Bad week for terrorists, but threat level raised to Orange again
Tom Ridge announced that threat indicators are "perhaps greater now than at any point" since Sept. 11, 2001, with strikes possible during the holidays. Nuclear plants are mentioned as a concern, but no more so than several other potential targets. Washington, New York, and west coast are mentioned, as are overseas interests. The al Qaeda kind of folks would love to outdo the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, and concern is expressed for bio or chem weapons. Airplanes as weapons continues to be of interest to terrorists. Parting thought: (quote from chairman of the Joint Chiefs this morning) "There is no doubt, from all the intelligence we pick up from al-Qaeda, that they want to do away with our way of life." [Gen. Richard Myers, "Fox News Sunday"]
[Ref: Jennifer C. Kerr (AP writer), "Nation's threat level goes to orange Ð high risk of terrorist attack", Associated Press, December 21, 2003]
What delightful news about Libya. Here's a series of nuclear-related items from press coverage:
December 20, 2003
Libya's nuclear weapons program more advanced than we thought
Libya's action halted an active nuclear weapons program that U.S. intelligence agencies had never said publicly that Libya possessed.
[Ref: William Douglas and Jonathan S. Landay (Knight Ridder Washington Bureau), "Libya to end weapons programs: Gadhafi agrees to inspections, admits programs to build chemical, nuclear, biological weapons", Edmonton Journal (Alberta), December 20, 2003, p. A4]
Never before had Libya acknowledged a nuclear program. A team of U.N. and British inspectors visited Libya in October and then again in early December, searching more than 10 sites connected to the nuclear program, according to a senior Bush administration official. CIA officials also visited key sites. Libya's nuclear weapons program was "much further advanced" than U.S. and British intelligence agencies had thought, the official said. The inspectors saw completed centrifuges, as well as "thousands of centrifuge parts.""Libya admitted to nuclear fuel-cycle projects that were intended to support a nuclear weapons program, weapons development, including uranium enrichment," the official said. In addition, those inspectors visited medical and agricultural facilities that could be used in the development of biological weapons. But it was Libya's nuclear program that most alarmed officials. "We were not surprised on the chemical side," the official said. "On the nuclear side ... my understanding is that they did have a much further advanced program, including centrifuges." Another senior administration official said Libya's weapons programs are robust "in every area." "It's enormous," the official said. "We have grave concerns about the program."
[Ref: CNN.com (dateline Washington DC), "Bush official: Libya's nuclear program a surprise", December 19, 2003]
Questions about Libya and the Axis of Evil
Libya approached British and U.S. officials in mid-March, about the same time the war in Iraq began. But there was nothing to indicate the nuclear or chemical weapons materials came from Iraq. The same senior Bush administration official who was the source for the above statements refused to say whether the government of Libya's leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, had supplied material to Saddam Hussein's former regime, and the official refused to name other nations that Libya has worked with on weapons development, except that Libya admitted cooperating with North Korea on the development of "extended-range Scud missiles."
[Ref: CNN.com (dateline Washington DC), "Bush official: Libya's nuclear program a surprise", December 19, 2003]
Stopping rogue WMD - success story in Libya is hoped to serve as lesson
Libya, a pariah state for decades, said yesterday it would abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs and allow unconditional inspections, drawing praise from Washington and London for its move toward rejoining the international community. Libya had chosen "of its free will" to "completely eliminate the internationally banned weapons of mass destruction," the foreign ministry said. Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi said the "wise decision" showed his country was committed to "building a world free of weapons of mass destruction and all sorts of terrorism."
U.S. President George W. Bush immediately praised Libya for taking "essential steps" on the weapons programs and said: "Its good faith will be returned." "Today's announcement shows that we can fight this menace through more than purely military means; that we can defeat it peacefully, if countries are prepared, in good faith, to work with the international community to dismantle such weapons," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. He also said the U.S. and Britain would work to ensure Libya lives up to its agreements. And, "perhaps", as Reuters put it, "with an eye on North Korea and Iran", Bush added: "I hope that other leaders will find an example in Libya's announcement today."
[Ref: Salah Sarrar (Reuters News Agency, dateline Tripoli), "Libya to scrap banned weapons; Move wins praise from Bush, Blair; Had 'advanced' nuclear program", The Toronto Star, December 20, 2003, p. A12]
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, after secret negotiations with the United States and Britain, agreed to halt his nation's drive to develop nuclear and chemical weapons and the long-range missiles to deliver them, President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday. Blair, speaking from Durham, Britain, and Bush, addressing reporters in the White House briefing room, described a process of nine months of secret talks and onsite inspections, initiated by the long reviled Libyan leader shortly after he agreed to a settlement in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. In the decision announced Friday by all sides, Libya agreed to disclose all its weapons of mass destruction and related programs and to open the country to international weapons inspectors to oversee their elimination "Colonel Gadhafi's commitment, once it is fulfilled, will make our country more safe and the world more peaceful," said Bush.
[Ref: Jennifer Loven (AP writer, dateline Washington), "Libya will give up weapons program, allow inspectors, Bush and Blair say", Associated Press, December 19, 2003]
Britain said Libya had been close to making a nuclear bomb
[Ref: Salah Sarrar (Reuters News Agency, dateline Tripoli), "Libya to scrap banned weapons; Move wins praise from Bush, Blair; Had 'advanced' nuclear program", The Toronto Star, December 20, 2003, p. A12]
Libya - status of US sanctions and prospects for future change
The U.S. considers Libya to be a rogue state. It currently bans most economic activity and bars its citizens from traveling to Libya without special government permission.
[Ref: Kyodo News Service, "Libya agrees to give up WMDs, allow inspections", Japan Economic Newswire, December 19, 2003]
Last month, the US government renewed this passport restriction for a year but said it would review the matter every three months.
Bush offered the prospect of U.S. assistance for Libya in the future, saying: "As Libya becomes a more peaceful nation it can become a source of stability in Africa and the Middle East. Should Libya pursue internal reform, America will be ready to help its people to build a more free and prosperous country."
Libya escaped broader U.N.-imposed international sanctions this year after accepting responsibility for the bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and paying out $2.7 billion (U.S.) to the families of victims. Washington left its sanctions in place, citing suspicions Tripoli was seeking biological and chemical weapons.
[Ref: Salah Sarrar (Reuters News Agency, dateline Tripoli), "Libya to scrap banned weapons; Move wins praise from Bush, Blair; Had 'advanced' nuclear program", The Toronto Star, December 20, 2003, p. A12]
Bush expects Libya to fully join war on terror, too
Bush said the United States and Britain, wary of Libyan promises, would watch closely to make sure Gadhafi keeps his word. And he said Libya's promises on weapons aren't enough; it must "fully engage in the war against terror" as well. If Libya "takes these essential steps and demonstrates its seriousness," Bush held out the promise of helping Libya build "a more free and prosperous country."
[Ref: Jennifer Loven (AP writer, dateline Washington), "Libya will give up weapons program, allow inspectors, Bush and Blair say", Associated Press, December 19, 2003]
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Libya sent numerous signals that it wanted to avoid a confrontation with the United States. In talks with Assistant Secretary of State William Burns in London several months after the attacks, a top aide to Gadhafi offered to hand over information on a Libyan Islamic group with ties to the al-Qaida network.
[Ref: William Douglas and Jonathan S. Landay (Knight Ridder Newspapers, Washington Bureau), "Libya to halt nuke efforts", Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), December 20, 2003, p A1
Libya's decision - invasion of Iraq "might have been a factor"
Richard Murphy, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state now at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. invasion of Iraq "might have been a factor" in Libya's decision to give up its weapons of mass destruction. 'I hope that other leaders will find an example in Libya's announcement.'
[Ref: Salah Sarrar (Reuters News Agency, dateline Tripoli), "Libya to scrap banned weapons; Move wins praise from Bush, Blair; Had 'advanced' nuclear program", The Toronto Star, December 20, 2003, p. A12]
The White House suggested that Libya's dramatic decision was influenced by the war in Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein, as well as U.S. efforts to rein in weapons of mass destruction capabilities in North Korean and Iran.
[Ref: Jennifer Loven (AP writer, dateline Washington), "Libya will give up weapons program, allow inspectors, Bush and Blair say", Associated Press, December 19, 2003]
Libya, by the way, knew one of its weapons material shipments had been intercepted
Another significant factor, U.S. officials said, was that Libya had become aware that U.S. and British intelligence had developed direct, verifiable knowledge of weapons materials possessed by Gaddafi. The U.S. hand in the negotiations was bolstered, officials said, by a previously undisclosed interdiction under the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led agreement with allies allowing searches of planes and ships suspected of carrying banned weapons or missile technologies. Officials provided no further details.
[Ref: Peter Slevin and Glenn Frankel (Washington Post staff writers), "Libya Vows to Give Up Banned Weapons; Bush and Blair Hail Results of Nine Months of Secret Talks", The Washington Post, December 20, 2003, p. A1]
Gaddafi wanted to stay away from Axis of Evil
... yesterday the Libyan leader demonstrated that he did not want to be included in America's "axis of evil". He has long been suspected of developing weapons of mass destruction, particularly chemical weapons. But last night's revelation that his regime had been developing a full "nuclear cycle" - giving him the capability of making weapons-grade fissile material - will have come as a surprise to many experts.
[Ref: Anton La Guardia, "Analysis: Gaddafi yielded to 'good cop, bad cop' trick", The Daily Telegraph (London), December 20, 2003, p. 12]
UK-USA version of 'good cop, bad cop' prompts Libya to good move
TONY Blair... last night underlined his conviction that Libya's decision to come clean on its weapons of mass destruction was a vindication of his policy of "engagement" with rogue regimes in the Middle East. But in Washington, the Bush administration will see the latest move as evidence that military action in Iraq is beginning to transform the whole of the Middle East. The reality is probably somewhere in between, in which America and Europe have played a "good cop, bad cop" game with radical regimes in the Middle East.
[Ref: Anton La Guardia, "Analysis: Gaddafi yielded to 'good cop, bad cop' trick", The Daily Telegraph (London), December 20, 2003, p. 12]
Libya prompted by Iraq example (stick) and UK diplomatic carrot
"For anyone who is a hawk on weapons of mass destruction, this is a welcome event," said Ashton Carter, assistant secretary of defense during the Clinton administration and an adviser to Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. "We should hope that our resolve over Iraq's WMD had something to do with convincing the Libyan leadership to take this course." White House officials said they felt certain that the brewing military confrontation with Iraq influenced Gaddafi's decision to reach out. Their British counterparts acknowledged the value of strong action, but also maintained that Britain's decision to reestablish diplomatic relations with Libya in 1999 was a factor.
[Ref: Peter Slevin and Glenn Frankel (Washington Post staff writers), "Libya Vows to Give Up Banned Weapons; Bush and Blair Hail Results of Nine Months of Secret Talks", The Washington Post, December 20, 2003, p. A1]
Libya's uranium enrichment system was not operational
U.S. and British experts inspected components of a centrifuge program to enrich the uranium, though the system was not operational, a senior Bush administration official said, briefing reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity.
[Ref: Jennifer Loven (AP writer, dateline Washington), "Libya will give up weapons program, allow inspectors, Bush and Blair say", Associated Press, December 19, 2003]
Here's the relevant excerpt from the briefing transcript, Q means the unnamed reporter's question, and A means the unnamed senior administration official's answer:
Q: What's your understanding of how close they were to having a nuclear bomb?
A: I can't get into that, specifically.
Q: Were you surprised at the extent of what they had? Is there anything they had that surprised you? Did you know they had this much quantity and technology and equipment?
A: I think we were not surprised on the chemical side. On the nuclear side, I think that -- and you should probably talk to an intelligence expert on this -- but my understanding is that they did have a much further advanced program, including centrifuges.
Q: Can I follow on that point? First of all, how many centrifuges did they show you or did they declare? What kind of centrifuges were they? Were they a familiar design to you? And do you have any indication that they had actually produced HEU and did they say in what quantities?
A: I'd prefer not to get into the specifics. We did see both full up centrifuges, as well as thousands of centrifuge parts.
Q: Did you see cascades, were they individual centrifuges or were they in cascades?
A: We did not see a cascade up and running.
Q: Did you see a facility for a cascade?
A: I'm not sure. The answer is no, we did not see an enrichment facility; we saw the components that would make for an enrichment facility.
Q: Did they declare that they actually had produced any significant quantities of HEU?
A: They did not declare that.
[Ref: News Briefing by senior Bush Administration official after President Bush's announcement about Libya, December 19, 2003]
Those who think WMD brings power or prestige are wrong, sez Bush
Bush used the announcement to try to nudge unnamed "regimes that seek or possess weapons of mass destruction" into similar cooperation. "Those weapons do not bring influence or prestige; they bring isolation and otherwise unwelcome consequences," he said. "Leaders who abandon the pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, will find an open path to better relations with the United States and other free nations."
[Ref: Jennifer Loven (AP writer, dateline Washington), "Libya will give up weapons program, allow inspectors, Bush and Blair say", Associated Press, December 19, 2003]
Libya shows Arabs that there is a peaceful way to deal with USA
Friday's developments could help improve Washington's image in the Muslim world, where anger is high over U.S. support for Israel, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and American pressure on Iran and Syria.
"It shows, even beyond the Muslim world, there's two ways to approach the United States," the senior State Department official said.
[Ref: William Douglas and Jonathan S. Landay (Knight Ridder Newspapers, Washington Bureau), "Libya to halt nuke efforts", Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), December 20, 2003, p A1
Libya to pursue civilian reactor program; Russia plans to help
Russia recently informed the United States that it intends to cooperate with Libya to promote civilian nuclear programmes. The Americans notified Israel in recent days, and now Washington and Jerusalem are trying to stop the Russians and to prevent the advancement of Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi's nuclear plans. Defence sources fear that once they are built, it will be easy to transform the Libyan reactors to produce nuclear weapons. This development places Libya alongside Iran with regard to the attempts to develop nuclear arms. Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, takes a grave view: "I learnt about the possible Russian-Libyan nuclear cooperation only recently. Of course, such a development will worry us very much. Libya is apparently been managing quite well on its own and has made progress in its nuclear programme. The Libyan threat to Israel's well-being might prove no less grave than the Iranian one."
Jerusalem's fears about Libya apply also to Tripoli's development of long-range missiles. These missiles are supplied by North Korea, and the Al-Qadhafi regime has been extending their range. In its contacts with European countries, Israel has been warning that these missiles don't only endanger us but also such European capitals as London, which might find themselves within their range.
[Ref: Qave Shafran (IDF radio political correspondent), IDF Radio (Israel Defence Forces), Tel Aviv, "Israeli officials said worried about Russia-Libya nuclear cooperation", December 16, 2003 0500 gmt (translated from the Hebrew by BBC Monitoring)]
Libya was recruiting foreign n-weapon experts
The United States and Britain learned that Libya was trying to put together a team of foreign experts to build the nuclear weapon, he said. The official declined to say from which countries these experts were being recruited, but his comment indicated that while Libya was enriching uranium, it may not have fully built a warhead or developed plans to do so and would have to rely on foreign experts.
[Ref: William Douglas and Jonathan S. Landay (Knight Ridder Washington Bureau), "Libya to end weapons programs: Gadhafi agrees to inspections, admits programs to build chemical, nuclear, biological weapons", Edmonton Journal (Alberta), December 20, 2003, p. A4]
Bolton was the only one that pegged Libya's nuclear program
Libya was not formally part of President George Bush's original "axis of evil" in his State of the Nation speech in January 2002 when he named Iraq, Iran and North Korea as enemies who posed a mortal threat to the world because of their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their support for terrorism. Many in the Bush administration, notably John Bolton, under-secretary of state responsible for weapons proliferation, had openly enlarged the definition to include Syria, Libya and Cuba. During a visit to London earlier this year, Mr Bolton had expressed alarm about Libya's nuclear program. But British officials had studiously played down its significance, either out of naivety or because they were trying to negotiate a behind-the-scenes deal with Tripoli to abandon its weapons.
[Ref: Anton La Guardia, "Analysis: Gaddafi yielded to 'good cop, bad cop' trick", The Daily Telegraph (London), December 20, 2003, p. 12]
Don't forget Libyan oil
Libya is also a major potential source of oil outside the unstable Persian Gulf region. Its oil fields were developed by U.S. firms, led by Occidental Petroleum, and Libya has been preserving tracts for American companies' return since President Reagan ordered them out in 1986.
[Ref: William Douglas and Jonathan S. Landay (Knight Ridder Newspapers, Washington Bureau), "Libya to halt nuke efforts", Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), December 20, 2003, p A1
Libya acted of it's own volition; did not bow to pressure
Col Gaddafi ... insisted that the nation had acted of "its own free will" rather than bowing to pressure from the United States and Britain... Gaddafi said in a statement that his country wanted to take the lead "in building a new world free of weapons of mass destruction and all kinds of terrorism, with the aim of preserving international peace and security and progress for humanity".
[Ref: Andrew Woodcock and Jon Smith (political staff, PA News), "Libya to dismantle WMD programmes", Press Association (UK), December 20, 2003]
Libya urges Israel to do the same
Col Gaddafi ... said the move was to serve as an example to other countries in the Middle East "without exception", an apparent reference to Israel, which has long been believed to possess nuclear weapons.
[Ref: Andrew Woodcock and Jon Smith (political staff, PA News), "Libya to dismantle WMD programmes", Press Association (UK), December 20, 2003]
WMD move - promotes democracy and green goals
Col Gaddafi ... said that ridding the world of weapons of mass destruction would also help promote "popular democracy" and to "meet ecological challenges so that the colour green will prevail all over the globe".
[Ref: Andrew Woodcock and Jon Smith (political staff, PA News), "Libya to dismantle WMD programmes", Press Association (UK), December 20, 2003]
Libya developed WMD in self-defense
The foreign ministry statement maintained that Libya had long advocated such a move to make the Middle East and Africa "a region free of weapons of mass destruction". However, the statement added that Libya's call "did not receive serious response ... so Libya endeavoured to develop its defence capabilities".
[Ref: Andrew Woodcock and Jon Smith (political staff, PA News), "Libya to dismantle WMD programmes", Press Association (UK), December 20, 2003]
Two atoms bump into each other. One says: "I think I lost an electron!" The other asks: "Are you sure?" To which the first replies: "I'm positive."
[Thanx to William Reville, associate professor of biochemistry and director of microscopy at University College, Cork, in his "Under the microscope" column today in The Irish Times]
ITER site selection meeting - Dec 20
Representatives of Japan, Russia, the European Union and Canada will come to Washington DC this week, where the US Department of Energywill host the December 20 final meeting to choose the site of the experimental nuclear fusion reactor project knwn as ITER -- International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. The project was suggested by the Soviet Union in 1985, and the US was one of the early supporters of the idea. As time went on, the US Congress became disappointed with how expensive the project plans had become. In 1998, the USA withdrew from the project. The remaining member nations were able to cut the project plan's costs by about half, and President Bush last January indicated that the US would rejoin the project talks. The US apparently will pony up some $500-million for the project. No US location is in the running for being selected as the reactor site. The Bush Administration is also offering to make contributions to ITER in the form of construction work and seeks involvement in the project's administration, as well as scientific research and technological development.
[Source: Jerome Bernard, "US rejoins ITER after five year absence", Agence France Presse, December 16, 2003]
December 14, 2003
Iraq's new national holiday
Saddam hiding in a tiny "spider hole" -- sic semper tyrannis!
Mission to Mars - radiation might be show-stopper
A new $34-million NASA research lab at Brookhaven is charged with finding out what the effects on astronauts are likely to be from the radiation exposure received during a mission to Mars. NASA has some experience with astronauts being exposed, of course, but the type and magnitude of the exposure in this case is quite different than our previous endeavors.
The astronauts who went to the Moon on Apollo 14 accumulated about 1,140 millirem in their nine-day mission. The astronauts on Skylab who spent 87 days in low Earth orbit received a dose of about 17,800 millirem. Brookhaven estimates that a round trip to Mars would result in a dose of 130,000 millirem over two and a half years. Most of the dose would be from subatomic particles like protons. On Earth, we don't get much dose from these, because they mostly get deflected by the planet's magnetic field and absorbed by the atmosphere. So even though we can compare dose (ergs per gram, multiplied by an estimated "quality factor") to the more common forms of radiation we're exposed to throughout our lives (alpha, beta, and gamma), there's much we don't know about the biological effects of the dose that might be received on a Mars mission. On a trip to Mars and back, probably every cell in the body would be hit by an ionized particle or a proton, researchers say, and they have very little idea what that would do. "If every neuron in your brain gets hit, do you come back being a blithering idiot, or not?" asked Dr. Derek I. Lowenstein, the chairman of Brookhaven's collider accelerator department. A trip to Mars means "trying to live in an environment that human beings were not built to live in," Dr. Lowenstein said. "Space is not 'Star Trek', but the public certainly doesn't understand that." One theory holds that cells busy repairing damage from protons will not be able to cope with damage from heavy ions; another says that proton irradiation will prime the cell's repair system to be ready for particle damage. "It's a reasonable thing to ask, what are these first protons going to do to the later response to iron," said Dr. Betsy Sutherland (a staff biologist), noting that the theory had not been tested.
NASA's chief scientist, John M. Grunsfeld, a spacewalking veteran himself, expects that the current 5-year research plan will need to be extended before we know enough to give a scientific basis for a "go-no go" decision.
[Source: Matthew L. Wald (New York Times), "Mars Mission's Invisible Enemy: Radiation", The New York Times, December 9, 2003]
Iraqi Colonel sez "I was the one who gave 45-minute figure to Brits"
It was the head of an Iraqi air defence unit who was the source of the 45-minute claim in the Iraq WMD dossier issued by the Government in September 2002, says the fellow himself. A Lieutenant-Colonel al-Dabbagh (first name withheld at his request) told The Sunday Telegraph that "I am the one responsible for providing this. Forget 45 minutes, we could have fired these within half an hour." The weapons he was talking about were battlefield weapons to be fired from rocket-propelled grenades, and were not for use in missiles. "They arrived in boxes marked 'Made in Iraq' and looked like something you fired with a rocket-propelled grenade... They were either chemical or biological weapons; I don't know which, because only the Fedayeen and the Special Republican Guard were allowed to use them. All I know is we were told that when we used these weapons we had to wear gas masks." Col al-Dabbagh said he had no idea what became of the weapons he was describing. He believed the weapons would not be found until Saddam was caught or killed, as people would then feel freer to speak about them.
[Source: Andrew Clennell, "Iraqi colonel: I am WMD claim source", The Independent (U.K.), December 7, 2003]
Energy bill - dead in Senate for 2003
The Republicans were counting on minority leader to come up with two more votes for cloture, but Sen. Daschle attended a book-signing in the suburbs Thursday night instead of being on the floor while the ethanol provision (the "Daschle amendment", its called) was debated. Many Republicans were opposed to the ethanol subsidy, but were willing to vote for it as part of a compromise. You can bet that Daschle will have to give up more, much more, to get a similar ethanol provision in the next session, if the current bill doesn't survive. How well this will sit with Daschle's farm constituency in South Dakota is a big question.
As late as yesterday, the Republicans thought there was still a chance to pass the bill by stripping a product liability provision designed to protect manufacturers of MTBE -- a gasoline additive that helps clean air efforts but has been found to contaminate water supplies. On Monday, the White House stepped up pressure on House Republican leaders to take the MTBE provisions out of the bill, but still met resistance from DeLay and Barton. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., was willing to press the issue and force a settlement if necessary, but he wanted first to see a vote-count in the Senate showing the bill would pass. A GOP official close to the negotiations said several Senate Democrats had expressed a willingness to change their votes and support the bill if the MTBE liability provision were taken out, but backed away from the idea after Republicans won a key vote Monday on a Medicare prescription drug bill. "It was like a door slamming shut," said this official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. With Bush assured of a victory over Medicare, there was a belief that Democrats didn't want to hand the president another triumph on a marquee piece of legislation, the official said.
[Sources: Jeff Gannon (Talon News), "Daschle's Dems Derail Energy, Ethanol Until Next Year", Talon News, November 25, 2003; and H. Josef Hebert (AP writer), "Senate Gives Up on Energy Bill for 2003", Christian Broadcasting Network, November 25, 2003]
Ginna sold to Constellation, contingent on license extension
Constellation Energy Group, owner of Calvert Cliffs and Nine Mle Point, this morning announced that it had struck a deal with Rochester Gas & Electric to purchase the 495-MW Ginna plant. Ginna has been a top performer in recent years by every yardstick -- 95% capacity factor over past three years, the top INPO rating for past 6 years, and a score of 100% on the WANO index for 11 consecutive quarters. Purchase price: $401-million, plus an extra $21.6-million for fuel on hand. Ginna is physically located very close to the two units at Nine Mile Point. Both sites can be expected to benefit from common ownership.
[Source: Constellation Energy press release, "Constellation Energy Group to Acquire Ginna Nuclear Power Plant", November 25, 6:30 am ET]
Davis-Besse - criminal referral from NRC to US attorney?
A federal grand jury is investigating FirstEnergy for possible criminal violations involving Davis-Besse. The grand jury was called after the NRC's Office of Investigations filed a report with the Cleveland U.S. attorney's office. The NRC's investigative branch sends reports to the U.S. Department of Justice when it believes it has found evidence of wrong-doing. Shari Weir of Ohio Citizen Action, a Cleveland-based organization that is trying to keep Davis-Besse from restarting, said the NRC should not even consider allowing a restart until the grand jury finishes its work. But the grand jury investigation should not affect the restart process any more than the Office of Investigations report did, said NRC spokesman Jan Strasma. The NRC officials charged with overseeing the restart process at Davis-Besse have been fully briefed on the report's findings, he said.
[Source: Jim Mackinnon (Beacon Journal business writer), "FirstEnergy says Davis-Besse ready", Akron Beacon Journal, November 25, 2003]
The IAEA board of governors handling of Iran is a huge story. Here are some weekend press coverage highlights:
* US accuses Iran in 'lies' and attacks UN chief
Pravda (Russia)
The United States assailed Iran yesterday for what it claimed were "lies" about its nuclear program and voiced
unprecedented criticism of the U.N. atomic agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, suggesting he glossed over 18 years of
deception that included enriching uranium and processing plutonium. Addressing delegates, U.S. envoy Kenneth Brill
criticized Iran for "violations and lies" by enriching uranium, processing small amounts of plutonium, and other
activities that the Bush administration says point to a weapons agenda. "Iran systematically and deliberately deceived
the IAEA and the international community about these issues for year after year after year," Brill said. The purpose,
he said, was "the pursuit of nuclear weapons." A diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said only a few
countries -- Canada, Australia and Japan -- supported the U.S. position. ElBaradei dismissed the criticism. "We
reflect facts, as radar does, without partiality," ElBaradei said. "We do not jump to conclusions or make leaps of
faith. We have not said that we have come to the conclusion that the Iranian program is exclusively for peaceful
purposes, because we still have work to do." He suggested that in at least one instance -- the war in Iraq -- the
IAEA's credibility was "enhanced," and America's diminished, because there is still no sign of the nuclear-weapons
program the Bush administration accused Saddam Hussein of having.
A new proposed response to evidence of Iran's clandestine nuclear program is being drafted by EU representatives this weekend. Diplomats say the new draft would satisfy Washington by including a provision allowing the board of governors to take strong measures should Iran in the future defy its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
* Nuclear Agency Divided Over Iran Resolution
Douglas Frantz, Los Angeles Times (registration required)
A U.S. official said the Bush administration was insisting on tough wording from IAEA Board because a weak message
could encourage other countries that might be interested in developing nuclear weapons. "The rubber meets the road on
the NPT right now," said the official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified. "People are making
calculations on this, people in laboratories." Backroom discussions were expected over the weekend in Vienna and the
capitals of the countries involved to come up with language acceptable to both sides by Wednesday. One idea gaining
support is to establish a timetable for Iran's acceptance of tougher inspections and dismantling its elements of its
nuclear program, several diplomats in Vienna said. Diplomats said the United States might try to block a resolution
that it considered too weak. "No resolution is better than a bad resolution," said a senior Western diplomat. "We can
take the issue up in March after the next report following the aggressive inspection process" now underway.
* Diplomats deadlocked on Iran nuclear program; US seeks ruling of noncompliance
Brian Whitmore, Boston Globe
Many at the IAEA board meeting view the current talks as a precedent-setting case of how the international
community will handle future cases of nuclear proliferation. "Iran's breaches of its obligations have been brazen and
systematic," Kenneth Brill, the US ambassador to the UN mission in Vienna, said in a speech to delegates. "How the
IAEA deals with the discovery of so much of Iran's hitherto entirely secret nuclear program will be a critical
watershed for the global nuclear nonproliferation regime."
A Western diplomat said Iran was "trying to leverage everything they can" to influence the outcome of the talks. Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's representative to the IAEA, raised the stakes yesterday by suggesting that Tehran would not sign on to a tough new inspections regime if they were declared in noncompliance or reported to the Security Council. After yesterday's meeting, Brill said "This is not surprising, but it isn't acceptable."
* Iran breaches of nuke safeguards 'brazen': US
Agence France Presse/IranMania News
A British statement delivered to the IAEA board said the Iran resolution must, as well as warning possible
proliferators, "set a framework for future co-operation between Iran and the Agency." It said London's "immediate
priority was to build on Iran's new approach and to ensure it was sustained."
Kenneth Brill, the US Ambassador to the IAEA, told the board however that Iran has not proved it can be trusted. He said "Iran's breaches of its obligations have been brazen and systematic and far from merely 'technical' ones." Brill said Iran's claim to have turned a new page in cooperation since October can not be taken at face value since "so much of what it has said in the past year about its nuclear program has turned out to be false."
* Iran vows: 'No' to decisions suppressing its nuclear energy ...
Arabic News
Iran sees the current IAEA Board of Governors meeting as an important event. Here's an excerpt from former
president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran: "The next few hours are the hours of trial.
We are waiting to see how much the US can impose its own inhuman and colonial views on the board through threat,
coercion and bribing."
* EU-Iran relations in the last two years
Nawab Khan, IRNA/Payvand's Iran News
Iran is seen by EU as a potentially constant and stable supply of energy. Iran is endowed with 10 percent of the
world's oil reserves and 16 percent of natural gas reserves. In a recent report, the Commission said that the EU's
dependence on external supplies of oil will increase from the current 75 percent to exceed 85 percent by 2020. The
report said that 80 percent of EU's imports of petroleum products come from the Persian Gulf region where the
concentration of oil production is likely to increase significantly over the next few decades. In the wake of the
American invasion of Iraq, which Iran views as a stark violation of the UN charter, both the EU and Iran are
worried about US intentions in the region. Therefore, EU-Iran cooperation and engagement are
expected to grow and widen in the post-Iraq war developments. An EU statement, read out at the IAEA board meeting in
Vienna on 21 November said the EU is willing to consider the new undertaking by the Islamic Republic of Iran as a
significant step toward the restoration of confidence in Iran nuclear intention and toward the reassurance of the
International Community.
* IAEA Seeks Agreement on Iran nuclear Resolution
Melanie Sully, Voice of America
Western diplomats say that not all European countries are happy with the way they say Britain, France and Germany
presume to set foreign policy for the 15-nation European Union. The United States says Iran only admitted to a
sophisticated uranium enrichment program, after the program was discovered. The U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, Kenneth
Brill, accused Iran of deliberate deceit. He said Iran's production of plutonium had only one purpose - to build
nuclear weapons.
* Divided Over Iran's Nuclear Program, Agency Delays Action
Mark Landler, New York Times (registration required)
The IAEA board did conclude one bit of business, authorizing Dr. ElBaradei to sign an agreement with Iran that
would allow the agency to conduct surprise inspections. Iran must still sign the agreement and ratify it.
* Sparking diplomatic flap, U.S. envoy criticizes U.N. agency report as too soft on Iran
AP/Norwalk Hour (CT)
Diplomats described both the dispute between Brill and ElBaradei and the rift within the board as unprecedented in
more than two decades of meetings by the 35-nation board.
* Iran says IAEA nuclear talks going its way
Agence France Presse/Channel News Asia (Singapore)
IAEA meeting adjourned until Wednesday. Iran says a lot will happen this weekend, and thinks things are moving
favorably for them. "From now until Monday there will be a lot of developments. It is not predictable, but what we can
definitely say is that things are moving in favour of Iran," said Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's representative to the IAEA.
* Envoy rips UN on nuke report
AP/Washington Times (DC)
Iran submitted a letter to the IAEA board agreeing to open its nuclear programs to pervasive spot inspections
instead of waiting until seeing the text of the resolution. But diplomats who asked for anonymity said Iran continued
to insist it had the right to withdraw its promise to accept the inspections if the resolution made reference to
Security Council involvement or contained other language it found unacceptable. Such a move, however, would almost
guarantee a strong resolution that might meet even U.S. wishes to have Iran declared in violation of safeguard
agreements Ñ triggering possible Security Council involvement.
* US, IAEA at loggerheads over Iran
Hi Pakistan
The deep difference at the IAEA board meeting was over whether to condemn Iran's past nuclear transgressions or
focus on what major European nations say seems to be its new-found openness. A diplomat who asked for anonymity said
only a few countries Canada, Australia and Japan supported the US position. "There is evidence against Iran, but many
fear using the stick instead of the carrot will play into the hands of the hard-liners" in Tehran looking for nuclear
confrontation, he said. Many countries, led by Britain, France and Germany, think that taking the issue to the
Security Council could cause a backlash, prompting Tehran to cut off cooperation with the IAEA.
* Reuters World News Highlights 1600 GMT Nov 22
Reuters/Forbes
The USA has dropped its demand that IAEA declare Iran in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
* US Lags on Approving Protocol Demanded of Iran
Carol Giacomo, Reuters/Aljazeerah.info
The USA accused the IAEA of damaging its credibility by concluding there was as yet no evidence that Iran has a
nuclear weapons program. But IAEA Director General Mohamed El-Baradei rejected the charge by saying that his agency
had after all been right in the past when it had said there was no evidence in Iraq of a nuclear weapons program.
* US drops hard line on Iran nukes
Louis Charbonneau, Reuters
U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA, Kenneth Brill, told the board on Friday that the phrase "no evidence" [to suggest
Tehran had a secret weapons program] was "highly unfortunate" in the light of revelations about Iran's cover-up and
secret experiments with plutonium reprocessing and uranium enrichment. He said the IAEA report should have used the
words "no proof" instead. Brill said the IAEA's wording had provoked "expressions of disbelief that the institution
charged with... scrutinising nuclear proliferation risks was dismissing important facts."
* Elbaradei on a tight rope
IRIB (Iran)
IAEA director general Elbaradei called "unfair" the US stance against Iran. He dismissed the claims that there had
been evidences Iran pursued a nuclear program for military purposes.
* Mother, may I?
J. Gordon Prather, WorldNetDaily
The question before the IAEA Board of Governors is: "Did any Iranian breach of their Safeguards Agreement
obligations constitute a 'diversion of nuclear energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive
devices'?" IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei has told the board he can find no evidence that any of them were.
So, Undersecretary of State John Bolton can judge ElBaradei's report "simply too impossible to believe" and Israeli
intelligence can claim that Iran's nuclear program poses "a threat to the existence of Israel." But, the evidence so
far is that Ð in asserting its "inalienable rights" Ð Iran has neglected to say, "Mother, may I?"
* US, UN Trade Barbs on Iran
Vanessa Gera, AP/Washington Post
Before the discussion moved to the board members' capitals, a draft discussed in Vienna and quoted to the
Associated Press by a senior diplomat would have given the board the right to immediately call an emergency session
should any evidence surface that Iran was guilty of "significant failures." Mr. ElBaradei has said he wanted a
strongly worded report that nonetheless stops short of asking for Security Council involvement.
Determining whether Iran tried to build nuclear weapons "will take some time and much verification effort," Mr. ElBaradei told the board.
On Thursday, diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity told the AP that the agency identified Russia, China and Pakistan as likely sources for equipment that could be used by Iran for nuclear-weapons development. They gave no other details.
* IAEA delays decision on Iran nukes
Elise Labott, CNN
Last week, the IAEA released a 30-page report that detailed how Iran finally admitted to producing small amounts
of low-enriched uranium and plutonium. But at the same time, the IAEA said there was "no evidence" that those
previously undeclared materials were "related to a nuclear weapons program."
* Agency considers Iran nuclear program
AP/Citizen Online (GA)
The IAEA board of governors' meeting was adjourned Thursday after only two hours at Iran's request, a senior
diplomat said. It was to resume Friday.
* US Backs Off Stand Over Iran's nuclear Program
Voice of America
Diplomats say the United States is now pushing Britain, France and Germany to toughen up their proposal, while
accepting it will not declare Iran in non-compliance with the treaty.
* The outlook is bad for Iraq, says Hans Blix
Reuters/Taipei Times (Taiwan)
Hans Blix says the Americans are wrong to assume that Iran used a civilian energy program to develop a nuclear
bomb -- another point of tension with several European countries.
* United States softens position on Iran, but complains about atomic agency's report
George Jahn, AP/San Francisco Chronicle
On Thursday, State Department spokesperson Adam Ereli had said the United States expects the board "to meet its
obligations under the IAEA statute to find that Iran has been in noncompliance with its safeguards agreement and to
report that noncompliance to the UN Security Council."
* US left in delicate position over Iran nuke plans
Agence France Presse/IranMania News
The US Department of State Friday backed off demands to take Iran's nuclear program before the UN Security
Council. Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli refused to repeat a statement he made on Thursday that
Washington intended to take the matter before the Security Council. Ereli went too far in his statement during a State
Department press briefing Thursday, a senior State Department official said privately. The spokesman "might have been
a little too forward leaning," the official said. "I'm not sure frankly, that referring it to the security council is
something that we are insisting on in our negotiations."
* US diplomat says panel is too soft on Iran
George Jahn, AP/Seattle Times
In Washington, the State Department sought to play down any rift. "There's no intention to impugn the credibility
of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the fine work that Director ElBaradei has done in putting together what
is an important report on Iran's nuclear program," spokesman Adam Ereli said.
Chief Iranian delegate Ali Akbar Salehi suggested the United States was isolated on the board. "We think that the American delegation Ñ or the U.S. as a whole Ñ is sort of a hostage to its own accusations," Salehi said.
* US lags on approving protocol demanded of Iran
Reuters/Deepika (India)
The USA has not ratified our own Additional Protocol agreement with IAEA. We signed the agreement in 1998.
President Bush submitted it to the Senate for ratification in 2002. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee wanted to
see the implementing legslation before acting on the agreement, and the Bush administration's proposed implementing
legislation was submitted to Senate yesterday.
* Firebomb thrown at British embassy in Tehran
Agence France Presse/Channel News Asia (Singapore)
"At around 3:30 this afternoon (1200 GMT), somebody drove by and threw a small firebomb at the Churchill Gate.
There was fire damage on both sides of the gate but nobody was injured," a British diplomat said. The firebomb
appeared to have been lobbed from a passing car. The embassy was raked by gunfire on September 3. The building was
also shot at on September 9 and 14. No one was injured in any of the incidents. Also, athough Iran condemned
Thursday's bomb attacks on British interests in Istanbul, it accused Britain and the United States of creating "a
context" for such attacks by going to war in Iraq in March. "This situation has been created by certain countries who
came into the region and created a crisis and today this crisis has been transported to other countries," said Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharazi.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had previously kept his distance from Washington's view of Iran as part of an "axis of evil", has also been taking a harder line recently towards the Islamic republic.
* Pakistan denies aiding Iran's N - programme .
Hi Pakistan
"It is inconceivable - strategically and technologically" for Pakistan to provide any kind of help to Tehran for
its nuclear programme, said Munir Akram, Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations. Mr Akram said that Iran's
nuclear programme was spread over 20 years, involving laser enrichment besides being plutonium- based which was
technologically "far superior procedures than the uranium enrichment programme that Pakistan has." He asserted that
the capability for uranium enrichment could only be acquired by Iran from a technologically superior country and not
Pakistan. On Thursday, a news report alleged that the IAEA had identified Russia, China and Pakistan among the
probable suppliers of equipment that Iran used to conduct its suspected nuclear weapons programmes. The report was not
attributed to any IAEA official but was leaked by one of the Vienna-based diplomats.
* Why destabilise Saudi Arabia?
Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Hi Pakistan
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria have been targeted by hawks in Washington for preemptive interventions, such as was
used in Iraq. Pakistan wil be similarly targeted. US goals are to occupy the Middle East, bring in a puppet regime in
Iran, and destroy Pakistan's nuclear programme -- all for the purposes of supporting Israel and controlling oil.
* Rummy's Nuclear Weapons Could Trigger World War III
Gordon Thomas, American Free Press (Capitol Hill, D.C.)
Mini nukes got a boost by a top-secret Defense Science Board report titled Future Strategic Strike Force. The
report was produced by a group of scientists employed at Los Alamos and by Pentagon strategists. They have concluded
that in the war against terrorism, it is "essential to revamp our nuclear arsenal. We envisage a completely new
arsenal of small-scale missiles whose explosive impact would be easier to control and which could be targeted against
terror groups and small aggressive states." Though North Korea and Iran are not named, Pentagon sources say that the
"mini-nukes would be ideal for targeting them." Examples of the low-yield design ideas are an enhanced mini-neutron
bomb and a "bunker buster", capable of destroying terrorist cells deep underground. The weapons could be tested as
early as next year. A copy of the report has already been sent to Israel -Ñ and its defense chiefs have expressed "a
strong interest" in ordering the mini-nukes.
Linear, no-threshold hypothesis of radiation risk is as faulty as flat earth concept
Blaine Howard [73-year-old retired health physicist] ... continues to be disappointed at the abject lack of public understanding regarding the danger of things minimally nuclear. He could only shake his head at newspaper report that the influential Alliance for Unity has registered its official opposition to the transport of nuclear waste into Utah. Names like Huntsman, Eccles, Ballard and Niederauer are behind the A-for-U, which lends a huge amount of credibility to whatever the group is for or against Ñ even if, as Blaine suggests, in this case it doesn't know what it's talking about.
To cue up the broken record Blaine has been playing for years, it is his opinion, as well as that of any other credentialed health physicists he associates with, that there is no undue public risk in the transport and storing of low levels of radiation Ñ here or anywhere else. Of the low-level uranium mill tailings in Ohio that stirred up the latest outcry against nuclear waste coming to the Utah desert, Mr. Howard says, "If my children went out and played in it, I wouldn't be concerned that they would be harmed by the radiation." And yes, he loves his kids.
At the crux of his reasoning is a scientific belief that the linear non-threshold hypothesis is incorrect. And what is the linear non-threshold hypothesis? In layman's terms, it is the theory that if a lot of radiation is harmful, then lesser amounts are proportionately harmful. Blaine says that theory is flawed. In fact, he says, there comes a point when radiation turns the corner and actually becomes beneficial. As the latest example of that, he points to 1,500 apartments constructed in Taiwan in the early 1980s with steel bars that unknowingly exceeded legal radiation levels. More than 10,000 people lived amid this supposed danger for more than 15 years, and the result, instead of a radiation nightmare, is a rate of cancer 96.5 percent lower for the residents of the apartments than for the Taiwanese population at large. "It appears that the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council, by failing to 'protect' these people from the harmful effects of radiation, allowed them to receive the beneficial effects of radiation," says Blaine.
Blaine Howard has no agenda other than the truth. He's been retired for almost seven years now. He worked for the state for 18 years and finished his career working for Envirocare for six years. That's the same Envirocare, by the way, that until yesterday was trying to get permission to bring in the uranium tailings from Ohio. But Blaine has no ties to the company. In fact, he remains a bit miffed that Envirocare hurried him into retirement before he was ready. "I have no affiliation with Envirocare and I don't feel I was treated especially well by them," he says, "but I don't like to see them mistreated, either." As for the dumping of nuclear waste in Utah, he has no stake in whether that does or does not happen. Couldn't care less.
What he does care about is the perpetuation of a public perception that is simply not true. "I grew up as a poor farm boy (in Chester, Idaho)," says Blaine. "And then I had all these opportunities to learn and I believe, since this knowledge was given to me, I have an obligation to give it to the public so they won't have this terrible fear of something that's not dangerous and can in fact be beneficial."
He means no offense. He just wants to be on the record that the earth is not flat, so to speak. Just because something is nuclear doesn't mean it can hurt you.
[Source: Lee Benson, "Hypothesis on radiation is a waste", Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City), November 19, 2003]
Energy bill clears conference committee
The full House is expected to vote on the bill today, and Senate before week's end. The production tax credit for up to 6,000 MW of new nuclear plants is a big enough incentive (up to $7.5-billion, theoretically) to prompt a few utilities to consider building a new plant. After these plants are built, if the construction costs are in line with expectations, the prospects for more are pretty good. It's going to be fun watching the many so-called environmentalists kick and scream about a crummy 1.8 cents/kWh production tax credit at the same time as they're urging cutting CO2 emissions at any cost.
Quote of the day: "Scare tactics and propaganda aside, nuclear power has proven to be extremely safe in the U.S. In the past 40 years, exactly zero Americans have been killed due to nuclear power. The Chernobyl disaster was caused by faulty Soviet engineering, and simply would not happen in America. Additionally, American nuclear power plants continue to make great efficiency gains. During the past 10 years, nuclear plant production costs have fallen 40 percent, from 2.8 cents per kWh in 1991 to 1.68 cents in 2001. Yet environmentalists seek moratoriums on the construction of new plants." -- Darren Rumack, "The True Costs Of Environmental Policy", Cornell Daily Sun
South Texas Project's cover photo on "Roadmap To Excellence" presentation to NRC, November 5, 2003 (courtesy of STP Nuclear Operating Company).
Nuclear provisions in "Chairmen's Mark" energy bill
* Advanced reactor tax credit - The bill encourages construction of new nuclear power plants through a production tax credit of 1.8 cents per kWh. The credit applies to the first 6,000 MW of new nuclear plant capacity put into service before 2021. The maximum credit for an individual plant is $125-million/year. The credit lasts for the first 8 years of a plant's operating life. Details of this production tax credit are found in Title 13, Section 1310, which can be found starting at page 58 of the tax3.pdf file available here.
* Advanced Reactor Hydrogen Cogeneration Project - The bill authorizes about $1-billion for R&D and construction of a nuclear plant to produce hydrogean. Details of this provision are found in Title 6, Subtitle C, which can be found starting at page 40 of the nuclear_matters3.pdf file available here.
* Price-Anderson extension - The bill extends and otherwise modifies the Price-Anderson Act, which would otherwise expire at the end of this year, through 2023. Details of the Price-Anderson provisions are found in Title 6, Subtitle A, which can be found starting at page 1 of the nuclear_matters3.pdf file available here.
* Decommissioning funds - The bill includes some decommissioning fund provisions that look pretty esoteric to the non-accountants at nuclear.com. Many appear to address how to handle transfer of such a fund when the plant is sold. There's also a provision that precludes over-funding of a decommissioning fund - the fund must not exceed the present value of the expected decommissioning costs. Details of the decommissioning fund provisions are found in Title 13, Sections 1328-1329, which can be found starting at page 139 of the tax3.pdf file available here.
* Tariffs on imported vessel heads and steam generators - The bill extends present tariff treatment through 2008. Details of the tariff provisions are found in Title 13, Section 1365, which can be found starting at page 215 of the tax3.pdf file available here.
* N-plant site feasibility study - The bill tasks DOE with studying and reporting on whether nuclear plants could be built at current DOE sites. Details of this provision are found in Title 6, Section 629, which can be found starting at page 13 of the nuclear_matters3.pdf file available here.
* Other provisions in Title 6 include such matters as security of plants and material transfers, licensing of new uranium enrichment facilities, ensuring adequate supply of medical isotopes, creating a national low-enriched uranium stockpile, government sales of low-enriched uranium, and higher education program to ensure regulatory manpower in needed nuclear disciplines.
The rest of the bill is available as a series of pdf files at http://energy.senate.gov/legislation/energybill2003/energybill2003.cfm. The language approved by conference committee will be printed in Congressional Record, presumably early next week.
Energy Bill agreement by House-Senate conferees
Details expected today. Democrats will get two days to review the language of the 1700-page bill agreed-upon by the Republican conferees before the vote.
Feature of the day - ADAMS aid
Your humble nuclear.com editor has been using NRC's online services since long before 'cousin Al' Gore invented the internet. The current NRC public document system is quite an advance over the Bibliographic Retrieval System that was used for many years. But there's still many advances yet to come, and nuclear.com is pleased to offer one little help that regular ADAMS users may find helpful. NRC updates their ADAMS system at around midnight after every business day. We download the list of new items each day, and post a stable html version right here. Having such a list in a separate window in your web browser is an advantage if you spend much time going through the day's items. ADAMS clears your query from its cache pretty often, and you have to do the whole search from scratch and then find your place again. And that's if you're lucky. Often, the ADAMS system gets so busy that multiple-hit search results never get displayed. But with the nuclear.com window open, you can browse the list, copy the ACN (that's the Accession Number - a unique document ID that lately begins with ML) you want to see next, and paste it into a simple ADAMS search box. Since you're never relying on the same search twice, you'll never be inconvenienced by ADAMS cache-clearing. That's the theory anyway. It works pretty well for nuclear.com, and it's a pleasure to share it with you. The daily ADAMS file can be found by clicking the date of the most recent update on the main nuclear.com page. If you have any wishes or suggestions on how this can be more useful to you, please don't hesitate to use the email link on any page. To enter the web-based ADAMS system, click here.
IAEA board doesn't want to alienate the lying Mullahs of Iran
Iran's sudden openness about its nuclear program seems to have hurt U.S. efforts to have Tehran declared in violation of an international nuclear arms control treaty, diplomats and experts said Tuesday.
The Bush administration wants Iran declared in violation of the treaty at the Nov. 20 meeting of the IAEA's board of governors - a move leading to U.N. Security Council involvement and possible sanctions. But Iran's diplomatic maneuvering before the meeting appears to be shifting the 35-nation board away from a harsh response.
Within recent weeks, Iran has swung from belligerent denial of wrongdoing to acknowledging past "mistakes" in not reporting honestly to the agency. While still maintaining it only wants to generate nuclear power, it has delivered what it says is complete information about past suspect activities. Last month, Iran announced it would suspend uranium enrichment and throw open its nuclear programs to unfettered agency inspections - moves that Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's chief delegate to the IAEA, said left the United States "isolated." On Monday, Tehran delivered on those promises. Hasan Rowhani, the powerful head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said uranium enrichment was suspended and a letter committing his country to extensive inspections was deposited with the IAEA.
The announcement, which came hours before the release of ElBaradei's report [an IAEA report which leaves no question that Iran covered up past nuclear programs - including enriching uranium and processing small amounts of plutonium - that Washington says prove Tehran's intent to manufacture weapons], was made in Moscow, a key IAEA board member and Tehran's potential partner in an $800 million deal to help build Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushehr on the shore of the Persian Gulf.
A senior diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most board members want to encourage Iran to continue cooperating with the agency instead of driving it into a corner.
Diplomats said the board might ask the Security Council to closely track Iran's commitment to cooperating with the IAEA. Also, ElBaradei probably will be given several months to investigate Iran's past activities and report back to the board.
David Albright, a former Iraq weapons inspector who runs the Institute for Science and International Security, said from Washington that Iran "understood that if they took these steps they would generate goodwill."
"There is now the danger that if it is slapped in the face, it may say it's not worth cooperating and actually build those nuclear weapons everyone fears they may be working on."
[Source: George Jahn (AP writer-Vienna, Austria), "Iran's nuclear disclosures undermine U.S. effort to get Security Council involved", The Associated Press, November 11, 2003]
IAEA report blasts Iran, but leaves an'out'
IAEA's report to its Board of Governors has been leaked to public. It is unambiguous in its conclusions that Iran has violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and that Iran sought to deceive the world about the violations. It does not, however, conclude that intent of Iran's actions was to build a bomb. nuclear.com notes that this is a case of diplomats being diplomatic. One need not be a mind reader to accurately see what Iran's intent has been. Click on the date link above to see articles related to the IAEA report. There will probably be much news about this today. The USA observes Veterans Day today. Our hearts here at nuclear.com are thankful for the liberty we have, and unabashedly grateful to those who have defended against folks who would trample them. Thanks, veterans. Big time.
Fusion energy - helium-3 from the moon is a commercial prospect
My colleagues at the Fusion Technology Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Interlune-Intermars Initiative, Inc. believe that ... a commercially viable project exists in lunar helium-3 used as a fuel for fusion electric power plants on Earth. ...
Helium has two stable isotopes, helium 4, familiar to all who have received helium-filled balloons, and the even lighter helium 3. Lunar helium-3, arriving at the Moon as part of the solar wind, is imbedded as a trace, non-radioactive isotope in the lunar soils. It represents one potential energy source to meet this century's rapidly escalating demand. There is a resource base of helium-3 about of 10,000 metric tonnes just in upper three meters of the titanium-rich soils of Mare Tranquillitatis. This was the landing region for Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11 in 1969. The energy equivalent value of Helium-3 delivered to operating fusion power plants on Earth would be about $4 billion per tonne relative to today's coal.
... These numbers illustrate the magnitude of the business opportunity for helium-3 fusion power to compete for the creation of new electrical capacity and the replacement of old during the 21st Century.
Past technical activities on Earth and in deep space provide a strong base for initiating this enterprise. Also, over the last decade, there has been historic progress in the development of inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Progress there includes the production of over a milliwatt of steady-state power from the fusion of helium- 3 and deuterium. Steady progress in IEC research as well as basic physics argues strongly that the IEC approach to fusion power has significantly more commercial viability than other technologies pursued by the fusion community. It will have inherently lower capital costs, higher energy conversion efficiency, a range of power from a few hundred megawatts upward, and little or no associated radioactivity or radioactive waste. It should be noted, however, that IEC research has received no significant support as an alternative to Tokamak-based fusion from the Department of Energy in spite of that Department's large fusion technology budgets. The Office of Science and Technology Policy under several Administrations also has ignored this approach.
[Source: Harrison H. Schmitt (Chairman, InterLune-InterMars Initiative, Inc.), "Lunar Exploration" Senate Hearings, Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space November 6, 2003]
North Korea problems - China is the big winner
North Korea's nuclear gambit, whether resolved peacefully or militarily, or even left to fester, "could transform Northeast Asia and perhaps even the balance of power in East Asia", says Pacific Forum CSIS' Brad Glosserman in an op ed in today's South China Morning Post. The impacts of festering and war he identifies are pretty straightforward, but the impacts of successful, peaceful negotiations have big upside and downside. The downside involves quickening the rising influence of New China in the region, with commensurate decrease of US influence. "While both countries want to see a peaceful conclusion to the crisis," Glosserman says, "there are increasing doubts whether their interests converge over the long term. In the words of one State Department official, the two countries have common aversions - a desire to avoid war and avoid a nuclearised Korean peninsula - but that is not the same as common interests. The Chinese government would like to extend its influence over the Korean peninsula: facilitating a settlement to this crisis would win it friends in both Korean capitals. The US needs to be concerned that South Koreans do not start looking to China for leadership in security matters. It may sound far-fetched, but rising anti-Americanism in the South, growing trade and economic links between South Korea and China, and China's desire to be the regional power could transform relations on the Korean peninsula, and those effects would spread throughout Northeast Asia.
"Critics charge that the Bush administration is not thinking about the long -term effects of its 'partnership' with China. In their more candid moments, some officials concede the criticism is on target. Yet even 'engagers' admit there is no predicting China's future and that hopes for its democratic and peaceful evolution are just that - hopes. China and the US may yet find themselves in a competition for power and influence in Northeast Asia."
[Source: Brad Glosserman (director of research, Pacific Forum CSIS), "US-China: the next alliance?", South China Morning Post, October 30, 2003, p. 17]
Deregulation puts billions in play - and you can position yourself to earn a handsome share. Can you imagine getting paid every time somebody pays their phone, gas and electric bill? How about every time five somebodies pay their bills? How about a thousand special somebodies? It's happening now in the phone industry, and energy may be next. See TooCheapToMeter page for more info. Your humble nuclear.com editor hopes you'll take advantage of this absolutely free opportunity which has tremendous earning potential.
Reversing 20-year trend, fuel failures up in last two years
In comparison to where we were 20 years ago, the performance of fuel is greatly improved. The number of light-water-reactor fuel failures has steadily declined during this time. I believe a strong contributor to this improved performance is the increased market competition between the current fuel vendors here in the United States: Framatome-ANP, Westinghouse, and Global Nuclear Fuel/General Electric. Increased competition has forced these companies to review their manufacturing processes and focus on process improvements in the area of new technologies to identify issues such as, chipped fuel pellets and flawed tubes before they are put in service. In addition, vendors are focusing on performance improvements in fuel and cladding design, and other areas to support higher fuel burnups, longer operating cycles, and power uprates.
Yet, despite these successes, the number of fuel failures in the past two years has noticeably increased. Fuel issues are back on the radar screen of many plant operators and calls for improved reliability are common. Thus, the fuel vendors are left with balancing their resources to remain competitive, but still perform the needed research to safely advance their designs.
From where I sit, it appears that industry may be overly focused on the economic issues and may be pushing the fuel too hard. I get concerned when I hear industry folks question whether fuel manufacturers have budgeted sufficient research dollars toward meeting the demand of the new, more aggressive operating environment. From my perspective, increased burnup, longer operating cycles and power uprates are key drivers for the fuel performance desired by our licensees. The fuel environment is going to be more challenging but, as a safety regulator, we need to be assured that the plants can continue to operate safely under these new conditions. To continue to insist on rock bottom fuel prices at the expense of debilitating and costly fuel failures is penny-wise and pound foolish. The industry must leverage its overall experience and utilize initiatives such as the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Robust Fuel Program to effectively deal with fuel reliability.
For our part, the NRC developed a research program to confirm the current fuel burnup limit of 62 gigawatt days per metric ton and to develop a strategy for assessing future requests for burnup extensions beyond the current NRC limit to ensure the adequate protection of public health and safety at our operating reactors. Utilizing a variety of U. S. and international facilities, the NRC research effort is appropriately focused on demonstrating that recent increases in energy output for new cladding alloys can meet our regulatory expectations for postulated accidents. Nonetheless, given the recent spike in fuel failures, I think that both the NRC and industry need to consider additional research to determine how we can get a better handle on new designs and materials that can reverse the recent increase in fuel failures.
[Source: Jeffrey S. Merrifield (NRC Commissioner), "Practical Not Perfect", keynote speech at Nuclear Safety Research Conference Washington, D.C., October 21, 2003 (ACN ML032940500)]
[Note: These comments were the basis for front page story in Oct 27 issue of trade newsletter Platts NuclearFuel, titled "Industry may be too focused on fuel economics, Merrifield says".]
Signal contamination of flow measurements used as basis for power uprates
On September 26, 2003, NRC staff met with Westinghouse representatives to discuss their root cause analysis related to the Byron Unit 1 assumed overpower condition regarding crossflow ultrasonic flowmeter (UFM) signal contamination. A portion of the meeting was closed when proprietary information was presented. Special tests indicated frequency contamination that affected the operation of the UFM. The signal contamination was traced to acoustic resonant frequencies in the piping. However, the source of the resonant frequencies is still unknown. Possible sources included feedwater and pumps or other nearby equipment. Westinghouse is still evaluating UFM performance at other plants and plans to respond to the staff questions by the end of October.
The staff advised Westinghouse: (1) to verify the integrity of the information contained in previously-approved topical reports for generic applications of the crossflow UFM; (2) to establish and publish guidelines instructing users how to operate their system; and (3) that future UFM applications for Appendix K power uprates will receive greater scrutiny with respect to signal contamination and assurance that signal contamination is not present. Byron has indicated that they will gather information using UFMs, but will not use the correction factor until the root cause analysis is complete.
[Source: "NRC Meeting with Westinghouse and Exelon on Flowmeter Power Measurements", NRC Office of EDO, Weekly Information Report, October 3, 2003 ENCLOSURE A]
Iraq CBN WMD - Kay team has uncovered 95% of a smoking gun, sez Rep. Sweeney
Mr. SWEENEY (p. H9551)
... David Kay recently issued a statement that his team has indeed found substantial evidence that Iraq had many programs hidden from view to produce nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and had active illegal programs to deliver them using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. I believe this is 95 percent of a smoking gun.
- excerpted from House floor debate on "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004", Congressional Record, October 16, 2003, p.
Terror and WMD relegates one John Adams' notion obsolete, that "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy", sez Rep. Feeney
Mr. FEENEY (p. H9567)
... I remember in Washington's first farewell address, he warned all of us about entering into "entangling alliances" oversees. The second President of the United States, John Adams, said "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy." But on September 11, all of us recognized that this is a much smaller world, because monsters found America and tried to destroy us, and they are going to do it again. The next attack could be from a vial of nerve gas, a nuclear weapon, a chemical or other biological weapon that may be built in the hills of Afghanistan or the deserts of Iraq. We understand that. We recognize that, and we fully support the prosecution of the war.
- excerpted from House floor debate on "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense and for the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, 2004", Congressional Record, October 16, 2003, p.
Laugh of the day*: Rep. McDermott proposes adding asterisks to 2003 State of Union speech in the permanent Congressional Record
Mr. McDERMOTT, "Question of Privileges of the House",
Congressional Record, October 16, 2003, p H9509
Mr. Speaker, this is a resolution correcting the Record of Tuesday, January 28, 2003.
Resolved, That an asterisk be placed in the permanent Record of Tuesday, January 28, 2003, noting that the following statements contained in the State of the Union Address by the President of the United States are inaccurate:
One, "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
Two, "Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production."
Three, "From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the U.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspections sites, and monitoring the inspectors themselves."
Four, "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda.".
* nuclear.com is sympathetic to expanding this idea. How about putting asterisk next to Rep. McDermott's votes against impeachment, and those stonewalling fellow travelers of his in the Senate too. After all, it seems quite unusual that the fellow who was deemed unfit to practice law in the State of Arkansas was considered fit enough to keep finger on the nuclear button.
Russian n-security scares from recent years
Human factor is the weakest link in the system of national nuclear security. The position of servicemen [in Russia] has deteriorated because of the socioeconomic situation in the country. Certain crimes committed by conscripts (rank soldiers and sergeants alike) may lead to grave consequences indeed. Several such grave crimes were committed at nuclear objects in 1998: a soldier shot all sentries at Mayak combine, a conscript committed suicide in the torpedo room of a nuclear submarine, hostages were taken at Novaya Zemlya nuclear testing ground. Nuclear weapons storage depots have not been attacked yet, but terrorists did try to reconnoiter two such objects in 2001. Fortunately, these attempts were thwarted.
[Source: Vladimir Belous (director, Center of International and Strategic Surveys), "Fortuitous nuclear war not ruled out", Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No 36, October 10 - 16, 2003, pp. 1+4 Translated by A. Ignatkin, What The Papers Say, October 15, 2003]
Iran - more secret facilities outed by opposition, on eve of ElBaradai trip
The opposition group that blew the public whistle on Iran's enrichment and heavy water activities announced more info today at a press conference in Vienna, Austria. Firouz Mahvi, spokesperson for The National Council of Resistance in Iran, said informers inside Iran confirmed the existence of a "new secret nuclear site" about 10 miles east of Isfahan. The 580-square-mile site allegedly houses clandestine research and uranium enrichment facilities where, among other activities, centrifuges were tested. The group also claims that Iran has not declared nuclear sites near Karaj, west of Tehran. Mahvi said the new information proves "Tehran is continuing its nuclear weapons program full force... The only way to prevent the world from having to deal with the nightmare of a nuclear equipped fundamentalist regime is for the U.N. Security Council to dismiss the regime's ploys and impose binding and comprehensive sanctions against this medieval regime," he said.
The AP reports that IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei will fly to Iran's capital Wednesday to appeal for more cooperation. IAEA officials said in recent weeks that ElBaradei had not planned to visit Tehran ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline, but the agency spoke Monday of "important questions that are still outstanding" about Iran's nuclear activities. "Time is indeed running out," ElBaradei was quoted as saying on the agency Web site.
[Ref: George Jahn (AP writer), "Iranian opposition says Tehran has secret sites for nuclear weapons program", The Associated Press, October 14, 2003]
Interim report from Kay's team in Iraq
* Iraq-Korea missile dealings - sounds like they were indeed acting as an axis
* Iraq - 1999 marked WMD turning point for impatient Saddam
* Iraq - African nation (other than Niger) did offer uranium
* Iraq - Saddam was committed to obtaining nuclear weapons
* Iraq - if no more scuds, why continue to produce its fuel?
* Iraq - "remarkable record of what was concealed from UN inspectors and not declared"
* Iraq - HY-2 missile range was increased to 180 km, and efforts to increase to 1,000 km
* Iraq - scientists who talk with Kay's group get shot; this tends to hinder the search
* Iraq - fear of Saddam is still a factor inhibiting WMD investigation
* Iraq missile program assisted by companies & govts, including EU
* Iraq - weapons-lab work embedded in intelligence organization
* Iraq - 5-7 years away from n-weapon
* Iraq - the two mobile labs showed no evidence of actually producing CBW
* Iraq - Saddam may have been deceived by his weapons scientists
* Iraq - Kay's team could take another 6-9 months
* Iraq was systematically deceiving and evading WMD inspections
* Iraq - secret biological weapons research discovered
* Iraq - unmanned aerial vehicles and US route mapping software
* Iraq - Saddam destroyed many records
* Iraq - Bush rejected "imminence" test as too risky, and has been proved correct
* Iraq - Bush was right about WMD threat, even if no stockpiles are found
"Don't get depressed at what you read in the press... Try not to panic when you switch on the news ..."
Ray Davies' advice comes to mind while reading articles from around the globe today about North Korea announcing that they've completed reprocessing the 8,000 fuel rods from Yongbyon. None of the articles see fit to mention that North Korea's UN ambassador made the same claim back on July 9. In fact, he specified then that the reprocessing had been completed in June.
And frankly, North Korea's repetitious blustering doesn't seem much different than the froth-mouthed Democrats' fantasizing about image of "frog-march[ing] Karl Rove out of the White House in handcuffs".
[Refs: Amy Bickers (Voice of America, Tokyo correspondent) Pyongyang Admits to Reprocessing Nuclear Fuel Rods",
October 2, 2003 10:58 UTC; Martin Nesirky (Reuters), "North Korea Says Processed Nuclear Rods for Bombs", October 2, 2003 09:18 ET;
London Telegraph, "N Korea produces weapons-grade plutonium", October 2, 2003;
R.D. Davies quote from song titled "Live Life" from The Kinks' 1978 album "Misfits"]
Deregulation puts billions in play - and you can position yourself to earn a handsome share. Can you imagine getting paid every time somebody pays their phone, gas and electric bill? How about every time five somebodies pay their bills? How about a thousand special somebodies? It's happening now in the phone industry, and energy may be next. See TooCheapToMeter page for more info. Your humble nuclear.com editor hopes you'll take advantage of this absolutely free opportunity which has tremendous earning potential.
*
Nuclear expert punished for using iridium to hurt business partner
Xinhuanet reports from New China that a businessman was sentenced to death after being found guilty of attempting to murder his business partner. His choice of murder weapon was a radioactive Iridium source, which he and an accomplice (who was sentenced to 15 years in prison) installed in the victim's office ceiling. The victim, and 74 others in the hospital where the office was located, were sickened, including a pregnant nurse, before the radioactive material was discovered. The partners had been jointly managing a laser medical center in the Guangdong province hospital since 1997.
An Agence France Presse article notes that in China, death sentences with a two-year reprieve, such as in this case, are often commuted to life in prison.
Lots of hydrogen fuel, perhaps from Generation IV nuclear plants
This fall, the US Congress is expected to start funding a $1.1 billion project to build a new breed of nuclear reactor -- safer, less vulnerable to terrorism, and able to both generate electricity and crank out hydrogen, the presumptive automobile fuel of the future. An international panel of scientists, dubbed the Generation IV Forum, began the process in 2001 by evaluating hundreds of futuristic reactor concepts and whittling the list down to six. This fall, the US Dept of Energy will choose one for a demonstration plant, to be built at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
None of the designs is a slam dunk, says the lab's nuclear energy director Ralph Bennett, but the clear favorite is the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR). As its name implies, the VHTR is designed to generate intense heat: cooled by helium, it would operate at 1,000¡C Ñ twice as hot as today's water-cooled reactors. In addition to turning turbines to make electricity, the intense heat generated by the VHTR reactor will also power an adjacent hydrogen plant, where one of two chemical processes will produce 10 tons of hydrogen an hour, Southworth says. (The demo plant will kick out a modest 2 tons.) Since extreme heat is required to snap the chemical bonds of various compounds and release hydrogen, the reactor is ideal for producing the new fuel, says Finis Southworth, the DOE's VHTR expert.
Thanks to the configuration of its uranium fuel, the VHTR would be meltdown-proof, claims nuclear engineer Andrew Kadak of MIT. In today's reactors, the uranium is stuffed into hollow rods of zirconium, a metal that catches fire if the coolant is somehow drained off, resulting in a potentially disastrous radiation release, like the one at Three Mile Island. In the VHTR, the uranium will be either in the form of "pebble beds" Ñ stacked pellets of uranium covered in graphite Ñ or "prismatic blocks" Ñ uranium encased in 3-foot-high, 2-foot-wide hexagons of graphite.
Using graphite instead of zirconium to cradle the uranium means a Three Mile Island-style accident is impossible; instead of combusting in the absence of coolant, graphite allows nuclear heat to radiate away faster than it is produced. This "passive" safety system requires no frantic scrambling by personnel to save the day, making the VHTR more difficult to sabotage.
These reactors produce nuclear waste, which may cause some folks not to support the nuclear approach. But these reactors also avoid production of carbon dioxide, which may cause some folks to support the nuclear approach. A demonstration reactor will take years to build; the DOE hopes to flip the switch in 2015, just in time for the anticipated rollout of hydrogen-fueled automobiles.
[Source: Bob Ivry, "Next-generation reactors: Nuclear power heats up (again)", Popular Science, October 2003, p. 33]
Thailand uses Argonne blessing to approve research reactor construction
Thailand's National Commission on Atomic Energy for Peace has approved construction of a 10-megawatt research reactor in Onkharak, Nakhon Nayok. The reactor will be built by US-based General Atomic. The project was proposed in 1989 by the Chatchai Choonhavan administration, and won government approval in 1992. In 1998, the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace signed a contract with General Atomic to design, construct and operate the reactor. The contract expired three years ago, and GA's demand for Bt900-million compensation has not been paid. The construction cost is estimated at Bt3.55-billion.
The Commission's decision is controversial. An environmental impact report on the project has twice been rejected by the National Environment Board, most recently in July. A safety analysis report was also rejected by the Nuclear Safety Sub-committee (NSS) in Thailand and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Thailand did, however, get a favorable opinion on the safety report from Argonne National Laboratory.
Suwit Khunkitti, deputy prime minister and chairman of the NSS, told reporters that the project was necessary since it would conduct research and development in nuclear technology for the country's benefit. The Commission's decision came a day after Suwit, Science Minister Pinij Charusombat, and the secretary-general of the Office of Atomic Energy for Peace, Kriengkorn Petchabutr, had lunch together. Kriengkorn reaches retirement age tomorrow. Pinij excluded himself from the decision of the Commission: 'Frankly, I do not have any authority to make decisions on the project. Everything is under the consideration of Deputy Prime Minister Suwit,' he said.
[Ref: Sirinart Sirisunthorn, "Nuclear reactor gets govt nod for construction", The Nation (Thailand), September 30, 2003]
It takes a genius: "the Emperor has no brains" plays better as bumper sticker than as Nobel Prize winner's thesis
It's not a pretty sight when the intelligencia deigns it prudent to dumb down its message. But that's the blight we're seeing as the globalists sense a chance that Hillary could yet become president, sooner rather than later. Today's syndicated column by Columbia economist Joseph Stiglitz is a good example. "I normally write about economics, not politics", he says. Your humble nuclear.com editor notes that his excursion displays a stunningly pedestrian blend of mean-spiritedness, lies, and ignorance. His tales are so tall and rapid-fire that "Tale-gunner Joe" is worth considering as a nickname, although it would be a shame to further besmirch the late Senator McCarthy by this association.
Let's take a look at Prof. Stiglitz' discussion of President Bush's decision on Kyoto Protocol: "For three years, America's president has pursued a unilateralist agenda, ignoring all evidence that contradicts his positions, and putting aside basic and longstanding American principles. Take global warming. Here US President George W. Bush is conspicuously absent without leave (AWOL in military jargon). Time and again, he questions the scientific evidence. (Of course, Bush's academic credentials were never very impressive.) Bush's position is more than wrong; it is an embarrassment. Indeed, when asked by Bush to look into the matter, the US National Academy of Sciences came to a resounding verdict (the only one they could honestly reach) that greenhouse gases are a menace. But America's automakers love their gas-guzzlers, and Bush's oil industry pals want no interference with their destruction of the planet's atmosphere. So no change in policy."
nuclear.com wonders if the condescending professor took the time to read the NAS panel report he so enthusiastically misrepresents here. It explicitly refers to the misleading nature of UN IPCC summaries that give the impression that the science is "settled" (a tactic that Prof. Stiglitz also employs quite, uh, liberally). It explicitly points out that the variance between surface and tropospheric temperatures is at odds with our best understanding of the processes involved. It explicitly points out that temperatures have not risen as much as the models' lowest-range predictions. It explicitly concludes that the climate observing system available today "is a composite of observations that neither provide the information nor the continuity in the data needed to support measurements of climate variables." It explicitly refers to our inability to even assign a positive or negative sign to the cloud feedback. It explicitly states that "proxy data indicate that the range of natural climate variability is in excess of several degrees C on local and regional space scales over periods as short as a decade." Prof. Stiglitz is a hack, despite his impressive resume. You heard it here first.
[Ref: Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia U prof-econ; Nobel laureate; Clinton appointee), The time has come for the world to start saying no to Bush, Taipei Times, September 30, 2003, p. 9]
Slovakia eyes constructing Mochovce-3 and -4
Slovakia's new economy minister, Pavol Rusko, plans to reopen the issue of completing construction of two more nuclear reactors - the third and the fourth reactors at the Mochovce site in southwestern Slovakia. He is pursuing a national energy policy to generate enough to meet domestic needs and provide export sales. Privatization of power plants and the grid is expected to be a part of this policy.
[Ref: Radio Slovakia, Bratislava, September 29, 2003 1000 gmt (translated from Slovak by BBC Monitoring)]
Iran won't give up on enriching its own uranium
In a Persian language interview, Hamid Reza Asefi, spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, commented on IAEA's asking Iran to stop the uranium enrichment process. Mr. Asefi's response: "The enrichment of uranium and the peaceful use of nuclear technology are not issues over which we will compromise."
[Source: Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), "Iran: Foreign Ministry criticizes Bush, Putin over nuclear programme", September 28, 2003 (translated from Persian by BBC Monitoring)]
Fernald takes safety break after numerous near misses
Fluor Fernald management says it wants the cleanup work to be performed safely. In a recent move to emphasize this expectation for excellent safety, every shift begins with a safety talk. More managers are being brought in to help ensure that the safety expectations are communicated to employees and contractors. And this week, work was stopped on two of the six main cleanup projects. If there is a deep-rooted safety culture problem at Fernald, these humble initiatives probably won't have much effect. And if top management is willing to trade even one worker's life for the multi-million bonus for completing cleanup by 2006 instead of 2010, then the message will get through loud and clear that schedule is the priority. Today's Cincinnati Enquirer and Associated Press articles (see below) paint a bleak picture, safety-wise. Gene Branham, president of the Fernald Atomic Trades & Labor Council, was quoted as saying that "There have been so many near misses over the last eight or nine months, that if you look at the story line you can't help but conclude we're heading for a major accident." Unnamed Fluor officials are cited as acknowledging that recent violations could have killed workers, such as an incident where a 1,900-pound steel beam fell on a worker's foot, and another where a worker was standing directly under a crane that was moving 1,200 pounds of metal piping.
Some of the incidents reflect a lack of concern for spreading contamination, which surely doesn't make the folks who live near the plant feel like their potential health risks are being given any thought by anybody involved in the project. 14,000 neighbors of the site successfully sued the government for contaminating their drinking water and exposing them to radiation during the production years. One can imagine that these folks don't take kindly to the report that building wall panels weren't decontaminated during dismantlement, and that loose thorium dust was contaminating workers.
Fernald officials are scheduled to appear before the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board in Washington on October 5, to detail plans for improvement.
[Refs: Dan Klepal (Cincinnati Enquirer), "Fernald projects shut down; Management cites safety", The Cincinnati Enquirer, September 27, 2003; and Associated Press, "Report: Safety violations shut down work at two projects on Fernald site", September 27, 2003 3:30 PM ET]
September 25, 2003
First applications filed for Early Site Permits - Clinton, North Anna
No permits for new nuclear power stations have been issued in the United States since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. But today, Exelon and Dominion filed applications requesting NRC approval for construction of a standardized design plant at their Clinton (Exelon) and North Anna (Dominion) sites. NRC's application review process is expected to take about 33 months. Each utility would then have twenty years (renewable to forty) to decide on and build a new plant at their site. The utilities have not decided if or when or what to build if their permit is approved. The USDOE contributed towards the cost of preparing the applications.
[Refs: Exelon press release, "Exelon Is the First to File an Early Site Permit Application With NRC", September 25, 2003 2:45 pm ET; and Reuters, "Utilities seek permits for possible nuke projects", September 25, 2003 6:13 pm ET]
British Energy agrees to sell its Amergen stake to FPL
FPL Group could become half owner of the Clinton, TMI-1, and Oyster Creek plants for $276.5 million. Current Amergen partner Exelon has 30 days to match the price, or to substitute half its own ownership stake in the sale to FPL. The price per megawatt is far below that paid by FPL for majority interest in Seabrook last year ($836.6 million).
[Source: John Dorschner (Miami Herald), "FPL to purchase half of three nuclear plants", Miami Herald, September 12, 2003]
Half mast
Let not the world misunderstand. Behind the soft sentiments on display today is a steely national resolve to rid the world of those responsible for the 9/11 attacks and those who aid and abet them. Please take a few minutes to read federal district court judge William Young's comments upon sentencing the shoe bomber wannabe who couldn't light the fuse. In the USA, Judge Young says, the very wind carries freedom. Beautiful stuff, this. His comments deserve much wider publicity than was provided by TV and newspapers. A heartfelt let-freedom-ring thanks to Judge Young for expressing our core value so well.
The orange bouys, a post-9/11 security measure, keep fisherman away from former favorite fishing spot - near Arkansas Nuclear One's intake canal on Lake Dardanelle. [photo courtesy of Russellville Courier]
* Canadian trash trucks turned back at border due to radiation detected by new monitors. Couldn't we exclude trash from NAFTA? If the people of Michigan want to import trash, nuclear.com wouldn't presume to intrude, but it seems even more inappropriate to insist that local landfills be open to all comers.
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Did Nukes Just Get A Boost? The industry sees opportunity in the wake of the blackout
Business Week article describes one of the advantages of nuclear plants -- they're not turned on and off frequently, which means less stress on grid than typical gas plants. The author includes pro-and-con quotes about nuclear power, and concludes that, although nuclear power will continue to play a major role in US electric power generation, and it might just grow in importance.
September 1, 2003
Braidwood - lack of exercise hardened grease in (most) circuit breakers
Braidwood has a lot of circuit breakers, including about 3,000 of a "molded case" design known as Westinghouse adjustable magnetic HFB style, many of which are used on safety-related systems. The plant established a formalized testing program for these breakers some years ago, and identified that many of the breakers were failing the tests. In fact, of the 90 tested between June 2002 and June 2003, more than half failed. The problem appears to be that the grease inside the circuit breakers hardens over time. Westinghouse recommends cycling the breaker every month to move the grease around. This helps extend the operational life of the breaker. If left undisturbed, the grease will become quite like cement after as few as six or so years. Most of Braidwood's MCCBs were manufactured in 1970s-1980s. A recent NRC fire protection team evaluated the problem, and the plant's follow-up. The inspectors concluded that the plant should have had the grease problem under control long ago. NRC put out an information notice ten years ago describing the importance of exercising these breakers. The violation was categorized by NRC as a Non-Cited Violation. For more on this story, click here.
Source: Z. Falevits (Senior Reactor Inspector, NRC Region III), et al., Braidwood inspection report 50-456-2003-5, August 21, 2003
August 29, 2003
Korea talks - the happiest note
At a news conference after the six-country talks, China's Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi said ÔThe parties agreed not to take any actions that will escalate the situation as long as discusions proceed.'
Please pardon your humble nuclear.com editor for not getting the warm-and-fuzzies from this quite pleasant plank of the agreement reached at the 6-party talks. Every day that the Korean bombmakers get to futz around as in the status quo seems like an escalatory act to me.
[Minister Yi quote source: Arab Times (Kuwait), "US had no intention to invade NK or seek regime change", August 30, 2003]
N. Korea - practice to deceive (practice, practice, practice)
Last fall, the US confronted North Korea with information showing that North Korea had launched a uranium-based nuclear weapons program. The Bush administration reported that North Korea confirmed that such a program existed to assistant secretary of state James Kelly, also last fall. Yesterday at the six-party talks in Beijing, however, North Korea deputy foreign minister Kim Yong Il said his nation has no such program. He reiterated his country's claim to have nuclear weapons, and said they would prove it to the world by conducting a nuclear test. He also asserted that North Korea has the means to deliver nuclear weapons. Many diplomats and technical experts are surely parsing Kim's various statements to try to get a handle on the truth of the matter. Your humble nuclear.com editor doubts that North Korea has even a single nuclear weapon, because they seem like the kind of folks who would've parlayed any such weapon into a much more credible blackmail threat by showing it off. The US hardline approach tends to suggest that the US government doesn't really think Korea yet has the bomb either, despite the repeated news reports that one or two big and crude weapons have been built.
[Ref: Associated Press, "Official: N. Korea vows to test nukes", August 29, 2003]
Undersized air-operated valve actuators have been a common problem in nuclear plants, sez Davis-Besse
Here's part of the section titled "Apparent Cause of Occurrence" from the Licensee Event Report (LER 50-346-2003-001-01) describing the finding that eight valves at Davis-Besse were not capable of performing their intended safety functions for all required conditions:
"Lessons learned from the nuclear power industry's motor-operated and air-operated valve programs indicate that AOV performance can be enhanced by improvements in valve and actuator sizing, setting, testing, and maintenance. It was found that during the original procurement cycle, many AOV actuators were undersized. This was a result of vendors being provided with inaccurate system conditions in combination with less than conservative sizing methodology used at the time, and a lack of formal calculations supporting the design basis and appropriate settings for AOV actuators. There was also the practice of sizing AOV actuators with minimum built-in margin. Similar analytical deficiencies resulted in the design of the air accumulators, used to provide a source of motive power in the event of a loss of non-safety related instrument air, not being sufficient to ensure the valves would perform their intended safety function under all design conditions. This apparent cause applies to valve CC1495."
Other causes were identified for the other seven valves. The full LER is available as a pdf.
August 28, 2003
Should private institutions, like day care, be required to have emergency evacuation plan?
A parent of a child enrolled in a private nursery school near TMI was surprised to learn that private day care centers and schools aren't required to have evacuation plans in the event of a nuclear plant emergency. He and a non-governmental organization have petitioned the NRC to require such facilities within ten miles of a nuclear plant be included in the emergency planning process. NRC expects to issue a decision on the petition by November 1. The state of Pennsylvania opposes the petition, because it believes it inappropriate to mandate such action by private institutions. There's nothing that prohibits private facilities from participating in the emergency planning process, and parents are free to choose the schools and day care centers that provide the level of preparedness that parents feel is appropriate for their situation. [Source: Martha Raffaele (AP writer), "Federal mandate sought for preschool evacuation plans", The Associated Press, August 28, 2003 12:05 AM Eastern Time]
Sequoyah-1 fails to scram on turbine trip test
The Associated Press is reporting tonight that an Alert was declared at Sequoyah unit 1 today, due to failure of the reactor to automatically shut down during a test. The plant was manually shut down, and the cause of the failure is being investigated. [Source: Associated Press, "TVA declares alert after Sequoyah reactor fails", August 28, 2003 7:13 PM Eastern Time]
Iran's tangled web
Samples taken at the Natanz site in July showed three discrete levels of U-235 above the natural proportion -- 0.71% -- found in uranium. The most-enriched sample was high enough to be considered HEU.
The publicly available information is inadequate to disprove the latest Iranian story, which is that the high readings are from contaminants left by whomever had used the centrifuges before Iran purchased them. If this is another of Iran's lies, it is understandable why they are not forthcoming about where the centrifuges came from. The enrichment process is quite amenable to detective work -- various U-235 enrichment levels are associated, in quite precisely predictable fashion, with other variables, such as U-234 and depleted uranium. If Pakistan or Russia were the source of the contamination, for example, they would likely still have have product or tail materials that assay out at levels corresponding to the Natanz samples.
Changing their story to include foreign source of used centrifuges was the only way to explain the presence of the enriched material on Iran's equipment without admitting to conducting enrichment in violation of treaty provisions. Whatever the truth of this particular matter, it is crystal clear that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapon capability and is quite at ease with repeatedly lying about it, and even admitting some of the lies when they find themselves tangled in the web-o-lies they've weaved.
nuclear.com has always had an optimistic bent. It's hard, however, to see even a hint of a glimmer of good coming out of this Iran situation.
August 27, 2003
More news from leaked IAEA Iran report
Iran told the IAEA in recent days that it had obtained technology for enriching uranium from unidentified foreign sources in the late 1980s, the report said. Iran had previously told the agency that it had developed the technology on its own, beginning in 1997.
Iran has previously told IAEA that it never used nuclear material in its research. But Iran acknowledged last week in a letter to the agency that it had undertaken uranium conversion experiments in the early 1990s.
An unamed senior Bush administration official was reported by the LA Times as saying: "We are disappointed that the IAEA did not come right out and say that the Iranians have been lying to them and have not been cooperating. I wish the IAEA could be more blunt about this, but the facts are in the report."
An unamed European diplomat was reported as telling the LA Times: "What seems clear is that Iran has got caught up in some lies and is giving ground grudgingly and slowly."
The Washington Post also quoted an unamed European diplomatic source: "In the past, Iran had claimed that the technology was indigenous, and they were quite proud of that. Now they're saying they did get a lot of help. This was a major change in the story."
[Sources: Douglas Frantz (LA Times staff writer), "Evidence May Indicate Iran Closing In on Nuclear Arms", Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2003, p. 1; Joby Warrick (Washington Post staff writer), "Iran Admits Foreign Help on Nuclear Facility; U.N. Agency's Data Point To Pakistan as the Source", The Washington Post, August 27, 2003, p. A17]
Other highlights:
* Iran has been systematically sanitizing Kalaye site, apparently to hide enrichment activities
* Iran - excerpts from confidential IAEA report leaked to LA Times
August 26, 2003
Highly-enriched traces found on Iran centrifuges, sez ElBaradei
The Associated Press and Agence France Presse are reporting that IAEA Director ElBaradei, in an interview to be published Thursday in Stern, the German news magazine, reports that U.N. inspectors found traces of highly enriched weapons-grade uranium on centrifuges at Natanz. "This worries us greatly", ElBaradei is quoted as saying. The Iranian government apparently acknowledges that the material was found on their equipment. The AP article quotes Iran's ambassador to the IAEA as saying that the equipment was contaminated when they bought it, many years ago. Iran purchased the centrifuges from intermediaries, he said, so it's impossible to name any country as the source of the weapons grade product. In a related article, Reuters claims that IAEA has produced a confidential report on the matter of the weapons-grade particles discovered by its inspectors. The report says that IAEA is still working on its assessment of Iran's explanation. [Sources: Agence France Presse, "IAEA chief says traces of enriched uranium at Iranian plant", August 26, 2003; Louis Charbonneau, "U.N. Agency Still Probing Iran's Arms-Grade Uranium", Reuters, August 26, 2003 2:31 pm ET;and George Jahn (AP writer), "U.N. Finds Uranium at Iran Nuclear Plant", Associated Press, August 26, 2003 3:28 pm EDT]
UK - no more reprocessing contracts, Thorp to close by 2010
BNFL plans to shut down its Thorp reprocessing operation at Sellafield by 2010. The plant, which cost 1.8-billion pounds to build, opened nine years ago. The 75 tons of plutonium and 3,336 tons of uranium extracted by reprocessing so far is "stored and closely guarded but with no obvious use", The Guardian reports. The company plans to continue to use the plant, but as a waste handling facility. The 2010 date was chosen to allow fulfilling existing contracts. An older reprocessing plant, built in the 1950s, will keep reprocessing Magnox plant fuel until 2012. The magnesium cladding on Magnox fuel deteriorates rapidly when the used fuel is cooled in water, so reprocessing it is a must. The only manufacturing activity at Sellafield when reprocessing stops will be the MOX fuel fabrication plant which opened last year.
The decision to shut down the reprocessing was resisted by many in BNFL. Brian Watson, site director, told The Guardian "We have had to get rid of the 'job for life' attitude, the resistance to change, the cost-plus contracts that meant there was no discipline. This site is like a supertanker that takes some turning. I have had to let people who would not make the change go, and go they have. We have changed the reprocessing mission to one of clean up."
The Guardian notes that Mr. Watson's comments were in "sharp contrast" to the company's annual report issued just last month which trumpeted the achievements of Thorp and the vitrification plant which processes Thorp's liquid waste into glass blocks.
Mr. Watson would like to see a plutonium-burning reactor built at the site, using fuel produced by the MOX plant. But any decision to pursue such a path will come from the politicians, not from BNFL.
The London Times notes that Thorp's German customers are pressing to renegotiate their 1.2-billion pound contract because of delays.
[Sources: Caroline Merrell, "Sellafield reprocessing plant to close by 2010", The Times (London), August 26, 2003; Paul Brown (Guardian environmental correspondent), "Sellafield shutdown ends the nuclear dream", The Guardian, August 26, 2003; and Reuters, "Sellafield to stop reprocessing by 2010", August 26, 2003 03:23]
August 22, 2003
*
Study: Children near N-plants have higher cancer rate
Mike Jaccarino (staff writer), The Press of Atlantic City -- this article describes a
scientific paper [Joseph Mangano et al., "Elevated Childhood Cancer Incidence Proximate to U.S. Nuclear Power Plants",
Archives of Environmental Health, 58(2):74-82, February 2003] published this week. The alarming tone
of the article pretty well matches the tone struck by the paper's authors, although the paper itself
also contains a selection of several reasons why the methods used do not allow the kind of conclusions that the
newspaper, and indeed the peer-reviewed paper itself, present. nuclear.com isn't familiar with the
specific peer review practices of the journal, but it seems quite unwarranted for the authors'
assumption -- that radiation exposure is the cause of the observed differences in cancer rates --
to be stated as fact in the article. That such pap was in the final accepted version prompts
nuclear.com to imagine that the caveats were added begrudgingly after peer review comments, with at best superficial attempt to integrate
them into the paper.
The elevated rates include counties around Brookhaven reactor too, so the study is not just about identifying effects of commercial power plants. The downwinders in Nevada and Utah might be amused that the study points to their locale as example of area relatively free of environmental radioactivity from power reactors.
The only online sources of the paper we could find were the EBSCO and ProQuest services used by many public and college libraries. The article specifies that you can request reprint from lead author (Joseph Mangano, Radiation and Public Health Project, 286 Carroll St #9, Brooklyn NY 11215). Mr. Mangano's email address isn't mentioned there, but is listed on the radiation.org website as odiejoe@aol.com.
August 21, 2003
Uranium processing plant found to have underground leak in fire protection water system, rendering it inoperable
The Honeywell UF6 plant in Metropolis Illinois reported the finding and compensatory actions to NRC yesterday. Temporary hoses were set up to provide water, if needed, and roving firewatch tours were established. More details available from NRC Ops Center report.
Elderly driver puts Troxler gauge to quite a test, which it thankfully passed
An errant motorist drove past a road flagger holding a stop sign on State Route 125 near Walla Walla, Washington. The motorist entered a lane that had been coned-off and proceeded to drive down the restricted lane and ran over a moisture/density gauge while it was being used to test for compaction. The gauge operator saw the approaching vehicle and attempted to stop it by waving his hands and yelling as the vehicle approached. The motorist, a senior, was apparently oblivious to the lane restriction. After the gauge was hit, it wedged under the vehicle and was dragged for approximately 90 feet down the road until the motorist finally became aware of the problem and stopped. The cause was inattention or inability to understand that the road conditions had changed. The gauge contained two sealed sources, one of about 8 millicuries of Cesium 137 and the second of about 40 millicuries of Americium 241/Beryllium. "The incident destroyed the gauge", the state reported. "Impact with the vehicle caused the Cesium 137 source to be drawn back into its shielded position. Although pieces of the gauge housing, electronics and mechanisms were scattered along the 90-foot section of road that the vehicle traveled after impact the gauge, the sources were still attached to their respective parts of the gauge. Subsequent leak tests were negative." More details available from NRC Ops Center report.
See all of today's new items -- updated throughout the day
AD:Remove 99.97% of Airborne Particles
August 19, 2003
German jailed for illegal shipment of aluminum tubes to Korea seized in April
Der Spiegel, published yesterday, reports that German officials intercepted a 22-ton shipment of 214 aluminum tubes that were likely intended for North Korea's uranium enrichment program. The shipment, destined for the North Korean Nam Chon Gang company, was seized in Hamburg. The director of a company called Optronic, based in southern Koenigsbronn, was jailed in April on suspicion of violating laws on arms control and export. Prosecutors have also accused two Hamburg businessmen of participating in the crime. [Source: AFX News, "Three Germans accused of selling nuclear materiel to NKorea - report", AFX European Focus, August 17, 2003 (subscription required) Copyright 2003 AFX News Limited]
Kucinich is wrong about Davis-Besse
"In order to protect their stock position, they've made shortcuts on maintenance," Kucinich said of the hole in Davis-Besse's head. "They covered it up and they were given a pass by regulators." He was likable enough as the brash young mayor of Cleveland, but he's talking without benefit of a clue in this case, and that's a shame. The boric acid corrosion went on for years not because of cost-cutting, but because nobody imagined that the boric acid residue would do any damage at all. Acid sounds like bad news, but remember, this boric acid is the same stuff that your grandmother used to wash clothes with -- "20 mule team" Borax. The problem was a lack of a questioning attitude, a lack of curiosity. And part of it is our industry's desire to keep occupational exposure to radiation as low as is reasonably achievable. Part of the foundation of this ALARA philosophy, codified by the NRC as the way to do things, is that every millirem of exposure must have some justification, some expected benefit to counter the hypothesized risk to the worker from being exposed. The corroding head sat there on the refueling floor outage after outage, with hundreds of highly educated and trained craftspeople, operators, managers and inspectors of every shape and stripe seeing the head without anybody finding enough justification to warrant going through the plant job planning processes necessary to get a "radiation work permit" allowing someone to cross into the carefully roped-off head staging area and poke around the boric acid encrusted spot.
The head is massive, but it's not that big. There's dozens of studs with big nuts that have to be removed and replaced every time the head has to be removed. When doing this work, the maintenance crew is a matter of a few feet away from where the hole was growing. The company didn't save a cent by not poking around, and Rep. Kucinich doesn't sound "populist" to nuclear.com for insisting otherwise; rather he sounds simply ignorant.
President Bush may not have read any of the books that Mr. Kucinich has touched over the past thirty years, but nuclear.com has not once heard him jump to the kind of baseless conclusions that the Democratic presidential candidate has done here. You greens out there who are enamored with Kucinich and quick to insult the President's intellect strike nuclear.com as exhibiting the same type of lack of curiosity as those folks who were so close so many times to the hole in the head at Davis-Besse. I must admit to being a bit relieved that the hole in the head is of concern to Democrats. When Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown was found dead with an inexplicable hole in his head, the only curious Democrat I recall was civil rights activist Dick Gregory (bless his heart for putting up "crime scene" tape around Walter Reed Hospital at the time). [Kucinich quote reference: Andrew Smith (Newsday staff correspondent), "Not Just a Bad Day For First Energy; Struggling through series of setbacks", Newsday (New York), August 18, 2003 p. A21 (Copyright 2003 Newsday, Inc.)]
August 18, 2003
Davis-Besse's owner under the spotlight as initiator of the blackout
MSIV LLRT approach - potential generic issue at BWRs
NRC inspectors questioned Columbia Generating Station's practice of using instrument air to close main steam isolation valves (MSIVs) before local leak rate testing (LLRT). The instrument air system provides more pressure than the safety-related air accumulators that serve as design basis for MSIV operation, so the seal tightness conditions being tested weren't the same conditions desired to be tested. Calls to five other BWRs revealed that none of them actually tested the design basis conditions. Columbia's MSIVs did pass proper test when performed. For more info, see Columbia - MSIV LLRT had never been done right, and error may be pervasive at BWRs.
August 17, 2003
Transmutation success story may transform long-lived radwaste into non-issue, and have implications for isotope production, too
We'll be checking The Journal of Physics site regularly to read a soon-to-be-published paper by Ledingham et al. about an experiment which inspires imagination of big changes to come. The researchers used a laser to transmute I-129 (15.7 million-yr half life) into I-128 (25-minute half-life). Here's how some other publications have written about it in recent days:
* "A form of 21st century alchemy pioneered by a British physicist could solve the problem of disposing of nuclear waste, it was claimed." [Australian AP]
* "Dangers associated with radioactive waste, and the problems and huge expense of its disposal could soon end after a Scottish researcher discovered how to neutralise its harmful effects using light. New research by a leading scientist at the University of Strathclyde could revolutionise the waning fortunes of the nuclear power industry - restoring both political and public faith in an energy source that was once hailed as the future of clean, green energy." [Scotsman]
* "The feat raises hopes that a solution to nuclear power's biggest drawback - its waste - might one day be possible. 'It is not going to solve the waste problem completely, but it reduces toxicity by a factor of 100. That's an attractive proposition,' says Ken Ledingham." [New Scientist]
* "If developed on a commercial scale the technology would transform nuclear power generation from a hazardous and prohibitively expensive means of power production by making it safer and cheaper, as well as opening a potentially huge lead for the UK." [Scotsman]
* "Ledingham says that the same technique could be applied to other radioactive wastes like technetium-99, strontium-90 and isotopes of caesium. But a different process would be required for other long-lived wastes like plutonium and americium. [New Scientist]
* "Prof Ledingham said: 'The question of transmutation of all radioactive waste is a long way down the track, probably ten to 20 years. The only way of doing this at present is by building huge accelerators. However, in the same time lasers will develop enormously and so there will be two players on the block.'" [Scotsman]
* "Laser driven nuclear power means that radioactive material can be dealt with on site." [Scotsman]
The actual paper will be available at Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. The journal's normal practice is to make papers freely available for 30 days after publication.
The authors are a consortium of UK and German researchers -- including scientists from the University of Strathclyde (in Glasgow), Imperial College (in London), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (in Oxfordshire), the Institute for Transuranium Elements (in Karlsruhe, Germany) and Jena University (in Jena, Germany). Contact info for Professor Ledingham can be found at his University of Strathclyde page.
The field of nuclear physics with lasers took off in 1999 when Ledingham and co-workers, and an independent team using the Petawatt laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US observed laser-induced nuclear fission in uranium-238 for the first time, along with a variety of other laser-induced nuclear reactions. Earlier this year a team at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena managed to achieve photo-induced fission in U-238 and thorium-232 with a much smaller "table-top" laser. The Jena team has also observed the transmutation of iodine-129 with its system. [Physics Web]
The most recent experiment involved a speck of radioactive material -- about a million atoms of iodine-129 were transformed into iodine-128 -- according to New Scientist.com news service. A higher number was cited in the Physics Web article: "Ledingham et al. illuminated a small gold target with a 360 Joule laser pulse from the VULCAN glass laser at Rutherford. The pulse had a duration of 0.7 picosecond and was focused to give an intensity of 5x10E20 Watts per square centimetre. The laser ionized the gold to form a plasma and then accelerated the electrons in the plasma to relativistic energies. When the electrons struck the solid gold of the target they emitted gamma-rays as bremsstrahlung radiation. Ledingham and colleagues then placed a sample of nuclear waste containing radioactive iodine behind the gold target. Transmutation occurs when a gamma-ray ejects a neutron from a iodine-129 nucleus to leave behind short-lived iodine-128. Each laser shot produced about 3 million iodine-128 nuclei." New Scientist's description was stated more simply: "The Vulcan laser can produce short pulses of enormous power - a million billion watts. Pulses were fired at a small lump of gold, which produced enough gamma radiation to knock out single neutrons from iodine-129, converting it to iodine-128."
The next step for Professor Ledingham is to develop this technique on an industrial scale and
with other radioactive isotopes. He is currently seeking funding to
develop a laser system large enough to cope with the volume of Iodine-129 produced by the
nuclear power industry. [e4engineering]
Nuclear waste can also be transmuted by reactors or particle accelerators. For laser transmutation to challenge these methods, Ledingham says that suitable "tabletop" lasers will have to be developed, which could take 30 years. [New Scientist]
The consortium also believes that their method will facilitate production of the isotopes needed for PET scanners, used in hospitals and research. Currently these isotopes are created in huge "atom smashing" machines called cyclotrons, but the team believe that isotope manufacture using lasers will be a practical reality within five years. [Cordis News]
Before you get too excited ...
The New Scientist piece was the only article to express anything but sheer exuberance at the prospects for transmutation by laser. Here are the cautionary ideas:
"[A]ll the approaches [to transmutation] use vast amounts of energy. At present, the Vulcan laser would have to be fired 10x10E17 times at the original 46-gram block of iodine-129 to transmute all of the atoms. 'You would need to build a number of power stations to transmute the waste from another power station,' warns Karl Krushelnick, a laser physicist at Imperial College in London and part of the team.
"Even if this major problem could be overcome, other obstacles could block the laser technology from entering commercial use. According to Ian McKinley from the Swiss nuclear waste company, Nagra, the approach assumes that reactor spent fuel will be reprocessed, which separates the waste. But reprocessing is 'extremely expensive and increasingly unpopular', he says.
"He also points out that dramatic reductions in the half-lives of isotopes inevitably lead to huge immediate increases in the levels of radiation being emitted per second. Initial emissions from iodine-128 would be hundreds of billions of times higher than from iodine-129, causing handling problems for nuclear operators.
"'It's a nice idea,' McKinley told New Scientist, 'but I wouldn't buy shares in a company selling this process quite yet.'"
nuclear.comMENT
nuclear.com has rued the day that President Carter redefined spent fuel as a waste to be disposed of rather than an energy resource to be reprocessed. We also find it quite "unAmerican" that Nevada is being forced to be the home of the Yucca Mountain spent fuel dump, designed to make the waste "irretrievable". Perhaps the State of Nevada can point to this recent research and convince those who need to be convinced that it is onerously unjust to sock this long-lived waste away, perhaps risking eventual contamination of the underground water supply of folks who've never used a kWh from a nuclear plant, when technology might soon be available to eliminate the long-term part of the hazard.
References
* James Reynolds, Laser lights renders radioactive waste safe, The Scotsman, August 6, 2003
* Peter Rodgers, Lasers tackle radioactive waste, Physics Web, August 13, 2003
* e4engineering.com, Nasty nuke tamed by lasers, August 14, 2003
* Rob Edwards (NewScientist.com news service), Giant laser transmutes nuclear waste, NewScientist.com,ÊAugustÊ14, 2003 16:19
* Australian Associated Press, Lasers to help remove nuclear waste, The Age (Melbourne), August 14, 2003
* Cordis News, European scientists make breakthrough in nuclear waste disposal, August 14, 2003
[update: Oct 10 -- the journal article is now available at http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/-search=4296947.1/0022-3727/36/18/L01/d3_18_L01.pdf. The citation is Ledingham et al. Laser-driven photo-transmutation of 129 I -- a long-lived nuclear waste product. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 36 (2003) L79ÐL82]
August 16, 2003
* Scientific advances prompt reopening of Air Force nuclear aircraft program
August 15, 2003
* Fermi - potential unmonitored release path identified by NRC inspectors
AP photo of Perry plant near Cleveland shortly before dawn this morning.
Offsite power restored at all 6 NY units
As of 9:00 a.m., offsite power was restored to FitzPatrick, Ginna, Indian Point 2 and 3, and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2. All the affected plants are reported to be in stable, safe condition. No releases of radioactive material requiring off-site response or monitoring have occurred or are expected. Oyster Creek automatically shut down due to the grid instability, but the site did not lose offsite power. Davis-Besse lost power, but was already shutdown
[Source: NRC press release, " NRC continues to monitor nuclear power plants in shut-down in preparation for restart", August 15, 2003]
Rumor about Pa n-plant fire is wrong
Canada's defense minister reportedly said a fire at a Pennsylvania nuclear plant prompted the blackout.
"That is absolutely not true", said Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Maria Smith. "It's bizarre. We have a direct line to each of our five (nuclear) power plants and they are all running at 100 percent ... There's not even a trash can fire, we would know."
[Source: Tom Cohen (AP writer), "Canada Uncertain Over Cause of Blackout", The Guardian (U.K.), August 15, 2003 12:29 PM GMT]
Entergy describes the shutdowns at its three NY plants yesterday
The FitzPatrick plant and the Indian Point plants shut down automatically as a result of the loss of off-site power. The plants' back-up diesel generators automatically turned on to provide sufficient electrical power onsite.Ê The plants shut down as designed. There has been no release of radiation to the environment as a result of the shutdowns.
[Source: Entergy press release, " Entergy's 3 Nuclear Power Plants in New York Safely Shut Down Due to Region-wide Power Outage", August 14, 2003 (posted to Entergy web site the next morning)]
August 14, 2003
9 US n-plants shut down due to grid problems
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been informed that the following nuclear power plants shut down today due to grid instabilities:
Indian Point 2 and 3 (in New York)
Perry (in Ohio)
Fermi (in Michigan)
Ginna (in New York)
FitzPatrick (in New York)
Oyster Creek (in N.J.)
Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 (in New York)
All plants are in a safe condition, using their emergency diesel generators where appropriate. NRC resident inspectors will continue to monitor the situation at the affected plants.
The NRC is monitoring the situation from its Regional and Headquarters Operations Center. Acting Chairman Merrifield is in contact with other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.
[Source: NRC press release, "NRC monitoring situation involving multiple nuclear plants shut down due to grid instabilities", August 14, 2003]
17 reactors scrammed due to this afternoon's problems
Platts nuclear group reports that, in addition to the nine U.S. units listed by NRC, eight Canadian reactors scrammed -- the Pickering and Darlington units -- after the grid became overloaded.
[Ref:Platts, "Power outage affects U.S., Canadian reactors", August 14, 2003]
Ginna automatically shut down due to grid problem; Niagara Mohawk sez don't blame us for this, yet
The Robert E. Ginna nuclear power station in Ontario, Wayne County, shut down late Thursday as part of a normal defensive mechanism as the blackout took hold of the Northeast. The plantÕs reactor is designed to shut down whenever there is a significant drop in power levels, a spokesman for RG&E said. The process is automatic to avoid any damage from power loss.
... Although state officials have said the blackout started because of an overload on the Niagara Mohawk power grid, company officials disagree. In a statement issued at 6:05 p.m., Alberto Bianchetti, a spokesman for NiMo, said the cause of the power interruption is not known. "We are aware of speculation in the media that a failure in the Niagara Mohawk system may have caused the outage. We canÕt Ñ repeat, cannot Ñ confirm this," Bianchetti said.
[Source:Meaghan M. McDermott (staff writer), "Massive outage under investigation", The Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester), August 14, 2003, approximately 7:25 pm ET]
NBC reports Three n-plants may have been tripped by cascading blackout
When electrical service goes down, often there are "cascading" effects, and that appeared to have occurred in this instance. According to one report, at least three nuclear power reactors were knocked off line due to the spreading problems.
[Source: NBC4-TV, "Northeast Power Outage Impacts Local Flights", August 14, 2003 4:12 p.m. PDT]
Bloomburg reports at least 5 n-plants shut due to blackout
The electrical blackout crippled the Northeast from New York City to Toronto, sending thousands of people into the streets of Manhattan, closing six airports, clogging streets and shutting five U.S. nuclear power plants.
[Source: Bloomberg, "Australian Bonds Gain After Power Blackout in U.S., Canada", August 14, 2003 18:41 EDT]
FirstEnergy shut its Ohio plants down as precaution
Nuclear power plants and other electricity plants on the First Energy power grid in Ohio have shut down as a precaution, said Matt Butler, a spokesman for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
[Source: Associated Press, State-by-state blackout reports", USA Today, August 14, 2003 6:49 PM]
10 n-plants affected - could not deliver generated power to customers
The North American Electric Reliability Council reported the incident knocked a huge load of power transmission capacity off line in the Great Lakes and New York regions.
The shutdowns prevented as many as 10 nuclear plants from delivering power to customers.
NERC engineers have been trying to track down the genesis of the outages. They determined it was not an act of terrorism. However, that's about all they know at this point.
[Source: United Press International, "NERC says cause of outage still unknown", August 14, 2003 approximately 6:25 pm ET]
Blackout prompts four n-plants to shut down
The huge power blackout that hit U.S. and Canadian cities this afternoon has resulting in the closing of four nuclear power plants in Ohio and New York.
[Source: Associated Press, "Huge power blackout hits Northeast, Canadian cities", August 14, 2003 approx 5:45 p.m. ET]
Iran authorizes Bushehr-2 project and studies related to target of 7,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2020
The Iranian government has authorized the launch of the second phase of its controversial nuclear plant in southern Bushehr, the country's supreme atomic energy council announced Thursday. The council "authorized the Iranian atomic energy organization to take measures and start the contracts," for the second phase of Bushehr, the IRNA state news agency reported. Russia has been building Iran's first nuclear power station in Bushehr, which is due to go online in 2005. The second phase is expected to have a production capacity of 1,000 megawatts, IRNA said. "The council has also authorized the organization to carry out the necessary studies" to allow Iran to reach its nuclear power production target of 7,000 megawatts by 2020. The council -- which also mentioned for the first time the construction of a particle accelerator -- did not disclose any date for the start of the second phase.
[Source: Agence France Presse, "Iran to launch second phase of nuclear power plant", Arab Times (Kuwait), August 14, 2003]
LES turns attention to New Mexico
Jerry Clift, the County Executive of Trousdale Tennessee received a letter Friday, from Louisiana Energy Services, informing of the company's decision to put the proposed Hartsville uranium enrichment plant project on hold and explore prospects for another site. Mr. Clift was extensively quoted in Greenville Sun article, but nary a kind word for LES appears. "They werenÕt interested in spending a little extra money to clean things up,Ó he said. ÒSo we werenÕt interested in them." The 260-acre site which LES was considering buying is now being considered as site for a new prison. If built, Mr. Clift said, the prison would bring about 400 jobs to Trousdale County. "LES wouldnÕt have employed 20 people from this county", he said, noting that most Trousdale County residents donÕt have the specialized education and technical skills needed for employment in a uranium-enrichment plant.
Mr. Clift expressed opinion that LES will abandon its Trousdale plans and focus, instead, on an eastern New Mexico site near Texas. "New Mexico is willing to give them anything and everything they want", Clift said. "Of course, weÕre not going to give them anything. TheyÕre (New Mexico officials) courting them (LES) pretty heavy. I just wish they had done it (looked seriously at New Mexico) six or eight months ago." Clift said lack of water may be a problem at the New Mexico site. "TheyÕre asking for $600 million more (from New Mexico officials) than it will cost to build it", he said. "That must be to get water to the site."
The Associated Press reported on Aug. 4 that officials from Lea County, N.M., and the small town of Eunice had visited a uranium enrichment plant in the Netherlands that is similar to a $1.2 billion facility the Louisiana Energy Services consortium wants to build in the U.S. The New Mexico officials were favorably impressed with the European plant. Lea County Commission Chairman Ross Black and Mayor Claydean Claiborne of the town of Jal in the southeast corner of New Mexico were enthusiastic about the safety and cleanliness of the facility in Almelo, the Netherlands. The AP quoted Mr. Claiborne as saying "The people there have nothing but respect for the facility and the people who operate it, and I have no qualms whatsoever." The Almelo plant toured by the officials is operated by LESÕ European partner, Urenco.
A $1.2 billion uranium enrichment plant for Eunice has already won support from the city of Eunice and from the Lea County Economic Development Corporation. If built near Eunice, which has a population of 2,562, the plant would likely be located four miles east of town, or almost on the Texas state line, according to the AP.
Louisiana Energy president Jim Ferland reportedly told the AP that the consortium hopes to have a number of issues resolved within the next month so that it can announce whether Lea County might replace Hartsville as the plant site. "In order to make a final decision to site the facility in Lea County, a significant number of issues relating to land acquisition, taxes, geology, environmental characterization and community support must be addressed", he said, adding "We are in the process of working through those issues."
Lea County Manager Dennis Holmberg said the county may issue up to $1.8 billion in revenue bonds for the Louisiana Energy project. The $1.8 billion figure was derived from the estimated value of the $1.2 billion plant in 2006.
The plant would employ 400 to 800 workers during the construction phase. It would be 2013 before the project is complete. Then, the plant would provide about 210 long-term jobs with a total annual payroll of more than $10 million and an average salary of $50,000, it has been said.
[Ref: Bill Jones (Sun staff writer), "LES Considering New Mexico Site For Its Uranium Enrichment Plant", The Greeneville Sun (TN), August 12, 2003]
August 13, 2003
Exelon to cut 1,900 jobs
Exelon Corp plans to cut 10% of its workforce by 2006 to help rationalize the organisation following the merger of Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) parent, Unicom Corp and PECO Energy Co in 2000. Some 1900 jobs will be cut, mostly in the professional and managerial levels throughout the company. The restructuring program plans to cut 1200 positions by 2004 and another 700 by 2006, saving an estimated $300 million in 2004 and then $600 million annually for the 2005-2007 period. [Ref: FreshFUEL, August 11, 2003] The Jackson Mississippi Clarion-Ledger ran a story on this on August 12, citing a figure of around 1,000 jobs to be cut, mostly in the nuclear part of the company, and mostly from the northeast. The company will offer enhanced severance packages in hopes of reaching the target cuts without layoffs. [Ref: Arnold Lindsay, "Entergy: Growth requires job cuts; Number of Miss. workers to be affected unknown", The Clarion-Ledger, August 12, 2003] The Brattleboro Vermont Reformer ran a story on August 13 noting that none of the cuts will come from Vermont Yankee, which, in fact, has been adding workers since Entergy purchased the plant, and expects to add some twenty more.
August 8, 2003
*
Tehran has N-delivery system: CIA
Dawn (Pakistan) -- US intelligence leaked word yesterday that Iran's newest missile
can deliver a nuclear payload over a range from
Cairo to Mumbai. The missile was designed in North Korea. The CIA says that two weeks ago, Iranian officials held a ceremony in Tehran to welcome the missile to their arsenal.
Europe's nuclear plants not so good when air conditioning needed most (but they are better than hydro)
Lack of cool enough cooling water is causing production problems at nuclear plants in Europe. Germany's oldest nuclear plant -- Obrigheim -- was shut down late Wednesday. Two other German plants had been throttled down to 20% power earlier in the week, according to AP, and the power levels at some others have been reduced because of the heat as well. Platts energy team reports that two German E.On plants dropped power level to 50%. In France, EdF has cut production at 10 out of its 19 nuclear plants. Regulators there have suspended some environmental restrictions on operations at two plants, in an effort to let them keep producing power. Belgium's Electrabel has cut power at Doel-1 and (by 10 percent) at Tihange-3. In Portugal, forest fires forced state power company EdP to shut around 2,000 km of its transmission network, leaving 100,000 customers without power. Drought and low river levels have cut Austrian and Swiss hydropower output. In Italy, grid operator GRTN was forced to cut power to some large industrial users on Aug. 5 to maintain electricity supplies to residential and commercial users. Electricity prices are rising as supply is dropping. Day-ahead baseload price average for July in UK was calculated by Platts to be 85% higher than a year ago, for example.
[Refs: Energy Intelligence Group, Inc., "Phew, what a scorcher!", Energy Compass, August 7, 2003; and Associated Press, "German nuclear power plant shuts down due to hot weather, two others reduce capacity", August 7, 2003; and Platts press release, "UK power prices up 126% from year ago levels, according to Platts", August 7, 2003; and RTBF Radio 1, Brussels (French-language broadcast translated by BBC Monitoring) 1600 gmt 6 Aug 03]
*
Oyster Creek union accepts contract offer
Andrew Johnson, The Press of Atlantic City --
Rather than getting a better contract by striking, Oyster Creek workers voted to accept a contract that wasn't as good as the one offered by the company before the strike. Unions across the country are surely looking at this case for lessons learned and strategies for dealing with the huge nuclear operating companies. No crystal ball needed to imagine the coming efforts to take strikes nationwide. This is not good news for an industry looking to grow. Entergy management may have been too clever by half in crushing the little union local at Oyster Creek.
*
Secret Talks With Iranian; Sources: Meetings 'unauthorized'
Knut Royce and Timothy M. Phelps (Washington Bureau), Newsday --
This story bears watching, although none of the sources cited by Newsday are named. Here's the nitty-gritty: Pentagon hardliners, in an attempt to antagonize Iran so that they get frustrated and then react in a way that hardens U.S. policy against them,
have held several meetings with Manucher Ghorbanifar, the Iranian middleman in U.S. arms-for-hostage shipments to Iran in the mid-1980s.
The talks with Ghorbanifar were not authorized by the White House and appeared to be aimed at undercutting current sensitive back channel negotiations with the Iranian regime.
The meetings involved at least two Pentagon officials working for Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. The two officials are Harold Rhode, Feith's top Middle East specialist, and Larry Franklin, a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst on loan to the undersecretary's office.
The ultimate policy objective of Feith and a group of neo-conservative civilians inside the Pentagon is regime change in Iran.
United States policy officially is not regime change, overtly or covertly, but to engage Iranian officials in dialogue over contentious issues, such as Iran's nuclear weapons program, and to press the regime to extradite al-Qaida operatives.
Secretary of State Colin Powell complained directly to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld several days ago about Feith's policy shop conducting missions that countered U.S. policy.
*
Congress Could Reassure North Korea on Security, Powell Says
Patrick Goodenough (Pacific Rim Bureau Chief), CNSNews.com --
There may be alternatives, other than treaty, that satisfy North Korea's demand for written nonaggression promise from US. Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested that a resolution from Congress regarding our lack of hostile intent might be enough to nudge North Korea. Now, your humble nuclear.com editor isn't privvy to any inside info, and I sure don't begrudge our top diplomat being diplomatic, but it sure seems obvious that any giving in to that blackmailer in Korea will only encourage him to more risky mischief.
Personally, nuclear.com would prefer seeing Congress urge the President to include straight-talker John Bolton in any delegation we send to talks with Norh Korea. Let the Koreans make no mistake about our disdain for tyranny.
*
DPRK, China Meet on Six-party Nuclear Talks
People's Daily Online (New China) -- Chinese delegation, led by Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi,
visited North Korea. Reported agenda: "comprehensive and
in-depth" discussions on the nuclear issue of the DPRK and the forthcoming six-party nuclear
talks in Beijing. The Chinese government news service reported that they "also exchanged views and reached consensus on strengthening the traditional and friendly
relations between the two countries."
*
UPDATE - TEPCO posts Q1 loss, hit by nuclear plant closures
David McMahon, Reuters 5:10 am ET -- As Japan is experiencing one of the coolest summers in recent memory, the feared electricity shortages due to shut down of Tokyo Electric's nuclear plants have not materialized. The utility has seen its costs of producing power rise by the equivalent of more than $800-million as it uses more expensive alternatives -- a figure so big that the company posted a loss for the calendar quarter ending in June. The restart of nuclear plants has been slower than expected. TEPCO Director Toshikazu Funo told Reuters that the company now expects its nuclear power utilisation rate to come in at 45 percent for the year, down from its previous target of 50 percent.
August 7, 2003
* Congress - energy bill conference may not add loan guarantee back in
* Japan is about to begin commercial reprocessing and use of MOX FUEL, sez JAEC working group
August 5, 2003
Lightning damage looked for, but missed
BWX-Lynchburg took steps to protect their criticality monitors during lightning storm, and checked them after the weather cleared. Six of them were damaged in such a way that they appeared to operate normally, but the alarm function did not work. NRC Information Notice 2003-10 was issued to describe some details -- read it here.
New today on NRC's web site
* For a list of the items released by NRC today via ADAMS which nuclear.com found most interesting, click here
August 4, 2003
* World Needs a New Proliferation Pact, editorial,
Bangkok Post
If you only have time for one n-oriented editorial today, this is the one nuclear.com recommends.
It's not a given that their solution will actually solve the problem, but the Bangkok Post makes it
clear enough that the status quo is quite ill-equipped to handle what it graciously calls the less
honorable nations of the world with nuclear aspirations.
August 3, 2003
The reality is that we are a target, and we are at war. Permanently.
Tom Ridge (secretary of Homeland Security), "Meet the Press", NBC TV, August 3, 2003
[W]e operate toward the notion that there will be [another terror strike], and I think we have to... [The] reality [is] that we are a target. Everything we stand for is anathema to all these people who would do us harm... [T]he president ... realized we are at war. It is a permanent condition. That's why they made permanent changes in the government. That's why we have a Department of Homeland Security. ... If you took a look at the body of information that we receive and the chatter, the noise of what we hear, there's virtually nothing they're not talking about... The terrorists are looking at every phase of our economy, looking at how we operate, and from time to time, we just send out advisories to these people who operate, whether it's commercial airliners, ferries, power plants, dams, whatever it is, that they're talking about you. [More excerpts from this interview here]
Sandia's missing master set of keys
Key control is about as fundamental a security concept as there is. If you lose control of a key, you change the lock. Former DOE security official Notra Trulock read with interest the public portions of a new DOE whitewash, er, report, about goings-on at Sandia National Lab and was surprised to find no mention of lock changes after a master set of security keys were discovered to be missing. Heck, the report doesn't even mention if the missing keys were ever recovered. Mr. Trulock reports that lab insiders allege that no locks were changed after the loss was discovered. Mr. Trulock's article paints quite a disturbing picture, security-wise: Sandia guards taking unauthorized breaks, a guard stealing lab computer equipment. I guess there's a bright side -- he sold the stuff only to other members of the guard force. Sheesh. The thief was not prosecuted, and was given the opportunity to resign, which he did.
[Source: Notra Trulock, "Yet Another Lab Scandal", NewsMax, Aug. 4, 2003]
See all of today's new items -- updated throughout the day
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August 1, 2003
* Domenici Energy Reforms Shelved; Senate OKs Older Bingaman Measure
Michael Coleman (Journal Washington Bureau), Albuquerque Journal, p. A9 (subscription required) --
Sen. Daschle suggested the switch in Thursday morning floor debate, and the majority was happy to comply. Sen. Domenici is quoted as telling reporters that "We're going to conference, and the reason I'm happy is because I'll be rewriting that bill." He also noted that this is "not how I envisioned getting an energy bill".
* Rushed Senate helps gas line; ENERGY BILL: Last year's version, with incentives for project, passes
Liz Ruskin, Anchorage Daily News, p. A1
Sen. Domenici said the big victory is that the Democrats stopped blocking passage of an energy bill. What it actually says doesn't really matter, he said, because it can all be changed in the conference committee.
"We'll write a completely different bill," Domenici promised. A final decision to abandon this year's in favor of last year's Senate energy bill came at a meeting of Republican senators, most of whom had concluded that otherwise the issue was dead at least until later this year or next. Sen. Daschle said "They made us an offer we couldn't refuse."
* N Koreans signal support for Bush's invitation to talks
Victor Mallet et al., Financial Times (London), p. 10 --
US undersecretary of state John Bolton quoted: "While he [Kim Jong Il] lives like royalty in Pyongyang, he keeps hundreds of thousands of his people locked in prison camps with millions more mired in abject poverty, scrounging the ground for food. For many in North Korea, life is a hellish nightmare."
Mr Bolton mentioned Mr Kim by name 41 times in his speech and accused him of "nuclear blackmail". He said the North Korean leader was "dead wrong" to think that developing nuclear weapons would improve his security.
Some western and Asian diplomats in Seoul feared that his attack might disrupt efforts to coax North Korea to the negotiating table. "People are questioning why he has chosen this sensitive moment to come to Asia and speak out," said a European diplomat.
Later, a possible breakthrough was first signalled when the Russian foreign ministry said North Korea's ambassador to Moscow had indicated his country's support for the six-way negotiations.
July 31, 2003
* More maneuvering on nuke-waste dump in Utah
Paul Foy, Associated Press, 8:32, 8:53 and 8:54 PM Eastern Time --
Skull Valley ASLB says it can't finish up this year, citing tardy briefings from Private Fuel Storage.
Meanwhile, DOE has begun a technical review of proposal from engineer Bill Peterson for
300-year spent fuel storage and uranium recycling project on 740 acres along a Southern Pacific rail line near the ghost town of Lucin in western Box Elder County, about 100 miles northwest of Salt Lake City.
Peterson invited Private Fuel Storage to take over his project and abandon the troubled Skull Valley application.
John D. Parkyn, chairman and chief executive for Private Fuel Storage, told AP that Peterson's plan is unrealistic because the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected his application as incomplete, pushing off approval for 'many years' if the plan ever gets off the ground.
* Audit: Nuclear disposal site could fill up sooner than planned
Linda Ashton (AP Writer), Associated Press 6:53, 9:46 and 10:20 PM --
DOE Inspector General warns that WIPP may run out of space by 2020, before all the remote-handled transuranic waste from Hanford is accomodated.
WIPP has started accepting less radioactive contact-handled waste, but the high activity waste still
has New Mexico state and EPA acceptance criteria approvals to be finalized. DOE field office manager Ines Triay is quoted a
couple of times in response -- first as saying the IG report is flat wrong, and later as saying that
the volume of remote-handled waste destined for WIPP still must be determined.
* U.-led team confirms Hiroshima radiation record
Greg Lavine, Salt Lake Tribune p. D1 --
In 1987, it was suggested that Hiroshima survivors may have received ten times more fast neutron dose than estimated by the then-accepted dosimetry reconstructions. A paper by Straume et al. in current issue of Nature concludes that the original estimate was on target. The researchers evaluated copper samples from the blast area, counting how much nickel-63 was created by activation.
In a companion piece, commissioned by Nature, discussing the study, Imperial College researcher Mark Little wrote that Straume et al's "calculations resolve a controversy that has existed for two decades."
* Hiroshima Study Backs Radiation Standards
Associated Press --
The amount of neutrons within a mile of ground zero made up only 1 percent to 2 percent of the total radiation dose suffered by blast survivors, the Utah team reports in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. The new measurements are consistent with the limited measurements made in 1945.
"We can finally say that a large discrepancy in neutron dose to Hiroshima survivors does not exist," said lead researcher Tore Straume.
* Hiroshima study to help set safety levels for radiation exposure
David Adam, The Guardian (London)Êp. 6 --
The Straume et al. study concludes that earlier estimates slightly over-counted the neutron dose at Hiroshima, not under-counted as was suggested in 1987. Using newly discovered maps of the two cities from 1945, and better models of how radiation travels through air, the scientists have constructed an accurate picture of events following the explosions. They discovered that the Hiroshima bomb had a yield of 16 kilotons, not 15kt as thought, and that it exploded 15m further west and 20m higher at 600m.
* End to controversy over Hiroshima radiation exposure
HMG Worldwide, Health Newswire (subscription required) --
Although Japanese scientists conducted measurements within weeks of the explosion, methods at that time could not detect bomb neutrons beyond about 700 metres from impact. However, most survivors were at distances further than this so the readings were no use for validating the neutron doses that they received.
To overcome these problems, Straume et al. developed a technique that could detect fast neutrons more than 5,000 metres from the impact point - the first time these neutrons have been measured since 1945.
By measuring neutron exposure between 900 and 1,500 metres from the bombing - the distance at which most survivors were found - the scientists were able to confirm that the estimates based on the DS86 were correct.
July 30, 2003
*
Foreign Office Stands By Iraq Uranium Claim
Naveed Raja, The Mirror (UK) --
That some documents may have been forged by whomever does not alter British intelligence's assesssment that Saddam's
regime was scouting for uranium in Niger at the time. The UK Foreign Office today, again, stood by
that assessment. In a letter to the House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee, the Office stated that
"British officials saw no need to put a health warning on the claim, because
they were confident in the intelligence underlying it. The reference in the dossier was based
on intelligence from more than one source." The online Daily Mirror article notes that "...the Government has always maintained that its intelligence was backed-up by an unnamed
third country - believed to be France - which it couldn't share with America."
July 29, 2003
July 27, 2003
*
[Indian Point] Feds OK emergency plan for nuke plant
CNN --
FEMA reported to New York Gov. Pataki Friday of the agency's conclusion that there is "reasonable assurance" that Indian Point's evacuation plan is adequate. Shortly after the letter was made public, NRC released a concurring statement: "Indian Point emergency preparedness is satisfactory and provides reasonable assurance of adequate protection."
Westchester County Executive Andy Spano said he was outraged at FEMA. His spokesperson, Susan Tolchin, explained: "We have only been tested and drilled on a slow release [of radiation] that gives us the time, on paper, to get everybody out. In a fast-breaking scenario, the plan can't work."
Riverkeeper, an NGO which urges shutting the Indian Point plants the sooner the better, issued statement calling FEMA's decision: "a slap in the face to every New Yorker who lives day in and day out with the threat of a catastrophic nuclear accident at Indian Point with little means of escape."
NY Sen. Clinton found her passionate voice to apply to the matter, issuing a statement that she is "extremely disturbed" by FEMA's decision: "It appears that FEMA has completely disregarded the findings of the Witt report," she said. "FEMA has also apparently ignored the concerns of the local communities that would be responsible for implementing these plans." It appears to nuclear.com that the anti-nuke spokespeople are quite comfortable with the Clintons' well-practiced politics of personal destruction. The only fast-breaking scenario that applies to nuclear politics in NY is how fast that vulgar excuse for a human being would bite off your hand if she thought you were reaching for that opaque plastic file box that retired military aide Robert Patterson called "Hillary's 'Football'".
The "fast-breaking scenario" is an invention of Jamie Lee Witt. Only he knows where he came up with the notion. Mr. Witt has surely learned many things during his life, but his bandying about of such phrases sure seems irresponsible to nuclear.com. To his credit, he sort of admitted he didn't know what he was talking about shortly after his report to Gov. Pataki was made public. He explained that his report wasn't saying fast-breaking events were possible, it was just exploring whether NY was prepared to handle one if it did occur. Contrast an engineer's description of the two pillars of reactor safety (one of which is slow progression of accidents), written years before Bill Clinton appointed Witt to his first emergency preparedness job.
July 26, 2003
Iraq's Trade Mission to Niger: If not uranium, was Saddam looking for cows, or cowpeas, or maybe onions? IAEA has been mum on the subject
It seems like the, well, almost the whole news and political world has made a leap of faith in interpreting the fake Niger documents. Tony Blair continues to say that the government of the United Kingdom stands behind its previously voiced assessment that Saddam Hussein was actively seeking uranium. Yet the newspapers and TV are filled with tisk-tiskers talking about debunked claims. So it was refreshing to read Terence Jeffrey's cover story in this week's Human Events.
He notes that the Iraqi official whose name appeared on the fake documents did indeed go to Niger in February 1999. That official was interviewed by the IAEA, in a venue monitored by Saddam's people, by the way. But the question of what he was after has not been publicly disclosed, nor does anybody but Mr. Jeffrey, God bless him, seem to care. He asked IAEA Senior Information Officer Melissa Fleming some interesting questions, and learned, in part, the name of the Iraqi official whom IAEA interviewed, that his trip was a 'trade mission', and that the IAEA interview was monitored by Saddam. All of these details are newsworthy, and have been made available on the Human Events web page since Thursday. Have you noticed them discussed anywhere else? I've seen one of the details elsewhere -- the name of the Iraqi official identified by Ms. Fleming of the IAEA. His name is Wissam Al Zahawie. Search the IAEA website and you won't find a single mention of Zahawie or Zahawi. But an article by Neil Mackay in a paper out of Scotland back on July 13 had Ambassador Zahawie's trip dated right, although he called it a diplomatic visit rather than a trade mission.
nuclear.com would like to stress that Niger is a world-class player in the uranium export business. Only Australia and Canada export more. I wouldn't be surprised if one could read the most recent hundred stories on news.Google.com which include the words Niger and uranium without becoming aware of this fun fact.
Anyway, here's how Mr. Jeffrey closes out the article:
Bottom line: Saddam sent a trade mission to a nation that exports uranium. The IAEA interviewed SaddamÕs emissary -- who also had been accredited as SaddamÕs ambassador to Niger -- in Iraq in the presence of an Iraqi monitor. ElBaradei went to the Security Council and revealed that the Iraq-Niger documents were forgeries, and that an Iraqi official had gone to Niger in 1999, but he did not say that the Iraqi went to this uranium-exporting nation as (in Ms. FlemingÕs words) "part of a trade mission."
CIA Director George Tenet in a July 11 statement said an outside investigator the CIA sent to Niger (whom former U.S. Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson identified as himself in a New York Times op-ed) talked to a former Niger official who "said that in June 1999 a businessman approached him and insisted that the former official meet with an Iraqi delegation to discuss Ôexpanding commercial relationsÕ between Iraq and Niger. The former official interpreted the overture as an attempt to discuss uranium sales."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at the White House last week: "[L]et me just say this on the issue to do with Africa and uranium. The British intelligence that we have we believe is genuine."
Who struck closer to the truth here, the Brits or the IAEA? The juryÕs still out, but donÕt bet against the Brits.
Ref: Terence P. Jeffrey (the editor of Human Events), "Saddam Sent Trade Mission to Niger", Human Events, The Week of July 28, 2003, p. 1 [Web Posted Jul 23, 2003]
NY Times misinforms in tomorrow's edition
Mathew Wald has been covering the nuclear policy beat for many years. I've seen him attend at least one pretty arcane meeting at NRC, so I feel confident that he's not a total slacker. So how did the following phrase, "Established as an independent agency nearly 30 years ago in an effort to insulate it from politics...", purporting to describe the NRC, get into his article on Indian Point to be published in tomorrow's paper? To you youngsters who didn't live through the days before the NRC, nuclear.com hopes you and future generations will never be fooled by such piffle as this claim. NRC was created to fulfill the regulatory function of the Atomic Energy Commission. The AEC also was required by law to serve a promotional function -- encouraging the peaceful use of atomic energy. There's no more or less politics in the NRC's environment than was in the AEC's. It wasn't politics from which Congress wanted to insulate the nuclear regulators, it was the organizational conflict of interest inherent in the dual roles of the AEC. Mr. Wald has previously been more accurate in portraying the NRC's genesis. Here's excerpts from a front page story of his in the Jan 1, 1985 paper: "... The problem, Mr. Udall said [then-Representative Morris K. Udall, Democrat of Arizona, chairman of the Interior Committee, which had jurisdiction over the NRC], is the attitude of the regulators, whom he described as 'Good, honest, dedicated, to-be-nuclear-is-to-be-for-America kind of guys.' ... '... the Energy Reorganization Act had zero effect on the attitude of the agency,' said Mr. Pollard, referring to the law that divided the Atomic Energy Commission into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Research and Development Administration, which was later absorbed into the Department of Energy. 'They're still there to protect the industry, not the public,' he said." ... The commission 'has reflected the outlook of previous years when it was a joint enterprise' between Government and the utilities, said Victor Gilinsky, who served on the staff of the Atomic Energy Commission from 1971 to 1973 and was a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from its inception until earlier in 1984. In those days, he said, 'everyone was playing a role to get nuclear power established.' The agency acknowledges its perspective. 'People who serve on this Commission and on its staff do believe in the nuclear industry,' said Joseph J. Fouchard, the chief spokesman. Mr. Palladino [then-NRC chairman, Nunzio J. Palladino] said that the top priority of the commissioners was, as specified in Federal law, operation of the plants without 'undue risk' to the public. He denied that the commission would ever hesitate to shut a plant that it thought was unsafe. 'Many a morning I say, 'Thank the Lord there weren't any accidents last night', and are we doing everything we can to make sure that there aren't any.'"
That's not politics, Mr. Wald. Never was.
[Refs: Matthew L. Wald, "News Analysis: Defining a Disaster", The New York Times, July 27, 2003, p. 27; and
Matthew L. Wald, "Nuclear Agency Draws Criticisms", The New York Times, January 1, 1985, p. 1]
* VC Summer - NRC inspector surprised to see safeguards info come via insecure email
July 25, 2003
* Top News: which way did they go?
The Editors, World Magazine, July 26, 2003 issue
Abid Al-Karim Muhamed Aswod, who was assigned to the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan,
was - according to a list of 600 top officials (said list supposedly signed by
Saddam's son Uday) - "responsible for the coordination of activities with the Osama
bin Laden group." The list was obtained by longtime Gore family friend,
Federal appeals court judge Gilbert Merritt. Judge Merritt is one of 13 American
jurists serving in Iraq for the purpose of rebuilding Iraq's judicial system.
The World Magazine editors cite Judge Merritt as example of "some Democrats are finding evidence to support U.S intervention".
The article refers to Judge Merritt as "a recent convert". You can read Judge Merritt's own
article about the list in his June 25 article in The Tennessean.
July 24, 2003
* South Korea: West Sea islet confirmed as site for nuclear waste dump
Yonhap news agency, Seoul 0650 GMT
By 2008, storage for low-and medium-grade nuclear plant wastes will be built, while an interim
storage facility for spent nuclear fuels will be completed by 2016. A screening committee
appointed by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy has decided to approve an
application by Buan County of North Cholla Province to host South Korea's first permanent
nuclear waste storage facility on Wido, a 14.12m-sq.-metre islet 14.4 km off the coast, about
280 km southwest of Seoul. The application was received on July 14. "Wido has satisfied all
geological, oceanographic and geophysical conditions to house storage facilities for mid-and
low-grade nuclear plant waste and spent nuclear fuels," according to a ministry press release.
"Above all, a preliminary geological probe has not found any active dislocation under Wido,
which is one of the most important considerations for becoming a nuclear waste dump." The press
release noted that in addition to the geology, the screening committee, composed of 14 experts
from government, academia and state-run research labs, checked 16 other categories, including
investment efficiency, availability of land, easiness in port construction and access to power
and water infrastructure.
Since 1986, consecutive governments in South Korea have been unable to build a permanent waste dump due to extreme resistance from residents of candidate areas. The central government has promised enormous cash subsidies and redevelopment projects for Buan and Wido. Buan County's application triggered fierce protests from residents fearing environmental and health disasters. Buan residents have staged a series of violent street rallies, vowing to thwart any government attempt to build the nuclear waste dump in their backyard.
* North Korea Said Likely To Declare Itself Nuclear Power On 9 September
Borislav Pechnikov (Vienna correspondent), RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0646 GMT
A high-ranking source in the Secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Organization in
Vienna told RIA on conditions of anonymity that North Korea officially will declare itself a
nuclear power on 9 September on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of
the Democratic Republic of the Republic of Korea.
The IAEA representative said he learned this from diplomatic sources.
* Russia should be ready for possible conflict over North Korea - official
Interfax news agency, Moscow 1145 GMT
Leonid Slutskiy (deputy chief of the State Duma's international relations committee) told Ekho
Moskvy radio: "If North Korea declares itself a nuclear power in the near future, as allegedly
predicted by an anonymous IAEA source, the United States will undoubtedly leave all options
open... The next step may be talks involving (Russia) and, for instance, South Korea... This is
the sole chance of defusing tensions, which, I think, are about to rise... [If North Korea
rejects such talks], the situation will inevitably, step-by-step, start moving towards a 'hot
conflict' very close to Russian borders... We should be ready for such a situation when
diplomatic means are no longer effective and a military conflict cannot be avoided.
July 23, 2003
What looked like a horror story turns into yet another incredible tale about the health benefits of chronic exposure to radiation.
One of the poster papers at this week's annual meeting of the Health Physics Society may prompt a lot more public health wonks to take the hormesis theory much more seriously. Here's the abstract from an earlier presentation on the research by the same team of Taiwanese researchers:
There was an incredible radiological incident in Taiwan. About 1700 apartments were contaminated with Cobalt-60, and about 10,000 residents in the contaminated apartments had received quite amount of gamma radiation dose averaged in about 0.34 Sv, highest up 7 Sv until 2000. Based on the RERF report and ICRP publication, such amount of radiation could induce the residents to have many times of excess spontaneous leukemia and some excess solid cancer deaths, actually no excess leukemia and solid cancer deaths were observed, on the contrary, the overall spontaneous cancer deaths of the residents were sharply reduced to only 3.6 % of the general population. So that the radiation received continuously or chronically (nomenclature hereafter as chronic radiation) in the Co-60 contaminated apartments is always hormetic and could effectively immune from cancers. It is different from the health effects of radiation received instantaneously or acutely (nomenclature hereafter as acute radiation) in the nuclear explosion or accident that could cause higher cancer mortality, cause injure syndrome, and even cause death in higher doses. As chronic radiation is very much similar to the radiation received in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and medical use of radiation, chronic radiation should never be afraid by public but should be earnestly and medically employed as immunity from cancers, and it might also immune from hereditary diseases. The conventionally policies, standards and measures for radiation protection should be managed separately for benefiting not only the peaceful use of nuclear energy and medical use of radiation, but also for effectively used as immunity from cancers and hereditary diseases. The hormetic health effects of chronic radiation might also occur in other substances, such as toxic chemicals and microorganisms, it might conclude that any toxic substances received in low dose rate is always beneficial to humanity even in quite amount dose.
Source: Y.C. Luan (Nuclear Science & Technology Association, Taipei, Taiwan), M.C. Shieh, S.T. Chen, W.K. Wang, K.L.Soong, C.M. Tsai, W.L. Chen, T.S. Chou, S.H. Mong, J.T. Wu, C. P. Sun, "The Hormetic Health Effects of Radiation Observed in the Incident of Co-60 Contaminated Apartments in Taiwan", presentation at BELLE conference on Non-linear Dose-Response Relationships in Biology, Toxicology and Medicine, June 11-13, 2002 [online abstract].
I don't know of an online source for the full paper, or whether it has been submitted to any journal. You may request a hard copy of the paper from the lead authors:
W.L. Chen and Y.C. Luan,
Nuclear Sciences and Technology Association,
4th F, W. 245, Sec. 3,
Roosevelt Road,
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Russia floating nuclear plant -- on your mark, ready, set, ... set, ... set ... Russian company Rosenergoatom may get financing from China to construct a floating nuclear plant to built at Severodvinsk shipyard. China could finance from half to all of the US$145 million construction. The company is bullish on the prospects for floating plants, because they could claim a large share of the fast-growing global desalination market. Their mobility would allow them to provide fresh water and electricity to coastal areas in Asia and Africa. Associated Press cites a company insider, who asked to remain anonymous, as saying that Chinese officials have offered a loan for the project. China may build the barges used for the plants. If the first plant turns out to be safely operated, China may be interested in joining in more such deals. There have been many "green lights" announced for Russia's floating nuclear plant project recently, but construction has not yet begun.
[Ref: Associated Press, "Russia, China may cooperate in building floating nuclear power plants", The Russia Journal, July 23, 2003 11:59 GMT]
July 18, 2003
*
Ginna offered to Entergy
Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY) -- Early last month, Rochester Gas and Electric Corp.
announced it was considering selling the Ginna plant. Yesterday, Entergy Corp., announced
that it has been approached as possible buyer. Entergy spokesperson Carl Crawford told Rochester
newspaper that "We are interested in any nuclear power plant for sale anywhere in the U.S."
*
Fluctuating terror alerts not a burden so far, local officials ...
Fort Pierce Tribune (FL) -- This article is about the post-9/11 challenges faced by local law
enforcement agencies like the St. Lucie County Sheriff's office. Chief deputy Garry Wilson
notes that, unlike the local airport, the local nuclear plant "For the most part, ... covers the security costs out there so it's not a burden on the taxpayer."
Herbert W. Straley, domestic security coordinator for the Port St. Lucie police, doesn't
sound like he views the St. Lucie plant as a teror magnet: "Ours is more of a bedroom community, light industry, light manufacturing," Straley said. "But nothing that would tend to be as attractive to a potential act of terrorism as some of the other major venues in Florida."
photo of Boushehr plant taken in March (AP)
*
Diplomat: Iran should be given time to think about nuclear ...
Russia Journal -- Russian Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev thinks Russia and Iran are close to signing an agreement requiring spent fuel from the Boushehr plant to be returned to Russia. The agreement could be signed by the end of July, he said. As for the so-called "Additional Protocol" allowing more intrusive IAEA inspection, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Losyukov, said "Iran should be given time to think and make a decision."
July 17, 2003
Tenet reports to Congress on White House pressure before speech
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Good Morning America about a closed-door Senate Intelligence committee meeting Wednesday. Sen. Durbin recalled CIA Director George Tenet as saying that a White House official pushed for including a line about Iraq's attempt to get uranium from Africa in President Bush's State of the Union speech last January: "He certainly told us who the person was who was insistent on putting this language in which the CIA knew to be incredible, this language about the uranium shipment from Africa. And there was this negotiation between the White House and the CIA about just how far you could go and be close to the truth." White House spokesman Scott McClellan was pretty abusive towards the Senator and his portrayal of Teneyt's comments: "I think that characterization is nonsense. It's not surprising coming from someone who is in a rather small minority in Congress that did not support the action that we took."
[Source: Reuters, "Durbin Says W.House Pushed for Disputed Iraq Charge", July 17, 2003 11:11 AM]
From North Korea: Kim sends another 'message'
[Source: Paul Eckert and Oh Jung-hwa, " N.Korea Grabs Attention with Shooting Incident", Reuters, July 17, 2003; 10:25 AM]
July 16, 2003
Yongbyon-1 (AFP file photo)
North Korea Warns US: We Can Produce Six Atom Bombs
The Independent's report on the downright depressing story of North Korea's nuclear program is interesting enough, but the apparent Bush-bushing tendency of the reporter, coupled with his uncritical portrayal of Clinton era warrants caution.
The bad news is pretty darn bad. Former Defense Secretary William Perry speaks of the "imminent danger" to U.S. cities from terrorists whom Kim J. Il might arm. He warns of war before year's end. Your humble nuclear.com editor takes exception to Perry's notion that refusing to kowtow to lying blackmailers like Kim is some kind of moral judgement rather than appropriate presidential decision-making.
Is there any good news? Well, China seems to be concerned, although there's a Chinese expression -- "same bed, different dreams" -- which seems appropriate to temper any enthusiasm about New China's new peacemaker persona.
July 14, 2003
Nuclear Deregulation
This op-ed by former editor of Moscow Times laments the forced retirement of
Yury Vishnevsky after 11 years as head of "Russia's NRC" -- Gosatomnadzor. He compares the hole
caused by his absence with the hole in Davis-Besse's head. He "at times made the [US] NRC look wishy-washy", says Bivens, citing
"Vishnevsky was largely alone in speaking out against
Kremlin-backed plans to import the world's nuclear waste for cash. This year Vishnevsky even
pulled the operating license for the Mayak nuclear fuel facility over serious concerns about
pollution."
July 12, 2003
* Food irradiation - so good that it will be seen as fourth pillar of public health
* Food irradiation - Public Citizen has been misrepresenting a German study on chemical byproducts
* Lucas Heights - main purpose is to maintain n-weapons option, sez ex-science adviser to Howard govt
* Australia would get off-the-shelf tactical nukes from US in event of a crisis, sez Newcastle U prof
July 11, 2003
US intelligence suggests North Korea reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods
NBC Nightly News reports that US has detected krypton-85 gas in air samples obtained near the Yongbyon facility. This is the first physical evidence of Korean reprocessing. The TV news report also suggests that North Korea has a variety of a-bomb designs, including one provided by Pakistan which is small enough to fit into an easily-smuggled footlocker.
* CIA Director Tenet's explanation of Iraq-Niger link controversy
Entergy Selected to Provide Management to Cooper Nuclear Station
Press release describes Entergy's delight and plans after being selected by NPPD Board to manage the Cooper plant. An AP wire story this afternoon indicates that NPPD expects the contract to add a million dollars a year to operating budget. Entergy and Cooper will negotiate details soon. The board also gave go-aheads to pursue 20% power uprate (to 1,000 MWe), license renewal (to 2034, adding 20 years to expiration date), and lengthening operating cycle (to 2 years, up from current 18 months).
CIA Asked Britain To Drop Iraq Claim; Advice on Alleged Uranium Buy Was Refused
The Washington Post article describes how the State of the Union address' mention of Iraq-Niger link evolved during drafting process, and notes that the US was never made privvy to the particular intelligence information which the UK continues to stand behind. If nuclear.com were writing headlines for the Washington Post, the emphasis would have been on UK's basis for refusing to heed CIA's advice. That basis was the UK's confidence that they had info that the CIA did not have.
Highlights
* Iraq-Niger Uranium Link - CIA, in Sept 2002, urged UK to drop it from dossier
* Iraq-Niger Uranium Link - Bush administration wasn't trying to mislead, sez Powell
* Iraq-Niger Uranium Link - UK stands behind its 2002 conclusions; never shared the basis with USA
* Iraq-Niger Uranium Link - how it evolved in speechwriting for 2003 State of the Union address
* Iraq-Niger Uranium Link - UK might yet be right, sez Powell
July 10, 2003
On Iran, US opts for peer pressure; As new allegations of Tehran's nuclear program surface, Washington tries multilateral approach
Christian Science Monitor article reports that even the so-called "Additional Protocol" won't keep Iran from going nuclear if it so desires. The article also notes new enrichment facilities developed in recent months are under Iran military control, illuminating as a lie the Iranian claim that the program is geared to commercial power production. Despite these apparent facts, the USA is signaling that Iran need not fear US, and that we are willing to stay out of Iran's politics and even help subdue the international operations of Iran's leading opposition group (who, by the way, are the folks who've blown the whistle on Iran's n-program to begin with).
Highlights
* Iran - US deferring to Iran's trade partners in their efforts to stem Iran n-weapons development
* Iran - US carrot is crackdown on leading opposition group, the People's Mujaheddin
* Iran - Powell signals US intent to stay out of Iran's politics
* Iran - new n-enrichment sites developed since Feb, controlled by military
* Iran - ElBaradei's July 9 visit to gather info & urge adoption of additional protocol
* Iran - path to deterring n-weapons: foreign business cooperation & united international front
Bush Skirts Question on 'Evidence' and Defends War
New York Times article is at its most interesting in reporting Ari Fleischer's comments about
Sunday's NYT op ed by Ambassador Wilson. The Ambassador spent eight days in Niger investigating the uranium story in 2002. His report didn't even hint at the forgery issue. He reported that Niger's government denied the report. Mr. Fleischer notes that such an official denial was not an earth shaking surprise, certainly not enough to reverse intelligence assessment.
Highlights
* Iraq - Niger link - Bush brushes off question of accuracy
* Iraq threat inaccurately portrayed by Bush administration, sez recently retired State Dept official
* Iraq - Niger link shuldn't have been in speech, sez Fleischer
* Iraq - Niger link - forgeries weren't the only evidence, sez Fleischer
July 9, 2003
Pre-nuclear blasts in North Korea
Sydney Morning Herald reports that North Korea has conducted 70 high-explosive tests linked to nuclear weapons development,
according to Ko Young-Koo, director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service. Gusong City, northwest of Pyongyang,
is where at least some of the tests have been detected, the spy chief reportedly told parliament.
New coalition targets terror weapons
The Australian Associated Press article provides background info about a new international
organization called the "Proliferation Security Initiative". The organization, dedicated to disrupting global trade in weapons of mass destruction, is holding its second meeting, starting today, in Brisbane.
July 5, 2003
* [Armenia]
Metzamor Power Station Active Again
Baku Today (Azerbaijan) with text from Zaman(Turkey)
This article seems a bit misleading. It states that Metzamor had been closed "within the scope of efforts merging the energy system in the country". But as nuclear.com readers know, Metzamor unit 2 shut down back on April 4, not long before a scheduled refueling outage, and its restart this summer was expected. In fact, with Russian-financed new fuel, the surprise would have been if the plant did not promptly return to service.
AD:Genuine Soviet Sokol KV-2 spacesuit
July 3, 2003
CY Wins Storage Appeal
Today's issue of The Middletown Press of Connecticut describes a ruling released yesterday by federal appeals court and its background. Connecticut Yankee's dry cask storage plan was upheld, and the lower court's $170,000-plus contempt fine assessed to the intervenor's lawyer was also upheld. The plant says "We're pleased..." The fined attorney stressed that the ruling, if upheld by Supreme Court, means that folks in small towns must give up such rights as enforcing their zoning laws and free speech too when a nuclear facility is involved. Nuclear.com would gladly tell you dear readers how it views the balancing performed by the courts, but how can one not be chilled from speaking freely when fines such as this are imposed. Nuclear.com will note that the notion reportedly upheld by the court, that an intervenor must live adjacent to the site to have standing, seems to be quite counterintuitive when there's radiation involved. That using these casks is, in nuclear.com's best judgement, safer than just about any activity a business might perform, doesn't make us any less sympathetic to letting folks have full and fair hearing, including in court.
* Japan - new plant construction approved - Tomari-3 online by 2009
* Japan - Joyo fast breeder reactor restarted after almost 3 year upgrade project
See all of today's new items -- updated throughout the day
July 2, 2003
* Sequoyah - missing weapon reported by Security
* LaSalle - faulty emergency siren alarmed without cause for 90 minutes yesterday
* Other events reported by NRC Ops Center today at the nuclear power page include turtles at St. Lucie and unseparated MCCs at Monticello.
July 1, 2003
C.I.A. Said to Find Nuclear Advances By North Koreans
The New York Times' front page article by David E. Sanger today presents a lot of interesting information from unnamed intelligence sources. Well, this is the Times, I guess I should emphasize alleged when I mention their sources.
Here are the things nuclear.com was glad to hear:
* The one or two nuclear bombs Korea is thought to have produced in the late 1980s - early 1990s are
too crude, too heavy to pose a threat via missile to even as close a target as Japan.
* If many of those 8,000 fuel rods had been reprocessed, it's likely that we would have detected
telltale radioactive isotopes of krypton gas in atmospheric samples. We have obtained air samples from locations we consider most likely to be the scene of reprocessing equipment, but have not seen the krypton gas. The article cites American officials as indicating "it now
appears that North Korean engineers ran into technical problems in restarting the [reprocessing] program.
While intelligence officials have reached no consensus, they told allies last week that in the
worst case, only a few hundred of the 8,000 rods had been converted into plutonium. It would
take 1,000 to 1,500 rods to make enough plutonium for a weapon, experts say."
*After reprocessing the necessary amount of rods, it will take at least 6 months, "perhaps", to fashion the plutonium into a bomb.
With good news of such underwhelming giddy-factor, you can imagine that bad news is pretty alarming:
* The article cites officials at the Central Intelligence Agency as saying American satellites have identified
an advanced nuclear testing site at Youngdoktong. Equipment has
been set up there to test conventional explosives that can compress a plutonium
core and set off a nuclear explosion. The testing range is
evidence suggesting that North Korea intends to manufacture much more sophisticated weapons,
light enough to put onto its growing arsenal of medium- and long-range missiles.
* American officials had previously said they were uncertain whether North Korea had received
enough outside technical help to even attempt the precision steps required to detonate a
"miniaturized" nuclear warhead. The new intelligence reports suggest that North Korea could
develop such a weapon in less than a year, but "some officials", the article says, "warn that that assessment
represents what one called 'a best guess rather than a solid estimate'."
* After the claims made about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which have so far
not been found,
there is a lot of skepticism about the quality of American intelligence. And in the case of North
Korea, as in Iraq, the immediacy of the threat depends on whose analysis seems most compelling.
* Trucks were seen carrying the fuel rods from their storage area months ago, and
it is unclear where they are or whether the United States is sniffing for the krypton gas in
the right place. "We don't believe that the main reprocessing facility has been very active," a senior
administration official said in a recent interview. "But could there be a second reprocessor?
No one knows for sure."
* Iran govt - if they stoppped lying, you'd think they were mute - they're complaining about radiation leakage from Israel's nuclear program now.If not for their difference on the abortion issue, it would be hard to tell the Islamo-fascists apart from the green totalitarians.
* Iran invites ElBaradei to discuss additional protocol
* Iran - UK warns that EU trade deal is at risk due to lack of additional n-protocol
* Iran wants more western n-tech in exchange for additional protocol
Today's NRC event report highlights
* Perry - Unusual Event prompted by Ohio earthquake (3.4 on Richter scale)
* MIT research reactor - operator asleep at reactor controls
* Brunswick-1 - RCS leakage rose from 0.63 gpm to 2.69 gpm, prompting shutdown
* Columbia-2 - reactor trip after turbine trip (cause unknown)
* Seabrook-2 - fire in containment during disassembly of containment dome
See more of today's items
June 30, 2003
Critical Mess: How the neocons are promoting nuclear proliferation
The American Prospect article by their writing fellow Drake Bennett describes the dangers he sees in the ascendency of "counterproliferation" over "nonproliferation". For somebody so apparently alarmed at the prospects of proliferation, he makes an interesting case for the proposition that recent years' events in India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and North Korea don't mark an uptrend in proliferation. Frankly, nuclear.com thinks he's more interested in bashing Bush than he is in things nuclear. But even such as he can't ignore that this administrtion is on a path of n-weapons reductions that have no match in history. He misrepresents it, of course (calling it ironic). But he doesn't ignore it. Contrast his give-no-quarter approach to the current President with his hagiographic paragraph on President Kennedy. No mention that Kodak film company's concern, over the extent to which bomb test fallout was ruining their product, had more impact on JFK's policies than the nostalgic tale told by this fellow.
June 27, 2003 EIA releases energy/CO2 data for 2002
The electricity mix looked like this:
Coal - 1,905 billion kWh
Nuclear - 780 billion kWh
Gas - 601 billion kWh
Renewables - 292 billion kWh
A carbon efficiency trend continues in both electricity and in the entire US energy use data. The following graph shows that from 1990-2002, energy-related CO2 emissions per unit of GDP decreased by 17.6 percent.
[For more info, see info nugget 20030627-005]
June 26, 2003
June 25, 2003
June 24, 2003
* The Salt Lake Tribune ran an editorial today about the Moab tailings pile that could have been written by the most partisan Green Party rep you could imagine. It's as if the editorial page folks haven't bothered reading their own paper's news coverage over the years. The Tribune makes it sound like the dastardly Bush administration is the only force behind options that don't involve moving the massive pile. nuclear.com recalls one official of a town eyed as likely candidate to receive the tailings and contaminated dirt: "If Salt Lake would take it, we would ship it." The Tribune reported that the hearing room erupted with applause at that statement. [Ref: February 9, 2003 issue, article by Judy Fahys on p. C3]. Today's editorial is here until the paper moves it to their (fee-based) archives.
* Boric Acid Corrosion - EPRI embarks on 4-year research program
June 23, 2003
* Japan urged to stop its rush to reprocess spent fuel
* KEDO project may be halted in August by US and Japan, despite South Korea's urgings
June 21, 2003
* Spent fuel pool fire could far exceed release at Chernobyl
* Spent fuel pools - biggest security threat is probably small plane
* Spent fuel pools make poor targets for terrorist planes, missiles
* Spent fuel - dry cask storage much better, risk management-wise, than pools
June 20, 2003
Iran rejects IAEA request to take environmental samples at suspected enrichment site
Last week, Iran denied The Wall Street Journal's report that an IAEA inspection team had curtailed a four-day visit to Iran after authorities had refused to allow visit to a Kalaye Electric Company site in west Tehran, which the newspaper described as a nuclear site. The Associated Press puts it like this: "The Iranians have allegedly tested centrifuges at the Kalaye site." Iranian atomic energy authority spokesman Seyed Khalil Moussavi was quoted by AFP as saying "IAEA inspectors were able to visit all the sites requested by the agency whose list was contained in a letter delivered to us, and they left Iran after the agreed programme."
Despite the denial, the head of Iran's atomic energy authority, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, told Iranian TV "We've had no problem concerning environmental samples, but we've been telling the IAEA that this location is not a nuclear location, so that if you want to take environmental samples, this is outside the framework of the protocol. If we accept to operate outside the framework of the protocol, it will have no ending ... and tomorrow ten other locations may be named." Aghazadeh did not refer to the Kalaye site by name.
The Kalaye case illustrates why IAEA and others have urged Iran to sign on to the so-called Additional Protocol. A diplomat put it like this: "To put the pieces of a nuclear puzzle of a country together, it is not enough to go to declared nuclear sites." Reuters reports that "The IAEA on Thursday urged Iran to remain 'transparent' and accept without delay or conditions more intrusive, short-notice inspections. The Kelaye facility was cited by the IAEA."
The AP reports that judging by Aghazadeh's reaction, Iran is turning a cold shoulder to the request by the IAEA Board that Iran adopt the additional protocol. The AFP puts it thusly: "senior Iranian officials immediately rejected the IAEA call for wider inspections". Channel NewsAsia out of Singapore quoted Aghazadeh's TV comments as including: "We will not allow it. This request is illegal and unacceptable. These installations are completely non-nuclear and are not affected by IAEA inspections." India's PTI ran report contrasting Iran's varying statements about the additional protocol provision this week: "The refusal announced by Iran's nuclear chief on state television indicated a sudden hardening of attitude toward the International Atomic Energy Agency. Yesterday the country said it welcomed the comments of the IAEA board meeting in Vienna and earlier this week it said it was 'studying positively' an IAEA report on Iran."
[Refs: Agence France Presse, "Iran refuses sample from nuclear power plant: official", June 20, 2003; Ali Akbar Dareini (Associated Press Writer), "Iran says it will not permit IAEA to take environmental samples", The Associated Press, June 20, 2003; Channel NewsAsia (Singapore), "Iran refuses to let IAEA take samples from power plant", June 21, 2003; Paul Hughes and Jeremy Lovell (Reuters), "Iran Defies International Pressure on Nuclear Aims", June 20, 2003; and PTI (India), "Iran will not permit IAEA to take environmental samples", June 20, 2003.
June 20, 2003
Quad-Cities license renewal public meeting transcript highlights
NRC today released transcripts from April 8 public meetings held as part of the process for identifying issues appropriate for consideration in the environmental impact statement for license renewal. A local fire chief described how his organization has benefitted from its relationship with the nuclear plant -- and not just through such things as fire training facility and off-the-shelf emergency plans, but fundamental approaches to problem-solving and safety culture too. A County road commissioner described the station's 'always ready to help' approach to requests for assistance from local government and the ways which the plant has demonstrated itself to be a thoughtful and caring neighbor. Fishermen noted that the walleye and bass fisheries created and maintained by the station are unmatched by any other private effort on the whole Mississippi River. Two County Board members were hopping mad, however, about Exelon's recent claims that it no longer owes property taxes on Quad-Cities. The utility's site VP assured them that they want to pay taxes, and surely will pay taxes, but the relevant state law has recently changed. The Board's attorney noted that even before the change, Quad-Cities paid less -- much less -- in taxes than any of the other operating n-plants in Illinois. Several NRC officials described the license renewal process, and Exelon official described the effort that went into the utility's analysis of the plant's capability to run an extra twenty years. All this and more in the info-nuggets:
* Quad-Cities' outlook for remaining open was bleak in late 1990s
* Quad-Cities has been a great neighbor and corporate citizen, considerate and caring
* Quad-Cities - extraordinary emphasis on safety, environment and security, sez neighbor/e-contractor
* Quad Cities - coal-fired pollutants avoided - #s
* Quad-Cities - the only private fish hatchery on Mississippi - #s
* Quad-Cities - bass and walleye fisheries, an outstanding achievement
* Quad-Cities - stable fuel price for equivalent of 1.7-million homes
* Quad-Cities - $57-million payroll, $30-million outage payroll, + $2-million/yr to local businesses
* Quad-Cities - annual tax payments - $3.5-million
* Quad-Cities' value, for property tax purpose, is zero, sez Exelon; County is pretty aghast
* Quad-Cities sez "we do intend to pay property taxes, but Illinois law _has_ changed"
* Quad-Cities - property tax appeal board litigants
* Quad-Cities - the dominant local taxpayer, yet much less tax than other NPPs
* Quad-Cities - Exelon's effort to avoid taxes is shameful and amoral, sez County Board member
* License renewal - local taxes are part of environmental impact statement scope
* License renewal depends mainly on two reviews: plant safety & environmental impacts
* License renewal process - overview
* License renewal - overview of safety review required by NRC
* License renewal - overview of environmental review required by NRC
* License renewal process - 22-30 months, depending on whether adjudicatory hearing required
* License renewal applications are 1,000-page summaries of 100X more info at Quad-Cities and Dresden
And the nuclear.com quote of the day comes from the evening session of that meeting:
"Quad Cities is a safely operated nuclear power plant. It can operate safely for 60 years with an additional 20 years of operation. And during that time period, it will provide 1800 megawatts of clean, reliable, environmentally friendly, economic electricity. ItÕs going to benefit this community, the State of Illinois and our country." -- Fred Polaski (Exelon, Manager for License Renewal)
Counterpoint expressed at same meeting: "... Hardened on-site storage for spent fuel would be resistant to an attack and should be viewed as a necessary component to Homeland Security. If our nuclear facilities are poorly defended, we may feel compelled to use military force around the world aggressively which could facilitate an endless cycle of violence... There is no transportation plan for the one hundred thousand truckloads or twenty thousand train loads of high level waste that will pass through forty-five states over 38 years. Any industry that produces this much high level radioactive waste, as a general practice, is neither clean or cheap. Although ... nuclear ... does emit far less carbon than conventional plants such as coal, carbon dioxide is still emitted at every step of the nuclear fuel chain from uranium mining to the decommissioning of old reactors. As to the claim that nuclear power is cheap, the Department of Energy has recently released their budget projections for 2004. An anticipated $591 million alone is requested for Yucca Mountain. Of this, $438 million would come from taxpayers. ... [I]t is possible to function in the Quad Cities without nuclear power plants, and we do have amazing potential for renewable energy... [R]esources in the West and Midwest have more potential energy than the oil fields of Saudi Arabia and together electricity and hydrogen can meet all the energy needs of a modern society. This of course is a transitional period in our time. This is a very exciting time in technology, so we would just like the NRC to consider other options and just acknowledge that there are other options out there and taking it into consideration all the safety concerns regarding nuclear power." -- Leslie Perrigo (concerned citizen at NRC public meeting)
June 19, 2003
* Iran - IAEA Board is rather acquiescent in addressing ElBaradei's findings
* Homeland Security funds for repaving road to Browns Ferry?
June 18, 2003
Nuclear Plants Called Terrorist Time Bombs
Environment News Service describes the executive summary of a report
by Dr. Gordon Thompson of the Institute for Resource and
Security Studies. Thompson concludes that
n-plants and spent fuel are like pre-deployed radiological weapons awaiting activation by an enemy.
Iran rejects IAEA charges
Agence France Presse reports that Iran takes humbrage at NPT charges, says it won't consider extra protocol if IAEA uses language of force in coming report.
USA's charges and urgings are characterized as "politically motivated" by Iran.
Meanwhile, IAEA Board is meeting this week to consider ElBaradei's report, which concludes Iran did not comply with NPT reporting requirements.
June 14, 2003
The Nuclear Jitters: Fear not research, and a wise deterrence
National Review piece by Georgetown U professor Keith Payne is quite abusive to the leftists'
arguments against research into mini-nukes. He patiently explains deterrence and dissuasion in
quite simple and forthright terms. The Bush administration's successes on the nuclear weapons
front, which include deep cuts agreement with Russia and pursuit of common sense missile defense,
have flown in the face of the naysayers of the left, who appear to be stuck in, absurdly, their cold war
orientation.
June 12, 2003
Louisiana disputes low-rate rationale
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article describes Louisiana Public Service Commission's contention,
as filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, that Entergy should not charge such
significantly higher rates in Louisiana as compared with the rates Entergy charges in Arkansas.
The power generated in Louisiana is mainly from natural gas-fueled plants. Arkansas plants are
mostly coal and nuclear. Natural gas prices are way up over the past three years. Louisiana wants Arkansas customers to
pay $200-million to $400-million per year of the higher bills expected by Louisiana customers in near future. Entergy and Arkansas think Arkansas should continue to benefit from their choice made amongst competing generating methods, just as they bore the higher capital costs involved with those choices.
Louisiana notes that FERC has previosly held that Entergy should keep production costs at its regulated subsidiaries
"roughly equal". There's still room for disagreement. Entergy says if you look at the costs over a
long period of time, like the 1986-2010 "System Agreement" period, the costs are roughly equal. Louisiana says that use of a 12-month period for comparison
is the method Entergy has used in the past, and argues it is unreasonable to switch to 20-yr method now.
June 10, 2003
On the verge of the first pro-nuclear energy policy in recent USA history
"For the first time in modern history, between the two bodies we will adopt a very pro-nuclear policy for the United States." That's Sen Domenici talking, at press conference after the loan guarantee provision in Senate energy bill narrowly survived floor fight. Although the House version doesn't include a similar provision, the Senator said he believes the bill that comes out of House-Senate conference will include the loan guarantees. In another venue today, the Senator said "I predict we will one day look back and wonder what took us so long to realize the promise nuclear energy offers us." June 11, 2003
BPU head won't rule out Conectiv plan
The Press of Atlantic City reports how New Jersey, at risk of electrical brownouts by next year,
is having problems siting a needed power line upgrade from Oyster Creek nuclear plant. The utility wants to run above-ground line along Garden State Parkway, but highway authority wants only underground lines, which cost 6X more. The only other alternative is to traverse residential areas, which public opposes.
New today from NRC
The following documents - pdf files all - are those considered the most interesting of NRC's ADAMS releases today. nuclear.com will be reviewing them for info-nuggets to add to the archives, but all are available here for you to read now in their entirety.
* DOE & NRC presentations on risk-informing the regulatory approach to Yucca Mountain (14.5 MB pdf)
* SNM oversight - NRC IG's audit report
* Beaver Valley emergency plan implementing procedures (3.6 MB pdf)
* Calvert Cliffs meeting re eliminate OSSRC
* Calvert Cliffs looking to eliminate OSSRC
* Conn Yankee filing on hot particles and hard-to-detect nuclides (3.3 MB pdf)
* Davis-Besse head corrosion - EMC2 report (2 MB pdf)
* Davis-Besse head corrosion - EMC2 safety margin report (1 MB pdf)
* Diablo Canyon license transfer Order (2.8 MB pdf)
* Ginna reply to license renewal RAI (3.3 MB pdf)
* Idaho spent fuel facility & the Endangered Species Act
* Monticello emergency plan implementing procedures (1.8 MB pdf)
* Palo Verde reports on a reactor head inspection
* South Texas Project report on employee culture (nuggetized from pdf)
* VC Summer license renewal RAI
* Regulatory Guide 1.132 (draft comment resolution) (3.5 MB pdf)
* Regulatory Guide 1.194 final - control room radiological assessment
* Regulatory Guide 1.195 final - DBA radiological consequences
* Regulatory Guide 1.196 final - control room habitability
* recycling radioactive steel comments
* recycling radioactive steel comments
June 10, 2003
Striking union N-plant workers set rally today
The Press of Atlantic City describes an apparent impasse between union and management
involving the 217 members of the IBEW amongst Oyster Creek's 450 workers. Contract negotiations began
about a year ago, and the workers went out on strike on May 22. AmerGen has been able to use
it's own nuclear staff from other sites to replace the striking workers. The company has even withdrawn
the last and best offer.
Oyster Creek plant to test new sirens
The Press of Atlantic City reports on the $200,000 upgrade of Oyster Creek's emergency siren
system, prompted by hard drive problem that delayed siren use by minutes about three months ago.
Dominion puts new head on Va. reactor
Bloomberg News reports that Surry-1 head replacement has been completed. The outage began April 20, and the unit is expected to be back online before June 20, although utility cites competitive reasons for not being more specific about restart date. Surry-2 head replacement is scheduled for this autumn. The article also notes that Davis-Besse expects to be ready for restart in August, and puts price tag of $400-million on their shutdown, which began in March 2002.
New today from NRC
The following documents - pdf files all - are those considered the most interesting of NRC's ADAMS releases today. nuclear.com will be reviewing them for info-nuggets to add to the archives, but all are available here for you to read now in their entirety.
* Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste - Transcript of 142nd meeting of ACNW, held May 29 (2.3 MB pdf)
* Big Rock Point - latest revision of Post-shutdown decommission activities report
* FitzPatrick - emergency plan implementing procedures (5.6 MB pdf)
* FitzPatrick - emergency plan implementing procedures (2.3 MB pdf)
* FitzPatrick - emergency plan implementing procedures (3.1 MB pdf)
* Ginna CREATS (2) part 1 (4.3 MB pdf)
* Ginna CREATS (3) part 2 (4.6 MB pdf)
* Hope Creek April NJPDES report (1.4 MB pdf)
* Oconee reactor vessel head inspection
* response to misleading TV story about Oyster Creek security
* Point Beach - emergency plan implementing procedures (3.7 MB pdf)
* Robinson request re spent fuel pool boron (3.7 MB pdf)
* Seabrook request for pump test relief
* letter re stress corrosion cracking
* Event Reporting - Regulatory Analysis
* BWR ECCS evaluation model topical report - nonproprietary version of Westinghouse document (1.3 MB pdf)
* recycling radioactive steel comments
* recycling radioactive steel comments
* recycling radioactive steel comments
* recycling radioactive steel comments
* Regulatory Guide 1.197 - environmental qualification of microprocessor equipment
* Early Site Permit Topic - Emergency Planning
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (1) meeting summary - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (2) meeting agenda - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (3) presentation cover - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (4) AECL's licensing approach - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (5) licensing reviews - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (6) status & plans - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC (2 MB pdf)
* ACR-700 advanced CANDU reactor (7) NRC project manager - May 27 AECL presentation to NRC
* ESBWR
May 13, 2003
Default risk exaggerated by CBO, industry sez
In the CBO cost estimate of the Senate energy bill released last week, CBO predicted a "very high" default risk -- "well above 50 percent" -- on the proposed loan guarantee program.
NEI President Joe Colvin wrote to Sen. Domenici that CBO's findings on the bill's nuclear energy loan guarantee provisions "do serious injustice to this sound policy initiative in your legislation.
"The CBO finding defies logic and assumes that a private company knows in advance that a new nuclear power plant is too costly ever to be economic," Colvin wrote. "If that were the case, no amount of federal loan guarantee would make it economic, and no company would go forward with such a project."
CBO based its conclusion on EIA's 2003 Annual Energy Outlook, which said electricity from new nuclear power plants would not be cost competitive with other power generation resources until after 2025. EIA projected that a new nuclear power plant built after 2011 could cost about $2,300 per kilowatt of capacity, which is significantly higher than the estimated $536 per kilowatt of capacity for natural gas plants and $1,367 per kilowatt of capacity for coal-steam technology.
"Because the cost of power from the first of the next generation of new nuclear power plants would likely be significantly above prevailing market rates, we would expect that the plant operators would default on the borrowing that financed its capital costs," CBO said.
But Colvin countered that such a scenario is not credible. "Private companies will proceed with new nuclear power project and request federal loan guarantees to support financing of those projects only if they are confident that the projects can be economic, produce electric power at competitive rates and provide a reasonable return on investment," he wrote.
Colvin said CBO's finding had no factual basis, adding that EIA "has an extensive record of using incorrect data and flawed analysis in its forecasting on nuclear energy issues." For example, he said a 2002 industry study found that the cost to build a new nuclear plant after 2011 would be less than $1,400 per kilowatt.
"Facts bounced off the EIA like bullets bounce off an elephant," said Richard Meyer, NEI director of business and environmental policy. "It is impervious to any input."
[Source: Suzanne Struglinski (Greenwire reporter), "Nuclear Industry Takes Issue With CBO Score Of Energy Bill", Greenwire, May 13, 2003]
More spent fuel casks authorized for Prairie Island by State Senate
The state Senate of Minnesota worked into the wee hours and passed a bill last night to allow Prairie Island enough additional spent fuel casks to see the plant through current license. The bill removes future decisionmaking on casks from the legislature. That task, if necessary, will be performed by the Public Utilities Commission. The legislature gets final say on whether Prairie Island and Monticello can renew their license. The bill doubles the payments from Xcel to a fund supporting alternative energy, to about $17 million per year. The bill also requires Xcel to generate 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2015. The bill passed 42-24, and was considered a compromise: "It does keep the nuclear plants open," Sen. Ellen Anderson said. "And it moves us forward on a clean energy path." [Source: Patrick Howe (Associated Press Writer), "Senate passes nuclear waste bill", The Associated Press, May 13, 2003 3:09 AM Eastern Time]
May 12, 2003
Bet on nuclear
The New York Times doesn't see much to like about the energy bills progressing through House and Senate this year. Particular disdain was voiced about the nuclear power provisions, although the Times does point to "the problem of global warming" as sort of recommending nuclear. Here's how they put it: "Apart from making an expensive and chancy bet on nuclear power, [the Senate bill] would do next to nothing to address the problem of global warming." The editorial elaborates: "...a huge $30 billion subsidy for nuclear power, a favorite of the new chairman of the Senate energy committee, Pete Domenici of New Mexico. For many reasons, not least the fact that nuclear energy is economically uncompetitive with most other forms of power, the nuclear industry has not licensed and built a new plant for nearly 30 years. Mr. Domenici seeks to jump-start a new generation of plants with federal guarantees that even his pro-nuclear allies regard as excessively generous." [Source: The New York Times, (Editorial) "An Empty Energy Bill", May 12, 2003, p. A24]
nuclear.com doesn't have a clue as to whom the Times thinks is pro-nuclear who believes there's the slightest chance that the loan guarantees will ever cost the taxpayers a dime. The doom-and-gloomers point to WPPSS as if some analog of that bond default might occur under Domenici plan. But it's hard to imagine how such circumstances could recur. The WPPSS default of bonds associated with projects 4 and 5 in 1983 was the result of a state court ruling that local power authorities didn't have to pay WPPSS for power they had promised to buy but no longer needed.
May 10, 2003
First Yucca Mountain construction contract awarded
Cogema Inc. won a $29.7 million bid for work it will be expected to perform over the next 4-1/2 years at Yucca Mountain Project. Th company's proposal for design of robotics prevailed in a technical evaluation against two other bidders, Bechtel President John Mitchell said in a statement. "Its proposal was superior in key performance areas critical to the Yucca Mountain Project and offered the best value," he said. Cogema's bid raised eyebrows in some circles when it became known last month because it is a subsidiary of a French-owned consortium, the AREVA Group. New York Times columnist William Safire among others questioned whether Cogema should be rewarded since France did not support the U.S. war in Iraq. Concerning those views, "we haven't responded to that. We are a U.S. company," said Dorothy Davidson, a spokeswoman for Cogema, which is headquartered in Bethesda, Md.
[Source: Steve Tetreault (Stephens Washington Bureau), "Major Yucca contract awarded: $29.7 million to design robotics to handle packages of nuclear waste", Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 10, 2003]
Stop-work order at Hanford -- State of Washington aghast that DOE actually did what state required. "You should have asked what we really meant to say"
The State of Washington issued an order on April 30 via its Department of Ecology. It was 14 pages long, and the federal Department of Energy had a variety of technical and legal staffers evaluate it for implication for the Hanford cleanup project. One sentence in the order requires that "DOE shall immediately stop creating a backlog of untreated mixed wastes." So DOE yesterday told its Hanford contractors to stop any work that creates new mixed waste. That's a lot of work being stopped. Ecology Dept spokesperson Sheryl Hutchison told reporter for local newspaper that the sentence was supposed to mean that the state wants DOE to treat any mixed waste as it is produced at Hanford, and that DOE should add new ways to treat mixed wastes. Governor Gary Locke thinks DOE is being unreasonable: "This rationale would be like your mother telling you not to let dirty dishes pile up in the sink, and you respond by not cleaning any dishes at all."
[Source: John Stang (Herald staff writer) "DOE halts major cleanup at Hanford", Tri-City Herald, May 10, 2003]
April 25, 2003
Screening could check all containers entering ports, not just the current < 3%
"... [P]erhaps the greatest danger we face from terrorism [is] a nuclear weapon ... being smuggled through one of our ports and detonated in one of our cities. Despite recent administrative improvements in container tracking, less than 3 percent of shipping containers entering the country are inspected each year. This means that approximately 770,000 containers that enter the Port of New York annually are unchecked. Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island indicate that nuclear screening devices capable of checking all containers can be developed relatively cheaply, yet the Bush administration refuses to spend the money to purchase them. The president here is being penny wise and pound foolish." [Source: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York), April 21, 2003 Letter to editor, "Security at Our Ports", New York Times, April 25, 2003]
Fish story at D.C. Cook plant - a mess of fish at intake screens degraded flow to turbine, prompting manual reactor trip, and to EDGs, prompting all to be declared inoperable. The Alert lasted about 25 hours. See the event report.
April 24, 2003
Quote of the day: "I eat, breathe and sleep in this 24 hours a day, seven days a week and I'm not even on top of all of it. The scope of the problem is broader than the group realizes."
- Bob Halstead (State of Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects, quoted in Greenwire story on newly-announced NAS panel on spent fuel transport)
Bubble from pool and iodine alarm prompt Alert at Perry - see Event report.
April 22, 2003
Spent fuel pools not much of a terror target
nuclear.com's favorite newsletter came in the mail today. Here's an excerpt you might find of interest:
"Acknowledging that the containment building could not be breached by running a jet aircraft into it, alarmists focus on the pool where spent fuel rods are stored. However, 'spent fuel pool radioactivity has lost the short-lived and most volatile products and has insufficient energy to disperse in hazardous forms. Even hypothesized zirconium fires would only burn cladding and structures, external to the fuel, adding little to the radioactivity release' (Science 2003;299:201-203).
"A General Electric study showed that even 1,000 tons of high explosives delivered by a small plane crashing into the pool would not disrupt fuel assemblies, which are under 9 or more feet of water, and that the potential for off-site radiation release is negligible (from CFRI General Position Paper GPP4).
"The Science article was drafted by Dr. Ed Zebroski, winner of the 2002 Edward Teller Award, after reading the widespread phrase 'Mobile Chernobyls' used in the media for fuel shipping casks. 'It struck me that this was worth noting as a record-breaking exaggeration (say 100 million fold on a risk scale of likely consequences), and that claims of vulnerability of nuclear facilities to disruption by large airplanes also seemed greatly exaggerated... Misinformation on risks is itself a risk of multiplying the panic effects of any real attack that might occur.'"
[Source: Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter, "Nuclear Terrorism", March 2003]
April 21, 2003
New York satisfies NRC, gets four more years as an Agreement State
by Steve Schulin, nuclear.com
(Rockville, Maryland - April 21, 2003) -- New York City apparently was considered a weak link by the NRC Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program