Judge asked to rule on new standard of proof of illness

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Index:



Judge asked to rule on new standard of proof of illness

Federal government asks judge to overturn Hanford initiative

Southern Seeks Grant To Search For New Nuclear Power Site

Energy secretary Abraham promotes nuclear energy

Japan's 53rd nuclear power unit set to go on line

METI eyes collecting personal data on staff at nuclear facilities

Regulators to reconsider Wisconsin nuke plant sale

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



Judge asked to rule on new standard of proof of illness



SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - A federal judge has been asked to apply new 

rules for compensating sick nuclear workers to people who claim they 

were harmed by releases from the Hanford nuclear reservation.



Lawyers for the so-called "Hanford Downwinders" asked U.S. District 

Judge William F. Nielsen to determine which standard of proof to use 

at a trial scheduled to start April 11.



Nielsen did not say Wednesday when he would rule on the standard in 

the lawsuit filed in 1991 by thousands of people who contend they 

developed thyroid cancer and other diseases after being exposed to 

radiation from Hanford's plutonium factories.



The U.S. Department of Energy formerly barred sick workers from 

qualifying for a $150,000 compensation payment unless they could 

prove that they wouldn't have gotten cancer, except for their on-the-

job exposure.



The U.S. Department of Labor, which is taking over the workers' 

compensation program, will use a less stringent compensation 

standard: that radiation the workers were exposed to was a 

"significant factor" in increasing their cancer risk.



Downwinders' lawyers argued Wednesday that Nielsen should use the new 

standard of proof at trial.



Lawyers representing the contractors argued that a strict burden of 

proof should still be used to determine who is eligible to sue.



"Downwinders are entitled to the same standard. How can you have one 

standard for workers and a stricter one for the general public?" lead 

plaintiff attorney Dick Eymann asked.



"This whole field has evolved," attorney Tom Foulds of Seattle told 

Nielsen. "Any radiation will create some risk to human cells."



The burden of proof should focus on epidemiological studies and 

statistics to determine which plaintiffs "more likely than not" were 

harmed by Hanford emissions, said Kevin Van Wart of Kirkland & Ellis 

of Chicago, lead attorney for the Hanford contractors.



"This case turns on epidemiology," Van Wart said. "A slight increase 

in risk doesn't prove Hanford more likely than not caused their 

problem."



Hanford studies that attempted to reconstruct the iodine-131 doses to 

exposed people who drank tainted milk were based on spotty data and 

unreliable memories, attorney Peter Nordberg of Philadelphia argued 

for the plaintiffs.



The burden of proof should also include clinical information on 

individual plaintiffs, Nordberg said. Iodine-131 accumulates in the 

thyroid gland, where it can cause cancer or nodules.



Some of the burden of proof issues already have been heard by the 9th 

U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.



The appeals panel in 2002 reversed a decision by U.S. District Judge 

Alan McDonald to disqualify hundreds of plaintiffs who couldn't prove 

they'd received a radiation dose that doubled their cancer risk.



Nielsen took over the case last year after McDonald recused himself 

in 2003.

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



Federal government asks judge to overturn Hanford initiative



YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) - The federal government has asked a judge to 

overturn a Washington state initiative governing out-of-state waste 

shipments to the Hanford nuclear reservation.



The motion for summary judgment, filed Wednesday in U.S. District 

Court here, asks a judge to overturn Initiative 297 on the grounds 

that it is unconstitutional.



Washington state voters overwhelmingly approved the initiative last 

fall. Among other things, it bars the U.S. Department of Energy from 

sending any more waste to south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear 

reservation until all existing waste at the site is cleaned up.



The state must respond to the motion by Feb. 9.



"We will continue to vigorously defend the initiative," said David 

Mears, senior assistant attorney general for Washington state.



Created as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build the 

atomic bomb, Hanford remains the most contaminated nuclear site in 

the nation. Cleanup costs are expected to total $50 billion to $60 

billion.



Washington state and the Energy Department have been fighting about 

out-of-state waste shipments to Hanford on several fronts. Those 

shipments already had been largely halted as a result of another 

lawsuit, but the initiative also places other restrictions on cleanup 

at the 586-square-mile reservation.



Last month, a federal judge imposed a temporary injunction preventing 

the initiative from becoming law after the federal government argued 

that otherwise it would be forced to halt some cleanup at the site. 

Both sides later agreed to allow the injunction to continue into 

2005.



The decision essentially allowed the roughly 10,000 Hanford workers 

to maintain the status quo with regard to cleanup until a judge can 

rule on the measure itself.



In the court papers filed Wednesday, the federal government argued 

the initiative, now known as the Cleanup Priority Act, violates 

federal laws governing nuclear waste and interstate commerce. As a 

federal site, Hanford is immune from state regulation, the U.S. 

Justice Department argued on the Energy Department's behalf.



The Justice Department also contended that fees created by the 

Cleanup Priority Act amount to impermissible taxes on the federal 

government.



At issue are the federal government's plans for disposing of waste 

from nuclear weapons production nationwide. The Energy Department 

chose Hanford to dispose of some mildly radioactive waste and mixed 

low-level waste, which is laced with chemicals.



The site also would serve as a packaging center for some transuranic 

waste before it is shipped elsewhere for long-term disposal. 

Transuranic waste is highly radioactive and can take thousands of 

years to decay to safe levels.



In 2003, Washington state filed suit to block transuranic waste from 

entering the state, fearing Hanford would become a radioactive waste 

dump. The Energy Department voluntarily suspended the shipments of 

transuranic, mixed and low-level waste after the lawsuit was filed, 

but the case remains in federal court.

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



Southern Seeks Grant To Search For New Nuclear Power Site



ATLANTA (AP)--Southern Co. (SO) is asking the U.S. Department of 

Energy to help pay for a study of possible sites for a new nuclear 

power plant.



The company applied for $245,000 in funding on Dec. 29, but Georgia 

Power spokesman John Sell insisted Thursday that the proposal is 

merely for exploratory purposes and doesn't imply Southern will build 

another plant.



Southern already operates three nuclear plants within its four-state 

territory. Two of the existing plants are in Georgia, one near Baxley 

and the other near Waynesboro. Its other plant is in Dothan, Ala.



If funding is approved, Southern Co. expects to complete its study by 

March and decide later whether to apply for permits from the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission. The company will examine potential new sites 

for a plant as well as the possibility of building plants on existing 

sites.



A nuclear power plant hasn't been licensed in the U.S. in nearly 30 

years - a few years before the Three Mile Island accident in 

Pennsylvania. But the Bush administration has been pushing for that 

to change and has streamlined nuclear licensing.



Despite claims that nuclear-plant technology is better than it used 

to be, opponents insist it is still not environmentally friendly and 

that the industry has difficulties handling nuclear waste.



"We're against it," Georgia Sierra Club spokeswoman Colleen Kiernan 

said.

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



Energy secretary Abraham promotes nuclear energy



WASHINGTON (AP) - Highlighting the environmental benefits of nuclear 

energy, outgoing Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Friday urged 

opponents of the energy source to rethink their positions.



"As I prepare to leave this office, the need for nuclear power is 

much more compelling now than ever before," Abraham told reporters 

after speaking at a nuclear industry conference in Washington.



The president's national energy policy calls for a diverse mix of 

energy sources including oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, 

renewables and nuclear energy to meet growing energy demand, but 

lately officials have been focusing on nuclear power. Abraham's push 

for nuclear energy comes just a few days after President George W. 

Bush told The Wall Street Journal that the United States needs 

advanced nuclear power plants.



Asked whether the White House is planning a larger initiative to 

promote the energy source, Abraham wouldn't comment. "I'm not going 

to comment further on that. I'll look for the president to address 

that," he said, adding that he's not sure if some kind of new policy 

will be announced.



Still, during his speech Friday, Abraham highlighted the fact that 

the world's demand for energy is increasing as is the pressure to 

reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. And that means, he 

said, that nuclear power - which can supply electricity with no 

greenhouse gas emissions - must be a significant part of the 

country's energy mix.



Nuclear energy critics often cite environmental concerns, but without 

nuclear energy, most of the world's electricity would come from 

fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases when burned, he said.



"It is interesting that the strongest backers of Kyoto and of 

reducing greenhouse gas emissions - who oppose coal as well as other 

fossil fuels - are often the same people who also oppose nuclear 

power," said Abraham.



Abraham further argued that nuclear plants are safer today and the 

new designs for nuclear reactors are more economical to build and 

operate.



Although nuclear opponents point to renewable energy sources such as 

solar and wind power as the solution to clean energy, "renewable 

technology alone cannot produce the vast quantities of electricity 

needed to meet the growing energy demand," he said.



Maya Jackson Randall is a correspondent for Dow Jones Newswires.

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



Japan's 53rd nuclear power unit set to go on line



TOKYO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Japan's 53rd nuclear power generator will 

start commercial operations next week, its owner Chubu Electric Power 

Co. said on Friday, against a backdrop of safety scandals and a fatal 

accident at a rival's plant last year that rocked the domestic 

nuclear power industry.



The 1.38-million-kilowatt Hamaoka No. 5 unit will be the fifth 

commercial-use nuclear power generator for Chubu, Japan's third-

biggest utility after Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Kansai 

Electric Power Co.



"Hamaoka No. 5 is currently generating electricity for safety tests. 

We expect to get Japanese government approval on Jan. 18, then we can 

technically switch to normal commercial operations," a Chubu Electric 

spokesman said.



Chubu Electric's five nuclear units, including the new one, are 

located at the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka prefecture, central Japan, 

and have combined capacity of 4.997 million kilowatts.



Japan has a policy of supporting nuclear power, prompted by its lack 

of natural resources such as oil and natural gas as well as an 

international movement to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. The 

country has two more nuclear units under construction.



Nuclear plants provide about 35 percent of Japan's electricity, and 

including Hamaoka No. 5, the country's 53 nuclear generators will 

have a combined capacity of 47.122 million kilowatts.



But the start of Chubu's new unit comes amid growing criticism over 

nuclear generator maintenance after the accident at a Kansai Electric 

plant, and with electricity demand slowing.



"Given that electricity demand is slowing down, Japan has enough 

nuclear power generation capacity," said Masanori Maruo, utilities 

analyst at Deutsche Securities.



In August, hot water and steam leaking from a broken pipe at Kansai's 

Mihama No. 3 nuclear power generator killed five workers in the worst-

ever accident at a nuclear plant in Japan.



The company had not inspected the pipe since the unit started 

operating in December 1976.



That accident followed an admission by TEPCO that it had falsified 

nuclear safety documents for more than a decade, a revelation that 

forced it to shut all 17 of its nuclear power generators for 

inspections by mid-April 2002.



Analysts also note that the strict safety specifications involved in 

building nuclear power plants have kept construction costs relatively 

high, while the cost of building advanced gas-fired thermal power 

plants is falling.



In 2003, utilities were forced to scrap two separate plans to build 

nuclear power plants because of strong opposition from local 

residents and slowing electricity demand.



A government report last year forecast that growth in electricity 

demand would average just 1.3 percent per year until 2010, 1.2 

percent in the following 10 years and only 0.3 percent in the decade 

to 2030.



Electricity demand growth averaged 3.8 percent annually in the 30 

years to 2000.

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



METI eyes collecting personal data on staff at nuclear facilities



TOKYO, Jan. 13 (Kyodo) - The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry 

plans to gather personal data about staff working at nuclear 

facilities as part of plans to counter terrorism, ministry officials 

said Thursday.



The information to be collected will include whether employees of 

nuclear power plants and other facilities have criminal records, 

whether they have debts and whether they have problems with alcohol 

or drugs, the officials said.



The plan, aimed at preventing such employees from engaging in 

potential acts of terrorism or leaking vital information to third 

parties, will be discussed by a task force within the ministry for 

the next year or so, they said.



However, an official of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, a 

METI arm, said the issue should be addressed carefully due to the 

need to protect privacy.



Britain, France and the United States keep personal data about staff 

at nuclear facilities but the type of data collected varies from 

country to country, with the International Atomic Energy Agency 

providing no guidelines on the issue.



The METI task force will also deliberate whether to introduce 

measures intended to prevent dishonest acts by employees, such as 

installing multi-point locking systems and monitors at nuclear 

facilities as well as checking items to be brought inside the 

facilities by the employees, the officials said.



As part of efforts to improve information management regarding 

nuclear materials, the ministry is also set to submit to the Diet in 

March a bill to oblige those with access to secret information about 

nuclear materials to keep it confidential or face penalties.

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



Regulators to reconsider Wisconsin nuke plant sale



MADISON, Wis. (AP) - State regulators officially agreed Thursday to 

reconsider two utilities' request to sell the aging Kewaunee nuclear 

power plant to a Virginia power company.



The Public Service Commission in December voted 2-1 to deny Wisconsin 

Power and Light Company and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation's 

request to sell the plant, located on the Lake Michigan shore near 

Kewaunee, to Richmond-based Dominion Resources Incorporated for $220 

million.



The proposal was the first in Wisconsin where an investor-owned 

utility asked to sell a regulated power plant to an out-of-state 

company, according to PSC officials.



Commissioners said at the time that the deal would strip them of 

their oversight authority at the plant and could clear the way for 

storing nuclear waste at the site if Dominion sold the plant in the 

future. Commissioners also were worried Dominion might sell power 

generated at the plant out-of-state, hurting Wisconsin's energy 

supply.



Under the new terms:



If Dominion sells the plant, it must offer it first to WP&L and WPS, 

ensuring the commission would have oversight of the sale. Any future 

buyer also would have to abide by the conditions Dominion agreed to 

when it bought the plant, including an agreement not to import 

nuclear waste, said Charlie Schrock, president and chief operating 

officer of generation for Wisconsin Public Service.



More decommissioning funds must go back to ratepayers. The plant's 

operating license is set to expire in 2013, and two funds were set 

aside to cover decommissioning expenses. Under the original 

agreement, Dominion would have gotten about $400 million and 

ratepayers $200 million. Now they would get the $200 million and 

whatever is left of the $400 million when Dominion has paid the 

closing expenses, Schrock said. Dominion probably will try to 

relicense the plant in 2013 and decommissioning more likely will come 

in 2033, he said.



Dominion would have to pay WP&L and WPS more money if Dominion can't 

provide power promised. The PSC was worried Dominion might sell power 

generated at the plant to other states.



As for the nuclear storage question, PSC officials said they were 

still putting together a list of issues they have with the sale and a 

schedule for oral arguments.



A message The Associated Press left at WP&L seeking comment Thursday 

wasn't returned.



The Citizens Utility Board, an energy customers' advocacy group, 

condemned the PSC's decision to reopen the sale, saying the new 

conditions wouldn't protect Wisconsin ratepayers.



"WPS, WPL, and Dominion have not come close to addressing the PSC's 

concerns. The PSC must stand strong and not cave in under utility 

pressure to approve a raw deal for Wisconsin ratepayers," CUB 

officials said in a statement.



The plant, one of two nuclear power plants in Wisconsin, has operated 

since 1974 and employs 450 people, according to the WPS Web site. The 

plant generates 4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, 

enough to power the Green Bay metropolitan area as well as homes in 

outlying Brown, Kewaunee, Door and Marinette counties, according to 

WPS.



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

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) 296-1144



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

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



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