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abolition-usa-digest    Wednesday, January 20 1999    Volume 01 : Number 060




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

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 15:58:31 -0500
From: ASlater <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) URGENT ACTION ALERT: Mobile Chernobyl is back!

>Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 14:56:54 -0500
>Subject: Mobile Chernobyl is back!
>To: [e-mail]
>X-FC-Forwarded-From: [e-mail]
>From: [e-mail] ([e-mail])
>
>MOBILE CHERNOBYL ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
>
>Capital Switchboard 202-225-3121 Call now and often!
>
>Mobile Chernobyl, the idea of shipping all of the nation's high-level
>nuclear waste to a parking lot in Nevada is BACK! Although Congress has
>been unable to enact such legislation the past four years, the nuclear
>industry wasted no time this year: on the first day of the
>106th Congress, House members Fred Upton (R-MI) and Edolphus Towns
>(D-NY) introduced a new Mobile Chernobyl bill. This year, it is HR 45.
>
>The new bill is nearly identical to the previous House version of Mobile
>Chernobyl but has some new funding provisions and new dates--to reflect
>the atomic industry's previous failures to pass the legislation. The new
>date for the opening of a centralized storage site for irradiated fuel
>from nuclear power reactors and the military is 2003, which would
>trigger the largest nuclear waste shipping campaign in history.
>
>Transport of high-level nuclear waste from reactor sites, =BE of which are
>east of the Mississippi River, would impact 43 states, according to
>studies conducted by the State of Nevada. The legislation would require
>an ambitious 3,000 metric tons of irradiated fuel a year--or about the
>total amount that has been moved in the last 30 years, each year for the
>next 30 years or more. 50 million Americans live within a half mile on
>either side of the likely train tracks and highways this waste would
>pass by. This is because normal trade routes-major interstate highways
>and
>railroutes--would be used to move the waste. Urban areas should examine
>whether there is a disproportionate impact on some sectors of the
>community. For example, highways and railways often are placed in
>poorer, predominately minority areas.
>
>MOBILE CHERNOBYL IS MOVING FAST. The new Chair of the House Subcommittee
>on Energy and Water is Joe Barton, R-TX, who has long been a "water boy"
>for the nuclear industry. He was, for example, the chief sponsor of
>"one-step" reactor licensing legislation. Barton would like to move the
>bill out of his subcommittee THIS MONTH - with no hearings.
>
>Barton and his nuclear industry allies are counting on us to fold. They
>believe that we have fought this effort so long and hard, that we no
>longer have it in us to fight again. Guess again, Mr. Barton!
>
>National environmental and public interest groups are meeting weekly to
>launch an all-out offensive on Capital Hill. We have stopped this bill
>every year since it was first introduced in 1994. We can stop it now,
>but it requires immediate action from you, your friends and colleagues,
>your organizations.
>
>First target: demand hearings on this legislation. Since the funding
>mechanism has changed - and is really complicated - this is the perfect
>thing to focus on. NO MORE NUCLEAR WELFARE! Even if your U.S.
>Representative is not on the House Commerce Committee, call his/her
>office and demand that he/she:
>
>1) OPPOSE HR 45, the Mobile Chernobyl Act
>2) Demand new hearings: the bill is not the same and there are new
>members of Congress
>3) Focus on the money issues, the transport issue, and the fact that
>this is environmental plunder not environmental protection!!!
>
>While hearings might show the fallacy of the nuclear industry's funding
>schemes-which are intended to put the burden of radioactive waste
>storage on the taxpayer instead of the industry that created the waste,
>hearings are not enough.
>
>In fact, in December, 219 environmental groups demanded a complete end
>to the Yucca Mountain project, for temporary or permanent waste storage,
>because the science is now clear: Yucca Mountain cannot legally be
>licensed as a radioactive waste dump-unless the government changes its
>public health and safety licensing regulations and abandoning any effort
>to isolate this massive load of radioactivity from the environment.
>
>Here are a couple of other points you might want to make to your elected
>representatives and senators. The impeachment trial is certainly slowing
>things down in the Senate, but behind the scenes, the atomic industry's
>gophers, such as Sens. Frank Murkowski, Larry Craig and Pete Domenici,
>are readying new legislation there as well.
>
>HR 45, and any Mobile Chernobyl legislation, is one of the worst
>environmental bills ever. It does not provide a solution for nuclear
>waste, just a "fix" for the nuclear industry that gets to dump their
>waste on Native Shoshone lands, while at the same time making it the
>possession of the tax-payer in perpetuity.  The legislation authorizes
>the Department of Energy to curtail or preempt ALL environmental laws.
>
>HR 45 sets new deadlines that are more unrealistic than the current
>law's missed deadline of 1998.
>
>Yucca Mountain will not isolate nuclear waste from the environment. Data
>in the DOE's own "viability assessment" of the proposed Yucca Mountain
>Repository contradicts any assertion that Yucca Mountain will isolate
>nuclear waste from the environment. The constant seismic activity in the
>area has fractured the soft rock of Yucca Mountain, allowing rain to
>travel through the proposed repository site. The same fractures will
>allow radioactive gases to escape as the waste decays.
>
>A recent study of the funding of the Yucca Mountain Project shows that
>there will be about a 50% shortfall in total project funds. By law the
>funding for this project comes from the customers of nuclear power, and
>the original concept was that they should pay the full bill. A
>proportional 10% to be paid by taxpayers via the military budgets would
>cover the cost of military waste that would go to the same site (10% of
>the total waste). The fund is paid for monthly with the electric bill of
>those who get nuclear power, but at the current rate, this fund will
>deliver $28.1 Billion. The total projected cost of the program with
>centralized storage is  $53.9 Billion. This means that taxpayers would
>end up more than $25 billion in liability if these conservative
>projections are met-and every year the cost projections go higher=85.
>
>Our job is clear. We must stop HR 45 and all related legislation, and we
>must begin now.
>
>First, call your Congressmember at 202-224-3121 and demand that he/she
>actively oppose this bill. Point out the effect transportation of
>high-level atomic waste could have on your state.
>
>Second, write your Congressmember-even if you called. Surveys of
>Congressmembers clearly indicate that handwritten (or typed) letters
>from citizens of the district or state are the single most effective
>means of reaching your Congressmember. Faxes, e-mails, phone calls are
>all ok, but nothing is as effective as a letter in your own words.
>
>Third, organize your community, encourage more letters, phone calls,
>faxes, e-mails. The latest public opinion polls we have available show
>that some 67% of the public opposes Mobile Chernobyl, but only about 1/3
>of the public even knows about it. Moreover, the more people learn about
>it, according to the polls, the more likely they are to oppose it. That
>means we all have to get out and educate and organize, because if we can
>educate just 1/3 more of the public the battle will be over-we will win
>hands down. Let NIRS know what organizing and educational materials you
>need, we'll get them to you. You can also continue to collect signatures
>on the Don't Waste America petitions, although we hope you'll use those
>primarily as an educational tool, and encourage people to write their
>own letters. Try setting up tables at public locations with a few sample
>letters to Congress, focusing on your local situation, and urge people
>to use these samples to write their own letters. Op-eds, letters to the
>editor, press releases-it's time to start them all up again.
>
>It is not too late to get resolutions against the legislation passed at
>municipal and county levels. A resolution against HR 45 on the basis of
>the transport of nuclear waste or any other issue is a very LOUD letter
>to your U.S. Rep. Contact us if you need help with that.
>
>It's time to stop Mobile Chernobyl once and for all. It's time to stop
>Yucca Mountain once and for all. Together, we WILL prevail.
>
>Michael  Mariotte
>Mary Olson
>NIRS
>202-328-0002
>http://www.nirs.org
>=20

Alice Slater
Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE)
15 East 26th Street, Room 915
New York, NY 10010
tel:  [phone]
fax:  [phone]
email:  [e-mail]

GRACE is a member of Abolition 2000, a global network working for a treaty
to eliminate nuclear weapons.

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

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 17:19:06 -0500
From: War Resisters League <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (abolition-usa) Re: US Conditions for the CTB

Jackie,

I'd like to see a copy of your article.  It sounds interesting and useful.

Chris


At 09:11 PM 1/18/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Dear Abolitionists.  Regarding US conditions for the CTBT: If you're looking
>for a medium length (5 pages), up-to-date, fact-filled summary of current US
>nuclear weapons programs and policies, I've recently updated my November
>INESAP Bulletin article, NUCLEAR HYPOCRISY: NEW WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT AND
>ANTI-DISARMAMENT POLICIES IN THE US.  If you'd like a copy I can e-mail it
>in an enclosed file (WordPerfect or MSWord) or plain text, or I can fax
>it or send it by snail mail.  As the convenor of the "virtual" Beyond the
>CTBT working group, I'm pleased to provide this service.  Please let me
>know if and how you would like a copy sent.  Peace, -- Jackie Cabasso
>   ********************************************
>       WESTERN STATES LEGAL FOUNDATION
>           1440 Broadway, Suite 500
>             Oakland, CA USA 94612
>              Tel: [phone]
>              Fax: [phone]
>               [e-mail]
>   ********** Part of ABOLITION 2000 **********
>   Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons
>
>
>-
> To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "[e-mail]"
> with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message.
> For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send
> "help" to the same address.  Do not use quotes in your message.
>
>

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

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 15:29:47 -0700
From: mmebane <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 17:34:46 -0500

    ***** TO ALL ABOLITION-USA LISTSERVE SUBSCRIBERS *****

    THE ORGANIZING MEETING FOR A USA ABOLITION CAMPAIGN IS BEING     HELD
FEBRUARY 12-14, 1999 IN SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA.

    A LIMITED 10 SPACES ARE AVAILABLE .   IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RESERVE     A SPOT
PLEASE CONTACT MARK MEBANE AT  [e-mail]     or by phone:
1-800-233-6786.  SPACES ARE BASED ON A FIRST COME, FIRST     SERVE BASIS.

    THE DEADLINE FOR RESERVING A SPACE IS THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 22.


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

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 22:38:21 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Re: Day Without the Pentagon organizer faces judge on war tax resistance

In a message dated 1/19/99 5:47:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, [e-mail].o=
rg
writes:

<< Subj:=09 Day Without the Pentagon organizer faces judge on war tax resi=
stance
 Date:=091/19/99 5:47:17 PM Eastern Standard Time
 From:=[e-mail] (War Resisters League)

 January 19, 1999=09=09Contact: Chris Ney or Ruth Benn
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  =09212-228-0450


 =09IRS ESCALATES THREATS AGAINST TAX RESISTER

 NEW YORK, NY=97In an unusual move, the Internal Revenue Service has gone =
to
 court to force a long-time Brooklyn pacifist and war tax resister to turn
 over his financial records.
 =09Ed Hedemann, who for decades has refused to send his federal income ta=
xes
 to the IRS because of his objection to military spending, has been summon=
ed
 to appear February 1 in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to show cause why
 he should not turn over all his financial records to the IRS. A refusal t=
o
 turn over the records would carry the risk of being sent to prison for
 contempt of court.
 =09The IRS served Hedemann the Order to Show Cause December 11 against th=
e
 backdrop of renewed U.S. air strikes against Iraq. Just days after
 unleashing the largest military action since the Gulf War=97which cost ne=
arly
 2,000 Iraqi lives and more than $500 million of U.S. taxpayers
 money=97Clinton asked Congress for an additional $100 billion for the
 Pentagon over the next six years, representing the largest military
 build-up since the Reagan administration's record spending.
 =09Hedemann began withholding federal taxes in 1972 as a protest against =
the
 Vietnam War.  He has continued to withhold them since then because the
 federal government has continued to spend 50 to 65 percent of federal
 income taxes on present and past military programs.  He files all his tax
 returns and pays state, local, and social security taxes. Instead of a
 check, however, he sends the IRS a note with his federal return explainin=
g
 why he is sending the entire amount of any taxes due to organizations suc=
h
 as Voices in the Wilderness, which provides material aid to Iraqi
 civilians; the New York Times Neediest Cases fund; and a documentary film
 project on the U.S.-aided murder of Jesuit priests in El Salvador.
 =09"Since 1972, the IRS has routinely sent me threatening notices and lev=
ies,
 called me at home, harassed organizations I work for, and looked for
 nonexistent bank accounts and property," notes Hedemann, "but this is the
 first time they've ever taken me to court. I guess they're in desperate
 need of money to pay for all those cruise missiles."
 =09An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people in the U.S. refuse to pay some or =
all
 of their federal taxes because of opposition to war. In the past 30 years
 only a half dozen war tax resisters have been taken to court; the last su=
ch
 case was nine years ago.=09
 =09A support demonstration is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in front of the U.S=
.
 District Court at 225 Cadman Plaza E. in Brooklyn on Monday, February 1,
 just before the 4 p.m. hearing. "I don't know what'll happen in court tha=
t
 day, but I do know that I cannot turn over any papers to the IRS or do
 anything that'll contribute to the war-making effort of this or any other
 country," commented Hedemann.
 -30-

 **********
 War Resisters League
 339 Lafayette St.
 New York, NY 10012
 212-228-0450
 212-228-6193 (fax)
 1-800-975-9688 (YouthPeace and A Day Without the Pentagon)
 [e-mail]
 web address: http://www.nonviolence.org/wrl
  >>


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

Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 08:12:22 -0500
From: Peace through Reason <[e-mail]>
Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews, U.S.: 1/20/99 - State of Union re nukes; Looser Regulation Nuc Plant; Utah uranium ore hazardous waste

1. Excerpts re nukes from "President Clinton's State of the Union Address"
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/whouse/articles/980128sou-text.html

2. Federal Regulators Recommend Looser Rein at Millstone Plant
http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+139+
1+wAAA+nuclear

3. State declares it has authority over shipments to White Mesa
'Ore' is really hazardous waste that can be regulated at state level, Utah says
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,30007082,00.html?

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

1. Excerpts re nukes from "President Clinton's State of the Union Address"

http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/whouse/articles/980128sou-text.html

New York Times, January 20, 1999

We must increase our efforts to restrain the spread of nuclear weapons and
missiles, from Korea to India and Pakistan.

We must expand our work with Russia, Ukraine, and the other former Soviet
nations to safeguard nuclear materials and technology so they never fall
into the wrong hands. Our balanced budget will increase funding for these
critical efforts by almost two-thirds over the next 5 years.

With Russia, we must continue to reduce our nuclear arsenals. The START II
treaty and the framework we have already agreed to for START III could cut
them by 80 percent from their Cold War height.

It's been two years since I signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

If we don't do the right thing, other nations won't either. I ask the
Senate to take this vital step: Approve the Treaty now, to make it harder
for other nations to develop nuclear arms -- and to make sure we can end
nuclear testing forever. Thank you. Thank you.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-State-of-Union-Foreign.html

(H)e proposed assistance to Russia that would add to the Nunn-Lugar program
aimed at dismantling nuclear weapons. He said it would increase funding by
nearly two-thirds over five years -- $4.2 billion the first year -- to help
redirect the work of Russian scientists from weapons research to peacetime
pursuits.

http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+7+4+
wAAA+nuclear%7EOR%7Eplutonium%7EOR%7Euranium%7EOR%7Eradioactiv%3F%3F%3F -
Associated Press, January 20, 1999 (not listed on main site):

He proposed $4.2 billion -- a 70 percent increase -- to reduce the threat
from Russia's nuclear arsenal and redirect the work of Russian scientists
from weapons to civilian research. The initiative would help finance the
dismantling and destruction of warheads and dangerous materials and
accelerate Moscow's withdrawal of troops stationed outside of Russia.

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

2. Federal Regulators Recommend Looser Rein at Millstone Plant

http://search.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+iib-site+139+
1+wAAA+nuclear

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 20, 1999

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Federal regulators, citing a  much-improved work
environment at the Millstone nuclear complex in Connecticut, recommended
Tuesday that a 1996 order requiring independent oversight at the plant be
lifted.

If approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the move will represent a
huge step for Northeast Utilities, which had a history of intimidating and
harassing workers, including punishing whistle-blowers.

Federal regulators have said that climate resulted in the accumulation of
safety problems that led to the shutdown of all three Millstone units, in
Waterford, Conn., in 1995 and 1996. One unit resumed operating last summer,
and another is scheduled to restart in March. The third is being
decommissioned.

Given the utility's new programs for addressing worker concerns and
stressing safety, the regulatory commission's staff has concluded that the
utility is ready to operate without constant supervision from outside
consultants.

The Oct. 24, 1996, order required that the utility hire an independent firm
to oversee its employee and worker safety programs. To comply, the utility
hired Little Harbor Consultants as an on-site overseer to assess the
company's progress.

It is unclear when the regulatory commission will vote on the staff
recommendation. It is possible that the agency could move to lift the order
partly, by requiring, for instance, that Little Harbor continue its work at
the plant in a more limited capacity.

Northeast Utilities has indicated that it may, on its own, hire the firm to
report quarterly on the status of its worker and safety programs.

Little Harbor, which concurred with the staff recommendation to lift the
order, also said it would operate a toll-free telephone line as long as it
continued to have some presence at Millstone. Workers or members of the
public could contact the consultants directly.

Some critics, however, have continued to express concern, especially in the
wake of a recent report by the nuclear commission's inspector general that
questioned why the agency did not punish the utility for the January 1996
firing of workers who raised safety concerns.

John Markowicz of Waterford, the vice chairman of Connecticut's Nuclear
Energy Advisory Council, said Little Harbor should continue its full-time
oversight until the issues raised in the report are resolved.

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

3. State declares it has authority over shipments to White Mesa
'Ore' is really hazardous waste that can be regulated at state level, Utah says

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,30007082,00.html?

By Jerry Spangler Deseret News, January 19, 1999

      The state of Utah is now showing its cards in its high-stakes efforts
to block additional shipments of radioactive waste to the White Mesa Mill
located between the towns of Blanding and Bluff in southeastern Utah. But
is it a winning hand?

      The state's legal strategy is simple: The tailings from upstate New
York are contaminated not only with radiation but with six decades of
cleaning solvents, waste oils, incinerator ash, carbonates, toluene,
catalysts, chloroethene and sludge containing organics and metals  all of
them nasty compounds that constitute hazardous wastes that could
contaminate Utah's groundwater.

      And because they are hazardous wastes, the law is clear. They fall
under the state's regulatory jurisdiction, not that of the federal
government, which regulates radioactive waste through the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.

      "As more and more exotic materials are taken into the mill, the
potential exists for contaminates to escape into groundwater," said Bill
Sinclair, director of the state Division of Radiation Control. And that is
a public health concern the state is required by law to regulate.

      The White Mesa Mill has not been licensed by the state as a disposal
facility. The mill, owned by International Uranium, since last summer has
been accepting 45,000 cubic yards of uranium tailings from the Ashland 2
site near Tonawanda, N.Y. The Utah site began accepting the tailings after
a decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the materials,
targeted for "recycling," constituted ore and not low-level radioactive waste.

      Earl Hoellen, president of the Denver-based International Uranium
Co., owner of the mill, said federal regulations allow the mill to process,
or "recycle," the material in question, and the NRC gave written
authorization to accept it.

      "We are not  I repeat we are not  thumbing our noses at the state,"
Hoellen said. "We have worked with the state for many years, and IUC
continues to work with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.
Sometimes we agree and sometimes we don't. But we are not going to subject
ourselves to unfounded regulatory authority."

      The company is receiving $90 per cubic yard from the federal
government for the Ashland 2 tailings, and it would receive a $110 per
cubic yard fee, plus transportation costs, for accepting the 21,750 cubic
yards of tailings from the two additional sites. The company stands to
receive a total of $6.5 million.

      The state maintains the amount of uranium in the tailings  all of
which averages far less than one-half of 1 percent  is so small that
"recycling" is but a technical means for the company to circumvent state
laws regulating waste disposal facilities.

      The NRC considers the tailings, left over from World War II nuclear
projects, to be "ore" and therefore beyond state environmental laws.

      "Our position has always been the tailings constitute waste that
should be regulated by the state," Sinclair said. "If it is a waste dump,
then the state would impose certain requirements on the facility to collect
information on materials coming into the site. They would be subject to
inspection and review by the state."

      The NRC inspects the White Mesa Mill twice a year, Sinclair noted. By
comparison, state inspectors make almost daily inspections of Envirocare,
the only facility licensed by the state to accept low-level radioactive
wastes similar to those being processed as "ore" by White Mesa.

      "We believe we impose a pretty high standard for protecting
groundwater resources in the state, the number of parameters to be
monitored, the location of wells and the taking of independent samples,"
Sinclair said. "There are differences (between the NRC and state
regulations) that are important as far as the state is concerned."

      According to a legal brief filed by the state, International Uranium
is primarily interested in the disposal fee, not processing the materials
for its uranium. Uranium prices are extremely low, and the costs of
processing ore is high, making the disposal fee the only economic incentive
for taking the tailings.

      The state has been granted legal standing in its challenge of the
Ashland 2 shipments, but for all practical matters, there is nothing the
state can do to stop those shipments. They will have been completed by the
time hearings on the state's petition are held, Sinclair said.

      The state is now focusing its latest efforts on stopping the
shipments of tailings from two other New York sites, called Ashland 1 and
Seaway Area D. And those efforts are targeted at proving the tailings are
not ore, but waste.

"Unless the NRC intends to allow any material to be processed at a uranium
mill, there comes a time when NRC must question the integrity of its
definition of ore," the legal brief states.

      "Surely, NRC would not buy off on the definition of ore if, for
example, the White Mesa Mill collected municipal garbage from San Juan
County residents, and for a suitable recycling fee, processed the garbage
through its mill and disposed of the tailings in its impoundment.

      The Seaway Area D site, also located near Tonawanda, was used as an
industrial landfill for hazardous wastes for the past 60 years. Tailings
from Ashland 1 have an average of .02 percent uranium, and in some areas
the amount of uranium is undetectable, the brief states.
____________________________________________________________

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

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

Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 12:55:21 -0600 (CST)
From: [e-mail]
Subject: (abolition-usa) Fwd: MILLSTONE COVER UP, WHISTLEBLOWERS FIRED

- ------Begin forward message-------------------------


Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 12:48:21 -0500
From: Deb Katz <[e-mail]>
Subject: millstone and us
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=3D"------------53562F2F8BA0=
4BFE47461DA4"

This letter was hand delivered to the NRC Commissioners during
yesterday's
NRC/Millstone meeting in Maryland. The OIG report is the tip of the
iceberg.

Rosemary


MA: Box 83 Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
P/F: 413-339-5781/8768
CT: 54 Old Turnpike Road, Haddam, CT 06438 P/F: 860-345-2157
VT: C/O Box 566 Putney, VT 05346 P/F: 802-387-4050
NH: 9 Evens Road, Madbury, NH 03820 P/F 603-742-4261
NY: 924 Burnet Ave, Syarcuse, NY 13203 315-472-5478/ 7923
CITIZENS AWARENESS NETWORK
January 19, 1999

Dr. Shirley Jackson and Commissioners
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555

Re: CAN'S COMMENTS TO BE READ INTO THE RECORD DURING THE JANUARY 19,
1999
NRC COMMISSION MEETING REGARDING MILLSTONE'S RECOVERY.

Dear Dr. Jackson and Commissioners:

We are concerned by the findings in the recent Office of Inspector
General Report 99-01S dated December 31, 1998. Your agency's decisions
not to take enforcement action for a Severity Level 1violation and to
dismiss claims of discrimination by a number of Millstone employees when
no investigation was conducted, leads us to conclude that your agency
continues to be incapable of enforcing its own rules and regulations. It
also leads us to conclude that the decisions your agency has made to
date, including the
decision to permit the restart of Unit 3, are suspect. We have no reason
to believe that the future offers any change.

CAN pointed out in our November 25, 1996, 2.206 petition to the
Executive Director of Operations, "...the Commission must confront its
own chronic, systemic failure to enforce its regulations". Again, at the
June 2, 1998 Commission meeting, we stated that your agency's failure to
regulate at New England reactors did not begin on your watch, but it was
found on your watch. The question was whether or not your would act to
rectify your regulatory deficiencies. Your lack of corrective action
within your own agency is unacceptable to us. You have failed not only
reactor workers, but you have failed the people living in reactor
communities. We can no longer afford your agency the time to become an
effective regulator of this inherently dangerous industry because our
very lives are at stake in this process.

We therefore request the immediate shutdown of Millstone Unit 3 and that
Millstone Unit 2 remain shutdown until a congressional investigation of
your agency has been conducted and we have sufficient reason to believe
that you are capable of protecting the health and safety of reactor
workers, the public and the environment.

Sincerely,



Rosemary Bassilakis
Researcher
54 Old Turnpike Road
Haddam, CT 06438



Debby Katx
President
PO Box 83
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

Fish Unlimited asked that I forward their letter to the Commission as
well.
 Nancy Burton traveled down to the meeting to present on their behalf.
It
is a good thing!  She told the commission the truth as opposed to the
NRC
staff who appearantly tells the Comnmission what they want to hear.

Dr Shirley Jackson
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555

Dear Dr Jackson and Commissioners:

Fish Unlimited has reviewed the Office of Inspector General Report
#99-01S
dated December 31, 1998. The report documents an extremely troublesome
cover up by NRC of Northeast Utilities retaliatory dismissals of whistle

blowers at the Millstone Nuclear Reactor Complex.  It is clear from
reading
this document that the NRC lied to whistle blowers and public the
retaliatory firings were illegally swept under the rug to speed the
start
up of the Millstone 3 reactor.

Your personal misconduct in this matter has placed the public at a
heighten
risk of nuclear catastrophe, and furthermore your misconduct has swept
away
any pretension of credibility with the public

Based upon the findings of the Office of Inspector General Fish
Unlimited
calls upon the NRC to suspend Northeast Utilities license to operate
Unit 3
and to shut the facility down permanently.

Sincerely,



Bill Smith, Executive Director


Tuesday January 19, 10:32 pm Eastern Time

NRC staff wants end to Millstone nuke oversight

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission staff recommended Tuesday that third-party oversight
of employee-management relations be ended at the Northeast Utilities'
(NYSE:NU - news) Millstone
nuclear plants.

``Conditions which led to third-party oversight have been corrected to
the satisfaction of the NRC,'' said a
document displayed at a Tuesday hearing.

In October 1996, the NRC implemented a program to evaluate and inspect
Millstone management and
allegations they harassed workers who raised safety concerns. Since
then, an NRC spokesman said plant
workers have become a ``very empowered workforce,'' prompting the staff
recommendation for an end to
oversight.

NRC commissioners will decide the issue at a future date.

The NRC staff recommendation was supported by Little Harbor consultants,
the group hired as the
third-party overseer to manage and advise the utility, according to an
NRC spokesman.

Citizens Awareness Network, an interest group opposed to the NRC staff
recommendation, called for
congressional probes into the agency and wants all Millstone plants
closed for safety reasons until the
investigation is undertaken.

``We have no confidence Northeast Utilities can create a safe work
environment,'' said Debby Katz,
president of the Citizens Awareness Network.

Northeast Utilities came under fire after a memo was leaked showing the
company's nuclear oversight
managers tried to assess how to isolate cynics within the workers'
ranks.

Currently, the 1,149-MW Millstone Unit 3 operates, and the company hopes
to have the 880-MW Unit 2
back in operation by the end of March.

Hartford-based Northeast Utilities announced in July it was permanently
shutting Unit 1, a 660-MW
reactor, following analysis that showed it would not be economically
viable for the company to continue
operating the unit.

Northeast has not decided whether to immediately dismantle Unit 1 or put
the unit in safe storage and wait
before dismantlement starts.

On Tuesday, Northeast Utilities' stock rose 1/8 to 16-1/8 a share in
composite New York Stock
Exchange trading.

Copyright =A9 1999 Reuters Limited.

<HTML>
This letter was hand delivered to the NRC Commissioners during yesterday'=
s
<BR>NRC/Millstone meeting in Maryland. The OIG report is the tip of the
iceberg.

<P>Rosemary
<BR>

<P>MA: Box 83 Shelburne Falls, MA 01370
<BR>P/F: 413-339-5781/8768
<BR>CT: 54 Old Turnpike Road, Haddam, CT 06438 P/F: 860-345-2157
<BR>VT: C/O Box 566 Putney, VT 05346 P/F: 802-387-4050
<BR>NH: 9 Evens Road, Madbury, NH 03820 P/F 603-742-4261
<BR>NY: 924 Burnet Ave, Syarcuse, NY 13203 315-472-5478/ 7923
<BR>CITIZENS AWARENESS NETWORK
<BR>January 19, 1999

<P>Dr. Shirley Jackson and Commissioners
<BR>US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
<BR>Washington, DC 20555

<P>Re: CAN'S COMMENTS TO BE READ INTO THE RECORD DURING THE JANUARY 19,
1999
<BR><B>NRC COMMISSION MEETING REGARDING MILLSTONE'S RECOVERY.</B>

<P>Dear Dr. Jackson and Commissioners:

<P>We are concerned by the findings in the recent Office of Inspector Gen=
eral
Report 99-01S dated December 31, 1998. Your agency's decisions not to tak=
e
enforcement action for a Severity Level 1violation and to dismiss claims
of discrimination by a number of Millstone employees when no investigatio=
n
was conducted, leads us to conclude that your agency continues to be inca=
pable
of enforcing its own rules and regulations. It also leads us to conclude
that the decisions your agency has made to date, including the
<BR>decision to permit the restart of Unit 3, are suspect. We have no rea=
son
to believe that the future offers any change.

<P>CAN pointed out in our November 25, 1996, 2.206 petition to the Execut=
ive
Director of Operations, "...the Commission must confront its own chronic,
systemic failure to enforce its regulations". Again, at the June 2, 1998
Commission meeting, we stated that your agency's failure to regulate at
New England reactors did not begin on your watch, but it was found on you=
r
watch. The question was whether or not your would act to rectify your reg=
ulatory
deficiencies. Your lack of corrective action within your own agency is
unacceptable to us. You have failed not only reactor workers, but you hav=
e
failed the people living in reactor communities. We can no longer afford
your agency the time to become an effective regulator of this inherently
dangerous industry because our very lives are at stake in this process.

<P>We therefore request the immediate shutdown of Millstone Unit 3 and
that Millstone Unit 2 remain shutdown until a congressional investigation
of your agency has been conducted and we have sufficient reason to believ=
e
that you are capable of protecting the health and safety of reactor worke=
rs,
the public and the environment.

<P>Sincerely,
<BR>
<BR>

<P>Rosemary Bassilakis
<BR>Researcher
<BR>54 Old Turnpike Road
<BR>Haddam, CT 06438
<BR>
<BR>

<P>Debby Katx
<BR>President
<BR>PO Box 83
<BR>Shelburne Falls, MA 01370

<P>Fish Unlimited asked that I forward their letter to the Commission as
well.
<BR> Nancy Burton traveled down to the meeting to present on their
behalf.  It
<BR>is a good thing!  She told the commission the truth as opposed
to the NRC
<BR>staff who appearantly tells the Comnmission what they want to hear.

<P>Dr Shirley Jackson
<BR>Nuclear Regulatory Commission
<BR>Washington, DC 20555

<P>Dear Dr Jackson and Commissioners:

<P>Fish Unlimited has reviewed the Office of Inspector General Report #99=
- -01S
<BR>dated December 31, 1998. The report documents an extremely troublesom=
e
<BR>cover up by NRC of Northeast Utilities retaliatory dismissals of whis=
tle
<BR>blowers at the Millstone Nuclear Reactor Complex.  It is clear
from reading
<BR>this document that the NRC lied to whistle blowers and public the
<BR>retaliatory firings were illegally swept under the rug to speed the
start
<BR>up of the Millstone 3 reactor.

<P>Your personal misconduct in this matter has placed the public at a hei=
ghten
<BR>risk of nuclear catastrophe, and furthermore your misconduct has swep=
t
away
<BR>any pretension of credibility with the public

<P>Based upon the findings of the Office of Inspector General Fish Unlimi=
ted
<BR>calls upon the NRC to suspend Northeast Utilities license to operate
Unit 3
<BR>and to shut the facility down permanently.

<P>Sincerely,
<BR>
<BR>

<P>Bill Smith, Executive Director
<BR>

<P>Tuesday January 19, 10:32 pm Eastern Time

<P>NRC staff wants end to Millstone nuke oversight

<P>WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
<BR>Commission staff recommended Tuesday that third-party oversight
<BR>of employee-management relations be ended at the Northeast Utilities'
(NYSE:NU - news) Millstone
<BR>nuclear plants.

<P>``Conditions which led to third-party oversight have been corrected
to the satisfaction of the NRC,'' said a
<BR>document displayed at a Tuesday hearing.

<P>In October 1996, the NRC implemented a program to evaluate and inspect
Millstone management and
<BR>allegations they harassed workers who raised safety concerns. Since
then, an NRC spokesman said plant
<BR>workers have become a ``very empowered workforce,'' prompting the sta=
ff
recommendation for an end to
<BR>oversight.

<P>NRC commissioners will decide the issue at a future date.

<P>The NRC staff recommendation was supported by Little Harbor consultant=
s,
the group hired as the
<BR>third-party overseer to manage and advise the utility, according to
an NRC spokesman.

<P>Citizens Awareness Network, an interest group opposed to the NRC staff
recommendation, called for
<BR>congressional probes into the agency and wants all Millstone plants
closed for safety reasons until the
<BR>investigation is undertaken.

<P>``We have no confidence Northeast Utilities can create a safe work env=
ironment,''
said Debby Katz,
<BR>president of the Citizens Awareness Network.

<P>Northeast Utilities came under fire after a memo was leaked showing
the company's nuclear oversight
<BR>managers tried to assess how to isolate cynics within the workers'
ranks.

<P>Currently, the 1,149-MW Millstone Unit 3 operates, and the company hop=
es
to have the 880-MW Unit 2
<BR>back in operation by the end of March.

<P>Hartford-based Northeast Utilities announced in July it was permanentl=
y
shutting Unit 1, a 660-MW
<BR>reactor, following analysis that showed it would not be economically
viable for the company to continue
<BR>operating the unit.


- ------End forward message---------------------------



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