No Missing Data Found at Oak Ridge National Lab

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

Index:



No Missing Data Found at Oak Ridge National Lab

Japanese NPA drafts policy on antiterrorism measures

FBI Agent: Ex-Nuke Plant Unsafe for Refuge

Reporters in Contempt Over Wen Ho Lee Sources -NYT

U of Illinois and UC Berkeley $301,000 in Nuclear Energy Grants

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



No Missing Data Found at Oak Ridge National Lab



OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (Aug. 19) - An urgent review of computer security at 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory turned up no missing classified items, 

officials said.



Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham ordered an inventory of "classified 

removable electronic media" at all Department of Energy facilities 

last month after two disks of secret data were reported missing at 

Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.



The review included the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant at Oak Ridge, 

which has now resumed normal operations, The Knoxville News Sentinel 

reported for Thursday editions.



Walter Perry, a DOE spokesman, said an inventory at Oak Ridge 

facilities found no missing computer disks or other media covered in 

the inventory.



Perry said the laboratory was among the first to be cleared by the 

DOE to restart classified operations, getting the go-ahead Aug. 11. 

The Y-12 warhead-production center received clearance the next day.



The weapons plant had been converting its computer operations to 

diskless work stations even before the latest DOE security problem.



Other reviews at the Oak Ridge complex should be completed in the 

next few days, Perry said.



The DOE has said new training programs and protocols will be set up 

to ensure strict accountability for all classified information.

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



Japanese NPA drafts policy on antiterrorism measures



TOKYO, Aug. 19 (Kyodo) - The National Police Agency on Thursday 

unveiled its first policy outline on antiterrorism measures, calling 

for new legislation to prevent terrorist attacks and improved 

capability of the police force to respond to nuclear, biological or 

chemical attacks.



The NPA said it plans to work with other government agencies to draft 

legislation to fight terrorism and strengthen immigration control. 

The agency hopes to implement the policies possibly within two years.



The NPA says using fingerprints and other biometrics information is 

crucial in maintaining port control. The agency also hopes to 

introduce sky marshals on commercial airplanes.



In order to respond to emergency situations, the NPA plans to boost 

the capacity of police units designed to respond to nuclear, 

biological and chemical terrorism and of the special assault team 

that is mobilized when concrete information about a potential 

terrorist attack becomes available.



On legislative measures, the NPA said European countries and the 

United States have broken up al-Qaida cells through a variety of 

antiterrorism legislation.



"Japan should never become a loophole in counterterrorism 

operations," the NPA says.



The NPA said France and Germany made it obligatory for hotel 

operators to confirm the identity of foreign visitors and that the 

United States has introduced a system of fingerprinting foreign 

visitors.

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



FBI Agent: Ex-Nuke Plant Unsafe for Refuge



DENVER (AP) - An FBI agent who said he was ordered not to discuss his 

role in a 15-year investigation of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons 

plant warned Wednesday against creating a wildlife refuge at the 

site, saying it would be too dangerous.



Jon Lipsky, who led a 1989 raid on the plant after being tipped off 

about secret illegal burning of radioactive waste, said he was 

ordered by superiors to abandon his plans to talk about the 

investigation at a news conference.



The news conference was called to discuss a report written by former 

Rocky Flats employee Jacque Brever accusing the Department of Energy 

of lying about the extent of contamination at Rocky Flats, about 10 

miles west of downtown Denver.



The department plans to convert the site into a wildlife refuge in 

two years after a $7 billion cleanup is complete.



Brever's report said so much radioactive waste was disposed of 

clandestinely at Rocky Flats that some contaminated areas are not 

part of the cleanup.



"I can tell you that Jacque's report is accurate," said Lipsky, 

saying he was speaking as a private citizen.



FBI spokesman Joe Parris confirmed Lipsky had been told not to talk 

about the investigation because he had not followed standard 

procedure and asked for permission. Parris said Lipsky could have 

faced sanctions had he discussed it.



Rocky Flats made plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons until 

production was shut down after the 1989 raid. A federal grand jury 

investigated allegations of safety violations by the contractor and 

the Department of Energy.



The grand jury wanted to indict eight, including two corporations, 

but the Justice Department declined. The grand jury's report remains 

sealed.



One of the plant's operators at the time, Rockwell International 

Corp., pleaded guilty to 10 hazardous waste and clean water 

violations in 1992 and paid an $18.5 million fine.



Brever prepared her report for Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who had 

asked for a detailed account of her concerns about Rocky Flats.



Speaking with difficulty because of thyroid cancer she believes she 

contracted while working at Rocky Flats, Brever said employees dumped 

contaminated waste in a duck pond that is not listed among the areas 

being cleaned.



Energy Department spokeswoman Karen Lutz said officials have reviewed 

Brever's report and some of the areas Brever cited have been cleaned 

up or will be. Lutz said a cleanup of the duck pond will begin in the 

next three weeks.



"The Department of Energy is very confident that the cleanup of Rocky 

Flats is thorough, safe and protective," Lutz said.



Neils Schonbeck, a professor of biochemistry at Metro State College 

in Denver who has studied Rocky Flats since 1988, said the 

government's acceptable limit of 50 picocuries in topsoil at Rocky 

Flats is far too high. Schonbeck said visitors could stir up dust and 

put dangerous levels of plutonium in the air.



"Even rain can mobilize plutonium" he said.



On the Net:



Fish and Wildlife Service refuge plan: http://rockyflats.fws.gov/



Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center fact sheet: 

http://www.rmpjc.org/2002/FlatsCleanup-Facts.html

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



Reporters in Contempt Over Wen Ho Lee Sources -NYT



NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. judge held five journalists in contempt 

of court for refusing to disclose the names of confidential sources 

who might have given them information about Wen Ho Lee, the Los 

Alamos nuclear laboratory scientist once suspected of espionage, The 

New York Times said on Thursday.



Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the U.S. District Court in 

Washington on Wednesday fined each journalist $500 a day, but 

suspended the fines pending the reporters' expected appeals, the 

newspaper said. Brian Sun, a lawyer for Lee, told the newspaper he 

was pleased by the judge's order.



The journalists are: Robert Drogin of the Los Angeles Times; Jeff 

Gerth and James Risen of The New York Times; H. Josef Hebert of the 

Associated Press, and Pierre Thomas, formerly of CNN and now at ABC 

News.



Jackson's order is one of several issued recently by federal judges 

that some legal experts say weaken news gathering and publishing 

protections long thought settled.



U.S. law does not grant journalists an absolute level of privilege 

comparable to those afforded doctors and priests, but reporters have 

long argued that the First Amendment, protecting freedom of speech 

and the press, implicitly grants that privilege.



Lee was fired from his Los Alamos job in March 1999 amid allegations 

he was spying for China.



After the government's case against him collapsed, Lee pleaded guilty 

to one count of downloading nuclear weapons design secrets to a non-

secure computer.



Lee subpoenaed the five reporters with the hope that their testimony 

would advance his lawsuit against the U.S. government, in which he 

accused officials of violating his privacy by leaking personal 

employment records to employers.



Last week, another federal judge in Washington refused to quash a 

subpoena issued to Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper for refusing 

to name a confidential source in a criminal probe involving the leak 

of an undercover CIA officer's name.



Another New York Times reporter, Judith Miller, and several other 

reporters have been subpoenaed in that probe.

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



Department of Energy Awards University of Illinois and UC Berkeley 

$301,000 in Nuclear Energy Grants



CHICAGO, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Energy (DOE) today 

awarded the University of Illinois $301,000 in grants to support 

nuclear energy technology education and infrastructure. One of the 

Nuclear Engineering Education Research grants will be shared between 

the University of Illinois and UC-Berkeley.



"This year's grants continue an upward trend in support of education 

that has been a hallmark of this administration," Secretary of Energy 

Spencer Abraham said. "The investment we make today in the education 

of a new generation of nuclear engineers and scientists will pay 

tremendous dividends in the future of this country."



The breakdown of the grants follows:



-- Nuclear Engineering Education Research, Industry Matching grant, 

and Fellowship



The 47 Nuclear Engineering Education Research grants will be awarded 

to 28 U.S. universities which will allow professors and students to 

conduct innovative and state-of-the-art nuclear engineering research. 

Of the total $5 million to be awarded, approximately $2.7 million is 

for 26 new awards in FY 2004 and $2.3 million for 21 continuing 

awards from prior years.



The Department of Energy will award 26 matching grants to 

universities throughout the country, leveraging public-private 

contributions through a 50-50 cost-share arrangement that allows 

funds to be directed to the specific needs of an institution's school 

of nuclear engineering.



The department's Office of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology will 

award over 100 new nuclear technology grants to 37 U.S. universities 

and 72 scholarships and fellowships to outstanding college students 

pursuing careers in nuclear science and engineering.



This award is one of $22 million in awards to 37 universities 

nationwide to support the development of a new generation of 

technical specialists that will serve the Nation's requirements in 

areas such as energy, medicine, scientific research, national 

defense, nonproliferation and environmental protection.



Additional information on this and other DOE nuclear science and 

engineering educational initiatives that are sponsored by the Office 

of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology University is available at 

http://www.nuclear.gov/



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

Sandy Perle

Senior 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@dosimetry.com

E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net



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

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





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