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, said in a May 8 letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham that the safety board was encouraged by Pantex contractor BWXT's pit repackaging performance. But board officials want assurances that DOE will provide enough money to finish the program and reduce a container surveillance backlog. "Placing the pits into the AL-R8 sealed insert containers with inert internal environments and materially compatible capscrews resolves the near-term safety issue," Conway's letter states. "However, only inspection over time will tell how long such storage will remain adequate." More than 30 employees work daily in Pantex's pit repackaging program, Pantex officials said. "We are proud that we have achieved this milestone," BWXT President and General Manager Dennis Ruddy said in a statement. "Safety and quality improvements like this are an important part of our work at Pantex." Amarillo Globe-News ***************************************************************** 45 Report drops bomb Rocky Mountain News: Local Grand jury says Army staged find at former arsenal By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News July 27, 2002 A Colorado grand jury accused Army cleanup crews at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal of lying about their actions involving a dangerous munition and staging a phony "discovery" of the device as part of a coverup. The grand jury's scathing report, made public Friday, didn't indict any individuals or institutions in the case, but criticized the Army and its contractor for malfeasance relating to the discovery of an incendiary device called an M-74 last year. The focus of the 10-month criminal inquiry was work conducted by the Army and its contractor, Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp., in an area of the arsenal known as the "boneyard." It's the same area that drew headlines in the fall of 2000 after sarin nerve gas bomblets were found there. The report, an unusual product for a statewide grand jury, cites a series of deceptive and dangerous actions by officials at the Commerce City site. The 27-square-mile arsenal was once a manufacturing site for chemical weapons and pesticides and is now the subject of a $2 billion Superfund cleanup. According to the report - overseen by the office of Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar - the Army's misdeeds began in April 2001, when Army contractors sent crews into the boneyard without getting clearance from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, an apparent violation of a formal agreement between the parties. While digging through the boneyard, a former parking lot turned into a massive debris pile over the years, crews found an M-74 munition - a large, bulletlike device designed to create a smokescreen in the battlefield upon exploding. Then, instead of placing the munition in a secure location for later detonation, workers put it back where it was found, inside a crushed 55-gallon drum. The report called the action a serious violation of safety protocols. A month later, after getting formal approval from the state health department to work in the boneyard, supervisors and workers allegedly staged an event designed to cover up their earlier violations. The report said Foster Wheeler's site supervisor approached a worker during a safety briefing on May 8 and told the man he was to "find" the munition at 2:30 p.m. At 2:37 p.m., the supervisor radioed the worker and reminded him he was supposed to have found the item seven minutes before. "Others working in the area overheard this radio contact between (the men)," the report said. "The Health and Safety Log for May 8, 2001, confirms the M-74 was 'discovered' at 2:48 p.m." A few days later, a health department worker received an anonymous tip informing her that the bomb had really been discovered in April. When confronted with the information, Army officials confirmed the earlier find. In an interview later, an Army project manager said the Army was concerned about how it would be perceived for having explored the boneyard without proper approval, the report said. In a response filed with the report, the Army argued against public release of the grand jury findings, saying it would hurt the working relationship between the state and the Army - one the report said was already "tenuous, at best." The Army also disputed the report's findings, saying key people mentioned in it didn't testify before the grand jury, resulting in "inaccuracies." "It is our view that, had the grand jury heard testimony from additional witnesses and considered the entire universe of approved plans (between Colorado and the Army), the conclusions reached in the report would have been quite different," the Army wrote. But Brian Whitney, a state prosecutor, said he was "flabbergasted" to hear complaints that people didn't get a chance to tell their story. Especially when some key figures refused to testify, he said. The report said the grand jury "has not identified a particular individual or set of individuals who made the decisions to deceive (the state health department)." hartmant@RockyMountain News.com or (303) 892-5048 2002 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 46 Nuclear Renaissance Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 17:06:55 -0700 At 06:45 PM 7/31/02 -0400, you wrote: The Nuclear Renaissance (Pro-nuke conference 9-12) September 10-12, 2002 · The Hamilton Crowne Plaza · Washington, DC Early Bird Expires August 9! Click Here To Download A Complete Conference Brochure * The Nuclear Promise in a Time of Turbulence * TVA Nuclear Activity * Construction Time & Cost Issues - Impacts on Financial Risk analysis * Wall Street pective on Nuclear Plant Financing * NRC Licensing Process Reform * Spent Fuel Disposal - Yucca Mountain Status & Outlook * Nuclear Power 2010 Program Status and Outlook * Assessing Advanced Reactor Technologies * Reducing Outage Time - Lessons from Overseas Operators * Can Capital Upgrades Be Done During Standard Outages? * Maintaining and Improving Capacity Factors * Dealing with Nuclear Security in the Context of Homeland Security * Removing Barriers to New Plants * Progress in Implementing Risk-Informed Regulation * Evaluating the Alternative Responses in Reorganizing Nuclear Assets * How Should the Environmental Benefits of Nuclear As> be Valued? AECL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. BERENSON MINELLA & COMPANY DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENTERGY NUCLEAR, INC. EPRI EXCEL SERVICES CORPORATION EXELON CORPORATION FRAMATOME ANP, INC. LEHMAN BROTHERS MARATHON CONSULTING GROUP MORGAN LEWIS NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE NUCLEAR MANAGEMENT COMPANY NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT PROGRESS ENERGY PUBLIC CITIZEN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON STONE & WEBSTER, INC. TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY WESTINGHOUSE WINSTON & STRAWN Click Here To Download A Complete Conference Brochure This email was sent to capli@i-2000.com, by edit your interests or unsubscribe. View our privacy policy. ***************************************************************** 47 *DOI Encourages Geothermal Energy Development* EarthVision Environmental News / NEVADA, July 31, 2002 - Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton announces last week that land in eight Nevada Known Geothermal Resource Areas will be competitively sold in September. The Department of the Interior (DOI) is stepping up efforts to encourage national energy development to cut dependence on foreign fuel sources. "The president's national energy policy places a high priority on alternative energy development, while promoting energy conservation," Norton said. "Energy security is part of our national security. Our renewable energy such as geothermal can play an important role in helping to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy." Geothermal energy has been utilized in Nevada since 1985. The state has 12 geothermal power plants and more federal leases than any other state. Nine of the plants use federal resources, 2 are located on federal lands. The 9 federal resource-using facilities have a combined generation capacity of 165 megawatts, or enough energy for 165,000 households. Currently, the state of Nevada has 157 geothermal energy leases on 211,300 acres of land. Last November, the DOI and the Department of Energy held a conference to discuss public land renewable energy issues. Following the meeting, the DOI doubled funding for renewables. Geothermal energy provides 17 percent of U.S. renewable electrical energy generation, or 0.3 percent of the total electricity supply of the U.S. The DOI provides about one-third of U.S. energy and produces almost 40 percent of our country's geothermal energy. ***************************************************************** 48 Japan Police: nuclear official peddled stolen software Thursday, August 1, 2002 at 09:25 JST TOKYO ? A Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official is suspected of taking a bribe of more than 10 million yen from a computer software company while working for the former Science and Technology Agency, sources close to the case said Wednesday. The company, based in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, is suspected of bribing the 45-year-old official in return for him giving it the design of an already-completed nuclear power plant. Tokyo police are investigating the case and may take action against the company and the official, the sources said. (Kyodo News) Japan Today Discussion ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************