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Physicians Speak Out Against Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Transports Through Utah
Index:
Physicians Speak Out Against Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Transports
Gephardt Floor Statement on Yucca Mountain
German Consumers Find Electricity Savings and Environmental Choice
Regulators Want Nuke Dome Replaced
==========================================
Physicians Speak Out Against Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Transports
Through Utah
SALT LAKE CITY, May 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Stepping up its attack on
the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, a Nobel Peace Prize-
winning organization announced a series of television ads
highlighting the dangers of transporting highly radioactive waste
through Utah.
The plan to store 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear at Yucca
Mountain, 100 miles Northwest of Las Vegas would bring the waste
through 44 states and the District of Columbia. More than 90 per cent
of that waste would pass through Utah.
"Senators Hatch and Bennett have the power to stop hauling this
dangerous waste through Utah, protecting the health and welfare of
all Utahns," said Physicians for Social Responsibility Executive
Director and CEO Robert K. Musil Ph.D., M.P.H. "Utah's citizens
deserve better than to host thousands of tons of nuclear waste headed
to Yucca Mountain on their highways and through their communities."
Trucks transporting nuclear waste will become frequent sight on I-70
and I-15 and in cities like Salt Lake, Provo and Orem. Emergency
response teams and the public health infrastructure in Utah and all
across the nuclear waste route are ill-prepared and poorly-equipped
to handle a radiological accident. This sort of event could result
from a terrorist attack or a devastating accident, quickly
overwhelming our public health services.
"A conservative Department of Energy estimate claims that only 66
truck accidents or 10 rail accidents will occur over the span of
Yucca Mountain's dangerous transportation scheme," said PSR Board
Member and Salt Lake City Pediatrician Louis Borgenicht, MD. "Even
one severe accident would cause up to 18,000 latent cancer deaths and
cost over $17 billion to clean up. This is unacceptable to the people
of Utah."
Physicians for Social Responsibility has joined a broad coalition of
public health, environmental and civic organizations to oppose the
Yucca Mountain project and its transportation scheme. To this end,
they will be broadcasting television spots throughout the month of
May. The United States Senate will vote in July on whether to uphold
Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn's veto of the waste dump. Most view this
vote as the final referendum on the Yucca Mountain project. The ads
urge Senators Robert Bennett and Orrin Hatch to support Guinn's veto.
"The people of Utah must urge their Senators to action," said PSR
Board Member and Salt Lake City physician Clara Michaels, MD. "By
pursuing this reckless course of action, President Bush and Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham are putting the interests of the nuclear
industry above the health of millions of Utahns and tens of millions
of Americans."
----------------
Gephardt Floor Statement on Yucca Mountain
WASHINGTON, May 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a transcript of
a statement by House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt:
Gephardt Floor Statement on Yucca Mountain
(As Delivered)
"Mr. Speaker: I rise to urge a vote against the Yucca Mountain
approval resolution. I hope this resolution will be turned down. I
commend the courageous people fighting against it, led by
Representative Berkley and Dario Herrera. I'm sorry that the Bush
administration went back on its word, approving the untested,
dangerous measure.
"Whether or not to allow storage and transportation of waste is a
decision with important consequences for people in my district and
across America. It is a fact that scientists are still debating
whether the Yucca Mountain is safe.
"The General Accounting Office a few months ago said that storing
waste at Yucca could infect water supplies and release deadly toxins
into the surrounding air. It cited 293 scientific questions for
which the federal government has no answers. And even if we begin
shipping this waste today, we will still have nuclear waste stored
all over this country decades from now.
"But my biggest concern is that it makes no sense to have all this
material traveling across the country by truck and rail.
"You've seen just in the last month a number of tragic rail
accidents. Even the Energy Department says that inevitably, there
will be derailments of trains heading to Yucca Mountain. I had a
train derailment in my district a year ago in Webster Groves,
Missouri, where a whole train turned over. Luckily, it was only
coal, but it was coal that was spilled a few feet from homes and
schools in Webster Groves, Missouri. And the people in Webster
Groves in the days since then have said to me, what if it had been
not coal but nuclear waste?
"We have no plan. We have no resources. We have no training for
dealing with such a derailment in St. Louis. We have only one
hospital bed in the entire metropolitan area to treat severe
radiation exposure.
"This is not a question about isolating the risk -- Yucca Mountain in
reality simply spreads it around.
"I know there is no perfect solution. But we can begin now to invest
in better ways to store waste at the sites we currently use.
Authorities in Pennsylvania have an approach that puts an emphasis on
technology and innovation -- an approach that avoids having to cart
and haul this waste all the way across the United States. It puts
the waste in reinforced facilities. It benefits people in
Pennsylvania and it benefits all Americans.
"I simply think in conclusion that the science and logic is on the
side of leaving this hazardous material on-site until we can find a
better solution. I hope Yucca Mountain will be rejected."
---------------
German Consumers Find Electricity Savings and Environmental Choice at
their Post Office
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2002--What can you get at a local
post office? For German consumers, 5,000 postal outlets provide a
convenient place where they can order their electricity, even
choosing between "green" or conventional nuclear and fossil fuel
power.
Over 50,000 consumers have signed electricity supply contracts at
their postal outlets in the first six months of a program offered by
Deutsche Post World Net, operator of Germany's postal system.
So far, roughly 15,000 consumers - almost one in three signing
contracts under the program - are opting for "green" power. Green
producers market advantages such as how switching to green power can
reduce CO2 emissions annually by two tons per household, or the
equivalent of driving a car 6,200 miles.
Moreover, the two suppliers of "green" electricity marketing through
Deutsche Post outlets are price competitive with electricity produced
from fossil or nuclear energy.
The German electricity market was deregulated as part of a
continental liberalization in early 1998. Last fall, five electricity
supply companies partnered with Deutsche Post on the marketing
program at postal outlets. Three are suppliers of conventional
nuclear or oil- or coal-fired power; two are suppliers of so-called
"green" power.
One of the green brokers, Lichtblick of Hamburg, sells power from
wind, solar, and hydro sources as well from biomass fuels and
highly energy efficient, natural gas-fired co-generation that
produces electricity and steam the latter sold for industrial use.
Unit(e) of
Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, sells 100 percent zero greenhouse
emission electricity from solar sources, wind farms and water
based generation.
Deutsche Post offers consumers two alternatives to their local
electric utility: one producer of conventional power, and one green
supplier, both from the list of five partner utilities. (Consumers
have more choices on the open market, but the one-stop shopping
aspect of the Deutsche Post program simplifies the process.)
Pricing from Deutsche Post's partners tends to be lower than the
average regional pricing of local utilities, and there is no
requirement to sign long-term contracts. For Deutsche Post, the
program is another innovative, value-added service for customers
that helps maintain the viability of local postal outlets across the
network.
We move the world. Deutsche Post World Net is one of the largest
logistics companies in the world, with 300,000 employees
worldwide, including over 16,000 in North America, and revenues of
more than $30 billion in 2001. The group includes Deutsche
Post, DHL Worldwide Express, Danzas and Postbank and provides
international mail, parcel, express and logistics services.
Deutsche Post World Net is a member of the DAX 30, making it one of
the 30 top stocks in Germany.
----------------
Regulators Want Nuke Dome Replaced
OAK HARBOR, Ohio (AP) - Federal regulators say they favor replacement
rather than repair of the six-inch-thick steel dome that
was eaten nearly all the way through by acid at a nuclear plant.
The Davis-Besse plant, owned by FirstEnergy Corp., has been shut down
for refueling since February. During that time, inspectors
found that boric acid had eaten a hole in the thick cap that covers
the reactor vessel.
The damage has raised new questions about aging nuclear plants and
whether they are being inspected closely enough.
Buying a new reactor head would probably keep the plant near Toledo
closed longer and cost more money than if the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission approved FirstEnergy's plan to fix the damage.
FirstEnergy wants to remove all of the corrosion by cutting out a
hole in the reactor head and welding a chunk of stainless steel into
it.
William Bateman, chief of the NRC's materials engineering research
section, said FirstEnergy would have a ``clearer path to success'' if
it gave up the idea of trying to repair the reactor head.
On the Net:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov
FirstEnergy: http://www.firstenergycorp.com
-------------------------------------------------
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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