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Re: Alliance for Nuclear Accountability



A search on the internet turned up the following story from the "Las Vegas
Review-Journal".  Note that the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability is
identified as "a coalition of 39 anti-nuclear and environmental groups."

The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.

Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com



Saturday, February 21, 1998

                 Special master to help
                 resolve nuclear waste
                 contempt issue

                 By Tony Batt
                 Donrey Washington Bureau

                       WASHINGTON -- A federal judge said Friday he
                 will appoint a special master to help him determine if the
                 Department of Energy should be held in contempt of
                 court for not completing an analysis of its nuclear
                 weapons cleanup program.
                       District Judge Stanley Sporkin set an Oct. 15 trial
                 date in the lawsuit against the department by the Alliance
                 for Nuclear Accountability, a coalition of 39 anti-nuclear
                 and environmental groups.
                       Before going to trial, both sides can argue the
                 contempt issue before the special master, who will
                 report to the judge, Sporkin ruled.
                       The alliance sought a contempt order in January
                 against Energy Secretary Federico Pe–a and other
                 department officials. Its lawyers charged the department
                 reneged on an agreement to complete an environmental
                 impact statement on nuclear waste disposal from military
                 facilities.
                       The report would include an analysis of radioactive
                 waste shipments from Fernald, Ohio, to the Nevada
                 Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
                       Barbara Finamore, a Natural Resources Defense
                 Council attorney representing the alliance, said the
                 department settled a lawsuit in 1989 by promising to
                 complete two reports, one on its environmental waste
                 management program and another on its efforts to
                 modernize the cleanup program.
                       "They're still going on with their shell game,"
                 Finamore said.
                       Martin LaLonde, a Department of Justice lawyer,
                 said the Energy Department began work on the reports
                 but decided in 1994 that it would not be appropriate to
                 make cleanup policy on a national level. Instead, local
                 officials, including regional Energy Department officials,
                 should make cleanup decisions on a site-by-site basis,
                 he said.
                       LaLonde acknowledged the department should have
                 informed the court, but maintained that the agency has
                 the latitude to make such a policy shift.
                       Sporkin was not convinced.
                       "I hate to make this sound like federalism, but the
                 federal (government) made this problem, not the locals,"
                 Sporkin said. The judge said there needs to be a
                 national plan in which "the states can buy in or not."

You wrote:

>I am seeking information concerning the Alliance for Nuclear
>Accountability.

...

>Nancy M. Daugherty
>nancy.daugherty@state.co.us
>(303)692-3417 W


I am seeking information concerning the Alliance for Nuclear
Accountability.  At a forthcoming meeting, Mr. Brad Morris from that
organization will be presenting an overview of the nuclear waste
problem, an update on recent US/Russia talks regarding nuclear
weapons disposal, and a discussion of emerging issues regarding the
disposition of weapons grade nuclear waste in the United States.

According to information provided about the meeting, "The Alliance for
Nuclear Accountability is a network of 35 public organizations from
around the country working to help the DOE safely and effectively
manage the disposition of nuclear wastes."

It's been a while since I 've worked at a DOE facility, and I have not
heard of either Mr. Morris or the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.  If
you know anything about their charter, activities, interface with DOE, any
advocacy positions that they have taken, or the names of some of the 35
member organizations, please advise me.

Nancy M. Daugherty
nancy.daugherty@state.co.us
(303)692-3417 W


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