New Jersey Gets Nation's First Radiation Detectors

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

Index:



New Jersey Gets Nation's First Radiation Detectors

Report on Sweden's nuclear power future delayed

More Security Problems at Nuclear Sites Guarded by Wackenhut

NRC Approves License Extension for V.C. Summer Nuclear Station

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



New Jersey Gets Nation's First Radiation Detectors



JERSEY CITY, N.J. (March 22) - Jersey City has become the nation's 

first seaport to use new radiation detectors that scan all incoming 

cargo for nuclear or radiological weapons, federal officials said 

Monday.



Similar devices are planned for 90 percent of the country's seaports 

by the end of summer, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

Commissioner Robert C. Bonner.



''The best way to prevent a terrorist attack is by preventing 

terrorists or terrorist weapons from entering our country in the 

first instance,'' Bonner said at the Global Marine Terminal in Jersey 

City.



Several million cargo containers - about 95 percent of U.S. 

international trade - enter the United States every year through its 

361 sea and river ports. Since Sept. 11, many people have worried 

that terrorists might use the containers to sneak biological weapons 

or other arms into the country.



Previously, only about 8 percent of the cargo containers at Global 

Marine Terminal were examined for signs of radiation because the 

process was done by hand, said Richard O'Brien, the port's deputy 

chief inspector.



Now, all 500 or so containers that leave there each day will be 

screened by passing them through five 20-foot-high detectors, he 

said.



The terminal is part of Port Newark-Elizabeth, which is the largest 

seaport on the East Coast.



The new detectors, which were installed in February and cost nearly 

$1 million, have already flagged radiation in cargo, O'Brien said. In 

each case, he said, the culprit was something harmless such as 

natural radiation emitted by pottery or ceramic tiles.



The scanners resemble inverted football goal posts. Every container 

that has been taken off a ship and loaded on a truck must pass 

through one of four primary screening units before leaving the 

terminal.



If radiation is detected, the container goes through another unit for 

a closer scan and, if necessary, is scrutinized with hand-held or 

truck-mounted devices.



There are 248 of the portals already in use at border crossings with 

Canada and Mexico, O'Brien said.

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



Report on Sweden's nuclear power future delayed



STOCKHOLM, April 29 (Reuters) - A key report on whether Sweden should 

adhere to plans to phase out its nuclear power stations has been 

delayed, and talks between the government and industry continue, 

officials said on Thursday.



The controversial report -- seeking to balance the demands of public 

opinion for closure with a defensive nuclear industry -- was to have 

been handed to the government on Friday.



When released, it will include recommendations on the future of the 

600-megawatt Barseback unit 2, which Industry Minister Leif Pagrotsky 

has said should be shut down in 2004 as part of a plan to exit 

nuclear power by the end of the decade.



But the government's negotiator Bo Bylund indicated in a letter to 

the minister on Thursday he needed a short delay.



"I received in my commission until April 30 to present possibilities 

for managing the closure of Barseback 2 within the framework of a 

negotiated solution," Bylund said.



"The negotiations continue about a changeover of the energy system 

which also concerns the second reactor at Barseback. I am going to 

shortly announce the results of my work."



Officials said that meant that the expected Friday release date was 

being rolled back.



Lars Andersson, an official seconded to Bylund's negotiating team, 

who originally indicated the Friday release timetable for the report, 

said he could not give an indication when it would now be released. 

"I won't give any new date because its a moving process," he said.



Nuclear industry executives were tight-lipped on Thursday but 

insisted that the talks were still on track.



Martin May, spokesman for state power company Vattenfall VATN.UL 

which operates Barseback, noted there had been a Swedish radio report 

which said the government aimed to close Barseback 2 in a year or 

two.



"That has not been confirmed by the government or by us," May said.



But Swedish national radio, quoting industry sources, said the 

government negotiator and industry were deeply divided, although 

talks would resume on Monday.



Swedish radio, quoting sources, also said the negotiator had proposed 

to an unhappy nuclear industry that the second reactor in Barseback 

close in either 2005 or 2006 and that a further reactor, preferrably 

two, be given a closing date.



"I will not comment on this report," said Swedish government official 

Lars Andersson.



Swedes voted in a 1980 referendum to phase out the country's atomic 

plants by 2010, but so far Sweden has only closed one reactor, the 

Barseback unit 1 in 1999.



A political decision to close more nuclear plants has been repeatedly 

postponed and industry generally resists the idea.



Sweden has 11 power-producing nuclear reactors at four installations, 

which generate about half the country's annual output of over 140 

terawatt hours of electricity.

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



More Security Problems at Nuclear Sites Guarded by Wackenhut ... 

Wackenhut Security Guards at Fla. Nuclear Plant Removed After 

Security Lapse



Plant audit found guards took shortcuts during patrols;

Incident is 4th at plant since 2000



WASHINGTON, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The following release was issued 

today by Service Employees International Union (SEIU):



There has been another security lapse at a nuclear site guarded by 

the Wackenhut Corporation, the nation's largest supplier of private 

guards to U.S. nuclear facilities. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel 

reported today that six Wackenhut security guards and their 

supervisor were removed from duty by the St. Lucie Nuclear Power 

Plant in South Florida after a plant audit found they took shortcuts 

during patrols.



This is the fourth security incident involving Wackenhut personnel at 

the St. Lucie Plant since 2000. According to today's report, the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission has started an investigation into 

security at the plant. The plant is owned by Florida Power & Light 

Co.



Today's news report is the latest public revelation in a string of 

security problems at sensitive nuclear power plants and nuclear 

weapons facilities guarded by Wackenhut. Wackenhut provides security 

services at 30 nuclear power plants and five U.S. Department of 

Energy nuclear weapons facilities.



Wackenhut is the same firm that provides security at the Y-12 nuclear 

weapons complex in Oak Ridge, TN, where it was revealed in January 

that security personnel cheated on drills designed to repel a 

terrorist attack.



"This incident only underscores the concerns that are already being 

raised about Wackenhut's record at nuclear facilities," said Stephen 

Lerner, Director of the Building Services Division of the Service 

Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's largest union of 

private security officers. "Based on this company's record at nuclear 

sites across the country, the NRC should conduct a review of security 

at all the nuclear plants guarded by Wackenhut."



This month there have been calls for hearings in two different 

Congressional committees on Wackenhut's security record at nuclear 

sites. Wackenhut officials also were called to a closed-door hearing 

of the House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight in March about problems 

at the Oak Ridge site.

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



Nuclear Regulatory Commission Approves License Extension for SCE&G's 

V.C. Summer Nuclear Station



COLUMBIA, S.C., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- South Carolina 

Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), principal subsidiary of SCANA 

Corporation (NYSE: SCG), announced today that the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission has approved the company's application for a 20-year 

license extension for its V.C. Summer Nuclear Station.



The new license, which SCE&G expects to receive next week, will allow 

the plant to operate through 2042. SCE&G applied for the new license 

in the fall of 2002.



"There are so many benefits that come with having the plant's license 

extended," Senior Vice President of Nuclear Operations Steve Byrne 

said. "It allows us to keep almost 700 megawatts of power on the 

grid. This delays the need for new plants on our system, and that 

means lower rates for our customers.



"Additionally, the plant provides nearly 750 jobs in the area and 

contributes millions of dollars annually to the Fairfield County tax 

base."



The V.C. Summer Nuclear Station began operation in 1982. SCE&G owns 

two- thirds of the plant's 1,000-megawatt capacity while the South 

Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper) owns the remaining 

third.



Summer Station represents approximately 14 percent of SCE&G's 

generating capacity. At full operation, the plant is capable of 

providing power to more than 650,000 homes.







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

Sandy Perle

Vice President, Technical Operations

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.

3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sperle@globaldosimetry.com

E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.globaldosimetry.com/



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