NucNews September 9, 2006 -------- NUCLEAR -------- asia 5 Central Asian states inked treaty on nuclear free zone September 9, 2006. Lyudmila Malko KAZINFORM http://www.inform.kz/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=144415 SEMIPALATINSK. Friday was marked by indeed a historical event: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan signed a treaty on creation of nuclear-free zone in Central Asia. The accord was inked in Semipalatinsk and was developed in association with high-level UN experts. According to deputy IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Director General Yuri Sokolov, the analogous zones were established in Latin America, Africa, Pacific Region and South-East Asia, uniting above 100 countries of the globe. It goes without saying that treaty signed in Semipalatinsk is unique and of great historical value. Kazakhstan considers the abovementioned nuclear-free zone as a contribution to struggle with international terrorism. Moreover, this accord is the first multilateral agreement in the sphere of security that integrates all 5 Central Asian states. To date the new nonnuclear zone borders on two largest nuclear nations – Russia and China and occupies territory embracing above 3 million sq.m. After signing ceremony Foreign Affairs Minister of Kazakhstan Kassymzhomart Tokayev stressed this document was general contribution to provision of global security and an example of awareness of grave responsibility to peoples of the world. Foreign Affairs Ministers of 5 Central Asian states thanked high-ranking guests and representatives of two nuclear powers – Russia and China for their presence at the signing ceremony. -------- depleted uranium DU not a popular topic at the Pentagon Saturday, September 9th, 2006 in News by Scott Horton As reported by Antiwar.com’s Debbie Clark http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2006/09/09/du-not-a-popular-topic-at-the-pentagon/ Saturday morning, after a march around the Capital building, 30-35 people from Camp Democracy - mostly Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War members - went to the Pentagon to see the new 9/11 memorial. As they were nearing the end of the tour, Geoffrey Millard, a disabled Iraq war veteran, left a stack of pamphlets about the dangers of depleted uranium on a brochure stand as they were entering the chapel. At first, no one noticed and they continued the tour, but as the group was headed out, they say they were surrounded by about 20 or 25 pentagon police. The cops indicated that someone had left a stack of “literature” inside and announced that this was a violation. They were told that if they didn’t admit who did it, they would all be arrested. The cops apparently then thought a bit better of it, and decided they would arrest the the ones who still had them. That’s funny. Arrest the people who still have them, even though they are the one’s who obviously hadn’t left their’s behind. Four of them, three IVAW guys, Steve Mortillo, Joe Hatcher, and Toby Hartbarger, and Gregory Watson, a friend, still had the pamphlets and were arrested. Geoffrey Millard had been doing an interview, and so was held up. When he caught up and saw that his friends were being arrested, he went up to the cops and told them he was the one who had done it. All five were held in a police station on the Pentagon grounds and were charged with violating a lawful order and illegally posting materials - both federal misdemeanors. All 5 have now been released, but they missed Ray McGovern’s and Karen Kwiatkowski’s speeches at Camp Democracy. For those in DC, the recently released Prisoner of Conscience, Kevin Benderman, will be giving a speech to the Congressional Black Caucus at 7pm Eastern, Saturday night at St. Aloysius Church, 900 N. Capital Street Northwest, near Union Station Metro, redline. -------- europe Nuclear leak shuts down Norwegian reactor September 9, 2006 CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/09/norway.nuclear.ap/index.html OSLO, Norway (AP) -- A nuclear leak forced the shutdown of a small Norwegian research reactor on Saturday, but the radiation was contained, officials said. The 40-year reactor, with a capacity of less than 1 percent of a typical nuclear power plant, was automatically shut down when increased radiation levels were detected in its chamber, the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority said. "The reactor was immediately shut down. Radiation above normal levels has not been measured outside the steel chamber," a news release said. The state agency said elevated radiation levels in the chamber were probably due to a fuel fault and cooling water leak, and that experts were monitoring the area outside the reactor. It said the situation was under control. Norway bars nuclear power plants and weapons on its territory but has two small scale reactors used for research. The leak occurred at about 3 a.m. Saturday (9 p.m. ET Friday) at the Norwegian Institute for Energy Technology at Kjeller, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Oslo. The two megawatt reactor, called JEEP II, went on line in 1966 and is powered by low enriched uranium. It is used for basic research in physics and medicine. -------- india Fears on uranium projects allayed Saturday, Sep 09, 2006 Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad Special Correspondent The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/09/stories/2006090911730400.htm HYDERABAD: Seeking to allay fears of environmentalists on the proposed uranium mining projects in Nalgonda and Kadapa districts, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar has said there is absolutely no need for concern. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a two-day national symposium on `Radiation processing of foods, food products and feeds' here on Friday, he assured the environmentalists that radiation levels would be kept within the specified levels. Radioactive waste dumped in the tailing ponds after extraction of uranium would be extremely low and cause no harm. Besides, top-soil would be created on the ponds and vegetation would be grown on it. Alkaline process He said the alkaline process technology to be adopted for extracting uranium at Kadapa was not new and was in vogue world over. The two plants would be set up soon after receiving environmental clearances. Dr. Kakodkar said the existing uranium resources were sufficient to support 10,000 MW of nuclear power to be produced through Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in the first stage of the three-stage nuclear power programme. He said that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) was building eight 700 MW PHWR reactors which were expected to be ready in six to seven years, to complete the 10,000 MW goal of the first stage. Inaugurating the symposium earlier, Dr. Kakodkar stressed the need for collective efforts of all stakeholders, including farmers, to promote food irradiation technology to make the country a major global player. He noted that the technology was used to process only 2000 tonnes of food products in India compared to 1.4 lakh tonnes in China. Srikumar Banerjee, Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), said there was a large scope for expansion of the programme by setting up more plants. He said that BARC had worked out a programme to have irradiated mangoes for exports by next summer. ---- 'Don't bargain endlessly over N-deal' September 09, 2006 Sridhar Krishnaswami in Washington Rediff News (India) http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/09ndeal.htm The Senate should strip Title Two of its version of a bill on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal if it is seen as causing undue delay in implementing the pact, a leading American think tank has said. The Title Two of the US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act (Bill 3709) deals with the Additional Protocol that Washington is signing with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Additional Protocol, about which some US lawmakers have expressed wariness citing national security, entails inspections and payments and perhaps a perceived interference in the fashion Americans would want to run their nuclear programmes. It is also seen as running the risk of jeopardising substantial part of the legislation. 'Some senators are wary of passing the Title II legislation for national security reasons, but US nuclear facilities used for national security purposes are subject to a national security exclusion clause under the agreement because the US is a recognised weapons state under the NPT,' The Heritage Foundation's Lisa Curtis and Baker Spring said. "The national security exclusion clause should be broadened and made permanent through an amendment to Title II. As appropriate, it should name specific facilities and categories of facilities that are covered by the exclusion clause," they said in a report. "However, if such an amendment will result in undue delay in the adoption of the provisions of the bill related to the bilateral agreement with India, the Senate should simply strip Title II from the bill and take up S.2489 at a later date," they added. "This wariness is partially justified, and the issue of which sites are subject to the exclusion should be addressed. The Bush Administration plans to ensure that appropriate facilities are covered by the national security exclusion, but the Senate should not simply leave the identification of such facilities to this and future administrations," the authors said. "The US strongly supports the application of Additional Protocols to other states, including India, and so should honor its commitments under the agreement with the IAEA," they said. The Senate is due to take up the Bill relating to the civilian nuclear deal with India sometime this month. All eyes are now on the Senate, which is likely to vote on its own version of legislation to support the agreement sometime this fall. The Senate should move as quickly as possible since further delay would raise suspicions in India that the US is not fully committed to sealing the deal and could chip away at Indian public support for moving forward. "Many in India are beginning to question the benefits of the agreement, and any further delay could make it more difficult for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to continue to back it," the authors have pointed out. The Heritage scholars have further warned against excessive tinkering that, among other things, would jeopardise the strong bipartisan support the Bill currently enjoyed. "Despite Indian criticisms of the legislation, excessive tinkering at this stage carries the risk that the carefully crafted legislation will lose the strong US bipartisan support it now enjoys. Tensions between the Bush Administration and Congress have been palpable since the deal was first announced," the authors said. "Despite the warming in US-India ties over the last several years, tensions over India's nuclear programme have persisted, preventing the two countries from overcoming a deep-rooted mistrust. 'Successful completion of a civil nuclear accord will help to lift these suspicions so that the US-India relationship can finally realize its potential,' Curtis and Baker have said. "Given the historical importance of this agreement, US and Indian officials should resist the temptation to bargain endlessly over details and instead focus their energies on finalising the deal without further delay," they note. -------- iran Iran nuclear talks 'constructive' Saturday, 9 September 2006 BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5331458.stm The EU's foreign policy chief and Iran's top nuclear negotiator have met for talks in Vienna, with both sides describing them as "constructive". The EU's Javier Solana and Iran's Ali Larijani are thought to be trying to find common ground for negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme. They will meet again on Sunday, both sides confirmed. Tehran has rejected accusations it is seeking a nuclear bomb, and refuses to suspend uranium enrichment. It says there should be no such preconditions on negotiations over its nuclear programme, which it says is solely for power generation. The US on Friday said it hoped the UN Security Council will begin work on a draft resolution authorising sanctions against its long-time foe next week, after Iran ignored a UN-imposed deadline to suspend enrichment. But other powers have expressed doubt that sanctions would prove effective against the world's fourth-largest oil exporter. -------- u.s. nuc facilities -------- nevada ADS URGE LAWMAKERS: 'Fix Yucca Mountain' Industry wants legislation bolstering repository Sep. 09, 2006 By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Sep-09-Sat-2006/news/9549807.html WASHINGTON -- The nuclear industry has launched advertisements urging Congress to pass a "Fix Yucca Mountain" bill amid signs such legislation probably is too late for this year. The Nuclear Energy Institute is running full-page ads this week and next week in four publications read widely on Capitol Hill. The ads call on lawmakers "to get this project done and secure our energy future." "Congress approved a site for this facility in 2002 but the government is already 8 years behind schedule in accepting used nuclear fuel," the industry said. Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, was chosen for a nuclear waste repository, but management problems, funding shortfalls and legal challenges have stymied the effort. The state of Nevada and environmental groups insist the site is not safe. "The message is we would like Congress in what little time it has left to get serious about fixing the Yucca Mountain program," said Scott Peterson, communications vice president for the nuclear trade association. The NEI ads are running in Roll Call, The Hill, National Journal and Congress Daily. Peterson declined to say how much they cost. A Yucca Mountain bill urged by the Energy Department in April has been a nonstarter in Congress, which is scheduled to recess in only three weeks so lawmakers can go home to campaign. Lawmakers expect to return for a post-election session. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said this week he intends to introduce a new Yucca bill "later this month" but for discussion only. "Obviously, with less than a month before we recess, I don't expect to pass the bill this year, but I hope to get useful input from my Senate colleagues, the House and other interested parties," Domenici said in a statement. "Yucca Mountain is a complicated issue that evokes strong, diverse opinions. That's why I'm introducing a bill in the 109th Congress that I will seek to pass in the 110th Congress," Domenici said. Domenici has said he will take parts of the Bush administration bill that he likes but he has not said which ones. Peterson said NEI is "realistic" about chances to get a bill passed in the fall. "We would like to be pushing forward to making something happen but we recognize it might roll over into the next Congress," he said. The NEI ads are scheduled to run next week when at least four House and Senate committees have scheduled hearings to assess where things stand on nuclear waste policies, including Yucca Mountain and fuel reprocessing. "There are a lot of people out there who realize Yucca Mountain is dying," said Jon Summers, a spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. "These are all last-gasp efforts to try to save it and try to figure out what to do." -------- new jersey Manchester soil cleanup satisfies NRC, but not DEP State's radiation standard more strict 09/9/06 Asbury Park Press BY KIRK MOORE TOMS RIVER BUREAU http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609090424 MANCHESTER — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it's satisfied with a cleanup of radioactive soil at the Heritage Minerals site off Route 70. But state environmental experts say there's much more to be done before developers can build houses there. The NRC had been pushing since 1999 to get the Hovson Corp. to remove 1,000 tons of material with elevated levels of uranium and thorium — radioactive elements that occur naturally in local sands and were concentrated in piles left behind by mining activities in the 1970s and '80s. Now that cleanup job is finished, and NRC officials are releasing the site they regulated — about 1 acre around old mill buildings — for future reuse. "A resident at the site, under what we consider conservative standards, would receive 40 millirems (of radiation) a year," well within federal safety limits, said George Pangburn, regional director of the NRC's nuclear materials safety division. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection wants Hovson to reduce radioactivity levels at other spots across 287 acres, to achieve a more strict state standard of 15 millirems per year. Mayor Michael Fressola said that came as news to him. "I have never heard from the DEP on this issue," said Fressola, who complained that the state agency's top officials meanwhile agreed to allow 2,450 homes to be built on the Heritage tract. "So it comes as a complete surprise to me that DEP is involved." "I'm sure he's just mistaken," DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson said. "We have correspondence, dated as late as Jan. 31 of this year." "This may be a non-issue," Jackson added. The site, she said, "has to be cleaned up before there can be any new use." Hovson and state and township officials were for years locked in dispute over redevelopment of the Heritage site. Hovson sued, claiming the township was failing its obligation to provide affordable housing. Manchester officials resisted a legal settlement, brokered by the DEP and state Pinelands Commission, that will allow Hovson to redevelop nearly 1,000 acres of the site in exchange for preserving 6,000 acres as open space. If the DEP wants further cleanup, it might be years before the tract is used for housing, Fressola said. From 1973 to 1982, the American Smelting and Refining Corp. mined sand deposits south of Route 70 to extract illmenite, a titanium-bearing mineral used as an ingredient in paints and industrial products. The mining and milling process produced mounds of unmarketable leftovers, called "tailings" in mining parlance. The process also concentrated naturally occurring traces of radioactive uranium and thorium that occur in the sands, Pangburn said. NRC project manager Marjorie McLaughlin said Hovnanian removed 4,246 tons of tailings and soil, and 1,800 tons of steel when it dismantled and cleaned up a 1-acre area around the old ASARCO mill buildings. The soil went to a uranium reprocessing facility in Utah, NRC spokesman Neil A. Sheehan said. McLaughlin said the site has been tested and shows that future homeowners on a redeveloped site would be exposed to no more than 40 millirems of radiation per year, well within federal guidelines. But the state Department of Environmental Protection wants a wider cleanup of the site, involving the removal or treatment of perhaps 700,000 cubic yards of additional material, said Patricia Gardner, manager of the DEP's bureau of environmental radiation. That's because the state has a much more conservative radiation standard of 15 millirems per year, based on the lower background radiation that occurs over most of the state's landscape. Geologists say naturally occurring radioactive minerals wound up in Pine Barrens soils over tens of millions of years as shifting coastlines and rivers left sedimentary deposits behind. Radium is one element, and it's a problem in some parts of southern New Jersey where it appears in well water. But uranium and thorium at the Heritage site are tightly bound in monazite, another mineral in the sands. McLaughlin said tests don't detect any elevated radioactivity in ground water or the site's artificial lakes. -------- ohio Barberton firm reunited with spinoff September 09, 2006 Akron Beacon Journal http://www.topix.net/content/kri/1598783064011937174028732009913544016937 In the 1990s, BWX Technologies was spun off from Babcock & Wilcox of Barberton as an independent company focusing on nuclear fission technology. Now the emphasis is on fusion: Coal-fired boilermaker Babcock & Wilcox and nuclear BWX will become one company based in Lynchburg, Va., pointing to a resurgence in nuclear power as well as in coal-fired power plants. Parent corporation McDermott International on Friday announced that B&W and Lynchburg-based BWX will be reunited as a single entity called the Babcock & Wilcox Cos. by Jan. 1. While the new headquarters will be in another state, Babcock & Wilcox's operations in Barberton will remain, the company said. It should be pretty much business as usual for Barberton employees, a company spokeswoman said. John Fees, 49, has been named CEO of Babcock & Wilcox Cos. He has been with McDermott 27 years and most recently was president and chief operating officer of BWX Technologies. McDermott's headquarters is in Houston. David Keller, head of Babcock & Wilcox, will lead McDermott's power generation activities in Barberton and will begin reporting to Fees Jan. 1. BWX's Nuclear Equipment Division is based in Barberton and will remain there. The company's history includes contributing components to World War II's Manhattan Project and to the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus. Given the growing momentum toward a resurgence in the commercial nuclear industry, it makes a lot of sense to recombine the two companies, the B&W spokeswoman said. -------- tennessee Y-12 acquires new machine tool Device expected to improve efficiency, purchased as part of modernization program September 9, 2006 By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com Knoxville News Sentinel http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4979890,00.html OAK RIDGE - The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant has bought a new $700,000 machine tool for developmental and test purposes and eventual use in the plant's manufacturing programs. The "agile machine" - capable of milling, drilling and other machining tasks - was purchased from Pinnacle Machine Tool in Murfreesboro, according to information from BWXT Y-12, the federal plant's contractor, and a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The defense board discussed the machine in a brief report titled, "Enriched Uranium Machining," but BWXT refused to say if the newly purchased tool would be used to machine uranium or if it would be used to make nuclear warhead parts - one of the plant's primary missions. "It's being evaluated for a variety of applications at Y-12," plant spokesman Bill Wilburn said. Wilburn said the new machine should improve efficiency and reduce the number of machines needed for Y-12's manufacturing work in the future. "It will provide our machinists the opportunity to work with the latest in machining technology. We believe it will put Y-12 in the forefront of machining technology," he said. The safety board's staff said the new machine was purchased as part of the modernization program at the nuclear-defense facility in Oak Ridge. According to their report, the developmental machine will be moved later this year to the Enriched Uranium Machining Building. "The current project schedule is to complete installation and readiness activities by spring 2007," the report said. The defense safety board said the machine would be deployed eventually in the Uranium Processing Facility - a $1 billion manufacturing complex still in the planning stages at Y-12. BWXT would not discuss the whereabouts of the new machine or provide any other specific information. A 1997 worker study guide indicates that much of the plant's enriched-uranium machining takes place in an area known as M Wing, where special precautions are taken to prevent fires and uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions. "Although specific operations differ from machine to machine, the basic features are essentially identical at each location," the study guide said. "During machining a low-velocity jet of aqueous machine coolant containing propylene glycol and dissolved boron is directed at the cutting location to cool the machine tools and to prevent the cuttings (chips) from igniting spontaneously. The cuttings from the machine operations are collected in a coolant reservoir that keeps the chips wet to prevent fires." Finished parts are stored in nuclear-safe storage units called birdcages, the training report said. The modernization program at Y-12 is supposed to dramatically reduce the "footprint" of weapons-related activities at the plant. Already dozens of facilities have been dismantled and demolished at the government's sprawling operation in Bear Creek Valley. Virtually all of the uranium activities will be consolidated into two major facilities - a $500 million storage center for highly enriched uranium, which is under construction, and the aforementioned UPF, which is tentatively scheduled for operations around 2015. Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329. -------- texas Agency to examine security at {South Texas Project nuclear} plant Investigation comes after guards at nuclear site allege flaws Sept. 9, 2006 ANASTASIA USTINOVA Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1698412/posts The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday it will investigate security concerns at the South Texas Project nuclear plant after a report saying guards pointed out holes in the plant's security system. While a spokesman for the agency confirmed the investigation, he declined to offer details. "We will take a look at the issues as they've been described, and if there is anything that needs to be addressed, it will be addressed," agency spokesman Scott Burnell said. "It's possible that we will not say anything publicly." Earlier this week, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy group, issued a report citing security concerns raised by unnamed guards who work at the South Texas Project, 90 miles southwest of Houston. The owners of the plant are NRG Energy, CPS Energy and the city of Austin. Mark McBurnett, vice president of oversight and regulatory affairs at the South Texas Project, said the plant's management has reviewed and addressed most of the complaints under review by the federal agency that regulates the nuclear industry. "It's fully expected that they will look into that as well," he said. "I would expect nothing less than a thorough evaluation by them." The report includes allegations that security guards failed to search equipment trucks entering the areas near the reactor and once allowed a convicted felon into the plant. The report also alleges that the plant's maintenance staff has easy access to firearms, and it says some surveillance cameras and radio equipment do not work. The Union of Concerned Scientists concluded that "the security risk for the South Texas Project is violating federal regulations and requirements and posing an undue threat to nearby communities." The Security Police and Fire Professionals of America Union that represents security guards at the plant could not be reached for comment. Officials with the Florida-based Wackenhut Corp., the contractor that provides plant security, said some of the complaints are outdated and have already been investigated. "We welcome the NRC's investigation. It will legitimize our own investigation," said Richard Michau, president of Wackenhut's Nuclear Services Division. He declined to provide further details. The federal investigation comes not long after NRG announced a plan to spend up to $5.2 billion to more than double the plant's capacity by 2,700 megawatts by adding two reactors, which it hopes will be operating by 2014. -------- MILITARY -------- afghanistan NATO forces kill 40 Taliban militants 9/9/2006 KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-09-09-afghan-fighting_x.htm NATO and Afghan soldiers killed at least 40 suspected Taliban militants in fierce raids that destroyed insurgent hideouts and a weapons-making factory, the alliance said Saturday. One NATO soldier also died. The insurgents were killed late Friday and early Saturday in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district, where an anti-Taliban operation was launched Sept. 2. The latest deaths brought the number of suspected militants claimed killed by NATO in Operation Medusa to at least 320. The anti-insurgent blitz came as a top NATO general said he would formally ask the alliance's 26 member states Monday to provide up to 2,500 more soldiers to combat Afghanistan's deadliest spate of violence since the Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001. Afghans on Saturday commemorated the fifth anniversary of al-Qaeda's killing of Ahmad Shah Massood, a mujahedeen commander who battled the Taliban regime until his slaying two days before the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The ceremony came a day after a car bombing in Kabul killed at least 16 people, including two American soldiers, in the deadliest suicide attack in the Afghan capital since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In the south, NATO said that alliance and Afghan troops destroyed three insurgent positions, a bomb-making factory and a weapons cache in battles that killed more than 40 militants in Panjwayi, long regarded as a Taliban stronghold west of Kandahar city. One NATO soldier was killed Saturday, the alliance said in a statement. The soldier's nationality was not released but Canadian forces are leading the Panjwayi push and have had at least five soldiers killed since the operation began. Troops now occupy parts of Panjwayi and bordering Zhari district and reopened a section of highway that had been closed to civilian traffic during the operation, NATO said. "There is severe pressure on the insurgents remaining in the area, which will continue until they are either defeated or choose reconciliation through surrender," said Canadian Brig. Gen. David Fraser, commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan. A NATO spokesman, Maj. Scott Lundy, said the casualty count was based on reports from troops viewing the battlefield through weapons sights and other devices. On Friday, NATO said it had killed 20 to 30 Taliban in airstrikes and artillery barrages. Some 20,000 NATO soldiers and a similar number of U.S. troops are trying to crush the emboldened Taliban insurgency. The heaviest fighting is taking place across vast desert plains in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces, also the center of the country's opium trade. On Friday, NATO's top commander, Gen. James L. Jones, urged member nations meeting in Poland to commit 2,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan to help quell the insurgency, which has proved more intense than anticipated when NATO took command of the volatile south from a U.S.-led coalition Aug. 1. After closed-door talks Saturday, the chairman of the alliance's military committee, Gen. Ray Henault, said he would appeal formally to the NATO council Monday for member states to commit 2,000-2,500 soldiers. "Afghanistan is the most complex mission NATO has ever undertaken," Henault said. "Our collective assessment is that we are satisfied with the military related progress to date, particularly in the north and the west, but less so in the south, where it's been more difficult." However, many NATO members already indicated they have reached the limit of their capabilities. Henault said only 85% of troops and equipment pledged for the mission are actually in Afghanistan. In Kabul, thousands of people joined Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a memorial ceremony marking the assassination of Massood, who was killed by an al-Qaeda suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan just two days before the Sept. 11 attacks. "Massood was a great martyr for this land and like him, today, each son of this country is ready to sacrifice his life to make the nation free," Karzai said in a speech. "We are still not free and our nation's children are still being sacrificed like yesterday in Kabul when more people were martyred in a terrorist attack." Massood was the most famous mujahedeen commander against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s and later led the resistance to the Taliban after the religious militia seized power in 1996. Ali Shah Paktiawal, criminal director of the Kabul police, did not think Friday's bombing was timed to coincide with the Massood commemoration, saying terrorists used any opportunity to attack foreign forces. Police have made no arrests. The U.S. military blamed "Taliban extremists" for the blast, which occurred 50 yards from the landmark Massood Square that leads to the main gate of the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility. -------- ENERGY -------- alternative energy Congressional Black Caucus Energy Forum Saturday, September 09, 2006 African American Environmentalist Association http://aaenvironment.blogspot.com/2006/09/congressional-black-caucus-energy_09.html Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee sponsored the forum,"Energy: A National Security Crisis," at the 36th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference. The conference and forum were held at the Washington Convention Center. It was interesting that many of the panelists said they were not anti nuclear, but they are still reluctant to get their organizations to support the emission free electricity generating technology. Nuclear Energy Institute Vice President Angie Howard, above with Rev Jesse Jackson and Congresswoman Jackson Lee, presented the case for nuclear power. Other panelists included Wilton Cedeno-Chairman of the American Association of Blacks in Energy, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah-Founder and Executive Chairman of Emerald Energy Resources, Ltd, Nigeria, Dr. Robert Ford-Associate Provost, Texas Southern University, Janet Gellici-Executive Director, American Coal Council, Albert Myres-Senior Advisor-Shell Oil, Jerome Ringo-President, Apollo Alliance, C. Kyle Simpson-Former Senior Policy Advisor and Staff Director, Department of Energy, & Jim Stanway-Director of Project Development, Wal Mart Energy Department. -------- ACTIVISTS 4 Iraq War Vets Detained at Pentagon by David Swanson September 9, 2006 Oped News http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_david_sw_060909_4_iraq_war_vets_deta.htm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David Swanson 202-329-7847 September 9, 2006 Karen Bradley 202 669 3927 Michael McPherson 314-303-8874 Online at: http://www.campdemocracy.org Speakers available for interviews: http://www.campdemocracy.org/speakers Four Iraq War Vets Detained at Pentagon What: Press Conference with veterans who have been detained, and possibly arrested, at the Pentagon When: 9:30 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 10, 2006 Where: Camp Democracy on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., near Fourth Street. Four veterans of the current war in Iraq and one supporter (a total of five young men) were detained at the Pentagon today after they attended an open house and left behind flyers providing information about the lethal effects of depleted uranium. The five (if released) and leaders of Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace will hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, Sunday, September 10, at Camp Democracy, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., near Fourth Street. The veterans observed literature available in the Pentagon's chapel, which is at the site of the 9-11 plane crash. This literature, produced at tax-payer expense, included copies of the New Testament in camouflage covers. They left behind flyers explaining the effects of depleted uranium. Some of the vets detained currently suffer from depleted uranium poisoning. The four vets are Steve Mortillo of Pennington, N.J.; Joe Hatcher of San Diego, Calif.; Geoff Millard of Buffalo, N.Y.; and Toby Hartbarger of Indiana. Also detained was Gregory "Tristan" Watson of Chicago, Ill. Retired Col. Ann Wright said, "Iraq vets who have suffered the effects of depleted uranium have every right to educate others about the terrible effects of this illegal substance used in weapons produced by the United States government." For more information see: http://www.campdemocracy.org ### http://www.davidswanson.org DAVID SWANSON is a co-founder of After Downing Street, a writer and activist, and the Washington Director of Democrats.com. He is a board member of Progressive Democrats of America, and serves on the Executive Council of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including Press Secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, Media Coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as Communications Coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Swanson obtained a Master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1997.