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New DOE program promotes new nuclear power plants
Index:
New DOE program promotes new nuclear power plants
Radioactive leaks in Lake Ontario raise concerns
Russia Seeks Plutonium Deal Delay
Nuclear waste recyclers target consumer products
NRC staff OKs Indian Point plant license transfer
Kazakh nuclear woes remain a decade after closure
Ministry to order inspection of 28 reactors after crack
PPL stops man from breaking into Pennsylvania nuke
3 prefectures vying for nuclear fusion plant candidacy
WHO team in Iraq to study effects of depleted uranium shells
SA researcher awarded radiation exposure study grant
Spent Nuclear Fuel Project in Ukraine Achieves Major Milestone
India arrests two men over uranium seizure
Mexico's Veracruz holds unprecedented referendum
Researchers in Japan have developed a mini-nuclear reactor
Increasing Usage of Wind Turbines Can Decrease Energy Shortages
====================================
New DOE program promotes new nuclear power plants
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - In a move to encourage new nuclear
power plant construction, the U.S. Department of Energy on Monday
unveiled a pilot project to encourage private companies to consider
new plant sites.
In the Aug. 27 Federal Register, DOE petitioned private companies to
submit early requests to have potential sites licensed with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and earmarked $700,000 in federal
funds to subsidize site permitting studies.
The plan will help break down "barriers affecting future near-term
deployment of new nuclear power plants," the notice said.
The new program provides "creative ways to advocate the use of
nuclear energy in our nation's portfolio," said a spokesman for the
Nuclear Energy Institute, or NEI, a lobbying group that promotes new
plant construction.
Energy firms like Entergy Corp. <ETR.N>, Exelon Corp. <EXC.N> and
Dominion Resources Inc. <D.N> are potential candidates for the
program.
"Anything the federal government does to encourage new plant
construction in the U.S. we are in favor of," said a spokesman for
Dominion Energy, the generating arm of Dominion Resources.
Dominion is part of an NEI working group to streamline the site
permitting process, and could make a decision late this year to
submit an early site permitting request to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission for a Virginia site, the spokesman said.
The early permit is enabled by an existing NRC rule that allows
companies to submit an early request to study the feasibility of
prospective sites -- know as site "banking."
NEI expects its members to build eight new plants over a 10-year
period starting "in the 2005 time frame," said Marvin Fertel, the
lobbying group's senior vice president.
The DOE program will look at existing sites, green-field sites and
federal sites. Applications for the program are due by Oct. 15.
------------------
Radioactive leaks in Lake Ontario raise concerns
TORONTO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A nuclear waste facility managed by
Cameco <CCO.TO> Corp., the world's biggest supplier of uranium, has
been leaking continuously over the past two decades, environmental
groups said in a report published on Monday.
The report said Cameco has been releasing toxic substances such as
arsenic and uranium in the Lake Ontario. A company spokesman,
however, said it was meeting all regulatory requirements.
"For the responsibilities that we have, Cameco has met all of the
regulatory requirements for the affective and safe operation of the
site," said Jamie McIntyre, spokesman for Cameco.
But Mark Mattson, author of the report from Lake Keepers Ontario, an
independent environmental watchdog, said the storage site at Port
Granby, located about 100 km (62 miles) east of Toronto, is not in
compliance with environmental laws although it is licensed by the
federal government.
"Liquid radioactive wastes are constantly entering the lake (...) in
the form of intentionally discharged treated effluent and as fugitive
seeps," he wrote.
According to the report, two series of tests conducted last year
showed that 63 percent and 97 percent of the water fleas placed in
the treated discharge died. Water fleas are commonly used by
Environment Canada to determine toxicity, and if over 50 percent of
the organisms die, the sample is considered "acutely toxic," Mattson
said.
In a letter sent to Environment Canada, he urged the authorities to
conduct a full investigation into potential breaches of the federal
Fisheries Act and Migratory Birds Act, which prohibit the massive
release of pollutants, because no other legislation is available to
protect humans.
"Unfortunately in Canada my experience has been that the laws that
protect wildlife and fish are stronger in some cases than the ones
that protect people," he told Reuters.
The plant was closed in 1988 after 33 years of operation by the Crown
Corporation Eldorado Nuclear Ltd. and has been managed by Saskatoon-
based Cameco since then.
Cameco's McIntyre said the company was aware of problems at the site
but that it was not aware of any leaks reported by Lake Ontario
Keepers. He said Cameco has committed C$25 million in a C$230 million
cleanup plan agreed this spring by the federal government and three
Ontario municipalities.
------------------
Russia Seeks Plutonium Deal Delay
MOSCOW (AP) - A long-discussed U.S.-Russian plan to stop production
of weapons-grade plutonium in Russia has been stalled by funding
shortages, and the government said Monday that it wants the United
States to agree to postpone its implementation.
The agreement, signed in September 1997 by Vice President Al Gore and
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, was hailed at the time as
a historic event and a big step in U.S. efforts to ensure that Moscow
safeguards and reduces its vast nuclear stockpile.
But it has already been delayed by disagreements over audits meant to
ensure U.S. money would be spent properly. Now Russia wants to push
back the schedule of the project to convert three plutonium-making
reactors to production of uranium for civilian power plants.
As it stands, the plan calls for two nuclear reactors in the Siberian
city of Seversk, once a closed city known as Tomsk-7, to stop
producing plutonium in 2002 and 2003, the ITAR-Tass news agency
reported.
A third reactor in Zheleznogorsk - another formerly top-secret
Siberian city, called Krasnoyarsk-26 in Soviet times - was to stop in
2004.
But amid persistent funding problems, Russian Cabinet's information
department said Monday that Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has
ordered the Nuclear Power Ministry to negotiate an amendment to the
deal with U.S. officials.
It said the Seversk reactors would keep working through 2005, and the
one in Zheleznogorsk until the end of 2006.
In addition to producing plutonium, the reactors also provide
electricity and heat for residents of the cities, and the U.S.-
Russian deal called for the two countries to share the costs of
building replacement power facilities.
The proposed amendment, authorized by Kasyanov, also included a
stipulation that the United States would help modify reactors or
build alternative power facilities if funds are available. The
government statement didn't say when the amendment is expected to be
signed.
Officials at the U.S. embassy in Moscow declined to comment.
Also Monday, Sen. Richard Lugar - a chief architect of deals to
reduce and safeguard nuclear stockpiles following the 1991 Soviet
collapse - was visiting Severodvinsk, a naval port on Russia's
northern coast that is the focus of efforts to dismantle scores of
aging nuclear submarines with the help of U.S. funding.
The Indiana Republican, who arrived in Russia on Sunday, has
complained of massive cuts in the programs designed to help Russia
secure its vast cache of nuclear weapons and material, which
environmental groups have said pose a major threat to the surrounding
area.
He was inspecting a maintenance plant, U.S.-financed disposal
projects and a shipyard before heading back to Moscow. He planned to
visit the Volga River cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan before
leaving for neighboring Ukraine later this week, the U.S. Embassy
said.
------------------
Nuclear waste recyclers target consumer products
NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Orthodontists could soon be giving their
patients more than they bargained for with their brand new braces: a
mouthful of radioactive waste.
Under a Department of Energy plan, braces aren't the only product
which could contain radioactive waste. Zippers, lawn chairs, hip
replacements and countless other consumer products could include
trace amounts of waste taken from nuclear reactors or weapons
complexes and recycled into scrap metal.
The Department of Energy (DOE) sees the recycling as a way to clean
up waste at decommissioned nuclear plants and weapons facilities, but
environmental groups call the idea ridiculous.
"It's hard to imagine a nuclear enterprise more tone deaf to public
concerns or a more cockamamie scheme than taking radioactive waste
and disposing of it in consumer products," said Dan Hirsch, president
of nuclear watchdog group Committee to Bridge the Gap.
The energy department will spend the next 12 months to 18 months
studying the environmental and health risks of the plan, having held
12 public hearings in six cities this summer, said DOE spokesman Joe
Davis,
Critics say recycling radioactive waste, even at low levels, is
reckless. But energy officials say that the government needs to look
at all options for getting rid of the growing pile of hazardous
wastes. Proponents of the plan say that by spreading small, non-
lethal amounts into recycled scrap, the need for large waste dumps
could be avoided.
CONCERN IS HEALTHY
A moratorium was placed on radioactive recycling last year by former
Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson after environmental groups
protested the possible sale of 6,000 metric tons of contaminated
nickel from the energy department's Oakridge nuclear facility in
Tennessee to scrap metal dealers.
But under the Bush administration, the program is being revisited and
the energy department is considering lifting the moratorium. But
before that, it is required by law to conduct a thorough study on the
safety risks of recycling radioactive waste.
The proposal does not specify any uses for scrap metal containing the
radioactive waste, but metal industry executives say the material
would go into the supply of scrap metal and could be used to make
anything.
Even the study has proven problematic. The DOE recently dropped
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) - which it initially
chose to conduct the study and prepared a report -- because of its
business partnership with British Nuclear Fuels Limited, the company
that last year was going to contract with the government to help sell
the waste from the Oakridge facility.
Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge the Gap said it was an enormous
potential conflict of interest. SAIC's report "is quite dangerous in
terms of arguing how much radioactivity would be acceptable for use
in consumer products."
The energy department has not said who was hired to complete the
study, but some are arguing that the level of radiation in any
recycled materials would be too low to actually pose a health risk.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association representing some
260 companies in the nuclear power industry, has lobbied in favor of
radioactive recycling and says the public may be overly concerned.
"Concern is healthy," said Felix Killar, director of material
licenses for the institute. "But people need to understand the facts.
This isn't truly radioactive waste. It's no more radioactive than any
other material recycled in to consumer products."
Killar continues: "There isn't a place on Earth that is totally free
of radioactivity."
A LITTLE RADIATION IS OK
John Wittenborn, attorney for the Metal Industries Recycling
Coalition (MIRC), comprised of a variety of metal industry trade
groups, says their polls indicate the public doesn't buy the idea
that nuclear waste can be safely recycled into everyday products.
"We've spent a lot of time and effort to build the perception that
products made from recycled materials are safe and good and that
recycling itself is something that society should be in favor of,"
said Wittenborn, whose group strongly opposes recycling of
radioactive waste into scrap metal.
Beyond the public image problem the industry would face in using the
recycled waste, companies are concerned about the potential
contamination of their mills and workers.
Wittenborn says it can cost from $5 million to $15 million to shut
down, inspect by hand and then clean a steel mill that has registered
radioactivity above a background level.
Recently, Wittenborn attended an energy department public hearing on
the issue in Crystal City, Virginia where he presented his polling
data and the metal industry's case.
In fact, those who have attended the hearings say most of the
comments have opposed lifting the moratorium on radioactive
recycling.
"The observer might ask 'Why does the DOE continue to propose to do
this if no one is willing to come forward and testify on behalf of
it?'" said Dan Guttman, executive director of President Clinton's
Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments,
"This is being cast as a question of convincing the hysterical public
that a little radiation is OK."
-------------------
NRC staff OKs Indian Point plant license transfer
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on
Monday said agency staff has approved transferring the operating
licenses for the Indian Point nuclear generating units 1 and 2 from
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, a subsidiary of Consolidated
Edison Inc. <ED.N>, to subsidiaries of Entergy Corp. <ETR.N>
The reactors are located in Buchanan, New York.
The staff's approval of the license transfers becomes effective
immediately, although the NRC granted hearing requests from several
groups against the change.
Citizens Awareness Network, Hendrick Hudson School District and the
town of Cortlandt Manor, New York, asked for hearings on Entergy's
financial ability to operate and maintain the Indian Point plant
safely.
Following hearings, the commission said it could decide by early 2002
to reverse the license transfer authorized by its staff.
The key issues considered by the NRC staff in the license transfers
included Entergy's technical and financial qualifications to maintain
Indian Point 1, which shut down permanently in 1974, and also to
safely operate Indian Point 2.
----------------
Kazakh nuclear woes remain a decade after closure
ALMATY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - A decade after Kazakhstan shut the
Semipalatinsk nuclear complex, one of the Soviet Union's two test
sites, a raft of health and environmental problems are still being
felt, the Kazakh President said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of his new book, "The epicentre of the world,"
President Nursultan Nazarbayev told an audience including former
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that the site's closure had met
fierce resistance from the Soviet leadership and the army.
But he defended his 1991 decision, taken while the Soviet Union still
existed, to close the test centre opened in 1949.
"For nearly 40 years Kazakhstan found itself at the epicentre of
global confrontation, and even in peacetime this caused incalculable
losses," he said.
"Kazakhstan was the only country in the world where an inhumane
totalitarian regime carried out experiments without regard for the
ecology or the health of the population, even though these problems
were known about."
He said 456 nuclear explosions, more than half of them above ground,
were carried out in the Semipalatinsk region of northeastern
Kazakhstan.
As a result a huge number of genetic disorders have been noted in the
local population which are expected to take several generations to
disappear.
The country was also home to well over 1,000 nuclear warheads, which
Nazarbayev got rid of after Kazakhstan became an independent state.
The Soviet Union also had a testing ground at Novaya Zemlya Island
off its Arctic coast.
Robert Sagdeyev, director of the centre for space research at
Kazakhstan's East-West Institute, told the meeting the consequences
of the "nuclear madness" were still visible now.
"Recently we have discovered rather strange anomalies in the
temperature in this (Semipalatinsk) region. The temperature is about
10 degrees higher than expected. We first noticed this in 1997, but
now this has become a permanent phenomenon."
Nazarbayev hoped Kazakhstan's nuclear-free status would enable the
country to "make a present of the planet" to future generations.
"'I don't know what weapons will be used in the third world war, but
the fourth will be fought with sticks and stones,' said Albert
Einstein in his time. If that prophecy is not to come true, that's
because mankind has become a little wiser."
-------------------
Ministry to order inspection of 28 reactors after crack
TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Kyodo) - The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
will order the inspection of 28 boiling water reactors used to
generate power by six companies in Japan, following the discovery of
a crack in a fuel unit of the reactor core at a power station in
Fukushima Prefecture in early July, ministry sources said Friday.
On July 6, nuclear safety officials in Fukushima Prefecture announced
the discovery of a crack in a wall, called a shroud, that covers fuel
within the No. 3 reactor of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima
Daini nuclear power station.
Following an investigation by Tokyo Electric Power, the ministry's
nuclear safety division assumed the damage is so-called stress
corrosion cracking, common to all boiling water reactors like one at
the Fukushima power station.
Since the reactor in question is made of stainless metal considered
resistant to such cracking, the ministry's nuclear safety officials
believe the crack could have been due to the way the shroud was
manufactured and inspection at other nuclear power stations is thus
necessary.
Tokyo Electric Power said despite the crack, the shroud is still
strong. But for extra safety, a step to reinforce the shroud will be
taken.
The six companies are Tokyo Electric Power, Tohoku Electric Power
Co., Chubu Electric Power Co., Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Chugoku
Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co.
-----------------
PPL stops man from breaking into Pennsylvania nuke
NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - PPL Corp. <PPL.N> said late Thursday a
man scaled the fence at the Susquehanna nuclear power station in
Pennsylvania and was quickly apprehended before causing any damage.
Because of the security breach, PPL said in a statement it declared
an "unusual event" at the plant at 4:21 p.m. EDT Thursday after plant
security apprehended the man inside a vehicle access area at one of
the plant's gates.
An unusual event, the lowest of four emergency classifications at
U.S. nuclear power plants, means a minor problem has occurred at the
plant that could reduce plant safety. The unusual event ended at 7:52
p.m. on Thursday.
"The plant's security force completed a walkdown of the plant and has
assured that the plant is safe," said Herb Woodeshick, a special
assistant to the president for Susquehanna, in the statement.
The man scaled one security fence, but was caught before getting over
a second fence and into the plant's protected area, Woodeshick added.
The man was not armed and plant security turned him over to the
Pennsylvania State Police.
"Susquehanna's security system worked as designed to assure plant
safety," Woodeshick said. "The plant security force received
immediate notification when the man climbed the first fence, and he
was quickly apprehended."
The Susquehanna plant, located in Luzerne County, about seven miles
north of Berwick, Pa., is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and
Allegheny Electric Co-op and is operated by PPL Susquehanna.
PPL Susquehanna is a subsidiary of global energy giant PPL Corp. of
Allentown, Pa.
-------------------
3 prefectures vying for nuclear fusion plant candidacy
MITO, Japan, Aug. 28 (Kyodo) - By: Kanji Hasegawa Three Japanese
prefectures are competing fiercely in the hopes that one of their
municipalities will be chosen by the government of Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi as a potential site for an experimental nuclear
fusion plant being developed in cooperation with Russia and European
countries.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
plans to select one of the three municipalities -- Tomakomai in
Hokkaido, the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture and the town
of Naka in Ibaraki Prefecture -- as early as next month, official
sources said.
But it remains uncertain whether the government will actually file
the candidacy on behalf of the selected municipality amid the state's
ongoing financial difficulties.
About 300 billion yen out of the estimated 530 billion yen in total
construction costs will have to be shouldered by the state.
The project to build the International Thermonuclear Experimental
Reactor (ITER) began in 1988 with participation from Japan, European
countries, Russia and the United States. But it has repeatedly been
postponed and the U.S. backed out in 1998 because of its potential to
lose money.
The planned test reactor, designed to use nuclear fusion to make
electricity in a way similar to how the sun creates energy, has also
been downsized to reduce costs, which were first estimated at 1
trillion yen. It is scheduled for completion in the 2010s, 10 years
behind the original schedule.
Japan's powerful rivals for the site are Canada, which is rich in the
fuel material lithium, and France, whose ground is firm and which can
easily provide the massive amounts of electricity required for
nuclear fusion research. The site will be determined in 2003.
The sources said the ITER is expected to bring an economic effect
totaling 1 trillion yen to its host prefecture, and that officials of
the three prefectures are paying daily visits to the ministry to
attract attention to their campaigns.
The Naka Fusion Research Establishment run by the Japan Atomic Energy
Research Institute has been regarded as the primary candidate site
because it began researching nuclear fusion in 1985. But Tomakomai
and Rokkasho, which are being developed as industrial belts,
expressed their interest in the plant in 1995.
Aomori Prefecture is pressing the Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry, whose jurisdiction includes a nuclear fuel cycling facility
to be completed at Rokkasho in four years' time, in a bid to increase
its political influence over the site selection.
The campaign has drawn harsh criticism from officials of other
prefectures. ''Using a separate nuclear facility for political
jockeying is unfair,'' said a member of the Ibaraki prefectural
assembly.
Last month, Aomori Gov. Morio Kimura said, ''We will accept nuclear
wastes from the ITER if we are picked, but we will not accept such
wastes from the ITER if it is established in other prefecture,''
triggering further controversy.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
will decide the candidate site by making a numerical assessment for
each of the 15 conditions for the site, including 70 hectares of
land, firm ground and a comfortable living environment for foreign
staff and their families. It will disregard the problem of nuclear
wastes.
But science analysts have said there are many conditions which will
be difficult to assess numerically and that in the end, a political
settlement will have to be made to choose the candidate site.
-----------------
WHO team in Iraq to study effects of depleted uranium shells
BAGHDAD, Aug. 28 (Kyodo) - A delegation from the World Health
Organization (WHO) began talks Tuesday with an Iraqi team on
surveying the country to find if depleted uranium (DU) shells used by
the allies against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War affected the
population or the environment.
The official Iraqi News Agency said WHO and Iraqi experts would
compile field studies on the effects of DU on health and environment
and ''the relation between the use of DU and the appearance of many
diseases unknown before in Iraq.''
Zuhair Sa'eed Abdul Salam, senior undersecretary of the Health
Ministry, led the Iraqi side to the talks, while WHO Deputy Regional
Office Director Abdul Aziz Saleh led the six-member WHO team.
The WHO team arrived in Baghdad on Monday on a four-day mission.
Upon arrival, Saleh told reporters, ''We have agreed on collaboration
between the WHO and Iraq on the issue of the possible impact of DU on
the health in Iraq.''
He added Tuesday, ''Our team will take samples to be carefully tested
by special equipment that show the level of radiation that would
possibly pollute the environment in Iraq.''
The team is to travel to the southern Iraqi city Basra, about 450
kilometers south of Baghdad, to start work in areas where DU shells
were used extensively during the Gulf War.
-----------------
SA researcher awarded radiation exposure study grant
28 August - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - An Adelaide
researcher has been awarded an $850,000 grant from the United States
Government to study the effects of low level radiation exposure on
humans.
Principal medical scientist at the Flinders Medical Centre, Dr Pam
Sykes, says her research will also explore the role of low radiation
levels in the development of cancer.
"We don't know exactly what, if any, genetic damage is occurring at
very low doses X-rays and gamma rays that [are] in the environment,"
she said.
"So if you get a slight increase, meaning you get a little bit of
extra...X-rays... could that actually contribute to cancer."
------------------
Duke Engineering & Services' Spent Nuclear Fuel Project in Ukraine
Achieves Major Milestone
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- A major milestone in the
safe storage of spent nuclear fuel at Europe's largest nuclear power
facility was achieved on Aug. 24, 2001, when spent fuel was moved to
dry storage at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southeastern
Ukraine. Duke Engineering & Services managed the storage system's
design, construction and licensing.
"This was a first-of-a-kind project, and the technical and political
challenges were enormous," said Duke Engineering President Ron Green.
"One of our goals is to be the industry leader in the area of spent
fuel management. This project's success, in addition to our domestic
commercial and federal experience, certainly provides the impetus for
achieving that goal."
The project began in June 1994 at a time when power needs in the
region were critical and spent fuel storage capacity was running
short. Zaporozhye's six reactors are capable of generating a
combined 6,000 megawatts of electricity. Among the project's many
challenges, U.S. engineered systems and hardware had to be adapted to
fit a Soviet designed and constructed power plant. In addition, the
project team had to contend with language and cultural barriers and a
shifting political landscape.
The design and fabrication of equipment, including the vertical,
concrete storage containers, was based on U.S. standards with
adaptations to satisfy Ukrainian requirements. The delivered
equipment is sufficient to safely store a one-year inventory of spent
nuclear fuel from one of the six reactors for a period of 50 years.
The Ukrainian power authority that operates the plant, Energomatom,
will manufacture additional storage containers in Ukraine through a
technology transfer agreement. The system may also be used at other
nuclear power plants in Ukraine.
Duke Engineering specializes in energy and environmental projects and
provides full-scope engineering, technical and professional services
to clients around the world. Duke Engineering's Nuclear Group
provides comprehensive design, engineering, procurement, construction
management, retrofit, plant life extension, operations support,
efficiency management and full life-cycle maintenance services,
including spent fuel storage design and management. More information
about the company is available on the Internet at:
www.dukeengineering.com.
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a diversified multinational energy company,
creates value for customers and shareholders through an integrated
network of energy assets and expertise. Duke Energy manages a
dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and
trading businesses -- generating revenues of more than $49 billion in
2000. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a Fortune
100 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet
at: www.duke-energy.com.
--------------------
India arrests two men over uranium seizure
CALCUTTA, India, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Indian authorities have arrested
two men on suspicion of trafficking nuclear material after seizing
225 grams of uranium from a house in the eastern state of West
Bengal, an official said on Monday.
Police would not comment on whether the material was enriched
uranium, which is used to make nuclear weapons.
"All we know so far is that the uranium was brought in from
(neighbouring) Bangladesh," Anuj Sharma, a senior West Bengal police
official, told Reuters.
He said the uranium was found in a bag during a raid on a house in
Balurghat on Saturday by police and the paramilitary Border Security
Force.
Balurghat is 600 km (375 miles) northeast of the state capital,
Calcutta.
"We're still investigating ... we've not got any leads so far from
the two men arrested on whether any terrorist groups are involved,"
Sharma said.
Several cases of nuclear trafficking have been exposed in Europe
since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. In July, French police
arrested three men for suspected involvement in trafficking enriched
weapons-grade uranium.
In January, Greek authorities found hundreds of highly radioactive
metal plates containing plutonium buried in a forest near the
northern port of Thessaloniki.
-----------------
Mexico's Veracruz holds unprecedented referendum
MEXICO CITY Aug 26 (Reuters) - Voters in the Gulf state of Veracruz
voted on issues ranging from indigenous rights to nuclear power on
Sunday in a public referendum billed as the first of its kind in
Mexican history.
The state constitution provides for popular referendum, but the
mechanism has never been used there or elsewhere in Mexico, the daily
Reforma reported.
"There was an attempt in the Federal District (Mexico City) to hold
one over daylight-saving time, but it was not well planned, so
Veracruz becomes the first state to do so," Gov. Miguel Aleman told
government news agency Notimex.
Some 4 million citizens were eligible to vote on five questions.
Among them, voters were asked whether the state should create an
organization dedicated to preserving indigenous culture.
The state legislature in May approved a controversial indigenous
rights bill opposed by Indian leaders as too weak.
The referendum also asked voters whether they wanted greater public
oversight at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant, whether they would
agree to changes to make the justice system more efficient and
whether the state should seek more federal funds for public works.
Voters also were asked whether the state should continue to promote
an annual festival at the Tajin archeological site, which critics say
has endangered artifacts and ruins in the two years it has been held.
Results of the vote were scheduled to be released on Sept. 1. The
process generated some conflict among election officials over
questions about its validity, Reforma newspaper reported.
U.S. cruiser calls at a Kobe port, says no nuke weapons
KOBE, Aug. 28 (Kyodo) - A U.S. Navy cruiser whose home port is the
U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo,
on Tuesday called at a port in Himeji in the western Japan prefecture
of Hyogo, local port authorities said.
The 9,407-ton Vincennes is scheduled to remain at the port until
Friday and aims to foster goodwill with local residents while
providing crew with an opportunity for rest and recreation.
Hyogo prefectural officials say it is the first time a U.S. vessel
has docked at a port in the prefecture since its capital of Kobe
introduced in 1975 a system requiring foreign vessels to certify they
are nuclear-free.
They said they gave the green light to the ship after U.S. officials
said the Vincennes as a general rule is not equipped with nuclear
weapons and that they understand the antinuclear sentiments of the
Japanese people.
Meanwhile, about 400 people from citizens' and labor groups gathered
to stage a protest against the port call near where the Vincennes is
docked.
-----------------
Researchers in Japan have developed a mini-nuclear reactor.
Aug 26, Australian Broadcasting Company - Japan already has 60
nuclear reactors which provide one-third of the nation's power but
the inventors of the rapid el-reactor have much grander plans.
The reactor is relatively tiny standing about six metres high and two
metres wide.
The perfect size, the scientists say for the basement of an apartment
block.
What is not known is whether the Japanese public will take to the
idea of living above a potential nuclear accident.
-----------------
AEROMAX Corp. has Answer to Growing Energy Problems; Increasing Usage
of Wind Turbines Can Decrease Energy Shortages and is More Economical
for Homeowners
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2001--Scattered
across the Arizona landscape are renewable energy systems sold by
AEROMAX Corp., of Prescott Valley.
These home power systems feature power generation from wind turbines
manufactured by its sister company AEROMAG and solar photovoltaic
panels.
Combined annual capacity of these systems produce more than 205
million watt hours, or the average amount of electricity consumed per
month by 201 residents of Arizona. The company said these numbers are
exemplary of AEROMAX's commitment in solving the spreading energy
problems of shortages and increasing costs.
"Too many people think there is an infinite amount of energy and that
it costs virtually nothing. They are wrong. It is limited and it
comes at a cost -- in dollars, in pollution, and in climate change,"
said Lexington Bartlett, president and chief executive officer of
AEROMAX. "These wind turbines create an environmentally friendly,
relatively inexpensive energy that people are looking for."
Wind Power has become the source of energy for not only the future,
but also the present. According to the World Bank, it is the fastest
growing source of new power generation. The Bank of America has
estimated that the alternative power industry will grow to $75
billion in sales revenue by 2010.
Wind Power has come down in price, to the point where it is more cost
effective than hydropower, fuel oil, nuclear plants or coal burning
plants, and as cost effective as natural gas.
Widening energy shortages and increasing costs are the two largest
problems facing the energy industry today. AEROMAX has the solution
to both of these problems. The company recently announced the AEROMAG
LAKOTA, a new Land Wind Turbine Generator for the residential home,
with other models soon to follow.
These products allow homeowners to benefit from the growing
alternative power industry of which the Bank of America analysis
speaks.
About AEROMAX and AEROMAG
AEROMAG has been in the wind turbine business for about 10 years and
originally set out to produce more efficient blades for the wind
turbine retrofit market. Production of these blades began about six
years ago, and have received a strong positive response from
customers worldwide.
As a result, AEROMAG expanded its product lines to include the
manufacture and design of advanced small wind turbines suited for
residential, office, and other moderate distributed power
requirements.
AEROMAG's business focus is production, research and development of
wind energy products, and holds all patent destined technologies and
trade secrets. AEROMAG wind turbine power systems and components are
available exclusively through AEROMAX.
Hybrid energy solutions available from AEROMAX combine wind turbine
systems with the top name brands in solar panels, inverters,
batteries and ancillary component parts. These hybrid renewable
energy components are integrated and can be specifically tailored
into a modular and incrementally expandable system configured for
distributed energy needs worldwide.
In addition, AEROMAX handles energy system site development and
installations.
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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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