[ RadSafe ] [Nuclear News] Nuclear Bid to Rival Coal Chilled by Flaws, Delay in Finland

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Nuclear Bid to Rival Coal Chilled by Flaws, Delay in Finland 
Is Nuclear Power the Fix for Climate Change?
Low-level radiation spills on Kirker Pass Road in Contra Costa
Low Level Radiation Spill In Concord 
Contractor: Oak Ridge Workers Exposed To Radiation
Small Radiation Leak at Japan Nuclear Power Plant 
Mobile phones pose no health risk: Finland  
UC Berkeley team to study nuclear detection for homeland security
Nuclear Warheads Mistakenly Flown Over U.S.
NRC eyes penalties for NY nuclear plant
Tennessee: Nuclear Panel to Release Records 
New Zealand Stands Firm On Anti-Nuclear Stance At APEC 
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Nuclear Bid to Rival Coal Chilled by Flaws, Delay in Finland 

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Martin Landtman hunches forward in his 
shirtsleeves as a June storm on Finland's Baltic coast drenches the 
construction site of the world's most powerful nuclear reactor. As 
project manager for TVO, the joint venture buying the plant, Landtman 
has weathered far worse annoyances than rain. 

Flawed welds for the reactor's steel liner, unusable water- coolant 
pipes and suspect concrete in the foundation already have pushed back 
the delivery date of the Olkiluoto-3 unit by at least two years. 

``Substantial delays, I think you can use that word, yes,'' the 54-
year-old Landtman says. 

Olkiluoto-3, the first nuclear plant ordered in Western Europe since 
the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, is also more than 25 percent over its 3 
billion-euro ($4 billion) budget. 

If Finland's experience is any guide, the ``nuclear renaissance'' 
touted by the global atomic power industry as an economically viable 
alternative to coal and natural gas may not offer much progress from 
a generation ago, when schedule and budgetary overruns for new 
reactors cost investors billions of dollars. 

The U.K.'s Sizewell-B plant, which took nearly 15 years from the 
application to build it to completion, opened in 1995 and cost about 
2.5 billion pounds ($5.1 billion), up from a 1987 estimate of 1.7 
billion pounds. 

Parity With Coal 

Today at Olkiluoto-3, a behemoth whose excavation site covers the 
equivalent of 55 soccer fields, the pressure is on the group led by 
France's Areva SA that's building the reactor. At stake is much more 
than Areva's bottom line or the cost of electricity crackling out 
from Finland's coast. As the ownership of utilities around the world 
has shifted from state to private hands, the delivery of new reactors 
on time and on budget has become critical. 

Keeping construction costs in check is a vital ingredient in nuclear 
power's drive for economic parity with coal and natural gas 
generation. A new U.S. atomic plant could be 30 percent to 50 percent 
more expensive to build than a coal-fired plant of the same size, and 
the margin widens for natural gas, which is the cheapest option. 

Nuclear power's costs balloon partly because plants must be built to 
more exacting safety standards and stand up to more stringent 
oversight, leading to lost time and extra expense. 

``In nuclear you must be able to do the testing and you must be able 
to verify that you have made every step according to the specs,'' 
says Timo Kallio, who heads civil works for TVO. 

Investors Think Twice 

Proponents of nuclear power argue that the higher cost to build is 
balanced by lower fuel costs. Still, after accounting for 
construction, fuel, operation, maintenance and transmission costs, 
electricity from a new U.S. nuclear plant in 2015 would be 15 percent 
more expensive over the reactor's life than natural gas and 13 
percent more than coal, according to 2007 estimates by the U.S. 
Energy Information Administration. 

``The nuclear industry has put forward very optimistic construction 
cost estimates, but there is no experience that comes even close to 
backing them up,'' says Paul Joskow, director of the Center for 
Energy and Environmental Policy Research at Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology in Cambridge. 

Some investors already are treading cautiously, even amid rising 
demand for electricity. 

``You have to go in with your eyes wide open,'' says Robin Kendall, 
director of project finance at Societe Generale in Paris, which is 
among the banks that lent 1.95 billion euros to TVO for the Finland 
reactor. It's looking into providing loans for nuclear projects in 
Europe and Asia. 

After a 23-year career in shipyards, Landtman started overseeing the 
Olkiluoto-3 European pressurized water reactor, or EPR, in 2003. 

Lumpy Concrete 

The first big jolt came in October 2005 during the installation of 
the reactor's base slab. It was supposed to take five days to pour 
12,000 cubic meters of concrete. 

``An hour after it started, our supervisors saw that something was 
wrong,'' Landtman says. ``It was first too lumpy then it was fine. It 
wasn't consistent.'' 

Autumn rain had soaked the crushed stone aggregate used to make the 
concrete. The pour had been intended for sunny May, says TVO's 
Kallio. Instead, the sacks sat unprotected while Areva worked to 
complete detailed base designs and get them approved. 

The delay meant that the water content in the mixed concrete exceeded 
levels allowed by Finnish nuclear regulators. Areva then had to test 
concrete already poured to make sure it met requirements. No more was 
poured in the nuclear section of the plant until April 2006, Kallio 
says. 

Dormant Industry 

One Areva official points to a nagging issue for reactor builders: 
inexperienced contractors working for an industry that has been 
dormant in much of Europe and the U.S. for 20 years. 

``Local contractors did not have the breadth of operations expected 
or needed to carry out such a big project,'' says Ray Ganthner, 
senior vice president for new plant deployment at Areva NP Inc., a 
U.S. unit based in Lynchburg, Virginia. Reactor builder Areva NP 
itself is 66 percent owned by Areva and 34 percent owned by Germany's 
Siemens AG. Siemens is part of the group building Olkiluoto-3. 

Landtman learned the same lesson. 

``It has taken a lot longer for industry to adapt to this business 
than we had anticipated,'' he says. 

Still, he says, there is nothing to do but push on: ``Now, we are 
trying to complete this as fast as possible.'' 

It comes down to a series of seemingly mundane tasks, from pouring 
concrete to using a broom handle to scrape metal shavings from a 
coolant tube. Without perfect execution, components will fail 
regulators' inspections. 

Breaking New Ground 

Areva executives say delays are to be expected for such a huge 
project, especially when it's the first of a kind. Areva is in talks 
to sell two reactors to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Co. It 
already has an order from Electricite de France SA, Europe's largest 
electricity utility, and expects to have 35 of its latest reactors 
operating around the world in 2020. 

``When you build the first in a series, there is inevitably a certain 
number of costs that you discover, and when you have delays, your 
people stay in place, so your costs go up,'' says Luc Oursel, chief 
executive officer of Areva NP, the reactor- building unit. 

Areva's investment certificates, nonvoting shares that represent 
about 4 percent of capital, are up 28 percent this year at 720.12 
euros and have nearly quadrupled over the past four years. The French 
government and state-controlled entities own 93 percent of Areva. 

`Not for Bureaucrats' 

Oursel, a former French industry ministry official, joined Areva from 
freight and logistics company Geodis SA in January, shortly after the 
Finland project manager was replaced. He and Philippe Knoche, who was 
put in charge of the project for Areva last December, visited the 
snow-covered site early this year. 

``What you need to do is listen to the people who are on the 
worksite,'' Oursel says. ``It's all on the ground that it happens. 
This is not for bureaucrats.'' 

He also visited officials of TVO, whose owners include Fortum Oyj, 
Finland's biggest utility, and paper makers Stora Enso Oyj and UPM-
Kymmene Oyj. 

Landtman's office is down the road from two boiling-water reactors 
built at Olkiluoto in the 1970s. A digital display showed their 
output at 844 and 852 megawatts. At 1,600 megawatts, Olkiluoto-3 will 
be about twice as large. 

The construction snags haven't shaken the Finn's belief in nuclear 
power. 

Kyoto Treaty 

``We need this single power plant in Finland to meet Kyoto 
requirements,'' Landtman says, referring to the international treaty 
that limits greenhouse gas emissions. ``One plant cuts the equivalent 
emissions of all the transport in Finland. If someone says this is 
minor, then I don't understand what they are talking about. To cope 
without nuclear? We don't think we can make it in this country.'' 

As if to prove his point, the blades of an experimental one- megawatt 
windmill spin overhead. 

It operates about 2,200 hours per year, compared with 8,600 hours for 
the two operating nuclear reactors. At that rate, it would take about 
6,000 windmills to generate electricity equal to the new EPR reactor, 
says Hanna Scherger, a spokeswoman for Repower Systems AG, a German 
wind-power company. 

Getting the newest reactor fired up has been a slog. 

Landtman endured headaches through 2006 as a new forging method for 
the eight stainless steel pipes that will make up the main water 
coolant line failed tests at a plant in Le Creusot, France, that is 
owned by Areva's Sfarsteel unit. 

Lattice of Atoms 

In December, Areva told TVO it would have to redo the pipes because 
the steel grain, the crystal lattice of atoms that makes up the metal 
tube, formed areas the same size as holes workers search for to 
ensure strength and longevity. That made it impossible to use 
ultrasound to check the tubes' viability. 

The ability to test regularly over the reactor's 60-year life is 
crucial because the coolant lines carry radioactive water. 

On a bright July day, Eric Marlois, a 46-year-old machine operator, 
jams the butt-end of his broom into a 4-inch-wide (10- centimeter) 
hole being drilled into an extruded stump in a coolant line. 
Lubricating water drips out, along with stainless steel shavings. 

``The pressure is on,'' says the plant veteran of 28 years as he 
works on the hole, which will take eight hours to drill. ``This needs 
to be absolutely perfect because if there is the slightest defect it 
will be rejected.'' 

Sfarsteel produced all eight tubes before starting again using a 
different process that resulted in a smaller lattice structure, says 
Philippe Tollini, head of sales for heavy forgings at the unit. 

Injection of Capital 

Sfarsteel's inability to make ultrasound-ready tubes the first time 
was a factor in Areva's September 2006 purchase of the company from 
France Essor, he adds. 

``Sfarsteel perhaps went a bit too far in its promises to Areva,'' 
Tollini says. ``Areva realized that they needed to make us 
stronger.'' 

Areva has invested about 27 million euros in Sfarsteel and bought 
three new ovens that can heat 650-ton steel cylinders to 1,300 
degrees Celsius (2,372 Fahrenheit), turning them bright orange. About 
30 people are being added to the 400-person workforce as the company 
tries to add capacity in anticipation of a surge in orders. 

Those investments already are having an effect, Tollini says. The 
forged parts for the EPR to be built for Electricite de France will 
be produced on time and should pass all safety tests, he says. 

Delays in China 

Areva hasn't been able to make up for lost time in Finland. Analysts 
estimated in July that the company had set aside about 700 million 
euros to cover extra costs. Areva Chief Executive Officer Anne 
Lauvergeon said on Aug. 31 that the company had added to its 
provisions. It has also spent about 500 million euros to rework 
designs to meet different electricity standards in the U.S. 

Areva's Finland EPR isn't the only nuclear project to run into 
delays. The June commercial startup of China's Tianwan project came 
more than two years later than planned. The Chinese regulator halted 
construction for almost a year on the first of two Russian-designed 
reactors while it examined welds in the steel liner for the reactor 
core, says Jacques Repussard, who follows global developments as head 
of France's radiation protection agency. 

In Taiwan, the Lungmen reactor project has fallen five years behind 
schedule. Difficulties include welds that failed inspections in 2002 
and had to be redone, S.H. Liao, project manager for Taiwan Power 
Co., said in an e-mail. He also said the rising cost of steel, 
concrete and other commodities has gutted subcontractors' profits, 
causing them to stop work to renegotiate fixed-price contracts. 

`Rocky Road' 

In Finland, Landtman remains optimistic. 

``I wouldn't say it's an unsolvable global problem,'' he says. ``The 
key element in all projects is planning, to have good planning.'' 

Landtman now says the reactor might be fully completed in 2011. The 
initial target was mid-2009. 

``It's the physical reinforcement, the forming and the concrete 
pouring that they just aren't able to do fast enough,'' Landtman 
says. 

Construction is progressing not just on the reactor building but also 
on a water-pump building, a waste building, an auxiliary building, 
and two buildings to house backup diesel generators. 

``The next four to six months are crucial,'' Kallio says. 

Areva said in a statement Aug. 10 that the plant's construction would 
take six years, rather than the four initially scheduled. 

``We're clearly on a rocky road,'' Areva's Knoche said before the 
August announcement. ``We're building it for a 60-year life, it's our 
first one. Our target is not to break records in construction time. 
This is perfectly clear.'' 
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Is Nuclear Power the Fix for Climate Change?

Once the bane of environmentalists, nuclear power is now seen by some 
of them as a key weapon in the fight against global warming.

Patrick Moore, a cofounder and former leader of the environmental 
group Greenpeace, is the cochair of the Clean and Safe Energy 
Coalition (CASEnergy Coalition). The CASEnergy Coalition is a 
nonprofit advocacy group that believes that the increased use of 
nuclear power is a responsible way to reduce reliance on coal and 
other carbon fuels that contribute to global warming.In a battle of 
lesser evils -- at least in the eyes of environmentalists -- nuclear 
power may be a surprise winner. Once regarded by many environmental 
activists as the energy source posing the greatest threat to the 
planet, nuclear energy is now seen by some as a way to slash 
emissions of gases that contribute to global warming. Whatever their 
other drawbacks, properly working nuclear power plants emit nothing 
more harmful than steam. 

"Many people don't know that nuclear energy plays the single largest 
role in preventing greenhouse gases in the electricity sector...Also, 
nuclear energy has the smallest environmental impact of any clean-air 
electricity source," writes Patrick Moore, who helped found the 
environmental group Greenpeace and is now a cochair of the pro-nuke 
Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. Moore appears to still be in the 
minority in the movement when it comes to wholeheartedly embracing 
nuclear power, largely because no permanent solution has been found 
to the problem of storing deadly radioactive waste.

However, most environmentalists are concentrating on other perceived 
threats -- climate change chief among them -- rather than nuclear 
power. Wariness by the public and lawmakers is easing, as well, and 
the industry is beginning to expand aggressively for the first time 
since the early 1980s. Just this year, Tennessee Valley Authority, 
U.S.'s largest public power company, reactivated a plant that has 
been inactive since 1985. We anticipate that the first of two brand 
new plants will go online by 2012, and that the amount of electricity 
generated by nuclear power plants will grow by 20% by 2030. But, even 
with opposition slowing, nuclear power still faces tough obstacles 
besides the waste disposal issue: finding appropriate sites, hugely 
expensive start-up costs and worries about vulnerability to terrorist 
attacks.

As global climate change becomes one of the highest environmental and 
political priorities here at home and abroad, Americans want to know 
how to react.

Earlier this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- 
an international group of scientists -- released "Mitigation of 
Climate Change", a report outlining what the world must do to fight 
global climate change. The report strongly emphasizes the need to 
stabilize greenhouse gas emissions and highlighted the use of nuclear 
power as an efficient source of energy.

Three leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions are our modes of 
transportation, our home-heating technologies and our means of 
generating electricity. Americans are, and will continue to be, 
considerable consumers of electricity. Our way of life is powered by 
electricity -- from lighting our houses, churches, hospitals and 
schools to charging our iPods, cell phones, computers and operating 
our transit systems. In fact, the Department of Energy (DOE) 
estimates that Americans will need nearly 40 percent more electricity 
by 2030. 

So how do we meet that growing energy demand without causing further 
damage to the environment? Conservation is certainly crucial critical 
to any comprehensive energy plan. Great gains in conservation have 
already been achieved in electrical use, and more can be done. But 
even aggressive conservation efforts alone do not provide the 
solution to future base load energy needs.

And in order to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear 
power, which emits no controlled pollutants, must be included in the 
mix.

Many people don't know that nuclear energy plays the single largest 
role in preventing greenhouse gases in the electricity sector. 
According to the most recent annual report to DOE from Power Partners 
-- a voluntary partnership between DOE and the electric power 
industry -- nuclear energy accounted for 54 percent of greenhouse gas 
reductions reported, the equivalent of taking 100 million automobiles 
off the road. 

Also, nuclear energy has the smallest environmental impact of any 
clean-air electricity source. For example, a wind farm would need 235 
square miles to produce the same amount of electricity generated by a 
1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant. A nuclear plant requires less 
than one percent of the area used by such a wind farm.

So, it is not surprising that environmentalists like myself, Stewart 
Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue, and environmental 
groups, such as the Wildlife Habitat Council and the African-American 
Environmentalist Association, are supporting the continued and 
increased use of nuclear energy. So, too, is former EPA Administrator 
and New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, who cochairs the Clean and 
Safe Energy Coalition with me.

It is already an essential part of our everyday lives. Nuclear energy 
alone produces electricity for one of every five U.S. homes and 
businesses. That means 60 million homes in America use electricity 
generated from nuclear energy. To continue to contribute to the U.S. 
power supply at that level, as well as meet our growing energy needs, 
more nuclear plants should be built. Since it takes eight to 10 years 
to get new plants licensed and built, we need to begin now. 

And because of its many benefits and proven record of reliability, 
nuclear power is experiencing a renaissance. As the climate change 
conversation ramps up from the corridors of power on Capitol Hill to 
the kitchens of average Americans, many are recognizing that nuclear 
energy has the necessary clean-air advantages to play an important 
role in our future.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), once opposed to using 
nuclear energy, now believes that it should be on the table as an 
option for future power projects. And during the July CNN YouTube 
presidential debate, Democratic candidates Senators Barack Obama and 
Hillary Clinton both agreed that the U.S. can not discount the 
benefits of nuclear energy, specifically with regard to addressing 
climate change, as well as meeting the country's growing energy 
demand.

Even Democratic think tanks are warming to nuclear energy. In its 
October 2006 report, A Progressive Energy Platform, the Progressive 
Policy Institute urges the nation to "expand nuclear power...It 
produces no greenhouse gas emissions, so it can help clean up the air 
and combat climate change." 

Clearly, a more diverse mix of voices are taking a positive second 
look at nuclear energy -- environmentalists, scientists, the media, 
prominent Republicans and Democrats and progressive think tanks. They 
are all coming to a similar conclusion: If we are to meet the growing 
electricity needs in this country and also address global climate 
change, nuclear energy has a crucial role to play.
-----------------

Low-level radiation spills on Kirker Pass Road in Contra Costa

CONCORD San Francisco Chronicle - Sept 5 - A small amount of a low-
grade radiological chemical spilled on Kirker Pass Road near Concord 
today, forcing officials to close the road indefinitely as a 
precaution. 

The spill happened around 7:30 a.m. when a courier for the medical 
supply company Cardinal Health lost control of his pickup truck, said 
Officer Scott Yox of the California Highway Patrol. The truck was 
carrying boxes that had trace amounts of a low-grade radiological 
chemical used in the medical field, Yox said.

"It doesn't sound like the (containers) were full," Yox said. "They 
had trace or residual amounts - he had probably just dropped off some 
stuff and picked up empty containers, and was going to his next 
location." 

Yox said cleanup crews "had some hits with our radiological testing 
equipment. ... The whole roadway is shut down so we can prevent a 
spread."

Cardinal Health is responsible for the cleanup, Yox said. It is being 
assisted by the county Fire Department and hazardous materials team, 
and by Concord and Pittsburg police.
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Low Level Radiation Spill In Concord 

CONCORD KTVU.com - Sept 5 -- A vehicle that overturned on Kirker Pass 
Road Wednesday morning was carrying 10 to 11 boxes of a medical 
grade, low-level radiological chemical, California Highway Patrol 
Officer Scott Yox said.

The accident happened just south of Hess Road in unincorporated 
Contra Costa County around 7:30 a.m. The driver of the vehicle was 
transported to John Muir Hospital, but there was no word on his 
condition.

The chemicals pose no immediate health hazard to emergency personnel 
responding to the accident, Yox said, but both directions of Kirker 
Pass Road have been closed so the waste can be disposed of safely.

A representative from the chemical company was at the crash site, Yox 
said, and crews were on their way to clean the roadway.

A Sig-alert was issued for the southbound lanes at 8:11 a.m. and at 
8:44 a.m. for the northbound lanes, CHP Officer A. Paulson said. 
There was no estimate for when the lanes would be opened.
-----------------

Contractor: Oak Ridge Workers Exposed To Radiation
Company Says Workers Face Little Health Risk

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. MSNV.com Sept 5  -- The contractor that operates the 
Y-12 nuclear weapons plant at Oak Ridge says two workers were 
splashed with radioactive solutions in separate incidents last month.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that BWX Technologies said the 
workers faced little health risk from the accidents but were still 
being monitored.

Plant spokesman Bill Wilburn said the incidents were the first at the 
plant in four years involving skin exposure to radioactive materials.

In the first incident, a uranium-contaminated solution leaked from a 
valve on a piece of equipment that was being tested. In the second, a 
worker dropped a vial containing uranium and a small amount splashed 
onto him.
------------------

Small Radiation Leak at Japan Nuclear Power Plant 
  
TOKYO Planet Ark Sept 5 - Water containing a small amount of 
radioactivity has leaked from a nuclear power generation unit in 
Japan, owner Kansai Electric Power said on Tuesday, adding to a long 
line of problems in the tarnished industry. 
 
Kansai Electric Power Co Inc, Japan's second-biggest utility, said 
3.4 tonnes of water had leaked from the 1,175-megawatt No.1 
generating unit at its Ohi power station, but none had made it to the 
environment and it would stop generating electricity from the 
affected unit by around 11 p.m. (1400 GMT) 
The problem at the Ohi plant, in Fukui prefecture on the Sea of Japan 
coast around 320 km (200 miles) west of Tokyo, follows years of 
scandals in Japan's nuclear industry involving cover-ups and fudged 
safety records that have tarnished public faith in the sector. 

Only this year, Kansai Electric restarted commercial operations at 
another nuclear power unit following Japan's worst-ever nuclear plant 
accident more than two years ago, in which five workers were killed 
after being sprayed with steam and hot water from a broken pipe. 

Kansai said it had discovered the problem at its Ohi plant on Monday 
evening and the leak was stopped that evening. 

It said it would begin inspection of the affected unit after manually 
shutting down the plant around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday (1530 GMT 
Tuesday). 

A Kansai spokesman said the shutdown will not have an immediate 
impact on the firm's power supply in September. He said Kansai still 
had supply capacity of 32,000 megawatts after the shutdown of the 
unit, an 8.5 percent surplus over expected peak demand. 

The spokesman did not know how long the shutdown would last. 

The power output loss will be offset mainly by firing thermal power 
plants, the spokesman said, but the company did not know how much its 
fuel purchases would increase as a result. 

The extended shutdown of the No.1 unit could hurt the firm's profits 
for the business year to next March. 

In July, Kansai forecast its nuclear power plants to operate at an 
average 80.5 percent of their capacity in 2007/08. Every 1 percentage 
point fluctuation in the nuclear run rate would affect costs such as 
fuel by 6.4 billion yen (US$55.28 million), Kansai said. 

In July, there was a minor radiation leak to the environment at the 
world's biggest nuclear power station, Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s 
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, after a major earthquake. 

TEPCO, which services the Tokyo area, was forced to indefinitely shut 
down the plant, causing it to struggle to provide enough power to 
Tokyo during the sweltering, humid summer months when electricity 
consumption soars. (US$1=115.77 Yen) 
-----------------

Mobile phones pose no health risk: Finland  
 
Peoples Daily On-LIne Sept 5 - An exhaustive series of Finnish 
studies have found no evidence that electromagnetic radiation from 
mobile phones poses a health risk, Finnish media reported on Tuesday.

The research program -- Health risk assessment of mobile 
communications (HERMO) -- was started in June, 2004 and concluded in 
May this year with the aim of studying any possible health effects 
and risks of mobile communications.

HERMO program researchers examined radiofrequency electromagnetic 
fields and how they affect human beings, especially the nervous 
system and sensory organs. In addition, studies looked for any 
possible detrimental effects on children and adolescents.

Using cell cultures, test animals, human subjects and mathematical 
models, the researchers said that their studies did not uncover any 
evidence of ill effects on health.

The research program was comprised of 13 different projects examining 
various aspects of the issue. The research partners were the Finnish 
Institute of Occupational Health, The Radiation and Nuclear Safety 
Authority and several Finnish universities.
---------------

UC Berkeley team to study nuclear detection for homeland security

SFGate.com Sept 4 - What do a terrorist nuke and kitty litter have in 
common? They can look the same to a radiation-detector. So can a 
bunch of bananas. 

All of them give off gamma rays and thereby highlight a critical 
problem in efforts to protect the nation from smuggled nuclear 
materials: How can screeners find the bad stuff without slowing the 
inspection of imported goods to an economy-crippling crawl?

A five-member team of UC Berkeley researchers has just begun to 
tackle the dilemma. It's a key part of a new Academic Research 
Initiative sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the 
Department of Homeland Security to tap the brainpower of the nation's 
best university scientists.

The Berkeley team's $1.4 million grant - awarded after a tough 
national competition and potentially renewable for a total of $7.1 
million over five years - is designed to develop nuclear-detection 
technology, improve risk assessment and help train a new generation 
of experts for a world that must cope with the rapidly expanding 
dangers of nuclear-materials proliferation.

"We have a history in Berkeley of working in nuclear technology that 
goes back to the Manhattan Project," said team leader Edward Morse, a 
professor of nuclear engineering. "My way of looking at it is, it is 
really like the next Manhattan Project."

Although radiation detectors have begun to operate at the nation's 
ports, their thoroughness, accuracy and speed remain in question. And 
many common sources of radiation can trigger false positives that 
require considerable expertise to sort out, Morse said.

"They're not going to set things up so that they have a bunch of 
professors sitting around with monitors looking at every container 
for 12 hours," Morse said of the nation's evolving import-inspection 
system. "Talk about disrupting the economy - it would stop the 
economy."

Funding for the new Academic Research Initiative comes from the 
Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, a 2-year-old addition to the U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security. The National Science Foundation 
handled the screening and selection of researchers in the crowded 
field of 133 applications from universities across the nation.

Only two large awards, of $1.4 million each, were given for the first 
year. One went to Cal and the other to Texas A&M University, which 
will look at broad detector concepts and radiation-signal analysis, 
in addition to training future researchers in the field. About $5 
million in additional funding is being divided into smaller awards 
for 20 other projects around the country.

The Berkeley project, which began Saturday, was selected for its 
potential scientific advancement in nuclear detection and for "the 
integration of both graduate and undergraduate students into the 
research plan," said Bruce Hamilton, a program director at the 
National Science Foundation.

Developing more nuclear scientists is a key goal in a nation that has 
seen a sharp decline in nuclear engineering departments at American 
universities in the past generation, said Nick Prins, a deputy 
assistant director at Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. 

"You need to train the next generation," he said. "There is a 
shortage."

The only nuclear engineering department left in California is UC 
Berkeley's, after programs closed at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, said 
the chairwoman of Berkeley's department, professor Jasmina Vujic.

An important strength of the Berkeley project is its 
multidisciplinary approach, Morse said. The five-member team includes 
not only Morse and two other nuclear scientists, Eric Norman and 
Brian Wirth, but also physics professor James Siegrist, who heads the 
physics division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Dorit 
Hochbaum, a professor of industrial engineering and operations 
research, who will work on assessment systems for the large and 
sometimes contradictory inspection data.

The team will collaborate with colleagues at the Lawrence Berkeley 
and Lawrence Livermore national labs, which conduct related research.

The work supported by the Academic Research Initiative is designed to 
be longer term than the work now being done at national labs and 
elsewhere, which focuses on the next generation of detection 
technology, said Andrea Hoshmand, a program analyst at the Domestic 
Nuclear Detection Office. 

The academic program will focus on the generations beyond the next 
one, said Hoshmand. "We're looking at a pretty long pipeline. But you 
never want that pipeline to run dry."

The Berkeley grant is the largest in a welcome boost in grants this 
year for the nuclear engineering department, Vujic said. 

The increased funding reflects a change of fortune and employment 
prospects for those working on nuclear matters, in both detection and 
nuclear energy, she said, noting that freshman applicants to the 
department have increased between 30 and 40 percent a year in recent 
years. U.S. graduate applicants are up too, she said.

Professor Joonhong Ahn, who has staffed the department's table at UC 
Berkeley's annual "Cal Day" open house for the past decade, said he 
has noticed a marked turn-around in student and parent views.

"Back in the 1990s, parents' attitudes were so negative that if their 
kids tried to approach our table, they almost dragged them back," he 
said. "Now it's just the opposite."


False positives 
Common substances that can set off radiation detectors:

-- Potassium nitrate fertilizers 

-- Granite or marble 

-- Vegetable produce 

-- Camera lenses 

-- Thoriated tungsten welding rods 

-- Gas lantern mantles 

-- Porcelain bathroom fixtures 

-- Ceramic tile 

-- Kitty litter 

-- Medical isotopes 

Source: AMETEK's ORTEC Products Group 
-----------------

Nuclear Warheads Mistakenly Flown Over U.S.
 
Washington Post Sept 5 - Air Force officials said the warheads were 
not activated for use and at no time posed a threat to the public. 
Military officials were more concerned that the warheads were 
unaccounted for during the several hours that the missiles were in 
transit. The missiles never left Air Force control, they said.

The missiles -- part of an Air Force fleet of more than 450 of their 
kind -- are in the process of being retired and normally would not 
carry nuclear warheads while in transit. Defense officials said the B-
52's mission on Thursday did not include training runs, so the 
missiles would not have been launched.

Two defense officials said it is unclear how stringent safeguards for 
the handling of nuclear weapons were somehow skirted, allowing the 
missiles with the warheads to be loaded onto a pylon that was then 
attached to the underside of the B-52's wing. Air Force officials 
said that the mistake was considered a serious breach of rules and 
that a high-level investigation into procedural breakdowns began 
immediately.

The aircraft's pilots and crew were unaware that they were carrying 
nuclear warheads, officials said. Airmen in Louisiana discovered the 
error after the bomber arrived.

"Essentially, this is an issue of a departure from our very exacting 
standards," said Lt. Col. Edward Thomas, an Air Force spokesman at 
the Pentagon, who declined to confirm that nuclear warheads were 
involved. "The Air Force maintains the highest standards of safety 
and precision, so any deviation from these well-established munitions 
procedures is very serious and we are responding swiftly."

The incident, first reported by the Military Times newspapers, 
prompted senior leaders to relieve a munitions squadron commander of 
his duties. Other airmen have been barred from performing duties 
related to munitions pending the outcome of the investigation.

The Air Force's Air Combat Command has ordered a stand-down for its 
bases next Friday to review procedures and prevent a repeat of the 
mistake. "All evidence seems to point to this being an isolated 
mistake," Thomas said. "There was never any danger to the public."

Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters there this 
afternoon that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was informed of the 
incident early Friday morning and has been receiving daily progress 
reports. Morrell said President Bush also was notified.

In a statement today, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House 
Armed Services Committee, said he found the reports "deeply 
disturbing."

"There is no more serious issue than the security and proper handling 
of nuclear weapons," Skelton said. "The American people, our friends 
and our potential adversaries must be confident that the highest 
standards are in place when it comes to our nuclear arsenal."
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NRC eyes penalties for NY nuclear plant

BUCHANAN, N.Y. Sept 5 - - The owner of the Indian Point nuclear power 
plants near New York City could face penalties for not keeping close 
enough tabs on minute amounts of radioactive material, federal 
regulators said. 
   
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it was considering 
"whether to take enforcement action" against Indian Point owner 
Entergy Nuclear for missing inventory checks on some tiny amounts of 
uranium-235. They were contained in detectors once used to measure 
the power of the plants' two nuclear reactors.

Entergy is already facing the possibility of daily fines for what the 
NRC sees as a missed deadline for a new emergency siren system.

The detectors were stored in 1989, a dozen years before Entergy 
bought Indian Point. A locked container that held the detectors at 
Indian Point had gone without required annual checks for at least 
five years, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.

Specialists recently opened the container and found the contents were 
in order.

The NRC raised the possibility of fines over the siren system last 
week. Entergy had announced that the new system was up and ready two 
days before an Aug. 24 deadline. But the sirens had not yet been 
tested and approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The NRC said possible penalties for could include fines of up to 
$130,000 a day.

Entergy promised to have a new system in place by January, but then 
requested and received an extension to April 15. It missed that 
deadline and was fined $130,000.

Indian Point is just 35 miles north of New York City, and the warning 
system is designed to alert people in the heavily populated suburbs 
nearby to any emergency.
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Tennessee: Nuclear Panel to Release Records 

AP Sept 5 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reversed a three-year 
policy and said it would release hundreds of documents involving the 
troubled operations of a nuclear fuel processing plant. The 
commission said it had directed its staff to review and make public 
some 1,900 documents that had been kept secret under the veil of 
national security involving the Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. plant in 
Erwin and a BWX Technologies plant in Lynchburg, Va. Both plants 
supply fuel to the Navy´s nuclear fleet. The withheld documents 
include a report on a potentially lethal spill of highly enriched 
uranium last year at the Erwin plant
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New Zealand Stands Firm On Anti-Nuclear Stance At APEC 

(RTTNews) Sept 5 - New Zealand is standing by its position opposing 
nuclear power, despite pressure from Australia and the United States.

With climate change policy dominating ministerial meetings at the 
APEC summit in Sydney, New Zealand is standing behind its ban on all 
nuclear power, and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says that stance 
is not going to change.

U.S President George W. Bush says he and Australia Prime Minister 
John Howard believe nuclear power is the key to cutting greenhouse 
gas emissions.

New Zealand Trade and Disarmament Minister Phil Goff said while 
nuclear power would reduce emissions it would also "cause other 
concerns", among them waste disposal, safety issues and the creation 
of terrorist targets.


-----------------------------------------
Sander C. Perle
President
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/