Group to begin assessment for Russian nuclear waste dump

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

Index:



Group to begin assessment for Russian nuclear waste dump

Nuclear watchdog rejects Greens' criticism

METI tells gov'ts to stop collecting info on nuclear opponents

Britain set to ring-fence BNFL's liabilities

Jets and Troops to Help Patrol City July 4

Document Verification Units for Use at a California Nuclear Plant

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



Group to begin assessment for Russian nuclear waste dump



MOSCOW, July 3 (Kyodo) - A local group calling for Russia's first 

nuclear waste dump to be established on an island northeast of 

Russian-held territories claimed by Japan will soon begin its own 

environmental assessment, a Russian lawmaker has said.

 

Sergey Shashurin, a supporter of the citizens' group based on the 

state of Sakhalin, told Kyodo News that the assessment will take 

place as early as this month on Shimushir Island, about 600 

kilometers northeast of Hokkaido.

 

The project first emerged when a Taiwanese electric power company 

began looking for a site together with a Russian nuclear research 

institute to dump low-level radioactive waste from its nuclear power 

plant in Taiwan.

 

The citizens' group in the Sakhalin state, where unemployment runs 

high and thriving industry is limited to fishing, moved to attract 

the site to promote the local economy, Shashurin said.

 

The atomic energy department of the Russian government is not 

enthusiastic about building a nuclear waste dump in the region, 

however, mainly because it is prone to several earthquakes every 

year.

 

The group's assessment will thus focus on determining the safety of 

the project, which could create employment for job-starved locals.

 

Shashurin said the assessment team will consist of seismologists and 

geologists, including some who took part in the assessment work for a 

petroleum and natural gas project in waters northeast of Sakhalin.

 

After submitting the results of the assessment due out by the year-

end to the Sakhalin state assembly, the group hopes the assembly will 

pass a resolution backing construction of the dump site. It will also 

ask the state governor to lead a campaign to bring the project to the 

region.

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



Nuclear watchdog rejects Greens' criticism



Jul 3 (Australian Broadcasting Company) Western Australia's nuclear 

watchdog says it is keeping a close eye on  industries that create 

radioactive waste.

 

The Radiological Council of WA has hit back at criticism by the 

Greens  that it is not working efficiently under current legislation.

 

The Greens complained about delays by the council in naming BHP 

Billiton  as the company stockpiling low-grade naturally occurring 

radioactive  waste off the coast of Exmouth in north-west WA.

 

The secretary of the council, Hazel Upton, says it is aware of such  

waste products and keeps close tabs on industry.

 

"Even though the waste is still at [an] extremely low level, it's a  

little bit more than you'd find if you dug it up in your garden, so  

we're well informed about those sorts of industries and we keep an 

eye  on them," she said. 

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



METI tells gov'ts to stop collecting info on nuclear opponents



TOKYO, July 3 (Kyodo) - The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry 

(METI) on Wednesday ordered local governments and its affiliate to 

stop gathering information on people opposed to nuclear plants 

following revelations they had done so.

 

The practice came to light last Thursday when the METI-backed Center 

for Development of Power Supply Regions said it provided local 

governments in the 15 prefectures hosting nuclear power plants with 

lists of residents who turned down annual government benefits linked 

to hosting the plants.

 

While finding no problem with the submission of the lists itself, 

METI found it inappropriate that they included unnecessary 

information on whether the listed residents are opposed to nuclear 

plants, a METI official said.

 

The people's names and addresses were on the lists because electric 

power companies, which are subcontracted to provide the benefits, 

asked why the people turned them down, prompting some to cite their 

opposition in response.

 

METI also found it unnecessary that the prefectural governments and 

the center were informed firsthand of the people's names and 

addresses, the official said.

 

''Given the recent requirement to protect personal information, there 

is no need for the prefectural governments and the center to know the 

reasons for refusing,'' the official said.

 

The benefits are state subsidies paid to local governments hosting 

nuclear power plants and come in the form of discounts on utility 

fees for households and companies.

 

At the request of the local governments, the center allocated the 

benefits to residents through electric power companies.

 

METI thus called on the local governments and the center to require 

the utilities to stop asking for reasons and report back from this 

year on the matter without specific names and addresses for those who 

refused.

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



Britain set to ring-fence BNFL's liabilities



LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Britain will announce on Thursday a new 

authority to take on the liabilities of British Nuclear Fuels, a move 

industry experts view as a first step towards selling off the state-

run operator.

 

A government source said Energy Minister Brian Wilson will publish a 

written parliamentary answer proposing a Liabilities Management 

Authority to assume the 35 billion pounds ($53.5 billion) liabilities 

of BNFL.

 

The body is expected to tackle a backlog of nuclear waste and absorb 

the cost of decommissioning old plants.

 

"What we are announcing is the setting up of a strategic body to take 

on the liabilities," the source said. "It's been in the pipeline for 

a long time."

 

Analysts and critics of the scheme said the move could make a second 

wave of nuclear privatisation more attractive to investors by ring-

fencing the liabilities in the public sector.

 

BNFL's 11 Magnox plants were mainly built in the 1950s and 1960s.Due 

to their age and high running costs they were kept in state hands 

along with BNFL's fuel reprocessing arm when the rest of Britain's 

nuclear industry was sold to private investors in 1996 as British 

Energy Plc.

 

Four have been closed, along with the only two that were built 

outside Britain. Magnox stations use reactor rods of pure uranium 

metal, while most types of modern nuclear power station use uranium 

oxide and produce more electricity per plant.

 

BNFL has had a rocky ride.

 

Two years ago, the government said its tarnished record meant plans 

for a partial privatisation could not be pursued until late 2002 at 

the earliest and may not happen at all.

 

Nuclear fuel is being returned to BNFL from Japan after a scandal in 

1999, when Kansai Electric Power Co discovered the state-owned 

nuclear fuel reprocessor had falsified data on the fuel it had 

shipped to the company.

 

The move follows an agreement between the Japanese and British 

governments and will cost BNFL 114 million pounds, of which 40 

million pounds is compensation to Kansai and the rest the logistical 

cost of the operation.

 

BNFL has also faced several legal challenges over its planned nuclear 

fuel manufacturing plant at Sellafield in north-west England.

 

Environmental groups Grenpeace and Friends of the Earth and the 

government of Ireland have all tried and failed to block the plant 

from opening via the courts.

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



Jets and Troops to Help Patrol City July 4



Jul 3 (NY Times) Detailing plans to safeguard the city against terror 

during the Fourth of July, officials say they will deploy about 4,000 

police officers, including about 1,600 in civilian clothes, to join 

soldiers and fighter jets patrolling the streets, rivers and skies.



Pedestrians may be frisked for weapons, and cars and bags will be 

subject to search. Police officers, some with counterterrorism 

expertise, will mix with the crowds in the city, a police official 

said. More than 2,000 National Guard troops will be on duty at 

locations around the state, including the city's bridges, tunnels and 

train stations, Gov. George E. Pataki said.



Federal, state and local law enforcement authorities said there was 

no specific or credible threat of a terrorist attack on Independence 

Day, but federal authorities have secretly alerted local agencies to 

the possibility of an attack. Landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, 

the United Nations and the Empire State Building, among others, will 

receive extra attention from the authorities, officials said.



"We have special, directed patrols of our harbor units, our aviation 

units," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said yesterday at 

Brooklyn Technical High School as 1,978 police recruits were sworn 

in. "We do have a group of heavily armed officers that we move 

throughout the city based on direction from our intelligence 

division."



A protective no-fly zone is in place around the Statue of Liberty, 

extending one nautical mile around the statue (6,076 feet) and 1,500 

feet up from the ground, said Jim Peters, a spokesman for the Federal 

Aviation Administration. Thousands of revelers trying to see the 

fireworks will have to pass through one of 14 police checkpoints 

between East Houston Street and East 53rd Street in 

Manhattan.



Large crowds are expected along the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive to 

watch the annual fireworks display, which is scheduled to begin 

at 9 p.m. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is expected to attend that show 

as well as a parade in Staten Island that begins earlier in the 

day, said Edward Skyler, the mayor's press secretary.



City health officials, the Fire Department and the Office of 

Emergency Management will work with the Police Department to prepare 

for any emergencies. Police officers from the Port Authority of New 

York and New Jersey will work 12-hour shifts, and officers from 

the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will increase patrols at 

subway and train terminals and use a variety of tactics, including 

dogs that sniff for explosives, said John W. Scanlon, the director of 

the New York State Office of Public Security.



In the skies, combat air patrols, combined with radar coverage, will 

provide a defense against threats, said Lt. Col. Michael T. Halbig, 

a Defense Department spokesman.



On the ground, some police officers will be equipped with portable 

radiation detectors and others will be armed with powerful guns, 

one police official said. Officers posted at bridges and tunnels to 

check for drunken drivers will also do security work, and rapid-

response teams of officers will be moving throughout the city, 

prepared to respond to any problem that may arise, the official said. 

Traffic cameras already in place will be used to monitor the crowds.



Fire Department units are also being equipped with radiation-

detection devices.



The National Guard's Second Civil Support Team (Weapons of Mass 

Destruction) will be on duty, as they are every day of the year, 

officials said.

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



Intelli-Check Receives Order for Its ID-CHECK Document Verification 

Units for Use at a California Nuclear Power Plant



WOODBURY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 3, 2002--a developer of 

advanced document verification systems, today announced 

that it received an order for its ID-CHECK(R) units for use at a 

nuclear generating station in California.

 

Intelli-Check also announced that it received an order from the New 

York State Department of Motor Vehicles for the purchase of the 

previously supplied loaner units, which had been used for testing 

purposes.

 

"The ID-CHECK unit will be used to increase security at the nuclear 

facility," stated Frank Mandelbaum, Chairman and Chief 

Executive Officer of Intelli-Check. "This initial sale to a nuclear 

facility enables us to demonstrate the value of the ID-CHECK unit in 

another of the homeland security markets."

 

Mr. Mandelbaum noted that the lead article in today's Wall Street 

Journal reported that U.S. nuclear plants are facing security gaps 

following the terrorist attacks against the United States last 

September 11 and noted the ramifications involved for the industry. 

"This 

sale opens up a significant potential opportunity for future sales of 

our patented ID-CHECK technology in the nuclear power industry."

 

Mr. Mandelbaum also said that New York was one of several states 

which have motor vehicle departments testing ID-CHECK units. 

"The purchase of the loaner units, which had been extensively tested 

by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, clearly 

proves the ability of our technology to validate encoded driver 

licenses, state issued IDs and military IDs that comply with 

recognized 

standards, since three states have now purchased the ID-CHECK units 

for this purpose."

 

"These sales, together with previously announced sales, confirm the 

Company's belief that its technology has an important role to 

play in homeland security" Mr. Mandelbaum added.

 

Intelli-Check, Inc. (www.intellicheck.com) is a developer and 

marketer of an advanced state-of-the-art document verification system 

for authenticating the validity of driver licenses and ID cards used 

as proof of identity. Intelli-Check's multi-purpose ID-CHECK(R) 

units are fully capable of increasing security and as a tool that can 

be used to deter terrorism at military installations, high profile 

buildings, airports and other sites and are also an effective tool 

against "identity theft," which often is supported by fake IDs and is 

the fastest growing crime in the U.S. ID-CHECK(R) units enable a user 

to prevent economic loss from check-cashing, credit card and various 

other frauds utilizing fake IDs and the ID-CHECK(R) and IDentiScan 

units have the ability to determine whether purchasers of age-

restricted products such as alcohol and tobacco meet minimum age 

requirements for their sale. ID-CHECK(R), with its patented 

technology, analyzes and displays information encoded in magnetic 

stripes and barcodes found on driver licenses, military 

identification and other forms of state and government- issued 

identification from more than 50 jurisdictions.



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

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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