*
Officials herald cleanup of plutonium at Flats site
Joey Bunch, Denver
Post
Denver Post, August 20, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST
Officials herald cleanup of plutonium at Flats site
By Joey Bunch, Denver Post Environment Writer
In a made-for-TV moment, an orange crane fitted with jaws that made it look
like a dinosaur chewed up the last guard shack at Rocky Flats on Tuesday to
memorialize the month-old departure of the last weapons-grade plutonium from
the former weapons plant.
"This is a great day for Rocky Flats and a great day for Colorado," said site
manager Gene Schmitt.
The milestone was officially recognized Tuesday, when U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard
R-Colo., and Reps. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Bob Beauprez, R-Colo., could attend
and make speeches.
Critics worried the nuclear metals and oxides posed a cancer risk for workers
and a security threat to the nation. The materials are in South Carolina now,
stored at the controversial Savannah River Site.
Beauprez said terrorists now have no need to turn their attention to Rocky
Flats.
Udall said, "Our communities are much safer because because this material has
been removed."
For almost four decades Rocky Flats turned plutonium, uranium beryllium and
other ores and isotopes into triggers for nuclear warheads.
The site was shut down in 1989 and never resumed production. By the end of
2006,contractor Kaiser-Hill Co. will have erased more than 800 buildings from
the 385-acre industrical complex surrounded by a 6,000-acre buffer zone,
according to schedules.
Though early estimates put the timeline and cost of the cleanup at 65 years and
$37 billion, Kaiser-Hill took the contract with a 2006 deadline for $7.3
billion.
Allard, characterized by other speakers Tuesday as a bulldog pushing the
cleanup effort, said he was pleased that the work is beating expectations.
"The fact that we're ahead of schedule and under budget makes me happy," he
said. "It makes America happy."
Linton Brooks, the Department of Energy's undersecretary for nuclear safety,
credited Allard and Udall with "removing obstacles" in South Carolina, where
residents fought the shipments from Rocky Flats.
Udall joked that when former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges threatened to lay
down in the road to block the shipments, "we figured we'd just find another
road."
The dilemma in South Carolina, however, is no joking matter, said Tom Clements,
a spokesman for Greenpeace International's Nuclear Campaign in Washington and a
native of Savannah, Ga., two hours from the Savannah River Site.
The speedy cleanup at Rocky Flats is pushing the Savannah River Site to make
room for the shipments, and residents there are rightly worried, said Clements,
who has worked on nuclear issues since the mid-1970s.
He doubts that the South Carolina facilities are as safe as they should be, or
built for long-term storage.
"I can appreciate why people in the Denver area would celebrate, because the
risk is off their backs," he said. "But now it's being transferred to the
people and environment around the Savannah River Site."
[photo] Rocky Flats workers, including Kim Tuck and David Clausen watch as a
crew destroys a guard shack Tuesday at the former nuclear weapons plant
northwest of Denver. [Post / Craig Walker]
ROCKY FLATS TIMELINE
1952: Rocky Flats opened, on its way to becoming one of the nation's most
prolific and most secretive nuclear weapons sites.
1989: FBI and EPA agents raided Rocky Flats, claiming violations of
environmental and worker safety laws. Contractors were ordered to pay $18
million in fines. With the end of the Cold War in 1992, the site never resumed
production.
1996: The federal government announced a 10-year plan to have the site cleared
of nuclear wastes and more than 800 buildings.
Aug. 19, 2003: Plant officials announce removal of the last weapons-grade
plutonium from the plant.
June 2004: Building 771, once called the most dangerous place in America
because of its high-level nuclear work, will be demolished.
December 2006: Rocky Flats will be converted into a National Wildlife Refuge
with limited hiking and other recreational uses.
Copyright 2003 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. All rights reserved.
---sbs---
* As
Flats hits cleanup milestone, more questions remain
Meagan Balink,
Colorado Daily
Colorado Daily, August 19, 2003
As Flats hits cleanup milestone, more questions remain
By MEAGAN BALINK, Colorado Daily Campus Editor
Rocky Flats workers Tuesday demolished the last security access building in the
site's highly contaminated "protected area," signifying the official end of the
area's status as a nuclear weapons facility. Hundreds of citizens, dignitaries
and journalists were on hand to watch the event.
Surrounded by the skeletal remains of a Cold-War relic known as Rocky Flats,
Department of Energy Undersecretary Linton Brooks announced that all of the
weapons-grade plutonium has been removed from the former nuclear trigger plant,
creating a safer Front Range for residents and wildlife.
Brooks said the last truckload of waste left for storage at South Carolina's
Savannah River site one month ago under extreme secrecy.
The announcement ceremony, held next to former plutonium processing buildings
371 and 374 within the site's industrial area, also included speeches from U.S.
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and U.S. Congressmen Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Bob
Beauprez (R-Colo). All said they were confident the space would be turned from
a polluted liability into an open-space asset.
"There is much less of a threat from terrorist activity," said Udall.
Udall said he worked closely with Allard on the cleanup efforts "so that two
million citizens living here in the metro area wouldn't be threatened," and so
the 300,000 people living in the Rocky Flats watershed would be safe.
"That's the spirit of the west," said Udall referring the huge cooperative
necessary to clean up the former nuclear core factory, "When we all pull
together..."
Brooks reaffirmed during his comments that the facility's cleanup is ahead of
schedule and under budget.
"(Cleanup) will cost $7 billion, not $37 billion," said Brooks. "It will be
cleaned up to the extent that it will be a national wildlife refuge."
He said though the project is 60 percent complete, there is still a lot of work
to be done.
Some Boulder experts and activists couldn't agree more.
Rocky Flats expert Len Ackland, director of the CU Center for Environmental
Journalism, expressed excitement about the removal of the plutonium, but said
he wishes the news were more universally positive.
"This is a great day for Rocky Flats, Boulder and other nearby communities, but
just another day for a world filled with nuclear weapons," said Ackland.
"Unfortunately, the plutonium moved off this site may be used in other usable
nuclear weapons."
The plutonium, now in South Carolina, is being considered for conversion into
Mixed Oxide Fuel used as nuclear energy to complete the country's
nonproliferation goals. However, Ackland said he is concerned that the Bush
administration may still intend to use the material for nuclear weapons, given
its heightened national security concerns.
"There needs to be a stronger commitment," said Ackland of the administration.
"This is still weapons grade material and the U.S. government hasn't committed
itself to disposing of it."
Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center consultant LeRoy Moore, who has worked
on Rocky Flats issues since 1979, said he is relieved to find out the
Department of Energy (DOE) has reached the end of the plutonium transport
process without having a major accident or attack.
However, he said the cleanup procedure concerns him.
"They would argue they are doing a good cleanup," said Moore. "We disagree with
that. We advocated a more stringent cleanup."
He pointed out the obvious dangers of cleaning up radioactive contamination,
saying he questions the methods of Kaiser Hill, the company contracted by the
government to decontaminate and decommission the site.
"From time to time, they have accidents where workers are exposed to plutonium
or other toxins in the work place," said Moore. "Sometimes it appears they are
rushing things."
Rocky Flats is, indeed, on an "accelerated" cleanup and closure schedule, but
Kaiser Hill press information states safety is its biggest priority.
A Rocky Flats Closure Project overview brochure states: "The urgency to perform
the cleanup work and ship waste and materials off site as soon as possible is
based on the fact that aging systems and facilities deteriorate with the
passage of time and Rocky Flats was not designed to be a long-term storage
facility for the waste...that currently exist(s) at the site."
Moore noted that some quantity of plutonium contamination would remain at the
site, posing a threat to potential visitors and wildlife at an open-space
refuge.
"It's not likely that Rocky Flats is going to remain a wildlife refuge overseen
by the U.S. government forever," said Moore, pointing to the huge population
growth along the Front Range. "People may be living on the site that don't know
anything about what happened there once."
Moore said surrounding communities must voice their opinion on the future of
the site when the time comes.
"Within a year, there will be an environmental impact statement," said Moore.
"People need to let Fish and Wildlife (the federal agency that will oversee
Rocky Flats) know what they think about uses for that site."
For now, Kaiser Hill's Vice President and Director of Administration Len
Martinez said the area will be cleaned up to a wildlife worker's standard and,
according to the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement, set between and subject to the
approval of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment and the DOE.
Martinez said that when the old plant is finally closed in December 2006, its
workforce will have many opportunities in other areas, but Kaiser Hill wants to
keep the workers in Colorado if possible. Through the company's Workforce
Transition Program, Martinez said workers will be given the best opportunity to
move on and use their skills in areas like biotechnology and engineering.
"I personally want to congratulate workers at Rocky Flats for a job well done,"
said Allard. "You are truly American heroes and veterans of the Cold War.
Without you, we wouldn't be here today."
Brooks, Beauprez and Udall also gave huge accolades to Flats' 4000 workers, who
they said were the first group to turn from a nuclear weapons production team
to a decontamination and decommission (D&D) team.
"They took on the largest and most complex cleanup in the history of the
world," said Brooks, calling the Rocky Flats cleanup a model for other projects
around the country. "The technology is impressive, but the people are more
impressive."
---sbs---
*
Plutonium heads for South Carolina
Jason Zacher, Greenville News
Greenville News, August 19, 2003 - 9:02 pm
Plutonium heads for South Carolina
By Jason Zacher, ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER jzacher@greenvillenews.com
Federal officials said Tuesday a Colorado nuclear weapons site is free of
plutonium, though the department would not confirm whether that plutonium is
now at Aiken's Savannah River Site.
But Department of Energy spokesman Joe Davis, calling the move "a major
milestone," said, "The Savannah River Site is playing a very helpful role in
ensuring Rocky Flats is cleaned up on time and according to our cleanup
program."
Twelve tons of weapons-grade plutonium had been removed from Rocky Flats 12
years ahead of schedule, federal officials said.
The government has said the Rocky Flats' plutonium will be used to feed a new
Savannah River Site plant that will create mixed-oxide nuclear fuel, or MOX
fuel. The Department of Energy hopes eventually to convert 34 metric tons of
surplus weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel and will eventually be used at
Duke Energy's two Charlotte-area nuclear power plants.
The MOX program is a $4 billion program to convert nuclear warheads to fuel for
commercial nuclear power plants as part of a disarmament treaty with Russia.
Nuclear weapons opponents said moving the plutonium from one state to another
isn't disposing of the material.
"While the shipments may be good for Denver-area residents, the plutonium is
being stored in facilities at SRS that the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety
Board has identified as having various safety problems," said Tom Clements, of
Greenpeace's nuclear campaign. "Thus, rapid 'cleanup' at Rocky Flats presents
an increased health and environmental risk to residents around SRS."
Rocky Flats produced the plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons for more than
40 years. It was shut down in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush because of
safety violations, according to The Associated Press.
SRS is also being considered as the site for a new nuclear trigger plant. Under
the Department of Energy's proposal, the plant would start operating in 2020,
be in use for 50 years and cost up to $4.4 billion. That plant could create as
many as 1,800 jobs Ñ that on top of the 1,300 jobs the MOX facility is expected
to create.
Nearly 14,000 people currently work at the Savannah River Site, primarily
involved in cleanup operations.
The shipments from Rocky Flats were delayed after then-Gov. Jim Hodges took the
issue of plutonium shipments to federal court. Hodges lost the battle.
President Bush signed a bill into law last December that would award South
Carolina up to $100 million a year if the federal government fails to remove
surplus weapons-grade plutonium from the state on schedule. The bill was
proposed by Sen. Lindsey Graham of Seneca, when he was serving in the House,
and the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C. There are a number of stipulations in
the bill, but if the program is not on schedule at a number of set dates, the
government must pay South Carolina the fee or start shipping plutonium out of
the state.
The plutonium is trucked to SRS in federal convoys of specially built tractor
trailers which are armored and outfitted with special communications equipment
and theft-deterrent devices. They are escorted by specially trained and heavily
armed federal agents, officials have disclosed in court documents.
The Greenville News reported last year the federal agency responsible for
transporting nuclear weapons materials had 100 incidents in the 1990s ranging
from radiation contamination to accidents and security lapses.
In addition to its danger as a nuclear weapon, studies have shown that
plutonium can be fatal if inhaled, even in microscopic amounts.
The 6,000-acre Rocky Flats site will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to become a National Wildlife Refuge when the $7 billion
cleanup is completed.
Jason Zacher covers the environment and can be reached at 298-4272.
Copyright 2003 The Greenville News
---sbs---
* IAAP
claimants offered more help
Burlington Hawk Eye
The Hawk Eye, August 19, 2003
IAAP claimants offered more help
A federal traveling resource center will be in Burlington next week to help
former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant workers or their families file compensation
claims.
The resource center will be at the Pzazz Best Western motel on Tuesday, Aug.
26, Wed–nesday, Aug. 27, and Thursday, Aug. 28. People who want to make
appointments can call the Colorado Resource Center at (866) 540–4977.
Officials from the U.S. Labor and Energy departments will be available to
answer questions and offer guidance to former workers filing claims under the
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
The program is intended to compensate plant workers who were exposed to
radioactive and other toxic materials during the Cold War.
Former workers in Iowa currently must file claims through the district office
in Seattle.
---sbs---
*
FirstEnergy's Cash Position Declines Sharply
Floyd Norris, New York
Times
New York Times, August 20, 2003
FirstEnergy's Cash Position Declines Sharply
By FLOYD NORRIS
he FirstEnergy Corporation, an electric utility holding company that has been
buffeted by bad news this summer, reported yesterday that its cash position had
fallen sharply during the second quarter. The company also warned that its loss
of a pollution case in federal court could cost it a lot of money but did not
estimate an amount.
FirstEnergy, which has said that one of its power plants and four of its
transmission lines in Ohio shut down before the widespread power failure on
Thursday, said in a regulatory filing that even after those developments it had
seen no need to isolate its system from the rest of the electric grid in the
Midwest. It said that other transmission lines outside its system also failed
and that more study would be needed to determine the cause of the blackout.
Suspicions that FirstEnergy might have caused the blackout led to a sell-off of
its stock on Monday, when shares fell 9 percent. But the price recovered some
of that loss yesterday, rising 21 cents, to $27.96.
The company filed its second-quarter financial statement with the Securities
and Exchange Commission minutes before the 5:30 p.m. deadline and said that
meant that it would be able to issue securities without having to go through a
long registration procedure. The company has said it wants to sell stock soon
to help reduce its debt.
FirstEnergy has been engulfed by numerous problems this summer, even before the
blackout. In early August, a federal judge ruled that the company had violated
the Clean Air Act at a coal-power plant, setting the stage for a second trial
on damages. In the S.E.C. filing, FirstEnergy said that "the potential
penalties that may be imposed, as well as the capital expenditures necessary to
comply with the substantial remedial measures that may be required, may have a
material adverse impact on the company's financial condition and results of
operations."
The financial statements showed that FirstEnergy had $64.2 million in cash on
hand on June 30, down from $290 million on March 31 and $359.1 million the
previous June.
The company reported positive operating cash flow of $21.7 million in the
second quarter, but that was dwarfed by its needs for capital spending and for
debt repayment. It had to step up its short-term borrowing in the quarter even
to maintain that amount of cash.
Just why the company took in so little cash on an operating basis was not
clear. When it reported a net loss early this month, it stressed that it came
from noncash items.
In the financial statement, the item shown as contributing the most to the
decline in operating cash flow Ñ which had been $262.1 million in the same
quarter a year ago Ñ was labeled "other" and was not further defined. A call to
a company spokeswoman seeking information on the cash position was not
returned.
FirstEnergy has been under pressure from bond rating agencies to reduce its
debt substantially. But it has found that difficult to do in part because its
Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio remains closed after the discovery that acid
had eaten through much of the steel in a reactor. The company said it thought
the plant would be ready to reopen in the fall but did not know when the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission would permit this to happen.
The financial statements filed yesterday included revised reports for the first
quarter and for 2002. The restatements came about because auditors from
PricewaterhouseCoopers said accounting needed to be changed for the expected
recovery on some Ohio assets and certain other items. They reduced earnings for
previous periods a little more than FirstEnergy had estimated in early August.
For example, profit in 2002 came to $552.8 million, or $1.88 a share. It
earlier estimated that figure at $1.91 a share. The original earnings statement
showed profit of $629.3 million, or $2.14 a share.
Copyright 2003ÊThe New York Times Company
---sbs---
* Utility in
Blackout Probe Got Complaints
Jim Krane and Liz Sidoti, Akron Beacon
Journal
Associated Press Online, August 20, 2003
Utility in Blackout Probe Got Complaints
by JIM KRANE and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers
CLEVELAND -- The electric utility at the center of the blackout inquiry already
faced official complaints for earlier power outages blamed on outdated
equipment and trees too close to power lines, public records show. Those
failures in a Cleveland suburb are among some of the same problems linked to
last week's massive outages.
Technical glitches also dogged FirstEnergy Corp. in January, when parts of its
computer network - including machines monitoring its nuclear plant - were
brought down by the "slammer" computer worm, plant spokesman Richard Wilkins
said Wednesday.
Some experts said the trigger for last Thursday's blackout may stem from
FirstEnergy's borrowing a large amount of power from other Midwest utilities.
The system may have collapsed when a FirstEnergy generating plant and several
power transmission lines failed, snuffing lights from Detroit to New York City
to Canada, the experts said.
Tom Kraynak, manager of operations and resources for the Canton, Ohio-based
East Central Area Reliability Council, said that scenario is one among many
that investigators are considering.
"We'll look into it. Leaning on the tie could crash the system," Kraynak said,
referring to the practice of one utility siphoning away electricity from
another to meet demands. "It's possible if it's done with a big enough amount."
In Detroit, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham met with his Canadian
counterpart for the first time to discuss their joint investigation of the
blackout.
Herb Dhaliwal, the minister of natural resources, said: "We are committed to
working to make sure we have some of those answers as quickly as possible."
Abraham, who briefed Ohio officials earlier, declined to speculate on causes.
"We want to gather the facts and we want to determine what happened," Abraham
said when asked whether FirstEnergy's power borrowing may have contributed to
the crash. "To speculate on issues or rumors or whatever they might be before
we have the facts, before we've fully analyzed the data, would be unfair."
FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider said his Akron-based company was gathering
records for the bi-national investigating task force.
Meanwhile, FirstEnergy warned rolling blackouts may be needed in the Cleveland
area and called on its customers to take steps to reduce their power
consumption.
According to a complaint lodged in June with the Ohio Public Utilities
Commission, a FirstEnergy subsidiary in the Cleveland suburb of Solon is being
blamed for power outages in May and June that lasted for as long as seven
hours.
Solon filed the complaint against Cleveland Electric Illuminating, Co., after
FirstEnergy failed to halt the outages, which left hundreds of homes and
businesses without power, said David Kovass, an attorney for Solon. Inspections
pointed to the need to trim trees around transmission lines, Kovass said.
"We heard reports of tree branches falling on the lines," Kovass said. "There
were glitches in the system. They had surges and dimming. On Memorial Day
weekend they had power outages that would last four to five hours at a time."
FirstEnergy's tree-trimming in the area - every four years or so - always stirs
ire of residents, company spokesman Schneider said. Inspections in the area
also have pointed to the need to replace some of the utility's electrical
equipment in Solon.
"Nobody wants us to trim their trees but everyone wants reliable electric
service. You have to balance those issues," he said.
The state utilities commission is scheduled to hold a settlement conference on
Sept. 18 between FirstEnergy and Solon, a fast-growing suburb with swelling
power demands.
FirstEnergy is also being sued by Dover Township, N.J., where 40,000 electric
Jersey Central Power & Light customers lost power on the July 4th weekend.
In last week's blackout, investigators are looking into several scenarios,
including whether FirstEnergy may have been relying on power from stations
south of Cleveland to meet its own needs before that siphon closed. The
resulting shock could have upset the equilibrium on FirstEnergy's grid, leading
to voltage swings and failures of four of its power transmission lines - the
opening events of the massive blackout.
Schneider said he wasn't aware of the scenario, but a trio of energy analysts
interviewed by The Associated Press said it was plausible. He said that
FirstEnergy, like other utilities, buys short-term energy to make up shortfalls
during outages.
A weather forecast that underestimated last Thursday's mid-90-degree
temperatures in and around Cleveland might have exacerbated power demand, said
Jim Anderson of AWS Convergence Technologies, a weather data provider to energy
companies.
Around 4 p.m., analysts said FirstEnergy's "borrowing" of power may have been
cut. It's unclear whether the power would have been cut purposefully by a
utility that couldn't meet its own needs, by an automatic switch that sensed
instability on the FirstEnergy grid and sought to protect its own system, or by
the failure of FirstEnergy's transmission lines.
Either way, the shut-off appears to have destabilized the Akron utility.
A huge power vacuum pulled in electricity from other utilities, overloading
lines and tripping four of FirstEnergy's transmission lines, said Joseph Welch
of International Transmission Co. - owner of eastern Michigan's power grid.
Welch was testifying Wednesday at a state hearing in Lansing, Mich.
Welch said FirstEnergy had been depending partly on electricity imports from
American Electric Power Co.'s power stations to the south ahead of the
blackout.
Investigators looking into the blackout also are checking into FirstEnergy's
alarm system, which the company said was broken when transmission lines were
tripping.
In January, the "slammer" computer worm disabled a safety monitoring system at
the utility's Davis-Besse nuclear plant for a few hours, despite a belief by
plant personnel that the network was protected by a firewall, plant spokesman
Wilkins said
Wilkins said he didn't think the virus had disabled the transmission line
alarm.
The Slammer worm infected the nuclear plant's computer for a few hours before
it was detected and taken off line, Wilkins said.
Davis-Besse, one of three FirstEnergy nuclear generators, sits on the shore of
Lake Erie east of Toledo. The plant has been shuttered since February 2002
after workers found a hole in a cap covering the plant's reactor vessel.
AP Writer John Seewer in Cleveland contributed to this report.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press Ê
---sbs---
* Power Glitches
Not New to FirstEnergy
Jim Krane, Associated Press/Akron Beacon Journal
Akron Beacon Journal, Aug. 21, 2003
Power Glitches Not New to FirstEnergy
JIM KRANE Associated Press
CLEVELAND - Before it came under international scrutiny for its role in last
week's blackout, beleaguered utility FirstEnergy had staggered through a storm
of recent technical glitches.
In one, a computer worm hobbled the network monitoring its nuclear plant.
Another doused lights on the 4th of July weekend on the Jersey Shore.
In June, FirstEnergy was the subject of a Cleveland suburb's complaints for
power outages blamed on outdated equipment and trees too close to power lines -
some of the same problems cited in last week's massive outages.
Now, some experts say the trigger for last Thursday's blackout may stem from
FirstEnergy's borrowing a large amount of power from other Midwest utilities.
The system may have collapsed when a FirstEnergy generating plant and several
power transmission lines failed, snuffing lights from Detroit to Toronto to New
York City, the experts said.
Tom Kraynak, manager of operations and resources for the Canton, Ohio-based
East Central Area Reliability Council, said that scenario is one among many
that investigators are considering.
The practice of one utility siphoning away electricity from another to meet
demands "could crash the system," Kraynak said. "It's possible if it's done
with a big enough amount."
In any case, Midwest utilities had been given notice that their portion of the
grid was particularly prone to the kind of fast-spreading outages that unfolded
last Thursday.
Three months before the blackout, the country's grid watchdog, the North
American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), issued a report singling out the
Midwest as the only part of the country that risked such a devastating event.
NERC said the region could face "large, unanticipated power flows" this summer.
Concerns about oversight of service in the Midwest were raised as well more
than a year ago by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which worried that
the region's fractured market threatened reliability.
In Detroit, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham met with his Canadian
counterpart for the first time Wednesday to discuss their joint investigation
of the blackout.
Herb Dhaliwal, the minister of natural resources, said: "We are committed to
working to make sure we have some of those answers as quickly as possible."
Not everyone was pleased with the Bush administration's decision to halt NERC's
independent blackout investigation.
Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, complained that the Energy Department-led probe might be
compromised by the Bush administration's support for electricity deregulation.
Dingell said the investigation should consider whether deregulation in the
industry created conditions for a blackout.
"The public deserves nothing less than complete, parallel and independent
investigations by both DOE and NERC," Dingell wrote to Abraham. There was no
immediate reply from Abraham, who also declined to discuss causes when briefing
Ohio officials Wednesday.
"To speculate on issues or rumors or whatever they might be before we have the
facts, before we've fully analyzed the data, would be unfair," Abraham said
when asked whether FirstEnergy's power borrowing may have contributed to the
crash.
FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider said his Akron-based company was gathering
records for the investigating task force.
According to a complaint lodged in June with the Ohio Public Utilities
Commission, a FirstEnergy subsidiary in the Cleveland suburb of Solon is being
blamed for power outages in May and June that lasted for as long as seven
hours.
Solon filed the complaint against Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. after
FirstEnergy failed to halt the outages, which left hundreds of homes and
businesses without power, said David Kovass, an attorney for Solon. Inspections
pointed to the need to trim trees around transmission lines, Kovass said.
"We heard reports of tree branches falling on the lines," Kovass said. "There
were glitches in the system. They had surges and dimming. On Memorial Day
weekend they had power outages that would last four to five hours at a time."
FirstEnergy's tree-trimming in the area - every four years or so - always stirs
ire of residents, company spokesman Schneider said. Inspections in the area
also have pointed to the need to replace some of the utility's electrical
equipment in Solon.
"Nobody wants us to trim their trees but everyone wants reliable electric
service. You have to balance those issues," Schneider said.
In New Jersey, FirstEnergy is being sued by Dover Township, N.J., where 40,000
electric Jersey Central Power & Light customers lost power on the July 4th
weekend.
One blackout scenario investigators are pursuing is whether FirstEnergy may
have been pulling power from stations south of Cleveland to meet its own needs.
When that supply abruptly closed, the shock could have upset the equilibrium on
FirstEnergy's grid, leading to voltage swings and failures of four of its power
transmission lines - the opening events of the massive blackout.
Schneider said he wasn't aware of the scenario, but a trio of energy analysts
said it was plausible.
Around 4 p.m., analysts said FirstEnergy's "borrowing" of power may have been
halted. It's unclear whether the power would have been cut purposefully by a
utility that couldn't meet its own needs, by an automatic switch, or by the
failure of FirstEnergy's transmission lines.
Either way, the shut-off appears to have destabilized the Akron utility.
A huge power vacuum pulled in electricity from other utilities, overloading
lines and tripping four of FirstEnergy's transmission lines, said Joseph Welch
of International Transmission Co., owner of eastern Michigan's power grid. He
said FirstEnergy had been getting imports from American Electric Power Co.'s
power stations to the south.
Investigators looking into the blackout also are checking into FirstEnergy's
alarm system, which the company said was broken when transmission lines were
tripping.
In January, the "slammer" computer worm disabled a monitoring system at the
utility's Davis-Besse nuclear plant for a few hours, despite a belief by plant
personnel that the network was protected, plant spokesman Wilkins said.
Davis-Besse, one of three FirstEnergy nuclear generators, sits on the shore of
Lake Erie east of Toledo. The plant has been shuttered since February 2002
after workers found a hole in a cap covering the plant's reactor vessel.
AP Writers John Seewer and Liz Sidoti in Cleveland contributed to this report.
---sbs---
* Cleanup
agreement still unsigned by Department of Energy
Bill Bartleman,
Paducah Sun
The Paducah Sun (Kentucky), August 20, 2003
Cleanup agreement still unsigned by Department of Energy; The signed agreement
would mean tens of millions of dollars in additional cleanup funds for Paducah.
By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8650
There was still no signed agreement between Kentucky state government and the
U.S. Department of Energy regarding accelerated cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plant, even though DOE notified Gov. Paul Patton and members of the
state's congressional delegation that it would be signed Tuesday.
Ed Ford, secretary of Patton's cabinet, said there was no indication DOE won't
sign the agreement Patton negotiated last week with Jessie Roberson, the DOE
deputy in charge of cleanup.
"The governor did receive a call from Ms. Roberson who said that everything was
OK and that it would be signed (Tuesday)," Ford said. "But we haven't gotten
it. It is just the bureaucracy up there (in Washington). We are anticipating
receiving that in the morning."
DOE also notified U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield on
Tuesday that the signed agreement would be delivered to Patton by the end of
the day.
The agreement resolves a two-year dispute over DOE's reluctance to set
deadlines, or milestones, for completing cleanup of the most serious
contamination at the plant, where uranium is enriched into nuclear fuel. DOE
said setting deadlines creates costly bureaucracy that actually delays cleanup
work. The state insisted on deadlines, saying it was the only means for holding
DOE accountable for having the work completed on time.
The signed agreement would mean tens of millions of dollars in additional
cleanup funds for Paducah.
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*
Kentucky gov says hazardous waste cleanup at Paducah might begin in weeks
Charles Wolfe, Associated Press/Louisville Courier Journal
Louisville Courier Journal, August 20, 2003
Kentucky gov says hazardous waste cleanup at Paducah might begin in weeks
By CHARLES WOLFE, Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton signed an agreement Wednesday
for the federal government to clean up hazardous waste at the Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion Plant. He said the work could begin within weeks.
The plant, which opened 50 years ago, turned uranium into nuclear fuel. Nuclear
waste buried in landfills and chemicals that were used in cleaning equipment
caused widespread contamination of soil and ground water.
The new "agreement in principle" covers toxic metals, solvents and carcinogenic
materials under the state's jurisdiction. It does not cover radioactive waste,
which is under federal jurisdiction, Patton said at a news conference. Nor does
it affect health claims from thousands of employees who worked at the plant
over the years.
The ultimate cost of the hazardous waste cleanup is still to be determined,
Patton said. "It's safe to say it's in the billion-dollar range," he said.
Under the agreement, which is to be finalized Sept. 15, the U.S. Department of
Energy would be obligated to request the funding and to meet a series of
deadlines, ranging from 2010 to 2019, for resolving "the five known, most
critical problems" at the plant, Patton said.
They include an open drainage ditch known to be polluted with solvents that are
being spread by rain water.
Also under the agreement, state inspectors would get to oversee the work,
Patton said.
"We're under the impression ... some elements of the cleanup can begin within a
matter of weeks," Patton said, citing the drainage ditch in particular.
Cleaning up the ditch could take about three years, Bob Logan, commissioner of
the state Department for Environmental Protection, said at the news conference.
Other targets for the cleanup: contaminated soil, various surface water and
ground water sites, slabs of old buildings on site and a number of "burial
grounds," which environmental officials said are not to be confused with
permitted landfills.
In addition to continuing funding, the Energy Department agreed to pay a $1
million fine for violations of state hazardous-waste laws and to put $200,000
into a fund for environmental projects near the plant.
Patton said the plant still produces pollution that will have to be cleaned up
when the plant eventually closes, which is at least several years away.
The Paducah plant employs 1,200 workers and has been a mainstay of the region's
economy. It is operated by USEC Inc., a government contractor.
USEC plans to replace it with a $1.5 billion gas centrifuge plant, which will
be built either in Paducah or Piketon, Ohio.
Patton said the current plant will keep working until the new plant is ready -
2010 if in Ohio and 2011 if in Paducah.
Copyright 2002 The Courier-Journal.
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*
DOE to pay $1.2 million for violations at diffusion plant
Louisville
Business First
Louisville Business First, August 20, 2003 12:57 PM EDT Wednesday
DOE to pay $1.2 million for violations at diffusion plant
Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of
Energy outlining a "commitment of accelerating environmental cleanup at the
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant," according to a news release.
Under the letter of intent, which is expected to be followed by a definitive
agreement, the DOE will pay a $1 million penalty for violations issued by the
state related to hazardous-waste infractions at the facility. The DOE also
agreed to spend $200,000 for environmental-improvement projects near the plant.
The Gaseous Diffusion Plant was built in the 1950s by the Department of Energy
to enrich uranium into nuclear fuel. Nuclear waste buried in landfills and
chemicals used to clean equipment caused widespread soil and groundwater
contamination.
"I believe that we have now achieved the progress necessary for the
environmental cleanup of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant," Patton said in
the release.
The letter of intent calls for the state and DOE to negotiate and sign an
agreed order by Sept. 15, the release said.
© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.
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*
Plant board to be under DOE soon
Josh Gelinas And Stephen Gurr, Augusta
Chronicle
Augusta Chronicle, August 20, 2003
Plant board to be under DOE soon
By Josh Gelinas and Stephen Gurr | South Carolina Bureau
AIKEN - The independent panel of civilians who monitor activities and advise
officials at the Savannah River Site will come under Department of Energy
control in October, a move members say will rob the group of its autonomy and
effectiveness.
The DOE wants to take away budgetary oversight of the SRS Citizens Advisory
Board from the Westinghouse Savannah River Company, which runs the site and
works directly with the group, according to a July memo from Jessie Hill
Roberson, DOE's assistant secretary for environmental management.
On Tuesday, senior DOE manager Jeff Allison fielded complaints and questions
from about 15 board members during a regularly scheduled meeting.
"One of my major concerns is the apparent independence of the (board) has to be
maintained," Board Chairman Bill Willoughby said. "If you lose the independence
of the organization, then the people in a community are not going to believe
you as much."
DOE foots the $349,000 annual operating costs of the advisory board but routes
the money through Westinghouse, a cushion that allows the group to monitor SRS
and remain objective, said Karen Patterson, the immediate past chairwoman of
the board, who still works with the panel.
The money pays for travel, meeting room expenses, technical support,
administration personnel and facilitators for the advisory board.
DOE wants to take over direct administration of that budget from Westinghouse
to "increase accountability and visibility of resources provided and
subsequently used," according to Ms. Roberson's memo.
"We're trying to get more accountability for that money," Mr. Allison told the
board.
Mr. Allison also said the board's interaction with Westinghouse employees, upon
whom they rely heavily for technical support, would not be dramatically
affected.
The board is made up of 25 members, about half of whom live in the
Aiken-Augusta area; the rest live near Savannah. Similar panels at nuclear
facilities across the country are going through the same restructuring.
Board members say the reorganization will narrow the SRS board's oversight of
environmental projects. That would cut the board out of the picture for future
SRS missions such as the mixed-oxide fuel processing plant, which will convert
weapons-grade plutonium into atomic material that can fuel commercial nuclear
reactors, according to critics of the reorganization.
"My opinion is that this will destroy the (advisory boards) across the nation,"
said Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology
Awareness. "If they're going to be controlled by the DOE, they're no longer an
independent voice."
"My opinion is that this will destroy the (advisory boards) across the nation.
If they're going to be controlled by the DOE, they're no longer an independent
voice." - Mal McKibben, the executive director of Citizens for Nuclear
Technology Awareness
Reach Josh Gelinas and Stephen Gurr at (803) 279-6895.
Web posted August 19, 2003 -- From the August 20, 2003 printed edition of the
Augusta Chronicle
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*
Georgia Tech research reactor nears end
Access North Georgia
Access North Georgia, August 20, 2003 Ê Ê Georgia Tech research reactor
nears end
The Associated Press - ATLANTA
Georgia Tech has almost finished decommissioning its research nuclear reactor,
built in 1964 when nuclear energy seemed to be the future of electric power
generation.
Most of the Neely Nuclear Research Center reactor has already been removed.
In February 1996, six months before the Atlanta Olympics, the uranium fuel was
taken away and the 5 megawatt reactor ceased operation. There were security
concerns at the time because the facility was less than half a mile from the
Olympic Village on the Tech campus.
The end will not be official until the schools reactor license is terminated by
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Nolan Hertel, Neelys director. That is
expected within the next few months.
In June, the NRC released the reactor building to the school to use as it
pleases.
It has taken Tech officials six years and $7.5 million to fully decommission
the reactor.
The insides were dug up and shipped to storage facilities outside Georgia,
Hertel said. All that remains is a steel, concrete and asbestos shell
protecting a concrete crater that once housed the reactors uranium core.
Techs reactor and dozens of similar university-based reactors across the
country were designed to train a work force of engineers to maintain a
coast-to-coast network of power reactors, as envisioned in President Dwight
Eisenhowers Atoms for Peace program.
The March 28, 1979, accident at the Three Mile Island power reactor in
Pennsylvania _ and the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine _
effectively halted new nuclear power plant development in its tracks.
Nationwide, university-based reactor programs, once numbering about 60, have
dwindled to 27.
Upgrades for the multimillion-dollar reactors became prohibitively expensive as
nuclear programs shrank. Also, Hertel said, students could simulate many
nuclear experiments on faster, cheaper computers.
Information from: Constitution
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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*
Idaho judge rules Energy Dept. must remove radioactive sludge from SC tanks
Associated Press/WIS TV-10 (Columbia SC)
WIS TV-10 (Columbia SC), August 20, 2003
Idaho judge rules Energy Dept. must remove radioactive sludge from SC tanks
Associated Press
(Twin Falls, Idaho-AP) Aug. 20, 2003 - South Carolina, Idaho, Oregon and
Washington are asking the US Energy Department to follow federal law and to
remove radioactive sludge in underground tanks.
The Energy Department last month lost a lawsuit by activists and tribes and
backed by the states. US District Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Boise, Idaho,
ordered the Energy Department to follow the law and remove the sludge from
storage tanks at the Savannah River Site near Aiken and other sites in Idaho
and Washington.
The Energy Department claims the ruling is unworkable. The agency is asking
Congress to "clarify" the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
South Carolina, Idaho, Washington and Oregon have sent a joint letter to Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham, urging him to abide by the decision.
posted 10:16am
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*
Secret Revealed: Nuclear Evacuation Unlikely
Joe Zelnik, Cape May
County Herald
Cape May County Herald, August 20, 2003
Secret Revealed: Nuclear Evacuation Unlikely
By: By JOE ZELNIK
CREST HAVEN Ñ DonÕt worry; be happy.
That was pretty much the message from Emergency Management Director Frank
McCall to freeholders and the public Aug. 12.
He had been summoned from his library basement office to give his first report
since February 2002.
At their meetings of July 8 and July 22, freeholders had turned away questions
about the countyÕs bioterrorism efforts, evacuation routes in case thereÕs a
nuclear power plant disaster, and any plans to provide potassium iodide, which
blocks radiation from the thyroid.
Freeholder Ralph Sheets had said the evacuation route was a secret and Òmost
ofÓ what persons were asking about was confidential. But last week, Sheets
introduced McCall and asked him to Òbring us up to dateÓ on Òvarious questionsÓ
the public had asked, especially on how to evacuate in the event of a nuclear
disaster.
McCallÕs presentation took four minutes; 20 minutes of questions and answers
followed.
Ironically, two of the principals who have been posing the most questions Ñ
Frank McLaughlin of Avalon and Ruth Fisher of South Dennis Ñ were not there.
McCall spoke reassuringly of the Nuclear Regulatory CommissionÕs role at Salem
Ñ 24-7 monitoring and tests twice a year Ñ and said the evacuation area only
covers a 10-mile radius anyway.
He described the four categories of alerts: unusual event, which didnÕt sound
all that unusual; alert; site area emergency; and general emergency.
The latter was the only one in which Cape May County would Òbe on standby,Ó he
said.
ÒWe have a major concern over evacuation, particularly in the summer, Ò said
Freeholder Gerald M. Thornton.
But if the worst case scenario developed, said McCall, it would be monitored by
the Coast Guard and Air Force jets and the federal and state governments would
make the call.
ÒNo offense, guys,Ó said McCall, Òbut you are out of the purview.Ó
ÒDo the federal and state agencies have a plan for evacuating Cape May County?Ó
asked Thornton.
ÒThe first question is,Ó said McCall, Òwhy evacuate Cape May County? There may
not be a need to.Ó
He said that the only way a nuclear plume would reach Cape May County would be
if there was a combination of a 3-4-mph northwest wind and high humidity that
would not permit radiation to escape into the atmosphere.
ÒWe would get 15 hours notice,Ó he said, Òand it would dissipate.Ó
Thornton noted that the humidity and wind described are Ònot extraordinary for
this area.Ó
ÒThat may be true, but youÕd have to have both at the same time.Ó said McCall.
ÒWeÕd be given plenty of notice and directed where we evacuate.Ó
McCall told this newspaper Monday that the prevailing wind during the summer is
out of the south-southwest.
Sheets asked if there was Òanything from the audience?Ó
ÒI listened and tried to absorb,Ó said Betty Canderan of Clermont. ÒIt is a
matter of concern. You canÕt depend on the weather. If a possible plume comes
to the county, could your bioterrorism funds be allowed to purchase potassium
iodide? I would feel safer for my children and grandchildren.Ó
ÒThose tablets are available,Ó said Thornton.
ÒWhere?Ó she asked.
ÒCourt House Pharmacy,Ó said Thornton. ÒAcme. CVS in West Cape May. You can
always go online.Ó
ÒMy question is,Ó she said, Òcan they be purchased with funds from Homeland
Security?Ó
Thornton looked to McCall.
ÒNo, not for that,Ó said McCall.
ÒHomeland Security monies are grant-oriented,ÓÊhe told this newspaper Monday,
Òfor a variety of very specific items.Ó
A state Health and Senior Services Department spokesman confirmed that the
bioterrorism grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Òdoes not
allow for purchase of potassium iodide pills.Ó
Madelyn Filipski, of Wildwood Crest, said she had checked out evacuation on the
county web site and concluded ÒIt sounds like we are hung out to dry.Ó
ÒThere is no place for you to take your animals,Ó she said.
ÒWe have never had a category two or a category one hurricane,Ó said Sheets.
ÒThatÕs nice,Ó said Filipski. ÒHomestead, Florida hadn't either. People need a
specific place to go and how to get there.Ó
McCall said the plan Òtakes people out of the county to predesignatedÊRed Cross
shelters.Ó
ÒBut what preparation is there for zoo animals?Ó she asked. ÒIt seems like we
have our pants down.Ó
ÒThe plan,Ó said Freeholder-Director Daniel Beyel, Òis to get out of Cape May
County.Ó
ÔWe canÕt even get out of Wildwood,Ó said Filipski
ÒYou've got to leave the county,Ó said Sheets. ÒI donÕt know of a lot of plans
for animals.Ó
Beyel pointed out that major roads would be made one-way to enable quicker
exit.
And McCall said Òtolls would be lifted across the Delaware bridges.Ó
Ronald Sinn of Wildwood Crest said that Òcontrary to what Mr. Sheets said, in
1958 we were in the eye of the hurricane with 115 miles per hour winds.Ó
ÒThat was a northeaster,Ó said Sheets.
ÒIt was a hurricane,Ó said Sinn.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hurricane
Daisy passed by 200 miles offshore on Aug. 26, 1958.
All material copyright © Seawave Corp. all rights reserved.
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* Blackout
Leads to Conflicting Conclusions About Keeping Indian Point Reactors Open
Lydia Polgreen, New York Times
The New York Times, August 20, 2003
Blackout Leads to Conflicting Conclusions About Keeping Indian Point Reactors
Open
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Depending on whom you ask, the blackout of 2003 is evidence of two opposite
conclusions about the Indian Point nuclear reactors that sit about 35 miles
north of Midtown Manhattan on the Hudson River.
To Entergy, the company that owns them, the blackout is a sure sign that the
New York metropolitan region cannot survive without the 2,000 megawatts of
power the twin nuclear reactors pump out onto the electrical grid.
"New York City and Westchester need power generated closer to home and need the
plants like Indian Point that currently are providing electricity," Jim Steets,
a spokesman for the plant, said on Monday.
"None of us are taking any delight in having this outage, but I think it really
is going to be much harder for those who have dismissed the value of these
plants and demanded that Indian Point shut down."
But those who have advocated closing the plant said that it was disingenuous
for Entergy to make that argument because a lack of electricity was not the
direct cause of the blackout.
"This blackout was caused by antiquated transmission systems, not supply," said
Alex Matthiessen, executive director of the environmental group Riverkeeper,
which is leading the charge to shut the plant down. "It absolutely was not an
energy supply issue."
The two reactors at Indian Point shut down as a result of the blackout that
began on Thursday.
One reactor, Indian Point 3, remains shut down as workers at the plant wait for
the temperature in the reactor's cooling system to come down to 350 degrees so
that repairs to wires inside the reactor can be made.
The other reactor, Indian Point 2, was restarted on Sunday morning and
gradually brought up to full power over the course of the day.
Mr. Matthiessen said that far from demonstrating Indian Point's necessity to
the region, the blackout showed that New York could manage without the energy
the plant produces.
"Indian Point 2 was off-line for most of the weekend, and it was a very warm
weekend," Mr. Matthiessen said.
"And Indian Point 3 is still off-line. If anything, this shows that we do not
need these dangerous plants."
Ken Klapp, a spokesman for the New York Independent Systems Operator, a
nonprofit organization established and regulated by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, said that neither side had it quite right.
"The day of the incident, we had plenty of reserves available," Mr. Klapp said.
"But we are running a fine line between our installed capacity and what we
actually need. I think generally it just reinforces the need to reinforce
existing transmission networks."
Copyright 2003ÊThe New York Times Company
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*
Deregulation Mirage
Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post
Washington Post, August 20, 2003 p. A21
Deregulation Mirage
By Robert J. Samuelson (politics columnist)
What we have learned from the great blackout of 2003 is that electricity
"deregulation" is a mirage. It's premature -- and perhaps wrong -- to blame
last week's massive failure on deregulation, especially because we don't know
the precise cause. The explanation may be as simple as human error. But it's
not too early to draw some general conclusions about how we ought to think
about the nation's electric power system.
Although electricity generation represents only about 2 percent to 3 percent of
the nation's economy, almost all the other 97 or 98 percent depends on how that
2 to 3 percent works. The promise of deregulation is that competition among
power producers will drive electricity rates down. But society's true interest
does not involve the lowest possible electricity rates. The public's interest
lies in completely reliable electricity produced at reasonable prices. There is
a difference.
The rap against deregulation is that its possible benefits have been spoiled by
the likes of Enron -- greedy, dishonest operators that rig the market against
consumers. California's recent electricity crisis supposedly confirmed the
dangers. The conventional wisdom is somewhere between wild exaggeration and
outright self-deception. Deregulation's real problems lie elsewhere.
Under the old "regulated" system, electric power companies had local
monopolies, with rates set by state utility commissions. This system wasn't
perfect. There were constant tensions between the regulators (they wanted low
rates, which are popular) and the companies (they wanted higher rates and
profits, which please shareholders). However, this system emphasized
reliability. If there were brownouts or blackouts, blame rested in one of two
places: with the regulators for not approving new power plants or keeping rates
too low to finance expansion; or with companies for not maintaining existing
plants or not proposing new ones.
"Deregulation" has occurred in some form or other in 22 states, reports the
Edison Electric Institute, the industry's trade group. It essentially requires
the old monopolists to sell some or all of their power plants and transmission
and distribution networks to other operators. Competition among power
producers, the theory goes, will promote efficiency and reduce rates.
Transmission and distribution networks will be open to all. Sounds simple. But
the theory has two big flaws.
First, no one is responsible for reliability. There are multiple power
producers and distributors. No one can ensure that needed plants and
distribution systems get built. Companies may sacrifice long-term reliability
to maximize short-term profitability. As power is increasingly bought and sold
across state lines -- outside the service areas of the old monopolies -- daily
operational problems also multiply. Here, too, there's a vacuum. The North
American Electric Reliability Council, an industry group, relies on voluntary
compliance with standards; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has limited
authority. There's always been a question "about the extent to which rivalry
among companies is inconsistent with the cooperation you need," says Timothy
Brennan of Resources for the Future, a think tank.
Second, the idea of electricity "deregulation" is misleading because -- despite
all the changes -- electricity production remains highly regulated. Virtually
every major decision (where plants and transmission lines are built, what fuels
-- nuclear, coal, natural gas -- are used, what companies can do) depends on
government decisions.
Whatever the sins of Enron and others in California, politicians and regulators
committed the greatest blunders. Here's a short list: (a) Approval was slow for
new plants, creating an electricity shortage; (b) as wholesale electricity
rates rose, state regulators insulated consumers from the increases (this
worsened the shortage, because low rates stimulated demand); and (c) the
state's major utilities, forced to buy electricity from independent power
producers, couldn't sign long-term contracts and had to pay rising daily
prices. Absent all the errors, the crisis wouldn't have occurred.
Similar obstacles block new transmission lines. This has happened in California
and elsewhere. In 1999 a group of utilities proposed a 220-mile line between
Minnesota and Wisconsin to prevent a recurrence of local blackouts. The
original cost estimate was $165 million, with completion expected in mid-2002.
The latest estimates are $420 million and 2008, although construction hasn't
started. It took Wisconsin about two years to approve the project, adding some
costly environmental protections. Approvals are still pending from the National
Park Service and the Army Corps of Engineers, which began their reviews after
the state decision, says Bob Lindholm of Minnesota Power. (The companies
"pleaded with the federal agencies to participate in the Wisconsin process --
they refused," he says.) Or consider fuels. About 90 percent of new electricity
plants now use natural gas. The 45 percent increase in utilities' demand for
gas over the past decade has raised natural gas prices for homeowners and
manufacturers. The shift to natural gas -- a "clean" fuel -- partly reflects
uncertainty over pollution standards for coal. If utilities don't use more
coal, price pressures on natural gas will intensify.
After the blackout, the search for a scapegoat could easily go awry.
Electricity won't ever be deregulated. The real issue isn't between "the
market" and "regulation," because the danger of bad regulation is at least as
great as that of bad market behavior. What we ought to seek is an intelligent
balance of government regulation and market flexibility.
There's the rub, because Americans generally won't acknowledge conflicts and
make choices. The cry is for low prices, ample supplies, absolute reliability,
clean air, no disfiguring construction projects, local autonomy and national
accountability. Great. Unfortunately, there are tensions among all these goals.
If we want reliability (and we should), we'll have to pay for redundancy. All
too often, regulatory politics are a veil for avoiding choices -- a formula
that, while pleasant in the present, is disastrous for the future.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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*
Committee Hearing: Blackout 2003: How Did It Happen and Why?
W.J.
"Billy" Tauzin, Chairman, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Committee Hearing
The Committee on Energy and Commerce
W.J. "Billy" Tauzin,Ê Chairman
Blackout 2003: How Did It Happen and Why? --
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/09032003hearing1061/hearing.htm
Full Committee on Energy and Commerce
September 3, 2003, 10:00 AM - 2123 Rayburn House Office Building
Witness List & Prepared Testimony
Witness List Not Yet Finalized
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Member Statements
There are no prepared Member Statements currently available.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hearing Transcript:Ê Not Available
The transcript of this hearing should be available within 60-90 days of the
conclusion of the hearing. Click here for the latest list of available hearing
transcripts.. -- http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house/house05ch108.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hearing Webcast Status: Pending
The hearing will begin at approximately 10:00 AM. The link to the broadcast
will become active 10 minutes prior to the start of the hearing. Refresh your
browser for the latest information.
The freeÊReal Player basic is required in order to connect to this broadcast.Ê
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Hearing Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Documents --
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/09032003hearing1061/hearing.htm#docs
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*
Energy Department, and State of Kentucky Agree to Pursue Accelerated Cleanup
Strategy for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
DOE press release
Department of Energy press release, August 20, 2003 1:06:00 PM
Energy Department, and State of Kentucky Agree to Pursue Accelerated Cleanup
Strategy for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Department of Energy (DOE) announced
today that a Letter of Intent has been signed with the state of Kentucky to
enter into an agreement to accelerate cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion
Plant in Paducah, Ky.
As outlined in the letter, the parties will work to complete cleanup activities
at the plant by 2019 and have identified strategic initiatives to accelerate
this date. The parties have also agreed to seek the Environmental Protection
Agency's agreement and cooperation with respect to implementing the Letter of
Intent.
"This agreement provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it
is a major step to effectively reduce health risks and expedite the
environmental cleanup of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant," said Jessie
Roberson, Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management. "Working with the
states and regulatory agencies, DOE is proposing a new way of doing business,
leading to greater accountability, responsibility, and opportunities for both
the department and the state."
"This accelerated cleanup agreement will accomplish results in a manner that is
safe, protective of human health and the environment, and in compliance with
state and federal environmental laws," Roberson said.
This Letter of Intent was developed under the department's Environmental
Cleanup Reform Initiative to resolve all outstanding violations and compliance
issues, whereby DOE works with states and regulators to address health and
environmental cleanup issues. This initiative is designed to accelerate the
pace of cleanup to reduce the greatest health and environmental risks at
national laboratories, nuclear weapons production sites and research and test
facilities.
Roberson added, "This agreement emphasizes the Bush administration's commitment
to accelerated environmental cleanup and ensures progress long sought by the
department, and the state of Kentucky.
Initiatives for accelerating cleanup and reducing risks under the Paducah
Gaseous Diffusion Plant include the following:
-- Groundwater source term removal contributing to off-site contamination at
the plant;
-- Decontamination and decommissioning of inactive facilities on the site;
-- Investigation and any necessary mitigating actions at the on-site burial
grounds;
-- Characterization and removal of contaminated soils at the gaseous diffusion
plant.
The Letter of Intent is available on the DOE Environmental Management website
at http://www.em.doe.gov.
Contact: Dolline Hatchett, 202-586-5806, Joseph Davis, 202-586-4940, both of
the Department of Energy
© 2003 U.S. Newswire
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*
DOE Announces Northeast Electric Reliability Council, Independent System
Operators to Work With US-Canada Task Force to Investigate Causes of
Blackout
U.S. Newswire
Department of Energy press release, August 19, 2003 7:39:00 PM
DOE Announces Northeast Electric Reliability Council, Independent System
Operators to Work With US-Canada Task Force to Investigate Causes of Blackout
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
announced today that executives of electric companies, the Independent Systems
Operators (ISOs) and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC)
will work with the US-Canada Task Force as it begins its investigation into the
cause of the recent blackouts that affected North America.
Sunday, Secretary Abraham announced the DOE has dispatched teams of
investigators to the Northeast and Upper Midwest to begin on-site
investigations into the cause of the recent power outages.
Secretary Abraham conducted two conference calls late Monday with energy
company CEOs as well as the heads of the various independent system operators
(ISOs) in blackout-affected areas to urge their cooperation with the DOE
investigation. All parties pledged their assistance, and it was specifically
agreed during the conference call that NERC's investigation would supplement
and contribute to the US-Canada Task Force investigation.
"Using my authority under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act
and the Federal Energy Administration Act, DOE will immediately begin
collecting information and interviewing appropriate individuals - at the
utilities, the North American Electric Reliability Council and the independent
systems operators - to investigate the causes of the recent outages," Secretary
Abraham said. "It is important that all parties preserve all relevant data so
that it may be made available for review and inspection. We are pleased that
these regional groups have agreed to support the investigation into the cause
of the recent outages."
Secretary Abraham will meet with Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Herb
Dhaliwal on Wednesday in Detroit, to finalize a work plan and begin moving
forward with the United States/Canada Task Force established by President Bush
and Canadian Prime Minister Chretien on August 15. The Joint Task Force is
charged with identifying the causes of the recent power outage that affected
North America and with making recommendations on preventing future outages.
"Reliable electric power is the lifeblood of the economy for both the United
States and Canada," Secretary Abraham said. "It's more than just a personal
convenience - it's essential to the health and safety of our citizens. We owe
our citizens an explanation of this incident and an assurance that steps will
be taken to address the cause."
Contact: Jeanne Lopatto or Joe Davis of the Department of Energy, 202-586-4940
/© 2003 U.S. Newswire
---sbs---
*
DOE's Abraham Says Rocky Flats Weapons Complex Free of Nuclear Weapons Usable
Material; Material Leaves Site Ensuring Restoration
DOE press release
Department of Energy press release, August 19, 2003 2:00:00 PM
DOE's Abraham Says Rocky Flats Weapons Complex Free of Nuclear Weapons Usable
Material; Material Leaves Site Ensuring Restoration
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
announced today that the Department of Energy has completed a major cleanup
milestone of its Rocky Flats weapons facility, located near Denver, Colorado,
marking the departure of the final shipment of nuclear weapons-usable material
from the site.
"Rocky Flats helped the United States win the Cold War and it is no longer in
the nuclear weapons business," Abraham said. "Rocky Flats is on a path to close
under budget. The hard work of all those involved in the Rocky Flats cleanup
has helped beat target dates for key milestones, and maintained the commitment
to the American people of this country to shutdown and cleanup this facility.
This removal of the weapons-usable material is a historic event, demonstrating
what can be accomplished when DOE and its host communities work together."
Ambassador Linton Brooks, administrator of the DOE's National Nuclear Security
Administration, was on-hand to represent the Energy Department at the event.
The NNSA played a key roll in ensuring that the critical nuclear weapons
material was removed from Rocky Flats safely and securely.
The historic occasion marks the end of the Rocky Flats facility as one of the
preeminent nuclear weapons fabrication facilities for the United States.
Because of Rocky Flats mission to produce nuclear weapons, several of the
facilities were once considered the country's most dangerous places to work.
President George H.W. Bush targeted the Rocky Flats facility for shutdown in
1992. In the mid-1990s, the goal was set to remove bomb-making material from
the site by 2015. The site is now scheduled to be cleaned and closed in 2006.
The removal of the weapons-usable material at the site, a full 12 years ahead
of schedule, reduces one of the greatest risks to human, health, and the
environment. The material will be turned into fuel for nuclear reactors,
thereby meeting a key nonproliferation goal of the United States.
"This accomplishment is probably the most important milestone of the Rocky
Flats Closure Project to date," said Department of Energy Rocky Flats Site
Manager Gene Schmitt. "It also saves close to $2 million in security costs each
month that can be applied directly to accomplishing more cleanup work."
"With the plutonium removed from Rocky Flats, we will focus our resources on
the final demolition of the site," said Kaiser-Hill President and CEO Alan
Parker, the company in charge of the environmental cleanup operation. "This
accomplishment will enable easier access to the former production buildings
allowing faster and safer cleanup."
The Rocky Flats weapons plant was responsible for the fabrication of all the
plutonium triggers currently at use in the nation's nuclear stockpile.
Early forecasts estimated that it would take more than 60 years and $37 billion
dollars to complete a cleanup and closure that is now on track to be finished
in 2006, at a total cost of approximately $7 billion thereby saving the
taxpayers nearly $30 billion dollars.
When Rocky Flats was designated for closure, a daunting task was the removal of
more than 12 metric tons of plutonium, the demolition of hundreds of aging and
contaminated buildings, and the disposal of thousands of tons of radioactive
and hazardous waste materials. To date, the closure project is more than
halfway done.
Rocky Flats operated for more than 40 years. When cleanup work is complete, the
site will become a National Wildlife Refuge under the management of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
Contact: Joe Davis, 202-586-4940, or Karen Lutz, 303-966-4546; both of the
Department of Energy
© 2003 U.S. Newswire
---sbs---
*
Former Nuclear Weapons Plant Workers May Be Eligible to Receive Compensation
for Illness, Says Energy Department
DOE press release
Department of Energy press release, August 18, 2003 7:10:00 PM
Former Nuclear Weapons Plant Workers May Be Eligible to Receive Compensation
for Illness, Says Energy Department
News Advisory:
The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Labor (DOL) will have
representatives on hand at a Traveling Resource Center to provide information
and assist individuals in filing claims under the Energy Employees Occupational
Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). This event will be held at the Best
Western Motor Inn, 3001 Winegard Drive on August 26, 27, and 28, 2003, from
8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"We are doing all we can to find workers or their families who may be eligible
for assistance under this program," said Beverly Cook, Assistant Secretary of
Energy for Environment, Safety and Health. "These men and women performed an
important service for their country, and we want them to receive the benefits
they deserve."
The EEOICPA statute, enacted in 2000, provides assistance to workers (or their
survivors) who worked for DOE, its predecessor agencies (Atomic Energy
Commission), or private firms who produced or processed radioactive material as
part of the Atomic Weapons Program. DOL administers the portion of the program
that provides up to $150,000 and payment of medical expenses for employees or
their qualified survivors who became ill by their exposure to radiation,
beryllium or silica at covered nuclear weapons facilities. The conditions
covered under DOL's portion of the program are cancers caused by radiation,
diseases caused by exposure to the metal beryllium, and chronic silicosis
caused by exposure to silica during mining operations.
DOE administers the portion of the program that provides assistance to its
contractor employees who have any occupational illness related to toxic
exposures at the DOE workplace. Such diseases could include cancer, lung
diseases including asbestosis, and all other work-related illnesses. Under this
program, DOE helps workers or their survivors apply for state workers'
compensation benefits. DOE assists workers if it is determined by a physician's
panel that the worker sustained an illness caused by exposure to a toxic
substance at a DOE facility. Benefits for successful claimants vary from state
to state, but are generally a portion of lost wages plus reimbursement of
medical costs.
------
The state of Iowa is home to four former DOE facilities or private firms who
produced or processed radioactive material as part of the Atomic Weapons
Program, including the former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Burlington, the
Ames Laboratory, Bendix Aviation (Pioneer Division) in Davenport, and Titus
Metals in Waterloo. Iowa residents who performed atomic weapons work at other
facilities around the county are also welcome to visit the Traveling Resource
Center. A complete list is at
http://www.eh.doe.gov/advocacy/faclist/findfacility.cfm.
Current or former workers or family members who need help filling out claim
forms can schedule appointments at the Traveling Resource Center by calling,
toll-free 866-540-4977. Drop-in visitors without appointments are also welcome.
Claimants who have already applied do not need to call or visit the center.
More information can be found at http://www.eh.doe.gov/advocacy.
Contact: Dolline Hatchett of the Department of Energy, 202-586-5806
© 2003 U.S. Newswire
---sbs---
*
Energy Department, and State of Kentucky Agree to Pursue Accelerated Cleanup
Strategy for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
DOE press release
Department of Energy press release, August 20, 2003
Energy Department, and State of Kentucky Agree to Pursue Accelerated Cleanup
Strategy for Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
WASHINGTON,ÊD.C.ÊÊ ÐThe Department of Energy (DOE) announced today that a
Letter of Intent has been signed with the state of Kentucky to enter into an
agreement to accelerate cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in
Paducah, Ky.Ê
As outlined in the letter, the parties will work to complete cleanup activities
at the plant by 2019 and have identified strategic initiatives to accelerate
this date.Ê The parties have also agreed to seek the Environmental Protection
AgencyÕs agreement and cooperation with respect to implementing the Letter of
Intent.
ÒThis agreement provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it
is a major step to effectively reduce health risks and expedite the
environmental cleanup of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant,Ó said Jessie
Roberson, Assistant Secretary of Environmental Management.Ê ÒWorking with the
states and regulatory agencies, DOE is proposing a new way of doing business,
leading to greater accountability, responsibility, and opportunities for both
the department and the state.Ó
ÒThis accelerated cleanup agreement will accomplish results in a manner that is
safe, protective of human health and the environment, and in compliance with
state and federal environmental laws,Ó Roberson said.Ê
This Letter of Intent was developed under the departmentÕs Environmental
Cleanup Reform Initiative to resolve all outstanding violations and compliance
issues, whereby DOE works with states and regulators to address health and
environmental cleanup issues.Ê ÊThis initiative is designed to accelerate the
pace of cleanup to reduce the greatest health and environmental risks at
national laboratories, nuclear weapons production sites and research and test
facilities.ÊÊ
Roberson added, ÒThis agreement emphasizes the Bush administrationÕs commitment
to accelerated environmental cleanup and ensures progress long sought by the
department, and the state of Kentucky.Ê
Initiatives for accelerating cleanup and reducing risks under the Paducah
Gaseous Diffusion Plant include the following:
* Groundwater source term removal contributing to off-site contamination at
the plant;ÊÊÊÊÊÊ
* Decontamination and decommissioning of inactive facilities on the site;
* Investigation and any necessary mitigating actions at the on-site burial
grounds;
* Characterization and removal of contaminated soils at the gaseous
diffusion plant.
The Letter of Intent is available on the DOE Environmental Management website
at http://www.em.doe.gov.
Number: R-03-193
---sbs---
*
Energy Secretary Abraham Says Rocky Flats Weapons Complex Is Now Free Of
Nuclear Weapons Usable Material
DOE press release
Department of Energy press release, August 19, 2003
Energy Secretary Abraham Says Rocky Flats Weapons Complex Is Now Free Of
Nuclear Weapons Usable Material; All Nuclear Weapons Material Leaves Site
Ensuring Environmental Restoration By 2006
Washington,ÊD.C.Ê- U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced today that
the Department of Energy has completed a major cleanup milestone of its Rocky
Flats weapons facility, located near Denver, Colorado, marking the departure of
the final shipment of nuclear weapons-usable material from the site.
ÒRocky Flats helped the United States win the Cold War and it is no longer in
the nuclear weapons business,Ó Abraham said.Ê ÒRocky Flats is on a path to
close under budget.Ê The hard work of all those involved in the Rocky Flats
cleanup has helped beat target dates for key milestones, and maintained the
commitment to the American people of this country to shutdown and cleanup this
facility.Ê This removal of the weapons-usable material is a historic event,
demonstrating what can be accomplished when DOE and its host communities work
together.Ó
Ambassador Linton Brooks, administrator of the DOEÕs National Nuclear Security
Administration, was on-hand to represent the Energy Department at the event.Ê
The NNSA played a key roll in ensuring that the critical nuclear weapons
material was removed from Rocky Flats safely and securely.
The historic occasion marks the end of the Rocky Flats facility as one of the
preeminent nuclear weapons fabrication facilities for the United States.Ê
Because of Rocky Flats mission to produce nuclear weapons, several of the
facilities were once considered the countryÕs most dangerous places to work.
President George H.W. Bush targeted the Rocky Flats facility for shutdown in
1992.Ê In the mid-1990s, the goal was set to remove bomb-making material from
the site by 2015.Ê The site is now scheduled to be cleaned and closed in 2006.
The removal of the weapons-usable material at the site, a full 12 years ahead
of schedule, reduces one of the greatest risks to human, health, and the
environment.Ê The material will be turned into fuel for nuclear reactors,
thereby meeting a key nonproliferation goal of the United States.
ÒThis accomplishment is probably the most important milestone of the Rocky
Flats Closure Project to date,Ó said Department of Energy Rocky Flats Site
Manager Gene Schmitt.Ê ÒIt also saves close to $2 million in security costs
each month that can be applied directly to accomplishing more cleanup work.Ó
ÒWith the plutonium removed from Rocky Flats, we will focus our resources on
the final demolition of the site," said Kaiser-Hill President and CEO Alan
Parker, the company in charge of the environmental cleanup operation.Ê ÒThis
accomplishment will enable easier access to the former production buildings
allowing faster and safer cleanup.Ó
The Rocky Flats weapons plant was responsible for the fabrication of all the
plutonium triggers currently at use in the nationÕs nuclear stockpile.
Early forecasts estimated that it would take more than 60 years and $37 billion
dollars to complete a cleanup and closure that is now on track to be finished
in 2006, at a total cost of approximately $7 billion thereby saving the
taxpayers nearly $30 billion dollars.
When Rocky Flats was designated for closure, a daunting task was the removal of
more than 12 metric tons of plutonium, the demolition of hundreds of aging and
contaminated buildings, and the disposal of thousands of tons of radioactive
and hazardous waste materials.Ê To date, the closure project is more than
halfway done.
Rocky Flats operated for more than 40 years.Ê When cleanup work is complete,
the site will become a National Wildlife Refuge under the management of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Media Contact(s): Joe Davis, 202-586-4940 Karen Lutz, 303-966-4546
Number: R-03-189
---sbs---
*
Energy Department Announces Additional Consumer Help
DOE press release
August 19, 2003
Energy Department Announces Additional Consumer Help; Spot Gasoline Supply
Shortfalls Could Continue for Short-Term
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Department of Energy this week announced that it was
assisting Michigan and Arizona consumers by providing them with a toll-free Gas
Price Hotline, through which they could report instances of suspected price
inflation or price gouging.
The response to the Hotline so far has been very active, with some callers
being unable to get through during certain peak demand hours. To reduce the
amount of time callers spend on hold, and to increase the number of consumers
who can access the Hotline, the Energy Department has established a web site to
collect the information as well.
When operators are not available to take callers' information, or if consumers
would prefer to use the web, they can provide relevant information on the
gasoline price situation by accessing the Gas Price Hotline web site at:
http://gaswatch.energy.gov/ .
Media Contact(s): Drew Malcomb, 202/586-5806
Number: R-03-190
---sbs---
*
Energy Department Assistant Secretary Discusses Potential Impact of Natural Gas
Shortages, Promotes Smart Energy Use at Phoenix Forum
DOE press release
August 19, 2003
Energy Department Assistant Secretary Discusses Potential Impact of Natural Gas
Shortages, Promotes Smart Energy Use at Phoenix Forum
PHOENIX, ARIZ.ÊÐÊ ÊAssistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy Mike Smith
traveled to Phoenix, Ariz., today to talk about potential natural gas shortages
facing the nation that may have a significant impact on the lives of seniors,
small business owners and other individuals in the coming months.
Assistant Secretary Smith participated in the Department of EnergyÕs Regional
Natural Gas Forum at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Hotel.Ê ÊThe forum brought
together representatives from consumer groups, industry and government for an
open discussion on short-term solutions to the natural gas problem.
ÒThis is not about low reserves or supply and demand imbalances,Ó Assistant
Secretary Smith said. ÒThis is about real people and the real problems they
confront when gas prices soar. ItÕs about senior citizens, living on fixed
incomes, being forced to choose between skyrocketing heating bills or some
other of lifeÕs necessities.Ê ÊItÕs about small business owners trying to keep
the lights on.Ó
Assistant Secretary Smith stated that current stocks of natural gas in
underground storage are unusually low due to a combination of cold weather in
parts of the country and declines in both domestic production and net imports.Ê
ÊAt the same time, he said, demand is projected to grow 50 percent over the
next 25 years.
ÒWhile we work to increase our production and storage capacity for natural gas,
we must also focus on using our natural gas resources wisely,Ó Assistant
Secretary Smith said.Ê ÒIndividuals, business and government can play an
important role in reducing energy use.Ó
The Industrialized Housing Partnership (IHP), one of DOEÕs Building America
Consortiums, has provided technical assistance in FY 2002 valued at $340,000 to
Beazer Homes, Trend Homes, Hacienda Builders, Continental Homes,Êand Pulte
Homes in Phoenix, where 2,199 houses have been completed. Ê IHP projects
emphasize applied research and development with HUD code home manufacturers,
Habitat for Humanity and American Lung Association Affiliates.Ê
TheÊPhoenix meeting was one of several regional forums to be held across the
country as part of Secretary of Energy Spencer AbrahamÕs Smart Energy campaign,
announced on July 9.Ê Campaign activities include the Energysavers.gov website
that educates consumers on specific steps they can take to conserve energy, a
letter from the Secretary to all 50 governors with recommended actions that
states can take to improve the natural gas situation, and public service
announcements available on the Energysavers.gov website for use by radio
stations throughout the country.
Media Contact(s): Chris Kielich, 202/586-5806
Number: R-03-191
---sbs---
*
U.S. Energy Secretary Abraham Announces Northeast Electric Reliability Council
and Independent System Operators Will Work With US-Canada Task Force To
Investigate Causes Of 2003 Blackout
DOE press release
August 19, 2003
U.S. Energy Secretary Abraham Announces Northeast Electric Reliability Council
and Independent System Operators Will Work With US-Canada Task Force To
Investigate Causes Of 2003 Blackout; Abraham Pleased That NERC's Investigation
Will Supplement & Contribute To Joint US-Canada Effort
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today
that executives of electric companies, the Independent Systems Operators (ISOs)
and the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) will work with the
US-Canada Task Force as it begins its investigation into the cause of the
recent blackouts that affected North America.
Sunday, Secretary Abraham announced the DOE has dispatched teams of
investigators to the Northeast and Upper Midwest to begin on-site
investigations into the cause of the recent power outages.
Secretary Abraham conducted two conference calls late Monday with energy
company CEOs as well as the heads of the various independent system operators
(ISOs) in blackout-affected areas to urge their cooperation with the DOE
investigation. All parties pledged their assistance, and it was specifically
agreed during the conference call that NERCÕs investigation would supplement
and contribute to the US-Canada Task Force investigation.
"Using my authority under the Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act
and the Federal Energy Administration Act, DOE will immediately begin
collecting information and interviewing appropriate individuals - at the
utilities, the North American Electric Reliability Council and the independent
systems operators - to investigate the causes of the recent outages," Secretary
Abraham said. "It is important that all parties preserve all relevant data so
that it may be made available for review and inspection. We are pleased that
these regional groups have agreed to support the investigation into the cause
of the recent outages."
Secretary Abraham will meet with Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Herb
Dhaliwal on Wednesday in Detroit, to finalize a work plan and begin moving
forward with the United States/Canada Task Force established by President Bush
and Canadian Prime Minister Chretien on August 15. The Joint Task Force is
charged with identifying the causes of the recent power outage that affected
North America and with making recommendations on preventing future outages.
"Reliable electric power is the lifeblood of the economy for both the United
States and Canada," Secretary Abraham said. "ItÕs more than just a personal
convenience - itÕs essential to the health and safety of our citizens. We owe
our citizens an explanation of this incident and an assurance that steps will
be taken to address the cause."
Media Contact(s): Jeanne Lopatto or Joe Davis 202-586-4940
Number: R-03-192
---sbs---
*
NRC Assigns New Resident Inspector to Salem Nuclear Plant
NRC Region I
press release
No. I-03-050 Ê August 20, 2003
NRC ASSIGNS NEW RESIDENT INSPECTOR TO SALEM NUCLEAR PLANT
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in the Region I office in King of
Prussia have selected George J. Malone as a resident inspector at Salem
Station, in Hancocks Bridge, N.J. He joins Senior Resident Inspector Daniel Orr
at the two-unit nuclear power plant site. Malone replaces Fred Bower who was
reassigned as a region-based inspector.
Malone joined the NRC in March 2002 as an operations engineer in the Region I
Division of Reactor Safety. Prior to joining the agency, he worked as an
engineer at Bechtel-Bettis, Inc., in Charleston, S.C. He has a masterÕs and a
bachelorÕs degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois.
Each U.S. commercial nuclear power plant has at least two NRC resident
inspectors. They serve as the agency's eyes and ears at the facility,
conducting regular inspections, monitoring significant work projects and
interacting with plant workers and the public.
The Salem resident inspectors can be reached at 856/935-5151.
CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610)
337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov
---sbs---
*
Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program Baseline Knowledge
Assessment - paperwork review
Energy Department
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Notices] [Page
50127-50128]
[DOCID:fr20au03-36 - From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Proposed Agency Information Collection
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) invites public comment on a proposed
collection of information that DOE is developing for submission to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected;
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received
on or before October 20, 2003. If you anticipate difficulty in submitting
comments within that period, contact the person listed below as soon as
possible.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to (1) Lorena F. Truett, Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6073; or by fax to
(865) 574-3851; or by e-mail to TruettLF@ORNL.gov; and to (2) Sharon Evelin,
Acting Director, Records Management Division IM-11/ Germantown Bldg., Office of
Business and Information Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer,
U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585-1290.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or copies
of the information collection instrument and instructions should be directed to
Lorena F. Truett, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, phone (865) 574-4225, fax
(865) 574-3851, e-mail TruettLF@ORNL.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
package contains the following supplementary information:
(1) OMB No.: NEW.
(2) Package Title: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program
Baseline Knowledge Assessment.
(3) Type of Review: New collection.
(4) Purpose: The Baseline Knowledge Assessment for the DOE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells
& Infrastructure Technologies (HFC&IT) program will measure the levels of and
changes in awareness and understanding of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies
and the hydrogen economy within four target populations: (1) The general
public, (2) students and educators, (3) personnel in state and local
governments, and (4) potential users of hydrogen fuel and technologies in
business and industry. Four distinct information collections will be required,
one for each of the target populations. These collections will be conducted in
stages, with the general public study conducted first. Changes relative to
baseline knowledge levels will be determined when, after three years, each
population group will be surveyed again using the same survey instrument and
methodology. The instrument for assessing baseline knowledge will be
specifically targeted to the population group. The public survey, for example,
will assess a general knowledge of the production, storage, delivery,
applications, and safety of hydrogen and fuel cells. Information gathered in
this assessment will assist the HFC&IT program in formulating an overall
education plan for hydrogen technologies. It will also provide a baseline for
determining changes in public awareness and understanding of [[Page 50128]] the
hydrogen economy, which is an important measure from which the success of
program education strategies can be evaluated.
(5) Respondents: Although the numbers of respondents and methods of information
collection will differ for each of the populations, the general scope and
temper of the four collections will be the same. The general public will be
surveyed first. That survey and the general public responses may influence the
design of the surveys for the other target populations. For the general public,
a random (probability sample) survey of 1,000 adults, age 18 and over, will be
conducted via computer-assisted phone telephone interviews (CATI) or by other
appropriate mechanism. About twenty closed-end questions will be posed. For
students, a random survey of 500 teens (ages 12-17) and 500 pre- teens (ages
6-11) will be conducted, also using CATI or other technology and closed-end
questions. Approximately 100-150 primary and secondary educators will be
randomly selected from a national contact list for interviewing. Questions for
educators will be of both closed- end and open-end formats. Contacts with
energy agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be made, and
a limited number of local (i.e., municipal) agencies will also be contacted.
Questions to state and local government agencies will be of both closed-end and
open-end formats. A limited number of large-scale or potential large- scale
users of energy sources powered by hydrogen and fuel cells will also be
interviewed using both closed-end and open-end questions.
(6) Estimated Number of Burden Hours: For the general public survey, the burden
is estimated at ten minutes per respondent for 1,000 respondents, for a total
time and cost burden of 167 hours and $0. The total burdens for the other
populations will depend on the designs of those surveys, but will be similar in
temper and scope to the burden for the general public survey. The total time
and cost burden for the student survey is tentatively estimated to be 133 hours
and $0; the total burden for educators is estimated to be 25 hours and $0. The
total burden for the state and local government and large-scale user surveys is
expected to be less than the burden for the student survey.
Statutory Authority: Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-438).
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 13, 2003. Sharon Evelin, Acting Director,
Records Management Division, Office of Records and Business Management, Office
of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 03-21299 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
---sbs---
*
DOE O&M contractor employee safety and health oversight - paperwork review
Energy Department
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Page 50128]
[DOCID:fr20au03-37 From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Notices]
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Agency Information Collection Extension
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; Comment request.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection
package, OMB Control Number 1910-5103, Reporting and Record Keeping
Requirements for Safety Management System for extension under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). This package
contains an information collection that is used by Departmental Management to
exercise management oversight and control over management and operating (M&O)
contractors operating DOE's facilities. This contractor management oversight
and control function concerns the ways in which DOE management contractors
document their environment, safety and health systems to ensure contractor
employees' safety and health.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 19, 2003. If you
anticipate that you will be submitting comments, but find it difficult to do so
within the period of time allowed by this notice, you should advise the OMB
Desk Officer of your intention to do so as soon as possible. The Desk Officer
may be telephoned at (202) 395-3087. (Also, please notify the DOE contact
listed in this notice.)
ADDRESSES: Address comments to DOE Desk Officer, Office of Management and
Budget. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Room 10102, New
Executive Office Building, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20503.
(Comments should also be addressed to Sharon Evelin, Acting Director, Records
Management Division, Office of Business and Information Management, Office of
Chief Information Officer, IM-11, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: (1) Title: Environment, Safety and Health; (2)
Current OMB Control Number: 1910-5103; (3) Summary: A three year extension is
requested which includes mandatory obligations; (4) Purpose: This information
is required by the Department to ensure that the Departmental environment,
safety and health resources and requirements are managed efficiently and
effectively and to exercise management oversight of DOE contractors; (5) Type
of Respondents: DOE management and operating contractors; (6) Estimated number
of responses: 7 per year; and (7) Estimated total burden hours: 2,450.
Statutory Authority: Department of Energy Organization Act, Public Law 92-01.
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 13, 2003.
Sharon Evelin, Acting Director, Records Management Division, Office of Business
and Information Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-21300 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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*
INEEL EM Site-Specific Advisory Board Ñ Sept 2003 meeting agenda
Energy
Department
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Page 50128-50129]
[DOCID:fr20au03-38 From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Notices]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management
Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463,
86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of these meeting be announced in the
Federal Register.
DATES: Wednesday, September 17, 2003; 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Opportunities for public participation will be held from 11:45-12 noon and 3:30
to 3:45 p.m. Additional time may be made available for public comment during
the presentations.
ADDRESSES: Willard Arts Center, 498 A Street, Idaho Falls, ID 83402.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Wendy Green Lowe, Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) Citizens' Advisory Board (CAB)
Facilitator, Jason Associates Corporation, 545 Shoup Avenue, Suite 335B, Idaho
Falls, ID 83402, Phone (208) 522-1662, X3012 or visit the Board's Internet home
page at http://www.ida.net/users/cab
[[Page 50129]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to
make recommendations to DOE and its regulators in the areas of future use,
cleanup levels, waste disposition and cleanup priorities at the INEEL.
Tentative Agenda
The tentative objectives for the meeting include:
* To receive a status report addressing the Environmental Management Program,
implementation of the Performance Management Plan for Accelerating Cleanup at
the INEEL, and compliance with the Idaho Settlement Agreement
* To discuss and finalize a recommendation addressing reactions to/concerns
about the INEEL End State Plan to be submitted to DOE-HQ
* To discuss and finalize a recommendation addressing reactions to/concerns
about the Final Sagebrush Steppe Reserve Environmental Assessment
* To discuss participation in the upcoming Site Specific Advisory Board Chairs
Meeting
* Discuss changes to Annual Work Plan to reflect current funding situation
Public Participation: This meeting is open to the public. Written statements
may be filed with the Board facilitator either before or after the meeting.
Individuals who wish to make oral presentations pertaining to agenda items
should contact the Board Chair at the address or telephone number listed above.
Request must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable
provision will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy
Designated Federal Officer, Jerry Bowman, Assistant Manager for Laboratory
Development, Idaho Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, is empowered
to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of
business. Every individual wishing to make public comment will be provided
equal time to present their comments. Additional time may be made available for
public comment during the presentations.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and
copying at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, between 9 a.m.
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be
available by writing to Ms. Penny Pink, INEEL CAB Administrator, North Wind
Environmental, Inc., P.O. Box 51174, Idaho Falls, ID 83405 or by calling (208)
528-8718.
Issued at Washington, DC, on August 15, 2003.
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-21301 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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*
DOE - Northern New Mexico EM Citizens Advisory Board Ñ Sept 2003 meeting
agenda
Energy Department
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Page 50129-50130]
[DOCID:fr20au03-39 From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Notices]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Northern New Mexico
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management
Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Northern New Mexico. The Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public
notice of these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Wednesday, September 17, 2003; 1 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Sagebrush Inn and Conference Center, 1508 Paseo del Pueblo Sur,
Taos, NM.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Menice Manzanares, Northern New Mexico
Citizens' Advisory Board, 1660 Old Pecos Trail, Suite B, Santa Fe, NM 87505.
Phone (505) 995-0393; fax (505) 989-1752; or e-mail: mmanzanares@doeal.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to
DOE and its regulators in the areas of environmental restoration, waste
management, and related activities.
Tentative Agenda
1 p.m.--Call to Order by Ted Taylor, DDFO; Welcome and Introductions by Jim
Brannon, Board Chair; Approval of Agenda; Approval of July 30 Meeting Minutes
1:15 p.m.--Public Comment
1:30 p.m--Board Business
* Election of Officers for FY 03-04 (As per Section V. Of the NNMCAB Bylaws)
* Election of Chair
* Election of Vice-Chair
* Recruitment Update
* Report from Chairman Brannon
* Discussion of Paducah, KY trip
* Discussion of DOE Budget/Chairs' Teleconference
* Discussion of Committee Work Plans/Chair Appointments
* Report from DOE, Ted Taylor, DDFO
* Report from Executive Director, Menice S. Manzanares
* Call for New Business
2:30 p.m.--Break
2:45 p.m.--Reports from Committees and Presentation of Committee Work Plans for
FY 03-04
* Community Outreach Committee, Abad Sandoval
* Monitoring and Surveillance Committee, Wayne Wentworth
* Environmental Restoration Committee, Dr. Fran Berting
* Waste Management Committee, Don Jordan
* Budget Committee, Don Jordan
3:45 p.m.--Consideration of Fiscal Year 2003-04 NNMCAB Budget
4:45 p.m.--Dinner Break
6 p.m.--Presentation on Environmental Issues
7:45 p.m.--Break
8 p.m.--Public Comment
8:15 p.m.--Board Comment and Recap of Meeting
8:30 p.m.--Adjourn
This agenda is subject to change at least one day in advance of the meeting.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. Written statements may
be filed with the Committee either before or after the meeting. Individuals who
wish to make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact Menice
Manzanares at the address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be
received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision will be made
to include the presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal
Officer is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate
the orderly conduct of business. Each individual wishing to make public comment
will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments at the
beginning of the meeting.
Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public review and
copying at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m.
and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be
available at the Public Reading Room located at the Board's office at 1660 Old
Pecos Trail, Suite B, Santa Fe, NM. Hours of operation for the Public Reading
Room are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Minutes will also be made
available by writing or calling Menice Manzanares at the Board's office address
or telephone number listed above. Minutes and other Board documents are on the
Internet at: http:www.nnmcab.org.
[[Page 50130]]
Issued at Washington, DC, on August 15, 2003.
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-21302 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6405-01-P
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*
NRC contractors - paperwork review - 'request for taxpayer ID'
Nuclear
Regulatory Commission
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Page 50199]
[DOCID:fr20au03-104 - From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Notices]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of information collection and solicitation of
public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following
proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs
potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension.
2. The title of the information collection: NRC Form 531, Request for Taxpaper
Identification Number.
3. The form number if applicable: NRC Form 531.
4. How often the collection is required: One time from each applicant or
individual to enable the Department of the Treasury to process electronic
payments or collect debts owed to the Government.
5. Who will be required or asked to report: All individuals doing business with
the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including contractors and recipients
of credit, licenses, permits, and benefits.
6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 300.
7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 300.
8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the
requirement or request: 25 hours (5 minutes per response).
9. An indication of whether Section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13 applies:
applicable.
10. Abstract:
The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 requires that agencies collect
taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) from individuals who do business with
the Government, including contractors and recipients of credit, licenses,
permits, and benefits. The TIN will be used to process all electronic payments
(refunds) made to licensees by electronic funds transfer by the Department of
the Treasury. The Department of the Treasury will use the TIN to determine
whether the refund can be used to administratively offset any delinquent debts
reported to the Treasury by other government agencies. In addition, the TIN
will be used to collect and report to the Department of the Treasury any
delinquent indebtedness arising out of the licensee's or applicant's
relationship with the NRC.
A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the
NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1
F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC
Worldwide Web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html.
The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the
signature date of this notice.
Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by
September 19, 2003. Comments received after this date will be considered if it
is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to
comments received after this date.
Bryon Allen, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0188),
NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503.
Comments can also be submitted by telephone at (202) 395-3087.
The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, 301-415-7233.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of August, 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information
Officer.
[FR Doc. 03-21293 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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*
Trojan - NRC sees no environmental impact from allowing mass destruction of
plant records
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Page 50199-50200]
[DOCID:fr20au03-105 From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Notices]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-344]
Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact Related to
Portland General Electric Company's Request for Partial Exemption From the
Recordkeeping Requirements
I. Introduction
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering granting a partial
exemption from the Recordkeeping requirements of Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, appendix A; 10 CFR part
50, appendix B, for the Trojan Nuclear Plant (TNP) as requested by Portland
General Electric Company (PGE) on July 9, 2003. An environmental assessment
(EA) was performed by the NRC staff in support of its review of the exemption
request.
II. Environmental Assessment
Introduction
PGE is the licensee and holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-1(TNP). On
January 27, 1993, PGE notified NRC of its decision to permanently cease power
operation at TNP. PGE submitted the Trojan Decommissioning Plan (DP) and a
decommissioning environmental report on January 2, 1993, which the NRC approved
on December 18, 1995. The licensee began decommissioning shortly after NRC
approved the DP. The licensee has removed and successfully shipped the TPN
steam generators, pressurizer, and reactor pressure vessel for off-site
disposal at the U.S. Ecology low-level radioactive waste disposal facility near
Richland, Washington. With removal of these components, the licensee has
removed approximately 99 percent of the activity covered under its part 50
license.
Purpose and Need for Proposed Action
The requested exemption and application of the exemption will eliminate an
unwarranted financial burden on ratepayers associated with the storage of a
large volume of hardcopy records.
[[Page 50200]]
The Proposed Action
The proposed action would allow the disposal of records, prior to termination
of Trojan Nuclear Plant Possession Only License No. NPF-1, that: (1) Are
associated with the operation, design, fabrication, erection, and testing of
structures, systems, and components that are no longer quality-related and/or
important to safety, and that are no longer operational; and (2) require
storage in their original hardcopy formats due to practical and feasibility
limitations associated with transferring them to microform format, such that
significant amounts of costly storage space are required.
Alternatives to Proposed Action
No action. Under this alternative TNP would continue to store the records in
question until license termination.
The Affected Environment and Environmental Impacts
None. The proposed action is purely administrative in nature and will have no
effect on the environment.
Agencies and Persons Contacted
None.
Conclusions
NRC has determined that the proposed action will have no significant effect on
the quality of the human environment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on this review, the NRC staff has concluded that there are no significant
impacts on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the staff has
determined that preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not
warranted, and a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.
IV. Further Information
The licensee's request for the proposed action (ADAMS Accession No:
ML022970110) and other related documents to this proposed action are available
for public inspection and copying for a fee at NRC's Public Document Room at
NRC Headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852. These documents are available for public review through ADAMS,
the NRC's electronic reading room, at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Any questions with respect to this action should be referred to John Buckley,
Decommissioning Branch, Mailstop T-7F27, Division of Waste Management, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: (301) 415-6607.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of August, 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 03-21294 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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*
DOT Hazmat transport - Emergency Response Guidebook 2004 - request for
comments
Research and Special Programs Administration
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)] [Page 50453-50455]
[DOCID:fr20au03-145 - From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Notices]
[[Page 50453]]
Part V
Department of Transportation
Research and Special Programs Administration
Revision of the Emergency Response Guidebook; Notices
[[Page 50454]]
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Research and Special Programs Administration
[Docket No. RSPA-03-14793; Notice No. 03-10]
Revision of the Emergency Response Guidebook
AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of regulatory review; request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice advises interested persons that the Research and Special
Programs Administration (RSPA) is soliciting comments on the development of the
Emergency Response Guidebook 2004 (ERG2004), particularly from those who have
experience using the 2000 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG2000) during
hazardous materials incidents. The ERG2004 will supersede ERG2000. The
development of ERG2004 is a joint effort involving the transportation agencies
of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 30, 2003.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
* Web Site: http://dms.dot.gov . Follow the instructions for submitting
comments on the DOT electronic docket site.
* Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
* Mail: Docket Management System; U.S. Department of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Nassif Building, Room PL-401, Washington, DC 20590-001.
* Hand Delivery: To the Docket Management System; Room PL-401 on the plaza
level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal Holidays.
Instructions: You must include the agency name and docket number RSPA-03-14793
at the beginning of your comment. You should submit two copies of your
comments, if you submit them by mail. If you wish to receive confirmation that
we received your comments, you should include a self-addressed stamped
postcard. Note that all comments received will be posted without change to
http://dms.dot.gov including any personal information provided. Anyone is able
to search the electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets
by the name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment,
if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may
review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal Register published
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) or you may visit http://dms.dot.gov
Docket: You may view the public docket through the Internet at
http://dms.dot.gov or in person at the Docket Management System office at the
above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerre Thomas, Research and Special Programs
Administration (DHM-50), 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001,
phone number: (202) 366-4900. Internet e-mail to jerre.thomas@rspa.dot.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Federal hazardous materials transportation law
(49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.) empowers the Secretary of Transportation to issue and
enforce regulations deemed necessary to ensure the safe transport of hazardous
materials. In addition, the law directs the Secretary of Transportation to
provide law enforcement and fire fighting personnel with technical information
and advice for meeting emergencies connected with the transportation of
hazardous materials.
I. Request for Comments
A. Background and Purpose
RSPA developed the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) for use by emergency
services personnel to provide guidance for initial response to hazardous
materials incidents. Since 1980, it has been our goal for all public emergency
response vehicles, including fire fighting, police, and rescue squad vehicles,
to carry a copy of the ERG. To accomplish this, we have published seven
editions of the ERG and have distributed over seven million copies to emergency
services agencies, without charge.
The ERG2004 is being jointly developed by RSPA, Transport Canada, and the
Secretary of Communication and Transport of Mexico. ERG2004 will supersede
ERG2000 and will be published in English, French, and Spanish for use by
emergency response personnel. Publication of ERG2004 will facilitate the safe
transport of hazardous materials through North America and increase public
safety by providing consistent emergency response procedures for hazardous
materials incidents in North America.
In order to continually improve the ERG, RSPA actively solicits comments from
interested parties, especially those who have experience using the ERG2000
during hazardous materials incidents.
B. Emergency Response Guidebook User Concerns
Comments are solicited on Emergency Response Guidebook user concerns and on the
following questions:
(1) Have emergency responders experienced a problem of inconsistent guidance
between ERG2000 and other sources of technical information? If so, in what way
could ERG2004 be revised to reduce inconsistencies?
(2) Have emergency responders experienced confusion or difficulty in
understanding the scope or purpose of ERG2000? If so, in what way could ERG2004
be revised to reduce this difficulty?
(3) Have emergency responders experienced confusion or difficulty in
understanding the application of EGR2000? If so, in what way could ERG2004 be
revised to reduce this difficulty?
(4) How could the ``Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action
Distances'' or its introduction be made easier to comprehend and use?
(5) In the ``Table of Initial Isolation and Protective Action Distances,'' does
the distinction between day and night protective action distances add useful
information for the first responder? How could the distinction be improved?
(6) Initial isolation and protective action distances were developed based on
accident histories. Modeling for worst-case scenarios in the event of terrorism
or sabotage indicates it may be appropriate to apply a factor of 1.5 or 2.0 to
the values in the guidebook in those instances. What is the best way and format
to alert the user to the need to consider increasing protective action
distances when terrorism or sabotage is suspected? Should short, cautionary
language to that effect be added to the guidebook?
(7) Could the ``List of Dangerous Water-Reactive Material'' introduced in
NAERG96 be enhanced or improved?
(8) Have emergency responders experienced difficulty understanding the
capabilities of chemical protective clothing, and the limitations of structural
fire fighter's protective clothing in hazardous materials incidents? If so, in
what way can ERG2004 be revised to improve understanding?
(9) Have any identification numbers (ID No.) been incorrectly assigned to a
material (Name or Material)?
(10) Has any identification number/material been assigned to the ``wrong''
guide? If so, please identify the material and the guide.
(11) Are the responses on each guide appropriate for the material assigned to
the guide?
[[Page 50455]]
(12) Have emergency responders experienced difficulty with legibility of
ERG2000's print style, format, or durability?
(13) Have emergency response agencies experienced difficulty in obtaining
copies of ERG2000 for their vehicles?
(14) Besides the Table of Placards, Rail Car Identification Chart, and Road
Trailer Identification Chart, should other pictorial information be included?
(15) Are the Table of Placards, Rail Car Identification Chart, and Road Trailer
Identification Chart accurate and useful?
(16) Are the terms listed in the Glossary defined satisfactorily?
(17) Should additional terms be added to the Glossary?
(18) How can this guidebook be enhanced to assist responders in responding to
incidents of intentional release of chemical, radiological, nuclear, or
biological agents?
Supporting data and analyses will enhance the value of comments submitted.
Issued in Washington, DC, on August 15, 2003 under authority delegated in 49
CFR part 106.
Robert A. McGuire, Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety,
Research and Special Programs Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-21328 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P
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*
[Japan] Mutsu mayor leaked info on nuclear plan to gangster
Kyodo
News/Japan Today
Japan Today, August 20, 2003 at 16:18 JST
Mutsu mayor leaked info on nuclear plan toÊgangster
Kyodo News
AOMORI Ñ The mayor of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, admitted Wednesday he informed
a gangland-related supporter in 1999 of his plan to invite storage facilities
for spent nuclear fuel to the city so that the latter could buy land that would
be used for the facilities.
Mayor Masashi Sugiyama said he told the supporter, the president of a gravel
company, "We will make a move soon to invite the facilities near Sekinehama
port." He told the city assembly this June he would invite Tokyo Electric Power
Co (TEPCO) to set up the country's first storage facilities for such fuel in
the city. (Kyodo News)
--- full version of story from subscription source ---
Copyright 2003 Kyodo News Service Ê
Japan Economic Newswire, August 20, 2003
Mutsu mayor leaked info on nuclear plan to gangster
AOMORI, Japan, Aug. 20 -- The mayor of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, admitted
Wednesday he informed a gangland-related supporter in 1999 of his plan to
invite storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel to the city so that the latter
could buy land that would be used for the facilities.
Mayor Masashi Sugiyama said he told the supporter, the president of a gravel
company, 'We will make a move soon to invite the facilities near Sekinehama
port.'
Sugiyama told the city assembly this June he would invite Tokyo Electric Power
Co. (TEPCO) to set up the country's first storage facilities for such fuel in
the city.
Asked at an emergency news conference whether the company president has
connections with an underground crime syndicate, Sugiyama said the president
has 'very close ties.'
With the revelation of the scandal, the completion of the project may be
delayed, city assembly members and other local authority figures said.
Before TEPCO can begin the project, it must also be approved by the governor of
Aomori Prefecture.
According to Sugiyama and other sources, the mayor secretly informed the
gangster-linked company president about the project around December 1999.
In January 2000, a city executive gave a drawing of the candidate site used in
negotiations with TEPCO to the company president, and the company bought about
4 hectares of uncultivated land there in May that year, the sources said.
After the plan to invite TEPCO to build the facilities began to be reported,
the company transferred the ownership of the land to a different company in
January 2001, the sources said.
'Citizens may harbor distrust. But my hands are completely clean,' Sugiyama
said. 'It was bad that I told about the project.'
TEPCO has proposed building two interim storage facilities in Mutsu capable of
holding a combined 5,000 to 6,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel. The utility has
said it wants to put one facility into operation by 2010.
It started a geological survey of the area in April 2001 and concluded in April
this year that 'the construction is technically possible.'
Nuclear power plants in Japan are currently holding their spent nuclear fuel on
their own but many of them are expected to reach capacity around 2010.
Power companies are thus hoping to build interim facilities to store the spent
nuclear fuel for up to around 50 years.
---sbs---
*
Pro-nuclear plant mayor to resign over supporter's vote buying
Mainichi
Shimbun
Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, August 19, 2003
Pro-nuclear plant mayor to resign over supporter's vote buying
YAMAGUCHI -- The mayor of a Yamaguchi Prefecture town expressed his intention
to resign over the arrest of one of his supporters for buying votes in the
April election in which the pros and cons of the construction of a nuclear
power plant was at issue.
"To avoid causing confusion to the town administration, I decided to step
down," Kaminoseki Mayor Misuka Kano, 72, who supports the nuclear power plant
project, told the municipal assembly Tuesday after an extraordinary session.
As a result, local election authorities are expected to call a mayoral election
to pick his successor. This will be the third mayoral race this year over the
nuclear power plant project.
On Aug. 6, the Yamaguchi District Court handed a suspended prison term to a
72-year-old former municipal assembly member who headed Kano's supporting group
for buying votes for the mayor.
If the defendant does not appeal the ruling by Wednesday's deadline,
prosecutors are poised to launch a lawsuit, demanding Kano's election be
invalidated and that he be banned from running for public office for five years
under the guilt-by-association system.
---sbs---
*
North Korea rejects nuclear inspection ahead of Beijing talks
Radio
Australia
ABC Radio Australia News, August 20, 2003 2003 21:31:19
North Korea rejects nuclear inspection ahead of Beijing talks
North Korea has rejected an early inspection of its nuclear facilities as
"absolutely unacceptable".
The North's official Korean Central News Agency says Washington is insisting on
the inspection.
It would be conducted by a team from the United States, China, Russia, Japan
and South Korea - countries attending six-way talks in Beijing next week.
North Korea says the US demand for an early inspection is blatant interference
in its internal affairs and an infringement upon its sovereignty which could
only spark a conflict.
The North's toughened stance comes just a week before the opening of August
27-29 talks aimed at resolving the 10-month nuclear stand-off over Pyongyang's
nuclear weapons drive.
The nuclear crisis erupted when the United States accused Pyongyang of reneging
on a 1994 bilateral nuclear accord by setting up a clandestine program based on
enriched uranium.
North Korea, which says it needs its own nuclear deterrent against the United
States, expelled UN nuclear inspectors and withdrew from the treaty.
It has since claimed to have reprocessed 8,000 spent fuel rods for
weapons-grade plutonium at its nuclear plant at Yongbyon.
---sbs---
*
Japan Sticks to Abductions in Nuke Talks
Yuri Kageyama, Associated
Press/Las Vegas SUN
Las Vegas SUN, August 20, 2003
Japan Sticks to Abductions in Nuke Talks
By YURI KAGEYAMA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO (AP) - Crucial talks between six nations next week in Beijing aim to
focus on North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons program. But Japan is unique
in bringing another, highly emotional agenda to the table: the abduction of its
citizens by North Korean spies in the 1970s and 1980s.
Japan's chief negotiator said Wednesday that Tokyo wants the talks to press
North Korea on this issue, but Pyongyong says bringing up the kidnappings would
disrupt sensitive negotiations that took intense diplomatic pressure by the
United States to cobble together.
At home, the Tokyo government faces a Japanese public demanding that the fate
of the kidnapped and their families not be shoved aside amid the international
drive to halt the North's alleged plans to develop nuclear weapons.
In a summit last September between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Pyongyang reversed decades of denial and
said it had systematically kidnapped Japanese nationals to allow its spies to
master their language and assume their identities. Some of the victims were
snatched from seaside towns while walking home from school or strolling on
dates.
Pyongyang has repatriated five abductees but not their seven children. Tokyo
wants the North to send the children to Japan and account for dozens more still
thought to be held.
While acknowledging the seriousness of North Korea's potential nuclear threat,
the Japanese Foreign Ministry official in charge of the negotiations said the
concerns about nuclear weapons, missile development and abductions must be
solved together in a "comprehensive" manner.
"We are talking about comprehensive resolutions," Mitoji Yabunaka said in an
interview with The Associated Press. "It is our policy."
Earlier this month, Koizumi said the issue of the abductions was just as
important to Tokyo as the nuclear standoff.
The Aug. 27-29 talks will bring the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the
two Koreas to the table after months of wrangling over the format of the talks.
North Korea wanted one-on-one talks with the United States on its nuclear
program and resisted bringing in other regional players as Washington demanded.
Heading into the Beijing talks, Pyongyang is demanding the United States sign a
nonaggression pact before it will stop its program to develop what it calls a
"nuclear deterrent." Washington has refused any formal treaty, offering written
guarantees instead. Russia has said it and China may add their own guarantees.
But North Korea lashed out at Japan for wanting to raise the abductions issue.
Attempts to bring up the abductions "may create unnecessary complications" and
"throw the discussion into confusion and divert its focus," said a news
analysis in the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Monday.
After decades of sticking to a diplomatic course that closely followed
Washington, Japan has been gradually trying to assert itself in facing up to
its reclusive Asian neighbor - pushed, in part, by public outrage over the
abductions.
The Japanese media have recently been filled with speculation that the issue
may be brushed off at next week's talks as a bilateral concern.
"Japan must try to pave the way for its unique problem of abductions while
tackling the nuclear issue," the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said Wednesday.
"Japanese public opinion remains very tough on the abductions," said Hideshi
Takesada, an analyst with the National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo.
'The question is whether Japan can stick to its guns."
Echoing similar sentiments from South Korean and U.S. officials, Yabunaka
acknowledged the negotiations would require more than one meeting.
"It's not an easy task," he said, adding that Tokyo's presentation at the talks
was still being written. "It would be just the beginning, but it's a very, very
important beginning."
The nuclear crisis flared in October when U.S. officials said Pyongyang
admitted running a clandestine nuclear weapons program. North Korea has
expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors, restarted a nuclear complex and told U.S.
officials it had reprocessed 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods. Experts say North
Korea could have enough plutonium to make several nuclear bombs within months.
North Korea has rejected suggestions that it should open its nuclear facilities
to early inspections. Japan has refused to send humanitarian aid to North Korea
until the abduction issue is solved.
copyright 2003 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
---sbs---
*
Tokyo edgy ahead of nuke talks
Kyodo/Japan Times
The Japan Times, August 21, 2003
Tokyo edgy ahead of nuke talks; North Korea-U.S. pact could leave Japan wide
open
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) Japan is urging the United States to maintain its nuclear
umbrella and keep a military strike option in the event North Korea is found to
be planning to attack Japan, sources said Wednesday.
Japan fears that if Washington promises Pyongyang it will not attack, the U.S.
military would be unable to use force against North Korea if the country is
seen preparing to launch an offensive against Japan, the sources said.
North Korea has been demanding that the U.S. sign a bilateral nonaggression
pact. Washington has ruled out a formal document of that kind but has indicated
it may offer a multilateral written security assurance.
The assurance would include Japan and South Korea.
Guaranteeing the North's security will be a key issue at next week's six-party
talks in Beijing regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons development program.
North Korea, the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia will take part.
In last week's informal talks among senior officials from Japan, the U.S. and
South Korea in Washington, the three countries agreed it is possible to put a
security guarantee for North Korea on paper if it agrees to completely abandon
its nuclear program.
They are expected to present this stance during the three-day talks that begin
Aug. 27. However, Japan's reservations on the security situation could prompt
protests from North Korea and objections from China, which is organizing the
event.
Tokyo is apparently making the request to Washington because even if Pyongyang
were to abandon its nuclear program, Japan would still face the threat of
Nodong ballistic missiles, biological and chemical weapons or conventional
weapons.
Japan is hoping that its alliance with the U.S. will continue to serve to deter
attacks and wants North Korea to agree to comprehensive disarmament, the
sources said.
Japan expressed similar concerns during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis
when the U.S. considered providing the North with a passive security
arrangement in which it would promise not to launch a nuclear attack if
Pyongyang fully complied with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Before the Washington meeting, Tokyo asked Washington to consider Japan's
security, including adhering to the principles of the U.S. nuclear umbrella and
not ruling out the possibility of attacking the North if there is a clear
indication the country is planning to strike Japan, the sources said.
The U.S. provides protection to Japan under its nuclear umbrella, which means
that if Japan is attacked by a third country, the U.S. would retaliate.
Separately, Masashi Nishihara, president of the National Defense Academy, said
in a Washington Post commentary that if the U.S. agrees to sign a nonaggression
pact with North Korea, "Tokyo could no longer rely on its alliance with
Washington and thus might decide to develop its own retaliatory nuclear
weapons."
Nishihara's piece appeared in last Thursday's edition of the daily.
(C) All rights reserved
---sbs---
*
Nuclear power safety concerns
The Hindu
Pakistan Daily Times, August 21, 2003
FOREIGN EDITORIALS:
The Hindu, August 20, 2003
Nuclear power safety concerns
The accident AT the Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant of the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre last January, which the head of BARC has described as the worst
in the history of the organisation, raises once more serious issues about
safety at the nuclear installations in the country. The event, in which six
employees of KARP were exposed to levels of radiation in excess of the maximum
permissible annual dose, has been categorised by BARC as an ÒincidentÓ and not
an ÒaccidentÓ according to the International Atomic Energy AgencyÕs
classification of nuclear accidents. Incident or accident, what is cause for
worry is how it happened and how BARC responded to the event.
The affected staff of KARP received a high dose of radiation because the sample
they collected from a waste tank turned out to emit a higher than expected
amount of radioactivity. A faulty valve had channelled high-level waste into a
tank meant to hold only low-level waste. The workers might have been alerted to
the dangers had monitors tracking levels of radiation been installed in the
area. However, there were no monitors because it was considered a zone where
accidents were not likely to happen. For the chief of BARC therefore to blame
an error in judgment and over-enthusiasm on the part of the workers in addition
to equipment failure as causes of the accident is an attempt to shift the
blame. If there was an error in judgment, it was BARCÕs decision not to instal
equipment that would have detected the increase in radioactivity in the area.
The margin of acceptable error in nuclear facilities is so small that there
cannot be short cuts in the installation of monitoring equipment. The failure
of the valve raises the question whether the design was faulty or the
maintenance poor. A related question is why the leak in the valve was not
detected. On both, BARC has been silent. It was also silent about the event
until the staff association made the accident public six months later. It is
unfair for BARC to claim that the union is more concerned about promotions than
safety. According to the association, it has been demanding that a separate
safety officer be appointed for KARP and that temporary helpers, who are not
adequately trained, should not be used for tasks like the collection of waste
samples. Perhaps the January accident would not have happened had BARC listened
more carefully to both demands.
As reprocessing plants deal with highly radioactive wastes, the risks of an
accident are always present. Fires, explosions and criticality accidents have
occurred in such facilities in Japan, Russia and the United States. The KARP
staff association has now issued a warning against an accident caused by an
uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction if safety norms are not tightened at the
plant. BARC has been criticised by a former chief of the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board for a safety record that compares poorly with that in the
facilities of the Nuclear Power Corporation. Unfortunately, since 2000 safety
at BARC has been taken out of the purview of the AERB and is now the
responsibility of an Internal Safety Committee of the organisation. The change
was explained then as dictated by the need for secrecy and safety, since BARC
is responsible for producing plutonium for IndiaÕs nuclear weapons programme.
That the KARP accident happened, that it took six months for BARC to
acknowledge the incident, and that we still do not know the exact radiation
dose received by the workers involved suggests that the new system to ensure
safety is neither transparent nor reliable.
---
Washington Post, August 20, 2003
Terror in the Middle East
A truck bomb in Baghdad yesterday killed at least 17 Iraqis and foreigners,
including one of the most talented and dedicated United Nations diplomats of
his generation. A bus bomb in Jerusalem killed at least 18 people and injured
many more, reportedly including a large number of children on their way home
from the Western Wall. Both attacks were the works of terrorists who saw
nothing wrong with taking innocent life to make a political or propaganda
point. Both were designed to set back the cause of peace in the region. Both
were despicable acts intended to thwart the will of majoritiesÑof Palestinians,
of Israelis, of IraqisÑwho do not share the terroristsÕ goals.
The attack in Jerusalem came after a period of relative calm, during which
radical Palestinian groups had promised to observe a cease-fire as Israel and
the Palestinian Authority sought to move along a U.S.-designed Òroad mapÓ to
peace. They had agreed to end attacks not because they aspire to see two
states, Palestinian and Israeli, living side by side in peace, but because the
pressure was overwhelming from the majority of Palestinians who do share that
goal. The bus bomb is a reminder that cease-fire can be at best a temporary
aspiration, that the organizations dedicated to terror must be dismantled, as
the road map insists. It is also a reminder that U.S. attention to the peace
process cannot flag; progress is excruciatingly difficult, but without progress
there is sure to be a slide back into war.
The attack in Baghdad, also apparently the work of a suicide bomber, destroyed
the temporary headquarters of the United Nations mission. Among those killed
was Sergio Vieira de Mello, 55, a Brazilian serving as top U.N. envoy to Iraq
after a career of peacekeeping and nation-building from Kosovo to East Timor.
Like his fallen colleagues, Mr. Vieira de Mello was in Iraq to work with U.S.
authorities in bringing economic recovery and helping to establish
self-government.
The explosion came on a day that had begun with happier news: the capture of
Taha Yassin Ramadan, a former vice president and Saddam Hussein crony. It thus
reinforced the message that no matter how much progress U.S. forces and newly
established Iraqi authorities make in parts of the country, their mission
cannot succeed until security improves everywhere. Speaking in Baghdad shortly
before the explosion, Sen. John McCain said that more troops may be needed to
bring about such improved security. ÒI think the situation is that the majority
of Iraqis are glad that Saddam Hussein is gone,Ó Mr. McCain told NBCÕs ÒToday
Show.Ó ÒBut theyÕre very frustrated at the level of services. And then you lay
on top of that a group of criminals, Baathists and outright terrorists, and we
have a significant problem here.Ó
The targeting of U.N. headquarters also suggests that an internationalization
of the U.S. occupation would be no panacea. Like others, we have criticized the
administration for its reluctance to involve U.N. or NATO forces more fully in
Iraq; the entire world has a stake in bringing democracy and prosperity to the
region. But just as the terrorists will attack the United States wherever
possible, and no matter what policies it follows, so will they attack anyone
who promotes peace and pluralism, whether under the flag of the United States
or the United Nations. L. Paul Bremer, the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq,
decried the Òawful crimeÓ committed against the U.N. team but rightly promised
that the United States would not be pressured to leave, just as U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan promised on behalf of his organization. Mr. Bremer said:
ÒThere will be days, like today, which were clearly tragic. But there is
absolutely no question that the coalition intends to stay the course.Ó
---sbs---
*
Campbell asked for 15 changes to dossier
Andrew Sparrow, Telegraph
The Telegraph, August 20, 2003
Campbell asked for 15 changes to dossier
By Andrew Sparrow, Political Correspondent
Alastair Campbell proposed 15 changes to the Government's Iraq dossier in one
letter, it emerged yesterday.
Writing a week before the document was published, the Prime Minister's
communications director urged John Scarlett, the chairman of the Joint
Intelligence Committee, to consider the drafting changes which he set out over
three pages of text.
Mr Campbell has always denied "sexing up" the dossier against the wishes of the
intelligence services, and he has repeatedly stressed that the final document
was the responsibility of Mr Scarlett.
But in the letter, which was sent on Sept 17, he recommended some very specific
changes, some of which he said had Tony Blair's support.
"He felt we don't do enough on human rights, and Saddam's disregard for human
life is an important point," Mr Campbell wrote.
Other suggestions included:
"In the light of the last 24 hours, I think we should make more of the point
about current concealment plans."
"Can we say he has secured uranium from Africa?"
"In executive summary, can we be clear about the distances by which he is
seeking to extend missile ranges?"
"On page 16, bottom line, 'might' reads very weakly."
"On page 17, 2 lines from the bottom, 'may' is weaker than in the summary."
And towards the end he said: "It would be stronger if you could be more
explicit about when a JIC [Joint Intelligence Committee] assessment has gone to
the PM."
In his reply, sent the following day, Mr Scarlett tackled each of the
suggestions in turn. He declined some, but accepted others.
"We have strengthened the language on current concerns and plans, including the
executive summary," he wrote.
On the subject of Iraq buying uranium from Africa, he turned down Mr Campbell's
request.
"The agreed interpretation of the intelligence, brokered with some difficulty
with the originators and owners of the reporting, allows us only to say that he
has 'sought' uranium from Africa," Mr Scarlett said.
The documents released yesterday showed that presentational issues of this kind
received considerable attention in Downing Street in the two weeks before the
publication of the dossier.
On Sept 10, Daniel Pruce, a press officer, wrote an email about the dossier
saying: "Much of the evidence we have is largely circumstantial, so we need to
convey to our readers that the cumulation of these facts demonstrates an intent
on Saddam's part."
The following day Philip Bassett, a senior political adviser, offered his
comments. "Crucially, though, it's intelligence-lite," he wrote.
"It feels like this is the least possible intelligence material the intell
people are prepared to let go (despite the fact that we say at a couple of
points, eg para 2, that it's everything the Govt knows on the issue - which it
clearly isn't).
"All intelligence material tends to read like unevidenced assertion, and we
have to find a way to get over this a) by having better intelligence material .
. . b) by having more material (and better flagged up) and c) more convincing
material."
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
---sbs---
*
Lest we forget: September's dossier did not send us to war
Polly
Toynbee, Guardian
The Guardian, August 20, 2003
Lest we forget: September's dossier did not send us to war;
Who said what to whom is not the issue - why we invaded Iraq is
Polly Toynbee, columnist
Every day news from Iraq gets worse, with bombed oil lines and water pipes. Now
this attack on the UN. Those who know Iraq well are still tolerably optimistic
that most Iraqis will resist the extremists. But all this makes a grim backdrop
to Lord Hutton's courtroom where the reasons for war are being excavated daily.
As the inquiry stretches on for weeks ahead, the danger is that memory fades
and the myth grows that it was the September dossier that sent us to war. Yet
it was only a sideshow, a small piece of propaganda along the tortuous warpath.
Events unleashed by Alastair Campbell's furious defence of his innocence
grossly inflate the dossier's significance.
To put this into perspective I looked back on an event in early February.
Several senior journalists were invited by a minister and Downing Street
officials to a dinner to listen one last time to the case for war. As we
unfolded damask napkins in the candlelight, a high-ranking US official sitting
near the minister tried to terrify us with Saddam's clear and present danger as
revealed by US intelligence reports - irrefutable since we had no access to
them.
Arguments raged back and forth as the minister and the US ally ran through that
familiar array of reasons for war. (So many reasons only underlined the lack of
one overwhelmingly good cause). As ever, there was silence about other unspoken
Bush administration purposes. Some reasons were good: Saddam is a bad man -
here's the chance to free the Iraqi people. Others were disputed: Saddam
infects the whole region, while a democratic Arab state would light a beacon
for a new wave of modern Middle Eastern freedom. That insouciant cultural
naivety airbrushed out the nature of Islam, hatred of the west and Arab
scepticism about George Bush's hazy notions of democracy.
We argued on and government realists acknowledged pressing questions remained
unanswered: why here, why now? Why not let the weapons inspectors finish and
maybe the Europeans would stay on side. Keep up the containment and the
pressure, but what's the rush? There was never an answer. The rush was American
impatience, American political momentum, too large a build-up of troops Bush
dare not leave sweating in the desert all summer while Hans Blix hunted down or
failed to find the WMD.
Our dinner hosts were heavy on the frighteners: if he didn't have nuclear
weapons now, he would have them in a couple of years when it would be too late
to take him out. He would threaten all around him. We who were brought up on
Mad (Mutually Assured Destruction) deterrence asked how he could ever use them
if it assured his own instant destruction by Israel? And if he did have some
useable WMD, surely he'd only use them if attacked, either in suitcases in the
west or against invading troops? I doubt anyone left that dinner any more or
less convinced of the need for war. Minds were not changed.
There was only one thing that would have changed many minds in Britain. On that
day the prime minister was meeting Jacques Chirac one more time to try to push
through the second UN resolution - success would have changed everything. There
were many backbenchers, Labour supporters and others who would have swung
behind a removal of Saddam that had explicit UN support.
So by then the content of the September dossier some six months earlier was
beside the point. At that table, in bars, pubs and sitting rooms around the
country where war was argued over, belief that Saddam would strike within 45
minutes was not the reason most people supported or opposed the war. The idea
that the nation was mendaciously frogmarched into war by the 45-minute canard
is just not so, but the danger is that Alastair Campbell's fit of lunacy over
an insult from the BBC has suddenly made it seem so. Looking back it is always
hard to keep remembering what you thought back when - and the dossier is
assuming an all-important stature in national mythology it never had. To be
sure, the prime minister hyped the evidence - war leaders tend to.
Meanwhile , in the courtroom things look grimmer by the day for both the BBC
and the government. Chief of staff Jonathan Powell describes life inside
Downing Street in a state of high alarm, as non-stop meetings wax and wane in
perpetual motion. But see how his Foreign Office diplomatic skill ensures he
leaves only clean footprints in the archives. His killer memo exonerates him
completely: "We will need to make it clear in launching the document that we do
not claim that we have evidence that [Saddam] is an imminent threat". And that
is what Tony Blair did not do in his impassioned speech to parliament. He
over-egged it, as he was bound to.
As for the BBC's case, what we learned yesterday is that Campbell did not add
the 45 minutes - it was already there. Nor did he write the dossier - that was
quite properly done by the head of the joint intelligence committee, John
Scarlett. So that leaves Gilligan's claim that No 10 sexed it up, let alone his
claim that Campbell personally added the 45 minutes, as not true. However he
did have an excellent story in no need of sexing up: the top weapons inspector
refuted the key claim in the dossier. But it looks increasingly unlikely that
Dr Kelly would have known exactly who rewrote the dossier or the progress of
the 45-minute inclusion. It was indeed a "gossipy aside".
This is an inquest into David Kelly's briefings to journalists: as things
stand, he may be rubbished for spreading rumours and alleging far more than he
knew. He was caught out and lied to his bosses about what he had said. The
embarrassment was more than he could stand so his careless talk cost him his
life. Who killed him? He killed himself (unless you believe the swirling emails
from conspiracy fruitcakes). His tragedy is that he was indeed an important
whistle-blower: he did know one big thing - that the dossier was wrong, the
45-minute claim especially. All the evidence so far from Iraq suggests he was
right. As Robin Cook has said: "There aren't any weapons ready for use in 45
minutes; there was no uranium. There were no chemical production factories
rebuilt; there was no nuclear weapons programme."
To historians and the public, who got it wrong hardly matters. That it was
wrong is important. But not all that important. Robin Cook is one of those who
would have gone along with the war if the UN had endorsed it: that's why he
stayed so long. Removing Saddam was not a bad idea - so long as the rest of the
world supported it. So long as the UN was there too. So long as Britain was not
sundered from Europe over it. So long as our foreign policy was not
irredeemably in hock to a neo-conservative White House. Pacifists would always
have opposed the war, but many others couldn't stomach going it alone with
Bush. Don't let the dossier distract from the real politics of this war.
á p.toynbee@guardian.co.uk
---sbs---
* UK
officials tried to 'gag' Kelly
Gulf Daily News
Gulf Daily News, August 21, 2003
UK officials tried to 'gag' Kelly
LONDON: Government documents relea-sed yesterday show top British officials
tried to stop a scientist airing doubts on a Iraqi weapons dossier on which
Prime Minister Tony Blair based the case for war.
The documents emerged in an inquiry into the suicide of weapons expert David
Kelly, sucked into the heart of a furious row between Blair's government and
the BBC over whether intelligence was "sexed up" for political ends.
Kelly was outed as the source for a BBC journalist's report accusing Blair's
inner circle of hyping evidence about Iraq's weapons capability to win over a
sceptical public.
An official note, written on July 14, the day before Kelly was due to testify
to a parliamentary committee, made clear that Kelly would be told to keep his
views to himself.
It said the respected scientist was due to be briefed later that day by the
deputy chief of defence intelligence (DCDI) about his appearances in front of
the foreign affairs committee and intelligence and security committee on July
15 and 16.
The inquiry heard how Blair's official spokesmen proposed ways to tighten the
draft dossier's evidence on Saddam Hussein's intent to use banned weapons.
"The weakness obviously is our inability to say that he (Saddam) could pull the
nuclear trigger any time soon," Tom Kelly said in one of many e-mails written
by Downing Street staff and shown to the inquiry.
"We need that to counter the argument that Saddam is bad, not mad."
The spokesmen said they advised Blair's communications chief Alastair Campbell
against leaking the fact that Dr Kelly had spoken to the BBC to one newspaper
in July.
"I thought the government was within its rights to make an announcement of this
sort and to do that in the way it chose," said Blair's spokesman Godric Smith.
---sbs---
*
Victims From First Gulf War Seek Damages
Larry Neumeister, Associated
Press/Las Vegas SUN
Las Vegas SUN, August 19, 2003
Victims From First Gulf War Seek Damages
By LARRY NEUMEISTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK (AP) - Blaming corporations for fueling former Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein's chemical weapons program, victims of the first Gulf War filed a
lawsuit Tuesday seeking compensation for illnesses affecting more than 100,000
soldiers.
"Anyone with eyes and ears knew Saddam was killing people with poison gas in
the 1980s," lawyer Gary B. Pitts said outside federal court. "These companies
have to be held accountable or they'll do this same thing in the future with
some other tyrant."
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for more than 100,000 soldiers who it
says suffered severe injuries and staggering economic losses after they were
exposed to chemicals when coalition forces blew up Iraqi ammunition dumps.
Lawyers said they hoped to force chemical corporations from France, Germany,
Switzerland and the United States to reject future requests for business from
tyrants around the globe.
According to the filing, the Department of Veterans Affairs has determined that
more than 100,000 veterans of the first Gulf War have at least a 10 percent
impairment from chemical exposure, about 3,500 veterans have 70 percent
impairment and 1,200 veterans are 100 percent disabled.
Research has shown those veterans are more likely to suffer from a variety of
chronic problems, including memory loss, fatigue, joint pain, depression,
anxiety, insomnia, headaches and rashes.
However, no conclusive cause for these symptoms has been found despite hundreds
of studies. The theories range from stress and low-level nerve gas exposure to
pesticides and depleted uranium from armor-piercing ammunition.
Pitts said he brought the lawsuit in Brooklyn because the court there has
experience with complex lawsuits and because litigation pertaining to Agent
Orange had been filed there. The herbicide Agent Orange was used in the 1960s
and 1970s in Vietnam to clear dense jungle foliage that provided cover for
enemy forces.
copyright 2003 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
---sbs---
* Iran
wants nuclear concessions
UPI
United Press International, August 20, 2003
Iran wants nuclear concessions
TEHRAN, Iran, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Iran is seeking concessions before signing the
protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a report said Wednesday.
The protocol would allow for enhanced inspections of nuclear facilities as
demanded by the international community, the Financial Times said.
Foreign diplomats say the attempt to negotiate on the standard protocol is
designed to buy time and split the international community.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy use but the United
States suspects the country could be close to having the capacity to develop a
nuclear bomb.
According to Hossein Afarideh, head of Iran's energy commission, Tehran wants
to "add pages" to the protocol in which the IAEA would do its best to convince
countries to transfer technology to Iran for peaceful use.
A source said Tehran is also looking for an attachment to the additional
protocol, setting terms of inspections and ensuring inspectors would not enter
religious shrines or top officials' houses.
copyright © 2003 News World Communications, Inc.
---sbs---
*
Tehran seeks additions to nuclear protocol
Roula Khalaf And Najmeh
Bozorgmehr, Financial Times
Financial Times, August 19 2003 23:00
Tehran seeks additions to nuclear protocol
By Roula Khalaf and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Iran is seeking to win some concessions before signing the additional protocol
to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would allow for enhanced
inspections of nuclear facilities as demanded by the international community.
Officials say any additions are aimed at easing opposition within Iran to the
signing of the protocol, which is intended to address fears over Iran's nuclear
capabilities. But foreign diplomats say the attempt to negotiate on the
standard protocol is designed to buy time and split the international
community.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy use but the US
suspects the country could be close to having the capacity to develop a nuclear
bomb.
Although Europe has joined the US in calling on Iran to sign the protocol,
Tehran thinks the next report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, due
early next month, will not be tough enough to increase the international
pressure.
According to Hossein Afarideh, head of parliament's energy commission, Tehran
wants to "add pages" to the protocol in which the IAEA would pledge to do its
best to convince countries to transfer technology to Iran for peaceful use.
Although this would be an apparent softening of Iran's earlier stance that it
would only sign the additional protocol if the west agreed to a transfer of
technology, it is unlikely to find support at the IAEA.
According to another source in the Iranian regime, Tehran is also looking for
an attachment to the additional protocol, setting terms of inspections and
ensuring for example that inspectors would not enter religious shrines or top
officials' houses.
"Iranians have bad memories of what happened in Iraq," said the source.
"There's a feeling that the Americans would use the protocol to create a
crisis, by demanding that the inspectors go to the leader's house."
In June the IAEA called on Iran to sign the additional protocol promptly and
unconditionally. Its position has long been that the protocol, which allows for
short notice inspections, is an agreement common to all countries and not
subject to negotiations with individual states.
Diplomats say that although there could be some legal room for additions to the
protocol, Iranian demands are unlikely to be heeded. "No one is in the mood to
bargain with Iran," said a western diplomat.
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* Iran to
withstand US atomic pressure
Agence France Presse/Borneo Bulletin
Borneo Bulletin (Brunei), August 20, 2003
Iran to withstand US atomic pressure
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader has said his country will never give up
its nuclear technology under pressure from the United States and others, who
are urging Tehran to agree to more stringent inspections of its programmes.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a gathering of Iranian ambassadors late Monday that
"the position of the United States and certain Western countries, which require
Iran to give up nuclear technology is unsuitable, unjust and oppressive, and
the Islamic Republic of Iran will never accept these requests."
"The conditions in which the United States deals with the rest of the world as
a creditor, always asking for more, make any weakness and surrender the
greatest strategic error," the state news agency IRNA reported him as saying.
"Iranian nuclear science is indigenous and peaceful, and the Islamic Republic
of Iran, based on religious principles, will never use weapons of mass
destruction," Khamenei added.
On Monday Tehran said it was still discussing with the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) whether to allow snap UN inspections of its nuclear sites.
"We are still discussing the additional protocol" to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi
said.
Tehran is under strong international pressure to prove it is not secretly
developing atomic weapons by signing the extra NPT clause, which would allow UN
inspectors to descend on suspect sites without warning.
The IAEA's board of governors will review the Iranian case on September 8, with
the threat that it might be forwarded to the UN Security Council.
Asefi told reporters "to wait and see what will happen during the (September 8)
meeting."
"Any decision will depend on the explanations given by the agency, on the
ambiguities that exist (over the additional protocol), our responsibilities and
those of the international community with regard to Iran," he added.
Oil-rich Iran said Thursday it was going ahead with the second phase of a
nuclear power plant to satisfy its growing demand for power and prevent
long-term energy shortages, denying US allegations that it is covertly
developing nuclear weapons. Ê Ê Copyright © 2003 Brunei Press Sdn Bhd. All
right reserved.
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*
Nuclear Smuggling, A First Step to Nuclear Terrorism
Jess Altschul,
JINSA (The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs)
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, August 19, 2003
Nuclear Smuggling, A First Step to Nuclear Terrorism; Poor maintenance,
inadequate security at former Soviet nuclear sites has led to an increase in
nuclear smuggling cases across Europe and Asia
By Editorial Assistant Jess Altschul
On June 13, 2003 a Thai national, Narong Penanam, was arrested in Bangkok for
possessing cesium-137, a radioactive isotope normally used as a tracer for
studying soil erosion and downstream sedimentation, but dangerous enough to be
used in radiological weapons, or "dirty bombs." Thai police concluded the he
intended to sell it to Jemaah Islamiah, the militant Islamic terrorist group
blamed for the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202. The arrest once again vaulted
the subject of nuclear and radiological weapons smuggling to the foreground of
international security concerns. Numerous terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda,
Jemaah Islamiah, and Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese religious cult responsible for
the 1995 nerve gas attack in Tokyo, have made inquiries about purchasing or
building nuclear and radiological weapons.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from 1992 to 2002
more than 175 attempts by terrorists or criminals to obtain or smuggle
radioactive substances were recorded worldwide with most coming from former
Soviet satellite states. The IAEA stressed that the total number of attempts is
likely much higher. Lack of standardized reporting protocols ensures that the
full extent of such smuggling is difficult to ascertain. For example, in 2000,
the Russian Customs Agency documented more than 500 attempts to smuggle
radioactive materials across Russian national frontiers, but only reported one
case to the IAEA. Also, at least 375 "orphaned" materials, or equipment and
fissile materials that have been lost or stolen and are not accounted for in
national records of stockpiles, are reported each year.
John Bolton, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and
International Security, told the Second Global Conference on Nuclear,
Biological and Chemical Terrorism in November 2002 that "Today, the United
States believes that the greatest threat to international peace and stability
comes from rogue states and transnational terrorist groups that are
unrestrained in their choice of weapon and undeterred by conventional means."
He also stressed that "the United States is employing a variety of methods to
combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction, including multilateral
agreements, diplomacy, arms control, threat reduction assistance, export
control, and other means where necessary. Bolton specifically mentioned North
Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya and Syria as states actively seeking to acquire WMD
and advocated a protective counter-proliferation approach. "We must maintain an
unvarnished view of the proliferators and disrupt their supply of sensitive
goods and technology before it contributes to an increased WMD capability or
falls into the hands of terrorists or other rogue states," Bolton urged.
Much of the former Soviet Union's weapons-usable materials are escaping Russian
stockpiles because former nuclear scientists are desperately in need of money.
In 1999, the average salary of the work force at Russia's formerly secret
nuclear cities was just $43 a month. Poor security at the storage areas remains
a serious problem, according to a 2002 Congressional Research Service report.
According to a July 2001 Department of Energy report, "physical protective
barriers [of former USSR nuclear sites] have crumbled and the nuclear material
accounting system is in disarray." An independent study carried out by the
Institute for International Studies at Stanford University in 2002 found that
over the past 10 years, at least 88 pounds of weapons-usable plutonium has been
stolen from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union.
While most of this has been retrieved, at least 4.4 pounds of highly enriched
uranium stolen from a nuclear reactor complex in the Republic of Georgia
remains missing.
In 1995, undercover CIA agents arranged to buy 40 "Stinger-type" short-range
Russian anti-aircraft missiles from Alexandr Pogrebevskij, a Russian-national
living in Lithuania. As the deal progressed, Pogrebevskij offered to sell the
agents small nuclear devices. Before it could be ascertained as to whether
Pogrebevskij could actually get the nuclear devices, the deal fell through, and
after extensive investigations, it was found that Pogrebevskij had ties to
then-Russian Defense Minister General Pavel Grachev. Grachev was described on
PBS's Frontline by one top U.S. law enforcement official as being "big-time
corrupt."
Many of these smugglers attempt to bring the materials by car or train across
borders, but other means of transportation may be easier. In June 2002, the
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) loaned ABC News a 15-pound cylinder of
depleted uranium metal for the purpose of conducting an experiment simulating
nuclear smuggling. ABC shipped the cylinder by commercial air from the U.S. to
Vienna, then to Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Istanbul. Then ABC shipped it
back to New York as ocean freight. The cylinder was not detected at any of the
checkpoints throughout the trip. According to the NRDC, even if the depleted
uranium had been weapons-grade, it still would have been just as easy to
smuggle. Although the dose rate at the cylinder's surface would have been more
than 100 times higher than that of the depleted uranium, nearly all of the
increase would be due to alpha radiation, which can be shielded with a sheet of
paper.
Al-Qaeda, as well as other terrorist groups in the Middle East and Asia, is
actively seeking to purchase components to make nuclear weapons. In an
interview published in Time magazine in 1999, Osama bin Laden, when asked a
question about nuclear and chemical weapons, responded: "Acquiring weapons for
the defense of Muslims is a religious duty." In the early 1990s, Aum Shinrikyo
leader Kiyohidi Hayakawa traveled to Russia numerous times on weapons-buying
expeditions. It was during these trips he explored the option of buying a
nuclear bomb. Hayakawa's diary, seized by the Tokyo police after the 1995
attack, contained the notation "how much is a nuclear warhead" and listed
several prices with the figure of $15 million underlined.
There are conflicting reports about how plausible it would be for a terrorist
organization to either buy a nuclear weapon or the materials to make one. Many
speculate that the trouble with detonating a production nuclear weapon would be
bypassing its multiple arming procedures and fail-safe codes. As difficult as
that may be, however, building a weapon from scratch would be even more
problematic. According to the Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) in Washington,
D.C., terrorists would need a critical mass of the material they intend to use.
Critical mass of each type of fissile material can vary widely depending on its
density, characteristics (thickness and material) of the reflector employed,
and the nature of any diluents present. Even for a crude design, at least five
or six kilograms of plutonium or 25 kilograms of highly enriched uranium would
be needed. Even if a terrorist group had the materials and schematic drawings
of fission devices, the detailed design drawings and specifications that are
essential before it is possible to fabricate the parts are not available. The
fabrication of an atomic weapon also requires individuals highly trained in
numerous areas of expertise, including "physical, chemical and metallurgical
properties of the various materials to be used, as well as the characteristics
affecting their fabrication; neutronic properties; radiation effects, both
nuclear and biological; technology concerning high explosives and/or chemical
propellants; some hydrodynamics; electrical circuitry; and others."
There is one situation, however, in which a terrorist organization could be
effectively trained to create nuclear weapons and have access to the materials
needed to do so. In this scenario, the terrorists are state-sponsored and
trained with the nuclear-capable state able to provide the necessary resources
and facilities. But according to Victoria Samson, a researcher specializing in
missile defense and nuclear reductions at the Center for Defense Information in
Washington, D.C., this situation is highly unlikely. "North Korea might
possibly be selling weapons to terrorist groups, but they are probably not
aiding the terrorists in weapon production." North Korea's economy relies
heavily on the sale of ballistic missiles and missile parts to other countries.
According to an internal CIA intelligence directorate report released in May
2003, al-Qaeda may already have the capabilities to launch biological,
chemical, and even nuclear weapons. The report, "Terrorist CBRN: Materials and
Effects," claimed that any nuclear weapon used by a terrorist group would be
crude and small-scale, and might be a modified version of an old nuclear weapon
purchased on the black market. The authors made this conclusion based on
information gathered at more than 40 sites in Afghanistan where al-Qaeda
training camps were located. Handwritten documents discovered at the sites
suggest that al-Qaeda operatives had knowledge that far exceeds the information
available from declassified sources. CIA officials believe that al-Qaeda had
been working with former scientists from Pakistan, although Pakistani officials
deny this charge.
In January 2003, China refused a train car from Kazakhstan carrying scrap
metal, after a radioactive measuring device that could be used for the
production of radiological weapons was discovered in its cargo. Officials from
the Kazakhstan National Security Committee (KNB) and the Emergency Situations
Ministry, together with regional health officials, determined that radiation
measured approximately 1.5 meters from the device was about 120 times the
acceptable norm. Instances such as this, coupled with the growing strength and
visibility of Asian terrorists groups such as Jemaah Islamiah, indicate a
possible new market for nuclear materials sales. (See box: Selected Nuclear
Smuggling Incidents) And with terrorist groups establishing networks that
operate in every part of the world, the threat of a nuclear attack carried out
by a terrorist organization is no longer limited to Eastern Europe and the
Middle East.
Not enough attention is paid to the threat of nuclear terrorism. "It seems as
if we're too focused on traditional terror, using humans as weapons," CDI's
Samson asserted. We are overlooking the fact that terrorists are always
adapting and could change their methods at any time," Samson said. In addition,
she said, there is not enough funding for cleaning up the nuclear facilities
and dumps that lie all over the former Soviet Union. "But it is unlikely that
al-Qaeda or another terrorist group could produce a nuclear weapon from
materials found in the former Soviet Union. That takes knowledge, materials and
an arena in which to make the weapons that those groups just don't have,"
Samson said. "It is more likely that they could get a hold of the nuclear waste
and use it to make dirty bombs. This is a situation we should acknowledge could
happen."
[sidebar] Selected Nuclear Smuggling Incidents
2003
June 13 - A Thai national was arrested in Bangkok with a large quantity of
cesium-137, a highly radioactive substance that can be used in dirty bombs.
Police suspect the intended customer was the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah.
May 18 - During a routine raid, Republic of Georgia police seized strontium and
cesium in boxes from the trunk of a taxi in the capital, Tblisi. Police believe
the substances were being smuggled to Turkey.
May 8 - the Republic of Georgia Emergency Situations Ministry found three
containers holding capsules of the radioactive isotope cesium-137 in an
abandoned factory building in the suburbs of Tblisi. Officials said they could
not exclude the possibility that other radioactive materials had been stolen
from the facility earlier.
February 14 - Ukrainian police arrested two men in Odessa and seized a
container of radioactive material in their hotel room. Police believe the men
intended to sell the material.
2001
August 26 - Police in the Indian state of West Bengal seized 225 grams of
uranium in a village in the Dakhin Dinajpur district. The uranium was in a
leather pouch marked "Made in USSR" and indicating 1984 as the year of
manufacture. Two local men were taken into custody. Indian intelligence
agencies believe that members of Pakistan's Inter-Service-Intelligence (ISI)
were involved, and that the uranium was bound for Muslim terrorists in Kashmir.
2000
January 28 - Ukrainian Customs officers confiscated 180 grams of hafnium from
two Germans trying to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border. The two men admitted
they had successfully smuggled hafnium across the border in the past. Hafnium
is used in nuclear reactor technology.
1996
March 8 - Romanian police arrested two individuals for attempting to sell
stolen radioactive material. The two had 82 kg of radioactive material
including low enriched uranium and secret documents stolen from the Research
and Design Center for Radioactive Materials.
© 2003 JINSA
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*
Minatom says it will build second reactor at Bushehr
Bellona
Bellona, August 20, 2003 16:22
Minatom says it will build second reactor at Bushehr; Russian nuclear
authorities confirmed today they intend to build a second reactor at the
Bushehr site.
This happened despite mounting world pressure on IranÕs nuclear programme to
open its doors for more invasive inspections, and the threat of an Israeli
military attack on the Moscow-built Bushehr reactor. According to Yury
Bespalko, a spokesman for RussiaÕs Ministry of Atomic Energy, or Minatom, the
second reactorÑwhich has already been approved by IranÕs Atomic Energy
OrganisationÑwill be identical to the first. That first reactor is an $800m,
1000-megawatt light water reactor, which is now slated to go online in 2005.
Bespalko said MinatomÕs foreign reactor construction wing, Atomstroiproekt,
would be building the second reactor for Òapproximately the same price as the
first reactor,Ó $800m, and that a new influx of Russian nuclear specialists
into IranÑwhich is suspected by the West, and even some security experts and
government officials in Russia, of developing a weapons programmeÑwould follow
the signing of the new reactor contract between Moscow and Tehran. Bespalko
said no date had yet been set for the beginning of construction.
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