[ RadSafe ] Armenia to close only nuclear plant by 2016: deputy minister

[Sandy Perle]

Index:

Armenia to close only nuclear plant by 2016: deputy minister
Dutch PM's Party Advocates Nuclear Energy In Policy Paper
NRC cites Entergy for misplaced Vermont fuel rod
Former President Carter Highlights Nuclear Energy's Role During Tour
False Alarms Plague Anti-Nuke System at U.S. Ports
Paper Runs Censored Stories on Nuclear Bomb Aftermath
Air Force Finds No Trace of Nuclear Bomb Lost in 1958
Russian customs officers prevent radioactive scrap metal shipment
Japan tells EU of decision to forfeit bid nuclear fusion reactor
Initiative to reduce cancer risks associated with radon gas
Duke Energy Sees Need For 4,000 MW New Capacity By 2015
Venezuela dimisses jitters over nuclear program
Small enriched uranium missing from nuclear power plant in Japan
Confidential data from Japanese nuclear plants ends up on Internet
========================================

Armenia to close only nuclear plant by 2016: deputy minister

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) - Armenia plans to close its only nuclear power 
plant, which supplies nearly 40 percent of the country's power, by 
2016, Deputy Energy Minister Areg Galstyan said on Friday.

By this date, the impoverished Caucasus state aims to have developed 
alternative electricity sources, he told reporters. However, the 
deputy minister said that Armenia wanted to preserve its nuclear 
power industry as it had experts in the sector and infrastructure.

The former Soviet republic has been under international pressure from 
the European Union and others to shut the plant down due to safety 
concerns; it was taken out of operation after a devastating 1988 
earthquake.

In 1995, it returned to service amid a severe energy shortage. 
Armenia has since resisted shutting down the plant, which has one 
working Soviet-made reactor, fearing that alternative sources of 
power may be hard to come by.

Armenian officials say the European Union is ready to provide up to 
100 million (US$120 million) for Yerevan to close the plant. However, 
building a new nuclear power plant could cost up to US$1 billion (1.2 
billion), Armenian officials say.
-------------------

Dutch PM's Party Advocates Nuclear Energy In Policy Paper

THE HAGUE (AP)--Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's party 
said Thursday the country needed more nuclear reactors because it 
can't rely on fossil fuels, which contribute to global warming.

The policy paper by the Christian Democratic Appeal, or CDA, is the 
latest sign of a reversal in the trend to phase out nuclear power, 
reflecting the growing concern about climate change and the 
requirements of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions of carbon 
dioxide, the main byproduct of burning coal and oil.

The Netherlands has one nuclear reactor used for energy. The Borssele 
plant had until recently been scheduled for closure, but all parties 
in the governing coalition now agree it must remain active.

Balkenende's government reopened the sensitive debate on nuclear 
power in February, saying all options needed to be considered as the 
country tried to meet its growing energy needs.

The main opposition Labor Party, which is roughly as large as the 
CDA, continues to support Borssele's closure.

In its policy blueprint released Thursday, the CDA said not only 
should Borssele remain on line, but more reactors should be built.

It also suggested investing heavily in alternative energy sources 
such as solar, wind and biomass, while working to cut use of fossil 
fuels, and reducing overall energy use by consumers and industry.

"Nuclear energy will remain an option during the transition to 
durable energy to reduce CO2 emissions from electricity production," 
the party said in a statement. "By focusing on the development of 
clean energy technology, the Netherlands will gain an economic 
advantage."

Environmental activists from Greenpeace stepped up their campaign 
against nuclear energy, citing the threat of nuclear accidents and 
the problems of disposing of waste. Wednesday, they dumped 200 empty 
oil drums - labeled as nuclear waste - into a pond outside the 
parliament building.

"We demand that the Cabinet stand by its earlier commitment to close 
Borssele in 2013 and opt for a durable energy policy that focuses on 
saving energy and safe energy sources," Greenpeace said in a 
statement.

The Borssele reactor has been the focus of protests by environmental 
groups for decades. It is owned by the Zuid Nederland Electricity 
Company and has a capacity of 450 megawatts, enough to power a 
million homes
------------------

NRC cites Entergy for misplaced Vermont fuel rod

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
has issued a notice of violation to Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc. 
for temporarily losing track of two spent fuel rod pieces at the 
Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

In a release, the NRC said Entergy Nuclear, a subsidiary of New 
Orleans-based energy company Entergy Corp. , found the pieces, 
measuring 9 and 17 inches respectively, in the spent fuel pool at the 
Vernon, Vermont, facility last year.

The NRC, however, did not impose a civil penalty on Entergy Nuclear 
in part because the company -- the second-biggest nuclear power 
company in the United States -- worked quickly to correct the 
problem, a spokeswoman for the federal agency said.

Entergy Nuclear has 30 days to respond to the notice.

The pieces never left the pool but were in a location not consistent 
with plant records. The material remained in the pool at all times, 
and there were no impacts on plant workers or members of the public.

The 510-megawatt station, capable of powering more than 400,000 
homes, is located in Windham County about 80 miles north of Hartford, 
Connecticut.

Entergy Nuclear did not own the plant when the pieces were lost. The 
reactor's previous owner transferred the pieces to a different part 
of the spent fuel pool in January 1980 long before Entergy bought the 
plant in 2002 but did not keep accurate records of their location.

The NRC also did not impose any civil penalties on the reactor's 
previous owners, the agency spokeswoman said.

Before Entergy bought the reactor, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. 
operated the plant for its owners: Central Vermont Public Service 
Corp. (33 percent), National Grid Transco Plc's New England Power 
(24), Green Mountain Power Corp. (19), Northeast Utilities' 
Connecticut Light and Power (10), Public Service Co of New Hampshire 
(4) and Western Massachusetts Electric (3), Energy East Corp.'s 
Central Maine Power (4) and NSTAR's Cambridge Electric Light (3).

Losing track of the irradiated fuel pieces increases the possibility 
the company could have accidentally mixed the pieces with other 
irradiated components and shipped them offsite to a low-level 
radioactive waste burial site, the NRC said.

After two entire spent fuel rods could not be located in the spent 
fuel pool at the permanently shut-down Millstone 1 nuclear power 
plant in Connecticut in 2000, the NRC's resident inspectors carried 
out inspections at each plant.

At Vermont Yankee, Entergy confirmed in April 2004 that two fuel 
pieces were not in a container on the bottom of the spent fuel pool, 
as plant records indicated. Entergy immediately launched an 
investigation to search for the missing pieces and discovered the 
pieces in July in a container known as a liner in a different part of 
the spent fuel pool.

Entergy's subsidiaries own and operate about 30,000 MW of generating 
capacity, market electricity, and transmit and distribute power to 
2.6 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
---------------

Former President Carter Highlights Nuclear Energy's Role During Tour 
of AEP's Cook Nuclear Plant

BRIDGMAN, Mich., June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Former President 
Jimmy Carter affirmed his optimism for the future of nuclear energy 
while highlighting the important role it has played in the United 
States during a visit to American Electric Power's (NYSE: AEP) Cook 
Nuclear Plant this morning.

"I am very proud of what nuclear power has done for our nation's 
security and well-being," Carter told a group of Cook employees 
before exiting the plant. "I think the future holds great 
opportunities for nuclear power because safety has improved, 
technology has improved and environmental quality has improved."

The Carter visit to Cook comes on the heels of President George W. 
Bush's visit Wednesday to a nuclear plant in Maryland, the first 
presidential visit to a nuclear plant since Carter's 1979 visit to 
Three Mile Island in the aftermath of the accident there. Carter, 
wife Rosalynn, and several family members participated in the Cook 
Plant tour during a break from their Jimmy Carter Habitat for 
Humanity Work Project in nearby Benton Harbor, where after the tour 
Carter dedicated 20 homes completed as part of the project.

"It was heartening to hear our 39th president, Jimmy Carter, echo the 
words of current President Bush about the important role of nuclear 
energy and the need for new nuclear generation to be part of 
America's future electricity generating fleet," said Michael G. 
Morris, AEP's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Both 
President Bush and President Carter have recognized the safety of the 
new designs for nuclear plants and the environmental benefits of 
having nuclear remain a vital part of the nation's energy mix."

Morris and Mano Nazar, AEP's chief nuclear officer, led a 90-minute 
tour that included plant control rooms, the turbine building and a 
briefing on plant security.

In the plant's control rooms, Carter interacted with plant reactor 
operators and questioned them about changes in nuclear technology 
since his time in the Navy and improvements made since Three Mile 
Island. Carter was a nuclear engineer in the Navy and served as 
senior officer on the Seawolf, the second nuclear submarine. In 
February, the Navy commissioned its newest nuclear-powered attack 
submarine, The Jimmy Carter.

"We're proud of the safety, training, and operational improvements 
made in the industry since you last visited a plant," Nazar told 
Carter. "And since 911, security upgrades have also been dramatic."

American Electric Power owns more than 36,000 megawatts of generating 
capacity in the United States and is the nation's largest electricity 
generator. AEP is also one of the largest electric utilities in the 
United States, with more than 5 million customers linked to AEP's 11-
state electricity transmission and distribution grid. The company is 
based in Columbus, Ohio.
----------------

False Alarms Plague Anti-Nuke System at U.S. Ports

WASHINGTON (June 21) - The post-Sept. 11 security blanket designed to 
keep nuclear material out of U.S. ports still has plenty of holes, 
including scores of false alarms from radiation detectors, scientists 
told Congress on Tuesday.
   
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey security manager Bethann 
Rooney said the facility receives "about 150 alarms a day'' from the 
22 radiation portal monitors at the site. That's more than 10 times 
the number of false alarms originally expected.

Rooney was among a handful of experts who testified before a House 
Homeland Security subcommittee reviewing the nation's anti-nuke 
efforts.

Federal agents at Rooney's facilities use radiation detectors on 
about 45 percent of containers, and they plan to raise that to 85 
percent at the end of the year after receiving additional detectors.

Rooney said the false alarms have not slowed shipping out of her port 
because follow-up inspections usually take less than 10 minutes.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., said he was worried that the high number 
of false alarms has prompted some agents to reduce the sensitivity of 
the devices, making them less effective in spotting real danger.

An official with the Government Accountability Office, the 
investigative arm of Congress, said the high number of false alarms 
is not limited to the New Jersey port.

Gene Aloise also noted that some border agents have been improperly 
using handheld radiation detectors to try to sweep an entire 
container, and he urged better training to rectify that error.

Since Sept. 11, the government has spent hundreds of millions of 
dollars at U.S. ports and overseas posts in an effort to keep out a 
so-called "dirty bomb.'' Characterized by Dr. Benn Tannenbaum as a 
"weapon of mass disruption,'' a dirty bomb would spread radioactive 
material over an area but not likely cause the high death toll of a 
nuclear weapon.

Dr. Richard Wagner of the Los Alamos National Laboratory cautioned 
that the port radiation detection devices, which stand some 20 feet 
tall, are not effective in detecting the highly enriched uranium that 
would be the key component of a nuclear weapon.

Wagner said that if the U.S. wants to keep out a nuclear bomb, it 
would do better to keep close tabs on the foreign sources of uranium 
in places like the former Soviet Union.

"It will always be far easier to monitor a lump of uranium at a known 
location than it will be to detect uranium smuggling,'' he said.

The scientist also urged lawmakers not to worry about missteps in the 
development and use of various high-tech tools.

"There will be false starts and there will be money wasted,'' Wagner 
said. "You're going to have to find some way for finding just the 
right degree of oversight.''
-----------------

Paper Runs Censored Stories on Nuclear Bomb Aftermath

TOKYO (June 19) - An American journalist who sneaked into Nagasaki 
soon after the Japanese city was leveled by a U.S. atomic bomb found 
a "wasteland of war" and victims moaning from the pain of radiation 
burns in downtown hospitals.

Censored 60 years ago by the U.S. military, George Weller's stories 
from the atom bombed-city surfaced this month in a series of reports 
in the national Mainichi newspaper.

A woman at a hospital "lies moaning with a blackish mouth stiff as 
though with lockjaw and unable to utter clear words," her legs and 
arms covered with red spots, Weller wrote.

Others suffered from a dangerously high-temperature fever, a drop in 
white and red blood cells, swelling in the throat, sores, vomiting, 
diarrhea, internal bleeding or loss of hair, his censored dispatch 
said, describing the then-unknown effects of atomic radiation.

By hiring a Japanese rowboat, catching trains and later posing as a 
U.S. Army colonel, Weller, an award-winning reporter for the now-
defunct Chicago Daily News, slipped into Nagasaki in early September 
1945, Mainichi said - about a month after the Aug. 9 bombing that 
killed 70,000 people.

In a Sept. 8, 1945 dispatch, Weller wrote of walking through the city 
- a "wasteland of war" - and finding evidence to back the talk of 
radiation fallout in American radio news reports.

"In swaybacked or flattened skeletons of the Mitsubishi arms plants 
is revealed what the atomic bomb can do to steel and stone, but what 
the riven atom can do against human flesh and bone lies hidden in two 
hospitals of downtown Nagasaki," he wrote.

Weller's reportage about the unknown affliction he called "disease X" 
appeared in Mainichi in Japanese and on its Web site in English.

The United States dropped two atomic bombs - the first on Hiroshima 
on Aug. 6, and the second three days later on Nagasaki, about 614 
miles southwest of Tokyo. The twin bombings led to Japan's Aug. 15, 
1945, surrender ending the war.

Weller, who died in 2002, was the first foreign journalist to set 
foot in the devastated city, which Gen. Douglas MacArthur, head of 
the U.S. occupation in Japan, had designated off-limits to reporters, 
the newspaper said.

Carbon copies of his stories, running to about 25,000 words on 75 
typed pages, along with more than two dozen photos, were discovered 
by his son, Anthony, last summer at Weller's apartment in Rome, 
Italy, Mainichi said.

Anthony Weller, a novelist living in Annisquam, Mass., couldn't be 
reached for comment. He previously said he plans to publish his 
father's stories.

Though he skirted American authorities to get into Nagasaki, Weller 
submitted his reports - the first was dated Sept. 6 - to the censors. 
The stories infuriated MacArthur and he personally ordered them 
quashed. The originals were never returned to him.

Anthony Weller told Mainichi he thought wartime officials wanted to 
hush up stories about radiation sickness and feared that his father's 
reports would sway American public opinion against building an 
arsenal of nuclear bombs. The first batch of stories were finished 
just as a delegation of American scientists was to visit the city to 
test for radiation.

Though thousands of burn victims had died within a week after the 
attack, doctors were stumped by "this mysterious 'disease X"' which 
sickened and was killing many Japanese as well as allied soldiers 
freed from prison camps a month later.

Weller met a Japanese doctor and X-ray specialist who thought that 
the bomb had showered the population with harmfully high levels of 
beta and gamma radiation. But nobody could say for sure.

"The atomic bomb's peculiar 'disease,' uncured because it is 
untreated and untreated because it is not diagnosed, is still 
snatching away lives here," Weller wrote.

Weller was 95 when he died in December 2002. He won the Pulitzer 
Prize for an eyewitness account of an emergency appendectomy carried 
out by a pharmacist's mate on a Navy submarine underwater in the 
South China Sea. He also covered the French Indochina war in 
Southeast Asia and World War II in Europe. He also sent dispatches 
from the Mideast, Africa, the Soviet Union and other parts of Asia.
-----------------

Air Force Finds No Trace of Nuclear Bomb Lost in 1958

SAVANNAH, Ga. (June 17) -- The first government search in decades for 
a nuclear bomb lost off the Georgia coast in 1958 found no trace of 
the sunken weapon, the Air Force said in a report Friday.

The report, released nine months after scientists tested radiation 
levels off Tybee Island, concluded the 7,600-pound bomb cannot 
explode and should be left at sea.

''We still think it's irretrievably lost. We don't know where to look 
for it,'' Dr. Billy Mullins, an Air Force nuclear weapons adviser who 
led the search, told a news conference.

A damaged B-47 bomber jettisoned the Mark-15 nuke into a sound about 
15 miles from Savannah after colliding with a fighter jet during a 
training flight.

The military never recovered the bomb and gave up searching until 
last year, when a retired Air Force pilot claimed his private search 
team had detected unusually high radiation levels in the sound.

Government scientists investigated, taking radiation readings and 
soil samples Sept. 30 from water in an area the size of four football 
fields. The report said varying radiation levels were observed, but 
they were from natural elements in the sediment on the sea floor.

''The best course of action in this matter is to not continue to 
search for it and to leave the property in place,'' said the report 
by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons and Counterproliferation Agency.

The Air Force has said the bomb contains uranium and about 400 pounds 
of conventional explosives, though it lacks the plutonium capsule 
needed to trigger a nuclear blast. The amount of uranium was 
undisclosed.

In 2001, the Air Force declared the bomb ''irretrievably lost'' and 
estimated it lies buried beneath 8 to 40 feet of water and 5 to 15 
feet of mud and sand.

The report issued Friday by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons and 
Counterproliferation Agency said dropping the search and leaving the 
bomb was ''the best course of action.''
------------------

Russian customs officers prevent radioactive scrap metal shipment 
from reaching China

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (AP) - Russian customs officers prevented a 
shipment of radioactive scrap metal from being exported to China, the 
customs service said Thursday.

Officers stopped two trucks in the village of Pokrovka in the Russian 
Far East and impounded their contents after a monitor picked up 
radioactivity exceeding accepted levels by 150 percent, said Viktoria 
Shamayeva, spokeswoman for the customs service. An investigation has 
been launched.
-----------------

Japan tells EU of decision to forfeit bid to host multibillion-dollar 
nuclear fusion reactor, report says

TOKYO (AP) - Japan has contacted the European Union to forfeit its 
bid to host a multibillion-dollar international nuclear fusion 
reactor, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday.

The US$13 billion (10.7 billion) International Thermonuclear 
Experimental Reactor will go to Cadarache in southern France, after 
officials in Tokyo conceded the rivalry to their EU counterparts on 
Tuesday, the national Mainichi newspaper reported.

In exchange for giving up hosting rights, Tokyo expects Japanese 
suppliers and scientists to win a large share of the project's jobs, 
the daily said, without citing sources.

The ITER plant aims to show that nuclear fusion presents a vast, safe 
source of energy that can wean the world off pollution-producing 
fossil fuels. Nuclear fusion produces no greenhouse gas emissions and 
only low levels of radioactive waste.

The start of the project has been delayed for months because the six 
parties have been split over where to build the plant. Tokyo was 
expected to formally announce its decision on June 28 at a meeting in 
Russia, according to media reports.

Japan, the United States and South Korea wanted it at Rokkasho in 
northern Japan. Russia, China and the EU want it at Cadarache, in 
southern France.

Education Ministry officials in charge of Tokyo's negotiations were 
not immediately available early Wednesday.
-----------------

U.N. health agency launches initiative to reduce cancer risks 
associated with radon gas

GENEVA (AP) - The U.N. health agency on Tuesday launched an 
initiative to reduce risks associated with the cancer-causing radon 
gas, saying there is little public awareness that it can harm humans 
in their homes.

Most exposure occurs in houses, where concentrations of the gas - the 
world's second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking - depend on 
the amount of radon-producing uranium in underlying rocks and how 
easily it can get in, the World Health Organization said.

"Radon accumulates within the house, so people are breathing this 
radioactive gas, which is tasteless, colorless," said Dr. Mike 
Repacholi, WHO's radiation and environmental health chief.

WHO recommends improving underfloor ventilation and sealing cracks in 
floors in existing homes in radon-rich areas - including many parts 
of northern and eastern Europe.

Houses in particularly affected areas can be fitted with new basement 
ventilation systems, although this is more expensive.

Radon gas is also present outdoors, but levels are usually very low 
because of dilution in the air.

High concentrations can be found in caves, mines and water treatment 
centers, but by far the greatest exposure for people occurs in the 
home, WHO said.

High levels can also be found in some drinking water sources.

Radon is also more likely to gather in houses where walls and roofs 
have been insulated against cold weather, as this cuts down airflow.

The risk of contracting lung cancer is significantly greater for 
smokers who live in houses where radon accumulates, Repacholi said.

The health agency said it was setting up a global network of 
scientists and other experts who will research risks associated with 
radon and the cost-effectiveness of possible measures to prevent it 
seeping into houses.

The results of their work will provide guidelines to help national 
authorities increase public awareness of radon's potential dangers.

People who use radon spas - which are popular in central and eastern 
Europe as well as Japan - may also be exposing themselves to 
increased risk of lung cancer, Repacholi added.
-----------------

Duke Energy Sees Need For 4,000 MW New Capacity By 2015

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Duke Power, the regulated utility of Duke 
Energy Corp. (DUK), said Wednesday that it needs to increase its 
baseload generation capacity by 4,000 megawatts, or 20%, by 2015.

That additional need could be met with purchased power, intermediate 
and peaking capacity and new baseload capacity in the form of coal- 
or nuclear-fired generation, said Ruth Shaw, the utility's president 
and chief executive.

Since completing construction of its Catawba nuclear station in 1986, 
Duke has relied on purchased power and other means to boost its 
capacity rather than building new generation facilities itself.

"Load growth is outstripping our capacity to meet it with these 
strategies," she said during a monthly conference call with 
investors.

As an early step toward building new generation, last month Duke 
Power filed preliminary information with the North Carolina Utilities 
Commission to modernize and expand its Cliffside and Buck Steam 
stations.

At Cliffside, the utility could build a new 800MW coal-fired plant as 
early as 2010 at an estimated cost of $1.1 billion, Shaw, the CEO, 
said. Duke will determine the timing of a second 800MW coal plant 
based on load growth and the construction schedule of a new nuclear 
plant, she said. The second plant is projected to cost $900 million.

Depending on the results of a pending request for proposal, Duke 
either will build a combined-cycle, natural gas- and oil-fired plant 
at the Buck station at an estimated cost of $350 million or buy 
intermediate capacity from external sources. There is no definite 
timetable for possible construction.

This year, the utility plans to determine the potential location and 
size of a new nuclear plant, for which Shaw said she believes public 
support is growing.

"We want to maintain the option to build a nuclear plant by 
proceeding through each step in the licensing and design process," 
she said.

Like other utilities mulling additional nuclear capacity, Duke said 
it needs assurances about a long-term solution for the storage of 
radioactive waste and that regulations won't be changed in the middle 
of construction. The earliest Duke sees a new nuclear plant coming on 
line is 2015. Currently, 28% of Duke's power generation is nuclear.

The utility said it expects compounded annual growth of earnings 
before interest and taxes to be flat to 2% through 2007.
-----------------

Venezuela dimisses jitters over nuclear program

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 24 (Reuters) - Venezuela will pursue plans 
to develop nuclear technology for its medical, industrial and oil 
sectors despite regional jitters over possible cooperation with Iran, 
the science minister said.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a critic of the United States and 
an ally of communist Cuba, met with wary reactions from South 
American neighbors last month when he said he could acquire nuclear 
technology with the possible help of Tehran.

But Science Minister Marlene Yadira Cordova dismissed as "rushed" 
initial reaction to Venezuela's plan to develop atomic technology 
with partners such as Iran, which Washington brands as part of an 
"axis of evil".

"In the scheme of alliances Venezuela has developed, any country 
where we have the conditions for scientific and technological 
cooperation in this area could be part of the process," Cordova told 
Reuters in a recent interview.

"It could be used for industry and for continued medical uses, which 
the country needs to support hospitals... and the third element is 
for energy for the oil industry," she said.

Venezuela has backed Iran in its dispute with the United States and 
Europe over Tehran's nuclear program. U.S. officials accuse Iran of 
secretly working to produce nuclear arms, but Tehran says the program 
is only for civilian energy uses.

Chavez said in May that Venezuela and other Latin American countries 
such as Brazil and Argentina could develop nuclear energy as an 
alternative power source.

But Brazil said it would likely not cooperate with Venezuela on 
nuclear energy projects involving Iran. A Brazilian government 
official described possible Iranian involvement as "risky" and 
pointed to Brazil's energy projects with Argentina and the United 
States.

Chavez, a former soldier who has promised to fight poverty, says his 
"new socialism" counters U.S. policies in Latin America and he has 
strengthened ties with Iran, Russia and Cuba to move away from a 
traditional reliance on Washington.

The firebrand Venezuelan leader says U.S. officials are plotting to 
oust him. Washington dismisses his charges, but portrays Chavez as a 
troublemaker in South America.

Cordova said Venezuela had closed down its RV1 nuclear reaction more 
than 10 years ago and recently converted it to the Pegamma 
irradiation plant for industrial and medical uses and for scientific 
study.

"We should within the next two years start building at least one 
other irradiation plant," she said.

The minister said that technology could be used for food 
sterilization and medical purposes. She said in the longer term 
Venezuela would study possible use of nuclear energy in the 
processing and production of its vast petroleum reserves.
----------------

Minute amount of enriched uranium missing from nuclear power plant in 
Japan

TOKYO (AP) - A small amount of enriched uranium - not enough to make 
a bomb - has gone missing from a nuclear power plant in central 
Japan, the Science Ministry said Friday.

Officials have been unable to locate a neutron-detecting device 
containing 1.7 milligrams of enriched uranium at the No. 3 reactor at 
Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture (state) about 320 
kilometers (200 miles) west of Tokyo, the ministry said in a 
statement.

The amount missing is too small to make a bomb, a ministry official 
said on condition of anonymity.

The missing uranium is not radioactive enough to pose a threat to 
humans, the official said.

The device, used to measure the level of neutrons in the reactor, was 
found to be missing Friday afternoon during an inspection of the 
nuclear fuel inventory at the plant, which is operated by Kansai 
Electric Power Co.

The whereabouts of the uranium was last confirmed on July 6, 2004, 
during a previous inspection of the plant's inventory, the statement 
said.

Officials have ordered Kansai Electric to conduct a thorough 
investigation and were set to send ministry inspectors to the plant 
on Saturday, the ministry said.

Another plant run by Kansai Electric, also in Fukui, was the scene of 
Japan's deadliest-ever nuclear-plant accident last August.

In that incident, a corroded cooling pipe carrying boiling water and 
superheated steam burst at a plant in nearby Mihama, killing five 
workers. No radiation was released in that accident.

Kansai Electric later admitted that the pipe had not been inspected 
since 1996. It is being investigated on suspicion of negligence 
leading to death.

The government has been eager to push nuclear power to meet the 
energy needs of resource-poor Japan, but public trust has been deeply 
shaken by a series of safety violations, reactor malfunctions and 
accidents in the nuclear energy industry.

Japan's 52 nuclear reactors supply 35 percent of the country's 
electricity. The government wants to build 11 new plants and raised 
electricity output to nearly 40 percent of the national supply by 
2010.

Fukui lies about 323 kilometers (202 miles) west of Tokyo.
------------------

Confidential data from Japanese nuclear plants ends up on Internet

TOKYO (AP) - Confidential data from Japanese nuclear plants was 
posted on the Internet when a worker's computer software was attacked 
by a virus, a company said Thursday.

The Japanese government said it was investigating whether the data 
included sensitive information on nuclear materials.

Mitsubishi Electric Industrial Co. said the information - inspection 
forms, reports and manuals used from 2003 to this year - probably 
appeared on the Internet sometime after March, but company officials 
were unaware of it until Wednesday.

The files from Tokyo-based affiliate Mitsubishi Plant Engineering 
Corp. had been saved on a worker's personal computer, which was 
loaded with file-sharing software, the company said. A virus that 
infected the software sent those files to the Internet.

Mitsubishi Electric said the information was from seven Japanese 
electric power companies and four other utility industry firms.

Though confidential, the data did not appear to include anything 
about nuclear materials, according to media reports.

----------------------------------------------------------------
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/