Calls on Nuclear Industry to Abandon Use Of Plutonium, Highly Enriched Uranium

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Index:



Calls to Abandon Use Of Plutonium, Highly Enriched Uranium

Japan town decides no more U.S. nuke sub visits

Hundreds Rally Against Nuke Weapons

Nuclear Waste Protested in Germany

Union supports Greenpeace nuclear disaster campaign

Tokaimura residents undergo health checks following accident

US Agency May Preserve Birthplaces of Atom Bomb, NYT Says

Senator: Benefit Program Not Moving

==========================================



Nuclear Control Institute Calls on Nuclear Industry to Abandon Use Of 

Plutonium, Highly Enriched Uranium

  

WASHINGTON, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nuclear Control Institute 

today called on the nuclear industry to either abandon the use of 

plutonium and highly enriched uranium or be prepared to phase out 

nuclear power altogether. 



Speaking at NCI's 20th anniversary conference at the Carnegie 

Endowment for International Peace, NCI President Paul Leventhal said: 

 "There may be an irreducible proliferation risk associated with 

nuclear power, a risk serious enough to consider abandoning our 

commitment to nuclear power." 



Leventhal said:  "If the nuclear industry refuses to end its love 

affair with plutonium, then the world may well be better off without 

nuclear power, and should look to alternative sources of energy and 

to energy conservation and efficiency measures.  There is an 

abundance of cheap, non-weapons usable uranium available, so 

plutonium and highly enriched uranium are unnecessary," Leventhal 

said. 



Leventhal said that NCI's opposition to civilian use of plutonium and 

highly enriched uranium does not mean that the organization is anti-

nuclear. "We have worked for 20 years to de-link nuclear power and 

nuclear weapons by questioning the use of plutonium produced in 

nuclear power reactors and by seeking a halt in commerce in plutonium 

as well as bomb-grade uranium.  The issue is more critical today than 

at any time in the past 20 years." 



NCI convened today's conference -- "Nuclear Power and the Spread of 

Nuclear Weapons" -- to underscore the connection that exists between 

nuclear power and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.  The 

conference took place amid growing concerns over the nation's 

electricity-supply shortages, the threat of global warming and the 

threat of nuclear proliferation.  Some have argued that nuclear power 

provides an answer to the perceived energy crisis and the threat of 

global warning.  NCI's Leventhal took strong exception to this 

argument. 



Among those addressing today's conference were U.S. Rep. Edward 

Markey (D-MA); former U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary; Ambassador 

Robert Gallucci, Dean of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and 

diplomatic troubleshooter on North Korean, Iraqi and Iranian nuclear 

weapons issues; Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The 

Making of the Atomic Bomb;" and Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain 

Institute, advocate for the "soft energy" path energy of conservation 

and energy efficiency rather than nuclear power.  Today's full 

conference program is available at www.nci.org/conference.htm . 



About the Nuclear Control Institute   



Founded in 1981, the Nuclear Control Institute (NCI) is an 

independent research and advocacy center specializing in problems of 

nuclear proliferation.  Non-partisan and non-profit, NCI monitors 

nuclear activities worldwide and pursues strategies to halt the 

spread and reverse the growth of nuclear weapons.  NCI focuses in 

particular on the urgency of eliminating atom-bomb materials -- 

plutonium and highly enriched uranium -- from civilian nuclear power 

and research programs.  Further information about NCI is available on 

the organization's Web site, www.nci.org . 

---------------



Japan town decides no more U.S. nuke sub visits

  

TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - A town on the southern Japanese island of 

Okinawa adopted on Monday a resolution opposing port calls by U.S. 

nuclear submarines to an adjacent U.S. military port, Kyodo news 

agency reported. 



"A series of scandals caused by U.S. submarines, such as the 

collision in waters off Hawaii and the unannounced port call by 

another U.S. sub to Sasebo port, is truly regrettable," Kyodo quoted 

the resolution adopted by the Katsuren town assembly as saying. 



"We strongly urge the Japanese government not to allow any of such 

nuclear-powered submarines to enter Japanese ports." 



Last week, an unexpected visit by the USS Chicago to the port of 

Sasebo in southern Japan outraged local authorities, who said it 

violated a 1964 agreement and prompted Foreign Minister Yohei Kono to 

demand an explanation before allowing further port calls. 



U.S.-Japan ties have already been frayed by the accidental sinking of 

a Japanese training trawler by a U.S. nuclear submarine off Hawaii in 

February, killing nine people, and by a series of alleged crimes by 

U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan. Many are stationed on 

Okinawa. 



Last Thursday, just days after the visit by the USS Chicago, a 

different U.S. nuclear submarine, the USS Los Angeles, made a port 

call at a U.S. Naval port in Katsuren town, although Japanese Foreign 

Ministry officials said, unlike the Sasebo case, local officials had 

been notified prior to its arrival. 



Tokyo and Washington have agreed to start talks to come up with 

procedures as soon as possible to prevent notification failures in 

the future. 



Under the 1964 agreement, the U.S. government is required to notify 

Japan at least 24 hours before a port call by its nuclear-powered 

vessels. 



U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed his regrets over USS 

Chicago's surprise entry in a telephone conversation with Kono. 



Japan's parliament enacted new defence guidelines in 1999 authorising 

Tokyo to provide logistical support to the U.S. military in the event 

of an emergency in the region, but many local governments are 

sensitive to the possibility that their authority could be infringed 

in such cases. 



A series of criminal incidents involving the U.S. military on Okinawa 

has angered citizens of the southern island, which has less than one 

percent of Japan's land area but is home to 25,000 U.S. troops -- 

just over a quarter of the total U.S. military presence in the Asia-

Pacific. 

--------------



Hundreds Rally Against Nuke Weapons

 

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) - About 300 people demonstrated Sunday at the 

Department of Energy's Oak Ridge nuclear weapons plant, and police 

made about 30 arrests, most on trespassing charges. 



Demonstrators have targeted the plant in semiannual protests since 

1998. Another protest is planned Aug. 6, the anniversary of the 

dropping of the first atomic bomb on Japan. The bomb was developed in 

part at Oak Ridge. 



Most of the demonstration was held outside the perimeter of the 

plant, but police said those arrested went beyond a ``no cross'' 

zone. All but one of the protesters were released immediately. 



The Y-12 plant manufactures parts for the MX missile system and 

stores highly enriched uranium used in warheads. 

-------------



Nuclear Waste Protested in Germany



STUTTGART, Germany (AP) Apr 8 - About 900 people demonstrated at two 

sites in Germany on Sunday to protest expected shipments of spent 

nuclear fuel. 



Outside the Gorleben nuclear waste dump in northern Germany, about 

400 people piled hundreds of sandbags at the entrance to the dump as 

a symbolic ``radiation protection wall,'' police said. 



Another 500 people staged a peaceful demonstration in Philippsburg, 

site of a German nuclear plant. Anti-nuclear groups say the plant is 

one of three from which waste transports are scheduled to leave on 

Tuesday for a French reprocessing facility in La Hague. 



The French state-owned nuclear utility Cogema has said the waste 

should arrive in France on Wednesday. 



Germany sends spent nuclear fuel from its plants to France for 

reprocessing under contracts that oblige it to take back the waste. 



Last month, anti-nuclear demonstrators turned out by the thousands 

and caused an 18-hour delay as authorities returned a shipment of 

reprocessed waste to the Gorleben dump. Police mounted a huge 

operation to secure that convoy. 



Germany and France agreed to resume transports of nuclear waste after 

a three-year break imposed by the previous German government after 

radiation leaks were discovered in some containers. 

-------------



Union supports Greenpeace nuclear disaster campaign



9 April, Australian Broadcasting Corporation - The Maritime Union of 

Australia wants the Federal Government to ensure  it is prepared for 

accidents onboard ships carrying radioactive material  in Australian 

waters. 



The union has backed Greenpeace's campaign to have a response to  

accidents on nuclear ships included in the Commonwealth Disaster 

Plan.  



The Tasmanian secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, Mike  

Wickham, says as merchant sailors are the ones who would probably be  

involved in any rescue, the union wants to ensure they are protected.



"We're called on at all times at sea to respond, and this government 

on  one hand is trying to get rid of our shipping fleet, and on the 

other  hand if it comes to an emergency they'll expect our merchant 

seamen and  seawomen to respond at a moment's notice," he said.  



"So we're not prepared to do that without some plans put in place 

that  says they're not at risk, or how they're going to deal with it 

when they  get there." 



A spokesman for the Defence Department says the disaster plan is  

currently under review and Greenpeace's concerns are being 

considered.

--------------



Tokaimura residents undergo health checks following accident



MITO, Japan, April 8 (Kyodo) - Some 140 residents in and around 

Tokaimura village in Ibaraki Prefecture underwent a publicly funded 

health examination Sunday, the second since the 1999 nuclear accident 

in the village deemed Japan's worst, prefectural government officials 

said. 



The residents received cardiovascular checks and X-ray tests for 

cancer in addition to consultations with radiologists, the officials 

said. 



A 70-year-old village woman who visited a community center to undergo 

the examination said, ''I feel relieved to undergo the checks.'' 



Combined with two other health examinations slated for later this 

month, a total of 300 residents are expected to undergo the checks 

sponsored by the central and prefectural governments, the officials 

said. Some 340 residents underwent the first annual checks last 

spring. 



More than 600 people, mainly employees of a uranium processing plant 

run by JCO Co. in Tokaimura, about 120 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, 

and local residents were exposed to radiation from the Sept. 30, 

1999, nuclear fission chain reaction accident, according to the 

central government. 



Two of the workers at the plant -- Hisashi Ouchi and Masato Shinohara 

-- died in December 1999 and April 2000, respectively, from radiation 

sickness. 



Last November, public prosecutors indicted six employees of JCO, a 

subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., on charges of negligence 

resulting in the death of the two. 



The accident occurred after workers poured an excessive amount of 

uranium solution into a processing tank using buckets, bypassing 

several required steps, prosecutors said. 

-------------



US Agency May Preserve Birthplaces of Atom Bomb, NYT Says

  

Richland, Washington, April 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Department of 

Energy is studying the feasibility of decontaminating and preserving 

parts of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and seven other sites where 

research was undertaken to build the atom bomb, the New York Times 

reported. 



Other candidates being studied for preservation as national landmarks 

include Los Alamos, New Mexico, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the Trinity 

site south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. 



While most of the sites are too contaminated to allow sightseers to 

visit, the Hanford site has been nominated for eventual year-round 

tourism. 



Getting the Hanford reactor ready would cost an estimated $10 million 

beyond the billions of dollars that will be spent to clean up the 

site during the next few decades, Keith Klein, manager of the Energy 

Department office that oversees Hanford, told the paper. 

--------------



Senator: Benefit Program Not Moving



WASHINGTON (AP) Apr 6 - The Bush administration has decided against 

giving the Justice Department control of a benefit program for sick 

nuclear workers, a senator who represents some of the ailing workers 

said Friday. 



``We got an assurance from the White House that they are not going to 

transfer it there,'' said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. 



Bingaman was one of the authors of the new entitlement program which, 

later this year, is supposed to start offering $150,000 and lifetime 

medical care to Cold War-era workers exposed to risky levels of 

radiation, silica or beryllium. 



He was among many worker advocates on Capitol Hill who strenuously 

objected when the White House circulated a proposed executive order 

transferring the new program from the Labor Department to the Justice 

Department. 



Labor Secretary Elaine Chao insisted her department was not the one 

best suited for the job. She was backed by from three influential 

congressmen: House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., 

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. John Boehner, 

R-Ohio, who heads the committee that oversees the Labor Department. 



But Bingaman had a few tricks up his sleeve. Without publicly 

revealing his strategy, he blocked pending nominations to Labor 

Department posts. 



The senator said he didn't even know the names of the nominees whose 

confirmation he threatened to sidetrack, but let the White House know 

he ``didn't want to go forward with any nominations there in the 

Department of Labor until we got some assurance that this wouldn't be 

going to Justice, where the history of efforts like this has been 

miserable.'' 



The Justice Department runs a program that gives one-time payments to 

former uranium miners and people who lived downwind of nuclear test 

blasts. But the program's small staff and lack of branch offices were 

two of the reasons the new program's authors didn't want Justice to 

run it. 



Lowell ``Pete'' Strader, legislative director for the union that 

represents workers at 11 sites in the nuclear weapons complex, 

welcomed Bingaman's announcement. ``We take that as wonderful news,'' 

said Strader. ``We knew Justice wasn't prepared to handle the 

program.'' 



Bingaman said the White House is ``still uncertain what exactly will 

be done with the program to make it work, but they are committed to 

making it work.'' 



------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	

Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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