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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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