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IAEA seeks deadly nuclear devices in Georgia
Index:
IAEA seeks deadly nuclear devices in Georgia
IAEA says Iraq cooperated with nuclear inspection
AREVA Group to Purchase Duke Engineering & Services
Al-Qaida Had Crude Nuclear Diagrams
US, Kazakhstan to turn uranium into power fuel
Task Force Looks at Irradiated Mail
US post reassures federal workers on treated mail
====================================
IAEA seeks deadly nuclear devices in Georgia
VIENNA, Austria (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said
Thursday it had sent a team of experts to help recover two deadly nuclear devices
found in Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia and transport them to safety.
Agency experts are training a local team in Tblisi on how to recover the devices,
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told Reuters. The devices, apparently once
used in a generator, caused severe injuries to the three men who found them.
"These things are so highly radioactive that you can't pick them up," IAEA
spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told Reuters. "You can't even get near them. The
problem is that the protective shielding was removed, and we don't know why."
Abkhazia, which declared independence from Georgia in 1991, has remained outside
the Georgian government's control and Georgian guerrillas regularly clash with the
Abkhazian military.
Science magazine reported in its Friday edition that three men gathering wood in
early December had found the devices and carried them back to their camp for
warmth.
The devices contained highly radioactive strontium-90, Fleming said. "We have no
idea how they got there or why."
She said the three men, unaware that they had been overexposed to a deadly
radioactive source, suffered nausea and began vomiting shortly after the initial
exposure. Within a week, severe radiation burns appeared on their backs.
Asked if the three might die, Fleming said, "One of them is in very serious condition."
She said the agency's main aim for the recovery mission was to prevent any further
exposure to the deadly devices. "And after September 11, we want to be extra
careful these things don't get into the wrong hands."
Government officials and scientists fear that terrorists might get hold of nuclear
material to make a so-called dirty bomb that could spread toxic radiation when
exploded.
In early January, the IAEA sent a medical team to Georgia trained in handling
radiation sickness and another team to help recover the devices and transport them
to a safe place.
"But the recovery operation was postponed because the weather was so severe,"
said Fleming. She said this was a blessing in disguise, as only the three men who
found the sources have been exposed.
The latest group of IAEA experts arrived Sunday and the Georgian experts trained
by the agency will probably attempt to recover the devices Saturday.
Fleming said nuclear devices have been found in Georgia before. A fisherman found
one in a riverbed in 1998 that also contained large amounts of strontium-90.
----------------
IAEA says Iraq cooperated with nuclear inspection
AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) - The head of a team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog
IAEA said Thursday Baghdad had cooperated fully with its routine annual inspection
in Iraq.
The IAEA mission was completed Wednesday, one day after President Bush
accused Baghdad of developing weapons of mass destruction.
The International Atomic Energy Agency team arrived in Jordan from Baghdad where
it had carried out the five-day mission in which it inspected several undisclosed sites.
Anrzey Pietruzewski, head of the team, told reporters in the Jordanian capital of
Amman that the mission went smoothly.
"During our inspection, representatives from the Iraqi Atomic Energy commission
were present for the whole time and all help that is necessary to perform the
inspections was provided by Iraqi authorities," he said.
Pietruzewski said a statement about the results of the inspection would be made to
the Iraqi authorities.
The inspection by the Vienna-based IAEA, a U.N. agency that monitors the peaceful
use of nuclear power worldwide, was intended to guard against any diversion of
nuclear material to a military program.
It was not connected to more intrusive U.N. inspections in Iraq conducted prior to
1998 under a Security Council resolution ordering Baghdad to eliminate all its
weapons of mass destruction following its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Those U.N. weapons inspectors left Iraq in 1998 just before a U.S.-British bombing
blitz and Iraq has refused to allow them back since.
Bush vowed Tuesday to prevent "terrorists and regimes who seek chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world." He
singled out Iraq, Iran and North Korea by name.
Iraq dismissed Bush's comments as "stupid and improper," saying the U.S. leader
was laying the groundwork for another U.S. assault on Iraq, whose troops were
driven from Kuwait in 1991 by a U.S.-led coalition.
----------------
AREVA Group to Purchase Duke Engineering & Services
LYNCHBURG, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2002--Framatome ANP, Inc., an
AREVA and Siemens company, has signed an agreement to purchase Duke
Engineering & Services Inc. (DE&S), a subsidiary of Duke Energy.
DE&S, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a leading engineering and technical
services firm with revenues last year of more than $280 million.
The purchase will include three DE&S business groups - Nuclear, Federal and
Energy & Environmental. The Nuclear Group focuses on nuclear engineering, plant
upgrades, instrumentation and control and spent fuel storage engineering. The
Federal Group provides engineering and site management for several Department of
Energy nuclear sites. The Energy and Environmental Group serves the hydro, gas
transmission and fossil energy markets.
Framatome ANP, Inc. President and CEO Tom Christopher said the acquisition of
the global engineering company emphasizes Framatome ANP, Inc.'s commitment to
the future of nuclear energy and to expanding its energy services businesses.
"The synergy between Framatome ANP, Inc. and DE&S will be excellent because of
DE&S' proficiencies and our strategic goals in the energy industry," said Christopher.
"As the world leader in nuclear engineering, nuclear fuel and nuclear services, this
addition enables us to significantly broaden our business portfolio in the U.S."
Christopher indicated that he is very pleased to add Charlotte, N.C. to corporate
locations in Richland, Wash., Atlanta, Ga. and Lynchburg, Va.
"Charlotte is acknowledged as a leading banking, financial and business center in the
eastern U.S.," he said. "We are proud to be growing our engineering services
businesses in this thriving commerce center."
The sale is expected to close in the second quarter, 2002.
The incorporation of DE&S into Framatome ANP, Inc. will add about 1,250
employees to the 2,200 already employed by Framatome ANP, Inc. in the U.S.
Two current components of DE&S are not part of the sale. Duke Energy will establish
Duke Energy - Energy Delivery Services, formed by the power delivery services
component of DE&S. Duke Energy - Energy Delivery Services will continue to supply
a full range of power delivery solutions to its customers. Leadership of the U.S.
Department of Energy Mixed Oxide Fuel (MOX) project will also remain with Duke
Energy.
Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power), an AREVA and Siemens company, is
the world's premier nuclear supplier. Framatome ANP's focus includes
comprehensive engineering, instrumentation and control, nuclear services, heavy
component manufacture, modernization, fuel assemblies for many reactor designs,
including those supplied by other vendors, and the development and construction of
nuclear power plants and research reactors.
Framatome ANP is headquartered in Paris with principal subsidiaries in the U.S. and
Germany. In the company, AREVA has a 66% shares and Siemens 34%.
Framatome ANP has a total workforce of approximately 13,000 worldwide and posts
annual revenues totaling about $2.3 billion.
The AREVA Group, which combines the forces of Cogema, Framatome ANP and
Framatome Connectors International, has sales exceeding $8.6 billion and more than
50,000 employees. The AREVA Group is the world leader in nuclear power and the
second largest group worldwide in connectors. The total revenue from its North
American companies should now exceed $1.5 billion.
For further information, visit: http://www.framatome-anp.com
------------------
Al-Qaida Had Crude Nuclear Diagrams
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. officials uncovered rudimentary diagrams of nuclear
weapons in a suspected al-Qaida safehouse in Kabul, a U.S. intelligence report says.
The discovery provides further evidence of al-Qaida's efforts to acquire such
weapons to use in terrorist attacks. The unclassified report, submitted by CIA
Director George Tenet to Congress and released Wednesday, says that the
``diagrams, while crude, describe essential components - uranium and high
explosives - common to nuclear weapons.''
The report says terrorists aren't believed to have a functional weapon, however.
Other evidence obtained in Afghanistan shows that al-Qaida operatives have fallen
for a number of scams in their attempts to acquire nuclear weapons and other
weapons of mass destruction, a senior government analyst said.
``That's good news for us,'' said Gary Richter, a terrorism expert with the Energy
Department's Sandia National Laboratories. ``It shows they really don't know what
they are doing. If they knew to turn away these scam artists, it would be frightening.''
Richter said he has examined several items recovered from al-Qaida caches in
Afghanistan, all of which were believed to be tied to the terrorist group's attempts to
develop or buy weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear devices. From them,
Richter concluded that al-Qaida operatives tried to buy such weapons several times,
paying cash for items that turned out to be worthless.
``They'll buy junk,'' he said, adding that they appear to be very naive regarding
nuclear weapons.
Richter declined to describe the items he has examined, but he said they showed an
encouraging lack of technical sophistication in the group. He did not know how much
money al-Qaida had spent on trying to buy these weapons.
``We're not talking about dullards. But their forte, their whole M.O., tends to be more
brute force than high-tech,'' he said. ``Al-Qaida is not a techie kind of organization,
and they've fallen flat on their faces in some areas.''
He also declined to say from whom al-Qaida tried to purchase the weapons. U.S.
troops and intelligence officers searching through abandoned caves, safe houses
and camps belonging to the group have discovered some canisters and chemistry
apparatus, some of which had Russian markings.
Richter echoed statements from U.S. defense and intelligence officials that al-Qaida
has developed a crude ability to use industrial chemicals as weapons - like those
used on the battlefields in the early part of World War I.
But he said the terrorist group lacks the sophistication to deliver these weapons in a
way that would kill mass numbers of people. Other officials have said al-Qaida could
probably deploy chlorine, phosgene and some biological toxins as weapons.
Much of the terrorists' interest centers on chemical weapons, such as cyanide salts,
that could be used to contaminate food and water supplies and assassinate
individuals, says the Tenet report.
Other evidence uncovered in Afghanistan includes diagrams of American nuclear
power plants, showing al-Qaida's interest in striking these targets, but it's unclear
how far along those plans were, a defense official said.
Officials were unaware of finds noting specific times or operatives who would
conduct a particular attack. Instead, the documents seem to be part of al-Qaida's
research, and they provide insight to the terrorist group's thought process in selecting
and planning attacks, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A photograph of the Space Needle in Seattle was among documents discovered in a
computer system in Afghanistan, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said
Wednesday.
Also found were plans to attack the Los Angeles International Airport, NBC News
reported Wednesday, citing U.S. officials. An earlier plot to bomb the airport was
foiled two years ago when the alleged terrorist was arrested crossing the border from
Canada into the United States.
FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin in Los Angeles said he had not seen the NBC
report and could not immediately comment.
NBC also reported that information was found in Afghanistan about the Grand
Coulee Dam in central Washington state. The Bureau of Reclamation's Craig
Sprankle, a spokesman for the Grand Coulee Dam, said he would not discuss any
recent warnings on the massive Columbia River structure.
A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said soldiers had found
a lot of information at al-Qaida sites in Afghanistan that refers to landmarks, buildings
and the like both in the United States and other countries.
The official cautioned, however, that just because al-Qaida had a picture or diagram
of a specific site does not necessarily mean that site was a planned target for a
terrorist attack.
-----------------
US, Kazakhstan to turn uranium into power fuel
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - The United States and Kazakhstan announced a
joint venture on Wednesday to process uranium into fuel for commercial nuclear
reactors and hopefully keep former Soviet atomic scientists and engineers from
being hired by rogue nations.
The project calls for a U.S.-based company to ship uranium concentrates to a former
Soviet nuclear weapons plant in Kazakhstan, which will use a unique process to
extract low-enriched uranium that can be used to make nuclear fuel rods for power
plants.
"The project is expected to create hundreds of jobs in Kazakhstan for those with
critical skills in handling nuclear material, become a reliable source for U.S. fuel
production and will play an important new part in our global nonproliferation efforts,"
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told a news conference announcing the
deal.
Global Nuclear Fuel, LLC (GNF), a joint venture of General Electric Co. <GE.N>,
Hitachi Ltd <6501.T> and Toshiba Corp <6502.T>, plan to invest $3 million in the
project over the next three years. The Energy Department will kick in an additional
$1.2 million.
GNF will ship the uranium concentrates -- byproducts of its nuclear fuel
manufacturing process -- to the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen, Kazakhstan.
The plant, which served as a major hub of the Soviet nuclear weapons program
during the Cold War, will then use a patented solvent extraction process to recover
low-enriched uranium from the concentrates.
The processed uranium will then be shipped back to the Wilmington, North Carolina-
based company, which will use it to manufacture nuclear reactor fuel rods.
Kazakhstan is a vast oil-rich territory the size of Western Europe with a population of
just 15 million. The most economically developed of the former Soviet Central Asian
republics, Kazakhstan became independent in 1991.
Kazakhstan inherited the world's fourth-largest nuclear weapons arsenal after the
collapse of the Soviet Union, but terminated its nuclear weapons program and joined
the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear state. The country has removed all
nuclear weapons from its territory.
-------------------
Task Force Looks at Irradiated Mail
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal task force is investigating reports of illness and
allergic reactions among people handling irradiated mail.
About 350,000 pieces of mail addressed to federal offices are being irradiated daily
in an effort to thwart any further anthrax-by-mail attacks.
There have been complaints from a half-dozen Senate offices that staffers working
with mail have suffered eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, a burning
sensation on hands and face, dizziness and nausea.
In one incident, two Commerce Department workers went to a hospital complaining
of nausea, breathing problems and throat irritation after they opened a package and
fumes escaped.
The new task force, which held its first meeting this week, includes representatives
from the Postal Service, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,
Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Office of the Attending Physician, Senate Sergeant at Arms and the Chief
Administrative Office of the House.
Currently, the only mail being irradiated is that addressed to federal offices in
Washington. That includes ZIP codes 20200 to 20599.
Some mail destined for the general public was irradiated previously but that is not
now being done, postal officials said.
Long-term plans call for more widespread radiation of mail or installation of
equipment to detect any biological hazards. But while more radiation machines are
being built they have not yet been delivered.
The irradiation process does not make the mail radioactive.
However, Thomas Day, postal vice president for engineering, said the process can
cause paper to give off carbon monoxide and ozone. In addition, he said, the plastic
used to wrap mail during the process may produce volatile compounds.
Carbon monoxide can bind with hemoglobin in the blood, reducing its ability to carry
oxygen throughout the body, said Dr. Milan J. Hazucha, a pulmonary expert at the
University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
But, he said, to cause illness the gas has to be breathed in high concentrations for a
long period of time. The small amount that could be produced from a few envelopes
should not be dangerous, he said.
Exposure to high concentrations of ozone over several hours can produce throat
irritation and cough, he said.
A few people may be hypersensitive to these gases and may have a reaction to
smaller amounts, Hazucha added.
Day said that some postal workers complained of headache when working for long
periods opening packages of mail that had been returned from irradiation treatment.
That was cured, he said, by installing ventilation hoods, fans and filters to draw any
fumes away from the workers.
Currently, Day said, irradiated mail is ventilated for at least 24 hours to eliminate any
fumes and gases before it is delivered.
The volatile compounds that are released when plastic is irradiated smell bad, and
that smell can make people feel ill, Dr. Ivan Walks, Washington's public health
director, said.
People have different levels of reaction to it, he said. Walks urged the post office to
analyze these gases to determine exactly what they contain and provide a clear
explanation to people who handle mail.
Day said that the post office is looking into eliminating the plastic wrapping and
simply placing the mail in cardboard containers for irradiation.
Walks said the post office ``should give (mailroom workers) instructions on how to
open it. ``It's not that it's unsafe, but there's a best practice for how to handle this
new kind of mail,'' he said.
The irradiation process also dries out paper, increasing the amount of dust and
resulting in the paper drawing moisture from the skin of people handling the mail,
Postal Senior Vice President Deborah K. Wilhite said. She urged that people who
experience dry skin use hand creams.
Wilhite added that while the source of the illnesses remains unknown, Washington
has had unusually warm weather, which can lead to people developing allergies as
plants begin to release pollen early.
She said the case at the Commerce Department turned out to be an asthma attack
that occurred when a staffer who had been on vacation returned to find her mail in a
closed box which released a burst of dust when opened.
----------------
US post reassures federal workers on treated mail
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service Wednesday sought to reassure
government workers that procedures used since the anthrax scare to sanitize their
mail were not themselves a health hazard despite reports of burning eyes, sneezing
and itching among those handling irradiated letters.
The service's Senior Vice President for Government Relations Deborah Willhite and
Vice President for Engineering Thomas Day told reporters the electron-bombarded
mail was dryer, smellier and prone to produce more paper dust.
"We're saying at this time we've found no medical or scientific link to that problem
other than perhaps the extra paper dust," Willhite said.
The postal service has shipped all mail addressed to federal agencies in the U.S.
capital to irradiation facilities in Lima, Ohio, and Bridgeport, New Jersey, since late
October, after workers and other people were exposed to anthrax sent through the
mail.
Five people died of anthrax as a result of those incidents, including two postal
employees who worked at the Brentwood facility which processes mail for the federal
government.
But the irradiation process, by which batches of some 600 letters at a time are
sprayed with streams of electrons at doses high enough to kill any hardy anthrax
spores lurking within, has sparked a new wave of concerns.
Day said the paper produced carbon monoxide and ozone when subjected to the
process -- a high intensity version of that used by both food processors and to
decontaminate medical equipment. The plastic bags used to hold the mail released
volatile organic compounds, or hydrocarbons, he said.
Willhite said postal workers in charge of opening the plastic bags of mail at first
complained of headaches, apparently due to the release of the noxious fumes.
Employees now open the bags in ventilation tents equipped with exhaust fans to
suck out the fumes and have not reported any more ill effects. The service was
considering using cardboard boxes and was also experimenting with lower doses of
radiation to mitigate the effects, officials said.
Willhite said irradiated mail also caused a scare at the Commerce Department earlier
this month when an asthmatic employee opened a container full of correspondence.
Dust from the treated mail and its peculiar odor apparently helped trigger an asthma
attack, which in turn touched off fears that the letters contained something more
sinister, Willhite said.
She said federal workers complaining about burning eyes, itchy dry skin and
sneezing after handling irradiated mail could probably ease their problems with
remedies as simple as gloves or moisturizing cream.
Other problems will take longer to work out, however. Electronics trade groups say
the irradiation irreparably zaps compact flash memory cards used to store data on
many digital cameras and handheld computers, making them inoperable.
They charge pharmaceuticals, contact lenses, biological samples and photographic
film are also damaged. Officials at the Smithsonian Institution archives have already
run up against the problem, Willhite said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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://sandy-travels.com
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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