Activists Criticize US Advice On 'Dirty Bomb' Exposure

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

Index:



Activists Criticize US Advice On 'Dirty Bomb' Exposure

Nuclear power group fights Utah efforts to block Goshute waste site

NRC Approves 40-Year License Renewal For Spent Fuel Storage 

Panel sees need for backup plan to Yucca Mountain nuclear dump

Dirty Bomb Detectors to be installed at Airport in Canada

Hanford contractor considers using divers for cleanup

Tokyo Electric to suspend reactor that leaked radioactive water

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



Activists Criticize US Advice On 'Dirty Bomb' Exposure



NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Antinuclear activists maintain that advice the 

U.S. government is preparing to give state and local officials on how 

to react to the detonation of a radioactive "dirty bomb" wouldn't 

protect the public from absorbing huge radiation doses in the years 

after such an event, the New York Times reported in its Wednesday 

editions.



In fact, they say, those doses might be enough to induce cancer in 

about a quarter of those exposed, the report said.



The advice is to be offered in a "guidance document" that the Bush 

administration has been preparing for months, to be used if 

terrorists set off a dirty bomb, whose conventional explosive would 

spread its radioactive material, the Times reported.



Experts say that in the short term, the blast itself would be far 

more dangerous than the radiation, but that if an important area was 

contaminated, officials would face difficult decisions about how much 

decontamination should be required or how many years should elapse 

before the radiation was deemed to have died down enough for public 

access, the report said.



The antinuclear campaigners, led by a Los Angeles-based group called 

the Committee to Bridge the Gap, has complained in letters to the 

Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Homeland 

Security that the exposure allowed under the contemplated advice 

would create almost 100 times as much cancer risk as those usually 

allowed from other kinds of contaminants, like chemicals, or from 

radiation in other settings, the report said



The critics based their letter on two draft versions of the advice, 

which were posted last year on the Web site of Inside EPA, a trade 

publication for the environmental industry, the Times reported. The 

first, from July 2003, reflected wide differences on the issue among 

the Homeland Security Department, the environmental agency and the 

Energy Department, the report said.



The second version, undated but posted by Inside EPA in November 

2003, appeared to sidestep the issue by citing standards published by 

other organizations, the Times reported. Those include the 

International Commission on Radiological Protection, whose guidelines 

permit higher doses than American standards, for either the general 

public or workers who must deal with radiation, before protective 

action is required, the report said.



Daniel Hirsch, president of the Committee to Bridge the Gap (the name 

stems from the generation gap of the Vietnam era), said that using 

the international commission's standards would allow doses "grossly 

outside any acceptable risk range," the Times reported.



Hirsch also predicted that if the government's guidance allowed such 

doses, federal agencies would try to relax exposure rules in other 

contexts, like cleanup of radioactive wastes, the report said.



A spokeswoman for the EPA, Cynthia Bergman, said her agency remained 

committed to ensuring that "cleanups are protective of public health 

and the environment," the Times reported.



Bergman said that whatever was put into the guidance document for 

dirty bombs, it wouldn't change the standards for cleanups at waste 

sites under the agency's jurisdiction, the Times reported.



At the Department of Homeland Security, which is leading the effort 

to develop the advice, a spokesman would say little about the 

document, because it hasn't been officially published, the report 

said. But the spokesman, Don Jacks, did say there was no schedule for 

publishing it, the Times reported.

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



Nuclear power group fights Utah efforts to block Goshute waste site



SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Organizers of a proposed temporary nuclear 

waste dump on an American Indian reservation are trying to block a 

late effort to prevent regulatory acceptance of the project.



The State of Utah had filed a contention with the Atomic Safety and 

Licensing Board alleging that new information from the Department of 

Energy means the waste won't be transported for permanent storage, as 

planned, at the proposed Yucca Mountain facility.



The state has long opposed the project planned for Skull Valley Band 

of Goshutes' land, but filed that complaint Nov. 12, after the time 

limit for filing new arguments had closed.



It alleged that Gary Lanthrum, a DOE official involved with 

transporting nuclear waste, told state officials in October in a 

private conversation the DOE wasn't obligated to accept waste from 

the Goshute site because it would be in welded canisters.



In its response Monday, Private Fuel Storage, a nuclear power utility 

consortium that is organizing the project, argued the alleged 

statement - presented in an affidavit from a state official and a 

newspaper report in The Salt Lake Tribune - wasn't on official 

transcripts, and therefore wasn't sufficient.



PFS also argued the statements were wrong in the first place, because 

DOE is legally required to accept all spent nuclear fuel from 

utilities.



The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

is deciding whether Skull Valley can safely keep nuclear fuel. The 

board in March 2003 stalled construction by ruling the chances of a 

fighter jet from Hill Air Force Base crashing into the storage pad 

makes the project too risky. It has taken arguments for and against 

that decision and is weighing other aspects of the project.



As planned, the storage pad would hold up to 4,000 casks filled with 

depleted nuclear fuel - about 10 million rods - across 100 acres of 

the Skull Valley. The waste would be shipped over rail lines, mostly 

from reactors east of the Mississippi. Utah has no nuclear power 

plants.

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



NRC Approves 40-Year License Renewal For Independent Spent Fuel 

Storage Installation At Surry Nuclear Plant



The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has authorized the staff to issue a 

40-year license renewal to Dominion Generation for its dry-cask 

independent spent fuel storage installation at the Surry nuclear 

power plant in Surry, Va., after appropriate license conditions are 

developed.



This will be the first license renewal granted to a dry-cask spent 

fuel storage installation. In approving the new license for a 

duration of 40 years, the Commission approved granting Dominion an 

exemption from NRC regulations that specify a 20-year license term 

and directed the NRC staff to explore potential rulemaking to change 

the license duration in NRC regulations. The Commission also directed 

the staff to approve the same exemption in its ongoing review of the 

license renewal application of Progress Energy for its dry-cask spent 

fuel storage installation at the H.B. Robinson nuclear plant in South 

Carolina.



The new Surry license will be issued once the agency and the licensee 

have finalized any needed maintenance and inspection requirements 

that will be included as conditions in the license.



We are confident that casks meeting NRC's strict standards will be 

able to store spent fuel safely over an extended period, said Larry 

Camper, deputy director of the NRC's Spent Fuel Project Office. Even 

so, the license conditions and our inspections of the facility will 

ensure that the effects of aging do not degrade the casks' ability to 

protect the public and the environment.



Surry was the first commercial nuclear plant to be licensed by the 

NRC to operate an independent spent fuel storage installation. Its 

license, issued in 1986, expires next year. There are now 30 such 

installations in the United States. Typically, spent fuel is moved 

into NRC-approved dry casks after cooling at least five years in 

pools of water. Surry's spent fuel pools are at capacity, making 

continued use of dry-cask storage essential if the plant's two 

reactors are to continue to operate to the end of their current 

operating licenses in 2032 and 2033.



The NRC continues to view dry casks as an interim or temporary 

storage method for spent nuclear fuel until a permanent repository 

for high-level nuclear waste is available. The Commission found in 

1990 as part of its revised Waste Confidence Decision that spent fuel 

could be safely stored in spent fuel pools or dry casks without 

significant environmental impact for at least 100 years. The 

Commission reaffirmed its finding in 1999.



The original 20-year license period was a policy decision by the 

Commission at a time when the Department of Energy was expected to 

begin receiving spent fuel for disposal in a repository by 1998. 

Given the need for continued interim storage of spent fuel until a 

repository is available, the Commission approved granting Dominion's 

request for an exemption from the 20-year limit. Progress Energy 

requested a similar exemption in its February 2004 application to 

renew the license of the H.B. Robinson storage installation.

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



Panel sees need for backup plan to Yucca Mountain nuclear dump



LAS VEGAS (AP) - The nation needs a burial site for radioactive spent 

fuel from an expanded nuclear energy program, but the government 

should also build interim aboveground waste storage sites, a 

coalition of energy experts reported Wednesday.



At least one storage site should be built on each side of the 

Mississippi River to provide an "interim, backup solution" in case 

the Yucca Mountain project is delayed, derailed or isn't big enough, 

according to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based National 

Commission on Energy Policy.



The report, "Ending the Energy Stalemate: A Bipartisan Strategy to 

Meet America's Energy Challenges," represented a departure in its 

call for aboveground "dry cask" storage.



The Bush administration and Congress in 2002 picked Yucca Mountain as 

the place to entomb the nation's most radioactive waste underground 

beginning in 2010.



The nation has put "all its eggs in one basket" in relying on Yucca 

Mountain as the sole solution to high-level nuclear waste, said John 

Holdren, co-chairman of the 16-member panel of experts from industry, 

environmental, academic and government backgrounds.



Holdren, a Harvard University environmental policy professor, called 

dry cask storage "proven technology."



"It's not expensive," he said. "It's safe - it's even terrorist 

resistant."



But commission co-chairman and Exelon Corp. chief John Rowe said 

industry leaders would be reluctant to back the commission proposal 

because it might imply wavering support for Yucca Mountain.



"My company is committed to supporting the Yucca Mountain solution," 

Rowe said.



He added that the nuclear industry supports any government plan to 

meet its obligation to disposing of nation's radioactive waste.



The nation has 103 active commercial nuclear reactors generating 

highly radioactive waste now stored on site in cooling pools and 

aboveground dry cask containers. Experts say the containers can 

safely hold waste for 100 years or more.



Congress has promised the industry it would find a permanent solution 

to disposing of nuclear waste. Since 1987, it has focused solely on 

Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

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



Dirty Bomb Detectors to be installed at Airport in Canada



OTTAWA, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ - Technology to detect dirty bombs and 

clandestine radiological sources will soon be installed at the Ottawa 

International Airport in Canada as part of a government counter-

terrorism program.



A network of mobile and static detectors, designed and built by 

Canadian firm Mobile Detect Inc., will be deployed throughout airport 

facilities (including parking lots, roadways, public-access areas, 

baggage areas, cargo areas) and in security vehicles.



"The Detection Units contain radiation detector, GPS and cell modem 

technology, and automatically report their findings to a central 

computer every few seconds. All this data is presented on one 

graphical screen, allowing one expert to easily monitor the entire 

airport and immediately initiate a response to any illicit radiation 

detected," says Chris Clarke, president of Mobile Detect Inc.



Intelligence reports from Afghanistan indicate that the Al-Qaeda 

terrorist network has access to radiological material, and the 

expertise to manufacture and deploy so-called dirty bombs.



The Ottawa Airport, while selected as the initial installation site 

for the Airport Radiological Security System, is a test-bed for a 

program which should spread to airports across Canada. The System 

will be marketed internationally by Mobile Detect Inc.



The safety of the traveling public, airport employees and first 

responders is the primary concern of the project partners Transport 

Canada, Health Canada, Ottawa Airport Authority, Ottawa Police 

Services, McFadden Technologies Ltd and Mobile Detect Inc. The 

successful deployment of illicit radiological material would have 

serious health effects for those exposed, and would have catastrophic 

economic, political and social impacts.

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



Hanford contractor considers using divers for cleanup



RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - A contractor at the Hanford nuclear 

reservation is considering using divers to help clean up two heavily 

contaminated basins that once held spent nuclear fuel.



Commercial nuclear reactors and, more recently, nuclear sites 

operated by the U.S. Department of Energy have used divers who 

specialize in radioactive environments to perform underwater jobs 

such as cleaning and welding.



Hanford contractor Fluor Hanford finished removing 2,300 tons of 

spent nuclear fuel from the so-called K East and K West basins in 

October. The two water-filled basins, which measure 150 by 80 feet, 

were built in the 1950s to hold irradiated fuel from the site's 

nuclear reactors.



But the fuel was highly corroded, creating 65 cubic yards of 

radioactive sludge on the bottom of the basins.



Using divers could get the cleanup done faster and more cheaply, 

Fluor says.



Hanford workers currently stand on top of a steel grating 3 feet 

above the water. They use long-handled tools to reach beneath the 

grating and perform tasks in the 17 feet of water that shield them 

from radiation in the pools.



The work is slow and difficult. The water can be cloudy, and the 

workers are bundled in bulky protective clothing.



Divers might be able to more easily cut up and remove some of the 

equipment that remains in the basins, such as racks that once held 

spent fuel. They also might be able to vacuum up some of the sludge.



Pete Knollmeyer, vice president for Fluor Hanford, said officials are 

researching to determine if the dive project is feasible and safe.



"This is certainly not a done deal," Knollmeyer told the Tri-City 

Herald for a story Wednesday. But he said the potential benefits make 

it worth investigating.



Fluor is facing aggressive Energy Department deadlines for cleaning 

up the K Basins, but has fallen behind schedule. The company expects 

to miss a Dec. 31 deadline for corralling sludge in the K East Basin 

in underwater containers.



The basins are to be emptied and removed by April 2009.



The Energy Department supports looking at innovative ways to do the 

work, said Matt McCormick, the agency's assistant manager for 

Hanford's central plateau.



The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory used 

trained divers to clean four spent-nuclear-fuel storage basins there.



Divers at commercial nuclear plants also have entered water where the 

radiation levels were much higher. They use equipment called "sleds" 

as physical barriers to protect them from sources of radiation in the 

pools. In addition, dosimeters attached to their feet, hands and 

helmets can warn divers if they are getting too close to a radiation 

source.



Fluor expects to decide within two weeks whether to drop the idea or 

pursue it, with a possible dive as early as January.

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



Tokyo Electric to suspend reactor that leaked radioactive water



FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Dec. 8 (Kyodo) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced 

Wednesday it will suspend operations at its No. 2 nuclear reactor at 

the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture 

following a report that the reactor leaked radioactive water.



No external radiation leak was found at the reactor some 250 

kilometers north of Tokyo, and no injuries were reported, Tokyo 

Electric officials said.



A worker patrolling the reactor found the leak of about 0.8 liter of 

water from the pipes of a moisture separator in a room with a feed 

heater, which sends steam to low-pressure turbines of the reactor.



The company estimates some 36,000 becquerels of radioactive substance 

has leaked so far.



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

Sandy Perle

Senior Vice President, Technical Operations

Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.

2652 McGaw Avenue

Irvine, CA 92614 



Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306

Fax:(949) 296-1902 



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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