[ RadSafe ] Russia to pitch for Indian nuclear market during Putin trip

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Russia to pitch for Indian nuclear market during Putin trip
Nuclear power climate change risk 
Lack of Budget Could Hurt Nuclear Energy Revival, Official Says 
German warned on nuclear energy phase-out
Arrests over nuclear site protest  
Westminster students arrested for nuclear plant breach
Nuclear plant sees safety system failure; problem fixed 
Syrian activist defends Iran's right for peaceful nuclear energy 
RTI, Duke, UNC Asheville to Study Chernobyl Radiation Impact
Radiation-exposed workers to march
==========================================

Russia to pitch for Indian nuclear market during Putin trip 

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Russia's president will offer India nuclear power 
plants in a major pitch for a slice of the nation's lucrative atomic 
energy market when he begins a visit to New Delhi, officials said. 
 
President Vladimir Putin, seeking to counter growing US ties with 
India, Moscow's former Cold War ally, is bringing a large contingent 
of ministers, business people and officials on his two-day trip.

The visit's aim is to boost the "strategic relationship" and bring 
new momentum to a long friendship, said Putin, who will be guest of 
honour at India's annual Republic Day parade on Friday marking the 
country's founding as a republic.

"We intend to help India directly in construction of atomic energy 
facilities for peaceful use," Putin said in an interview with the 
Press Trust of India (PTI).

The passage last year of a landmark US-Indian deal allowing New Delhi 
access to civilian nuclear technology after decades of isolation has 
unleashed an international race to supply energy-hungry India's 
atomic energy market.

Moscow, which still supplies over 70 percent of India's military 
hardware, also hopes to sign a slew of defence deals, including on 
joint production of a fifth-generation supersonic fighter jet and a 
multi-role transport aircraft.

"Many very serious and very substantial" agreements will be signed 
during Putin's trip, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei 
Ivanov, kicking off his own five-day visit to India in the southern 
high-tech city of Bangalore.

Russia says it has sold arms worth 10 billion dollars to India in the 
past five years and that deals worth a similar amount are in the 
pipeline with the country which is modernising its outdated defence 
equipment.

India's military, the world's fourth-largest with around 1.3 million 
people in uniform, is in the market for new fighters and trainer 
jets, submarines, radar equipment and weaponry.

Ivanov added Russia plans to would "actively" participate in an 
Indian Air Force tender for 126 multi-purpose fighters, a contract 
valued at close to 10 billion dollars, which pits Lockheeds F-16 
warplane and Boeings F/A-18E/F Super Hornet up against fighters from 
Russia, France and Sweden.

"India is pursuing a hedging strategy in its relations with Russia. 
They are trying not to over-rely on the US either politically, 
militarily or otherwise as the Russians have always proven to be 
fairly reliable in the past," Bharat Karnad, analyst at New Delhi's 
Centre for Policy Research, told AFP.

Putin's visit "will strengthen and take bilateral relations between 
the two time-tested friends to new heights," said India's Minister of 
State for Planning, M.V. Rajasekharan.

Russia will sign a preliminary deal with India to build four nuclear 
power plants as well as propose to supply four nuclear reactors, 
reports said.

"An agreement... is being prepared for signing on the construction at 
the Kudankulam nuclear power station (in Tamil Nadu) of additional 
reactors and also construction of atomic stations at new sites in 
India," Ivanov also said in Moscow, according to the Interfax news 
agency.

The reactors would be for the flagship nuclear plant Russia is 
building in southern Tamil Nadu state due to start operation this 
year and which already has two Russian 1,000-megawatt reactors.

Nuclear power now just supplies a scant percentage of the energy 
needs of India which has been eagerly seeking new fuel supplies to 
feed its fast-growing economy.

India and energy-rich Russia are also expected to discuss boosting 
cooperation in oil exploration and production.
--------------

Nuclear power climate change risk  

BBC Jan 23 - The government is soon to release its criteria for 
possible new sites  A new study into the potential impact of climate 
change on Britain's nuclear power stations highlights the threat of 
rising seas and increasingly severe storms, BBC News learns.  

Specialists from the Met Office were commissioned by the nuclear 
power company British Energy to assess the risks of global warming. 

All of the UK's working nuclear power stations are located on the 
coast - sites originally chosen for their remoteness and to guarantee 
supplies of cooling water. 

But the Met Office researchers have forecast global warming is likely 
to bring three changes which could combine to pose serious risks - 
rising sea-levels, increased wave height and increased height of 
storm surges. 

Constant maintenance 

The study concludes none of the current generation of power plants 
are at risk. 

But the findings have implications for the planning of the next 
generation of British nuclear power stations. 

"We would locate the station within the site in such a position that 
we don't perhaps have to work quite so hard in maintaining these hard 
defences." David Norfolk, British Energy 

At Sizewell in Suffolk, for example, site of Britain's most modern 
reactor, the prediction is for the most severe storm surges to be 1.7 
metres higher in 2080 than at present. 

And at Dungeness in Kent, the storm surge increase could be up to 0.9 
metres. 

Already the Dungeness plant, which is sited on land only two metres 
above sea-level, is protected by a massive wall of shingle which 
needs constant maintenance in the winter. 

Waves erode so much of it that 600 tons of shingle has to be added 
every day. 

'Hard defences' 

Met Office researcher Rob Harrison, who led the study, told the BBC 
"very large potential changes are in prospect" what we're trying to 
do is avoid a catastrophic effect. 

"There's no immediate concern but in the future the extremes may 
become more severe, especially with the combination of bigger waves 
and surges. It's reassuring that British Energy are being proactive 
about this." 

The Met Office study finds the rise in storm surge heights will be 
most extreme along the coast of south-east England - the shorelines 
at Dungeness and Sizewell bearing the brunt of the effects. 

One option for the nuclear operators is to build stronger sea 
defences. Another is to site future power stations further inland. 

David Norfolk, a member of British Energy's strategy team, said any 
new power plant could be located further from the sea to provide more 
of a buffer for any flooding. 

"We would locate the station within the site in such a position that 
we don't perhaps have to work quite so hard in maintaining these hard 
defences - put it further back so we have more land, more space to 
absorb any water that comes over, to attenuate the energy of the 
sea." 

The study follows a similar Met Office investigation last year into 
the impact of climate change on conventional power plants.
--------------

Lack of Budget Could Hurt Nuclear Energy Revival, Official Says 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 - The senior member of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission warned on Monday that the failure of Congress to pass a 
detailed budget for the current fiscal year could damage the nuclear 
renaissance that the government tried so hard to encourage with the 
energy bill of 2005.

No one has applied for permission to build a power reactor since the 
1970s. But with the incentives offered by the federal government in 
2005, utilities are considering building about 20 reactors, and 
several of them are expected to apply for authorization this year. 

The commission member, Edward McGaffigan Jr., said that if the 
commission received applications this year, "we basically are going 
to have to put them on the shelf, because we´re not going to have the 
folks to work on the applications until well into calendar year 
2008."

Congress passed only 2 of the 11 spending bills for the fiscal year 
that began Oct. 1, 2006, those covering the Pentagon and the Homeland 
Security Department. The rest of the government has been operating 
under a "continuing resolution," a stopgap measure that finances most 
agencies at the previous year´s levels. Democrats say they plan to 
extend that resolution through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

According to the nuclear commission, under a continuing resolution 
its budget would be lower by $95 million, or about 12 percent, 
compared with the level approved by the House and Senate 
Appropriations Committees but never by the full Congress. 

Most of the commission´s budget comes from fees paid by companies 
licensed to use radioactive material. The agency has been arguing on 
Capitol Hill that giving it the amount already approved by the 
Appropriations Committees would require only $13 million of general 
tax revenues.

Mr. McGaffigan said that if the commission could not process 
applications, some companies wanting to build would decide to wait. 
But he said that "some, seeing the instability, may disappear" and 
build coal plants instead. 

Earlier this month, Mr. McGaffigan, saying he had metastatic 
melanoma, told the White House that he would serve only until a 
successor could be confirmed. He spoke Monday at a meeting with 
reporters organized by Platts, an energy information company.

Mr. McGaffigan also said that the Energy Department should begin 
looking for alternatives to Yucca Mountain, in Nevada, for disposing 
of nuclear waste. When he came to the commission in 1996, he said, 
the opening of the repository was said to be 14 years away; now it is 
probably 20 years away. 

"There´s just tremendous uncertainty," he said, "and each year that 
passes, we´re not going to get any closer to Yucca under the current 
circumstances." He said the government should look for a site where 
there was local cooperation.
------------------

German warned on nuclear energy phase-out

Germany will miss its CO2 emission targets, face rising electricity 
prices and become "dramatically" more reliant on Russian gas if it 
keeps to its policy of phasing out nuclear energy, a new study warns. 
 
The 60-page paper by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB - news) will add to the 
pressure on Angela Merkel, chancellor, to renegotiate the phase-out 
deal agreed by the previous government in 2000, despite her pledge 
not to reopen the controversial debate.

Rising concern about global warming and energy security has sparked a 
lively dispute in Ms Merkel's Christian Democrat-led grand coalition 
government about the wisdom of renouncing nuclear energy. Michael 
Glos, the conservative economics minister, has campaigned vigorously 
against the phase-out, triggering equally vigorous opposition from 
Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democratic environment minister.

Without nuclear energy, the bank says, the chancellor faces a painful 
choice between the three goals she has set herself - to reduce 
emissions, cut reliance on Russian fossil fuel and keep energy prices 
in check.

"Shutting down nuclear is inconceivable as a serious policy," said 
Mark Lewis, energy analyst and author of the report. "It will mean 
missing your carbon emission targets and lead to gas-powered plants 
replacing today's nuclear plants."

The environment ministry said Germany's goal of cutting CO2 emissions 
by 40 per cent of their 1990 level by 2020 "can be achieved without 
nuclear energy. But of course, nobody ever said it would be easy".

The SPD has yet to show any willingness to renegotiate the nuclear 
exit deal. Rainer Wend, a Social Democratic MP and member of 
parliament's economics committee, said: "If we must import more 
Russian gas, then so be it. Russia is a reliable supplier."

Backers of nuclear energy point out that the phase-out has left 
Berlin isolated as holder of the        European Union's rotating 
presidency, which complicates Ms Merkel's task of drafting a European 
energy policy at the next European Council summit in March.

With nuclear covering 25 per cent of Germany's electricity needs - 
and taking into account rising electricity demand and the need to 
replace old fossil-fuel plants - DB calculates 42,000MW of new plants 
will be needed by 2022.

Since lignite and coal-powered plants are highly polluting, most of 
these would have to be gas-powered. Even so, CO2 emissions by the 
power sector will rise by 16 per cent in the decade from 2010, while 
Russian gas imports will increase from today's 35 per cent of the 
total to 50 per cent.
----------------

Arrests over nuclear site protest  
 
AWE is the headquarters of Britain's nuclear development programme 
Eight people were arrested after they chained themselves together as 
part of a protest at a nuclear weapons factory. 
The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) site at Aldermaston, Berks, 
has been the scene of several protests recently. 

Five men and three women were arrested on the A340 on suspicion of 
unlawful obstruction of the highway. 

Campaigners are angry at the government's decision to give the go-
ahead to a new system to replace Britain's existing Trident 
submarines. 

Thames Valley Police said all eight were in custody.
---------------

Westminster students arrested for nuclear plant breach
 
The Fulton Sun - REFORM, Mo. - Two Westminster College students are 
out on bond after allegedly breaching security last week at the 
Callaway Nuclear Power Plant.

Shawn K. Milligan, 22, of St. Louis, and Corey A. Meyer, 19 of Cape 
Girardeau, were taken into custody at the plant by the Callaway 
County Sheriff's Department and charged with first-degree 
trespassing.

Law enforcement officials would not divulge the reason the students 
gave for being at the facility, but did state that the incident is 
not considered to be connected with any terrorist act.

Both the FBI and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission were 
contacted as part of standard procedure. The Callaway County 
Sheriff's Department handled the investigation.

"They gave us a story, but that's something we can't discuss at this 
time," said Callaway County Sheriff Dennis Crane on Friday. "All we 
can say is that they were trespassing, they both bonded out on $500 
each, and that no other charges are expected."

Crane also confirmed that a soft air pistol was found in the 
subjects' vehicle.

According to CCSD reports, the incident occurred at approximately 
8:20 p.m. when AmerenUE security observed the two subjects drive into 
a fenced-in area of the plant and take pictures via a cell phone. 

The area is not considered a high-security area of the plant, but it 
does have restricted access, Ameren officials said.

"People have access to this area, but they have to have authorization 
to be there, and these two did not," explained Michael Cleary, 
AmerenUE communications executive. The photos, he said, contained 
images of the plant's cooling tower and were deleted.

"It's hard to speculate why they were there. Whatever their motives 
were, they were trespassing on our property," Cleary said. "We hope 
this incident will help others in the community know that operations 
at the nuclear power plant are critical and the boundaries must be 
respected."

Milligan and Meyer are scheduled to appear in Callaway County Circuit 
Court in February. Westminster officials Monday acknowledged the 
arrests and stated their intentions to take appropriate actions once 
the investigation is concluded.

"The situation is under investigation by law enforcement officials 
and the college is reviewing the situation as well under our 
disciplinary procedures," said Rob Crouse, director of college 
relations at Westminster.
------------------

Nuclear plant sees safety system failure; problem fixed 
 
MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant was threatened 
with shutdown late Monday when a safety system was determined not to 
be working properly, but the problem was fixed within several hours, 
officials said.

A special Nuclear Regulatory Commission report was triggered when 
staff at the Vernon reactor discovered at about 7 p.m. Monday that a 
high-pressure coolant injection system flow control gauge had 
malfunctioned, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.

The gauge was showing flow through the system of 200 gallons per 
minute when there was nothing flowing through the system, Sheehan 
said.

"If 1,000 gallons a minute were needed, you may think you're putting 
in a thousand gallons a minute when you're actually putting 800," 
Sheehan said of the inaccurate reading. "That's not a good 
situation."

With the malfunction, Vermont Yankee began operating under "limiting 
conditions of operation," meaning that the plant was going to have to 
shut down if the problem was not fixed within 14 days, Sheehan said.

"As of 8 a.m. (Tuesday) the system was operable again," he added.

Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said control room technicians 
noticed the problem at about 7 p.m. and notified the NRC.

The system was declared inoperable while it was re-calibrated, but it 
could have been operated manually by control room technicians, Smith 
said.

"That system was available to provide its safety function but 
operators would have to do it manually," Smith said.

The system was fixed by 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, Smith said.

Sheehan said the risk from the malfunction was low, because the plant 
has several redundant safety systems. But the watchdog group New 
England Coalition wasn't buying it.

"'No problem, be happy, we got other safety equipment,' is no 
answer," said Raymond Shadis, technical adviser with the group.

He said the plant, owned by Mississippi-based Entergy Nuclear "is 
already running at reduced margins of safety," due to last year's 20 
percent increase in power output.

He said operating the plant under limiting conditions of operations 
"is like driving for only a few hours while repairing your car's 
brakes. Except in this instance they are taking the whole 
neighborhood for a ride.
------------------

Syrian activist defends Iran's right for peaceful nuclear energy 

IRNA - A Syrian political activist said on Tuesday that Iran is 
entitled to peaceful use of nuclear energy. 

Deputy Secretary General of ruling Syrian Baath Party Abdullah al-
Ahmar in a meeting with a delegation from Iran's Parties House in 
Damascus on Tuesday condemned pressures on Iran to prevent its access 
to peaceful nuclear energy. 

Al-Ahmar said Washington is supporting the Zionist Regime, which 
possesses nuclear warfare, while opposing Iran's natural rights. 

Head of Iran's Parties' House Ayatollah Hossein Moussavi Tabrizi too 
referred to support of Iranian government and nation for Syria in the 
face of foreign pressures and for the country's campaign to restore 
its sovereignty over occupied Golan heights from the Zionist Regime. 

Tabrizi said any threat against Syria would be a threat against Iran 
and all the regional states. 

He underlined the need for solidarity among Muslim and Arab nations 
to confront aggressive policies of the Zionist Regime and support the 
rights of Arabs. 

Participants in the meeting discussed relations between Syrian Baath 
Party and Iran's Parties' House, the policies and aggressive acts of 
Zionist Regime in the occupied lands, crisis in Lebanon and Iraq and 
the US threats against Iran and Syria as well as the Palestinian 
nation's struggles against the occupiers and their right for 
establishment of an independent state with Qods being its capital, 
repatriation of refugees and release of all captives and prisoners 
from Zionist Regime's prison cells. 

The two sides voiced support for Iraqi people and the political 
process to end Iraq occupation, guaranteeing national unity and 
territorial integrity of the country and forge national 
reconciliation there. 

He stressed support for the aspirations of Muslims and Arabs and the 
right for legitimate resistance against occupiers as well as 
guaranteeing security and stability in Lebanon and liberation of the 
occupied parts of the country. 

The Iranian delegation arrived in Damascus late Monday at the 
invitation by the leader of the ruling Baath Party of Syria. 

Some Iranian parties and organizations are in the delegation. 

The Iranian delegation is to have meetings with the ruling coalition, 
the national progressive parties, in Syria. 

The talks between the two sides are aimed at promoting ties between 
Iranian and Syrian parties to cement relations and cooperation 
between Tehran and Damascus
--------------

RTI, Duke, UNC Asheville to Study Chernobyl Radiation Impact

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, - Three North Carolina research institutions 
are teaming with a Ukrainian group to study the effects and treatment 
of radiation, including the health effects on workers at the 
Chernobyl nuclear power site in the Ukraine.

An accident at the Chernobyl plant in 1986 led to the deaths and 
injuries of thousands of people.

Results of the program will be used to protect workers and people who 
might be affected by radiation.

RTI International, Duke University Medical Center and the University 
of North Carolina at Asheville will be working with the Research 
Center for Radiation Medicine of Ukraine.

The $5 million project is being funded by the U.S. Department of 
Energy. Researchers hope to secure additional funding.

"There is a unique opportunity to do medical and genetic measurements 
on these workers before, during and after exposures to various levels 
of ionizing radiation," said Geoff Ginsburg of Duke University's 
Center for Genomic Medicine. "This will help develop diagnostics and 
treatments to protect people who work with nuclear materials, and 
also to protect the public in case of a release of radiation, such as 
a nuclear terrorism attack."

The project director is Michael Samuhel of RTI.

"Once the baseline medical and genetic data become available, 
opportunities open up for medical research by universities, 
government agencies and companies that are concerned not only about 
radiation exposures, but also about diseases such as cancer that have 
genetic components," Samuhel said.
-----------------

Radiation-exposed workers to march

JOHANNESBURG  - Radiation-exposed workers will march to the Nuclear 
Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) near Atteridgeville on 
Wednesday to demand that the corporation speed up their compensation, 
lobby group Earthlife Africa said on Tuesday.  

Workers, who are suffering from cancer, myetoma, asthma and other 
occupational related illnesses, are expected to assemble at the 
corner of Church Street and Masupa in Atteridgeville at 10am and 
arrive at Gate 3 of Pelindaba (Necsa) at 11am.

Madibeng Municipality has granted permission for the march and 
therefore all affected workers, their families and community must 
support the cause, said Alfred Sepepe, the convener of the march.

Earthlife Africa said most were very ill, out of work and penniless.

"A 16th person among the 208 who were reviewed in terms of a health 
study commissioned by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg died during the 
first week in January," the lobby group said. 

Earthlife Africa said it began its investigation two years ago into 
unsafe practices of the nuclear giant after several workers were 
diagnosed with "unquestionable occupational-related diseases" which 
has since been referred to the Compensation Commissioner, but that 
Necsa still has not submitted the documentation required by law to 
the Commissioner.

The lobby group said at least 52 more people were diagnosed with 72 
probable diseases, which means several people have more than one 
occupational disease, but require additional expensive tests for a 
clarification. 

"Further information has repeatedly been requested from 
Necsa/Pelindaba for a significant number of other workers involved in 
this study who could not be definitively diagnosed because their 
Necsa medical files are gaping with inadequate information or have 
not surfaced," it said.

Sandy Perle
Senior Vice President, Technical Operations
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/