NucNews - December 30, 2005 -------- NUCLEAR A Manhattan project for the 21st century Friday, December 30, 2005, Chandigarh, India Tribune http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20051230/science.htm#1 Dr Steven Cutts explores the outermost frontiers of knowledge to which science and technology have carried us, and probes where current breakthroughs could lead. Almost 70 years ago, several groups of scientists and engineers came together to discuss the most terrifying technological development then envisaged: the atom bomb. Incredibly, physicists had been able to predict atomic weapons from purely pen and paper calculations. A group of leading scientists was gathered at a remote laboratory in New Mexico to work on a project so secret even their wives were not allowed to know its purpose: to develop a weapon capable of destroying a city the size of Manhattan. Achieving the aim cost 10 times its originally estimated budget, but in purely? military terms the Manhattan Project was a spectacular success, bringing World War II to an abrupt end by cruelly obliterating Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That awesome event led to a flurry of further breakthroughs in both civil and military applications of nuclear power and rocket science. In July 1969 Neil Armstrong was actually walking on the Moon and some of us felt then that almost any technological challenge could be met if only enough resources were committed to it. That is simply not the case. Nuclear mirage One of the few holy grails of scientific research is nuclear power. The promise of limitless electrical power from nuclear fusion has excited governments since the 1950s, yet despite fortunes being spent globally on research, the best fusion reactor still consumes more energy than it produces. Not a single megawatt of energy has made it into any country’s national grid and nuclear fusion remains a mirage that recedes as fast as we approach it. It is likely that a viable fusion reactor will be built within the next 30 years, but by that time breakthroughs in alternative technology may have left it behind, The solar power technology of spaceflight has already arrived on earth and the only thing holding it back is mass production. If it becomes possible to coat the roof of your house dirt-cheaply with photovoltaic cells, will you bother to hook up to the mains? Part of the problem with scientific research is that it pays off only at certain moments. To obtain a worthwhile return on our investment we need to do more than just recognise a good idea. We have to identify an idea whose time has come. Sometimes the timing of scientific discovery is happily accidental. The Aids epidemic has emerged as a serious threat to mankind and the timing of its advent remains a mystery. Had it arrived half a century earlier we would have had practically no hope of understanding its mechanism, let alone of producing drugs to control its development. Weaned on the novels of Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov, I was convinced in my youth that almost any technological challenge could be met. Then it seemed to me inevitable that by the early 21st century much of our transport system would have become redundant because so many office workers would be telecommuting from computers at home. Why on earth would anybody wish to suffer rush-hour delays and discomfort when they could enjoy an extra couple of hours in bed? That revolution in working practice hasn’t happened and as an adult I realise that my youthful prognostication was naive. Human beings need social contact, a competitive environment and a continuous change of scene. If the internet does leave Western offices empty it will be because the jobs have shifted to low-cost areas of Asia, and the people I had envisaged sitting at their home computers will be largely unemployed. Nevertheless, the process of scientific change continues unabated and forever accelerates. The sum total of medical research papers in the world is increasing exponentially — a problem in itself, since the majority of them are not wOl1h reading. But as more and more countries industrialise and as ever more resources are pumped into medical and engineering research, inevitably breakthroughs will follow. Scientists are researching into immunology, cancer and stem-cell fields unheard of only 20 years ago. A new generation of engineers is striving to provide us with fresh sources of power. A host of advances in Space travel are on the edge of breaching present financial and technical obstacles. With all this effort and will, obstacles previously insurmountable will surely soon be overcome. The fact is that some scientific and technological developments are simply of their time and not the result of an enforced effort. — AF -------- depleted uranium Oak Ridge cylinders await shipping exemptions Friday, 12/30/05 ASSOCIATED PRESS http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051230/NEWS01/512300378/1006/NEWS About 1,200 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride rusting in outdoor lots at the former K-25 enrichment plant are waiting on special shipping exemptions before they can be trucked to Ohio. The Department of Energy and its Oak Ridge contractors have six exemption requests pending with the Department of Transportation to allow containers that are slightly overweight or otherwise don't meet transportation rules to make the 300-mile trip. The destination is a sister facility in Piketon, Ohio, where the uranium compounds will be processed into a more stable form for long-term storage or disposal. About 4,800 cylinders — weighing up to 14 tons apiece — have made the trip in recent years. ---- Uranium expert to speak on Iraq Friday, December 30, 2005, GALESBURG, IL REGISTER-MAIL http://www.register-mail.com/stories/123005/LOC_B8HEFF8O.GID.shtml PEORIA - Dr. Doug Rokke, internationally known expert on depleted uranium, will give a talk, "Out of Iraq," at 2 p.m. Jan. 7 in the basement auditorium of the Main Downtown Branch of the Peoria Public Library, 107 N.E. Monroe St. Rokke, retired Army major who was director of the Army's Depleted Uranium Project from 1994 to 1995, will talk about the growing dangers of depleted uranium caused by weapons used during the Gulf War, during the current conflict in Iraq and elsewhere. The talk is free and open to the public. -------- india Remembering N-scientist - V Sarabhai By PS Prakasa Rao, December 30, 2005 Central Chronicle India News http://www.centralchronicle.com/20051230/3012303.htm A great scientist, a brilliant administrator and much splendoured personality, Dr.Vikram A. Sarabhai passed away at Kovalam near Thiruvananthapuram on 30 December 1971. He is remembered for varied contributions to science in India. Indian nuclear scientist Dr Vikram A Sarabhai was also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Dr Vikram A Sarabhai was born in 1919. His father, Ambalal Sarabhai, was a well-known industrialist. His mother, Sarala Devi, was a social worker of Gujarat. Vikram had his schooling in Ahmedabad and his collegiate education at St. John's College, Cambridge. He worked on problems of Nuclear Physics and took the Ph.D. degree of the Cambridge University with a thesis on "Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes" in 1947. Dr.Vikram A. Sarabhai had a keen desire to establish institutions for development new science and advanced technology and using them for improving the living conditions of people. On his return from United Kingdom, he started a Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad to provide for studies in theoretical physics, radio physics and electronics. Today it serves as a leading post-graduate study centre for physics in the country. Between 1947 and 1955 Dr.Sarabhai set up two other institutions of national importance the Ahmedabad Textile and the Indian Institute of Management. Dr.Vikram Sarabhai was appointed a member of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1961. Since then his bright career started. With his keen interest in Cosmic Rays and the upper atmosphere he proved beyond doubt that he possessed an extraordinary mind. The Rocket Launching Station and the Space Science and Technology Centre at Thumba near Thiruvanthapuram (Kerala), were the outcome of his creative efforts. After the untimely death of Dr Homi J Bhabha, Dr Vikram A Sarabhai took over the Chairmanship of the Atomic Energy Commission. Soon he brought the Department of Atomic Energy and Space Research Organization into closer contact. The Rocket and Satellite Launching Range at Sriharikota on the Pulikat Lake in Andhra Pradesh, the Experimental Satellite Communication Station in Ahmedabad and the overseas satellite Communication Centre at Arvi in Maharashtra came up in quick succession. The Community Science Centre in Ahmedabad founded by Dr Vikram A Sarabhai and his family provides laboratory, library and workshop facilities for boys and girls to learn and do experiments guided by qualified scientists. More than 60 organizations in various fields such as industry, education, scientific research, dance, applied industrial research, theatre, rural development, architecture, town planning, graphics design and fine arts owe their existence to this great scientist. Dr Vikram A. Sarabhai was the Chairman of the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful uses of Outer Space in 1968. He was President, 14th General Conference, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria) in 1970. He was the recipient of many honours both in India and abroad. -------- iran Russia's Nuclear Chief to Travel to Iran Fri Dec 30, 2005 11:15 AM ET Associated Press http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051230/ap_on_re_eu/russia_iran_1 MOSCOW - Russia's nuclear chief is set to travel to Iran in February to discuss the completion of a Russian-built nuclear plant and Moscow's proposals to enrich Iran's uranium on Russian territory, officials said Friday. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, is expected to focus on a schedule for the completion of the Bushehr nuclear plant Russia is building in southern Iran, his spokesman Sergei Novikov said. "Issues relating to Russia's proposal to Iran to move its enrichment program to Russian territory will be discussed as well," Novikov told The Associated Press. Iran initially had dismissed the Russian offer, but it softened its stance Thursday when a top Iranian official said that his nation was considering it. The proposal backed by the European Union and the United States is the centerpiece of global efforts to ensure that Iran cannot build nuclear weapons. Shifting enrichment activities to Russia would, in theory, make sure that uranium is enriched to a level needed to fuel reactors but not sufficient for building an atomic bomb. ---- Iran is NPT compliant: German official Tehran: 21:37, 2005/12/30 http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=272005 TEHRAN, Dec. 30 (MNA) -- A member of the German parliament’s foreign policy committee, Ruprecht Polenz, has said that Iran presently complies with the NPT regulations, U.S. media reported Thursday. Polenz said Iran allows the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit and control its nuclear installations but the United States, the European Union, and Russia are trying to prevent Iran from achieving the full nuclear fuel cycle. “That is why the Russians have proposed to create a joint Iranian-Russian facility to enrich uranium in Russia,” he noted. The German official also said the United States should clarify when and under what circumstances it is going to improve its ties with Iran. The MP added that the United States has had military action against Iran in mind for a long time but such action would have detrimental consequences. ---- Is Washington Planning a Military Strike? December 30, 2005 Der Spiegel http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,392783,00.html Recent reports in the German media suggest that the United States may be preparing its allies for an imminent military strike against facilities that are part of Iran's suspected clandestine nuclear weapons program. It's hardly news that US President George Bush refuses to rule out possible military action against Iran if Tehran continues to pursue its controversial nuclear ambitions. But in Germany, speculation is mounting that Washington is preparing to carry out air strikes against suspected Iranian nuclear sites perhaps even as soon as early 2006. German diplomats began speaking of the prospect two years ago -- long before the Bush administration decided to give the European Union more time to convince Iran to abandon its ambitions, or at the very least put its civilian nuclear program under international controls. But the growing likelihood of the military option is back in the headlines in Germany thanks to a slew of stories that have run in the national media here over the holidays. The most talked about story is a Dec. 23 piece by the German news agency DDP from journalist and intelligence expert Udo Ulfkotte. The story has generated controversy not only because of its material, but also because of the reporter's past. Critics allege that Ulfkotte in his previous reporting got too close to sources at Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND. But Ulfkotte has himself noted that he has been under investigation by the government in the past (indeed, his home and offices have been searched multiple times) for allegations that he published state secrets -- a charge that he claims would underscore rather than undermine the veracity of his work. According to Ulfkotte's report, "western security sources" claim that during CIA Director Porter Goss' Dec. 12 visit to Ankara, he asked Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to provide support for a possibile 2006 air strike against Iranian nuclear and military facilities. More specifically, Goss is said to have asked Turkey to provide unfettered exchange of intelligence that could help with a mission. DDP also reported that the governments of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman and Pakistan have been informed in recent weeks of Washington's military plans. The countries, apparently, were told that air strikes were a "possible option," but they were given no specific timeframe for the operations. In a report published on Wednesday, the Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel also cited NATO intelligence sources claiming that Washington's western allies had been informed that the United States is currently investigating all possibilities of bringing the mullah-led regime into line, including military options. Of course, Bush has publicly stated for months that he would not take the possibility of a military strike off the table. What's new here, however, is that Washington appears to be dispatching high-level officials to prepare its allies for a possible attack rather than merely implying the possibility as it has repeatedly done during the past year. Links to al-Qaida? According to DDP, during his trip to Turkey, CIA chief Goss reportedly handed over three dossiers to Turkish security officials that purportedly contained evidence that Tehran is cooperating with Islamic terror network al-Qaida. A further dossier is said to contain information about the current status of Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. Sources in German security circles told the DDP reporter that Goss had ensured Ankara that the Turkish government would be informed of any possible air strikes against Iran a few hours before they happened. The Turkish government has also been given the "green light" to strike camps of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iran on the day in question. The DDP report attributes the possible escalation to the recent anti-Semitic rants by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose belligerent verbal attacks on Israel (he described the Holocaust as a "myth" and called for Israel to be "wiped off the map") have strengthened the view of the American government that, in the case of the nuclear dispute, there's little likelihood Tehran will back down and that the mullahs are just attempting to buy time by continuing talks with the Europeans. The German wire service also quotes a high-ranking German military official saying: "I would be very surprised if the Americans, in the mid-term, didn't take advantage of the opportunity delivered by Tehran. The Americans have to attack Iran before the country can develop nuclear weapons. After that would be too late." Despite the wave of recent reports, it's naturally difficult to assess whether the United States has any concrete plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. In a January 2005 report in the New Yorker, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that clandestine American commando groups had already infiltrated Iran in order to mark potential military targets. At the time, the Bush administration did not dispute Hersh's reporting -- it merely sought to minimize its impact. In Washington, word circulated that the article was filled with "inaccurate statements." But no one rejected the core reporting behind the article. Bush himself explicitly stated he would not rule out the "option of war." How great is the threat? So is the region now on the verge of a military strike or even a war? In Berlin, the issue is largely being played down. During his inaugural visit with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Washington last week, the possibility of a US air strike against Iran "hadn't been an issue," for new German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, a Defense Ministry spokesman told SPIEGEL ONLINE. But the string of visits by high-profile US politicians to Turkey and surrounding reports are drawing new attention to the issue. In recent weeks, the number of American and NATO security officials heading to Ankara has increased dramatically. Within a matter of only days, the FBI chief, then the CIA chief and, most recently, NATO General Secretary Jaap De Hoop Scheffer visited the Turkish capital. During her visit to Europe earlier this month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also traveled to Turkey after a stopover in Berlin. Leading the chorus of speculation are Turkish newspapers, which have also sought to connect these visits to plans for an attack on Iran. But so far none of the speculation has been based on hard facts. Writing about the meeting between Porter Goss and Tayyip Erdogan, the left-nationalist newspaper Cumhuriyet wrote: "Now It's Iran's Turn." But the paper didn't offer any evidence to corroborate the claims. Instead, the paper noted that the meeting between the CIA chief and Erdogan lasted longer than an hour -- an unusual amount of time, especially considering Goss had previously met with the head of Turkey's intelligence service, the MIT. The Turkish media concluded that the meetings must have dealt with a very serious matter -- but they failed to uncover exactly what it was. Most media speculated that Erdogan and Goss might have discussed a common initiative against the PKK in northern Iraq. It's possible that Goss demanded secret Turkish intelligence on Iran in exchange. Regardless what the prospects are for a strike, there's little chance a US air strike against Iran would be launched from its military base in the Turkish city of Incirlik, but it is conceivable that the United States would inform Turkey prior to any strike. Skepticism in Ankara Until now the government in Ankara has viewed US military activities in the region at best with skepticism and at worst with open condemnation. At the beginning of 2003, Ankara even attempted to prevent an American ground offensive in northern Iraq against the Saddam regime. A still-irritated Donald Rumsfeld has repeatedly blamed military problems in Iraq on the fact that this second front was missing. Two weeks ago, Yasar Buyukanit, the commander of the Turkish army and probable future chief of staff of the country's armed forces, flew to Washington. After the visit he made a statement that relations between the Turkish army and the American army were once again on an excellent footing. Buyukanit's warm and fuzzy words, contrasted greatly with his past statements that if the United States and the Kurds in northern Iraq proved incapable of containing the PKK in the Kurd-dominated northern part of the country and preventing it from attacking Turkey, Buyukanit would march into northern Iraq himself. At the same time, Ankara has little incentive to show a friendly face to Tehran -- Turkish-Iranian relations have long been icy. For years now, Tehran has criticized Turkey for maintaining good relations with Israel and even cooperating with the Israeli army. Yet despite those ties to Israel, Ahmadinejad's recent anti-Israeli outbursts were reported far less extensively in Turkey than in Europe. Still, Erdogan has been demonstrably friendly towards Israel recently -- as evidenced by Erdogan's recent phone call to Ariel Sharon, congratulating the prime minister on his recent recovery from heart surgery. In the past, relations between Erdogan and Sharon have been reserved, but recently the two have grown closer. Nevertheless, Turkey's government has distanced itself from Sharon's threats to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon on his own if nobody else steps up to the task. The Turkish government has also repeatedly stated that it opposes military action against both Iran and Syria. The key political motivation here is that -- at least when it comes to the Kurdish question -- Turkey, Syria and Iran all agree on one thing: they are opposed to the creation of an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq. But if the United States moves forward with an attack against Iran, Turkey will have no choice but to jump on board -- either as an active or passive partner. It's a scenario that has Erdogan and his military in a state of deep unease. After all, even experts in the West are skeptical of whether a military intervention against nuclear installations in Iran could succeed. The more likely scenario is that an attack aiming to stop Iran's nuclear program could instead simply bolster support for Ahmadinejad in the region. ---- Hardline Iran media reject Russian nuclear offer Saturday December 31, 11:01 PM (Reuters) http://asia.news.yahoo.com/051231/3/2d8l3.html TEHRAN - A Russian proposal to form a joint venture with Iran to enrich uranium on Russian soil deprives Tehran of its nuclear rights and is unacceptable, Iran's hardline media said on Saturday. Diplomats and analysts say Iran's ultra-conservative press often reflects the uncompromising official stance on the nuclear programme and is also often used to spell out the country's negotiating position on the issue. The Russian plan, which is backed by the European Union and Washington, is designed to allay international concerns that Tehran could produce its own highly enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons. Iran says it only wants to enrich uranium to a low grade suitable for use in nuclear power reactors. Iranian officials have said they are prepared to discuss the Russian proposal but will not abandon their drive to enrich uranium on Iranian soil. "Pointless atomic negotiations, this time with Russia," said a front-page headline of the hardline Jomhouri-ye Eslami newspaper. "Experts: Russian plan is not negotiable," said the ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper. Kayhan's editor-in-chief, Hossein Shariatmadari, was quoted as saying: "Since Moscow's proposal has crossed Iran's red lines in nuclear activities, it leaves no space for negotiations." The paper also quoted Mohammad Kiarashi, a former Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency as saying: "In Iran's view, this plan is a dead proposal and is not acceptable at all." In an editorial entitled "Russian Candy", Jomhouri-ye-Eslami urged Iranian officials to reject Moscow's plan. "Joint enrichment beyond Iranian borders means nothing but depriving Iran of independent nuclear technology and the fuel cycle," it said. "Accepting such a thing would be like giving away Iran's independence to foreigners and the Islamic Republic of Iran's officials will never accept such a shameful thing," it added. While emphasising Iran's goal to produce its own nuclear fuel for atomic reactors on its own soil, Iranian officials have been careful not to reject the Russian proposal outright. Analysts say Tehran is aware that rejection of Moscow's plan would increase calls, led by Washington, for Iran's nuclear case to be sent to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose economic and political sanctions on Iran. -------- japan GE wins contract to increase capacity at Mexican nuclear plant December 30, 2005 11:54 AM By Wayne Barber, SNL Financial http://www.snl.com/interactivex/article.aspx?CdId=A-2270038-11883 A General Electric Co. subsidiary won a contract to increase the electric generating capacity at a nuclear power plant in Mexico by up to 20%, GE Energy's nuclear business said Dec. 29. The contract was awarded by Mexico's federal electricity entity, Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), for work at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant. The plant is located near the Mexican cities of Veracruz and Jalapa. The two 695-MW boiling water reactors at the nuclear plant were originally designed by GE. Under its multiphase contract with the CFE, GE will provide the engineering analyses required to support development of a safety analysis report, which will be submitted to Mexico's nuclear regulator for approval. GE will also identify plant modifications and preventative maintenance programs aimed at ensuring plant reliability at the increased levels of power output. CFE hopes to increase power levels at the two nuclear units by 2010. Earlier in the fourth quarter, GE Energy announced a nuclear power uprate contract with PPL Corp. in Pennsylvania. -------- security Who we gonna call? By MARK MARCOPLOS, Dec 30, 2005 Chapel Hill News http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/my_view/story/2867179p-9323965c.html It's been three weeks since the disturbing report concerning security at Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant. It began with one whistleblower alerting outsiders to allegations of unsecured doors to vital areas, shots being fired at a guard, company-endorsed cheating on job-qualification exams, and routine neglect at incoming truck-inspection checkpoints. Since then, other guards inside the plant have also spoken up about the allegations. On the national scene, the Bush security apparatus is surveilling Quaker grandmother peace activists and wiretapping librarians, explaining that national security is too important to be hog-tied by trivial legal restrictions. On the state level, no legal hair goes unsplit as State Attorney General Roy Cooper dodges taking action to investigate the very serious claims of the whistleblowers and protect the citizens of North Carolina. Meanwhile, Progress Energy has taken action. First they denied the claims about the doors and responded to the other allegations by mocking the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NCWARN) and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) through whom the whistleblower had communicated. Next they began harassing guards at the plant in order to out the whistleblowers (who so far remain anonymous for their own safety and job security) and reportedly destroying documents related to the security lapses. Then Progress Energy backtracked and admitted that there were unsecured doors, yet issued no confirmation of having actually fixed these or any other problems. True to form, Progress also went on the offensive with unsubstantiated claims that protected security information may have been released and they would pass details on to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It's unlikely that this strategy will pay off because the NRC's director of reactor security, Glenn Tracey, confirmed repeatedly that the information provided by the whistleblowers was not detailed to the point of compromising security. NCWARN and UCS were also very careful that sensitive information was blacked out of the documents they provided. Apparently Progress Energy has responded in every way imaginable short of actually restoring the plant to the high level of security necessary for such a prime terrorist target with its huge stockpile of nuclear material. So far, no agency has provided information to contradict the various claims emanating from inside the plant. In fact, the NRC has acknowledged that problems with door security exist. Additionally, the situation prompted high-level NRC representatives from the Atlanta regional office and the FBI to meet with NCWARN and UCS representatives to further understand the problems. In typical NRC fashion, they are straddling the line between showing some semblance of overseeing nuclear power while doing little to impede the industry for whom they have become a de facto trade organization. While the NRC bares its gums at Progress Energy, the FBI claims it can only get involved in incidents involving outside threats to the plant. While this begs the question of whether incompetence and cover-ups originating from Progress Energy's Raleigh headquarters constitute outside threats, the public is still left wondering who will step in and protect us. The beleaguered guards have asked for help from the state. They would like nothing more than for state investigators to interview them confidentially about the issues they have raised. This would not only ensure that the security issues are addressed, but would also provide them some measure of personal and job security from the heavy-handed tactics of Progress Energy. Attorney General Cooper has been kept apprised of all the developments in this developing scandal by NCWARN and UCS. So where is the appropriate response? He is the state's chief law enforcement agent and there are serious allegations of criminal activity. Who can assure the public that the plant has been properly secured in the wake of these security failures? Is our state attorney general so disengaged or corrupted by power politics that he would place a higher priority on investigating identity theft rather than security lapses at Shearon Harris that could potentially result in a nuclear disaster? Contact Mark Marcoplos at marcoplos@mindspring.com Waste? Not! Friday, 30 December 2005 by CKR Posted by Cheryl Rofer on Friday, 30 December 2005 at 01:03 PM http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview/2005/12/waste_not.html According to the 2 December Science magazine (subscription only; article reproduced here), the Department of Energy’s fiscal year 2006 budget contains $50 million toward a goal of beginning construction on an engineering-scale plant for reprocessing of nuclear fuel by 2010. A summary from the Office of Management and Budget presents a timeline and a suggestive sentence: The Budget also continues research on advanced, proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel cycles, which would allow the Nation to extract the energy potential from spent nuclear fuel and dramatically reduce the quantity and toxicity of the remaining waste. The word reprocessing is not used, but that’s what “extracting the energy potential from spent nuclear fuel” has to mean. This represents a significant change in United States policy. The current policy has been in force since 1977. On April 7 of that year, Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would no longer reprocess spent nuclear fuel. The rationale was that if plutonium and uranium were not separated via reprocessing, proliferation would be more difficult. Carter expected that other countries would follow. The world has not followed the United States. Russia, France, Britain, and Japan all reprocess nuclear fuel. What the ban on reprocessing has done is lost the United States capability in this area and required that enormous, heavily protected volumes be developed for storage or disposal of spent nuclear fuel rods, primarily Yucca Mountain, although the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, has also been mentioned as a possibility. What is Reprocessing? The uranium in the fuel of most commercial nuclear reactors is enriched to about 3.5% U-235 from its natural level of 0.7%. The U-235 fissions in those reactors, providing the heat that makes steam that drives the turbines to make electrical power. The rest of the uranium, U-238, picks up neutrons to become plutonium-239. Both the U-238 and the plutonium fission and provide some of the energy, too. Fission literally breaks the atoms of uranium and plutonium apart into smaller atoms, called fission products, which are highly radioactive for relatively short times. The longest-lived fission products are strontium-90 and cesium-137, with half-lives of 25 and 33 years, respectively. After most of the U-235 has fissioned, the reactor no longer produces heat effectively, and the fuel must be replaced. The old fuel is called spent fuel. In the United States, it is also called nuclear waste, along with a wide variety of other materials, most of which are not so difficult to handle nor potentially valuable. It was the plutonium and the possibility it could be diverted to use in nuclear weapons that bothered Jimmy Carter. The Indians had tested their first nuclear device in 1974. But that plutonium, along with the leftover uranium, can be reused as reactor fuel. Other countries see the plutonium and uranium as resources that shouldn’t be wasted. Petroleum is becoming more expensive, and concerns about greenhouse gases are increasing. Reprocessing has been a messy business. The PUREX process (Plutonium-Uranium Extraction) was developed during World War II and has been the mainstay ever since. Although separating the plutonium and uranium for further use can decrease the volumes of waste that must be stored, past development and use of PUREX gave us the notorious underground tanks at Hanford, Washington, and Savannah River, South Carolina. Better methods for dealing with PUREX wastes are now available. In the 1970s, a PUREX plant was being built at Barnwell, South Carolina. It was almost completed at about the time Carter changed US policy. It was never used for reprocessing. There are other methods of reprocessing. Bill Hannum, Gerald Marsh, and George Stanford have an article on one of them in the December Scientific American. Here’s a similar article outside the subscription barrier. Other methods of reprocessing haven’t been developed and used to the same extent as PUREX. They would require additional research and development, which presumably is the purpose of the new appropriations. Security and resistance of reprocessing to diversion of nuclear materials is a concern. A number of innovations have been suggested to improve security. They range from the obvious step of locating reprocessing facilities near reactors, to decrease the necessity for transporting the materials, to technical fixes of the various processes. Again, some research and development will be necessary. Removing reprocessing from development in the US has not achieved Carter’s goals. It has removed the US from the international discussion of how, when, and why to reprocess. Dealing with differences in policy on this subject has occupied probably thousands of hours of scientists’ and diplomats’ time and has slowed the progress of safeguarding Russian nuclear materials. Nuclear power will be needed in the future; we must develop safer and more secure methods for its utilization. Those methods will take years to develop. We need to start now. -------- u.s. nuc facilities -------- north carolina Progress Energy Delays Selection of N-Plant Site 12/30/05 Associated Press http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=local&id=3769514 (RALEIGH) - Progress Energy has narrowed its list of potential sites for a nuclear plant to six and is plans to announce its choice in mid-January, a month later than expected. The Raleigh-based utility said the delay was caused by a technical study to identify the best nuclear reactor designs for each site under review. "You can't pick a site, then the technology," Joe Donahue, Progress Energy's vice president for nuclear engineering and services, said Thursday. "You really need to pick both simultaneously." Progress Energy in the past four months has halved its original list of 13 potential sites in North Carolina and South Carolina. The utility has 1.4 million customers in the Carolinas. The potential sites have not been made public, but Progress Energy has been considering three locations where it already operates nuclear plants, including the Shearon Harris plant in Wake County. Robert McGehee, Progress Energy's chief executive officer, said in April that the Shearon Harris site would be the most logical choice for expansion. The announcement from the Triangle's only Fortune 500 corporation is expected to spark fierce opposition from local residents, environmentalists and opponents of nuclear energy. Charlotte-based Duke Power is on a parallel track and expects to announce a site in January to build a new reactor in its service area. The company, which is reviewing 14 potential sites, serves 2.1 million customers in the Carolinas. -------- washington Trojan cooling tower to be demolished Friday, December 30, 2005 By ERIK ROBINSON, Columbian staff writer http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/12302005news86900.cfm The hourglass-shaped cooling tower at the Trojan Nuclear Plant, a Columbia River landmark for more than a quarter-century, will tumble to the ground, possibly in May. Portland General Electric has hired the same Maryland company that imploded Seattle's Kingdome to demolish the 499-foot-tall cooling tower, dramatically ending Oregon's first and, so far, only venture in nuclear energy. The plant had been quiet for more than a decade, since PGE shut it down in 1993 after a steam tube cracked. In 1999, the company barged the plant's nuclear reactor upriver for disposal at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The cooling tower wasn't supposed to be demolished until 2018, but PGE spokesman Mark Fryberg said Thursday that utility officials decided to move up the schedule once they negotiated the contract with Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Md. The company will be familiar to Northwest residents who watched the Kingdome implode on March 26, 2000. "These guys are the ones you call," Fryberg said. "The timing was right. The more you go out in the future, the more uncertain the cost." PGE, which brought Trojan on line in 1976, continues to keep 781 highly radioactive spent fuel rod assemblies in the 634-acre compound, sealed in 34 concrete casks. Lined with steel and surrounded with 29-inch-thick walls, the storage casks sit atop a thick concrete pad within a prison-style yard, complete with floodlights, two sets of barbed wire fence and monitors. There, they will remain until the federal government christens a permanent dump for high-level nuclear waste. Trojan's cooling tower, perched along the Columbia River directly across from Kalama, will be demolished along with the building next door that housed the reactor. Although PGE officials said they removed 99.9 percent of the plant's radioactive surfaces when they decommissioned the plant a decade ago and the tower merely conducted radiation-free stream heated by a generator Fryberg nonetheless said the demolition will be done very carefully. "I can assure you every regulatory agency will be involved that needs to be," he said. At 499 feet, the tower is nearly as tall as the pinkish-hued U.S. Bancorp Tower in downtown Portland. Fryberg said PGE is not releasing the cost of the demolition contract. For many Oregonians, the cooling tower had been a symbol of controversy. Oregon voters three times rejected ballot initiatives intended to shut down the plant, in 1986, 1990 and 1992. Trojan was the only nuclear power plant ever constructed in Oregon. PGE offered to donate part of the 634-acre compound around the plant as a state park, but those negotiations never came to fruition. Fryberg said PGE will continue to operate a day-use park indefinitely. -------- MILITARY -------- iraq Pace: U.S. to Launch Phased Iraq Pullout By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 30, 1:29 AM ET http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/mideast_pace ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. will carry out planned withdrawals of American troops in Iraq only from regions where Iraqi forces can maintain security against the insurgents, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said Thursday. Gen. Peter Pace said the current force of 160,000 would drop to below 138,000 by March, then U.S. commanders on the ground would work with the Iraqi government to determine the pace of future pullbacks in areas that have been secured by local security forces. "The bottom line will be that the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police will gain in competence, that they will be able to take on more and more of the territory, whether or not there are still insurgents in that area," he said in an interview with a small group of reporters, including The Associated Press, aboard a military plane en route to the United Arab Emirates. Amid congressional pressure and growing public opposition to the war, the Bush administration last week announced plans to reduce U.S. combat troops in Iraq to below the 138,000 level that prevailed most of this year. The number of American forces in Iraq was raised to about 160,000 to provide extra security during the October referendum and December parliamentary elections, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said those extra troops would be leaving soon. The exact size of the additional troops cuts has not been announced, but senior Pentagon officials have said the number of American troops in Iraq could drop to about 100,000 by next fall. The decision where to cut troops "will be based on the Iraqi units in that area and the threat that exists in that area," Pace said earlier at a news conference in Bahrain. The key, he stressed, "is the Iraqis' ability to control that area." Pace has said American units will steadily hand off more security duties in the coming months to Iraqi forces and stressed the U.S. military needs to be flexible, but his comments offered a detailed glimpse of the administration's plans. Pace's tour of the region came two weeks after Dec. 15 Iraqi parliament elections, which the United States considered a key step toward stability that could allow a drawdown of troops. But violence has not stopped in Iraq. On Thursday, gunmen killed 12 members of an extended Shiite Family south off Baghdad and a suicide bomber killed a policeman in the capital. Complaints by Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups of widespread fraud and intimidation during the vote also have threatened to spark a serious crisis that could set back hopes for a broad-based government that could have the legitimacy necessary to diminish the insurgency — a key part of any U.S. military exit strategy from Iraq. Pace said efforts were under way to recruit Sunnis into the Iraqi security forces, "especially on the officers' side." Pace, who was making his first official visit to the region since becoming the first Marine to be named chairman of the joint chiefs of staff three months ago, said the withdrawals of two brigades in the coming months would provide a test for the decision to pull out troops. "We are going to have to watch how these drawdowns go to see if we have judged it properly," he said. Pace, who was traveling with his wife, Lynne, and a group of entertainers to offer holiday cheer to U.S. troops in the region, began his weeklong trip Wednesday in Qatar. He also planned stops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the East African nation of Djibouti. ---- Another violent year in Iraq ends as it began By Patrick Quinn The Associated Press Published: Saturday, December 31, 2005 http://www.registerguard.com/news/2005/12/31/a2.int.iraq.1231.p1.php?section=nation_world BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq as the year wound down Friday, putting the U.S. military death toll at 841 so far - just five short of 2004's lost lives despite political progress and dogged efforts to quash the insurgency. In Baghdad, hundreds of cars lined up at gas stations as word spread that Iraq's largest oil refinery shut down two weeks ago because of threats of insurgent attacks. Nearly three years after the U.S.-led invasion, a fuel crisis again threatens to cripple a country with the world's third-largest proven oil reserves. Violence went on unabated Friday, with at least 17 people killed in shootings, mortar attacks and a suicide car bombing in Baghdad. In the most serious incident, police said nine people were killed in a drive-by shooting - apparently because they were drinking alcohol in public. Two Iraqi Army captains were also gunned down in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, as they drove home. A senior Sudanese diplomat said his country closed its embassy in Baghdad in an effort to win the release of six kidnapped employees - including one diplomat. ``A statement was issued by the Sudanese government to close the embassy in Iraq to win the release of our kidnapped citizens,'' Charge d'Affairs Mohamed Ahmed Khalil said. He added that the embassy's 12 employees would leave Monday. Al-Qaeda in Iraq had threatened Thursday to kill five Sudanese today unless the country removed its diplomatic mission from Iraq. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported on Dec. 24 that six of its embassy employees were kidnapped - including the mission's second secretary, Abdel Moneam Mohammad Tom. It was not clear if the al-Qaeda statement was referring to the same group. The two new deaths of American military personnel were announced Friday by the U.S. military. A bomb killed one soldier when it struck his vehicle in Baghdad on Friday, while the second soldier was shot and killed in the western city of Fallujah. Their deaths brought the number of U.S. military members killed so far in 2005 to 841, of whom 64 died in December. A total of 846 troops died in 2004 and 485 in 2003. The worst month in 2005 was January with 106 fatalities, followed by November with 96 and August with 85. In Beiji, some 155 miles north of Baghdad and near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, the deteriorating security situation led authorities to shut down Iraq's largest oil refinery Dec. 18, former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said. Al-Uloum said the facility ``is considered one of the vital refineries in Iraq'' and produces about 2 million gallons of gas a day. As word of the shutdown spread through the country, abut 1,000 vehicles waited at one of Baghdad's biggest gas stations, known as the Jindi al-Majhoul, or Unknown Soldier station. Ahmed Khalaf, 33, said he left his home at dawn and was still in line at noon. He expected to wait a few more hours before getting fuel. ``After the rise in gas prices, now we have a gas shortage,'' he said. ``I left my work early, and I don't think I will have the opportunity to return to work today because of this long line. Dark will come soon and I cannot work at night.'' The oil crisis cost one job, that of al-Uloum, the oil minister, who was given a 30-day vacation Wednesday and replaced with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi. Al-Uloum opposed a decision to raise prices for fuel and cooking oil as much as ninefold. Iraq's proven oil reserves, estimated at about 110 billion barrels, are the world's third largest after those of Saudi Arabia and Canada. Analysts have predicted that Iraq's oil production will average about 1.8 million barrels per day this year, about 10 percent less than 2004 levels of about 2 million barrels - and just over half the 1990 level. One reason is frequent insurgent attacks on pipelines and refineries. BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq as the year wound down Friday, putting the U.S. military death toll at 841 so far - just five short of 2004's lost lives despite political progress and dogged efforts to quash the insurgency. In Baghdad, hundreds of cars lined up at gas stations as word spread that Iraq's largest oil refinery shut down two weeks ago because of threats of insurgent attacks. Nearly three years after the U.S.-led invasion, a fuel crisis again threatens to cripple a country with the world's third-largest proven oil reserves. Violence went on unabated Friday, with at least 17 people killed in shootings, mortar attacks and a suicide car bombing in Baghdad. In the most serious incident, police said nine people were killed in a drive-by shooting - apparently because they were drinking alcohol in public. Two Iraqi Army captains were also gunned down in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, as they drove home. A senior Sudanese diplomat said his country closed its embassy in Baghdad in an effort to win the release of six kidnapped employees - including one diplomat. ``A statement was issued by the Sudanese government to close the embassy in Iraq to win the release of our kidnapped citizens,'' Charge d'Affairs Mohamed Ahmed Khalil said. He added that the embassy's 12 employees would leave Monday. Al-Qaeda in Iraq had threatened Thursday to kill five Sudanese today unless the country removed its diplomatic mission from Iraq. The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported on Dec. 24 that six of its embassy employees were kidnapped - including the mission's second secretary, Abdel Moneam Mohammad Tom. It was not clear if the al-Qaeda statement was referring to the same group. The two new deaths of American military personnel were announced Friday by the U.S. military. A bomb killed one soldier when it struck his vehicle in Baghdad on Friday, while the second soldier was shot and killed in the western city of Fallujah. Their deaths brought the number of U.S. military members killed so far in 2005 to 841, of whom 64 died in December. A total of 846 troops died in 2004 and 485 in 2003. The worst month in 2005 was January with 106 fatalities, followed by November with 96 and August with 85. In Beiji, some 155 miles north of Baghdad and near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, the deteriorating security situation led authorities to shut down Iraq's largest oil refinery Dec. 18, former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said. Al-Uloum said the facility ``is considered one of the vital refineries in Iraq'' and produces about 2 million gallons of gas a day. As word of the shutdown spread through the country, abut 1,000 vehicles waited at one of Baghdad's biggest gas stations, known as the Jindi al-Majhoul, or Unknown Soldier station. Ahmed Khalaf, 33, said he left his home at dawn and was still in line at noon. He expected to wait a few more hours before getting fuel. ``After the rise in gas prices, now we have a gas shortage,'' he said. ``I left my work early, and I don't think I will have the opportunity to return to work today because of this long line. Dark will come soon and I cannot work at night.'' The oil crisis cost one job, that of al-Uloum, the oil minister, who was given a 30-day vacation Wednesday and replaced with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi. Al-Uloum opposed a decision to raise prices for fuel and cooking oil as much as ninefold. Iraq's proven oil reserves, estimated at about 110 billion barrels, are the world's third largest after those of Saudi Arabia and Canada. Analysts have predicted that Iraq's oil production will average about 1.8 million barrels per day this year, about 10 percent less than 2004 levels of about 2 million barrels - and just over half the 1990 level. One reason is frequent insurgent attacks on pipelines and refineries. -------- POLITICS -------- investigations Justice Dept. to probe leak of spy program Bush had called disclosure a ‘shameful act’; N.Y. Times reported NSA story Updated: 3:17 p.m. ET Dec. 30, 2005 Associated Press http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10651154/ WASHINGTON - The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush’s secret domestic spying program. The inquiry focuses on disclosures to The New York Times about warrantless surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials said. The Times revealed the existence of the program two weeks ago in a front-page story that acknowledged the news had been withheld from publication for a year, partly at the request of the administration and partly because the newspaper wanted more time to confirm various aspects of the program. White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Justice undertook the action on its own, and the president was informed of it on Friday. “The leaking of classified information is a serious issue. The fact is that al-Qaida’s playbook is not printed on Page One and when America’s is, it has serious ramifications,” Duffy told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where Bush was spending the holidays. Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for The Times, said the paper will not comment on the investigation. Administration under fire Revelation of the secret spying program unleashed a firestorm of criticism of the administration. Some critics accused the president of breaking the law by authorizing intercepts of conversations — without prior court approval or oversight — of people inside the United States and abroad who had suspected ties to al-Qaida or its affiliates. The surveillance program, which Bush acknowledged authorizing, bypassed a nearly 30-year-old secret court established to oversee highly sensitive investigations involving espionage and terrorism. Administration officials insisted that Bush has the power to conduct the warrantless surveillance under the Constitution’s war powers provision. They also argued that Congress gave Bush the power to conduct such a secret program when it authorized the use of military force against terrorism in a resolution adopted within days of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Dual investigations The Justice Department’s investigation was being initiated after the agency received a request for the probe from the NSA. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been conducting a separate leak investigation to determine who in the administration leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame’s name to the media in 2003. Several reporters have been called to testify before a grand jury or to give depositions. New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent 85 days in jail, refusing to reveal her source, before testifying in the probe. The administration’s legal interpretation of the president’s powers allowed the government to avoid requirements under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in conducting the warrantless surveillance. The act established procedures that an 11-member court used in 2004 to oversee nearly 1,800 government applications for secret surveillance or searches of foreigners and U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism or espionage. Congressional leaders have said they were not briefed four years ago, when the secret program began, as thoroughly as the administration has since contended. Daschle: Congress denied White House request Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said in an article printed last week on the op-ed page of The Washington Post that Congress explicitly denied a White House request for war-making authority in the United States. “This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority to exercise expansive powers not just overseas ... but right here in the United States, potentially against American citizens,” Daschle wrote. Daschle was Senate Democratic leader at the time of the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. He is now a fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank. The administration formally defended its domestic spying program in a letter to Congress last week, saying the nation’s security outweighs privacy concerns of individuals who are monitored. In a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the Justice Department said Bush authorized conducting electronic surveillance without first obtaining a warrant in an effort to thwart terrorist acts against the United States. Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella acknowledged “legitimate” privacy interests. But he said those interests “must be balanced” against national security. ---- ACLU Slams DOJ Investigation of NSA Whistleblower, Says Government Must Independently Investigate Violation of Wiretap Laws FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Media@aclu.org ACLU (12/30/2005) http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/23288prs20051230.html NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today sharply criticized a Justice Department investigation into the disclosure of an illegal National Security Agency domestic eavesdropping operation approved by President George W. Bush. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as well as two full-page advertisements in the New York Times, the ACLU has called for the appointment of a special counsel to determine whether President Bush violated federal wiretapping laws by authorizing illegal surveillance of domestic targets. The following statement can be attributed to ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero: "President Bush broke the law and lied to the American people when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens. But rather than focus on this constitutional crisis, Attorney General Gonzales is cracking down on critics of his friend and boss. Our nation is strengthened, not weakened, by those whistleblowers who are courageous enough to speak out on violations of the law." "To avoid further charges of cronyism, Attorney General Gonzales should call off the investigation. Better yet, Mr. Gonzales ought to fulfill his own oath of office and appoint a special counsel to determine whether federal laws were violated." -------- us politics Bush signs Patriot Act extension at ranch 12/30/2005 (AP) http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-12-30-bush-patriot-act_x.htm CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush, unhappy with Congress for not permanently extending the Patriot Act, on Friday signed a bill that renews the anti-terrorism law for a few weeks and pushes lawmakers to take up the debate over its measures. The president signed about a dozen other bills, including one funding government agencies and a defense measure that funnels extra money to Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf Coast. Bush is spending the week between Christmas and New Year's Day at his Texas ranch. He plans to return to Washington on Sunday after visiting wounded troops at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Bush is urging lawmakers to extend permanently parts of the Patriot Act set to expire. "Suffice it to say, our law enforcement community needs this," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. "He's not satisfied with a one-month extension. But we've got to get that in place and we've got to work with them to get it permanently re-extended." The Patriot Act extension keeps anti-terrorism laws that were due to expire Dec. 31 in place until Feb. 3. The one-month extension means lawmakers must debate again in January the merits of government anti-terrorism powers that some critics fault for not protecting Americans' civil liberties. The extension allows the FBI to continue to investigate terrorism cases using powers granted in 2001, including roving wiretaps and the authority to intercept wire, spoken and electronic communications relating to terrorism. Bush and GOP leaders pushed hard for a permanent extension of the expiring provisions but could not overcome a Senate filibuster. The appropriations bill provides funds for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. A provision would help ice dancer Tanith Belbin gain American citizenship in time to represent the United States in the Torino Olympics. If eligible, Belbin and partner Ben Agosto are considered America's best hope for figure skating gold in Torino. A medal of any color would be the country's first in ice dancing since 1976. The defense bill Bush signed keeps the Pentagon running, provides $50 billion more to military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and gives $29 billion in hurricane aid to the Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast aid includes $11.5 billion for community grants to spur economic development, along with money for schools and to start shoring up New Orleans' levees. The bill provides $3.8 billion to prepare for a possible outbreak of bird flu and liability protections for flu drug manufacturers. The defense measure also requires the humane treatment of foreign terrorism suspects. The Bush administration initially threatened to veto any bill limiting how the United States detains, interrogates or prosecutes terror suspects, but then reluctantly endorsed the legislation amid pressure from the Republican-controlled Congress and U.S. allies. The chief sponsor, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had the votes in both the House and Senate to override a veto despite early lobbying against the ban by Vice President Dick Cheney. "The detention and interrogation of captured terrorists are critical tools in the war on terror," Bush said in a statement released by the White House Friday night in Crawford. "U.S. law and policy already prohibit torture," he said. "Our policy has also been not to use cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, at home or abroad. This legislation now makes that a matter of statute for practices abroad." In addition, the measure takes aim at a 2004 Supreme Court ruling that gave Guantanamo detainees the right to fight the legality of their detentions in any federal court. The bill limits their ability to appeal their detention status and punishments to a federal appeals court in Washington. ---- Navy secretary resigns, to be Rumsfeld's deputy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, December 30, 2005 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/253979_navy30.html?dpfrom=thead WASHINGTON -- Navy Secretary Gordon England -- who has also been serving as the acting deputy defense secretary -- gave up his Navy post Thursday, clearing the way for a new naval leader. The move will allow Donald Winter to be sworn in as Navy secretary next week. Congressional roadblocks have prevented Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from filling key leadership positions in his department for months. But legal maneuvering by the White House, which formally designated acting deputy England as Rumsfeld's second in command last week, allowed England to relinquish the Navy job. Two senators have blocked England's confirmation as deputy defense secretary, the Pentagon's second-highest position, creating a logjam in the department's hierarchy. But senators indicated last month that Bush will bypass the Senate and install England as deputy secretary within the next few months, using what is known as a recess appointment. Last week, Bush issued an order outlining a new Defense Department line of succession. Meanwhile, Winter, the former corporate vice president of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, has been in an unusual limbo. He was confirmed as Navy secretary by the Senate last month, but not sworn in. Now that England has stepped down, that ceremony will take place Tuesday. -------- ENERGY -------- alternative energy Native Americans try to Reap the Wind for Power Story by Bernie Woodall REUTERS USA: December 30, 2005 http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34270/story.htm LOS ANGELES - Twenty-five windmills in San Diego County that stand 20 stories tall began generating electricity this week, offering powerful evidence that Native American tribes are turning to the wind to rebuild their economies. The Kumeyaay Wind project, with the ability to generate 50 megawatts, is 70 times larger than the next-largest wind project on tribal land. It sits on land leased by the 300-member Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians off Interstate 8, about an hour east of San Diego and 18 miles north of the Mexican border. The economies of many tribes depend on energy sales and leases of land to coal, oil, and natural gas companies. This takes a toll on tribal land and is often seen as necessary to keep money and jobs on reservations and to protect a fast disappearing way of life. Lawrence Flowers, team leader of Wind Powering America, a US Energy Department-sponsored group assisting tribes to develop wind farms, says it is natural for tribes to turn to the wind for help. "Wind sits very nicely with the tribal spiritual and cultural values because it's a resource that develops tribal economies," Flowers said. "And it's renewable so it's not extracting from the land like coal or oil. You're not taking something away." The Kumeyaay tribe will reap royalties of the sale of electricity from the wind farm to San Diego Gas & Electric, but the amount was not disclosed by the utility. The farm is expected to power between 12,000 and 15,000 homes. The tribe's wind farm stands only a few hundred yards from the Golden Acorn Casino, which represents another revenue-producer for many Native American tribes. The Hopi and Navajo tribes will each lose a large chunk of their annual revenue -- a third of it for the Hopis who have voted down casino gambling -- when one of the dirtiest power plants in America shuts down this weekend. Both tribes are looking to wind power projects as a way to replace revenue lost from the extraction of coal from tribal land in Arizona, which fuels the 1,580-megawatt Mohave Power plant in Nevada. While there are a handful of single-turbine windmills generating electricity on tribal land in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, the new California wind farm is the first with multiple turbines. And in Alaska, five wind-diesel projects are working and dozens more are planned. "This is a big deal," Flowers said. "We work with more than 30 tribes in the continental United States to help them develop wind resources and help them understand ownership," he added. Among the projects in the pipeline are one for 80 megawatts on eight different reservations on Lakota Nation land in North Dakota and South Dakota, and the expansion of a 750-kilowatt project to 30 megawatts on South Dakota's Rosebud Sioux Reservation. The Rosebud plant, which opened in 2003, had been the largest project on Native American land before the Kumeyaay Wind project opened over the holiday weekend. Wind power is not consistent. Wind must blow at least five miles per hour to make electricity. Even though the San Diego County plant is in one of the windiest parts of Southern California, it will not produce at capacity like natural gas, nuclear and coal-fired plants can. US wind power generation capacity is about 9,200 megawatts, up from 6,700 megawatts a year ago, 2,500 megawatts five years ago and 1,500 megawatts in 1990, according to industry advocate American Wind Energy Association. The Kumeyaay venture cost more than $80 million. Of that, $51 million came from global investment firm Babcock & Brown , which will own the project along with GE Energy Financial Services, a division of General Electric. The Kumeyaay project will help SDG&E, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, meet a California requirement that power companies generate 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010.