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South Carolina will sue to keep U.S. plutonium out
Index:
South Carolina will sue to keep U.S. plutonium out
RWE says Biblis fuel rod safely retrieved
Bush Urged Not to Scrap Recycle Ban
NRC to up inspections at Nebraska nuclear plant
Town assembly to discuss possible plebiscite on nuclear plant
Nuclear Plant to Be Sold to Entergy
New pro-nuclear US Energy legislation/Uranium spot price imp
Insurer Files Cell Phone Coverage Lawsuits
=====================================
South Carolina will sue to keep U.S. plutonium out
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Reuters) - South Carolina's attorney general,
complaining that the state was being turned into a "nuclear dumping
ground," vowed Thursday to sue to block federal plutonium shipments
to a reprocessing plant.
The lawsuit is the latest roadblock thrown up against a proposal by
the U.S. Department of Energy to dispose of 50 tons of Cold War-era
plutonium by processing the weapons-grade material into nuclear fuel
or encasing it in ceramic at the plant.
"Our message to the federal government is: We will not allow South
Carolina to be turned into a nuclear dumping ground," state Attorney
General Charlie Condon said.
South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges last week directed the state highway
patrol to find a way to erect physical roadblocks around the so-
called Savannah River Site to block the planned shipments.
The Energy Department plans to neutralize the weapons-grade plutonium
by blending 33 tons with uranium to form mixed-oxide fuel and
encasing the rest in ceramic for underground disposal at the proposed
Yucca Mountain nuclear repository in Nevada.
With the Yucca Mountain repository facing stiff political opposition
from Nevada's congressional delegation, Condon said he was filing
suit to keep the plutonium shipments from effectively being stranded
in South Carolina.
"The federal government has said one thing and is doing another," he
said. "Until the DOE mission to store the plutonium is totally
clarified and we know that South Carolina is not part of that
mission, going to court is our best answer."
Condon said the lawsuit would seek an injunction to block the
shipments and a court order requiring the Energy Department to detail
the environmental damage from storing the plutonium at the plant,
which sits along the Savannah River on the Georgia-South Carolina
border.
A consortium led by Duke Energy Corp. and including a U.S. unit of
French nuclear reprocessing firm COGEMA and contracting firm Stone &
Webster Inc. was selected by the department to build a plant to
reprocess the plutonium into mixed-oxide fuel, which would then be
used at two Duke reactors in North Carolina.
Environmentalists and anti-nuclear groups have petitioned the
department, seeking to block the program. The groups argue that the
plutonium shipments could easily be hijacked by terrorists and that
the hotter-burning mixed-oxide fuel could lead to reactor meltdowns.
----------------
RWE says Biblis fuel rod safely retrieved
FRANKFURT, Aug 16 (Reuters) - A fuel element dropped last week at the
RWE's Biblis B nuclear reactor in Hesse state was successfully
retrieved on Wednesday, the company said in a statement late on
Wednesday.
The element has been placed in a stable position next to a water
storage pool in the presence of safety experts, it said.
It was dropped on August 6 after it became detached from its head
while being transferred to a transport container destined for
reprocessing at the French La Hague facility.
"We will decide on repair and disposal of the element after we have
drawn up and assessed relevant plans," RWE said.
The company said it has developed measures aimed at preventing a
repeat of such an incident, which could be implemented immediately if
safety authorities approved.
RWE must submit a report to the industrial standards authority for
southern Germany (TUeV-Sueddeutscdhland) to get the go-ahead for
repair works.
Germany's Green Party has said that its information showed this was
the first incident of its kind in the western world.
The German brand of the Friends of the Earth environmental lobby has
called for the closure of the plant.
---------------
Bush Urged Not to Scrap Recycle Ban
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Environmentalists urged the Bush administration
Thursday not to lift a Clinton-era ban on recycling scrap metals from
Department of Energy nuclear facilities.
They say allowing the metals to be recycled into other items puts the
public's health at risk.
``It's dispersing radioactivity into everyday items,'' said Diane
D'Arrigo, radioactive waste project director at the Nuclear
Information and Resource Service in Washington. ``It could be in the
braces on your kid's teeth. It could be in the car you're riding
in.''
Supporters of recycling say it is a useful way to dispose of
materials as Cold War-era facilities are decommissioned. They argue
levels of contamination are too low to pose a health threat.
Both sides were represented Thursday at the latest in a nationwide
series of public hearings on the subject that the Bush administration
is holding to gather testimony as it decides whether to lift the ban.
The Energy Department estimates surplus metals currently in its
inventory and materials generated over the next 35 years will total
more than a million tons.
The department could probably save money by recycling and selling the
metals rather than disposing of them in some other way, said Richard
Meehan, an Energy Department official at the nuclear facility in Oak
Ridge, Tenn.
But Meehan said the savings wouldn't be so great as to give the
agency a profit. ``Clearly there is not a pot of gold at the end of
the rainbow,'' he said.
The Energy Department says the largest amount of surplus metals comes
from uranium enrichment plants in Oak Ridge as well as Kentucky's
Paducah plant and a Piketon, Ohio, facility. The agency says the most
common types of metals found there are carbon steel, stainless steel
and nickel.
Representatives of those metal industries also spoke out against
recycling scrap metal from nuclear sites Thursday.
``While health physicists and government officials may be convinced
that public perceptions of radioactive risk are exaggerated, these
perceptions are very real,'' said Neil King, an attorney who
represents the nickel industry. King added that such perceptions
would influence consumer decision-making.
On the Net:
Energy Department: http://www.energy.gov/
-----------------
NRC to up inspections at Nebraska nuclear plant
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) said on Thursday it will increase its inspections at
the 781-megawatt Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Nebraska, in
response to errors made during an emergency exercise that were not
corrected.
"The NRC concluded that the issue was of low to moderate safety
significance and thus constituted a 'white' finding under the
agency's new reactor oversight process, and issued a Notice of
Violation," the commission said in a statement.
During an emergency procedures exercise in August of last year,
simulated radiation exposure to the public was calculated incorrectly
and as a result incorrect protective actions were recommended to
state and local authorities.
Although Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), which operates the
Cooper plant, tried to fix the problem through revised procedures and
personnel training, the same errors were repeated during a drill in
April.
An NRC inspection ending in June concluded that NPPD failed to
correct "identified weaknesses" as required under NRC regulations,
the statement said.
"NPPD did not contest the proposed NRC action," it said.
Under the commission's performance assessment process, the safety
significance of each NRC inspection finding is characterized by a
color -- green, white, yellow, or red. A green finding receives
normal NRC oversight, while white, yellow, or red assessments result
in increasing NRC involvement, including additional inspections.
Commission spokesman Breck Henderson said this would mark the third
white finding this year in Region IV, the NRC region which covers 21
reactors west of the Mississippi River.
He noted that the color-coded safety findings and Notice of
Violations are separate and not necessarily issued at the same time.
NPPD has 30 days to respond with planned corrective actions under the
Notice of Violation, which in this instance does not come with a
fine. "Every plant has a few (Notice of Violations) each year,
depending on what goes on," Henderson said.
"The increased level of NRC inspection during the coming year will
focus on problem identification and resolution in the emergency
preparedness program," the statement said.
------------------
Town assembly to discuss possible plebiscite on nuclear plant
TSU, Japan, Aug. 16 (Kyodo) - A Miyama town assembly panel in Mie
Prefecture is expected to discuss next Wednesday whether the town
should hold a plebiscite on hosting a nuclear power plant that other
prefectural towns have rejected, assembly officials said Thursday.
Chubu Electric Power Co. originally intended to set up a nuclear
power plant in the Ashihama area, which stretches along the coast
between the towns of Kisei and Nanto.
The plan for an Ashihama nuclear power plant was first conceived in
1964 but the firm gave up on the plan in February last year due to
strong local opposition.
The Nagoya-based company has not yet decided an alternative site for
the plant, a company spokesman said, and it will wait to study the
outcome of the proposed Miyama plebiscite before making a decision.
Fumio Kawaguchi, the company president, said the firm must obtain the
support of local residents before selecting a location.
If Miyama's special assembly panel, set up in March, agrees to
conduct the plebiscite, it will submit an ordinance in the September
assembly session. The majority of the 17-member panel already
supports the nuclear power plant.
If the assembly passes the ordinance and the town carries out a
plebiscite, it would be the first time for a local government to
survey public opinion before a power company decides on a location
for setting up a nuclear power plant.
The panel is currently deliberating petitions that respectively
support and oppose the plant.
In February about 5,600 Miyama residents, or 64% of eligible voters,
filed a petition supporting the plant and anti-nuclear power
residents filed a petition opposing it.
Miyama Mayor Tatsuo Shiotani has said he is willing to accept a
nuclear power plant in the town as he believes it would help
stimulate the local economy.
----------------
Nuclear Plant to Be Sold to Entergy
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Entergy Corp. announced a deal to buy the
Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant for $180 million.
Vermont Yankee and Entergy said the cash deal includes $145 million
for the plant and its assets and $35 million for its nuclear fuel.
The face value of the deal is worth nearly twice what AmerGen Energy
Co. of Kennett Square, Pa., bid in February for Vermont's only
nuclear reactor. That deal was rejected by Vermont regulators, who
said the price was inadequate and questioned the long-term power
purchase agreement it contained.
Vermont Yankee, owned by a consortium of New England Utilities, ended
up abandoning that deal and put the plant, located in Vernon, up for
sale through an auction, which Entergy won.
Officials said comparisons of the two deals were difficult because
each included different offers for nuclear fuel and power purchase
contracts, among other details.
If state and federal regulators approve the sale, Yankee would become
the 10th nuclear plant owned by New Orleans-based Entergy, the fifth
in the Northeast.
``We expect to realize significant operating efficiencies since
Vermont Yankee is a sister plant to our Pilgrim plant in Plymouth,
Mass., and our FitzPatrick plant in Oswego County, N.Y.,'' Wayne
Leonard, Entergy's chief executive, said in a statement announcing
the sale.
Entergy said it would keep Vermont Yankee's 450 employees on staff at
their current salaries and with comparable benefits.
The plan calls for Entergy to continue operating the 540-megawatt
Yankee plant through 2012, when its current operating license
expires. It also requires Entergy to commit to selling electricity to
Yankee's current utility owners at average annual prices ranging from
$39 to $45 per megawatt hour through the life of the current license.
That would also commit those utilities to purchasing electricity from
Yankee, although the sales contract provides an adjustment if
wholesale power prices should fall significantly.
Entergy officials said they would be likely to seek to extend the
Yankee license beyond 2012.
The deal still needs to be reviewed and approved by the Vermont
Public Service Board, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other regulatory agencies.
Entergy and Yankee said they expected the sale to be completed by
next spring.
------------------
New pro-nuclear US Energy legislation/Uranium spot price imp
New pro-nuclear US Energy legislation/Uranium spot price imp
The US House of Representatives has passed The Securing of America's
Future Energy Act 2001. This comprehensive bill includes provisions
for supporting construction of new nuclear power capacity, boosting
university nuclear science and engineering programs, and funding
nuclear energy R&D and is in keeping with earlier announcements by
the Bush Administration that nuclear energy must form a major plank
of the energy policies of that country.
This signifies a major development and basis for growth of nuclear
energy for the production of electricity. This new acceptance
acknowledges the essential role of nuclear energy to manage the
enormous growth necessary in global electricity while trying to limit
the dangerous effects of greenhouse gas emissions.
This industry confidence is being reflected with the continuing
improvement of the uranium spot price, which has this week risen to
US$9.10 per lb up from a low of US$6.90 in November 2000.
Paladin with its quality uranium projects in Australia and Africa is
well positioned to take advantage of this emerging renaissance in the
nuclear industry.
------------------
Insurer Files Cell Phone Coverage Lawsuits; AT&T Wireless Files Its
Own Coverage Action As Well, Reports Mealey Publications
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- A trio of insurance
coverage lawsuits related to cell phone personal injury litigation
have been filed in recent weeks, Mealey Publications has learned.
Zurich-American Insurance Co. on July 23 filed actions in New York
and Texas state courts seeking declaratory relief and contribution in
connection with putative class actions involving cell phone claims.
Both Zurich-American actions are premised upon Audiovox Corp.'s and
Nokia Inc.'s requests for coverage of putative class actions in New
York, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland and Pennsylvania by cell phone
users against cell phone manufacturers, retailers and related service
providers.
AT&T Wireless, also named in the underlying lawsuits, allegedly
promoted and sold the cell phones. It seeks coverage from several
insurance companies: Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.; Employers
Insurance of Wausau; Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Co.;
Travelers Casualty and Surety Co.; Federal Insurance Co.; The
American Insurance Co.; ACE American Insurance Co.; International
Insurance Co.; Greenwich Insurance Co.; Royal Insurance Co. of
America; Insurance Company of North America; TIG Insurance Co. and
National Surety Corp.
The underlying claimants allege that the cell phones are defective
because they emit radio frequency radiation and implicate the
industry in a conspiracy to withhold information as to the defects
and failure to provide headsets for use in mitigating their exposure.
The class actions further charge the insureds with knowledge of
reasonable and economical methods to insulate cell phone users from
exposure to the radiation. They charge the insureds with strict
liability for the failure to warn and design/manufacturing defects,
breach of implied warranties and fraud.
In its complaint filed in the New York County Supreme Court, Zurich
seeks a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify
Audiovox Corp. against these suits.
Zurich also seeks a declaration as to the obligations of Audiovox's
insurers, Royal Indemnity Co., National Surety Co., Vigilant
Insurance Co. and St. Paul Cos. Should the court determine that
Zurich owes defense or indemnification to or on behalf of Audiovox,
Zurich seeks equitable contribution and subrogation from Audiovox and
its insurers.
Zurich insured Audiovox under two primary general liability policies
in effect from July 1998 to July 1999. The policies require Zurich
to pay for "all sums" that Audiovox may become legally liable to pay
"because of bodily injury and property damage" covered under the
policies. The policies contain several exclusions relating to
injury, the insured's product, impaired property and recall of
products.
Zurich sued Nokia in the Dallas County District Court in Texas,
seeking the same declaratory relief as in the New York action.
Zurich also seeks a judgment against Nokia's insurers, Home Insurance
Co., National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. and Federal
Insurance Co.
Zurich issued six primary general liability policies to Nokia for the
periods from 1987 to 1988 and 1995 to March 2000. These policies
also provide Nokia with "all sums" coverage; however, each policy
contains varying definitions of "bodily injury," "property damage"
and "occurrence." Certain exclusions pertaining to the insured's
product, work, impaired property and product recall are also included
in Nokia's policies.
For information regarding Mealey's Litigation Report: Insurance, call
1-800-MEALEYS or visit www.mealeys.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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