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Iran says allowing inspections of nuclear plant
Index:
Iran says allowing inspections of nuclear plant
Clamp on drills seen raising risk at U.S. reactors
39 radiation exposure accidents occurred in 44 yrs
Swedish minister unsure of Barseback closure date
METI concerned over Hamaoka water leak impact on nuke policy
Feds Say S.C. Can't Stop Plutonium
Finnish Greens opt to quit govt after nuclear vote
===============================
Iran says allowing inspections of nuclear plant
LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday that international
inspectors would monitor the construction of a Russian-designed
nuclear power plant, which the United States believes is the biggest
nuclear proliferation threat worldwide.
The head of Iran's parliamentary energy commission Hossein Aferideh
said the International Atomic Energy Agency planned several visits
over the course of the year to the Bushehr plant.
"We are going to construct a power plant for the production of
electricity under direct observation of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) so this is peaceful application of nuclear
energy," he told reporters at a conference in London.
"We are members of the International Atomic Energy Agency so we are
following the rules of the IAEA and investigators from the agency are
visiting routinely Iran."
The issue was the main sticking point during an otherwise harmonious
summit last week between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Bush has labelled Iran part of an "axis of evil," accusing Tehran of
seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction and sponsoring
terrorism.
Aferideh said the plant was scheduled to come on line at the end of
next year or early in 2004 to help satisfy growing Iranian
electricity demand.
"So far the project is going very well. We have more than 1,000
Russian experts there," he told reporters.
Bush said last week on a European trip that Russia should be
concerned about nuclear proliferation to Iran, which could one day
view Moscow as an enemy.
A senior Bush official on the same trip said Iran's nuclear programme
was the "single-most important proliferation threat there is."
The IAEA, an arm of the United Nations, said it was already advising
on safe construction of the plant, though full inspections under a
"safeguards agreement" dating from 1974 would not begin until nuclear
material was delivered.
"The IAEA has visited the site, but regular IAEA inspections will
begin with the initial receipt of nuclear material at the facility,"
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told Reuters. "That should call for
about four to six inspections per year."
The IAEA safeguards agreement requires that a country declare all
civilian nuclear material and permit regular inspections by the
agency.
Each visit from the the Vienna-based IAEA would consist of several
inspectors and last a couple of weeks, Aferideh said. The site would
be visited monthly, he added.
"This is an Iranian right to produce electricity by nuclear power and
nothing to do with non-peaceful application," Aferideh said.
His comments followed a statement from Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal
Kharrazi on Sunday in which he told the official Iranian news agency
that the construction of the reactor was under the IAEA's
supervision.
The IAEA's Fleming said Iran had not signed on to the so-called
additional protocol which permits far more invasive inspections aimed
at rooting out secret nuclear weapons programmes, though the agency
was urging Iran to adopt it.
"If they do not sign up for this, we still know quite a bit. But we
do not have the same access as we would with this additional
protocol," she said.
------------------
Clamp on drills seen raising risk at U.S. reactors
SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 (Reuters) - When nuclear regulators put U.S.
atomic reactors on high alert after the Sept. 11 attacks, they also
froze training drills for the plant's security forces, a move critics
warn weakens their defense.
Training exercises to simulate "force-on-force" attacks to test
security at the plants were postponed while the federal Nuclear
Regulatory Commission launched a "top-to-bottom" review of overall
security at the nation's 103 commercial reactors.
The security drills, in which a handful of armed commandos assisted
by an "insider" launch a mock attack on each plant once every eight
years, may be reinstated but the timing is uncertain, said Breck
Henderson, a commission spokesman.
The commission's continuing security review may turn up a new "threat
basis" for the power plants that could change the nature of exercises
to test the plants, Henderson said.
"We have not decided when we will do (assault) exercises again. We
are proceeding very carefully," he added.
But critics of the commission said the nuclear industry is moving too
slowly and should beef up security training now that its reactor
fleet, which generates 20 percent of the nation's electricity, is on
the highest alert.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is still living in a pre-Sept. 11
world," said Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey, senior Democrat on the
House Energy and Commerce Committee and a frequent critic of the
agency.
FACING THREAT
"They have not permanently upgraded the security regulations at
nuclear reactors to ensure that they are protected against the level
of threat we now know we face," Markey told Reuters.
The Sept. 11 attacks by hijacked airliners raised the specter of a
big plane smashing into the hardened buildings housing atomic
reactors and triggering the release of poisonous radioactive
material.
That concern has widened, however, to include more vulnerable plant
targets like water intake systems, pools where the used radioactive
fuel is stored, and adjacent sites for transformers and other
equipment.
Responding to questions by Markey about security at atomic plants,
the agency said it suspended the exercises because "the current
elevated threat environment would pose significant safety hazards to
the (plants') employees and negatively impact security
effectiveness."
Security manpower is a big problem, said Doug Walters, senior project
manager at the Washington-based Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade
group for nuclear utilities.
"We support doing exercises but you need to involve a lot of people.
A high-level alert is not the right time," Walters said, adding that
plants have hired more security workers but about 29 percent of the
employees are working overtime.
CHANGING TESTS
The industry also is working to make a significant change in the way
it tests security forces.
The nuclear regulators would like to drop their mock attacks program
in favor of a new utility-run effort called "safeguards performance
assessment," a training scheme with assault drills every three years.
The program would shift the regulatory agency's role from manager to
observer, although the commission would have to approve rules for the
new system and evaluate results from the exercises.
Twenty nuclear plants had agreed to join pilot tests of the new
training program but the Sept. 11 attacks also put this on hold and
no start date has been set, Walters said.
However, Markey said the changes have been proposed because the
commission and utilities "are simply embarrassed" by poor results
from past attack exercises.
Nuclear utilities also run separate exercises to test training and
response to equipment breakdowns that may set off a radioactive
release.
These drills, which are "graded" every two years by the commission,
to date have not included mock attacks.
In the absence of regular exercises, nuclear security forces are
keeping up their regular training and marksmanship, and utilities are
meeting more often with military officials and local public safety
agencies, utilities said.
"The emergency planning and communications work is being revamped,"
said Jeff Lewis, spokesman for PG&E Corp.'s <PCG.N> Diablo Canyon
nuclear station in California, one of the biggest power plants on the
West Coast.
Diablo Canyon will run an equipment exercise in October, but Lewis
said he would not be surprised if "a terrorist incident" is part of
the scenario.
-------------------
39 radiation exposure accidents occurred in 44 yrs
TOKYO, May 27 (Kyodo) - At least 201 accidents or incidents occurred
between 1958 and 2001 involving radioactive materials, 39 of which
involved exposures to radiation, the Nuclear Safety Commission of
Japan said Monday.
Many of the 39 radiation exposure accidents took place in the 1980s
or before. But the 1999 accident at a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant
in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, was the only case in
which two workers died directly from radiation exposure, according to
the commission's report.
Among the 201, 63 cases were losses or thefts of radioactive
materials. There were also 44 cases of radiation leakage that did not
affect human beings, the report said.
------------------
Swedish minister unsure of Barseback closure date
STOCKHOLM, May 27 (Reuters) - Sweden's energy minister said on Monday
he will keep Sweden's promise to close the Barseback 2 nuclear
reactor as part of the country's nuclear phase-out, but could not
give a firm deadline.
"We reckon that we will close Barseback 2 sometime during 2003,"
Industry and Energy Minister Bjorn Rosengren told Reuters. "But I
cannot promise anything."
He said that the closure depended on a combination of new generation
capacity and a drop in consumption to prevent the shut down from
causing difficulties with the electricity supply.
Analysts told Reuters last week that Sweden's ruling Social Democrats
are trying to avoid a debate on the phasing-out of nuclear energy
ahead of the September election, as it would likely cost them votes.
Industry players say taking Barseback 2 offline in 2003 is unlikely.
The shut down of Barseback 2 is part of Sweden's decision in a 1980
referendum to replace all its nuclear energy, which accounts for
about half of Sweden's total production of 150 terawatt hours, with
renewables. Barseback 1 closed in 1999.
But the plan has caused considerable political headaches due to a
lack of realistic alternatives. Sweden decided in 1997 to scrap a
2010 deadline for the nuclear phase-out and has now no fixed
timetable apart from Barseback.
Rosengren said he was certain that Sweden would eventually replace
nuclear generation, but declined to offer any timeframe.
He said it would be decided in consultation with the energy industry,
matching the model as Germany's recent decision to close all nuclear
power stations by 2025. "All I can say is that this will take a long
time," he said.
Rosengren added that switching to natural gas as a main source of
power was out of the question as it would increase Swedish emissions
of carbon dioxide (CO2), widely blamed for causing global warming.
That could leave only costly alternatives such as wind, solar and
bioenergy.
DOUBTS FINNS' NEW N-PLANT
Sweden's Nordic neighbour Finland made a landmark decision last week
to build a fifth nuclear reactor to meet rising energy demand and
free the country from its dependence on Russian gas.
But Rosengren said it could be a political signal to Russia and the
plant might never be built.
"(Finland) is under heavy pressure when it comes to both oil and gas,
so this might be a way to signal to the Russians that it has other
alternatives," he said. "I do not think one should be absolutely sure
that the (reactor) will be realised."
Sweden has come under fire from Denmark due to delays to the closure
of Barseback 2, which is just 10 kms (6.214 miles) away from
Copenhagen.
Rosengren shrugged off the criticism and noted that Denmark and
Norway were exporters of natural gas.
"This energy debate is not conducted according to facts - there is an
awful lot of politics and mean scheming," he said. "The Danes and the
Norwegians want to push their natural gas on us."
------------------
METI concerned over Hamaoka water leak impact on nuke policy
TOKYO, May 27 (Kyodo) - The government is concerned about adverse
effects of the radioactive water leak Saturday at the
Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, a day after its
suspension for checks ended, a top industry ministry official
said Monday.
''It is particularly regrettable that the accident damaged trust of
the people, especially of local residents,'' Katsusada Hirose, vice
minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), said
at a press conference.
''On this respect, we are worried about the impact on the entire
issue of nuclear power...it has to be advanced on the basis of trust
and cooperation with everyone,'' the top ministry bureaucrat said.
Chubu Electric Power Co. said on Saturday it has shut down a nuclear
reactor at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station following the
discovery of a radioactive water leak early in the day, just one day
after the plant resumed operations Friday.
The power station in the town of Hamaoka, located roughly 210
kilometers southwest of Tokyo, reported a pipe rupture and a water
leak at its No. 1 reactor in November last year and shut it down.
The power company also shut down the No. 2 reactor, which is
similarly structured, at that time for voluntary inspections. The
reactor resumed operations Friday after a six-month break, and was
supposed to start generating power Saturday.
The November accident fueled widespread distrust of the Japanese
people over nuclear power. Such sentiment has prevented power
companies from introducing a plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel as
planned and the government from advancing its nuclear fuel
cycle policy.
----------------------
Feds Say S.C. Can't Stop Plutonium
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Attorneys for the U.S. Energy Department say
South Carolina's threats to block federal plutonium
shipments to the agency's Savannah River Site facility are
unconstitutional.
In response to a lawsuit filed by Gov. Jim Hodges, the attorneys
argued in court papers released Friday that the governor's plan to
use a blockade to keep the nuclear material out of his state would
violate the federal government's right to regulate interstate
commerce.
Courtney Owings, a spokeswoman for Hodges, said the governor's
attorneys were still looking over the filing and had no immediate
response.
In his motion seeking a temporary restraining order against the
plutonium shipments, Hodges has argued to U.S. District Judge
Cameron Currie that the Energy Department has violated environmental
and due-process laws.
Currie is scheduled to hear arguments June 13, two days before the
Energy Department could begin making the shipments of
weapons-grade surplus plutonium from the former Rocky Flats nuclear
weapons plant in Colorado.
The plutonium is to be shipped to the Savannah River Site, converted
and then shipped out of state.
Hodges has sued to stop the shipments until the Energy Department and
the state reach an agreement about how the plutonium will
be processed and when it will leave the state.
Hodges also questioned the department's safe-transport capabilities.
Last week, he asked Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to
put any movement plans on hold.
The Energy Department contends that the shipments to South Carolina
are essential to meeting its goal of cleaning up and closing
the Rocky Flats site by 2006.
---------------------
Finnish Greens opt to quit govt after nuclear vote
HELSINKI, May 26 (Reuters) - Finland's Green Party said on Sunday it
would leave the country's coalition government after
parliament voted to proceed with controversial plans to build the
country's fifth nuclear reactor.
The departure, which was expected following Friday's vote, will not
threaten the ruling coalition's majority, which will fall to 130
seats
in the 200-member house with the loss of the 11 Green
parliamentarians.
"The meeting decided we will leave the government and continue our
politics from the opposition," Member of Parliament Anne
Sinnemaki told Reuters following the two-day Green party meeting in
the town of Jyvaskyla.
Delegates voted 38-8 to go into opposition, party officials said. The
decision means the government will need to appoint a new
environment minister to succeed the Greens' Satu Hassi.
The meeting also passed a motion calling for a change in Finnish law
to oblige energy firms to produce at least 25 percent of their
electricity from biomass, wind or solar sources by 2010 at the
latest.
The government says Finland needs the fifth reactor to ensure
economic growth continues, to meet Kyoto pact targets on cutting
emissions, and to reduce its dependence on Russia, which provides
most of its imported energy.
Nuclear power producer Teollisuuden Voima Oy, controlled by Finnish
industry, is expected to spend up to 2.5 billion euros to build the
reactor, which is expected to be operational before the end of the
decade.
With the Greens moving into opposition, the four remaining parties in
the coalition government are the Social Democrats, the country's
largest party, the Conservatives, the Left Alliance and the Swedish
People's Party.
Finland's next parliamentary election is set for March 2003.
-------------------------------------------------
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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