Miyama mayor submits bid for N-plant plebiscite

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Personal Note:



I finally made it back to California late Sat., after being stranded 

in the midwest for 4 days. It took 13 hours to get home, which 

normally took 7. My problems are insignificant compared to what 

others have had to endure. My prayers and thoughts go out to the 

families and friends of the victims, and may the victims find 

absolute peace in their next world. God Bless America!!



Index:



Miyama mayor submits bid for N-plant plebiscite

Security Tightens at Nuclear Plants

Hiranuma calls for antiterrorism security at nuclear plants

Activist Group Greenpeace Turns 30

1 in 5 Americans Support Nuclear Response

Salvagers cut bow from Russia's nuclear sub Kursk

EU pledges help for Ukraine's nuclear sector

Dr. Helen Caldicott to Speak At Bastyr University

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



Miyama mayor submits bid for N-plant plebiscite



TSU, Japan, Sept. 14 (Kyodo) - (EDS: ADDING INFO) 



The mayor of Miyama, Mie Prefecture, submitted a draft ordinance to 

the town assembly Friday to seek a plebiscite on whether the 

municipality should invite a power company to build a nuclear plant 

in the town. 



In submitting the draft, Mayor Tatsuo Shiotani said, ''Many residents 

desire it and the town assembly chairman has also requested it.'' 



The draft will be put to a vote next Friday and is expected to be 

approved, which would pave the way for the plebiscite to be held 

sometime this year, town assembly sources said. 



The draft stipulates that the majority opinion in the plebiscite 

would be respected. 



Miyama, with a population of some 10,000, is close to the towns of 

Nanto and Kisei in the same prefecture, whose residents' strong 

opposition forced Chubu Electric Power Co. in February last year to 

abandon a plan to build a nuclear power plant there. 



Chubu Electric Power had considered Miyama as a candidate site in the 

1960s, before deciding on Nanto and Kisei. 



Since the 1980s, some members of the local business community have 

been pressing for the town to invite the company to build a nuclear 

power plant in Miyama to revive the area, whose population consists 

of mostly older people. 



Town assembly members in favor of the project have campaigned for a 

plebiscite, which they hope will endorse the nuclear plant. 



Resident opposed to having a nuclear plant in the area say they are 

not against the plebiscite itself but that the advocates have been 

trying to steamroller the plebiscite through. 



In late August, a special committee of the town assembly advocated 

holding a plebiscite, on the grounds that it is a major issue and 

local residents' opinion should be reflected. 



Public doubts about nuclear energy increased following the nuclear 

accident in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, in September 1999, which 

caused two deaths and exposed hundreds of people to radiation. 

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



Security Tightens at Nuclear Plants



VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Security is being tightened at the world's 

nuclear power plants, an international watchdog agency said Monday, 

but it conceded that little can be done to shield a nuclear facility 

from a direct hit by an airliner. 



Most nuclear power plants were built during the 1960s and 1970s, and 

like the World Trade Center, they were designed to withstand only 

accidental impacts from the smaller aircraft widely used at the time, 

the International Atomic Energy Agency said as it opened its annual 

conference. 



``If you postulate the risk of a jumbo jet full of fuel, it is clear 

that their design was not conceived to withstand such an impact,'' 

spokesman David Kyd said. 



U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham was among delegates from 132 

nations who opened the conference with calls to better safeguard 

nuclear plants and keep nuclear materials out of terrorists' hands. 



Abraham brought a message from President Bush to the Vienna-based 

IAEA, urging the agency to keep pace with ``the real and growing 

threat of nuclear proliferation.'' 



The world ``must ensure that nuclear materials are never used as 

weapons of terror,'' Abraham said. ``We cannot assume that tomorrow's 

terrorist acts will mirror those we've just experienced.'' 



In the wake of last week's attacks in New York and Washington, 

governments have tightened security outside nuclear power and 

radioactive waste facilities worldwide. 



But Japan, which is heavily dependent on nuclear energy and has 52 

nuclear plants, warned Monday that although tighter security is 

needed, nothing can shield the plants from attacks by missiles or 

aircraft. 



Conference delegates, who began Monday with a minute of silence and a 

song from the Vienna Boy's Choir in memory of the victims of the 

attacks on the United States, planned to meet behind closed doors 

Monday and Tuesday on ways to improve plant security. 



In the West, nuclear power plants were designed more with ground 

vehicle attacks in mind, Kyd said. Although many were designed to 

withstand a glancing blow from a small commercial jetliner, a direct 

hit at high speed by a modern jumbo jet ``could create a Chernobyl 

situation,'' said a U.S. official who declined to be identified. 



But the buildings that house nuclear reactors themselves are far 

smaller targets than the Pentagon posed, and it would be extremely 

difficult for a terrorist to mount a direct hit at an angle that 

could unleash a catastrophic chain of events, Kyd said. 



If a nuclear power plant were hit by an airliner, the reactor would 

not explode, but such a strike could destroy the plant's cooling 

systems. That could cause the nuclear fuel rods to overheat and 

produce a steam explosion that could release lethal radioactivity 

into the atmosphere. 

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



Hiranuma calls for antiterrorism security at nuclear plants



FUKUI, Japan, Sept. 16 (Kyodo) - Economy, Trade and Industry Minister 

Takeo Hiranuma said Sunday that Japan needs to tighten security at 

its nuclear reactors to defend against possible terrorist attacks 

following last Tuesday's coordinated attacks in New York and 

Washington. 



''Nuclear reactors have been designed to be perfectly safe against 

horizontal shock of earthquakes, but they are not prepared for a 

vertical descent by a missile or aircraft,'' Hiranuma told a press 

conference following a government-sponsored ''town meeting'' in Fukui 

on the Sea of Japan coast. 



''If a suspicious aircraft approaches, it would be possible for Air 

Self-Defense Force fighters to scramble it,'' he said. ''We would 

like to learn a lesson from the terrorist attacks in the United 

States.'' 



There are 51 commercial nuclear reactors in Japan. 



Three hijacked passenger airplanes crashed into the World Trade 

Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington last Tuesday, 

while a fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania. 

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



Activist Group Greenpeace Turns 30



LONDON (AP) - A creaky halibut boat sailed from Vancouver on Sept. 

15, 1971, with a 12-member crew that included a doctor, an engineer, 

a musician and a trio of journalists. 



The boat, the Phyllis Cormack, wasn't looking for fish. Inspired by 

Quaker ideals of ``bearing witness'' to injustice, the sailors headed 

to the Aleutian Islands, off the Alaska coast, to protest U.S. 

underground nuclear tests. 



The voyage was beset by storms and seasickness, but it was the start 

of something big. Greenpeace, the organization it spawned, has 

weathered the rough seas of political change and internecine fighting 

to emerge as the word's best-known environmental group. 



``People like us, people hate us - nobody is left cold by us,'' is 

the satisfied assessment of the organization's executive director, 

Gerd Leipold. 



But as Greenpeace celebrates its 30th birthday, it finds itself 

fighting for attention with the environmental groups it inspired and 

fending off criticism from former friends. 



``They're a lobby group, and exaggeration is the nature of lobby 

groups,'' said Danish academic Bjorn Lomborg, a former Greenpeace 

supporter whose book ``The Skeptical Environmentalist'' challenges 

the sacred cows of the environmental movement. ``They focus on very 

specific issues that will further their agenda.'' 



The 1971 maiden voyage made headlines and helped galvanize opposition 

to the nuclear tests, which were halted five months later. 



The group went on to challenge the French navy in the South Pacific, 

take on whalers, occupy North Sea oil platforms and grapple with seal 

hunters on the ice floes of Newfoundland. 



Along the way its brand of ``nonviolent, creative confrontation'' 

inspired thousands of direct-action protesters, influenced public 

policy and helped set the agenda for the environmental debate. 



``Greenpeace has blazed the trail in responsible, nonviolent direct 

action,'' said Penny Kemp, chair of the Green Party in England and 

Wales, who credits the group's awareness-raising with boosting 

support for Green political parties. 



Today, Amsterdam-based Greenpeace International claims supporters in 

101 countries and offices in 39. Raising 94 percent of its funds 

through individual donations - it accepts no corporate or government 

funding - it campaigns to protect endangered oceans and rainforests 

and to halt climate change, toxic pollution, genetically modified 

food and nuclear weapons. 



But growth has drawn critics, even from within. Paul Watson, a 

founder who split off to found the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, 

has called Greenpeace a ``myth-generating machine.'' Another early 

leader, Patrick Moore, now battles his old comrades as a consultant 

to the logging industry. 



Lomborg argues that groups like Greenpeace make selective use of 

scientific evidence and have exaggerated environmental damage. 



``Surveys show that people trust environmental groups much more than 

government scientists or industry. But they have an agenda, too,'' 

Lomborg said. 



The organization's worst enemy, however, may be familiarity. Its much-

copied tactics do not command the attention they once did, and 

membership is well down from a decade ago. 



The group's renown grew after French secret agents sank the 

Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior in the Pacific in 1985, killing a 

photographer. By 1991, Greenpeace claimed almost 5 million members - 

though it now says that figure probably was exaggerated by sloppy 

record-keeping. 



Supporters in Europe and North America have drifted away. Greenpeace 

claimed 2.65 million paying members in 2000, a slight rise in the 

past two years. In the United States, membership fell from 1 million 

in the early '90s to just 260,000 today. 



Leipold acknowledges ``a certain downturn at the beginning of the 

1990s,'' but says membership is expanding in Latin America and Asia 

and holding steady in most developed nations. 



``There's no doubt that in Europe it's a lot harder to get attention, 

not least because there's more competition,'' he said. ``We 

spearheaded this kind of action, and others copied us and sometimes 

do it better.'' 



He points out that income, which plummeted in the early 1990s, is 

rising again - Greenpeace International's net income was $93 million 

last year, the highest in five years. 



In part, Greenpeace can thank President Bush's plans for a missile 

shield and oil exploration in the Alaskan wilderness for its rallying 

fortunes. 



``After the Cold War, the opposition to nuclear weapons - which had 

been a key part of our program - was not as important anymore,'' 

Leipold said. ``I don't think you can say that anymore.'' 

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



1 in 5 Americans Support Nuclear Response, According to Booth 

Research Services Survey

  

ATLANTA, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A national survey of 439 people 

conducted by Booth Research Services found overwhelming support for a 

military response to the terrorists' acts in New York and Washington, 

DC.  One in five Americans support a limited nuclear strike against 

those responsible for the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.  

Nearly all Americans (96%) would support some type of military 

response. 



Most Americans support either sending in ground troops to capture 

those responsible (86%) or using limited air strikes (83%) designed 

to minimize civilian casualties.  More than half of those surveyed 

(56%) would agree with "widespread U.S. air strikes against those 

responsible" even if it meant likely civilian casualties. 



The strong support for some type of military response from the U.S. 

cuts across age, gender, education level, and region of the country. 



Tuesday's terrorist attack has also changed Americans' travel plans.  

More than 4 out of 10 people with air travel plans prior to the 

attack have in some way altered their plans. 



Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia Booth Research Services has 

serviced Fortune 500 clients as a national opinion research firm 

specializing in custom research since 1984.  The survey was conducted 

via telephone on Wednesday among a nationally representative sample 

in the USA. 



For more information please contact Dr. Ted Finlay at Booth Research 

Services, 770-992-2200. 



MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT -  Click Here   



http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X47415332  

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



Salvagers cut bow from Russia's nuclear sub Kursk

  

KIRKENES, Norway (Reuters) - An international team cut the bow off 

the sunken nuclear Russian submarine Kursk Wednesday, bringing 

salvagers a step closer to raising the wreck from the bed of the 

Barents Sea later this month. 



Salvagers plan to raise the Kursk, which sank after explosions ripped 

through its bow last August, killing all 118 men aboard, and bring it 

to dock in Roslyakovo on Russia's northern coast by Sept. 27-28. 



"The bow has now been cut off," said Lars Walder, spokesman for the 

Dutch Mammoet-Smit rescue team aboard the Giant 4 barge, docked off 

Kirkenes in northern Norway. The Giant 4 will hoist the wreck to the 

surface using 26 mammoth cranes. 



Divers have been working for more than a week in icy waters more than 

300 feet deep to slice off the bow using robot cutting gear. 



Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to raise the Kursk before 

winter storms and darkness make work too hazardous. 



Putin has said he wants to find out the cause of the disaster, 

recover the Kursk's nuclear reactor from the seabed and give crew 

members a proper burial. But experts say the mangled torpedo bay in 

the bow holds the key to the sinking. 



Some Russian navy officials have said the Kursk may have collided 

with a Western submarine, while many other experts say a torpedo 

explosion aboard the craft caused the disaster. 



Either way, Walder said the 80-foot bow had to come off in order to 

salvage the rest of the submarine. "The problem is that the bow is 

completely damaged," he said. Otherwise, in the worst case, it might 

have fallen off during the salvage. 



Walder said the most critical stage of the rescue operation would be 

to loosen the Kursk from the seabed, when rescuers drag a giant steel 

wire under the submarine. The cranes will lift the Kursk by attaching 

other wires to 26 pre-bored holes. 



Crane worker Michael Salderbeek told Reuters he was not afraid of any 

possible nuclear radiation from the Kursk's reactor, but said he was 

still apprehensive about the rescue. 



"It is a mixed feeling," he said. "There is all the dead people, but 

at the same time we are doing something for the families." 

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



EU pledges help for Ukraine's nuclear sector

  

YALTA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The European Union pledged on Tuesday to 

help Ukraine with the cost of making its nuclear power plants safe 

and solving social problems related to the closure of the Chernobyl 

plant. 



In a communique issued after a one-day summit between top European 

and Ukrainian officials, the EU said also it expected Ukraine to meet 

conditions for securing European Bank for Reconstruction and 

Development funds. 



Both sides agreed the importance of bringing safety levels in 

Ukraine's nuclear industry to Western standards. 



The former Soviet republic is building two new nuclear reactors to 

replace the Chernobyl complex, which was shut down last December but 

the government is short of funds. 



"The EU expresses its commitment to support Ukraine in resolving 

issues of nuclear safety and the social problems arising from the 

closure of Chernobyl," the communique said. 



Reactor number four exploded at Chernobyl in 1986 in the world's 

worst civil nuclear accident, spewing a toxic cloud across northern 

Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, contaminating thousands of people and 

huge tracts of land. 



At the summit, held in the Crimean resort of Yalta, Ukrainian 

officials said they also discussed possible EU support to help 

develop the key Odessa-Brody oil pipeline project, which feeds into a 

line supplying Europe from Russia. 



The summit, attended by foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Belgian 

Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, and Ukrainian President Leonid 

Kuchma, also addressed the EU's concerns about corruption and press 

freedom in Ukraine. 



The summit took place in the palace that hosted the historic 1945 

Yalta Conference where Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and U.S. and 

British leaders redrew the post-war map of Europe. 

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



Dr. Helen Caldicott to Speak At Bastyr University; Renowned Activist 

to Discuss How the Environmental Crisis Creates a Health Crisis



KENMORE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2001--Dr. Helen Caldicott, 

one of the world's most articulate advocates for citizen action to 

remedy the nuclear and environmental crises will be speaking at 

Bastyr University on Saturday, September 22. 



Under Dr. Caldicott's leadership, Physicians for Social 

Responsibility became a major voice on behalf of nuclear disarmament 

and the environment. Along with being nominated for the Nobel Peace 

Prize by Linus Pauling, Dr. Caldicott has been the recipient of 

numerous awards. She'll speak on "The Medical Implications of the 

Environmental Crisis." Author of several books including her 

autobiography, "A Desperate Passion", as well as "If You Love This 

Planet" and "Nuclear Madness," Dr. Caldicott will be available to 

sign books that evening as well. Her latest book, "The New Nuclear 

Danger," will be published by New Press in April, 2002. 



Dr. Caldicott will speak at 7 PM in the Bastyr Auditorium located on 

the 1st floor of Bastyr University at 14500 Juanita Drive, NE, 

Kenmore, WA 98028, adjacent to St. Edward Park. Directions can be 

found at www.bastyr.edu. Tickets are $10 - general public and $8 for 

students and can be purchased by contacting DeeAnn Grimes at 425/820-

8608 or drdeeski@aol.com Tickets will also be available at the door. 



About Bastyr University 



Bastyr University, in Kenmore, Washington, is an accredited 

institution and the leading university for natural health sciences in 

the United States, encompassing a multidisciplinary curriculum and a 

world-renowned research institute. Founded in 1978 by practicing 

naturopathic physicians, Bastyr University's mission is to educate 

future leaders in the natural health sciences that integrate mind, 

body, spirit, and nature. Through natural health education, research 

and clinical services, Bastyr University improves the health and well 

being of the human community." 



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

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://sandyfl.nukeworker.net

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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