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VA Proposes Additional Aid for 'Atomic Veterans'
Index:
VA Proposes Additional Aid for 'Atomic Veterans'
Nuke Plant Tax Break Criticized
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VA Proposes Additional Aid for 'Atomic Veterans'
WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) announced proposed regulatory changes that would add
several new cancers to the list of illnesses presumed to be connected
to the military service of veterans exposed to radiation.
Under the proposed rules, veterans diagnosed with cancer of the bone,
brain, colon, lung, or ovary would be able to apply for and receive
compensation for these illnesses. Survivors of veterans who died
from these diseases would also be eligible for benefits.
Veterans who participated in "radiation-risk activities" while on
active duty, during active service for training or for inactive duty
training as a member of a reserve component are eligible. Those
activities include the occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki,
internment as a POW in Japan, or onsite involvement in atmospheric
nuclear weapons tests.
The proposed changes would also expand the definition of "radiation-
risk activity" to include exposure to radiation related to
underground nuclear tests at Amchitka Island, Alaska, before January
1, 1974, and service at gaseous diffusion plants in Paducah, Ky.;
Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tenn. (area K25).
Veterans are currently presumed to have service-connected illnesses
if they participated in a radiation-risk activity and later developed
one of the following diseases: leukemia (other than chronic
lymphocytic leukemia); cancer of the thyroid, breast, pharynx,
esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, gall bladder, bile
ducts, salivary gland, or urinary tract; multiple myeloma, lymphomas
(except Hodgkin's disease), primary cancer of the liver (except if
cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), or bronchiolo-aveolar
carcinoma.
Veterans and other interested parties have 60 days to submit comments
to: Director, Office of Regulations Management (02D), Department of
Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Room 1154, Washington, D.C.
20420; or fax comments to 202-273-9289; or e-mail comments to
OGCRegulations@mail.va.gov. The proposed regulations are located in
the Federal Register at http://www.access.gpo.gov .
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Nuke Plant Tax Break Criticized
WASHINGTON Aug 10 (AP) - The Bush administration wants to change the
tax code to make sure all owners of nuclear power plants can write
off the cost of decommissioning.
Utilities that have rates set by government agencies already can
deduct the money they must set aside in special funds for
decommissioning, typically hundreds of millions of dollars. The tax
break is not automatically transferred, however, when a plant is
bought by a company without regulated rates.
In those cases, the Internal Revenue Service must approve a tax
break. The IRS has done that routinely since a flurry of nuclear
plant sales began two years ago. Even so, opponents who don't want to
see the tax break written into law contend it will do nothing but
guarantee more revenue for plant owners.
``This won't produce a single more megawatt of electricity to meet
summer reliability needs,'' said Howard Learner of the Chicago-based
Environmental Law and Policy Center. ``All it will do is transfer
hundreds of millions of dollars from consumers' wallets to nuclear
plant owners'.''
Supporters say it makes no sense for a tax break already in place for
a plant not to be automatically transferred to a new owner.
``There's absolutely no reason for any distinction to be made here,''
said David Brown, lobbyist for Chicago-based Exelon Corp., the
largest private nuclear operator in the United States.
The issue is growing in importance because more nuclear power plants
are likely to be sold as electricity is increasingly deregulated
across the country. New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., for example, has
said it plans to spend up to $1.5 billion to acquire as many as a
dozen plants in the next five years.
Like private companies, most ``public'' utilities are owned by
investors. The difference is they are obligated to provide power to
everyone in their service areas. In exchange for their monopoly
status, their rates and earnings are regulated by states.
The tax break was vetoed in 1999 by President Clinton but was revived
by the Bush administration and approved last week as part of the
House energy bill. It faces an uncertain future in the Senate, which
will consider its own energy package this fall.
Now, when nuclear power plants are sold from rate-regulated to
nonregulated owners, the decommissioning money doesn't retain the
``qualified'' tax status and thus are no longer tax deductible.
The new owners still are required by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission to maintain the funds to ensure that money is on hand to
close and clean the plants safely after they stop generating power.
Electric companies, which contributed more than $18.5 million to
Democratic and Republican candidates and parties in the 1999-2000
election cycle, say it's a case of tax law not keeping up with
changes in the electricity marketplace.
Since Entergy bought the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth,
Mass., from Boston Edison Co. in July 1999, eight nuclear reactors
have been sold from rate-regulated to nonregulated owners.
The biggest deal was closed four months ago, when Richmond, Va.-based
Dominion Resources Inc. bought the Millstone nuclear power complex in
Waterford, Conn., for $1.3 billion.
A change in the law, said Ron Clements, a power industry lobbyist,
would help facilitate deals that might otherwise fall through,
keeping nuclear plants online to churn out much-needed electricity
for homes and businesses.
In cases where deals go through anyway, customers will end up paying
more for power, he said.
``Rates will go up,'' said Clements, of the Edison Electric
Institute, the main trade association of private power companies.
Critics say it's wrong to give a tax break to corporations that want
to maximize their profits and thus could bear the costs of
decommissioning.
``Fair is fair,'' Learner said. ``It's part of the cost of doing
business.''
The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that the
change, and other tax changes related to nuclear decommissioning,
would cost the federal government $1.93 billion in revenue from 2002-
2011.
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Director, Technical Extension 2306
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service Fax:(714) 668-3149
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
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