------------
Radioactive cleanup begins at closed Fermi 1
The $10-million cleanup of the Monroe plant starts in two weeks
Fermi 1 Director Lynne Goodman examines a steel section removed from the old atomic plant's boilerhouse, the skeletal steel seen in the background.
Cary Conover / Associated Press November 5, 1999 Associated Press
http://detnews.com/1999/business/9911/05/11050082.htm Photo http://detnews.com/pix/1999/9911/05/b2ferm.jpg
MONROE -- Detroit Edison Co. soon will begin cleaning the remnants of slightly radioactive sodium coolant at the mothballed Fermi 1 atomic plant.
The work is part of a general cleanup and dismantling of the experimental breeder reactor, which operated from the mid-1950s until 1972.
Liquid-metal sodium was used to cool the reactor core. Most of it was removed in 1984, but about 700 gallons remains in nine different tanks and pipes.
Removal of the sodium is expected to start within two weeks and will take 18 to 24 months, Edison officials told the Monroe Evening News. Some of the piping already has been removed and is being prepared for sodium removal.
Sodium can react violently if immersed in water. But crews from Safety Kleen of Clarence, N.Y., which has performed similar cleanups at other sites, will use a controlled steam-injection process to remove it from plant parts, Edison spokesman Guy Cerullo said.
Tanks and pipes containing sodium first will be filled with inert nitrogen gas, and steam then will be injected slowly. The water in the steam is expected to react gradually with the sodium, creating a sodium hydroxide byproduct.
The non-radioactive portions will be recovered and recycled as an acid neutralizer in wastewater and water-purification systems at Edison's coal-fired power plants.
The utility hasn't yet decided what to do with the byproduct of the sodium that is still radioactive.
The cleanup had been scheduled to begin in the spring.
"There's no one reason things went a little slower," Cerullo said. "This will be a slow, controlled process and some procedures and equipment checks took a little longer than anticipated. But we're not in any hurry with this process."
The work is part of a $10-million general cleanup at Fermi 1, which also has included removal of asbestos insulation and demolition of the plant boilerhouse. The work precedes the eventual decommissioning of the plant, which occupies the same site as Edison's still-operating Fermi 2 nuclear facility.
Fermi 1 was designed to demonstrate that a plant could turn used uranium into useful plutonium while generating electricity, essentially creating more fuel than it used. Those involved with Fermi 1 have said they considered it a successful experiment.
But the plant's viability was crippled by an Oct. 5, 1966, accident in which a metal part within the reactor broke loose and blocked the flow of the sodium coolant, causing a partial melting of the nuclear fuel.
Fermi 1 was repaired and restarted in mid-1970, then operated intermittently until being shut down in 1972. Its highly radioactive fuel was removed soon afterward.
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U.S. Defends Anti-Missile System
By Robert Burns AP Military Writer Friday, Nov. 5, 1999; 12:54 p.m. EST
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/19991105/aponline125449_000.htm
WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration today sought to reassure Russia, China and other critics of missile defense that an anti-missile system to protect the United States and its allies would not undermine global security.
Walter Slocombe, the undersecretary of defense, said President Clinton would make a decision "next summer at the earliest" whether to order the deployment of a limited national missile defense. By then the administration hopes to win Russia's agreement to modify the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, which prohibits the kind of defensive system the Pentagon is proposing at a cost of about $11 billion.
Russia has steadfastly refused to negotiate changes to the ABM treaty, arguing that amendments that would accommodate the proposed U.S. national missile defense system would ruin the treaty and undermine global security. China, which has a smaller nuclear force than Russia, also opposes the U.S. plan.
"If they persist absolutely in that position, then the United States ... will have to face a very difficult question, which is whether to withdraw from the treaty," Slocombe said in remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said the Clinton administration would prefer to preserve the ABM pact but will not let Russian objections stand in the way of U.S. national security needs.
He also suggested that Russia would be undermining its own security by refusing to amend the ABM treaty.
"It is not at all clear to me ... that Russia would gain anything from the destruction of the arms control framework," Slocombe said. At another point he said, "The consequences would be difficult for Russia."
Slocombe's audience included numerous foreign diplomats, including representatives from Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea and several European countries.
The Clinton administration, with the support of Congress, argues that a defensive system is needed to protect all 50 states against a limited attack with ballistic missiles from a "rogue state" such as North Korea or Iran, which do not have the full-scale nuclear arsenals of Russia or China.
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White House Reassures Public on Y2K
By Jim Abrams Associated Press Writer Friday, Nov. 5, 1999; 2:26 a.m. EST
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/19991105/aponline022620_000.htm
WASHINGTON -- The White House senior adviser on the Y2K problem is brushing aside doomsday scenarios and giving assurances that any computer-related problems with the arrival of year 2000 will be short-lived and minor.
"Overreaction by the public to real or perceived Y2K risks was in some ways our greatest challenge," John Koskinen told a joint House hearing Thursday.
Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, agreed: "It's the myths about Y2K rather than the realities that could hurt us."
Separating myths from realities was the theme of what may have been the last House hearing this year on the possible disruptions from computers that read only the last two digits of a year and could mistake the year 2000, or "00," for 1900.
Koskinen stressed what most Y2K experts are now saying, that at least in the United States both the public and private sectors have moved aggressively to fix computers and there should be no serious disruptions of power, telecommunications, financial services or food supplies on Jan. 1.
There is no validity to doomsday claims that Y2K problems will cause nuclear weapons to launch themselves or that the federal government is using the issue as an excuse to usurp power, he said.
He said that another troubling myth is that the first of January is the all-or-nothing day and that people can declare victory if their computers are still working after that day. Businesses and companies are already addressing year 2000 dates in their operations and systems must be monitored to assure there will be no slow degradations in service after Jan. 1, he said.
Joel Willemssen of the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, agreed that there had been substantial progress at the federal level since the GAO in early 1997 identified Y2K as a high-risk area.
The Social Security Administration has led the way in preparing, while the Veterans Affairs and Education departments have made major strides after slow starts, he said. The Pentagon, the Internal Revenue Service and the agencies that oversee Medicare and aviation still have a few problems to work out and the states still have work to do in such areas as Medicaid, food stamps and child support enforcement. Education and the health care industry are other areas that demand attention, he said.
Ronald Margolis of the American Hospitals Association told the hearing that at least 95 percent of remediation work in the nation's hospitals is now complete, and that if there is any doubt about equipment it "will be locked in a closet" until it is fixed.
Among the realities, Koskinen said, are that major public services will work but there will be some problems. He said any disruptions "will be short-lived, like temporary problems caused by storms."
His office, the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, has put out a preparedness checklist which advises people to have at least a three-day supply of food and water and keep copies of important records.
His office will operate an Information Coordination Center to receive status reports from the private and public sectors. It will begin 24-hour monitoring operations on Dec. 28.
At a conference on cyberterrorism, Richard Clarke, the National Security Council adviser who heads counterterrorism efforts, echoed warnings that the publicity surrounding the Y2K threat may be the biggest problem.
He said the nation's frenzy over the Y2K computer bug has made it even more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Technicians hired to make a company's computer system Y2K compliant could easily slip "a little Trojan horse or malicious code" into the system instead, he said.
----
The Hole in the Bush Defense Plan
By Michael O'Hanlon Friday, November 5, 1999; Page A33
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/055l-110599-idx.html
In September, Texas Gov. George W. Bush laid out his initial vision for U.S. defense policy. His speech contained a sound proposal to increase spending on military research and development. The governor also advocated deploying strategic missile defenses, further increasing military pay and rethinking the desirability of some overseas military deployments.
One overarching problem complicates Mr. Bush's proposals, however: He cannot begin to pay for them. His support for tax cuts is at direct odds with his Pentagon plan. Yet while Bill Bradley and Al Gore constantly challenge the affordability of one another's agendas, Bush's ideas have not yet been subject to similar review.
Congress and President Clinton have demonstrated how hard it can be to reduce funding for federal programs by just one percent. Bush's problem is more difficult. His defense vision appears to cost almost 10 percent more than the resources he would actually provide the Pentagon.
U.S. defense spending is now about $280 billion a year. Under the Republican Congress's tax-cut agenda, which Mr. Bush supports, real defense spending would more or less remain constant over the next decade (actually it would increase modestly in the next few years but then decline even more thereafter). To see why that conflicts with the governor's defense plan, it is necessary to do some simple defense spending arithmetic.
There are basically five main pieces of the U.S. defense budget. Four are pretty much holding steady in cost. The remaining category, procurement, is about to go through the roof.
* "Procurement" of military hardware. The United States is now spending about $50 billion a year to buy military equipment. Under current Pentagon plans, that number will soon have to increase to some $80 billion, as recent Congressional Budget Office studies show, for two reasons.
First, the Pentagon has kept its Cold War habit of buying ever-more expensive weaponry. Second, it needs to replace hardware bought largely during the Carter and Reagan years that is beginning to wear out.
Bush cannot change the second situation. As for the first, he did suggest that the military services "skip a generation" of weaponry. But he provided no concrete suggestions in his speech about how to do so. That vagueness suggests that if elected, he would not expend the political capital necessary to force the services, Congress and the U.S. defense industry to cancel programs they hold dear.
* Operations and maintenance. This catch-all account now costs the Pentagon $100 billion a year, covering the salaries of civilian defense employees, health care, environmental cleanup at bases, overseas military operations, combat training and purchases of spare parts.
The Pentagon can save some money in this account by closing more bases and privatizing some support activities. That might reduce annual costs by $5 billion. If Bush can really streamline U.S. involvement in places such as the Balkans, he might save another $3 billion.
* Military personnel. This category funds salaries plus pensions for uniformed troops and costs just over $70 billion a year. Given the recent decision to give military personnel much-deserved pay raises, its inflation-adjusted level will increase modestly in the future. It might be possible to prevent that increase, perhaps by adopting a less demanding type of "two-war strategy" and reducing troop numbers slightly. But Bush has not advocated such a change. In fact, his call for another pay raise would increase costs further.
* Research and development. The Pentagon spends about $35 billion annually researching, developing and testing weaponry. Bush would add $4 billion a year to the Pentagon's plan--not a bad idea. Among other things, it could help the Army develop the light but lethal armored forces that it knows it needs but cannot yet build.
* Miscellaneous. Four other accounts add just over $20 billion to the U.S. defense budget. They include family housing and military construction within the Department of Defense, as well as nuclear waste cleanup and nuclear weapons stewardship conducted by the Department of Energy. Bush has not proposed cutting these expenses, and it is doubtful he could reduce them much.
Added up, annual defense spending would have to increase perhaps $25 billion, above and beyond inflation, under Bush's plan. That is $25 billion a year more than recent Republican tax-cut proposals would provide the military. The governor has to decide what he wants more, tax cuts or such a defense buildup, because he probably can't have both.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and adjunct professor at Columbia and Georgetown universities.
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The imperial presidency
EDITORIAL
Washington Times 11/05/99
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has gained a certain reputation abroad, among foes and friends alike, for imperious high-handedness. Now the U.S. Senate has gotten a taste of Mrs. Albright's personal style, though naturally she speaks in the name of the administration she serves.
Even though on Oct. 13 the U.S. Senate turned down the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on nuclear weapons, by a 51-48 vote at that, Mrs. Albright does not think it is any reason for the administration to accept defeat. Accordingly, she has written to foreign leaders to let them know not to worry, the Clinton administration will continue to abide by this ill-fated document. Regarding the Senate's constitutional obligation to advise and consent on international treaties, who cares? Not Mrs. Albright. This is indeed a fine signal to send to the rest of the world about how much this White House respects the practice of democratic governance.
As reported by The Washington Times' Bill Gertz Tuesday, Mrs. Albright sent out a formal diplomatic notice to the international community that the administration will abide by the CTBT. "We will not abandon the commitment inherent in the treaty and resume testing ourselves." While sorely disappointed, indeed, so Mrs. Albright wrote, "I want to assure you that the United States will continue to act in accordance with its obligations as a signatory under international law, and will seek reconsideration of the treaty at a later date when conditions are better suited for ratification." It is certainly fair to say that conditions are not likely to improve before the next presidential election.
It appears that the administration argues it is bound by a treaty which has been turned down by the U.S. Senate simply because it says it has not given up on future ratification of the document. How bizarre.
Now, if Mr. Clinton wants to announce a zero-testing policy -- such as has actually been in effect throughout his presidency -- that is his prerogative. (A lot of people don't believe zero testing is advisable and may be dangerous for the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, a reason considered sufficiently persuasive by a number of the senators who voted against the CTBT.) But to say that a treaty is binding just because it may be resubmitted, is making a mockery of the U.S. Constitution and the ratification process itself. In that case, each and every treaty fancied by the White House would be binding, circumventing completely the responsibility of the Senate.
One can assume, however, that cutting Congress out would not create sleepless nights for this president. In fact, he has made something of a specialty of so-called recess appointments of nominees for high office, judgeships and ambassadorial postings because his controversial nominees have not had the support of the Senate. In Judge Ronnie White of Missouri and former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, Mr. Clinton may, however, have reached his limit. "If he really sticks his finger in the eye of the Senate as far as confirmation process, he may not get another person confirmed," Senate majority Whip Don Nickles said yesterday. That should go for the treaty ratification process as well, and one could only hope that the Republican majority would make good on Mr. Nickles' threat. For too long Mr. Clinton has gotten away with thumbing his nose at the rule of law in this country.
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Prueher on hold
Washington Times 11/05/99
Sen. Robert C. Smith Thursday quietly slammed an indefinite "hold" on the nomination of retired Adm. Joseph Prueher to be the next ambassador to China. The hold prevents the Senate from voting on the ambassadorship and could kill it if the Senate recesses without voting.
The nomination seemed almost assured last week after Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms told Adm. Prueher's wife to "pack" for Beijing.
Now it is in limbo. Mr. Smith, New Hampshire Republican, is opposing Adm. Prueher, the former commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, because he views the admiral as too pro-Beijing.
The admiral has a reputation in the Pentagon of being pro-Beijing. He so upset some officials during his tour at Pacific Command he was once dubbed "Panda-hugging Prueher," we are told.
Meanwhile, the departure of Mr. Smith from the chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces -- a power seat overseeing both nuclear weapons and missile defenses -- has set off a scramble for the post.
Senate aides say Sen. Wayne Allard, Colorado Republican, will assume the post, leaving his post as chairman of the personnel subcommittee.
--------china
China nuke danger
The Inside the Ring: Notes from the Pentagon
By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES Washington Times 11/05/99
Army is warning soldiers to watch out for radioactive foreign military equipment.
"It's primarily Chinese," a senior military officer told us. Other radioactive equipment in Army hands includes stuff "from Third World countries," he said.
"Commanders of units that possess foreign military equipment must be alert for the possibility that such equipment may contain radioactive material," the Oct. 22 memorandum states. "Examples follow:
"A. Displayed captured military vehicles have been found to have dials and gauges that contain radium. In one instance, surveyors found a foreign military vehicle in a public outdoor display at an Army activity with a vandalized radium dial that had contaminated the vehicle and the immediate area.
"B. Captured electronic equipment has been found to have radioactive tubes and radioactive luminous markings. One device discovered on public display at an Army museum emitted radiation levels that were well above those allowed for unrestricted access. In another example, an intelligence unit unknowingly held a device that contained so much radioactive material that the unit required a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to legally possess it."
The memorandum said the main dangers of contamination were posed by gear with radium, strontium-90 and tritium. Tritium is a gas used to enhance nuclear explosions.
The radioactive gear can be kept if it is denuclearized properly and after surrounding areas are decontaminated.
--------
[Takoma Park was one of the first to vote to be a nuclear-free zone in the country.]
Unofficial but Emphatic
Handgun Ban Wins 409-85 in Takoma Park Straw Vote
By Manuel Perez-Rivas Washington Post Staff Writer, November 5, 1999; Page B02
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/074l-110599-idx.html
So what if a judge told them they couldn't? The folks in Takoma Park weren't about to let that stop them from being heard.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Vincent E. Ferretti Jr. ruled last week that a referendum on banning handguns could not be put on this week's official municipal ballot because it conflicted with state law. So, on Tuesday, the gun-ban supporters held their own, unofficial referendum of Takoma Park's voters. The outcome was a landslide.
By a ratio of nearly 5 to 1, voters in this free-spirited, nuclear-free enclave just north of the District cast a purely symbolic vote to ban the sale or possession of handguns within the city limits. With all the ballots counted, 409 Takoma Park voters were for the ban and 85 against.
It was enough to make Tom Mooney, a former state delegate who was the attorney for the group supporting the ban, reminisce about his student protest days of the 1960s. Back then, he said, they had a saying: "You do it at the ballot box when possible. You do it in the streets when necessary.
"Well," he added, "we took it to the streets."
In this case, the "street" was just outside City Hall, where organizers set up a table with a ballot box and a sign that said. "Vote Here on the Handgun Ban." They had just one table, even though there were three entrances that voters could use to enter the official polling place inside. They concede that some voters might have missed their table. More than 1,300 people voted in the mayoral election.
But organizers said they were concerned enough that the count be honest that they left it in the hands of Ruth Abbott, the widow of the city's legendary mayor, Sam Abbott, a liberal activist whose name graces City Hall. Ruth Abbott was selected because "her integrity is beyond reproach," said John Guernsey, who is an artist, a piano player and one of the leaders of Citizens Against Handguns.
Guernsey believes the results reflect the general sentiments of the city of 18,600 people. But even in Takoma Park, which is so progressive that it grants noncitizens the right to vote in city elections, there were die-hard supporters of the right to bear arms. There were the two residents who successfully sued to have the measure removed from the ballot, of course, and a none-too-happy woman who showed up on Election Day and offered her permit to carry a handgun as her ID.
Supporters of a ban hope Tuesday's vote will help build momentum that will carry far beyond the borders of their small city. Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) already had stopped by the city to promote his campaign for greater restrictions on handguns, including an eventual ban on the weapons. And, they said, Takoma Park has taken the lead on other controversial issues, such as banning cigarette vending machines, that later were taken up elsewhere.
"If we're effective in banning handguns, it makes a statement. It makes a strong statement," said Hank Prensky, a former council member who is a real estate agent. "It begins increasing consciousness."
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U.S. Near Decision on Indicting Lee in Los Alamos Case
By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 5, 1999; Page A08
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/110l-110599-idx.html
The federal government is in the final stages of determining what classified information could be presented in court against Wen Ho Lee, clearing the way for a possible indictment of the former nuclear weapons scientist as early as next week, according to senior administration officials.
Justice Department prosecutors have been wrestling for months over whether to seek an indictment against Lee, a U.S. citizen from Taiwan who was fired in March for alleged security violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where he had worked for almost 20 years.
Officials indicated the government has decided not to prosecute Lee for espionage, since there is no evidence that he deliberately turned over nuclear secrets to China. However, the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, John J. Kelly, may seek an indictment for gross negligence in handling classified information.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was briefed last week on the types of classified information that might have to be made public as evidence in a trial.
"Energy's security office has been working with other federal officials to make sure that if we do declassify information, that there is no harm to national security," a spokeswoman, Brook Anderson, said yesterday. "The actual declassification decision has not yet been made."
The FBI focused on Lee three years ago as the main suspect in China's alleged theft of secrets about the W-88, the most advanced warhead in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. He was fired from Los Alamos after he admitted failing to report some contacts with foreigners and after a polygraph test indicated he gave deceptive answers to questions about espionage.
A subsequent search showed he had downloaded top secret "legacy codes"--essentially, mathematical models of nuclear explosions--from the classified computer system at Los Alamos to his unclassified office computer.
Lee has denied giving classified information to China and has maintained that the legacy codes on his office computer were protected by at least three passwords, making unauthorized access all but impossible.
Together with a dire report by a congressional committee headed by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), Lee's case created a furor over Chinese espionage early this year. Yet scientists, federal investigators and members of Congress still debate whether China stole important secrets and, if so, who is to blame.
Several officials involved in the probe have claimed that investigators focused on Lee because of his ethnicity. Bowing to widespread criticism, the FBI announced this fall that it would widen the probe to consider other suspects and, indeed, whether espionage occurred at all.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, has been considering whether to indict Lee under various statutes.
One section of the federal law on espionage makes it a crime for any person who is entrusted with classified defense information to allow it "to be removed from its proper place of custody" through "gross negligence." Another section requires anyone who knows that such information has been illegally removed to report the loss promptly.
Violations of either of these provisions are felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Prosecutions for such cases are rare but not unknown.
In 1994, for example, Marine Sgt. Rickie L. Roller was convicted for transferring classified materials from his desk to his garage while preparing to move to a new assignment. Roller argued that the documents had not been turned over to a third party and thus were not compromised. But the court ruled that the law prohibits removing classified information from its proper place and "does not necessarily imply the involvement of a third party."
"It is clear that Congress intended to create a hierarchy of offenses against national security, ranging from 'classic spying' to merely losing classified materials through gross negligence," a court said in another case.
In the Los Alamos case, the Justice Department also could bring a lesser charge against Lee: removing classified information "without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location." This is a misdemeanor that can be punished by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
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Fish Lines
By Gary Diamond Special to The Washington Post Friday, November 5, 1999; Page N75
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/019l-110599-idx.html
Virginia
LAKE ANNA -- ... Channel catfish are plentiful throughout the lake, with the best catches made near the warm-water outlet of the nuclear power plant.
[Sure makes me glad I no longer eat fish. Now sunflower seeds ... do you think twice about eating them, now you know that sunflowers soak up radioactivity from the soil? et]
-------- china
China nuke danger
Washington Times 11/05/99
Inside the Ring Notes from the Pentagon
By Bill Gertz and Rowan
The Army is warning soldiers to watch out for radioactive foreign military equipment.
"It's primarily Chinese," a senior military officer told us. Other radioactive equipment in Army hands includes stuff "from Third World countries," he said.
"Commanders of units that possess foreign military equipment must be alert for the possibility that such equipment may contain radioactive material," the Oct. 22 memorandum states. "Examples follow:
"A. Displayed captured military vehicles have been found to have dials and gauges that contain radium. In one instance, surveyors found a foreign military vehicle in a public outdoor display at an Army activity with a vandalized radium dial that had contaminated the vehicle and the immediate area.
"B. Captured electronic equipment has been found to have radioactive tubes and radioactive luminous markings. One device discovered on public display at an Army museum emitted radiation levels that were well above those allowed for unrestricted access. In another example, an intelligence unit unknowingly held a device that contained so much radioactive material that the unit required a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to legally possess it."
The memorandum said the main dangers of contamination were posed by gear with radium, strontium-90 and tritium. Tritium is a gas used to enhance nuclear explosions.
The radioactive gear can be kept if it is denuclearized properly and after surrounding areas are decontaminated.
-------- u.s.
[Takoma Park was one of the first to vote to be a nuclear-free zone in the country.]
Unofficial but Emphatic Handgun Ban Wins 409-85 in Takoma Park Straw Vote
By Manuel Perez-Rivas Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 5, 1999; Page B02
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/074l-110599-idx.html
So what if a judge told them they couldn't? The folks in Takoma Park weren't about to let that stop them from being heard.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Vincent E. Ferretti Jr. ruled last week that a referendum on banning handguns could not be put on this week's official municipal ballot because it conflicted with state law. So, on Tuesday, the gun-ban supporters held their own, unofficial referendum of Takoma Park's voters. The outcome was a landslide.
By a ratio of nearly 5 to 1, voters in this free-spirited, nuclear-free enclave just north of the District cast a purely symbolic vote to ban the sale or possession of handguns within the city limits. With all the ballots counted, 409 Takoma Park voters were for the ban and 85 against.
It was enough to make Tom Mooney, a former state delegate who was the attorney for the group supporting the ban, reminisce about his student protest days of the 1960s. Back then, he said, they had a saying: "You do it at the ballot box when possible. You do it in the streets when necessary.
"Well," he added, "we took it to the streets."
In this case, the "street" was just outside City Hall, where organizers set up a table with a ballot box and a sign that said. "Vote Here on the Handgun Ban." They had just one table, even though there were three entrances that voters could use to enter the official polling place inside. They concede that some voters might have missed their table. More than 1,300 people voted in the mayoral election.
But organizers said they were concerned enough that the count be honest that they left it in the hands of Ruth Abbott, the widow of the city's legendary mayor, Sam Abbott, a liberal activist whose name graces City Hall. Ruth Abbott was selected because "her integrity is beyond reproach," said John Guernsey, who is an artist, a piano player and one of the leaders of Citizens Against Handguns.
Guernsey believes the results reflect the general sentiments of the city of 18,600 people. But even in Takoma Park, which is so progressive that it grants noncitizens the right to vote in city elections, there were die-hard supporters of the right to bear arms. There were the two residents who successfully sued to have the measure removed from the ballot, of course, and a none-too-happy woman who showed up on Election Day and offered her permit to carry a handgun as her ID.
Supporters of a ban hope Tuesday's vote will help build momentum that will carry far beyond the borders of their small city. Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) already had stopped by the city to promote his campaign for greater restrictions on handguns, including an eventual ban on the weapons. And, they said, Takoma Park has taken the lead on other controversial issues, such as banning cigarette vending machines, that later were taken up elsewhere.
"If we're effective in banning handguns, it makes a statement. It makes a strong statement," said Hank Prensky, a former council member who is a real estate agent. "It begins increasing consciousness."
--------
U.S. Near Decision on Indicting Lee in Los Alamos Case
By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 5, 1999; Page A08
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/110l-110599-idx.html
The federal government is in the final stages of determining what classified information could be presented in court against Wen Ho Lee, clearing the way for a possible indictment of the former nuclear weapons scientist as early as next week, according to senior administration officials.
Justice Department prosecutors have been wrestling for months over whether to seek an indictment against Lee, a U.S. citizen from Taiwan who was fired in March for alleged security violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where he had worked for almost 20 years.
Officials indicated the government has decided not to prosecute Lee for espionage, since there is no evidence that he deliberately turned over nuclear secrets to China. However, the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, John J. Kelly, may seek an indictment for gross negligence in handling classified information.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson was briefed last week on the types of classified information that might have to be made public as evidence in a trial.
"Energy's security office has been working with other federal officials to make sure that if we do declassify information, that there is no harm to national security," a spokeswoman, Brook Anderson, said yesterday. "The actual declassification decision has not yet been made."
The FBI focused on Lee three years ago as the main suspect in China's alleged theft of secrets about the W-88, the most advanced warhead in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. He was fired from Los Alamos after he admitted failing to report some contacts with foreigners and after a polygraph test indicated he gave deceptive answers to questions about espionage.
A subsequent search showed he had downloaded top secret "legacy codes"--essentially, mathematical models of nuclear explosions--from the classified computer system at Los Alamos to his unclassified office computer.
Lee has denied giving classified information to China and has maintained that the legacy codes on his office computer were protected by at least three passwords, making unauthorized access all but impossible.
Together with a dire report by a congressional committee headed by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), Lee's case created a furor over Chinese espionage early this year. Yet scientists, federal investigators and members of Congress still debate whether China stole important secrets and, if so, who is to blame.
Several officials involved in the probe have claimed that investigators focused on Lee because of his ethnicity. Bowing to widespread criticism, the FBI announced this fall that it would widen the probe to consider other suspects and, indeed, whether espionage occurred at all.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, has been considering whether to indict Lee under various statutes.
One section of the federal law on espionage makes it a crime for any person who is entrusted with classified defense information to allow it "to be removed from its proper place of custody" through "gross negligence." Another section requires anyone who knows that such information has been illegally removed to report the loss promptly.
Violations of either of these provisions are felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Prosecutions for such cases are rare but not unknown.
In 1994, for example, Marine Sgt. Rickie L. Roller was convicted for transferring classified materials from his desk to his garage while preparing to move to a new assignment. Roller argued that the documents had not been turned over to a third party and thus were not compromised. But the court ruled that the law prohibits removing classified information from its proper place and "does not necessarily imply the involvement of a third party."
"It is clear that Congress intended to create a hierarchy of offenses against national security, ranging from 'classic spying' to merely losing classified materials through gross negligence," a court said in another case.
In the Los Alamos case, the Justice Department also could bring a lesser charge against Lee: removing classified information "without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location." This is a misdemeanor that can be punished by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
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Plant Warnings Go Unheeded
City Ignores Lapses in Handling Toxic Chemical at Blue Plains
By Eric Lipton Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, November 5, 1999; Page A01
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/05/194l-110599-idx.html
When the warning sirens sound in the chlorine chamber of the District's sewage treatment plant--a facility that holds one of the region's largest supplies of toxic chemicals--city records show the workers there often have a simple reaction: They disconnect the alarm.
It is one of many routines at the squat, brick structure known as Chlorine Building I that threaten not only the around-the-clock operations at the Blue Plains Sewage Treatment Plant in Southwest Washington, but also potentially the health of thousands of people who live or work in the area, said three former or current safety technicians assigned to the plant.
At least 180 tons of chlorine is stored at Blue Plains--some days there is as much as 630 tons--in a liquid form so toxic that even if only a portion of it were accidentally released, it could kill plant workers in seconds and create a poisonous plume more than 30 miles long.
Yet the plant's chlorine gas sensors are years past their normal replacement dates. Plant workers sometimes leave the chlorine building unattended, including once in June when a gas leak went undetected until a technician happened to walk in. On Wednesday, a cabinet for emergency breathing equipment next to two rail cars holding liquid chlorine was filled not with oxygen tanks and masks, but with rusty tools. And a panel of warning lights in Chlorine Building I is so unreliable that workers ignore the randomly blinking emergency lights.
In all, the technicians say, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
"You can only go on the grace of God but for so long," said James J. Bobreski, an engineering technician who last week was laid off by a firm that does consulting work at Blue Plains after he raised objections about the plant's safety.
"It is going to come back and haunt you. You are going to get caught."
The District has been warned repeatedly over the past six years by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about safety shortcomings at Blue Plains. Four years ago, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority hired Bobreski's former firm, New Jersey-based Givoo Consultants Inc., to help monitor chemical safety at the plant.
But the problems persist, and late last month, a Givoo supervisor told Bobreski that he feared the firm might lose its bid for a $1 million-a-year contract renewal with the District if it kept badgering the city about safety flaws.
The supervisor did not know his remarks were being recorded. A copy of the recording, which was legal under D.C. law, was obtained by The Washington Post.
"There are certain things that need fixing, such as in the Chlorine Building," Givoo supervisor Dan G. Juanillo Sr. says on the tape. Water and Sewer Authority officials "know about it. . . . We have already written it up many times. We made a mention of it. Enough said. . . .
"What I am saying here is, we are stirring up a can of worms and it is going to [mess] up somebody somewhere and somebody is going to pay for it," Juanillo says on the tape. "And what we are looking at is Givoo right now."
Juanillo acknowledged in an interview this week that he made the remarks. Top Givoo officials at the company's Cherry Hill, N.J., headquarters said yesterday they were "very disappointed" and "disturbed" to hear what Juanillo had said, adding that Givoo's policy is to report all safety problems found by its technicians.
Top officials at the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority said Wednesday they had been unaware of such safety lapses at Blue Plains before being asked about them by The Post.
They began an investigation of chlorine safety at the plant last week, D.C. Water and Sewer Chief Engineer Michael S. Marcotte said. "I am very troubled," Marcotte said, noting his office is near Chlorine Building I. "If there are shortcomings, we will be working around the clock to get them fixed."
Marcotte said he believes that the primary cause of the problem was that Givoo employees were not doing their jobs and that Bobreski shoulders some of the blame. But he said the Water and Sewer Authority deserves part of the blame as well.
"If these happened on our watch, I certainly don't blame anyone else other than the folks who are currently working here, including myself," Marcotte said.
Marcotte and John Moore, a top official at Givoo, said they do not believe that the operations at Blue Plains threaten its employees or anyone else in the area.
"Are we on the brink of a safety crisis? Far from it," Moore said.
But D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said yesterday that he was "deeply concerned" by the questions of safety at Blue Plains and that his administration would immediately investigate the plant's chlorine facility.
"Citizens depend on government to monitor and prevent the release of potentially hazardous substances. It is an obligation I take very seriously, and I want to assure the public that this situation is being addressed immediately," Williams said.
"I have made it clear to all involved I want immediate action to provide the required safety. . . . I have directed Peter LaPorte, my director of emergency management, to begin a review of all safety issues at Blue Plains and recommend immediate action if problems are present. I expect a report from Mr. LaPorte within 48 hours."
Mikal Shabazz, director of the EPA's regional office of chemical accident prevention, said the agency also plans to investigate Blue Plains.
Useful and Dangerous
Chlorine--which is greenish-yellow when it is a gas and a clear amber when it is a liquid--is commonly used to purify drinking water, sanitize swimming pools and bleach clothes.
Its industrial uses are much broader; it is used to make everything from car upholstery to golf bags, wallpaper and window frames, as well as pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. For decades, sewage treatment plants across the nation also have used chlorine to help sanitize wastewater before it is discharged back into rivers and bays.
The chlorine used to wash clothing or disinfect pools is much less hazardous than the substance used at Blue Plains, which processes 370 million gallons of sewage a day for the District as well as parts of Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince George's and Montgomery counties.
The liquid chlorine used at Blue Plains, if released into the atmosphere, would quickly turn into a gas and expand as much as 460 times, forming a cloud that would hug the ground, because it is heavier than air. At just three parts per million, the resulting gas can cause eye and respiratory track irritation; it is fatal starting about 430 ppm. In the area immediately around a catastrophic spill--such as a chlorine rail car losing its entire load--the level can quickly climb to more than 20,000 ppm. The substance is so powerful that it was used as a chemical weapon by Germany during World War I.
The diluted household version of chlorine emits a penetrating odor if spilled, but simply evaporates instead of forming a toxic cloud. For this reason, many wastewater treatment plants have switched to a bleach-like version of the disinfectant.
The District has long known about the risks associated with its chlorine stockpile. A 1982 study commissioned by the city concluded that if one of the 90-ton chlorine tankers stored at the site were to rupture, people within 3.4 miles could be at risk of death, a ring that takes in Alexandria, Reagan National Airport and much of Anacostia. People first would notice an irritation to their eyes and throat perhaps as far as 31 miles away and the odor would be detectable even farther away, the study said.
The risk of a catastrophic rupture of a chlorine rail car is remote: About 50,000 rail cars of chlorine are shipped nationwide each year, but since 1960 only 10 people have died in rail car-related accidents, according to the Chlorine Institute, a trade association.
But smaller-scale leaks have occurred more frequently across the nation, including one at Blue Plains four years ago that injured four Potomac River fishermen who were overcome by a toxic cloud. At least two small leaks occurred this year at the plant, according to city documents and officials, neither of which has previously been disclosed.
An emergency plan prepared by the city this year concluded that a 10-minute leak in one of the hoses that feeds chlorine from the tankers to the wastewater treatment unit at Blue Plains could spread a toxic plume of chlorine one-third of a mile around the plant, an area that includes the Navy Research Laboratory. Nearly 4,000 people work in that area.
The commanding officers at the research laboratory and nearby Bolling Air Force Base have been trying for nearly a decade to persuade the city to replace liquid chlorine and other potentially dangerous chemicals at the plant with less hazardous options. The D.C. government has been studying that idea since at least 1992, but the effort has not gone much beyond the planning stage.
"The transport of chlorine and sulfur dioxide through our installations poses a significant safety and security threat to the military and civilian personnel who live and work here, as well as to the residents of the District of Columbia," said the 1991 letter sent to then-Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly by the Navy and Army officials.
Marcotte, who has worked at the water authority for two years, said the agency recognizes the importance of the $18 million chemical conversion project, which is now being accelerated. But completion of the project is at least three years away.
Aging Sensors
Because of the dangers associated with liquid chlorine, the federal government has a long list of regulations on how it should be transported and handled and how those who deal with the chemical should protect themselves and the public.
The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority has told the U.S. government that such measures are in place at Blue Plains, and EPA officials said that until this week, they had no reason to believe otherwise. But city contractors, documents and conditions visible during a tour of the plant this week raise doubts about whether the local authority is living up to its promises.
Sensors installed to detect leaks, the alarm system designed to warn of potential problems, and the safety equipment--such as oxygen masks--that workers must rely on in emergencies all have been compromised, according to city records and the contractors. Meanwhile, internal memos at Blue Plains question whether Water and Sewer Authority staff members at Chlorine Building I pay enough attention to their jobs.
The first line of defense against an accidental chlorine leak are seven highly sensitive devices designed to detect even trace levels of chlorine. The idea is that if the plant's employees are quickly alerted to possible leaks, they can fix problems before they get out of hand. The sensors trip an alarm system that is supposed to have flashing lights and a loud siren.
The EPA warned the city in 1993 that during an inspection, auditors had found only one of four sensors checked to be in working order. Givoo Consultants has been paid about $4 million since 1995, according to city records, to make sure the sensors and other safety equipment work properly.
But city documents indicate that problems with the sensors have continued.
To begin with, the sensors need to be replaced about every two years, said George Kugler, vice president for research and development at Scott/Bacharach Gas Detection Products, the Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of Blue Plains's sensors. The two-year lifetime is outlined in the sensors' operating manual, but as of Wednesday the sensors at Chlorine Building I were, on average, more than four years old, with one dating to 1990, a Givoo technician said.
"That is not good," Kugler said. "We would not expect them to last that long."
The manual also recommends two tests to ensure the sensors are working properly: a detailed semiannual inspection using a sample of chlorine gas and a more basic, twice-a-month checkup. Neither test has been performed properly at Blue Plains in more than a year and perhaps longer, two Givoo technicians said this week.
The technicians said that they have been checking the sensors every other week but that the procedure they have used--which is not consistent with what the manual calls for--is much more likely to give a false indication that a inoperative sensor is working properly.
The technicians maintain they did the tests as instructed by water authority work orders; authority officials say it was Givoo's responsibility to do the tests as described by the sensors' manufacturer.
On Oct. 22, frustrated with the lack of response by the city and Givoo to his complaints about the sensors, a Givoo technician submitted a written report indicating that none of the seven sensors responded within the five-second standard established by the manufacturer. And four of them did not go off even after five minutes of chlorine exposure, his report said.
An order for four new sensors was placed last Wednesday--costing a total of $1,625--several days after The Post began its inquiry into the plant's troubles.
But the safety system's weaknesses go beyond the sensors.
A Chlorine Building control panel--filled with meters and lights that are supposed to signal possible trouble in the chemicals and in the wastewater as it passes through the plant--is considered unreliable by workers, said William Albrittain, manager of the plant's primary treatment.
"We basically ignore them," he said Wednesday morning as 12 lights on the nearby panel glowed, indicating high pressure, low pressure and other potential chlorine problems. Instead, he said, the workers inspect the equipment manually, though they do so just once an hour.
The building's alarm system also is unreliable. At least four times in recent months, technicians said they found electrical wiring for the audible alarm disconnected, which they blamed on plant workers who apparently were bothered by the noise from frequent alarms.
A Sept. 10 memorandum from a Givoo technician to his supervisor detailed the problem: "The chlorine building is one building that should have all of its alarms functioning at all times. . . . Failure to correct this problem could lead to death or serious injury, along with certain legal liabilities."
Even when the alarms and sensors are working properly, warnings aren't always noticed.
On June 30, a technician heard an alarm sounding as he arrived at Chlorine Building I at 7 a.m. No one was at the controls, and he discovered a gas leaking from a chlorine-mixing device. An emergency ventilation system--designed to suck toxic air out of the plant and neutralize any poisons--had automatically switched on. But it was ineffective, because the worker who had left the building earlier had propped open a door.
Other problems evident at Chlorine Building I this week or detailed in recent memos included:
* A supply cabinet next to the chlorine rail cars that is designed to hold emergency breathing equipment--which workers would use to try to contain a leak or leave the area in the event of a spill--held only two rusty pipe wrenches on Wednesday. A December 1993 letter sent by the EPA to Blue Plains Manager Walter F. Bailey warned the city about the need to have emergency oxygen tanks there.
* Bare wires and parts of the electrical system at Blue Plains are exposed in some places, leaving them vulnerable to short circuit.
* The roof at Chlorine Building I leaks, windows are broken, and pipes and valves that carry chlorine gas and other substances through the plant are rusted.
Each of the Givoo consultants interviewed said that in their years working at various plants--from plastic factories to other municipal wastewater operations to nuclear power plants--they have never seen conditions as hazardous as those at Blue Plains.
"I was frightened," said one technician who asked not to be identified, adding that he decided earlier this year to quit and find another job. "I said to myself, 'It is not worth working here for me. I don't feel safe here.' I wondered: Who is running this place, and how could they allow this to happen?"
Explanations Differ
D.C. officials and Givoo gave conflicting explanations this week about who is to blame for the faulty safety systems.
Juanillo, the Givoo supervisor whose conversation with Bobreski was taped, said in that conversation that the company had told water authority managers about the problems and noted that the firm recently proposed installing a new alarm system.
But Juanillo warned his colleague not to push the city too aggressively. Givoo is seeking an extension of its city contract, and on the tape Juanillo tells Bobreski he does not want to raise questions about why the city had not addressed safety problems at Blue Plains.
"I am not trying to say we are trying to cover it up," Juanillo tells Bobreski on the tape. "There has to be a different way of doing it without causing this kind of a problem."
Juanillo goes on to tell Bobreski that Givoo's responsibility is to tell the water authority about safety problems, and if they aren't corrected, it is the city's fault.
"We don't need to keep ramming it down their [expletive] throat," Juanillo says on the tape.
Marcotte, the chief engineer for the Water and Sewer Authority, said no one from Givoo ever approached him with safety concerns.
The company, he added, had an obligation to continue bringing any safety shortcomings to the city's attention.
"Certainly I would like to hear from our contractors and our people if there is an issue of health and safety of that magnitude," Marcotte said. "I am very troubled by their take on this."
Marcotte said yesterday that the authority is installing new chlorine sensors and intends to spend $11,000 to replace its chlorine monitoring system. Yesterday, the authority suspended consideration of Givoo's contract renewal.
Chlorine Overcomes Men
Even with weaknesses in Blue Plains's chlorine warning system, a serious accident that causes widespread casualties is unlikely, said Gardner Bates, a spokesman for the Chlorine Institute.
Chlorine, he noted, was safely used in plants across the nation before many modern alarm systems were invented.
But Bates agreed that without properly working safety monitors, the likelihood of small releases inside a treatment plant could be raised, because workers might take longer to determine that something is wrong.
Four times in the past five years, at least trace amounts of chlorine have been released improperly at Blue Plains. In none of the cases was the public immediately notified.
On Aug. 15, 1994, a storage tank that workers thought was empty suddenly sent a plume of chlorine into the air. Four men in two boats were nearby that night, fishing on the Potomac.
Two of the men described the incident this way: A puff of what they thought was steam became a white cloud, which soon surrounded them in a choking fog. They couldn't breathe; they couldn't scream. They pulled their shirts over their heads for protection, to no avail. Their eyes watered and their skin itched.
Mark Trodden, of Springfield, one of fishermen, recoils at the thought of that night.
"It was an incredibly horrible night," he said. "It is a chapter in my life I want to get over with."
All four men were admitted to hospitals, and one says he and his fishing partner nearly died in the incident. The city and the EPA investigated; the incident ultimately was blamed on a pressure gauge that had broken off the tank.
The other recent releases were small enough that they did not require a formal probe.
In May, a part in the plant's chlorine feeding system ruptured, sending a plume of less than 10 pounds' worth of chlorine into the air, said D.C. officials, who provided no other details on the incident.
In June, the chlorine detection alarm went off when no one was at Chlorine Building I.
In August, a Givoo technician was checking the chlorine building when the alarm went off. He reset it, but within seconds, it sounded again. Employees soon noticed the smell of chlorine, and the plant safety office was alerted, says an Aug. 20 memorandum on the incident.
No one was reported injured, but with the third release since spring, several technicians said they began to seriously question the plant's safety.
"They have got a problem there," said one Givoo technician, who agreed to be interviewed because he was afraid a serious accident could happen at Blue Plains.
"If this keeps one man breathing so he can go home and see his family," he said, "I guess it is just worth it."
Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
RISK AND SAFEGUARDS
Chlorine at Blue Plains
Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant processes more than 300 million gallons of wastewater a day, using more than 1,300 gallons of liquid chlorine to help sanitize the water before it is released into the Potomac River. Two-thirds of this chlorine is used in Chlorine Building I.
If released into the atmosphere, chlorine quickly turns to a gas, expanding 460 times in size. In an area immediately around a spill, chlorine gas can measure more than 20,000 parts per million.
Chlorine exposure threshold (in parts per million)
0.2 to 0.4 ppm Odor perception
1 to 3 ppm Mild mucous membrane irritation
5 to 15 ppm Moderate irritation of the respiratory tract
30 ppm Immediate chest pain, vomiting, coughing
40 to 60 ppm Lung tissue swells with fluid
430 ppm Lethal over 30 minutes
1,000 ppm Fatal within a few minutes
Potential danger
Chlorine is shipped to Blue Plains in 90-ton rail cars. A catastophic rupture of a chlorine rail car is unlikely. Such a rupture could place people within a 3.4-mile radius at risk of death and might cause non-lethal but harmful reactions in people as far as 31 miles away.
Even a small-scale chlorine release could pose a large threat. In a scenario outlined by the plant, a 10-minute release of chlorine from a hose leak could create a life-threatening plume that would spread over a third of a mile, placing plant workers and those at the Naval Research Laboratory and in Navy housing at immediate risk.
Detecting chlorine
Chlorine Building I is equipped with seven devices designed to detect even trace elements of chlorine in the air. The sensors must be tested periodically -- usually by private contractors hired by the Water and Sewer Authority. But documented plant practices have deviated from the recommended testing procedures, yielding what may be unreliable results. The two tests detailed below are vital:
1. Quick check (twice a month)
Fast method of testing the sensors for response to chlorine
Recommended procedure: A plastic cup is filled with a small amount of calcium hypochlorite (a dry form of chlorine) and held beneath the sensor.
Response time: Five seconds
Documented plant practice:
Procedure: A
potent solution of bleach and vinegar is used to trigger the sensor.
Response time: Despite the inten-sity of the solution, records show that some sensors failed to respond after five minutes.
2. Calibration procedure (semiannually)
A more accurate method of ensuring the device is adequately sensitive to chlorine.
Recommended procedure: Sensor is exposed to a known concentration of chlorine gas from a calibrated sample.
Response time: Five minutes
Plant practice
Procedure: In their most recent attempt to conduct this test, contractors said that they were given a calibrated gas sample that had expired and that they later lacked a formula needed to conduct the test.
The sensors
Chlorine gas sensors have an expected life span of 18 to 24 months. Records show a wide disparity in the ages of the seven sensors in Chlorine Building I, with at least one sensor manufactured more than nine years ago.
SensorLocationAge (From manufacture date)
Sensor 1Near rail car7 months
Sensor 2Near rail car9 years, 9 months
Sensor 3Basement3 years, 9 months
Sensor 4Basement 5 years, 11 months
Sensor 5Basement11 months
Sensor 6First floor3 years, 8 months
Sensor 7First floor5 years, 11 months
SOURCES: Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Chlorine Institute, District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, Scott/Bacharach Gas Detection Products
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Russia Gets Bomber From Ukraine
The Associated Press Friday, Nov. 5, 1999; 2:58 p.m. EST
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/19991105/aponline145817_000.htm
MOSCOW -- The Russian air force on Friday received the first of 11 strategic bombers it bought from Ukraine in a move to bolster its nuclear strike capability.
A supersonic Tu-160 Blackjack bomber flew to the Engels air base near Saratov, where it was met by air force chief Col. Gen. Anatoly Kornukov.
Another plane, a turboprop Tu-95 Bear bomber, was expected to arrive later, the news agency Interfax reported.
In exchange for the bombers, Russia has agreed to write off $285 million of Ukraine's $1.8 billion debt for natural gas deliveries.
Ukraine inherited more than 40 Soviet strategic bombers after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but its government lacked funds to maintain and fly them and offered to sell them to Russia. The talks dragged on until a price was agreed on.
Acquisition of Ukrainian bombers would significantly strengthen the Russian air force, which now has only six Tu-160s, the equivalent of the U.S. B-1 bomber. Russia reportedly also has about 50 Tu-95s.
Interfax quoted Russian Defense Ministry officials as saying that in addition to the bombers, Russia is also getting over 500 cruise missiles to be carried by the aircraft.
Both types of bombers are capable of carrying nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. In September, Russia sent two Tu-95s to probe U.S. air defenses near Alaska, the first such action in six years. Earlier this year, pairs of Tu-95s and Tu-160s also flew off Iceland and Norway.
The delivery comes amid Russia's intense criticism of the United States for trying to modify the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. Russia has been making a rare show of its nuclear forces as it presses its objections to changing the treaty.
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Hanford Land May Be Added to Refuge
By John Hughes Associated Press Writer Friday, Nov. 5, 1999; 5:47 p.m. EST
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/19991105/aponline174722_000.htm
WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration is is expanding a federal wildlife refuge to include 57,000 acres that were part of the top-secret project to build the atomic bomb.
The move, sought by environmentalists for more than a decade, ensures the land near the Columbia River in Washington state will not be turned into farmland, as some hoped it would.
President Clinton said Friday that adding the land to the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge will protect prime salmon habitat and support the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada.
"My budget proposes increases for salmon restoration, but Congress has provided only a fraction of the resources necessary to do the job," he said in a statement taped for radio.
The acreage was part of the Hanford nuclear reservation that began in 1943 for the Manhattan Project to build the bomb during World War II.
Hanford made plutonium for the nation's nuclear arsenal until the 1980s and is now being cleaned up as the most contaminated nuclear site in the nation.
But the 57,000 acres was part of a security buffer, so much of the land has been untouched for decades and is considered to be in good condition.
Environmentalists view the area as one of the last large chunks of high-quality, shrub-steppe habitat in the nation. It is home to more than 200 species of birds and more than 40 rare plants and animals, such as the long-billed curlew bird and the White Bluffs bladder-pod, a bright yellow flower that blooms each June.
"It's a very special area that we really need to protect," said Rick Leaumont of the Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society.
The local congressman, Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has introduced a bill that calls for studying the land for development, recreation and other uses. Farm advocates said they could irrigate and plant crops in 20,000 to 30,000 acres of the land without harming the environment.
Hastings said in a statement that it has been clear for months that the Clinton administration planned to keep and expand federal control of land in the area. "I will, however, do all I can to ensure that local residents have access to these lands," he said.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced in April that the Clinton administration was launching an administrative process to protect the land.
Environmentalists hope the announcement speeds the designation of the nearby Hanford Reach as a federally protected river. The 51-mile reach is the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia and a critical spawning ground for salmon.
Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks, both Washington Democrats, have proposed bills that would designate the Hanford Reach as a wild and scenic river and place it under federal protection.
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Another Violation Reported At Paducah
Updated 2:53 PM ET November 5, 1999
http://news.excite.com/news/r/991105/14/ky-state-news-2
(PADUCAH) -- Another safety violation has been reported at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Last week some unauthorized waste was dumped into a storage area. That action is the 105th violation uncovered since investigations began several months ago into the operations at the uranium-processing plant. The probe was instigated when some former employees charged that they had been unknowingly exposed to highly radioactive plutonium.
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Three bodies to be exhumed in Paducah uranium plant suit Paducah
By The Associated Press November 5, 1999
http://www.courierpress.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?199911/03+bodies110399_news.html+19991103+news
The bodies of three men who died of cancer will be exhumed this month as attorneys prepare their case for a $10 billion lawsuit against former operators of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
The survivors of Joe Harding, H.C. "Ladd" Mathis and Charles Edward Harris have given permission to have the bodies exhumed, said Bill McMurry of Louisville, Ky., an attorney in the class-action suit filed in September.
All three men worked at the uranium-enrichment plant. This will be the second time Harding's body has been exhumed.
The federal suit claims that workers and their families have suffered physical and emotional injuries because of exposure to radioactive materials at the plant.
"We are simply going to have the bones analyzed for uranium content, plutonium content and neptunium content," McMurry told The Paducah Sun. "We believe the results will be just as profound as the results were in the (previous) Harding case."
Before his death March 1, 1980, Harding claimed his abdominal cancer was caused by work-related contamination. He also said Union Carbide Corp., which at the time operated the plant, falsified records to cover up his exposure.
Harding, who was 58 when he died, worked at the plant from 1952 until 1971.
Early in his career, he worked as a process operator, mixing powdered uranium with fluorine and other chemicals. In a journal he kept, Harding said the air inside the building was often heavy with uranium dust that he inhaled.
After his death, Harding's wife filed for work-related compensation. As part of that action, his body was exhumed, and his bones were tested by a lab in Canada. The results indicated his radiation level was 1,700 times above normal limits.
Union Carbide questioned the accuracy of those results after some of the samples were lost. The claim for benefits eventually was denied. The U.S. Department of Energy conducted its own investigation and also concluded that Harding's illness was not work-related.
McMurry said he isn't sure when the bodies will be exhumed but hopes all of the arrangements can be finalized in a week or two. He said he is coordinating the work of a local funeral home, cemetery workers, a vault company, a pathologist and the laboratory that will do the testing.
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Scientist sees national missile defense system as a mistake
By Mike Doogan November 5, 1999, Anchorage Daily News
A funny thing happened to Donald Whitmore back in the 1960s. He was doing a study for Boeing of where to send manned bombers to escape the fallout from a limited nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. As he traced wind patterns and radiation drift, he saw something besides safe places for bombers.
"I could see it in terms of 'People are going to die. Lots of people,' " he said. "That's when I started tracking the arms race and started to study nuclear arms control."
Whitmore is a short, gray-haired man with the face of a 17th-century Anglican bishop and a head full of disturbing information. He is in Alaska to talk about the national missile defense system that might be located here. Until now, discussion of the system in Alaska has focused on one thing: $10 billion, the estimated cost of building it. This is pork on a monumental scale, and everybody in Alaska wants to go to the luau.
The national missile defense system is the latest attempt by Republican rocket rattlers to substitute technology for diplomacy as a way of protecting the United States from nuclear attack. The pretext is that so-called rogue nations - North Korea, Iran, Iraq - are developing ballistic missiles that could be used against the United States. Republican politicians love the issue because it gives them a way to sit tall in the saddle and gun down Democrats with virile sound bites. Rather than have that fight, the Democrats have decided to support the national missile defense system as well.
Whitmore is not a politician. He got a degree in physics from the University of Washington in 1955 and went right to work for Boeing. He spent 32 years there working on national defense projects. His study of nuclear warfare convinced him that arms control is a better protection than technology. He retired from Boeing in 1987, "early so I could become a nuclear activist," and has taken upon himself the role of debunker in the national missile defense debate. Why?
"When you ask the short question 'Why wouldn't we want to defend ourselves against a missile threat,' the answer is a long answer," Whitmore said. "And you can't do it with sound bites."
Put simply, Whitmore's arguments against the national missile defense system are these. It won't work. Even if it could be made to work, it couldn't be depended upon to work every time, a big flaw when failure means the destruction of a major American city. Even if it could be made to work every time, it would eliminate only a tiny part of the threat against the United States, and the least likely part at that. It would intercept only a limited number of warheads from ICBMs. It wouldn't work against an all-out ICBM attack by a major power, or cruise missiles, short- and medium-range missiles, and any of an array of covert or terrorist acts.
"I'm afraid that people will think it will take care of the problem," Whitmore said. "The erection of the shield will eliminate any incentive to seek real protection against a real threat."
Building the system will take money that could be used to lessen other, more likely threats, Whitmore said. Building it would also threaten a number of treaties intended to lessen the number of nuclear weapons and prevent their spread. That's a pretty high price to pay for a limited, unreliable system.
Whitmore makes a compelling case. Still, it's an odd hobby for a 67-year-old grandfather. Why does he do this? In part, he says, it's because he wants to remove the threat of nuclear war for his five children and 10 grandchildren. But he has a scientist's answer too.
"When I was getting into this in the 1960s, it was just terribly irrational that we were in this nuclear mess, and it was rational to get out of it. And it just bothered me that we were being so irrational."
* Mike Doogan's opinion column appears each Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. His telephone number is 257-4350, and his e-mail address is mdoogan@adn.com
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