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radsafe-digest V1 #31
radsafe-digest Wednesday, April 11 2001 Volume 01 : Number 031
In this issue:
Capture Gammas in Zinc Bromide windows
Re: question about Vatican broadcasting
Another great book by learned scholars
Archives Again!
Food Irradiation -USDA Input on Pending Decision
Ireland says no Down's syndrome link to Sellafield
Guest lecture by Dr. Zoya Ulberg, Ukraine
History: Clifford G. Shull; Shared a Nobel Prize for atomic particle work
6 JCO officials to plead guilty to negligence charges
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 14:15:57 +0000
From: richard.m.haley@bnfl.com
Subject: Capture Gammas in Zinc Bromide windows
Dear Radsafers,
Does anyone have any information or could point me to such info
on secondary gamma radiation from
neutron capture in Zinc bromide solution shield windows ?
Many thanks in advance.
Richard Haley
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:23:00 +0200
From: Mauro Campoleoni <trentino@iol.it>
Subject: Re: question about Vatican broadcasting
Dear radsafers, and dear Ruth,
for what I know, I'm almost sure that here in Europe we use V/m for the
electric field,
A/m for magnetic field and W/m2 for power density (...) at least here in Italy,
no strange units like inches or pints :-))
Jokes apart, we know that often the Press reports uncorrectly these units
preferring more usual words that can be closer to the reader's imagination.
Anyway, regarding the case of those Vatican antennas, we should consider
the measurement as in the "plane wawe" case, so one can measure E (V/m) OR
H (A/m)
OR P (W/m2), and E is much easier to measure. The limits in this case are:
20 V/m for the electric field
0.016 A/m for the magnetic field
1 W/m2 for power density.
These limits are mathematically connected, so that they represent the same
limit.
(For residential areas 6 V/m are recommended).
Friendly.
Mauro Campoleoni
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:06:27 -0400
From: John M Priest Jr <priestj@DTEENERGY.COM>
Subject: Another great book by learned scholars
Another great book by learned scholars
Chernobyl Legacy: Insightful Book Reveals True
Heritage of Unprecedented Disaster
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010410/nytu018.html
" In the foreword to Chernobyl Legacy, United Nations Secretary General
Kofi Annan calls for an increased awareness of the needs of the seven
million victims alive today, and for the prevention of future
disasters.Kofi Annan writes: ``Indeed, the legacy of Chernobyl will be
with us, and with our descendants, for generations to come.''
Actor Michael Douglas, a United Nations Messenger for Peace appointed by
Kofi Annan in 1998 whose father Kirk Douglas was born in Belarus
remarks: ``Now that I have a family of my own, I will never be able to
safely take my children to my father's hometown in Belarus to discover
and celebrate that part of our heritage.''
Jack Priest
Fermi 2
priestj@DTEenergy.com
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 09:15:50 -0500
From: "Michael Stabin" <michael.g.stabin@VANDERBILT.EDU>
Subject: Archives Again!
The Radsafe archives are now once again available through the internet for
browsing. The address is:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/
My apologies for the delays in restoring this feature of the list. Your
humble moderator had a lot to learn and was a bit busy at times with other
duties. I should note that most of the real labor in setting this up and
restoring the old archives was done by the support staff here, who then
taught me the procedures. I'm certain that some messages in March were lost
during the transition (again my apologies), but I think that most of the
material is there (special thanks to Susan G for her help). I'm also certain
that the April archives will be delayed in appearing, as I will be on travel
from May 1-10. Generally I will try and get the new archives on line within
a few days of the end of each month, but in this case it will be a bit
later. Thanks again to all of you for your patience with this process.
Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Vanderbilt University
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232-2675
Phone (615) 322-3190
Fax (615) 322-3764
e-mail michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu
"Quantum Mechanics: The dreams stuff is made of"
- - Steven Wright
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 10:49:57 EDT
From: SAFarberMSPH@CS.COM
Subject: Food Irradiation -USDA Input on Pending Decision
Radsafe:
Copied below is a rather long post from an anti-nuclear list server called=20
DOEWatch asking that this position statement be used along with the supplied=
=20
draft letter to communicate with the USDA opposing food irradiation. These=20
groups suggest that a reader's opinions be called or faxed to USDA and that=
=20
this post be distributed widely to any group with a possible interest in thi=
s=20
matter.=20
Since some members of Radsafe may have their own opinion about the=20
theoretical hazards vs. actual benefits of of food irradiation and in light=
=20
of recent media reports [last night's Dateline NBC] about food poisoning fro=
m=20
virulent strains of E. Coli and other bacteria causing 5,000 deaths per year=
=20
in US; 250,000 or so hospitalizations; and 76,000,000 cases of food poisonin=
g=20
overall according to CDC [my best recollection of numbers quoted on air],=20
perhaps a bit of balance is needed.
Stewart Farber
Consulting Scientist
Public Health Sciences
[802] 496-3356
email: SAFarberMSPH@cs.com
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Subj: [DOEWatch] Dr Samuel Epstein On Food Irradiation & Call, Fax USDA N=
OW
Date: 4/10/01 5:13:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: smirnowb@ix.netcom.com (Bill Smirnow)
To: doewatch@yahoogroups.com (DOE-Watch List), downwinders@egroups.com=20
(Downwinders List), Nucnews@egroups.com (Nucnews List)
Please call Secretary Ann Veneman of USDA at: 202-720-2791 & Fax her at:
202-720-2166 [http://www.usda.gov] to regester your protests to food being
both irradiated and disengenously labelled. Please Call and/or Fax by
Wednesday April 11th. If you read or hear this after that day please STILL
call, write and/or fax her, often there are last minute extensions.
-Bill Smirnow
Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2001 17:06:47 -0400
From: "Noel Petrie" <npetrie@citizen.org>
Subject: Administration Proposal to Serve Irradiated Beef to School
Children Poses Cancer, Genetic and Other Risks, Warns Samuel S.
Epstein, M.D.
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by pop.snet.net id
f36LEsT13611
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Administration Proposal to Serve Irradiated Beef to School Children Poses
Cancer, Genetic and Other Risks, Warns Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
CHICAGO, April 6, 2001. The recent proposal by the Bush Administration to
allow irradiated ground beef into the National School-Lunch Program will
endanger the health of tens of millions of school children and should be
withdrawn immediately.
"The government's assertion that irradiated food is safe for human
consumption does not even pass the laugh test," states Samuel S. Epstein,
M.D., emeritus professor of environmental medicine at University of Illinois
School of Public Health, Chicago. "Exposing America's school children to the
hazards of irradiated food is reckless negligence, compounded by the absence
of any warning to parents".
Irradiated meat is a very different product than natural meat. This
is hardly surprising as the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approved
irradiation dosage of 450,000 rads is approximately 150 million times
greater than that of a chest x-ray. Apart from high levels of benzene, new
chemicals known as "unique radiolytic products" were identified in
irradiated meat
in U.S. Army tests in 1977 and recognized as carcinogenic. Later tests
identified other chemicals shown to induce genetic toxicity.
In sharp contrast to FDA's claims of safety, based on grossly inadequate
testing which fails to meet the agency's minimal standards and which were
explicitly rebutted by its own expert committees, there is well-documented
scientific evidence that eating irradiated meat poses grave risks of cancer
and genetic damage. Irradiated meat is also highly susceptible to
cross-contamination with food poisoning bacteria.
Nevertheless, the meat and irradiation industries, with FDA's
complicity, are lobbying aggressively to sanitize the agency's weak labeling
requirements for irradiated meat and other food by eliminating the word
"irradiated" in favor of "electronic (or cold) pasteurization". This
euphemistic absurdity would circumvent consumer's fundamental right-to-know.
Furthermore, irradiation masks grossly unsanitary conditions in
slaughterhouses and meat processing plants. Irradiation is thus a major
disincentive to decades-long overdue basic sanitary practices essential for
the prevention of Salmonella, E.coli O157:h7, and other pathogenic food
poisoning. While irradiation kills most bacteria in meat, pork and poultry,
it does nothing to prevent gross fecal and other contamination.
Warnings on the hazards of irradiated food were endorsed in a recent
publication, in the world's leading peer-reviewed public health journal, by
a wide range of national and international experts including:
Dr. Neal Barnard, President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine,
Washington, D.C.; Dr. John Gofman, Emeritus Professor, Molecular and
Radiation Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California; Dr. Jay
M. Gould, Director, Radiation and Public Health Project, U.S.A.; Dr. Vyvyan
Howard, Professor of Pathology, University of Liverpool, U.K.; Dr. David
Kriebel, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts, Lowell,
Massachusetts; Dr. Marvin Legator, Professor of Preventive Medicine,
University of Texas, Galveston, Texas; Dr. E. Lichter, Professor of
Community Medicine, University of Illinois Medical School, Chicago,
Illinois; Dr. William Lijinsky, former Director, Chemical Carcinogenesis,
Frederick Cancer Research Center, Maryland; Dr. Sheldon Margen, Emeritus
Professor of Public Health Nutrition, University of California, Berkeley,
California; Dr. Vicente Navarro, Professor of Health and Public Policy, The
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, Professor of Political and
Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain; Dr. Herbert Needleman,
Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Dr. Robert Rinehart, Emeritus Professor of
Biology, San Diego State University, California; Dr. George Tritsch, Cancer
Research Scientist, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, New York State
Department of Health, New York; Dr. Quentin Young, past President, American
Public Health Association, Chicago, Illinois
CONTACT: Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., emeritus professor environmental and
occupational medicine, University of Illinois School of Public Health,
Chicago, and Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition
Web site: http://www.preventcancer.com
PLEASE FORWARD THIS VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ANY AND ALL GROUPS THAT YOU
HAVE ADDRESSES FOR. YOU CAN ALSO SEND A E-MAIL MESSAGE TO Jessica Vallette
Revere, jvrevere@citizen.org, TO INQUIRE ABOUT INDIVIDUAL SIGNATURES. ALSO
START LETTING YOUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS KNOW HOW OUTRAGED YOU ARE AT LEARNING
ABOUT THIS HAPHAZARD AND DANGEROUS SCHEME USING OUR CHILDREN AS GUINEA PIGS
AND THAT YOU DEMAND TO KNOW IF YOUR SCHOOL SYSTEM WILL BE ENGAGED IN SERVING
IRRADIATED MEATS.
Sal
##############################################################
----- Original Message -----
From: "Noel Petrie" <NPETRIE@citizen.org>
To: <foodcampaign@lists.citizen.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 5:14 PM
Subject: Sign-on to letter RE: Irradiation of school lunches
Apologies for cross postings.
Dear Fellow Anti-Food Irradiation Campaigners,
Today the Bush administration indicated that the government will likely
purchase irradiated meat for schools. Please sign-on to this letter to
Ann
Veneman, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, indicating
this is unacceptable. Please send your name and organization to Jessica
Vallette Revere, jvrevere@citizen.org, by Wednesday, April 11.
Thanks for all of your hard work and continued support.
Sincerely,
Jessica Vallette Revere
Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
Food Irradiation Campaign
202-454-5174
www.citizen.org/cmep
April 5, 2001
Honorable Ann Veneman, Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
14th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Secretary Veneman:
We, the undersigned, are writing to oppose any action taken by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to allow the purchase of irradiated beef for the
National School Lunch Program, and approving the use of irradiation to
treat
meat that is used in that program.
We strongly urge you to reverse your position for the following reasons:
=B7 Notwithstanding the approval granted by the Food and Drug Administrati=
on
and by your department, food irradiation has not been proven to be safe
for
human consumption. The Food and Drug Administration failed to follow its
own protocol for approving irradiation as a food additive in accordance
with
21 CFR 170.20 and 170.22. Until the FDA completes its work on this
technology, no further approval should be granted by any U.S. government
agency on the use of irradiation.
=B7 The World Health Organization is currently conducting studies on the
harmful effects of 2-DCB, a chemical that is formed when meat is
irradiated.
There has been at least one study conducted by German scientists that has
shown that this chemical can cause significant DNA damage in rats
(citation
of German study). Until these studies are completed, the U.S. government
should cease its approval of irradiation.
=B7 Irradiating food causes it to lose key vitamins and vital enzymes, suc=
h
as
vitamins A, B1, C, K, and E.
=B7 Current labeling regulations do not require restaurants, hospitals or
schools to inform consumers that food that they have prepared has been
irradiated. Students and parents will not be informed that the meat
prepared in school cafeterias has been irradiated unless the school
personnel take the initiative to inform them of this fact. Your action is
putting school districts in the unenviable position of deceiving parents
and
students by not informing them that meats in the school lunch program have
been irradiated. They have a right to know what is being fed to them.
=B7 Your proposed action fails to address the need for improved sanitary
conditions in slaughtering and processing facilities, and in the handling
of
food within school cafeterias. It is a placebo. Irradiating food will
not
make it safer if the conditions under which it is slaughtered, processed
and
prepared is unsanitary.
Your proposed actions are irresponsible. Instead of ensuring that the
food
we feed consumers, and in particular, our children is safe and wholesome,
you seem to be more interested in increasing industry profits and making
it
easier for it to shirk its responsibility to consumers. Your action is a
bail-out of the food irradiation industry that is facing a skeptical
consuming public about the safety of its products. We strongly urge you
to
reverse your position on this important public health issue.
Sincerely,
Your Group
COMMUNITY NUTRITION INSTITUTE
FARM SANCTUARY
GLOBAL RESOURCE ACTION CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (GRACE)
HUMANE FARMING ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL CATHOLIC RURAL LIFE CONFERENCE
ORGANIC CONSUMER ASSOCIATION
PUBLIC CITIZEN' CRITICAL MASS ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM
STANDING FOR TRUTH ABOUT RADIATION (STAR)
CT chapter CITIZENS AWARENESS NETWORK (CAN)
Rosemary Bassilakis & Sal Mangiagli
Citizens Awareness Network
54 Old Turnpike Road
Haddam, CT 06438
Ph/fax 860 345-2157
ctcan@snet.net
www.nukebusters.org
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 07:17:49 -0700
From: "Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Ireland says no Down's syndrome link to Sellafield
Index:
Ireland says no Down's syndrome link to Sellafield
Nuke Fuel Shipment Draws Protests
German nuclear activists disrupt train to France
IAEA Only few queries left on Iraqi nuke program
Some Answers to Our Energy Problems
EU raps Russia on nuclear cleanup, frets about NTV
Novoste chief says Beta-Cath study not total failure
===================================
Ireland says no Down's syndrome link to Sellafield
DUBLIN, April 10 (Reuters) - Ireland's nuclear protection body said
on Tuesday it accepted a report that concluded a cluster of Down's
syndrome births in the republic in the 1960s and 1970s were not
linked to Britain's Sellafield reactor.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland said there was no
link between the cluster and a fire at Sellafield, then called
Windscale, in 1957, but added it still had serious worries about the
plant on Britain's northwest coast.
"Ireland's objections to Sellafield are solidly based on the
continuing radioactive contamination of the Irish Sea, and most of
all on the risk to this country of serious consequences from a major
accident at the plant," said RPII chief Tom O'Flaherty.
"These objections are not undermined because the suggestion of a link
with the Down's syndrome cluster has been disproved."
A long-held theory suggested the births of Down's syndrome babies to
six women who attended the same school in Dundalk, across the Irish
Sea on the northeast coast of Ireland, was linked to radioactive
contamination from the 1957 fire.
However the RPII said a new study had revealed three of the women had
left the school, and the Dundalk area, some months before the fire,
thus disproving a Sellafield connection.
Ireland has campaigned long and hard for the closure of the
Sellafield plant.
- -------------
Nuke Fuel Shipment Draws Protests
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - A disputed shipment of spent nuclear fuel
bound for reprocessing in France got under way early Tuesday as small
groups of protesters demonstrated against the transport.
A container of waste left the Grafenrheinfeld nuclear plant, in the
southern state of Bavaria, and was taken to nearby Gochsheim to be
loaded onto a train, officials at the power station said. Some 200
people gathered at Gochsheim to protest the shipment, a local anti-
nuclear group said.
Waste containers also were expected to leave two other power plants
Tuesday - from Philippsburg in Baden-Wuerttemberg state and Biblis in
Hessen.
Nine demonstrators were detained in Philippsburg, where protests had
been banned, police said. In addition, seven Greenpeace activists
were arrested on charges of failing to comply with authorities,
police said. There were no immediate reports of trouble in Biblis.
The trains, carrying a total of five containers of spent nuclear
fuel, were to be coupled together at Woerth, on Germany's border with
France. From there, they were to continue across France to the
reprocessing plant at La Hague in Normandy.
Protesters had threatened a repeat of last month's massive
demonstrations over the return of reprocessed waste from France to
the Gorleben dump in northern Germany, the traditional focus of anti-
nuclear protests.
That transport was delayed 18 hours by protesters who defied a huge
police operation and attached themselves to the track using an
elaborate system of pipes and chains. Police had to clear many more
from sit-down protests.
The German government ``knows perfectly well that reprocessing in
France is systematically contaminating the environment,'' complained
Veit Buerger, a Greenpeace spokesman.
This time, Baden-Wuerttemberg state police banned sit-in protests on
the tracks, saying anyone caught trying to disrupt the convoy would
be fined $70, plus a ``carry-away fee'' between $29 and $57 -
depending on whether it takes one or two officers to haul them off.
On Monday night, 13 activists from environmentalist group Greenpeace
were arrested after they occupied a wagon due to carry the waste near
the southern town of Wuerzburg. Another 15 people occupied a bridge
near the town of Schweinfurt, Greenpeace said.
Germany sends spent nuclear fuel from its power plants to France for
reprocessing under contracts that oblige it to take back the waste.
Three years ago, the transports between France and Germany were
halted after high levels of radiation were found to be leaking from
the trains.
Protesters say the shipments are still unsafe and want Germany's
nuclear plants shut down quickly. They aim to make the transports so
expensive that the government will be forced to halt them.
The police presence to protect Tuesday's transport was costing the
state of Baden-Wuerttemberg $917,000, the state interior ministry
said.
The government last year struck a deal to scrap the country's 19
nuclear plants, though the shutdown could still take well over 20
years to complete.
- -------------
German nuclear activists disrupt train to France
SENNFELD, Germany, April 10 (Reuters) - German anti-nuclear activists
disrupted a shipment of spent nuclear fuel to France on Tuesday by
chaining themselves to the rails near a nuclear power plant in the
southern state of Bavaria.
Police said four Greenpeace activists who chained themselves to the
tracks near Sennfeld and four others hanging from ropes from a
pedestrian bridge were delaying the transport of the first waste
Germany was sending to France for reprocessing in four years.
Police said they were using special welding equipment to free the
demonstrators.
"It will probably take a while for us to clear the tracks," a
spokesman said. Six demonstrators have been taken into custody,
police said.
Protesters were trying to stop a container carrying nuclear waste
from a power plant in Bavaria that began its journey to a waste
reprocessing centre in France. The container was first transported by
truck and accompanied by a police escort from the Grafenrheinfeld
power plant to a rail station in Gochsheim.
Several hundred anti-nuclear activists stood by at the train station
where the container was transferred to the rails amid a police
presence of hundreds of German police. But they were unable to stop
the demonstrators in the nearby town of Sennfeld.
Three further containers carrying spent nuclear fuel from the
Philipsburg power plant in Baden-Wuerttemberg and another container
from the Biblis plant in Hesse were due to join the rail transport in
Woerth in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate before it heads for the
French reprocessing plant in La Hague.
Authorities said the Philipsburg and Biblis plants had nearly
exhausted their temporary storage capacity and would be forced to
shut down soon if the waste was not removed.
Anti-nuclear demonstrators had clashed with police two weeks ago when
Germany took back the first cargo of reprocessed waste from France
since the German government banned the shipments in 1998 over
concerns about radioactive leaks and huge anti-nuclear protests.
Authorities employed 20,000 police costing the state around $50
million to protect the shipment on its way from France back to a
storage facility in the northern German town of Gorleben. Protesters
briefly halted the train by chaining themselves to the tracks.
German anti-nuclear activists have announced they will try to block
the train coming from Philippsburg in southwestern Germany before it
crosses into France on Tuesday evening.
The train carrying nuclear waste from Germany to a reprocessing plant
in northern France this week will pass through the suburbs of Paris,
French anti-nuclear groups said.
The train, due to traverse France in the early hours of Wednesday,
will pass through Bobigny, a suburb so close to the capital that it
is on the Paris metro network, they said.
- --------------
IAEA Only few queries left on Iraqi nuke program
UNITED NATIONS, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency
said it had only a few remaining questions about Iraq's clandestine
atomic programs and these might be clarified if inspectors were
permitted back into the country.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday, the International
Atomic Energy Agency, however, said inspectors first needed to verify
no new programs had emerged since they were last in Iraq in late
1998.
Iraq has barred U.N. scrutiny of its weapons of mass destruction
programs since U.N. arms experts left on the eve of a December 1998
U.S.-British bombing raid, conducted to punish Baghdad for not
cooperating with the inspectors.
If inspectors were permitted to return, the IAEA would be able "to
investigate the few remaining questions and concerns that relate to
Iraq's past clandestine nuclear program, along with any other aspect
of this program that may come to its knowledge," IAEA Director-
General Mohamed ElBaradei wrote.
"As long as such verification activities are not reinstated, the
agency will remain unable to provide any measure of assurance with
regard to Iraq's compliance with its obligations," ElBaradei said in
his six-month report.
The Vienna-based IAEA is responsible for keeping track of Iraq's
nuclear materials, while the new U.N. Monitoring, Verification and
Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC, is in charge of monitoring
its chemical, biological and ballistic weapons programs.
"The agency remains prepared to resume its verification activities in
Iraq under the relevant Security Council resolutions at short
notice," ElBaradei said.
IRAQ UNDER GULF WAR SANCTIONS
In April 1999, the IAEA came close to giving Iraq a clean bill of
health after years of criticism that the agency had failed to detect
Iraq's clandestine nuclear weapons projects.
Baghdad launched a crash program to test its first nuclear bomb using
highly enriched uranium after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. The target
date was April 1991 but U.S. planes during the Gulf War earlier that
year bombed many facilities.
Iraq has been under Security Council sanctions since the August 1990
invasion of Kuwait. Inspections to verify it no longer has weapons of
mass destruction programs are a key demand before the embargoes can
be suspended.
Baghdad has repeatedly rejected a December 1999 council resolution
that links an easing of sanctions to allowing the inspectors to
return. Iraq says it has complied with council demands and that the
1999 resolution offered little relief in lifting the sanctions.
Iraq, however, did allow IAEA experts to visit in January and check
on whether enriched, natural or depleted uranium and other materials
in its atomic power reactors were being diverted for weapons
purposes. Such visits are required by the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty, which Iraq signed in 1968.
ElBaradei said the inspectors were able to ascertain that nuclear
material remaining in Iraq "is subject to safeguards." But he said
that annual visits could not substitute for the verification required
by the Security Council.
- --------------
Some Answers to Our Energy Problems
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2001--"If you think
deregulation of the airline and telecommunications industries was a
big deal, those pale in comparison to deregulation of the energy
industry--and we're right in the middle of it."
So said Dr. Charles W. Pryor, Jr., President and Chief Executive
Officer of the Westinghouse Electric Company, referring to the much
larger global, electricity supply industry. Pryor was visiting the
University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business
Administration to speak to MBA students and to a group of his own top-
level managers at a Darden executive education custom program.
Having worked in the nuclear power industry for most of his career,
Pryor caught the attention of Professor John Colley's corporate
governance class when he addressed the current energy situation:
"There must be a balance between environmental concerns and
maintaining the quality of life Americans have grown to expect. I
don't think they want to give up their quality of life because we
can't get it right in supplying electricity. On a 90-degree day in
July, they won't want to turn off their air conditioning to cut down
on carbon emissions.
"It's a dilemma to be in the most powerful country in the world and
not be able to adequately supply consumers," he said. According to
Pryor, the power we use in the world today would have to double or
triple to accommodate the number of people who will need it over the
next 50 years.
Limiting air pollution and greenhouse gases--a goal of countries
worldwide--without the use of nuclear power would be difficult, he
says. In fact, the U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute estimates that "the
amount of greenhouse gases saved each year by nuclear power plants in
the U.S. equates to taking nearly 100 million cars off the road."
Pryor cited California's emphasis on energy conservation, and
although he supports that philosophy, he does not believe it alone is
feasible, especially with many of California's utility companies near
bankruptcy. He said, "Andy Grove (co-founder and Chairman of Intel)
has said we need to build a nuclear facility, so maybe that will make
a difference out there."
Pryor says that more than 100 nuclear plants supply about 20 percent
of U.S. electricity (Virginia Power is one of the largest users of
nuclear power) and more than 430 plants supply 17 percent of the
world's electric power. The ability of nuclear power to compete in
the marketplace will depend on its ability to be cost-competitive,
and he believes nuclear plants can compete with alternative
generating sources. He added that the biggest impact on the industry
is customers pushing for lower costs.
With short-and-long term economic considerations of the population in
mind, Westinghouse is investing in new nuclear technologies that will
be even safer and more economical than those currently in operation.
Pryor told the students about a newly created position in one energy
company, called the CRO - Chief Risk Officer - who looks out for all
potential risks to a business, such as financial, environmental and
operational. He believes this is a new trend in the industry and is a
brilliant idea that may spread to other businesses as well. When
asked what he thinks is required to supply adequate utilities in the
U.S., he said, "Ten large, base-load power plants would be a good
start, if a little on the light side."
Pryor concluded his remarks with some advice for the group of future
CEO wannabes. "You show me a CEO who hasn't gone in the wrong
direction, and I'll show you a CEO who isn't doing a very good job.
In the U.S., we're learning to tolerate mistakes for the sake of
taking immediate action to beat out a competitor. If you are
constantly analyzing, you can't get ahead in a timely manner.
Americans have grown comfortable with making timely decisions."
Professor Colley said the goal of his course is to change behavior.
"In classes, CEO's of major corporations add reality and an
opportunity for students to measure what the faculty, which are
mostly academics, are telling them," he said. "Charlie Pryor's talk
was especially interesting, given the current crisis in energy supply
and demand," Colley added.
Historically, either Westinghouse or its licensees have provided more
than 40 percent of the world's operating commercial nuclear plants.
With the integration of the ABB nuclear businesses into Westinghouse
(in April 2000), that percentage has grown to approximately 50
percent, clearly giving Westinghouse the world's largest installed
base of operating plants.
- --------------
EU raps Russia on nuclear cleanup, frets about NTV
LUXEMBOURG, April 10 (Reuters) - The European Union accused Russia on
Tuesday of dragging its feet over plans to clean up its environment
and said Moscow must work much harder to attract sorely needed
foreign investment.
During talks in Luxembourg with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor
Khristenko, senior EU officials also expressed concerns about press
freedom amid a fierce ownership row over Russia's sole independent TV
channel, NTV.
European Commissioner for External Affairs, Chris Patten, said Moscow
was holding up plans to release European, U.S. and Japanese money to
tackle some of its environmental problems, especially at nuclear
facilities in northern Russia.
"We are profoundly disappointed by the discussions last week (in
Berlin), which actually went backwards," Patten told a news
conference also attended by Khristenko and Swedish Foreign Minister
Anna Lindh.
Patten was referring to the so-called Multilateral Nuclear
Environmental Program in Russia (MNEPR), which aims to tap foreign
capital to tackle problems like rusting hulks of Russian nuclear
submarines in the Barents Sea.
Diplomats said the main problems centred on taxation and liability
for the foreign firms involved. The EU had hoped to wrap up the issue
by the time of an EU-Russia summit in Moscow in May but diplomats
said that now looked unlikely.
They said Russia appeared unhappy about some of the conditions donors
had attached to the future investments.
LURING INVESTORS
Patten said Moscow had to do more to persuade all investors that
Russia was a safe and reliable place to do business in.
"If we are to see an increase in EU investment, Russia has to work
harder in the energy sector and others," he said.
Patten added that the EU had been heartened by comments in favour of
market reforms by President Vladimir Putin in his recent state-of-the-
nation address.
The EU wants Russia to liberalise its tax regime for foreign
investors, to simplify customs procedures, enforce contractual rights
and introduce international accounting standards.
Despite the criticisms, Khristenko gave an upbeat assessment of EU-
Russia relations, saying they had "never been so intense."
"This pragmatic spirit should be the basis of our future relations,"
he said.
The Russian side raised some concerns about the EU's plans to take in
new members from ex-communist central and eastern Europe but said
that, handled correctly, enlargement could provide new economic
opportunities for Moscow too.
Khristenko said the EU accounted for 35 percent of all Russian trade
and the 12 candidate countries a further 16 percent, making the
region by far its biggest market.
NTV, CHECHNYA
Lindh, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, repeated
European worries about media freedom in Russia and about the human
rights situation in Chechnya.
State-dominated gas giant Gazprom recently ousted the founder of
independent television channel NTV and his key aides in a boardroom
coup branded illegal by the network's staff. Thousands have protested
against the takeover in the biggest street protests of Putin's year-
old presidency.
"On NTV, we have called for pluralist laws of ownership. We fear this
(latest) development will decrease pluralism for owners," Lindh told
Reuters. She also accused Russia of continuing to block humanitarian
aid for civilians in war-devastated Chechnya, where Moscow says it is
fighting radical Islamic separatists.
"We had lots of promising answers (on Chechnya), but we responded
that unfortunately we have heard these promises before and have not
seen any improvement on the ground," she said.
- ---------------
Novoste chief says Beta-Cath study not total failure
CHICAGO, April 9 (Reuters) - Novoste Corp. <NOVT.O> Chief Executive
William Hawkins told analysts on Monday that his company's Beta-Cath
radiation therapy still holds some promise for expanded use in first-
time stent patients, despite last month's disappointing study
results.
The Norcross, Ga.-based medical device company already markets the
Beta-Cath radiation therapy to prevent reclogging of arteries propped
open with wire-mesh tubes, or stents, a condition known as "instent
restenosis." The company had sought to expand the therapy's use to
patients receiving a stent for the first time, but the technology
failed to meet the study's main objectives.
Investors took the news hard, slicing the company's share price
nearly in half, to $17.06, in March 19 trade on the Nasdaq market.
At the Robinson-Humphrey Institutional conference in Atlanta, Hawkins
told analysts the tube, or train, used in the Beta-Cath study to
deliver radiation was too short, allowing the artery to reclose at
the edges. Had it been longer, he said, the study may have proven
more successful.
In the presentation, which was broadcast over the Internet, Hawkins
said the areas of the artery treated with radiation responded to the
treatment. "We used a too-short source train that is easily
solvable," he said.
Novoste has filed for U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for
two longer source trains, a 40mm version and a 60mm version. He said
FDA approval for the 40mm version is expected any day, and approval
of the 60mm version expected in the second half of the year.
The company plans to conduct a new study using the longer source
trains later this year, Hawkins said.
Novoste received FDA approval in November to use radiation to treat
instent restenosis, a $500 million market. Adding first-time stent
users would have expanded the market for Novoste's treatment to $1
billion to $2 billion, according to estimates from Banc of America
analyst Kurt Kruger.
In the United States, the company faces competition from Johnson &
Johnson <JNJ.N>, which markets a similar therapy.
"They've learned a lot," Kruger said of the Beta-Cath study, adding
that the data in that study were gathered two to three years ago. "It
might take them two years from now to get approval for that kind of
indication," he said.
Hawkins said the Beta-Cath study also indicated that instent
restenosis is a much larger market than previously expected, with
vessels treated with stents reclogging in some 30 percent to 40
percent of cases, compared with the current 20 percent to 25 percent
industry estimates.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 12:46:19 -0400
From: Susan Gawarecki <loc@ICX.NET>
Subject: Guest lecture by Dr. Zoya Ulberg, Ukraine
This may be of interest to those of you in the southeast.
- --Susan Gawarecki
The Joint Institute for Energy and Environment (JIEE), the Waste
Management Research and Education Institute (WMREI), and the Center for
Environmental Biotechnology (CEB) are co-sponsoring a lecture by a
visiting scientist from the Ukraine. The lecture will be held in the
University of Tennessee Conference Center (4th Floor) at 600 Henley
Street in Knoxville at 3:00pm on April 17, 2001. There will be a
reception following the presentation.
Dr. Zoya Ulberg is Professor and Director of the Institute of
Biocolloidal Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. She
will be delivering two reports. One will be on the public communication
about Chernobyl, the disaster consequences: natural, medical, social and
financial. This report is intended for a wide audience. The second
report will deal with the remediation of soils contaminated by heavy
metals and radionuclides.
Her academic education consists of engineering and chemistry degrees
from Kiev Polytechnic Institute in 1959 and post-graduate work from the
Department of Colloid Chemistry at the Institute of Colloid and Water
Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, 1966. She
earned a Doctor of Sciences degree in Chemistry in 1975 from the
Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences
of Ukraine where she specialized in colloid chemistry.
Dr. Ulberg is the author of two USSR Discoveries: "The phenomenon of
selective interaction between microorganisms and particles of minerals
and metals," and "The phenomenon of diffusiophoresis--movement of
colloid particles in a field of electrolyte concentration gradient." She
is the author of 250 scientific papers and 4 monographs.
You may park in the new Locust Street Parking Garage across the street
from the Conference Center. It is in the block bordered by Locust
Street, Union Avenue, Walnut Street, and Clinch Avenue. The entrance to
the parking garage is on Walnut Street. From Henley Street you will turn
onto Church Street (one way) going toward downtown. Two blocks up you
will turn left onto Walnut (one way). Go across Clinch Avenue to about
the middle of the next block and turn left into the parking garage.
Bring your parking ticket to the Conference Center and you will be
issued a parking sticker which entitle you to free parking. Please note
that there are several parking garages in the downtown area. We can only
validate parking for the Locust Street Garage.
Please contact Jane Johns (phone: 974-3939, e-mail: jjohns1@utk.edu) if
you plan to attend.
We look forward to seeing you on April 17 at 3:00pm in the University of
Tennessee Conference Center (4th Floor) at 600 Henley Street, Knoxville.
- --
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
-----
A schedule of meetings on DOE issues is posted on our Web site
http://www.local-oversight.org/meetings.html - E-mail loc@icx.net
.....................................................
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 19:35:17 -0700
From: "Michael P. Grissom" <mpg1@coastside.net>
Subject: History: Clifford G. Shull; Shared a Nobel Prize for atomic particle work
radsafe'ers,
The following obituary is from an item that was
in the April 4, 2001 issue of the San Jose
Mercury News:
- ----------
Clifford G. Shull
Shared a Nobel Prize
for atomic particle work
MEDFORD, Mass[achusetts, USA] -- Clifford G.
Shull, a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in
physics in 1994, died Saturday [March 31, 2001]
after a brief illness. He was 85.
Mr. Shull's Nobel Prize, which he shared with
Professor Bertram S. Brockhouse of McMaster
University in Canada, was awarded for pioneering
work in neutron scattering -- a technique that
reveals where atoms are within a material, just
as ricocheting bullets reveal where obstacles
are in the dark.
The ideas in Mr. Shull's work have been used
to study ceramic superconductors and the
structure of viruses.
Mr. Shull was a professor emeritus at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[Compiled from Mercury News wire services]
- ----------
An expanded obituary may be viewed on the MIT
Web site at:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/shull.html
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 07:32:38 -0700
From: "Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: 6 JCO officials to plead guilty to negligence charges
Index:
6 JCO officials to plead guilty to negligence charges
Lithuania asks for continued presence of nuclear expert
Nuclear Waste Arrives in France
Nuclear Shipment Reaches French Destination Late After Protests
TEPCO to defer use of MOX fuel at Niigata nuclear plant
Calif. nuclear power seen unscathed by energy crisis
FDA OKs Irradiation for Animal Feed
USEC's Rise This Year Goes Beyond Obvious Reason: David Wilson
Cell-Phone-Radiation Device SafeTShield(TM) Nationwide
=======================================
6 JCO officials to plead guilty to negligence charges
MITO, Japan, April 11 (Kyodo) - Six employees of JCO Co., indicted on
charges of negligence resulting in death over Japan's worst nuclear
accident in 1999, plan to plead guilty in the first hearing of their
case scheduled for April 23, sources close to the workers said
Wednesday.
Kenzo Koshijima, 54, who headed the uranium processing plant in
Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, and the five other JCO workers will
likely enter guilty pleas to most of the charges in the first hearing
at the Mito District Court, the sources said.
The six allegedly allowed employees to make a uranium solution in the
Sept. 30, 1999, accident at the plant, 120 kilometers northeast of
Tokyo, following an unauthorized manual.
JCO, which has been indicted on charges of compiling the manual
without reporting to the government, will also plead guilty to most
of the charges in the hearing, the sources said.
The accident and the subsequent nuclear fission chain reaction
occurred when workers poured an excessive amount of uranium solution
into a processing tank using buckets, bypassing several required
steps, prosecutors say.
Operators of nuclear facilities are required by law to obtain
approval by the prime minister before changing production methods.
Two of the workers -- Hisashi Ouchi and Masato Shinohara -- died in
December 1999 and April last year, respectively, from radiation
sickness.
Defense lawyers are planning to argue in an attempt to seek leniency
for the six workers that the defendants were not deeply involved in
illegal procedures, the sources said.
The trial is expected to proceed at a fast pace, with the court
likely to hand down rulings in a year, they said.
The lawyers are not planning to refer to possible negligence by the
two workers killed in the accident, they said.
At least 439 people, including 207 residents of Tokaimura, were
exposed to radiation mostly in minor doses as a result of the
accident. The six workers were arrested in October last year.
- ------------
Lithuania asks for continued presence of nuclear expert
TOKYO, April 11 (Kyodo) -
Lithuania asked Japan on Wednesday to extend the assignment of a
nuclear safety expert dispatched to the Baltic state to ensure safety
at its nuclear power plants, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials
said.
Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus made the request to Japanese
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in an hourlong meeting at the premier's
official residence in Tokyo, the officials said.
Mori told Adamkus that Japan will consider extending the expert's
stay, whose third three-year mission expires in July, the officials
said. The specialist helps prevent mishaps at nuclear power reactors
built by the Soviet Union.
The two leaders also agreed to promote bilateral relations in the
political, economic and cultural fields, emphasizing that this year,
which marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
ties between the two countries, is an ideal time to reinforce the
relationship, the officials said.
They shared the view that the two countries should make efforts to
realize a visit by a high-ranking Japanese government official to
Lithuania by the end of the year and to support the reaffirmation of
bilateral business exchanges, according to the officials.
In the cultural sector, Mori mentioned that a Japanese ''taiko'' drum
performance is scheduled in Lithuania later this month and a Kabuki
troupe featuring noted Kabuki actor Ichimura Manjiro will travel
there in the fall.
Manjiro attended a banquet which Mori hosted for Adamkus later in the
evening.
Mori indicated Japan's support for Lithuania's bid to join the
European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, saying he
expects the country's membership in the groups would lead to further
peace and stability in Europe, the officials said.
In a separate meeting earlier Wednesday, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono
agreed with Lithuanian government officials to promote cultural
exchanges between the two countries, the officials said.
Kono told Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis, Economy
Minister Eugenijus Gentvilas and Culture Minister Gintautas Kevisas
about plans for Japanese art performances this year in Lithuania,
including the taiko and Kabuki tours.
Kevisas told Kono the Lithuania Institute, recently created by the
government to introduce Lithuanian culture to foreign countries, aims
to promote understanding and appreciation of the country's culture
around the world, including in Japan, the officials said.
The culture minister added that Lithuania is also keen to learn more
about Japanese culture and also hopes more Japanese tourists will
visit his country, according to the officials.
The three ministers are accompanying Adamkus on a five-day official
working visit that began Monday.
- ---------------
Nuclear Waste Arrives in France
VALOGNES, France (AP) Apr 11 - A train packed with 24 tons of German
nuclear waste arrived in northern France on Wednesday, encountering
only small protests a day after hundreds of activists were arrested
for protesting the shipments in Germany.
The shipment to a reprocessing plant is the first of its kind in
three years. Transport of nuclear waste from Germany to France was
suspended in 1998 when radiation was found to be leaking from a
container.
Some 150 riot police stood by as the train pulled into the station at
Valognes, where the waste was to be inspected before being
transported by truck to the plant in La Hague, about 25 miles away.
A dozen Greenpeace activists blocked the train in the northern city
of Caen, and four protesters chained themselves to the tracks. Police
quickly removed them.
Before dawn, as the train rumbled through the western Paris suburb of
Yvelines, some 50 protesters blocked its path and caused an hour-long
delay, LCI television reported.
The train, carrying five containers of radioactive waste, set out
Tuesday from Woerth, in western Germany.
The small protests in France contrasted with those in Germany, where
2,000 police guarded one of the nuclear plants, at Philippsburg in
Baden-Wuerttemberg state, and arrested hundreds of protesters.
Near the border crossing, several activists chained themselves to the
rail, delaying the train by an hour.
Germany has traditionally sent spent nuclear fuel from its power
plants to France for reprocessing under contracts that oblige it to
take back the resultant waste.
Protesters say the shipments are unsafe and want Germany's nuclear
plants shut down quickly. They aim to make the transports so
expensive that the government and power companies will be forced to
halt them.
The German government last year struck a deal to scrap the country's
19 nuclear plants, but the shutdown could still take over 20 years.
- ---------------
Nuclear Shipment Reaches French Destination Late After Protests
Paris, April 11 (Bloomberg) -- A train carrying the first nuclear-
waste shipment from Germany to France in three years arrived at its
destination for reprocessing at a Cogema SA plant.
About 50 protesters who said they oppose France becoming ``the
world's nuclear wastebin'' blocked the train for several minutes as
it passed through the northwestern French town of Caen, and the
shipment arrived more than two hours behind schedule at a rail
terminal 20 miles from the plant at La Hague.
About 250 labor union members provided security at the terminal
though no protesters showed up there, said Yves Gautier, a spokesman
for Cogema, the world's largest processor of nuclear fuel.
Germany suspended nuclear-waste shipments to France in 1998 after
leaks were discovered in some containers. Berlin and Paris agreed in
January to resume shipments of the waste, which comes from German
nuclear-power plants and is sent abroad for reprocessing because
Germany has no such facilities of its own.
Hundreds of activists in Germany yesterday protested as the waste
left three plants. The French protesters expressed satisfaction that
even though they did not stop the train, they were able to call
public attention to the event.
``The mission was accomplished, and we're very, very happy,'' said
Yannick Rousselet, a spokesman for Greenpeace.
- -------------
TEPCO to defer use of MOX fuel at Niigata nuclear plant
TOKYO, April 11 (Kyodo) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) will put
off plans to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in a
thermal reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in
Niigata Prefecture due to opposition from locals, company sources
said Wednesday.
The utility had planned to begin the project next Tuesday at the
start of a periodical plant inspection. But the Niigata prefectural
government has been reluctant to host Japan's first nuclear plant to
use MOX fuel.
The postponement follows TEPCO's decision late last month to postpone
implementation of a similar project at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear
plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
MOX, a pellet mixture of uranium dioxide and plutonium dioxide, is
designed to be burned in light-water reactors, a process known as
plutonium thermal use. Plutonium is obtained by reprocessing spent
nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants.
The electricity industry plans to use MOX fuel in 16-18 reactors by
2010. The project was originally scheduled to be launched in 1999.
TEPCO will use only uranium fuel during its regular check of the
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, but will use MOX fuel if it gains local
consent, the sources said. The inspection is to finish July 13.
Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato, however, recently said the government
must take at least a year to review its energy policy, including the
use of MOX fuel, making an early start of the plan difficult.
- -------------
Calif. nuclear power seen unscathed by energy crisis
SAN FRANCISCO, April 10 (Reuters) - California's energy crisis and
the bankruptcy of its biggest utility have not compromised the safety
or value of the state's giant nuclear power plants, federal officials
said on Tuesday.
"Really, not a lot has changed since January when the financial
pressures first began to show themselves," Ellis Merschoff, western
regional administrator for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
said in a telephone interview.
Merschoff was speaking to Reuters from San Luis Obispo after briefing
local media there following an NRC inspection of the nearby Diablo
Canyon nuclear power facility.
The NRC, headquartered in Washington D.C., is responsible for
ensuring the safe use of radioactive material in power generation,
medicine and science, and conducts rigorous inspections of all
nuclear power plants nationwide.
The giant Diablo Canyon power station, whose two reactors generate
2,200 megawatts, is owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric
Co., the utility subsidiary of San Francisco-based PG&E Corp.
<PCG.N>.
Pacific Gas and Electric filed for bankruptcy protection Friday after
running up a debt of $9 billion buying electricity for customers in
the state's volatile wholesale power market.
California's 1996 deregulation law blocks investor-owned utilities
from billing retail customers for the full cost of wholesale power,
which has jumped tenfold over the past 10 months on soaring demand
and a severe supply shortage.
Merschoff said the NRC sent a letter to California Gov. Gray Davis
shortly after hearing of PG&E's bankruptcy to "reassure the governor
that an independent set of eyes was watching the nuclear facilities"
and would beef up inspections, if necessary.
California has two more reactors at the San Onofre station in San
Clemente. The San Onofre units, with a total generating capacity of
2,170 megawatts, are operated by Southern California Edison, the
utility subsidiary of Rosemead, Calif.-based Edison International
<EIX.N>.
Southern California Edison, like PG&E, is also struggling to stay
afloat in a sea of debt, though a deal struck Monday with Gov. Davis
in which the state agreed to buy the utility's share of the power
grid for $2.76 billion will likely give it enough cash to fend off
bankruptcy.
The Diablo Canyon and San Onofre nuclear plants together generate
enough electricity to serve about four million homes.
Merschoff said recent NRC visits to the two plants convinced
inspectors that the two troubled utilities still have enough money to
ensure the continued safe operation of the reactors.
"Nuclear power plants are extremely valuable assets to the utilities
and the state of California," he said.
Maintaining those plants' financially and operationally will be
critical to California over the next few months as the state
scrambles to find precious megawatts for its overstrained grid.
With four days of rolling blackouts already behind it this winter and
dire warnings from state energy officials of more to come, California
will need to keep every available power plant on line to minimize
outages this summer, when electricity demand for air conditioning
soars to its annual peak.
Nuclear power accounts for about 16 percent of all electricity used
by California's 34 million residents.
- --------------
FDA OKs Irradiation for Animal Feed
WASHINGTON (AP) - A process to treat animal feed with radiation to
kill bacteria has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The agency said Tuesday that the process was approved to kill the
food-borne bacteria salmonella in all animal feed, feed ingredients
and pet treats.
The process, called irradiation, exposes food products to ionizing
radiation, which causes chemical changes similar to conventional
cooking or other preservation methods. The technique does not cause
the food to become radioactive.
Irradiation was earlier approved for use on a variety of human foods.
``Extending this process to animal feed and feed ingredients will not
only increase the safety of the feed for the animals consuming it,
but to people who handle animal feed and feed ingredients,'' said an
FDA statement. ``Irradiation is a useful tool for reducing disease
risk.''
The process approved was proposed in a petition by Sterigenics
International of Fremont, Calif.
On the Net:
Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/
- ---------------
USEC's Rise This Year Goes Beyond Obvious Reason: David Wilson
Princeton, New Jersey, April 11 (Bloomberg) -- USEC Inc.'s stock has
enriched investors this year, and deductive reasoning alone could
explain why.
The Bethesda, Maryland-based company is the largest supplier of
enriched uranium, the fuel used in nuclear-power plants. And the
shares of companies providing other types of fuel to power companies,
such as natural gas and coal, have rallied.
Natural-gas stocks have risen 50 percent since the beginning of last
year, as measured by a Standard & Poor's index. This year, coal
producers such as Massey Energy Co. and Arch Coal Inc. are among the
U.S. stock market's best performers.
USEC, once a government-owned company, fits into the latter category.
The company's stock has almost doubled in price and has ranked among
the year's 20 best-performing members of the Russell 2000 index, a
benchmark for shares of smaller companies.
``It's worth much more than $8,'' said Irving Kahn, chairman of Kahn
Brothers & Co., an investment firm that owns USEC shares. The stock
rose above that price about two weeks ago, and closed yesterday at
$8.59.
Three Possibilities
Kahn's judgment reflects decades of experience -- including his
earlier work as a teaching assistant to Benjamin Graham, the father
of value investing, at Columbia Business School.
For him, USEC's advance this year isn't a matter of simple deduction.
Kahn pointed to a couple of possible explanations, as did others who
follow the company:
- -- The likelihood that the company will be able to stop paying above-
market prices for uranium derived from Russian nuclear warheads,
which it buys under a program known as ``Megatons to Megawatts.''
- -- The possibility that USEC, which the federal government took
public after rejecting takeover offers, will attract suitors again. A
provision that blocks anyone from owning a stake of more than 10
percent expires in July.
In addition, the company stands to benefit from an International
Trade Commission ruling that imports of enriched uranium from Europe
are hurting U.S. producers. The decision may lead to imposition of
duties on the imports.
Bouncing Back
``Recently, things have been working out much better'' for USEC, said
David Schanzer, an analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC with a
``hold'' rating on the stock. ``We were really looking at a company
that was back on its heels'' before then, he said.
Shares of the company, whose name is an acronym for U.S. Enrichment
Corp., were first sold at $14.25 each in July 1998. Less than 18
months later, the stock had dropped three-quarters from its original
price to a low of $3.44.
Falling uranium prices contributed to the decline. For example, USEC
said the radioactive metal's price for immediate delivery dropped 22
percent during its most recent fiscal year, ended last June.
At the same time, USEC's production costs rose. The company curtailed
its own output in order to meet obligations under an agreement with
Techsnabexport Co., controlled by the Russian Ministry for Atomic
Energy.
USEC is the U.S. government's agent for the 20-year contract,
completed in 1994 and valued at $12 billion. The company purchases
uranium that Russia removes from nuclear warheads and converts for
power-plant use. It's committed to spending $500 million under the
program this year.
Lapsing Restriction
The company is working toward what it calls a ``market-based pricing
agreement'' with Techsnabexport for purchases it will make from 2002
through 2013. As present, it's paying above-market prices for the
uranium.
``This time, the people at USEC will have the sense not to have a
fixed price,'' Kahn said.
As the negotiations progress, USEC may have to deal with possible
suitors for the first time since the government's sale. The timing
reflects what the prospectus for its initial public offering labeled
as a ``Statutory Acquisition Restriction.''
The provision limited the stake that any investor, or group of
investors, could own in the company for the first three years after
the sale. By July 23, that period will end.
Lockheed Martin Corp. is one potential buyer, Janney's Schanzer said.
Before the government decided on the IPO, the largest U.S. defense
contractor made a joint offer for the company with BWX Technologies
Inc. and Carlyle Group, a buyout firm.
By the `Book'
In addition, Lockheed Martin managed USEC's two production plants
before the company took on the job itself in 1999. These facilities
are in Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio; USEC plans to stop
processing uranium at Portsmouth and to eliminate 526 jobs in a cost-
cutting effort.
Whether a potential buyer emerges or not, the company can still look
forward to the U.S. Commerce Department's decision in the trade
dispute.
The trade commission asked the department to investigate USEC's
complaint that European companies are selling uranium in the U.S. at
prices lower than their costs -- a practice known as ``dumping.'' If
the department agrees, it can levy duties against Eurodif SA,
controlled by the French government, and Urenco Ltd., partially owned
by the Dutch, British and German governments.
And for value investors such as Kahn, there's always the company's
``book value'' to consider. Even after USEC's advance this year, its
price is still below the value of assets such as its plants after
subtracting debt: $11.70 a share as of Dec. 31.
As recently as mid-1999, the price exceeded book value. It doesn't
take deductive reasoning to conclude that it may happen again.
- ------------
Convenience-Store Giant 7-Eleven(R) to Feature Cell-Phone-Radiation
Device SafeTShield(TM) Nationwide
State-of-the-Art Safety Device Arrives in May at World's
Largest Operator, Franchisor and Licensor of Convenience Stores
BOCA RATON, Fla., April 11 /PRNewswire/ -- SafeTShield(TM), a state-
of- the-art cell phone radiation-reducing device, will be available
at participating 7-Eleven stores nationwide in May. 7-Eleven is the
world's largest operator, franchisor and licensor of convenience
stores. The industry giant offers customers 24-hour convenience,
seven days a week at more than 5,200 7-Eleven stores in the United
States. Pioneers of the convenience store concept, the chain serves
approximately 6 million customers every day.
According to Deborah Jenkins, president and CEO of SV1, the company
that developed SafeTShield, "Everyone at SV1 is extremely
enthusiastic about being showcased at such an industry giant as 7-
Eleven. Now consumers who are concerned about potentially serious
health risks associated with cell phone use can pick-up SafeTShield.
7-Eleven serves that very hectic consumer who is on the go and on the
phone -- proving the perfect retail outlet for our customer base to
grab our invaluable product."
With 85 million cell phones in the United States alone and some 500
million worldwide, researchers and consumers have grown increasingly
concerned about possible long-term health risks associated with
electromagnetic radiation (EMR). While many scientists debate
whether there is a direct link between long-term exposure to EMR and
brain cancer, an alarming number of cell users are reporting negative
health effects such as headaches, memory loss, and hearing trouble.
SafeTShield uses PolyCarbon Metallic Fiber (PCMF(TM)), an advanced
material previously used for military defense purposes, to reduce
EMR. The small, affordable oval-shaped device, which easily attaches
over the ear piece, significantly reduces the potentially harmful EMR
from the ear piece of a cellular phone from entering the brain via
the ear canal. SafeTShield is one of the most comprehensively tested
products of its kind in the world and is available at participating 7-
Eleven stores at a suggested retail price of $14.95.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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