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New England Governors' Conference Urges Congressional Support for Yucca Mountain Proposal
Index:
Governors' Conference Urges Support for Yucca Mountain Proposal
Iran's Kharrazi hopes for new Russian nuclear deal
Capacity at Japan's nuclear reactors above 80% in FY 2001
Keys to UK nuclear control room stolen
================================
New England Governors' Conference Urges Congressional Support for
Yucca Mountain Proposal
BOSTON, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The New England Governors'
Conference, Inc. has written New England's Congressional Delegation
urging their support of the Bush Administration's selection of Yucca
Mountain in Nevada as the repository site for the nation's high-level
radioactive waste.
In a letter to the New England Congressional delegation, the
governors of the six state New England region expressed their support
for the Yucca Mountain proposal based on several factors including
the fact that the selection of the site is the result of a detailed
technical evaluation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and their
belief that the insurmountable odds of selecting another site means
that nuclear fuel will remain in storage on rivers and seacoasts in
New England indefinitely.
The governors voiced their agreement with Secretary of Energy Abraham
that a repository is important to our homeland security and cautioned
that the "up to 30 year stockpiles" of spent nuclear fuel at New
England reactor sites are a security concern. They urged the
delegation not to allow the issue of the transportation of nuclear
fuel become a reason for not selecting Yucca Mountain. They noted
that, while safe transportation of nuclear fuel to a repository at
Yucca Mountain clearly requires the utmost care and planning, non-
commercial spent fuel (university and research spent fuel, spent fuel
from foreign sources, high level radioactive waste from US Department
of Energy sites), and nuclear weapons materials currently move
routinely through the United States. They warned that the
alternative of "indefinite storage at our New England sites is not an
acceptable policy solution."
The letter from the governors, notes that the Nuclear Waste Policy
Act allows the State of Nevada 60 days to object to Secretary
Abrahams recommendation, after which both houses of the Congress must
approve the site by a simple majority within 90 days or the 15 year
consideration of Yucca Mountain is terminated. The governors have,
therefore, urged members of Congress to "vote in a manner to avoid
amendments and procedural delays."
The New England Governors' Conference, Inc., an informal alliance
dating back to colonial times, was formally established by the
governors of the six state region in 1937 and incorporated as a non-
profit, non-partisan organization in 1981. The Conference, which
promotes New England's economic development, also provides the
governors with a forum where they can meet to discuss, and ultimately
resolve, problems and issues which are regional in nature. In 2002,
Governor Lincoln Almond of Rhode Island serves as Chairman of the
Conference. Governor Jane Swift, of Massachusetts is Vice-Chairman.
-------------------
Iran's Kharrazi hopes for new Russian nuclear deal
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said
Thursday he hoped to persuade Russia to incorporate additional
reactors into a nuclear power plant Moscow is building -- to
Washington's considerable irritation.
Moscow's nuclear cooperation with Tehran is a thorn in its otherwise
improved relations with Washington, which lists Iran among
nations belonging to an "axis of evil." Russia insists the deal is
strictly for civil purposes and within international law.
"The issue of building new reactors for the nuclear power station ...
is set to be decided at the negotiating table," Kharrazi said as he
outlined the agenda of his delayed Moscow visit in a speech at
Moscow's prestigious Diplomatic Academy.
Kharrazi, originally due to visit Moscow in February, meets President
Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin Friday.
Russia was the only country to agree to finish work on Iran's sole
nuclear power station in Bushehr, years after the original German
contractors withdrew. Tehran now wants Moscow to build a second
reactor in addition to the one initially planned.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami paid a visit last year to the
plant producing the first reactor.
Russia's atomic energy ministry said last month it had received the
government's go-ahead for extending nuclear cooperation with
Iran, but did not specify whether that meant permission to build the
second reactor.
If such a deal is struck, it is certain to upset Washington, which
has pressed its criticism of Moscow's ties with Tehran even after
the two countries spoke of a new era in relations after Russia
endorsed the U.S. anti-terror drive.
UNDER PRESSURE
Despite Moscow's talk of keeping an independent line on Tehran,
Kharrazi clearly felt U.S. pressure in February, when he was forced
to postpone his visit to Moscow at the last moment as it coincided
with a trip by a top U.S. official.
No formal explanation was given, except that work on some documents
had to be completed. Russian analysts spoke of Iran
becoming a diplomatic problem if Moscow really wanted to forge close
long-term relations with the United States.
Carving up the oil-rich Caspian Sea is another key issue on
Kharrazi's Moscow agenda, with Tehran and four ex-Soviet littoral
states at loggerheads over how to divide its riches. A deal would
pave the way for billions of dollars of investment.
Addressing the Diplomatic Academy, Kharrazi spoke of "grandiose"
Russian-Iranian projects and depicted a positive and rosy
picture of future relations between the two countries.
He named the creation of a North-South transport corridor -- due to
link an Indian port to Europe and cut delivery times for shipments
from Asia -- as another major venture to be discussed.
Earlier in the day, Kharrazi ruled out unilateral steps by Gulf
nations to cut oil supplies to the United States as a way of putting
pressure on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories.
Kharrazi was responding to an Iraqi call on its neighbors to stifle
the U.S. economy by halting oil shipments overseas.
"This is not a decision that one country alone can make for itself.
It has to be a collective decision for it to be effective. If Muslim
oil producers take such a decision, it will be an effective weapon,"
Kharrazi told reporters.
------------------
Capacity at Japan's nuclear reactors above 80% in FY 2001
TOKYO, April 4 (Kyodo) - Fifty-two nuclear reactors used commercially
in Japan ran at 80.5% capacity in fiscal 2001 which ended
March 31, exceeding 80% for the seventh year in a row, the Nuclear
and Industry Safety Agency said Thursday.
The capacity ratio was down 1.2 percentage points from the second-
highest ratio of 81.7% in fiscal 2000, but shows that operations
are generally stable, agency officials said.
The highest capacity ratio was 84.2% marked in fiscal 1998.
By reactor type, the capacity ratio was 78.6% at boiling-water
reactors, and 82.9% at pressurized-water reactors, according to the
agency which operates under the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.
The average period between safety checks at the 52 plants was 12.9
months, the longest on record. The legal maximum is 13
months.
The agency said it received 15 reports of accidents in fiscal 2001,
down from 26 in the year before. Of the 15 accidents, six led to
operations being halted at reactors. These included the Chubu
Electric Power Co.'s No.1 and No. 2 reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear
plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.
The accident which occurred last November at the No. 1 reactor of the
Hamaoka plant stemmed from a rupture in the plumbing and
was classified as ''level one'' on the International Nuclear Event
Scale. The other accidents were classified as being less serious at
''level zero,'' the agency said.
---------------
Keys to UK nuclear control room stolen
LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - The theft of keys to a control room at an
atomic research facility in southern England does not pose a
security risk, Britain's nuclear authority said on Wednesday.
The keys to the emergency control room at Harwell atomic research
centre, in Oxfordshire, were inside a case belonging to a junior
member at the centre's Emergency Response Team when it was snatched
from his car 10 days ago.
"The car was parked outside Reading train station and had a case
stolen out of it," Beth Taylor of the UK Atomic Energy Authority
told Reuters. "There was nothing sensitive in it."
She said the case also contained an emergency incident log, a
shortwave radio, a mobile phone and possibly a contact list for
senior members of staff.
News of the theft, which was revealed in British media reports,
follows a call for tougher security at atomic facilities by the
United
Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The plan, which was announced at the end of last month, urges states
to tighten protection against guerrilla attack and to recover
missing radioactive material.
Taylor said that the theft was being treated as opportunistic, but
said the locks of the control room had been changed as a precaution.
"We've no reason to believe it was anything other than an
opportunistic crime," she said. "I assume the case is now in a
rubbish bin somewhere.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com
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