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Alaska Asks Feds for Radiation Tests



Index:



Alaska Asks Feds for Radiation Tests

UK minister mulls allowing new nuclear power plants

MHI to join Westinghouse project to develop nuke reactor

EU report calls for close look at Czech nuke plant

Hiroshima Bomber to Be Restored

Russians flee raising of "radioactive" sub Kursk

Illinois Accepts Closed American Ecology Disposal Site

Japan urge tangible progress on nuclear issue with Pakistan

Study finds J&J coated stent completely effective

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



Alaska Asks Feds for Radiation Tests



ANCHORAGE, Alaska Sept 5 (AP) - Alaska's environmental officials have 

asked the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate possible radiation 

contamination on and around Amchitka Island, where the military 

exploded atomic devices from 1965 to 1971. 



In a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham last month, the state 

said a thorough assessment is needed to reassure Alaska natives on 

other Aleutian islands that subsistence foods are safe. Amchitka is 

uninhabited, but people who live on nearby islands rely on fishing 

and hunting. 



The energy department has said it has found no evidence that buried 

radiation from the tests may be leaching to the surface or into the 

ocean. But the agency has conducted no tests for radiation there 

since the 1970s, state officials say. 



Two years ago, the energy department agreed to finance a medical 

surveillance program for people who worked on the island during the 

atomic era, and Congress has funded a benefits program for former 

Amchitka workers who later developed radiation-related cancers. 

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



UK minister mulls allowing new nuclear power plants

  

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Britain's government review of 

energy policy will consider the possibility of new nuclear power 

stations built by the private sector, Energy Minister Brian Wilson 

said on Wednesday. 



Although none has been built for 14 years, Wilson said there was no 

moratorium on building new nuclear reactors in Britain, unlike some 

European countries. And the country faces some stark options as the 

existing stations near the end of their life. 



"The review will have to ask the question of whether there is a place 

for nuclear new build," he told Reuters at an oil industry exhibition 

in Aberdeen. 



Britain launched a review of its energy policy in July to tackle the 

problems of increasingly strict emissions targets, growing reliance 

on imported energy, and the expected decommissioning most of its 

nuclear plants within 20 years. 



The powerful environmental lobby is opposed to atomic power because 

of its radiation risks, but nuclear helps Britain meet strict carbon 

dioxide emissions targets because it does not create pollution 

suspected of contributing to global warming. 



"The question needs to be asked because nuclear accounts for 25 

percent of the UK's electricity and if you lose nuclear and at the 

same time you are trying to reduce emissions, it is difficult to 

square that circle," Wilson added. 



Britain's governing Labour Party was fiercely anti-nuclear in the 

1970s and 1980s, but the current government has distanced itself from 

that policy, despite continued popular opposition. 



Wilson said there was no question of the government building a new 

station itself, as it is seeking private sector solutions to power 

generation. 



"The question is whether someone will make the commercial decision to 

build new stations as the existing ones approach the end of their 

lives," he said. 



State-owned British Nuclear Fuels is already in preliminary talks 

with the government regulator about building a new reactor ahead of 

the conclusion of the government's energy review at the end of this 

year. 



The government plans to sell a 49 percent stake in British Nuclear 

Fuels. 



Wilson said the review had yet to reveal its findings, but said he 

personally supported nuclear power. 



"I am supportive of the contribution of nuclear power, but my 

personal preferences aren't the determining factor," he said. 

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



MHI to join Westinghouse project to develop nuke reactor



TOKYO, Sept. 5 (Kyodo) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) said 

Wednesday it has reached a basic agreement to join a project by 

Westinghouse Electric Co. of the United States to develop a new 1,000-

megawatt nuclear reactor. 



MHI said in a press release that Westinghouse is aiming to receive 

design certification for the new advanced pressurized water reactor, 

called the AP1000, from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the 

end of 2004. 



The two companies will finalize the contract by the end of this year, 

MHI said. 



The AP1000 will be based on Westinghouse's existing 600-megawatt 

reactor, the AP600. 



MHI also said the development program involves Electricite de France 

and British Nuclear Fuels PLC, and that MHI will be involved in the 

development and design of the AP1000's reactor core, system and 

equipment. 

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



EU report calls for close look at Czech nuke plant

  

STRASBOURG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The European Parliament on Wednesday 

called for a careful examination of the environmental impact from a 

controversial Czech nuclear plant, potentially paving the way for its 

closure. 



The Temelin plant has been at the centre of a heated debate between 

the Czech Republic and Austria, which opposes nuclear power and views 

the plant -- located near its border -- as an environmental threat. 



The Czech Republic is one of the candidate countries keen to join the 

15-nation European Union. The European Parliament adopted a broad 

report assessing progress made by the Czechs in all fields to achieve 

its candidacy, including a call for a new analysis of risks posed by 

the nuclear plant. 



The report suggests that the new analysis, to be conducted by the EU, 

consider closing the plant. The shutdown should be considered because 

of concerns about the safety of its structure and a worrying lack of 

data on its environmental impact. 



Green party members who have successfully fought for the inclusion of 

the Temelin issue in the country report, welcomed the Parliament's 

vote. 



"Temelin is an EU problem. This is an offer to the Czechs to find a 

EU solution," Austrian parliamentarian Mercedes Echerer told Reuters. 

"One way of doing it could be shutting it down." 



The Parliament's vote means that the Czech Republic will have to 

respond to concerns about the safety of the plant when it starts 

incorporating the EU legislation for energy and environment. 



The report also calls for an international forum to evaluate the 

price-tag for closing the plant, suggesting it may be possible to 

hold a donors' conference to help the Czech Republic meet the costs. 



The Greens said they hoped the Temelin debate would spark a broader 

discussion on the state of nuclear plants in the accession countries, 

most of which are former Soviet satellites. 



Many of the plants were built during the years of communism and do 

not meet strict EU safety standards. Closing them would be costly to 

the 12 countries which are candidates to become EU members. 

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



Hiroshima Bomber to Be Restored



WASHINGTON (AP) - The Enola Gay, the plane used in the bombing of 

Hiroshima, is headed for restoration and then display two years from 

now, much as it looked in 1945. 



The plane that ushered in the atomic age was loaded aboard a flatbed 

trailer Wednesday for transport to a storage and restoration facility 

in Suitland, Md. 



In recent years, the front portion of the plane was seen by about 4 

million visitors at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and 

Space Museum on the National Mall. That display followed the 

cancellation of a larger and bitterly contested exhibit about the 

birth of the nuclear age. 



The plane will not be seen publicly again until December 2003 when it 

will become a centerpiece of the Smithsonian's new Udvar-Hazy Center 

near Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va. 



``Enola Gay is significant in its own right because of the mission it 

flew,'' said Thomas M. Alison, chief of collections at the Air and 

Space Museum. On Aug. 6 1945, the plane's nine-member crew made 

history when they dropped the 9,700-pound atomic bomb ``Little Boy'' 

on Hiroshima, Japan. 



The blast killed 66,000 people and injured as many others. 



``We're going to have the opportunity to put the whole aircraft 

together and on display for visitors to see,'' said Alison. The 

aluminum-skinned bomber will appear much the same as when it rolled 

off an assembly line at the Martin Aircraft Company plant in Omaha, 

Neb., in June, 1945. 



On the Hiroshima flight, much of the plane's heavy armor plate was 

left off to enable it to fly higher and farther than most of the 

nearly 4,000 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses manufactured during the war.



``Enola Gay has less than 200 hours flying time,'' said Alison. The 

typical B-29 spent thousands of hours in combat. The Norden 

bombsight, the original propellers, and much of the internal 

components used during the historic mission will be part of the 

restored aircraft. 



When the $300 million Udvar-Hazy center opens, the plane will be 

displayed among more than 180 aircraft, 100 spacecraft and related 

artifacts spanning a century of aviation history. 



They include the prototype space shuttle orbiter ``Enterprise,'' 

bomber and fighter aircraft from World War I through the Persian Gulf 

War, and experimental aircraft. The shuttle-borne Spacelab module 

will be on display. 



The Enola Gay got its name from its pilot, Paul W. Tibbets Jr., in 

honor of his mother. 



The historic Enola Gay: 



Manufactured by Martin Aircraft Company of Omaha, Neb., under 

licensing agreement with the Boeing Aircraft Co. 



Designated B-29-45-MO by the U.S. Army Air Corps when delivered on 

June, 15, 1945, it was named Enola Gay by Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr. in 

honor of his mother. 



Wingspan 141 feet; length 99 feet; net weight (empty) 69,000 lbs; 

gross weight (loaded) 140,000 lbs. 



Postwar service included ``Operation Crossroads'' atomic testing 

program in the Pacific. It was transferred to the Smithsonian 

Institution on July 4, 1949. 

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



Russians flee raising of "radioactive" sub Kursk



ROSLYAKOVO, Russia Sept 5 (Reuters) - Russian naval officer Alexei 

Zaishely picks up a bag and walks with his wife and baby to the bus 

stop in their remote Arctic village, where the Kursk submarine will 

be hauled into dry dock this month. 



Zaishely is one of several men sending their families away from run-

down Roslyakovo on the Barents Sea to escape the radiation risk they 

fear from the return of the 18,000-tonne wreck from the seabed. 



"I'm not afraid for myself, you see," said Zaishely's wife Nina, as 

she left to stay with relatives in central Russia. "I fear for my 

baby, who has his whole life ahead of him and I'm responsible for his 

health. 



"That is why we decided to leave this place and stay away until the 

situation becomes clear." 



President Vladimir Putin has pledged to raise the Kursk to allow 

decent burials for the 118 crewmen who died on board and to try to 

find out what sank one of the Russia's most advanced submarines last 

August. 



He also says Russia has an obligation to get the Kursk's two nuclear 

reactors off the seabed and out of busy fishing lanes used by Russia 

and its Scandinavian neighbors. 



But the people of tiny Roslyakovo and many of the 380,000 residents 

along the coast in Murmansk -- the largest city above the Arctic 

Circle -- say the salvage jeopardizes their future. 



"There have been several emergency situations during ordinary repair 

work on ships and submarines in dock," Zaishely said. "But to move a 

submarine with such damage to the dock safely ... well, I think it 

could be dangerous." 



Officials insist the project is safe and have erected an electronic 

sign in Roslyakovo to display radiation levels. They say they have a 

contingency plan to bus residents to Murmansk should any radiation 

problems arise. 



But the locals are unconvinced. 



"What that electronic board shows is rubbish," said local man Edik 

Kononchuk. "The real levels are different." 



RELATIVES WANT ACTION ON BOTCHED RESCUE 



Russia has promised to make the salvage a model of media openness, 

after withering criticism last year for its confused handling of the 

nation's worst submarine disaster. 



The navy initially took two days to reveal a "malfunction" on board 

the Kursk, then delivered a rash of contradictory statements while 

refusing to accept foreign help in the attempted rescue of any 

surviving crew. 



A note found on the body of Dmitry Kolesnikov, one of a dozen men 

whose bodies were brought to the surface last autumn, showed that 

some of the crew had survived for at least a few hours after two 

explosions in the Kursk's torpedo bay. 



"The people guilty of not saving them should be punished," 

Kolesnikov's father Roman told Ekho Moskvy radio Wednesday, adding 

that many victims' relatives had signed a letter to Putin and the 

prosecutor general asking them to open a criminal case over the 

matter. 



Some in Roslyakovo said the authorities were taking more risks to try 

to atone for last year's mistakes. 



"We fear for our kids but where could we go?" said resident Anna 

Zvezdina, adding that not everyone could afford to leave town. 



Olga Lapina, another local woman, said the future was bleak. "Soon 

people in this town will start dying off like flies and no one will 

tell us the reason." 

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



Illinois Accepts Closed American Ecology Disposal Site

  

BOISE, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2001-- 



State custody decision reaffirms American Ecology's ability to 



safely close and stabilize radioactive waste disposal facilities in 



compliance with state and federal requirements 



Jack Lemley, President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 

American Ecology Corporation (Nasdaq:ECOL), today announced that the 

Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety has accepted permanent custody 

of the low-level radioactive waste ("LLRW") disposal site operated by 

subsidiary US Ecology, Inc. from 1968 to 1978. "This marks only the 

second time a LLRW disposal facility has been successfully closed, 

stabilized, and returned to a state nuclear regulatory agency for 

long-term institutional control," Lemley stated. In 1997, the State 

of Nevada accepted transfer of US Ecology's Beatty, Nevada LLRW 

disposal facility. 



"Illinois' acceptance of the Sheffield site represents a significant 

milestone for American Ecology Corporation, subsidiary US Ecology, 

and the nuclear industry in general," Lemley said, adding "This 

demonstrates the strong commitment of our company and the industry to 

responsibly manage the wastes produced by society's beneficial uses 

of radioactive materials." 



Thomas W. Ortciger, Director of the Illinois Department of Nuclear 

Safety, accepted transfer of the radioactive waste disposal site on 

August 10, 2001, in accordance with a 1988 court-approved settlement 

agreement. Return of the site to the Department begins the final 

phase of the closely regulated life cycle of a LLRW disposal 

facility. 



American Ecology Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a 

variety of radioactive, PCB, hazardous and non-hazardous waste 

services to commercial and government customers throughout the United 

States, such as nuclear power plants, medical and academic 

institutions, steel mills and petro-chemical facilities. 

Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, the Company is the oldest radioactive 

and hazardous waste services company in the United States. 

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



Japan urge tangible progress on nuclear issue with Pakistan



ISLAMABAD, Sept. 5 (Kyodo) - Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Sadaaki 

Numata on Wednesday said ''tangible progress'' to resolve matters 

relating to nuclear proliferation would facilitate the resumption of 

Japanese economic aid to Pakistan, suspended since 1998 in protest 

against Pakistani nuclear tests. 



Numata told a press conference jointly addressed by members of the 

Pakistan-Japan Business Forum that Japan wanted to help Pakistan in 

tiding over its economic difficulties but has a national policy that 

bars aid to a country that carried out nuclear tests. 



Asked if Japan was still advocating for Pakistan's adherence to the 

nuclear test-ban treaty (CTBT) as a condition for resuming aid 

despite a U.S. refusal to ratify it, Numata said Japan was looking 

forward for tangible progress by Pakistan in resolving matters 

relating to nuclear proliferation. 



''We do look forward to tangible progress in matters relating to 

nuclear proliferation, particularly in the wake of the fact that you 

have a long-standing problem with your neighbor which has assumed 

nuclear dimensions,'' he said. 



Numata said Japan views the CTBT as a very important step on global 

disarmament and the U.S. refusal to ratify the CTBT was an area in 

which ''we do not see eye to eye with the United States.'' 



He urged Pakistan to sign the CTBT as early as possible since it 

would lead to a resumption of Japanese economic aid. 

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



Study finds J&J coated stent completely effective



CHICAGO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Researchers reported on Tuesday that an 

antibiotic-coated stent developed by Johnson & Johnson to prop open 

clogged arteries completely prevented reclogging during a seven-month 

period, and doctors said it could radically change the treatment of 

coronary artery disease. 



The news sent shares of J&J, a component of the Dow Jones industrial 

average, up more than 6 percent. Stock prices for rival medical 

device makers fell on the news. 



Stents, which are tiny metal tubes used to prop open clogged 

arteries, often narrow from scar tissue that develops after insertion 

of the devices. Different companies are coating stents with various 

drugs in an effort to block growth of the scar tissue and, thereby, 

remove the need for surgeons to repeat the procedures. 



"This trial and this device could revolutionize the treatment of 

coronary artery disease," said Charles Davidson,  director of cardiac 

catheterization at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. 



Results of the so-called RAVEL study of the J&J device, which 

involved 238 patients in 19 centers across Europe and Latin America, 

were presented on Tuesday at the European Society of Cardiology 

Annual Congress in Stockholm. 



Davidson, who is participating in a U.S. trial of the device, said 

that by reducing the threat of renewed blocking, or restenosis, 

physicians will more likely choose stents for treatment of patients 

who are at high risk of requiring a repeat procedure. He said 

physicians frequently recommend coronary bypass surgery for high-risk 

patients, who include diabetics, people with smaller arteries, and 

people who have long-sections of blocked arteries. Currently, about 

1.5 million stents are implanted each year, said Davidson. 



The device, produced by J&J's Cordis unit, prevented restenosis for 

up to 210 days after implantation in patients with stable or unstable 

angina -- chest pains that often precede a heart attack. 



The results from the study show that J&J's drug-coated stent had a 

significant advantage over normal metal stents, where 26 percent of 

patients experienced restenosis. 



Brian Firth, a physician and vice president of medical affairs and 

worldwide health economics for Cordis, said the study's results would 

help speed the product's arrival on the market. "The better the data, 

the better your chances of getting that approved in a timely 

fashion," Firth said in an interview. 



The device releases the drug sirolimus, a naturally occurring 

antibiotic, preventing excess tissue from forming after a stent is 

placed in the body. 



"While most investors were anticipating the data would be favorable 

for coated stents, a zero rate of restenosis is better than expected 

and will likely result in rapid uptake of coated stents once launched 

in Europe (in) early 2002, and the United States (in) early 2003," 

said Merrill Lynch analyst Dan Lemaitre. 



"AMAZING DATA" 



"It's amazing data," said Lehman Brothers analyst David Gruber. "Zero 

percent restenosis is a big deal." Gruber said if follow-up data 

confirms the initial findings, this "establishes a high hurdle for 

competitive stents." 



Investors cheered the news, sending Johnson & Johnson stock up $3.30 

to $56.06, close to its all-time high of $57.50, in closing trade. It 

was one of the biggest percentage gainers on the New York Stock 

Exchange. Shares of medical device coatings maker SurModics Inc. 

<SRDX.O>, which is in a pact with Cordis for stent-coating 

technology, rose $7.57, or 16.24 percent, to $54.17 on the Nasdaq. 



Shares of potential competitors, Novoste Corp. <NOVT.O>, Guidant 

Corp. <GDT.N> and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. <ANP.TO> <ANPI.O>, 

fell on Tuesday, as the new data on J&J's experimental stent 

indicated it could pose a stiff challenge. 



"I would say today's stock movement represents what is truly great 

data from J&J and a game-changing device in the field of 

interventional cardiology," said Glenn Novarro of CS First Boston. 



For competitors, Gruber said the news raises the bar for others 

studying different drug coating compounds on stents. "Zero restenosis 

reinforces the first-in competitive advantage," he said. 



Shares of Novoste, a Norcross, Georgia-based maker of a radiation-

based treatment for clogged arteries, plunged $8.23 to $10.02, or 

45.1 percent. Shares of Angiotech, a Canadian biotech company which 

licenses its anti-cancer drug paclitaxel to Cook Inc. for use in 

experimental, drug-coated stents, fell $11.55 to $45.50, or 20.25 

percent, both on Nasdaq. 



Guidant, a medical device firm that is to be the sole distributor of 

Cook's paclitaxel coated stents, also saw its stock fall 3.52 

percent, to $34.85. 



STENT MARKET SEEN DOUBLING IN SIZE BY 2004 



Industry analysts said the stent market, currently $2.3 billion, 

could easily double in size in the next three to four years as 

clinicians convert to coated stents that will fetch a hefty premium 

over bare metal stents. 



Gruber projects J&J will be able to charge $2,100 to $2,200 per 

device, compared with the current $1,200 for a bare metal stent. 

Other analysts put the figure as high as $3,000. 



"We have not set a price," Firth said of the price speculation. "The 

first step was to see how well it worked. That has different 

implications about what value we properly place on this device," he 

said. 



Firth said he has had initial meetings with the Center for Medicare 

and Medicaid regarding reimbursement of the new stent and will 

continue to do so as the company wends its way through the regulatory 

processes.



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

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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