S.Korea Plans 10 More Nuclear Plants

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

Index:



S.Korea Plans 10 More Nuclear Plants

Nagasaki mayor hails report on better care for bomb survivors

Air Force: No Search for Lost Nuke

Putin opens Russian gates for nuclear fuel imports

Fluor's TXU Comanche Peak Team Establishes Safety Record

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



S.Korea Plans 10 More Nuclear Plants



SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea said Thursday it plans to build 

10 more power-generating nuclear reactors by 2011 to meet its growing 

electricity demand. 



A long-term plan, adopted by a government committee chaired by Prime 

Minister Lee Han-dong, calls for the country to build two reactors by 

next year, two more by 2006, two more by 2008 and four more by 2010 

and 2011. 



If the plan goes smoothly, South Korea will have 24 nuclear power 

plants by 2011 and will be able to meet nearly 40 percent of its 

electricity needs with nuclear power. South Korea now gets 40.9 

percent of its electricity from nuclear generation. 



Some of the plants are already under construction, said officials at 

the Ministry of Science and Technology. 



All but two of the new reactors will have a generating capacity of 1 

million kilowatts each. The other two will have a 1.4 million-

kilowatt capacity each. 



South Korea has the technology to build nuclear power plants on its 

own. It can produce reactors and other key equipment. 

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



Nagasaki mayor hails report on better care for bomb survivors



NAGASAKI, July 12 (Kyodo) - Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito said Thursday he 

appreciates a report by a government research group suggesting the 

state may consider expanding subsidized medical care for atomic bomb 

survivors living in and around the city. 



Ito told reporters he was pleased the report acknowledges the mental 

and physical suffering of the survivors of the 1945 bombing who are 

living in areas where they are currently ineligible for subsidized 

care. 



The report, drawn up by the study group under the Health, Labor and 

Welfare Ministry and submitted to a ministry panel Wednesday, says 

experiences from the bombing likely lead to worsened mental and 

physical health among survivors. 



''I hope the state will present its plan (to deal with survivors 

currently ineligible for medical care) as soon as possible,'' Ito 

said. 



Based on a survey the group conducted in March, the report said 

survivors living in areas outside subsidized care zones are suffering 

from deteriorating health, including dizziness, pain and possible 

mental trauma. 



The survey covered 709 residents of Nagasaki and six neighboring 

municipalities outside an area measuring about 24 kilometers from 

north to south and 12 km from east to west of ground zero of the 

bombing. Survivors in the zone receive free medical treatment. 



The ministry said that if its panel approves the report, it will 

begin considering whether to expand the free coverage area. 



Meanwhile, Ito said the Nagasaki municipal government has submitted a 

report to the Foreign Ministry calling for the implementation of the 

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on nuclear arms as early as 

possible. 



A U.S. daily has reported the administration of President George W. 

Bush will not seek to ratify the CTBT, just as it has abandoned the 

Kyoto Protocol on preventing global warming. 



The CTBT was completed in 1996, but cannot enter into force until it 

has been approved by the United States and 43 other countries with 

nuclear reactors for research or power generation. 

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



Air Force: No Search for Lost Nuke



SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - A 7,600-pound nuclear bomb dumped off the 

Georgia coast 43 years ago should be left undisturbed beneath the 

ocean floor, the Air Force concluded in a report Wednesday. 



``It is in the best interest of the public and the environment to 

leave the bomb in its resting place and remain categorized as 

irretrievably lost,'' the Air Force report said. 



The report says the bomb does not have a key plutonium capsule that 

could cause a nuclear explosion. But the bomb's metal casing does 

contain some radioactive uranium and the explosive power of 400 

pounds of TNT. 



Derek Duke, an ex-military pilot whose questions about the bomb 

prompted Rep. Jack Kingston to push for the report, said he believes 

the weapon may still pose a threat. 



Duke said an April 1966 letter to the chairman of Congress' Joint 

Committee on Atomic Energy from the Department of Defense classified 

the bomb as a ``complete weapon.'' 



The Air Force concluded months ago that the letter was erroneous. It 

cites a transfer receipt on the bomb from Feb. 4, 1958, that lists it 

as a ``simulated'' weapon - meaning the nuclear capsule had been 

removed. 



A B-47 bomber on a training flight was forced to jettison the bomb 

when it collided with another plane in February 1958. The weapon 

landed off Tybee Island, near Savannah, in Wassaw Sound. 



Kingston, a Republican, said he was confident in the report's 

findings. 



``I'm happy to hear that the people living, working and playing on 

Tybee Island are safe,'' he said. 



Tybee Island Mayor Walter Parker, whose beach community has 4,000 

residents and thousands of summer visitors, said the Air Force should 

look for the bomb. 



``There's been so many conflicting documents that have come to light, 

I don't know how they can say there's not a problem,'' Parker said. 

``They should at least locate it and determine whether it's safe or 

not.'' 



The report estimates the bomb is 8 to 40 feet deep and is buried 

beneath 5 to 15 feet of mud and sand, safely clear of boats. 



``The public is not going to come into contact with this bomb,'' said 

Maj. Cheryl Law, an Air Force spokeswoman. 



The uranium in the bomb poses a low risk of contamination, the report 

concluded, and the explosives have no risk of detonating unless the 

bomb is disturbed. However, an attempt to remove the bomb would mean 

a ``serious explosion hazard'' for recovery workers, the report said. 





The report said there would also be a risk of breaching an aquifer 

that is a major source of drinking water for the region. The Air 

Force said searching for the bomb would take up to five years and 

cost up to $11.4 million. 

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



Putin opens Russian gates for nuclear fuel imports

  

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signed bills Wednesday 

opening Russia to imports of spent nuclear fuel, a move that has 

enraged ecologists but which the country's nuclear power industry 

says will earn Moscow windfalls. 



The Kremlin said Putin had also ordered a special commission to be 

set up to oversee contracts under the program in what looked like a 

move to appease public criticism of the bills. 



The choice of respected Nobel prize-winning physicist Zhores 

Alphyorov to head the body also appeared to be aimed at easing public 

fears that unusable nuclear waste, rather than recyclable fuel, might 

find its way into Russia under the legislation. 



To give the commission more clout, Putin asked parliament to amend 

the newly-signed bills to make sure no deal on importing nuclear 

materials under the laws could be struck without its approval. 



But despite efforts to convince Russians that the laws would do more 

good than harm to the country where hi-tech industries, such as the 

nuclear sector, struggle to survive, the legislation's opponents 

cried foul. 



"He (Putin) allowed imports of nuclear waste which will be a threat 

for Russia and its citizens for hundreds and thousands of years," the 

Russian outlet of international environment campaigner Greenpeace 

said in a statement. 



Greenpeace said Russians had been subjected to a massive public 

relations campaign by the media to defend Putin's expected approval 

of the bills, which shut out any dissenting voices. It promised a non-

violent fight against nuclear imports. 



Grigory Yalvinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, condemned 

Putin for signing the bills and vowed to push ahead with efforts to 

call a referendum on the strength of opinion polls showing that 

Russians overwhelmingly reject the bills. 



But Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said Russia only 

stood to gain from the laws which rather than turning the country 

into the world's nuclear dump were opening new frontiers for its 

ailing nuclear sector. 



"These laws potentially support domestic producers...They open 

opportunities for Russia to get to the world markets with its 

technologies," Rumyantsev told a news conference. 

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



Fluor's TXU Comanche Peak Team Establishes Safety Record

  

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Fluor Corporation (NYSE: 

FLR) today announced that at the end of the shift on April 16, 2001, 

the Fluor Global Services site team at TXU Electric's Comanche Peak 

Nuclear Station reached an unprecedented 5,000,000 safe work hours 

without a lost time injury. This milestone has never before been 

accomplished on a commercial nuclear maintenance and modification 

contract. 



Fluor Global Services has been providing maintenance and modification 

support services to the Comanche Peak plant since 1989 and is engaged 

at the site under a service agreement with TXU and other key service 

providers. 



"This is truly a team effort.  It takes the diligence of our on-site 

team and the support of TXU to establish and maintain the culture 

necessary to achieve this accomplishment and to maintain a safe 

working environment at the plant," said Walt Loburk, director of 

Operations for Fluor.  "Our site manager, Billy Ward, and his team 

have a great deal to be proud of." 



On May 2, the Fluor site management team was acknowledged at Comanche 

Peak's Plan of the Day meeting.  Lance Terry, TXU senior vice 

president, presented Ward and his team with a special award for the 

accomplishment. Terry thanked the site team for their attention to 

safety on the job and support of the Comanche Peak objectives. 



A company safety celebration was held on May 30, with several senior 

Fluor executives on hand to applaud the team's accomplishments.  

Among those in attendance were Ron Peterson, group executive; Bill 

Leistner, president of Global Services; and Rick Graves, vice 

president of Power. 



With 2000 revenues of $10 billion, Fluor Corporation provides 

services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, 

construction, operations, maintenance, project management and 

business services. 



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

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://www.geocities.com/scperle

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



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