Groups Tell Bush Nuclear Power Far From `Renewable'

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

Index:



Groups Tell Bush Nuclear Power Far From `Renewable'

Missing' computer disks never existed - Report

Gov't panel calls for early resumption of Monju experimental

DOE unveils plan for aboveground nuclear waste storage

Regulatory staff recommends plant construction

Japan Nuclear body bares candidate sites for radioactive waste

Construction completed at SRS tritium extraction facility

Japan eyes legal revisions to punish nuclear info leaks

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



Groups Tell Bush Nuclear Power Far From `Renewable'



WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Nearly 50 environmental and energy policy 

groups have sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush, telling 

him that it is wrong to characterize nuclear power as a "renewable 

source of energy."



"Please be advised that nuclear power is not a renewable source of 

energy," they wrote in the letter. "Nuclear power and fossil fuels 

are environmentally polluting and non-renewable sources of energy."



The letter was signed by directors of such groups as the Alliance For 

Affordable Energy, Solar Energy International, and Environmental 

Resources Trust. They were all responding to a Wall Street Journal 

interview earlier this month in which Bush said that the nation needs 

advanced nuclear-power plants, which he called clean, "renewable" 

energy sources for the future.



According to the Journal article, Bush is looking forward to working 

with Congress on an energy bill that includes incentives for the 

nuclear power industry.



But Bush's characterization of nuclear power doesn't sit well with 

renewable energy groups, in particular. They said in their letter 

that the renewable label is reserved for biofuels, biomass, 

geothermal, hydropower, solar and wind. In addition, they added that 

it isn't just nuclear power that doesn't make the cut; neither does 

oil, coal and natural gas.

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



'Missing' computer disks that prompted shutdown of nuclear weapons 

lab never existed, report claims



ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A report concludes two computer disks that 

disappeared - prompting a virtual shutdown at one of the nation's 

leading nuclear weapons laboratories - never existed.



"We got walloped," a spokesman for the University of California, 

which manages Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Friday.



In a harshly worded review that described severe security weaknesses 

at the nuclear weapons lab - first created as a top-secret World War 

II project to develop the atomic bomb - the Energy Department 

concluded bar codes were recorded for the disks, but the disks 

themselves were never created.



A separate FBI investigation supported that finding, according to the 

report.



"The weaknesses revealed by this incident are severe and must be 

corrected," according to the report.



As punishment for the problems, the Energy Department slashed by two-

thirds the management fee it paid to UC for running Los Alamos. Out 

of a possible $8.7 million, UC will get only $2.9 million; it is the 

largest fee reduction ever imposed on a national laboratory.



"Although multiple investigations have confirmed that the `missing' 

disks never existed, the major weakness in controlling classified 

material revealed by this incident are absolutely unacceptable and 

the University of California must be held accountable for them," 

National Nuclear Security Agency Administrator Linton Brooks said in 

a statement.



The NNSA is a branch of the Energy Department that oversees the 

nation's nuclear labs.



UC officials accepted responsibility for the problems but pointed to 

the months of work they and lab officials have done reviewing Los 

Alamos' safety and security procedures since the initial shutdown.



"Unfortunately, we deserve this," UC spokesman Chris Harrington said. 

"But what we have done is correct the problems and put the right 

system in place so that we don't have to take this type of hit 

again."



In the wake of the supposed disk disappearance and a laser accident 

involving an intern, four Los Alamos workers were fired and one 

resigned. The problems also drew criticism from Congress and senior 

officials at the Energy Department.



About 12,000 workers were idled during the July shutdown.

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



Gov't panel calls for early resumption of Monju experimental



TOKYO, Jan. 28 (Kyodo) - A governmental panel on the nation's nuclear 

policy on Friday called for an early resumption of the operation of 

the trouble-plagued Monju fast-breeder reactor, panel members said.



In a meeting to review the nation's long-term nuclear policy, a 

committee of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission also proposed 

verifying whether it is reliable to use the Monju reactor as a power 

generation facility within 10 years after the resumption of its 

operation, they said.



The Monju reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, has been shut down 

since 1995 after a sodium coolant leak sparked a fire.



The panel also called for the need to establish technology to 

effectively handle the sodium.



The proposals were made as the commission endorsed an existing long-

term nuclear energy plan in which the government seeks the 

development of a fast-breeder nuclear reactor chiefly with the Monju 

reactor project at the core of Japan's nuclear fuel cycle policy.



Despite the commission's decision to call for the early resumption of 

the Monju reactor, some members expressed skepticism.



Hideyuki Ban, a joint head of the Citizens' Nuclear Information 

Center, said the commission needs to examine whether seeking a fast-

breeder nuclear reactor is a viable option for the nation's future 

nuclear policy.



Hitoshi Yoshioka, a professor at Kyushu University, said there is a 

need to evaluate whether the resumption of the Monju reactor is cost-

effective.



The commission has concluded that reprocessing spent nuclear fuel is 

a better option than burying it, although experts have said it is 

more economically efficient to bury spent nuclear fuel.



In line with the nation's nuclear fuel cycle policy, Japan Nuclear 

Fuel Ltd. began an initial test run of its nuclear fuel-reprocessing 

plant in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, in December.



Once in actual operation, the plant will extract uranium and 

plutonium from spent nuclear fuel generated at power plants 

throughout Japan for reuse as fuel.

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



DOE unveils plan for aboveground nuclear waste storage



LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Energy Department unveiled plans Friday for an 

aboveground site to receive highly radioactive waste destined for 

storage at a national nuclear waste dump in southern Nevada.



Plans call for a 500-by-500-foot facility the department dubbed an 

"aging pad" that could hold up to 46.3 million pounds, or about one-

third of the highly radioactive waste on its way to underground 

storage at the Yucca Mountain repository.



The department scaled back plans for building a facility to hold 

almost twice as much waste, Energy Department repository systems 

engineer Paul Harrington said at a nuclear waste issues conference in 

Washington, D.C.



The pad could be surrounded by a 300-foot barrier. Harrington 

declined Friday to provide details about security at the site, 90 

miles northwest of Las Vegas.



"There would be security, certainly," he said.



Nevada lawmakers have fought proposals for temporary aboveground 

storage at the Nevada Test Site, which encompasses the Yucca site. 

Critics note that federal law prohibits interim storage in Nevada if 

the state is to be home to a national permanent waste repository.



The state's top anti-Yucca administrator said the state will 

challenge the aboveground pad and will call for the Energy Department 

to seek a separate Nuclear Regulatory Commission license before 

building it.



"We think that a facility that holds that quantity of waste is an 

independent fuel storage facility," said Bob Loux, executive director 

of the Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency.



Harrington said the pad was not defined as a temporary storage 

facility because the waste would be awaiting placement in the 

permanent repository.



The Energy Department has long planned to build an aboveground 

collection station with about 2,000 casks containing nuclear waste 

shipped to Yucca from 39 states around the country.



The pad would allow for sorting and cooling of intensely hot 

radioactive waste destined for entombment in tunnels 1,000 feet below 

ground. Some casks could remain above ground for up to 15 years, 

Harrington said.



The pad would be used for about 50 years, or about the time project 

planners say it will take to fill the underground repository.



The Energy Department wants to open Yucca in 2010 and fill it with up 

to 144 million pounds of radioactive waste. But the department missed 

a self-imposed Dec. 30 deadline to submit a license application to 

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.



The application is expected to undergo several years of review.

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



Regulatory staff recommends plant construction



WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government is a step closer to 

approving a plan to turn weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for 

nuclear power plants.



Staffers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are recommending 

license approval for construction of a reprocessing facility at the 

federally-run Savannah River complex in South Carolina.



Under an agreement with Russia, the U-S plans to blend 34 tons of 

plutonium with depleted uranium for use in commercial reactors. Some 

environmentalists and anti-nuclear activists want the plutonium 

encased in glass and buried.



The N-R-C says routine operations at the plant would pose little 

threat, but an accidental release of radioactive material could 

increase cancer risks within 50 miles of the facility.

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



Japan Nuclear body bares candidate sites for radioactive waste



The semi-governmental Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute on 

Friday disclosed the names of 25 sites that its predecessor selected 

in the late 1980s as candidates for the disposal of highly 

radioactive nuclear waste.



The move followed a Nagoya District Court decision last December 

ordering the institute to fully disclose information on the sites 

selected by the former Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development 

Corp., known by its Japanese acronym, Donen.



The 25 sites in nine prefectures include Okoppe in Hokkaido, Sukumo 

in Kochi Prefecture, Nakatsugawa in Gifu Prefecture, Hiraya in Nagano 

Prefecture, Kumihama, which is now part of Tango in Kyoto Prefecture, 

Tottori in Tottori Prefecture and Tsushima in Ehime Prefecture.



The 25 sites are part of the 50 locations Donen had studied as 

candidates for the project.



The December ruling by the Nagoya court was issued in response to a 

suit filed in February 2003 by a civic group in Gifu that demanded 

full disclosure of the candidate sites.



Disclosed Friday are five of 15 reports compiled by Donen. The Japan 

Nuclear Cycle Development Institute is expected to release in March 

the remaining 10 reports, which are believed to contain information 

of the remaining 25 sites.



The disclosures are likely to spark sharp reactions from 

municipalities that were picked by Donen without prior consultation.



Donen conducted a survey from 1986 through 1988 and chose candidates 

sites based on certain specific conditions, including the absence of 

active fault lines and human settlements.



Donen had planned to narrow the sites down to one, but the plan had 

never materialized after Donen was excluded from the screening 

process as the government switched to selecting the site based on 

application.



The Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, which comprises 

power companies and other bodies, is now soliciting municipalities 

for hosting disposal sites. So far, no municipality has applied.



Highly radioactive waste is generated when spent nuclear fuel from 

nuclear power plants is reprocessed.



The government plans to bury radioactive waste deep underground after 

cooling it off at a temporary storage facility in the Aomori village 

of Rokkasho.



The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, an independent 

administrative corporation developing nuclear cycle technologies, was 

launched in 1998, taking over operations of Donen. It says it has 

nothing to do with the selection of the sites.

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



Construction completed at SRS tritium extraction facility



AIKEN, S.C. (AP) - Major construction has been completed on a tritium 

extraction facility at the Savannah River Site, officials said 

Thursday.



The tritium extraction facility had faced delays and cost overruns, 

but an official said the construction was completed earlier than 

expected and will allow the facility at the former nuclear weapons 

complex near Aiken to begin operating ahead of schedule.



Westinghouse Savannah River Co., which oversees daily operations at 

the Savannah River Site, was penalized by the Department of Energy in 

2003 for delays and cost overruns.



Mike Milnes, a spokesman for Westinghouse Savannah, said the 

construction phase was completed 10 months ahead of the facility's 

schedule, clearing the way for startup testing and commissioning of 

the facility in 2006.



"The construction was not only completed early, but more importantly, 

it was completed safely," said Chuck Spencer, Westinghouse defense 

programs manager. "We look forward to the start of hydrogen testing 

in April and commissioning of the facility in 2006. Our critical 

ability to resupply the nation's tritium will then be restored."



The $506 million project is key to the nation's nuclear weapons 

stockpile. The new facility restores the country's ability to make 

tritium, which hasn't been produced since 1988. Tritium, a 

radioactive form of hydrogen gas, is needed for modern nuclear 

weapons but decays quickly and needs to be replenished.

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



Japan eyes legal revisions to punish nuclear info leaks



TOKYO, Jan. 30 (Kyodo) - People who leak confidential information on 

nuclear facilities could receive penalties as severe as those civil 

servants are subject to under envisaged legal revisions, government 

sources said Saturday.



The measure is part of a bill to revise the reactor management law to 

prevent attacks on nuclear facilities, the sources said.



The government plans to decide on the bill in February and submit it 

to the Diet during the ongoing Diet session, with the hope that the 

revised law would take effect in January 2006.



The envisaged revisions to the law include installing "nuclear 

materials protection inspectors" to examine nuclear facilities' 

readiness to protect nuclear materials in the event of attack, the 

sources said.



The revisions would require anyone who has present or past links to 

nuclear facilities -- including facility employees, security guards, 

maintenance workers, and employees of companies engaged in the 

facilities' planning or construction -- to maintain confidentiality 

about the facilities.



Violators may face penalties of up to one year in prison or a 1 

million yen fine. This is in line with the National Public Service 

Law, which subjects state employees who leak information to penalties 

of up to one year in prison.



Japan has been studying ways to prevent attacks on nuclear facilities 

and theft of nuclear materials in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 

attacks on the United States.



Under the proposed legislation, nuclear materials protection 

inspectors would inspect nuclear facilities once a year to check 

their measures against attacks, including their ability to protect 

nuclear materials from intruders until police arrive the sites.



Twenty-one such officers would be assigned to the eight regional 

offices of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.



After the legal revisions are in place, nuclear facility operators 

would be required to submit to the government detailed building 

plans, the location of nuclear materials, and information on how 

security guards are deployed in the facilities as well as on the 

electric wiring of alarm systems



The operators would also have to submit to the government the list of 

people who may have access to confidential information and their 

methods of managing secrets.



After the legal revisions take effect, the government plans to 

present the nuclear facility operators with scenarios of anticipated 

attacks and based on the scenarios the operators must formulate 

counterattack programs, government sources said.



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

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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