[ RadSafe ] New Energy secretary hears lab concerns

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

New Energy secretary hears lab concerns
CA State regulators signal approval of improvements to nuclear plant
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New Energy secretary hears lab concerns

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - The nation's new Energy Department secretary 
has vowed to protect benefits of Los Alamos National Laboratory 
employees as the federal government seeks a contractor to run the 
nuclear weapons lab.

"The people are going to be treated fairly," said Energy Secretary 
Samuel Bodman Friday during his first visit to the northern New 
Mexico facility. "We are very much aware ... of the concerns of the 
employees here, the rightful concerns."

The Energy Department issued a draft request for proposals to operate 
the lab, throwing the management contract open for competition for 
the first time in the lab's 60-plus-year history.

Los Alamos has been managed by the University of California since its 
creation as a top-secret World War II project to develop the atomic 
bomb. A series of management failures and security problems led then-
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to announce in April 2003 that the 
contract would be put up for bid. UC's contract expires in September.

The impact of a potential switch in managers on employee benefits has 
been a source of concern within the lab and among state leaders and 
New Mexico's congressional delegation.

The National Nuclear Security Administration's Source Evaluation 
Board, in a document released last week, ensured that the successful 
bidder would have to provide a total compensation package for lab 
workers "substantially equivalent" to the benefits and pensions now 
provided by UC.

Bodman replaced Abraham on Jan. 31 after Abraham resigned. Bodman 
visited Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque on Thursday, then 
went to Los Alamos the next day to answer employees' questions at an 
all-hands meeting.

One 30-year Los Alamos veteran told him that many of his colleagues 
in their 50s and 60s are planning to leave the lab "at the peak of 
their careers." He told Bodman the decision will hurt the lab and the 
country "and it all has to do with bad management."

Lab director Pete Nanos has been criticized by some scientists for 
the way he handled concerns last summer over safety and security 
failures by shutting the lab down.

Los Alamos shut down virtually all its divisions for review in July 
after two computer disks believed to contain classified information 
were reported missing and an intern suffered an eye injury from a 
laser. The shutdown came shortly before Abraham ordered a halt to the 
use of such computer disks at all DOE facilities until they could be 
accounted for.

Reviews are under way into the cost of Los Alamos' shutdown and what 
happened and why.

"This has to end up with lessons learned," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-
N.M., who accompanied Bodman. "It wasn't a trivial matter or a series 
of trivial situations."

Bodman told reporters after the employee meeting that unease about 
the contract competition is natural, but that "everything is going to 
be fine; I am convinced of that."

Bodman also said he's in awe of Los Alamos' history and the work 
being done there, and is committed to advancing its scientific 
mission, viewing it as "a sacred trust."
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CA State regulators signal approval of improvements to nuclear plant

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - State regulators have cleared the way for 
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to charge its customers $706 million to 
renovate the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.

PG&E wants to replace eight steam generators at the San Luis Obispo-
area plant. But the plan has drawn fire from environmentalists and 
consumer advocates, who question spending hundreds of millions on a 
$5.8 billion facility just 20 years old.

On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously 
agreed that PG&E's customers will probably be responsible for the 
costs of the work. The bill could run as high as $815 million if PG&E 
can convince commissioners that added charges are necessary.

Commissioners did not vote on the proposed renovations themselves and 
probably won't until a full environmental review of the project is 
completed later this year.

But PUC President Michael Peevey praised the plant for generating 
power without releasing climate-changing gases into the atmosphere.

Diablo Canyon's critics said the commission had shown it was willing 
to move forward with the renovations despite having no environmental 
review.

"Sounds like a go-ahead to me," said Jane Swanson, a spokeswoman for 
the Mothers for Peace.

The utility has already signed a $209 million contract with 
Westinghouse to replace the plant's generators.

Without replacements, PG&E would have to close the plant in 2013 or 
2014, company spokesman Jeff Lewis said. That would force the utility 
to find 2,260 megawatts of substitute energy elsewhere, or roughly 20 
percent of the power PG&E delivers to customers.

The Diablo Canyon plant has been controversial throughout its life. 
It lies 2 1/2 miles from an earthquake fault, and its cooling water 
has been blamed for harming local sea life.

More recently, some residents have started to view it as a tempting 
target for terrorists.


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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/