[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Neb. utility safely stores atomic fuel after mishap
Index:
Neb. utility safely stores atomic fuel after mishap
Mail Irradiation Part of Anthrax Legacy
China Scientist Sentenced Over Iridium
Iranian Warns Israel Not to Strike Nuclear Plants
Radioactive Parcel Bound for U.S. Seized in Ukraine
Department of Energy Grant To Fund Nuclear Science Studies
=====================================
Neb. utility safely stores atomic fuel after mishap
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The Omaha Public Power District
said on Thursday it had evacuated a couple of buildings earlier this
week at its Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, nuclear power station after
dropping a bundle of radioactive rods being put into storage.
The accident took place Tuesday as workers moved a bundle of spent
fuel rods from the plant's reactor to a storage pool at the power
plant.
"The fuel bundle got loose while it was being moved to the spent fuel
pool. It dropped from the fuel handling machine and was sitting on
top of the fuel pool rack," said OPPD spokesman Mike Jones.
No radioactivity was released, but the accident prompted the plant
operator to declare an Unusual Event, the lowest of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission's four-level emergency classifications.
The spokesman said "non-essential" employees were evacuated from two
buildings at the Fort Calhoun station.
Plant workers later managed without further mishap to maneuver the
fuel rods into their proper storage position in the pool.
The plant shut down Sept. 12 for scheduled refueling and maintenance
that is expected to take about 30 days.
OPPD has suspended moving fuel bundles and an investigation is
underway, Jones said.
------------------
Mail Irradiation Part of Anthrax Legacy
LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Sept. 27) - That letter to your congressman
takes a curious detour these days, a 115-mile road trip to a
sprawling industrial park in southern New Jersey.
In a ritual that has outlived the anthrax scare that prompted it,
9,000 pounds of mail addressed to congressional offices and federal
departments - letters, petitions, invitations, junk mail,
photographs, grant applications, newspaper clippings - arrive here
each day to be exposed to enough radiation to neutralize any germs
that might be lurking.
The process costs the government about $10 million a year and has
altered how lawmakers keep in touch with the public. Many urge their
constituents to e-mail, fax or call rather than send mail, which can
arrive slightly burnt, melted or foul-smelling.
Though government contractors are working to develop mail-handling
machines that continuously test for anthrax, "I can tell you that
radiation is going to be in our future," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio,
who oversees mail as chairman of the House Administration Committee.
Irradiated mail is a lasting scar of the unsolved string of anthrax
letters that paralyzed the postal system, and frightened the nation,
weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The anonymous mailings killed 5 people, sickened 17 others, and
prompted thousands - including some members of Congress - to take a
precautionary course of antibiotics.
Four known anthrax-infected letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., were
sent to the New York Post, NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, and the
offices of Democratic Sens. Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick
Leahy of Vermont.
Two years later, nobody has been charged. A scientist identified by
the FBI as a "person of interest" in the case, Steven J. Hatfill, has
sued the government over its ongoing investigation and surveillance.
Leroy Richmond of Virginia, a postal worker still recovering from an
anthrax infection, said he views mail irradiation as a sensible
precaution.
"The potential exists that something like this could very well happen
again," he said.
As anthrax anxiety swept the nation in October 2001, Ion Beam
Applications (IBA), a Belgium-based company, was building a plant in
southern New Jersey where it intended to use irradiation to eliminate
bacteria from fresh food and to strengthen materials like wire and
cable.
"The potential exists that something like this could very well
happen again."
-Leroy Richmond, a postal worker still recovering from an anthrax
infection
Suddenly, the company had a new client: the U.S. Postal Service,
which needed to sterilize mail from two postal facilities infected by
anthrax. The post office divided the backlogged mail between IBA's
New Jersey plant and a facility in Ohio owned by Titan Corp.
The Postal Service signed a three-month, $2 million contract with IBA
for exclusive use of its building. The contract has been renewed four
times for $17.4 million more.
IBA treats the mail in a long, squat building in the 3,000-acre
Pureland Industrial Complex, just off Interstate 295 about 25 miles
from Philadelphia.
David R. Hunt, who farms land near the plant, said there are local
rumors about what goes on there. "I heard they irradiated a ham for
the president for Christmas last year, but you never know what to
believe," he said.
The company does not give tours. Spokeswoman Pamela P. Wilkerson
declined to provide details on when mail is brought to the facility.
"I know we sound cloak and dagger," she said, "but we are dealing
with the U.S. government and homeland security."
Mail addressed to zip codes covering congressional offices, the White
House, the 15 executive departments and other federal agencies
arrives in Washington before being trucked up Interstate 95.
At IBA, conveyor belts carry trays of mail into a shower of high-
energy electrons (for standard letters) or more deeply penetrating X-
rays (for packages and other bulky mail), Wilkerson said. The
radiation breaks the DNA structure of any contaminating
microorganism.
Postal Service spokesman Bob Anderson said the round trip adds two to
three days to a letter's delivery schedule. Additional House and
Senate security procedures - a slit is made in each envelope, and the
air is tested - tack on a few more days.
The Associated Press mailed two test letters to Capitol Hill from
downtown Washington on Aug. 27. One took nine Postal Service business
days to reach the intended recipient; the other took 12.
In the early months of irradiation, dozens of postal workers and
Capitol Hill staffers reported skin and throat irritation, headaches
and nausea after opening treated mail.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found no
evidence of long-term health risk, and American Postal Workers Union
spokeswoman Sally Davidow said the complaints subsided after the
dosage was reduced and the Postal Service began airing out irradiated
mail.
Opening the mail can still bring unpleasant surprises, though.
"We're still getting yellowed, brittle letters, stuck together, some
with a bad odor to them, and booklets with the pages fused together,"
said Dave Yonkman, spokesman for Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.
The radiation can destroy lab samples, affect the potency of
pharmaceutical products, scorch paper, fog glasses, damage film and
wipe information from electronic "Smart Cards," the General
Accounting Office reported.
The alternatives are far from perfect. In this day of blast e-mails
and special-interest phone banks, Ney said nothing gets his attention
like a handwritten letter.
---------------------
China Scientist Sentenced Over Iridium
BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese nuclear scientist has been given a suspended
death sentence for planting radioactive materials in the office of a
business rival, sickening the man and 74 other people, official
newspapers reported Monday.
Nuclear medicine researcher Gu Jiming stashed a case containing
pellets of iridium 192 above ceiling panels at a hospital in the
southern city of Guangzhou, the Beijing Evening News reported.
Soon after the victim - identified only by his surname, Liu - began
complaining of fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches and vomiting, the
paper said.
A medical checkup two months later revealed serious irregularities in
his white blood cell count. At that point his office was searched
with detection equipment and the radioactive materials discovered.
Others at the hospital also complained of fatigue, memory loss,
bleeding gums and other symptoms, the report said. A nurse who was
five months pregnant nearly suffered a miscarriage because of the
radiation exposure, it said.
Gu's research institute and Liu's hospital had cooperated in forming
a laser treatment center in 1997, but the two men had feuded over
management, bonuses, economic benefits and other matters.
"Gu held hatred for Liu in his heart, and lay in wait for a chance at
revenge," the Beijing Evening News report said.
Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life in prison
after two years of good behavior. Gu's assistant, Fang Zhenhua, who
had only a primary school education, was also sentenced to 15 years
for helping Gu transport and place the iridium.
Gu obtained the substance by falsifying documents to buy an
industrial machine that uses iridium 192 to check welded joints, the
paper said.
Scientists say iridium could be used to create a radiological "dirty
bomb," and its possession is usually tightly controlled.
------------------
Iranian Warns Israel Not to Strike Nuclear Plants
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi,
denying his country has "any program to produce weapons of mass
destruction," warned Israel that Iran would respond to any strike on
its nuclear facilities.
In an interview aired on Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Kharazi said
the possibility of an Israeli military strike on its nuclear program
was "a threat, no question."
Israel has warned that Iran's nuclear program posed a threat to the
world and was reportedly considering such a strike if Iran is
pursuing a nuclear option.
Kharazi said: "Israel knows if it commits such an action, it would be
reacted."
He declined to be more specific, saying simply "there will be a
response" if Israel launched such a strike.
Iran faces mounting pressure to prove it is not developing nuclear
weapons. Diplomats in Vienna last week said the U.N. nuclear
watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had discovered
traces of weapons-grade enriched uranium at a second site in Iran.
The IAEA has given Tehran until Oct. 31 to prove it does not have a
secret atomic arms program or be reported to the United Nations
Security Council for possible sanctions.
On Saturday, President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin
demanded Tehran give up any ambitions to build nuclear weapons.
Early last week, Iran paraded six of its newly deployed medium-ranged
missiles, which military analysts say could reach Israel or U.S.
bases in the Gulf.
Iran insists its nuclear scientists are not working on a weapons
program but are trying to meet the country's soaring electricity
demand.
"Certainly, we don't have any program to produce weapons of mass
destruction, that is for sure," Kharazi said in the interview taped
on Saturday evening.
Iran is willing sign a new inspection protocol with the IAEA, but
only if that makes clear "we can continue with enrichment facilities
to produce fuel needed for our power plants," he said.
-------------------
Radioactive Parcel Bound for U.S. Seized in Ukraine
KIEV (Reuters) - A radioactive package addressed to the United States
has been seized at Ukraine's main airport in the capital Kiev,
Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
The regional emergencies ministry said the package, discovered
Tuesday, was emitting radiation at a rate thousands of times higher
than the norm in Kiev of 0.05 milliroentgens an hour.
"This material is being investigated," said Mykola Karabet, duty
officer for the emergencies ministry in the Borispyl region of Kiev.
"We do not know what it is.
"It was a parcel in some luggage to be sent by air transport... There
is no threat to human health or life."
The United States has been on alert for suspect packages since
Washington was all but shut down by letters containing anthrax powder
in 2001.
In Ukraine, metal scrap and other objects from the Chernobyl region
are often stopped at the borders of the former Soviet state for
higher than normal radiation levels.
Large swathes of the country were left with high levels of
radioactivity after Chernobyl's reactor number four exploded in 1986,
in the world's worst civil nuclear disaster.
Health officials have blamed that accident for thousands of deaths
from radiation-linked illnesses and an increase in thyroid cancer.
--------------------
Central Virginia Governor's School Awarded Department of Energy Grant
To Fund Nuclear Science Studies
LYNCHBURG, Va., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Central Virginia
Governor's School (CVGS) has received an $8,750 mini-grant from the
U.S. Department of Energy to fund nuclear science studies for the
2003-2004 academic year.
The grant provides funding for high-school juniors and seniors to
learn about careers in nuclear engineering, to conduct research and
develop Web- based lessons for other students and teachers. The grant
was administered by Penn State University's College of Engineering,
Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department and its Office of
Sponsored Programs.
The grant enables CVGS to enhance its Nuclear Science Applications
Laboratory curriculum. The CVGS worked with program partners from two
Lynchburg-based firms, Framatome ANP Inc. and BWX Technologies, to
develop the curricula. "Our primary objective is to provide advanced
students with hands- on research, testing, analysis, and data-
interpretation experience," said Dr. Cheryl Lindeman, CVGS project
coordinator and research instructor.
During the fall semester, students will design research projects and
lesson plans to help them learn more about the commercial and
industrial applications of nuclear engineering. One project will
involve collecting data on the effects of radiation and corrosion on
certain materials under the guidance of mentors from Framatome ANP
and BWX Technologies, Inc. Students will not work directly with
radiation. On September 12, CVGS students spent the day touring Penn
State's Radiation Science & Engineering Center in State College, PA.
Framatome ANP provides nuclear fuel, major components and
comprehensive services to the nuclear power industry. BWX
Technologies is a diversified manufacturer of nuclear components and
advanced energy products with operations in ten states.
The Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology,
founded in 1985, serves 108 juniors and seniors from the school
divisions of Amherst County, Appomattox County, Bedford County,
Campbell County, and the City of Lynchburg, Virginia. Students take
mathematics and science courses at the Governor's School in the
morning and return to their home high schools in the afternoon for
the remainder of their classes. The program is housed in its own
state-of-the-art facility and is governed by a regional board
comprised of a school board member from each participating division.
Financial support for the school is provided by the participating
school divisions, the Gifted Programs Office of the Virginia
Department of Education and Region 2000 business and industry
partners.
-------------------------------------------------
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/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/