nuclear.com info nuggets - November 20, 2003

info nuggets - November 20, 2003

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Today's info nuggets

[see yesterday's items]

* List of new documents today from NRC PDR

Today's source articles

* A Nuclear Mixed Message
Michael A. Levi (Brookings), New York Times
The dual goals of IAEA -- promoting nuclear technology and preventing nuclear proliferation -- are in conflict, as the present case of Iran attests. Levi suggests splitting the organization.

* A&M scientists aim for safer food
Dan Orth, The Battalion "Interest in learning more about irradiated food has taken off in school districts around Texas. School interest may have been spurred by the $4.6 million Washington State Supreme Court decision on Sept. 6 against a school district for serving E. coli contaminated taco meat." Texas A&M's National Electron Beam Food Research Center works to find the right balance between destroying enough pathogens and keeping the food's taste.

* North Korea reactor seen doomed, but KEDO said useful
Paul Eckert, Reuters
Charles Pritchard, a former KEDO board member and now a fellow at Brookings Institution, said KEDO kept channels open with the North even after a 1998 Pyongyang missile test and other actions had strained ties with Japan and with South Korea. "It makes eminent sense that KEDO would be called upon to adjust itself, either in the continuation of the LWR programme -- which I personally believe is doubtful -- or to some other conventional energy needs", he told a forum in Seoul. "KEDO was certainly able to accomplish things a lot of us individual countries were not able to do" he added.

Testsuya Endo, a former Japanese diplomat, said any new agreement with Pyongyang must first fill in ''missing points'' in the 1994 deal, such as its lack of an explicit ban on uranium enrichment.

* Russia, Iran again postpone nuke pact
Agence France Presse
Due to Iran officials being kind of busy these days dealing with IAEA, they haven't been able to pay much attention to their paperwork with Russia. Russia's not worried, as the nuclear fuel deliveries are not due to start for another three months.

* Officials prepare for worst at plant
Gina Zotti, Chester Daily Local Online (PA)
"I wouldnÕt change anything based on what IÕve seen tonight", said Chester County's director of emergency services after emergency plan drill at Limerick.

* ACE: Study shows 'potential link' to radiation, cancer
John Gentzel, Pottstown Mercury (PA)
Latest 'tooth fairy' report involves Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Elevated strontium-90 compared to other baby teeth analyzed from the state has no apparent source other than the Limerick plant, says researcher Joseph Mangano, national director of the Radiation and Public Health Project. So far, nearly 4,000 teeth have been studied nationally. The level strontium-90 in the 95 baby teeth collected in communities in the Pottstown area from children born after 1979 is 34 percent higher than the rest of Pennsylvania. The average in the subset of teeth from Pottstown children is 62 percent higher. Additionally, the report finds the cancer rate in Pottstown area children to be 94 percent higher than the national, state and regional rates.

Limerick spokesperson Lisa Washak "argued that the information has 'never been substantiated by scientific evidence' and is often used to 'support an anti-nuclear agenda.' Washak said a comprehensive environmental study was conducted before construction of the Limerick Generating Station in the 1970s to determine what elements were in the air, ground and water. Since both reactors started operating in the late 1980s, the facility constantly monitors its releases and conducts thorough environmental testing to make sure all emissions are consistent or lower than pre-operational background levels and compliant with all state and federal regulations. The information is available to the public and is reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 'ThereÕs nothing here that wasnÕt here before we built the plant,' Washak said. Other skeptics of the Tooth Fairy Project point out that itÕs impossible to make any reasonable determination from such a small sample of the population, only 95 of the millions of people in Pennsylvania. Additionally, the study seems to have no control group, or tests results from areas away from nuclear facilities. This is particularly prevalent in the results presented Wednesday, as all 95 teeth sampled were collected from communities surrounding nuclear plants, including 34 in Pottstown alone. And, opponents argue, while the levels may seem high, they might be comparable to levels of strontium-90 found in the baby teeth of children in other areas.

Still, the results are staggering enough for many to want further explanations provided and studies conducted."

* Chafee to fight energy bill
Lolita C. Baldor, AP
Sen. Chafee (R-RI) says he will work to block the bill from being voted on in the Senate.

* US energy bill 'appalling' Ð NGO
Green Consumer Guide (UK)
Global Resource Action Centre for the Environment (GRACE) thinks energy bill will stifle renewables.

* No grounds for sanctions against Iran
RosBusinessConsulting, Russia Journal
Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov lays out the case against sanctions.

* A rough ride
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
Davis-Besse should be ready to restart by the end of the year, the company says. Tab for repairs and replacement power could exceed $500 million.

* Utility could face lawsuits over damage
Akron Beacon Journal (OH)
FirstEnergy Corp. got another punch to the face from the US-Canadian investigation into the Aug blackout.

* Coming up short
Fort Worth Star Telegram (TX)
The energy bill.

* Ohio fingered for blackout
London Free Press (Canada)

* Textbook Treatment
Newsday
President Kennedy's legacy: The construction of the world's largest nuclear power plant, in Hanford, makes list of top 13 JFK acts.

* Environmental groups attack radioactive waste reclassification
The Arbiter Online
EPA proposal includes refuse and soil from decommissioned power plants.

* HOUSE-PASSED ENERGY BILL
Tyler Morning Telegraph (TX)

* Delhi, Moscow Move Closer
Dasu Krishnamoorty, Pravda (Russia)
"India has also an unblemished non-proliferation record..."

* US, allies seek to close divide on Iran
Brian Whitmore, Boston Globe

* Long-Awaited US Energy Policy Merits Passage
Fuel Cell Today (UK)
"Besides promoting wind, solar, the proposal provides incentives for cleaner-burning coal and the long-stymied nuclear power industry."

* Real World Economics: Using common funds for the common good
St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
Energy bill "chock full of unnecessary subsidies to nuclear power and the petroleum industry".

* WAUSAU: Obey: Bill gives US control of power lines
St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)

* Crash near Yucca raises concerns
Mary Manning, Las Vegas SUN

* Talk of nuke dump site 'no-fly' zone follows Air Force jet crash
Las Vegas SUN

* Editorial: Secrecy sows distrust
Las Vegas SUN

* Yucca Mountain: Crash concerns discussed -- Nuclear waste advisory panel urged to take another look at Nellis, test site risks
Keith Rogers, Las Vegas Review-Journal

* Lieberman: Safety key to Yucca site
Erin Neff, Las Vegas Review-Journal

* The bad things that would happen if we launched nuclear waste into the sun.
Michael Moyer, Popular Science

* Nuclear Bunker Busters, Mini-Nukes, and the US Nuclear Stockpile
Robert W. Nelson, Physics Today

* Energy Bill: Title VIÑnuclear Matters
U.S. Congress (pdf-128K)

* Group Asks Senate to Kill Energy Bill
Susan Montoya Bryan, Las Vegas SUN

* Energy bill will not fix problems
San Francisco Examiner

* Senators From Both Parties Criticize Energy Legislation
Dan Morgan, Washington Post