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abolition-usa-digest      Thursday, July 23 1998      Volume 01 : Number 003




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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 22:34:42 -0400
From: peace through reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Comments on nuclear waste stories invited by Spokane Net

Spokane Net 7/18/98:


                 What are your thoughts on "Bay Area anticipates nuclear waste arrival?"


                 If you have a comment or reply to this story that you'd like to share, fill

                 in the form and click submit. Note: Replies are limited to 250 words and

                 must be signed with a valid email address. No profanity or libelous

                 statements will be printed.


                 Your comment:


http://www.spokane.net/news-story-body.asp?Date=071898&ID=s422858


            Bay Area anticipates nuclear waste arrival

                 Shipment will pass through on way to Idaho for storage


                 Associated Press - July 18, 1998, published in Spokane


                 WALNUT CREEK, Calif. _ The first of five nuclear waste

                 shipments due to pass through Northern California en route to

                 the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

                 by 2009 reportedly will arrive Tuesday.


                 The Department of Energy would neither confirm nor deny the

                 report in Friday's Contra Costa Times, although the agency had

                 said the waste would arrive this month.


                 The ship carrying spent nuclear fuel rods from Asia will sail

                 beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and dock at the Concord

                 Naval Weapons station about six hours later, but the exact time

                 and date could change because of possible protests, the

                 newspaper reported.


                 The temporary storage of that waste at the INEEL is authorized

                 under Idaho's unprecedented 1995 deal with the federal

                 government that allows limited increases in temporary storage in

                 Idaho but imposes court-enforced deadlines for waste cleanup

                 at the sprawling federal installation.


                 A spokesman for Idaho Gov. Phil Batt said the shipments are

                 expected soon.


                 ``We have heard bits and pieces. They will notify our state

                 police in advance of the shipments crossing the Idaho border,''

                 said Lindsey Nothern. ``But they're being real tight-lipped, and

                 there's a real big fine for people talking about it.''


                 The waste will be loaded on the train at Concord and then taken

                 to Idaho for temporary storage that could last more than three

                 decades.


                 The preferred route for the train carrying the steel casks holding

                 the rods is through the Feather River Canyon, about 40 miles

                 north of Reno.


                 Activists claim the casks were safety-tested using methods that

                 may not fully match the dangers of a real accident.


                 Manufacturers say the cylindrical containers have been tested

                 extensively using standards common to the industry, including

                 computer simulations and scale models.


                 The shipments are an outgrowth of the ``Atoms for Peace''

                 program in which U.S. Allies were provided with highly

                 enriched uranium for research purposes. In recent years, the

                 United States has moved to get the fuel back to prevent it from

                 falling into the hands of terrorists.


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


 July 20, 1998

                 What are your thoughts on

                 "Cleanup stopped at nuclear waste pit"

http://www.spokane.net/news-story-body.asp?Date=072098&ID=s424030


                 Cleanup stopped at nuclear waste pit


                 Twin Falls, Idaho _ Work has halted and the contract is

                 cancelled on the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental

                 Laboratory's troubled Pit 9.


                 The project was supposed to demonstrate the cleanup of buried

                 plutonium-contaminated waste at the INEEL.


                 Government officials plan to eventually dig up all the waste in the

                 one-acre pit, tour guide Jerry Gilman of Lockheed Martin Idaho

                 Technologies Co. told about 25 tour participants.


                 The statewide nuclear watchdog group had organized the tour in

                 anticipation of public hearings on the proposed Advanced

                 Mixed Waste Treatment Project, said Margaret Macdonald

                 Stewart of the alliance's Ketchum office. The group is

                 concerned that the government is spending millions on treating

                 waste that is stored above ground and shipping it out of state,

                 while two million cubic feet of waste remains buried in Pit 9 and

                 other INEEL pits.



<center><paraindent><param>left</param>__________________________________


PROPOSITION ONE COMMITTEE

PO Box 27217, Washington DC 20038

202-462-0757 | fax [phone]

[e-mail] | http://prop1.org

</paraindent>

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 22:44:24 EDT
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 Communications

Gee Tracy, I thought they were just dying, there in Geneva (or Tokyo) to know
about the Greenwich Village vigil.  (I jest, I jest, lest anyone take me
seriously.)

Peace, and in this case, a sound division,
David McReynolds

(Some things in fact are global in interest - the Cassini material, the
October 19th Day Without the Pentagon, etc. - reach above and beyond a
strictly local event and I think folks in Australia do want to know, just as
we do want to know about major political shifts - for example in the Japanese
election).

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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 23:28:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: [e-mail] (Robert Smirnow)
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: News Clips

- ----
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 08:18:11 +0000
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O

(GREENPEACE) due to copyrights only 5 lines of each story available.

 Agence France Presse HEADLINE: Britain's  Sellafield nuclear
reprocessing
plant confirms leak DATELINE: LONDON, July 19 Britain's main  nuclear
waste
reprocessing plant at  Sellafield  in northwest England has suffered a
minor
leak of radioactive  material, a spokesman said Sunday. British
Nuclear Fuels
 which runs the plant, assured AFP that the leak, which was...

 U.S.-ENVIRONMENT: CALIFORNIA-IDAHO NUCLEAR MOVE DATE A SECRET 07/16/98
Inter Press Service Copyright 1998 Global Information Network OAKLAND,
California, Jul. 16 (ENS/GIN) -- For security reasons the   Department
of
Energy (DOE) will not reveal exactly when a shipment of   spent nuclear
fuel
from foreign reactors is travelling through the Bay Area's Concord
Naval...

 The Daily Telegraph July  18, 1998, Saturday SECTION: Pg. 14 HEADLINE:
Politics: Britain considers  nuclear  curb that would shut down
Sellafield
BYLINE: By Charles Clover, Environment Editor BRITAIN will consider
reducing
radioactive discharges to the sea to zero by 2020, Michael Meacher, the
environment minister, said yesterday. This would mean the closure of...

NATION July  19, 1998, Sunday HEADLINE:  Opposition to N-plant mounts,
CRITICISM against the multi-billion-baht  nuclear -research reactor
plant in
Nakhon Nayok has gained momentum among local residents planning a rally
in
Bangkok next week even as the House budget-scrutinising committee on
Saturday
questioned the project's economic viability.  The government was...

 TECHNOLOGY-INDIA:  SANCTIONS THREATEN NUCLEAR SAFETY NEW DELHI, (Jul.
17)
IPS - Decades of denying India nuclear  technology has pushed the
country to
pursue an indigenous but  secretive programme which poses the threat of
a
Chernobyl-type  disaster, experts say. Because India does not accept
full-scope
international safeguards  for its nuclear activities, it has been...

 UK backs plan to slash Europe marine nuclear waste By Matthew  Jones
LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Britain on Friday proposed tough new
European
limits on the level of nuclear waste allowed into the sea in a  move
that
the nuclear industry said could cost it millions of pounds.  UK
environment
minister Michael Meacher said he would propose at a  conference next
week in...

AP July  16, 1998 Ukrainian  nuclear  plants reporting more
malfunctions  KIEV, Ukraine The number of malfunctions at Ukraine's
nuclear  power plants has started to grow because of outdated equipment
and
disregard for safety rules, the top nuclear  safety official said
Thursday. In
the first half of 1998, there were 37 malfunctions and disruptions of
work....

 RUSSIA: OPPOSITION MOUNTS AGAINST INJECTION OF RAD WASTE INTO TOMSK
AQUIFERS  07/09/98   Nuclear Waste News by Judith Perera LONDON - For
35 years, Russia's formerly secret Tomsk-7 nuclear complex   has been
pumping radioactive waste water deep into the ground a few
kilometers from wells that supply drinking water to the nearby
Siberian   city of...

 Inter Press Service July  17, 1998 RUSSIA: RADIOACTIVE LAKE THREATENS
ARCTIC DISASTER BYLINE: By Andrei Ivanov and Judith Perera DATELINE:
MOSCOW, Jul. 17  BODY:    Deep below the beds of Siberia's giant
man-made
Lake Karachai, a thick layer of highly radioactive salt in the
underground
water supply is leaching its way, slowly but surely, towards open
rivers...

TASS HEADLINE: Minatom experts deny  environmental  disaster is likely
BYLINE: By Veronica Romanenkova DATELINE: MOSCOW, July 15     No
environmental  disaster will occur in the area where  radioactive waste
has been
dumped in lake Karachai, Chelyabinsk region, since 1951, according to
Deputy
Director of the Non- Organic materials Research Institute Anatoly...

7 /17 1323  Russia ``satisfied'' Iran not seeking atomic arm-IRNA H
TEHRAN, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia has expressed satisfaction with an
Iranian pledge that Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons, Iran's
official news agency IRNA reported on Friday.      "Russia notes with
satisfaction Iran's declaration that it is committed to...the
non-proliferation of...

PANEL FINDS NO RESIDUAL DANGER FROM FRENCH PACIFIC NUCLEAR TESTS
Gamini Seneviratne, Vienna 06/18/98 Nucleonics Week   Page 21
The IAEA-led study of the radiological situation in Mururoa and
Fangataufa atolls, in the Pacific  Ocean halfway between Australia and
South America, has produced a clean  bill of health for the sites of...
    (This is despite the presence of Plutonium in the lagoon)



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

Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 23:46:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: [e-mail] (Robert Smirnow)
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: MOX ALERT!!!

- ----
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 13:03:21 -0700 (PDT)
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From: Michael Mariotte <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: MOX ALERT!!!


MOX ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!! from NIRS (contact info at bottom)
DRAFT EIS ON MOX IS OUT -- DEMAND A HEARING IN YOUR AREA

Remember the Department of Energy? They are the ones who made all those
nuclear bombs out of plutonium. Now they want to put that same
plutonium in
the nuclear power reactor nearest you. To quote a World Tree Peace
Center
bumper sticker: "The Peaceful Atom is a Bomb!"  So they are preparing a
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) which you can comment on.

MOX -- or mixed oxide (plutonium-239 and uranium-238) reactor fuel is
DOE's
preferred answer for what to do with plutonium removed from bombs that
are
being taken apart. While taking nuclear war heads apart is a good
thing,
the rub comes because this experimental program places reactor
communities
- -- and indeed, the global community-- at greater risk. Both by raising
the
probability of a severe reactor accident AND by more than doubling the
radioactivity that could be released should an accident happen.

Why does DOE want to do this? Putting plutonium as MOX in a reactor
does not
make it go away -- while some plutonium is being split, more is being
made.
The reactor does however make it highly radioactive by mixing it with
the
alphabet soup of fission products, and much more difficult to use in
another
bomb.

There are non-reactor alternatives for how to make the plutonium
unavailable
for use in another bomb, which are generically called plutonium
immobilization. The DOE is currently conducting an Environmental Impact
Statement to inform the Department's decision about whether to make MOX
fuel, and if so, how much MOX to make from a total of 50 pounds of
plutonium
that is considered "excess" -- isn't ALL plutonium excess? The plan is
to
immobilize the rest.

DOE has just announced that they are releasing their Draft
Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS), and holding public meetings to get comments.
As
with their scoping meetings, not one of the locations(see below) is
designed
to be accessible to reactor or transport corridor communities. We who
live
near power reactors are invisible in this decision as to whether to put
plutonium in the reactors. Why? Because we are also powerful. We hold
the
key as to whether a nuclear reactor operator in a "deregulated, open"
market
can survive while using nuclear fuel at all, and especially
experimental,
never-been-tried-before bomb fuel.

Suggested Action Steps follow this DOE information--

DOE meetings and comment info: To get a copy of the DEIS, call
1-800-820-5156 -- that is a recording and also fax line, where you can
request information, register for the meetings or ask for the document.

Meetings are in all cases held twice on the same day in each location,
in
the afternoon from 1 - 4 p.m. and in the evening from 6 to 9 p.m.

LOCATIONS:  August 4, Hanford -- Richland, WA
            August 11 Pantex -- Amarillo, TX
            August 13 Savannah River Site -- North Augusta, SC
            August 18 Portland, OR
            August 20 Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab
                        Idaho Falls, ID

If you want more information about these meetings, call DOE, or to talk
it
over with us, contact: Mary Olson, 202-328-0002  or [e-mail] (call
if
time sensitive).

DOE is also accepting written comments until September 16, 1998.
Their address for comments is:
US Department of Energy
Office of Fissile Materials Disposition
P.O. Box 23786
Washington, DC 20026-5134


NIRS ACTION STEPS:

1) The most important thing is to shine light on the dark and secret
ways of
the plutonium gang.  If you live anywhere near a nuclear power reactor,
demand a DOE hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement
hearing in
your area. We will be affected by this major Federal Action, but we are
being left out of the process. Make your comments to DOE in the form of
a
letter to the Editor of your local paper. -- Or a letter to your
Congress
person. In any case make a "cc" list that includes:

your paper editor
your Congress Person (US House Washington, DC 20215
both your Senators (US Senate, Washington, DC 20210
any state official you want -- Governor or state agency
us at NIRS (Mary Olson 1424 16th St NW Suite 404 Washington, DC 20036)
DOE (address above)
NRC (Shirley Anne Jackson, Chair, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555)

2) Get comments in to DOE. Message: NIX MOX!!! In your comments, we
strongly
urge anyone living a hundred miles of a nuclear reactor to complain
that you
were left out of the scoping meetings, these comment meetings and also
that
the DOE is going to use two meetings that were boycotted by this
community
(in SanDiego and Chicago in June) as if it were your in-put under NEPA
(the
National Environmental Policy Act.) (This is assuming that the DOE has
not
been compliant and held a meeting in your area.

Please get something in early, and then later if there is the chance to
do
more detailed comments based on analysis that may be posted to the net,
there is no problem with sending a second comment.

3) Part of "shining the light" on the plutonium lies is more out-reach
in
our communities on the MOX issue.  August observances of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki days provide an opportunity to do this. In a very real way,
the US
investment in the Manhattan project was the beginning of the
possibility of
a plutonium economy. The bomb that destroyed Nagasaki was a plutonium
bomb.
It is a fitting time to bring this issue forward.

In Portland, Oregon there are plans to include MOX in the program for
August
6th. In Port Huron, Michigan folks recently held a talk on MOX since
the
trucks carrying US plutonium to Canada under the CANDU option would
pass
over the Clear Water Bridge. Let us know if you are going to make MOX
part
of your community's August remembrance of the destructive essence of
the
Nuclear Age.

4)A NIX MOX Organizer's manual is almost done! Watch for another alert
announcing how to get one hot off the press -- at very low cost.

Mary Olson
Nuclear Information & Resource Service
1424 16th St NW Suite 404
Washington, DC 20036
202-328-0002   fax [phone]
http://www.nirs.org
[e-mail]




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

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 13:07:15 -0400
From: Ish <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: [DOEWatch] Excerpt from Atomic Veterans Radiation News, June 1998

>Mailing-List: list [e-mail]; contact http://www.onelist.com
>Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 12:08:31 EDT
>Delivered-To: mailing list [e-mail]
>From: <[e-mail]>
>To: [e-mail]
>Subject: [DOEWatch] Excerpt from Atomic Veterans Radiation News, June 1998
>
>From: <[e-mail]>
>
>
>Souce material excerpt from Atomic Veterans Radiation News, June 1998
>
>=======================================================
>"Here is another excerpt on radiation and health and politics (those three
>always walking hand in hand in hand) from my friend, Dr. Oscar Rosen, PhD,
>via his well-done newsletter, vol.2, no.6, June 1998--not yet electronic,
>but subscribable--12 monthly issues for $25, sent to Atomic Veterans
>Radiation Research Institute (AVRRI), PO Box 4424, Salem, MA  01970-6424.
>Dr. Rosen's email is [e-mail]; his fax is 978-740-9267, his phone
>is 978-744-9396.  This is a very informative newsletter,  mostly oriented to
>atomic veterans, and comes out regularly.   There are many areas where Oak
>Ridge community and workers have common cause with atomic vets, as in the
>following piece:
>
>
>=========================================================
>WHERE WE STAND  by Dr. Oscar Rosen (excerpted)
>
>"During the six years I was a National Commander of NAAV [ed. National
>Association of Atomic Veterans] and the year since I have been president of
>the Atomic Veterans Radiation Research Institute, I have received many
>complaints from Hiroshima/Nagasaki veterans and nuclear bomb test
>participants about chronic stomach problems whose first symptoms were
>diarrhea and nausea soon after exposure to radiation.  They were never told
>by their military doctors or VA doctors that they were suffering from
>radiation sickness.  I wrote an article about this for NAAV's Atomic
>Veteran's Newsletter when I was its editor.  We have heard the same reports
>from Gulf War veterans.  It's time to write about it again.
>
>What made me decide to bring this to your attention?  On June 14, I met a
>retired physician from the University of North Carolina who told me that he
>had gone to the Soviet Union with an international group of doctors to visit
>the site of the Soviet Union's nuclear testing in what is now the
>independant republic of Kazakhstan.  A Soviet doctor who worked in a
>hospital in the area told him that he was warned not to enter diagnoses of
>radiation sickness in patients' medical records or he would lose his job.
>There is no doubt that the US-exposed veterans were bamboozled in the same
>way.  To make matters worse, many were told that their records were "lost"
>when they filed claims..."
>
>=======================================================
>Above Commentary from:
>Jacqueline O. Kittrell
>General Counsel
>American Environmental Health Studies Project, Inc.
>6328 Strawberry Plains Pike
>Knoxville, Tennessee  37914
>423.522.1139
>[e-mail]
>
>
>======================================================
>Comments:
>
>   Currently this same course is being followed by those who fought in the
>Gulf War-----vaccination records have been lost------infomation has been lost

>in the official log or still classified--------the veterans most all have
>undiagnosed illnesses.
>
>   This same fate has befallen those sick in Russia as well as the Atomic
>Veterians exposed in the U.S. and is also the standard protocall for the
>illnesses seen in places like Oak Ridge.
>
>   There is a large and unmistakable pattern of this thru nuclear history.  A
>pattern of exactly this-----
>======================================================
>doctor who worked in a
>hospital in the area told him that he was warned not to enter diagnoses of
>radiation sickness in patients' medical records or he would lose his job.
>There is no doubt that the US-exposed veterans were bamboozled in the same
>way.  To make matters worse, many were told that their records were "lost"
>when they filed claims..."
>======================================================
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Help support ONElist, while generating interest in your product or
>service. ONElist has a variety of advertising packages. Visit
>http://www.onelist.com/advert.html for more information.
>
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton

http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/             __
                                (\    .-.    .-.     /_")
                                 \\_//^\\_//^\\_//
                                  `"`    `"`    `"`


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

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 07:57:52 -0400
From: peace through reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 Communications

Thanks, Tracey, I had no intention of insulting, and I understand the
problem.

Now my questions: are the articles from various papers on nuclear issues
being sent to the Europeans, though chitchat and demonstration directions
are not?  How does the filter work -- does it filter out all messages from
the U.S. activists, say, or what's the selection criteria?  Is the filter
human or machine?  (Machines are great, but don't have much judgment.)

Thanks for taking on this task.
Ellen Thomas
Proposition One Committee |
Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil
PO Box 27217, Washington DC 20038
202-462-0757 -- fax [phone]
[e-mail] -- http://prop1.org

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

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 05:44:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tracy Moavero <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 Communications

Ellen,

At 07:57 AM 7/21/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Thanks, Tracey, I had no intention of insulting, and I understand the
>problem.
>
>Now my questions: are the articles from various papers on nuclear issues
>being sent to the Europeans, though chitchat and demonstration directions
>are not?  How does the filter work -- does it filter out all messages from
>the U.S. activists, say, or what's the selection criteria?  Is the filter
>human or machine?  (Machines are great, but don't have much judgment.)

We are asking each person to use their judgement in deciding where a posting
should go, so no one will be making that determination on your behalf. So if
you have articles about stockpile stewardship, for example, that you think
that people from Toronto to Tokyo should see, then post it to the
abolition-caucus list. If it is very specific about U.S. legislation, like
about getting cosponsors for the Congressional stockpile stewardship
resolution, then use the abolition-usa list.

Would anyone be willing to post a brief monthly summary of key US activities
to the international list? Any volunteers?

Lastly, to be clear, Sue Broidy of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is managing
this listserver, so she is the best person to ask about any technical matters.

Thanks,

Tracy
******************************************
Tracy Moavero
Peace Action International Office
866 UN Plaza, Room 4053
New York, NY 10017-1822
USA
Tel.:  [phone]
Fax:   [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Web:   www.webcom.com/peaceact

Peace Action is a member of the International Peace Bureau & Abolition 2000:
A Global Network for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons


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

Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 05:44:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tracy Moavero <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Abolition 2000 Communications

David,

>(Some things in fact are global in interest - the Cassini material, the
>October 19th Day Without the Pentagon, etc. - reach above and beyond a
>strictly local event and I think folks in Australia do want to know, just as
>we do want to know about major political shifts - for example in the Japanese
>election).


Agreed. It's more the level of detail that has been the problem. I'm glad -
for example - that the international list has included information on the UK
Strategic Defense Initiative. As you'll seen in my response to Ellen on the
list, we'll just have to each use our judgement in where we post things.
Also, it would be great if we could get someone to post summaries to the
int'l list from time to time.

Tracy
******************************************
Tracy Moavero
Peace Action International Office
866 UN Plaza, Room 4053
New York, NY 10017-1822
USA
Tel.:  [phone]
Fax:   [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Web:   www.webcom.com/peaceact

Peace Action is a member of the International Peace Bureau & Abolition 2000:
A Global Network for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons


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

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 09:05:53 -0400
From: peace through reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews: Hanford cleanup starts at $6.9 billion (Oregonian 7/22/98)

              Hanford cleanup starts at $6.9 billion

              The contract to start converting radioactive
              waste into glass for storage now goes to
              Congress for approval

              Wednesday, July 22 1998

              By James Long of The Oregonian staff

              The U.S. Department of Energy agreed
              Tuesday to a $6.9 billion deal with a
              British company to begin converting the
              equivalent of 2,800 railroad cars of
              radioactive waste into glass at the
              Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

              Congress has 30 days to accept or reject
              the agreement. But with no objection in
              sight, the contract apparently signals the
              beginning of one of the biggest public
              works projects in history.

              Hanford intends to glassify 54 million
              gallons of waste buried in 177
              underground tanks, an endeavor that
              could take 30 years and cost $40 billion
              to $50 billion. The waste varies in
              content but includes radioactive sludge
              and unknown combinations of
              bomb-making byproducts that have
              proven unstable.

              "The process will put the waste in a
              form which will provide long-lasting
              protection of the Columbia River --
              which is what the cleanup is really
              aimed at," said John D. Wagoner, the
              Energy Department's Hanford manager.

              But the deal with BNFL Inc. also raised
              eyebrows.

              It is only the leading edge of the project
              and will treat 10 percent of the waste in
              the next 20 years. The 2018 deadline
              will leave 10 more years to glassify the
              remaining waste, if the Energy
              Department is to meet its 2028 deadline
              under its tri-party agreement with
              Washington state and the U.S.
              Environmental Protection Agency.

              "I think we're a little bit surprised by the
              cost and what (the Department of
              Energy) is getting," said Ken Niles,
              deputy administrator of the nuclear safety
              division of the Oregon Office of Energy.
              "You have to question whether the
              remaining 90 percent can be treated in
              the remaining 10 years."

              The Oregon Office of Energy has no
              official role at Hanford. The state of
              Washington threatened recently to sue the
              Department of Energy for failing to meet
              tri-party milestones. At least 67 of
              Hanford's tanks are known or suspected
              to be leaking, and Washington officials
              have become impatient with cleanup
              delays.

              However, Washington Gov. Gary Locke
              and Attorney General Christine O.
              Gregoire sent a letter to Energy
              Secretary nominee William Richardson
              after the announcement Tuesday,
              pledging to "reserve judgment . . . until
              we review the details of the contract."

              Sheryl Hutchison, a Washington state
              Ecology Department spokeswoman, said
              that the agency was still gathering
              information and that "it's going take some
              weeks for us to analyze this proposal."

              "Our first reaction," she said, "is that it's
              a pretty good start toward addressing the
              need to move this project forward. It
              will need some changes in the tri-party
              agreement, and the question is whether
              they are things we can live with. If it's
              going to blow the schedule to
              smithereens, we won't be quite as
              receptive."

              The tri-party agreement -- a
              court-sanctioned 1989 pact for cleanup
              -- requires Hanford to begin processing
              low-level tank waste by December
              2003. Although BNFL's proposal would
              put this off until January 2008, the
              company would start glassifying
              high-level waste -- the more dangerous
              portion -- in February 2007, almost three
              years earlier than the tri-party agreement
              calls for.

              The process is simple: Waste is fed into
              a crucible with glassmaking ingredients
              and melted into "logs" or "blocks,"
              which are then stored. This does not
              make the waste less radioactive but
              keeps it from migrating into the
              environment.

              The glass would be stored at Hanford for
              the near future.

              More time sought
              BNFL, which has 50 years of experience
              treating atomic waste, wants to take
              more time designing the glassmaking
              equipment. It proposes opening a
              pretreatment facility in April 2006.
              Pretreatment will allow greater
              separation of waste into high-level and
              low-level portions, saving money on the
              production and storage of glass.

              High-level waste poses a particular
              challenge. It ultimately must be stored at
              a permanent underground facility, such
              as the yet-to-be-opened Yucca Mountain
              repository in Nevada.

              With intense pretreatment, authorities
              say, it might be possible to concentrate
              Hanford's high-level waste into about
              15,200 glass "logs" measuring 2 feet by
              15 feet. With less pretreatment,
              high-level wastes would yield perhaps
              200,000 logs, boosting costs
              dramatically. All logs must be encased
              in steel and sized to fit underground
              storage facilities.

              Lower-level waste will be mixed into
              98,000 glass blocks, each about the size
              of two phone booths. Blocks, too, must
              be encased in steel. They will remain at
              Hanford.

              If the Yucca Mountain storage project
              falters, the high-level logs could be
              stored for a century or more in a massive
              concrete warehouse now nearing
              completion in the middle of Hanford.
              Low-level glass will be placed in
              concrete vaults or perhaps entombed in
              one of Hanford's thick-walled "canyon"
              buildings, previously used for
              processing plutonium.

              BNFL's U.S. partners in the Hanford
              project are Bechtel National Inc., an
              engineering and construction giant; GTS
              Duratek, a maker of glass melters; and
              Science Applications International
              Corp., a defense consulting firm.

              Under the Energy Department's
              "privatization" approach, BNFL will
              finance, design and build the
              glassification plants and sell the finished
              logs back to the Energy Department. The
              company must have environmental
              permits for the system to operate.

              "We are extremely pleased that an
              agreement has been reached," said
              Thomas B. Crimmins Jr., BNFL Inc.
              president and CEO. "We are confident
              the overall approach is the right one and
              will protect the environment."

              Wagoner said the exact cost to the
              government won't be known until more
              of the design work is done and the costs
              are better understood. If the government
              insisted on a fixed cost now, he said, it
              could add $5 billion to the $6.9 billion
              target price proposed Tuesday.

              He said privatization would save the
              taxpayers as much as a third of what they
              would pay if the Energy Department
              created and managed the project itself.

              Maurice Bullock, a BNFL vice
              president, said the project will create
              about 2,000 construction jobs and 600
              operator positions when glassmaking
              begins.
_______________________________________________________________________

* Peace Through Reason - http://prop1.org - Convert the War Machines! *
_______________________________________________________________________

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

Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 10:29:58 -0700
From: "Peter Coombes" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Canadian Citizens' Weapons Inspection Team

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

- ------=_NextPart_000_006E_01BDB624.D75E47C0
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    charset="iso-8859-1"
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Dear Friends,
=20
End the Arms Race is organizing its second Canadian Citizens' Weapons =
Inspection, this time to Groton Connecticut .  We are working closely =
with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyak, NY. And together we will =
do an inspection of the Electric Boat Corporation.  As you probably =
know, Electric Boat built the Trident submarine.
=20
I'm attaching below a copy of our news release (please support us by =
distributing it in your area).
=20
This is a highly respected team. Leading the Canadian Inspectors is =
Member of Parliament Libby Davies for Vancouver East.  She will be =
accompanied by community leaders including myself, Peter Coombes =
president of End the Arms Race; David Morgan, President of Veterans =
Against Nuclear Arms; and Phyllis Creighton long-time peace worker with =
the Anglican Church of Canada.  We have a broad base of support for the =
work we do.
=20
As a team, it is our strong belief that the following principles made =
our first inspection a great media, educational and political success:=20
        1.. Work within the laws of the country =96 we have no =
intention, desire or need to break any laws.=20
        2.. Inspectors operate in a public, transparent mode =96 we will =
present ourselves in a public location and request the cooperation of =
the military and political leaders and staff of any facility to be =
inspected.=20
        3.. International =96 all inspections will be led by =
international observers. As Canadians we can lead inspections to =
countries around the world. But, we cannot lead inspections within =
Canada, we can facilitate and participate in Canadian inspections but we =
would have to have foreign nationals leading the team.=20
        4.. Community leaders and Officials =96 We will seek the =
participation of well known community leaders, official representatives =
of groups, elected officials, retired military personnel, and experts.=20
        5.. Ensure that we are working with local, on-the-ground peace =
groups and community leaders both abroad and in Canada.
       =20
Again, I hope you can help us by distributing the attached news release. =
And thank you very much for your support.
=20
Sincerely yours,
Peter Coombes
=20
 =20
News Release
For immediate release
July 23rd, 1998

End the Arms Race
Suite 405
825 Granville Street
Vancouver BC V6Z 1K9
604 / 687-3223
fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.peacewire.org
M.P. Libby Davies Leads Search for=20
Weapons of Mass Destruction Delivery Systems
(Vancouver) Libby Davies, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, will =
lead a second Canadian Citizens=92 Weapons Inspection Team to the United =
States. The team will investigate the production of delivery systems for =
weapons of mass destruction at the Electric Boat Corporation in Groton =
Connecticut on Monday August 3.
=20
Libby Davies stirred a media frenzy in the states of Washington and =
California when she led a similar team in February to Bangor Washington =
to look for Trident Submarines which each carry 200 nuclear weapons. The =
Canadians are now crossing the continent to find the source of these =
weapons systems.
"Electric Boat Corporation built one of the most deadly weapons systems =
ever created -- the Trident Submarine fleet," said Libby Davies. "They =
cannot remain immune to public scrutiny just because they=92re private." =

=20
Davies added, "The threat of nuclear catastrophe is escalating. And we =
cannot enter the next millenium simply hoping it will go away. That=92s =
why citizens world-wide, like us, must take back our power to actively =
work to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction."
=20
Joining Libby Davies M.P. are Peter Coombes, President of End the Arms =
Race; David Morgan, President of Veterans Against Nuclear Arms; and =
Phyllis Creighton an active peace member of the Anglican Church of =
Canada.=20
=20
The team will conduct an aerial inspection then meet with community =
leaders and experts on August 2 as part of its fact-finding mission. On =
Monday August 3 the Canadian team will join U.S. members for a meeting =
with the Under-Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs and news =
conference at the United Nations. The team arrives at the Electric Boat =
Corporation at 3:00 p.m.
=20
The team has written John Welch, President of the Electric Boat =
Corporation expecting full and unconditional access to the factory to =
search for the production of delivery systems for weapons of mass =
destruction. As well, President of End the Arms Race Peter Coombes has =
written Prime Minister Chretien asking that he help the team gain access =
to the factory.
=20
- --30--=20
=20
For information contact:
Libby Davies, Ottawa [phone], Vancouver [phone]
Jillian Skeet, End the Arms Race (6040 687-3223

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<META content=3Dtext/html;charset=3Diso-8859-1 =
http-equiv=3DContent-Type><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 =
HTML//EN"><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<META content=3D'"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=3DGENERATOR>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D3>Dear Friends,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D3>End the Arms Race is organizing its =
second Canadian=20
Citizens' Weapons Inspection, this time to Groton Connecticut .  We =
are=20
working closely with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyak, NY. And =
together=20
we will do an inspection of the Electric Boat Corporation.  As you =
probably=20
know, Electric Boat built the Trident submarine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT size=3D3>I'm attaching below a copy of =
our news=20
release (please support us by distributing it in your =
area).</FONT></FONT><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000><FONT size=3D3></FONT></FONT><FONT=20
size=3D3> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT size=3D4><FONT =
size=3D3>This is=20
</FONT><FONT size=3D3>a highly respected team. </FONT></FONT><FONT =
size=3D3>Leading=20
the Canadian Inspectors is Member of Parliament Libby Davies for =
Vancouver=20
East.  She will be accompanied by community leaders including =
myself, Peter=20
Coombes president of End the Arms Race; David Morgan, President of =
Veterans=20
Against Nuclear Arms; and Phyllis Creighton long-time peace worker with =
the=20
Anglican Church of Canada.  We have a broad base of support for the =
work we=20
do.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV><FONT face=3DTimes>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>As a team, it is our =
strong belief=20
that the following principles made our first inspection a great media,=20
educational and political success: </FONT></DIV>
<OL>
    <OL>
        <LI><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Work within the =
laws of the=20
        country – we have no intention, desire or need to break =
any laws.=20
        </FONT>
        <LI><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Inspectors =
operate in a=20
        public, transparent mode – we will present ourselves in a =
public=20
        location and request the cooperation of the military and =
political=20
        leaders and staff of any facility to be inspected.</FONT>=20
        <LI><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>International =
– all=20
        inspections will be led by international observers. As Canadians =
we can=20
        lead inspections to countries around the world. But, we cannot =
lead=20
        inspections within Canada, we can facilitate and participate in =
Canadian=20
        inspections but we would have to have foreign nationals leading =
the=20
        team. </FONT>
        <LI><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Community =
leaders and=20
        Officials – We will seek the participation of well known =
community=20
        leaders, official representatives of groups, elected officials, =
retired=20
        military personnel, and experts.</FONT>=20
        <LI><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Ensure that we =
are working=20
        with local, on-the-ground peace groups and community leaders =
both abroad=20
        and in Canada.<BR></FONT></LI></OL></OL>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT><FONT =
color=3D#000000 face=3DArial=20
size=3D3>Again, I hope you can help us by distributing the attached news =
release.=20
And thank you very much for your support.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Sincerely =
yours,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Peter =
Coombes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> =20
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>News =
Release</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>For immediate =
release</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>July 23<SUP>rd</SUP>,=20
1998</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>End the Arms =
Race</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DImpact><FONT face=3DTimes><FONT =
size=3D3></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT=20
size=3D3><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial>Suite =
405</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial>825 Granville=20
Street</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial>Vancouver BC V6Z=20
1K9</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3><FONT color=3D#000000 =
face=3DArial></FONT></FONT><FONT=20
face=3DArial>604 / 687-3223</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial>fax [phone]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><A=20
href=3D"mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial><A=20
href=3D"http://www.peacewire.org">www.peacewire.org</A></FONT></DIV><FONT=
=20
face=3DImpact size=3D5>
<DIV>
<H2 align=3Dcenter>M.P. Libby Davies Leads Search for <BR><FONT =
size=3D3>Weapons of=20
Mass Destruction Delivery Systems</FONT></H2></FONT><FONT face=3DArial =
size=3D3>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>(Vancouver) Libby =
Davies, Member of=20
Parliament for Vancouver East, will lead a second Canadian =
Citizens’=20
Weapons Inspection Team to the United States. The team will investigate =
the=20
production of delivery systems for weapons of mass destruction at the =
Electric=20
Boat Corporation in Groton Connecticut on Monday August 3.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Libby Davies stirred a =
media frenzy=20
in the states of Washington and California when she led a similar team =
in=20
February to Bangor Washington to look for Trident Submarines which each =
carry=20
200 nuclear weapons. The Canadians are now crossing the continent to =
find the=20
source of these weapons systems.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>"Electric Boat =
Corporation built=20
one of the most deadly weapons systems ever created -- the Trident =
Submarine=20
fleet," said Libby Davies. "They cannot remain immune to =
public=20
scrutiny just because they’re private." </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Davies added, "The =
threat of=20
nuclear catastrophe is escalating. And we cannot enter the next =
millenium simply=20
hoping it will go away. That’s why citizens world-wide, like us, =
must take=20
back our power to actively work to eliminate <U>all</U> weapons of mass=20
destruction."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>Joining Libby Davies =
M.P. are Peter=20
Coombes, President of End the Arms Race; David Morgan, President of =
Veterans=20
Against Nuclear Arms; and Phyllis Creighton an active peace member of =
the=20
Anglican Church of Canada. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>The team will conduct =
an aerial=20
inspection then meet with community leaders and experts on August 2 as =
part of=20
its fact-finding mission. On Monday August 3 the Canadian team will join =
U.S.=20
members for a meeting with the Under-Secretary General for Disarmament =
Affairs=20
and news conference at the United Nations. The team arrives at the =
Electric Boat=20
Corporation at 3:00 p.m.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3>The team has written =
John Welch,=20
President of the Electric Boat Corporation expecting full and =
unconditional=20
access to the factory to search for the production of delivery systems =
for=20
weapons of mass destruction. As well, President of End the Arms Race =
Peter=20
Coombes has written Prime Minister Chretien asking that he help the team =
gain=20
access to the factory.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=3Dcenter><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT =
size=3D3>--30--=20
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=3Dcenter><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3DArial size=3D2><FONT=20
size=3D3></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"" size=3D3>For information =
contact:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 face=3D"" size=3D3>Libby Davies, Ottawa (613) =
992-6030,=20
Vancouver [phone]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D3>Jillian Skeet, End the Arms Race (6040=20
687-3223</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

- ------=_NextPart_000_006E_01BDB624.D75E47C0--


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

End of abolition-usa-digest V1 #3
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