NucNews September 13, 2006


-------- NUCLEAR 


-------- accidents and safety

Snake-arm robots slither forward

By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Wednesday, 13 September 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5324708.stm

Engineers examining the Ringhals 1 nuclear power plant in the summer of 2003 discovered a leak in a critical pipe deep beneath the reactor core.

The pipe was part of the reactor's safety control rod mechanism,activated during a reactor shut-down.

Left unchecked the fault could jeopardise the safe operation of the Swedish power plant or even shut it down for good.

The plumbing was meant to last the lifetime of the reactor and was never intended to be repaired.

Just to gain access, an engineer would have to cut a human-sized path through a tangle of pipes, dubbed "the jungle". Doing so could irreversibly damage the reactor.

Increasingly, precise jobs like this, in difficult-to-reach or hazardous places, are done by robots. The army use them for bomb disposal and space agencies use them to explore distant planets.

But many robots are bulky and most are relatively inflexible. To access really difficult parts, engineers must turn to a different breed of machine.

Snake-arm robots, as they are known, are lightweight, flexible manipulator arms. They look like a spinal column, made of lots of individual vertebrae, and can contort to any desired shape.

One day it is hoped that their slender tentacles could be used to control intricate operations deep within the recesses of the human brain.

"These robots are really about getting into awkward spaces," said Dr Rob Buckingham of OC robotics, a company that builds and develops snake-arms.

"The advantage of these robots is that you get a device that can steer around multiple corners."

Supple movement

Snake-like robot arms have been investigated by scientists for more than 30 years. But despite the best efforts of large institutions, such as Nasa, they have largely remained a laboratory curiosity and sometime niche industrial product.

"There have been a number of companies that have sold a few of these robots, but the market for them has just never got big enough," said Joel Burdick, a professor of robotics at the California Institute of Technology.

Companies such as Oxford Technologies in the UK have built advanced virtual-reality-controlled snake-like arms for the Joint European Torus (JET), an experimental nuclear fusion reactor in Oxfordshire.

The French and Japanese nuclear industries also use them to maintain the inside of their fission reactors.

But snake-like robotics have never slithered into the mainstream. OC robotics, based in Bristol, is one company hoping to change that.

One of the major challenges of developing these lithe limbs is modelling and controlling their movements.

Standard robotic arms have just six degrees of freedom. This allows the tip of the arm, usually where a camera or tool is located, to reach almost anywhere within arm's length.

By contorting, the arm can reach up, down or to the side. This kind of simple movement is relatively easy to program and is all that is needed for most industrial applications.

But in confined spaces, for example, these robots are limited. Their "elbows" cannot make the necessary movements to allow the tip to reach its destination without the whole arm becoming stuck.

Snake-arm robots on the other hand can move in up to 30 different directions at once. Their supple bodies can bend and flex to fit the shape of the confining space.

"There are a large number of ways that the arms can move," said Dr Buckingham, whose research appears in the Royal Academy of Engineering's Ingenia magazine.

"The number of possible movements means the maths can become very interesting."

OC Robotics has now developed software that can charm their snakes and allow an operator to move the tip of the arm to where it is needed.

In addition, once the tool is in position the software allows the body to wriggle and change shape as required.

The OC Robotic's snake-arms tend to be made of lightweight materials such as aluminium alloys.

Each one is made of several segments. The more segments, the more flexible the arm.

Movement is controlled by a series of wires running through the core of the arm. Three wires are connected to each segment.

A series of motors, or actuators, at the base of the arm work the wires like a puppet master. By carefully controlling the length of each wire, the limb can be moved and bent into shape.

Future use

The company already has contracts with the UK and US military to use the technology for bomb disposal robots.

They are also working on a portable device that can be carried by soldiers or in the back of a police car to allow the first inspection of a suspicious package or vehicle.

Airline manufacturer Airbus is also looking at the technology for inspecting the inside of the wings of some of their future aircraft. It would also like to use them to routinely check the inside of jet engines, cutting down on maintenance time.

Others are interested in the medical applications.

"The whole field of medicine is moving towards minimally invasive surgery; trying to do the least amount of damage possible during surgery," said Professor Burdick.

Some surgery like this is done using a laparoscope, similar to a set of chopsticks with tools on the end. The surgeon pokes these through a tiny hole in the patient to do an operation, such as removing the gall bladder.

"You can imagine that if you want that stick to be more intelligent and more manoeuvrable, you could have a snake-like stick," he said.

The mechanisms of a snake-arm robot could be used in a steerable endoscope for internal examinations or for reaching deep into the brain.

"There are lots of applications," said Dr Buckingham. "What this is all about is reaching the unreachable." 



-------- africa

Iranian leader in Senegal to discuss nuclear programme

Wed Sep 13, 2006 (AFP)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060913/wl_mideast_afp/senegalirandiplomacy_060913183226

DAKAR - Iran's hardline leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Senegal for talks with his counterpart Abdoulaye Wade expected to focus on his country's nuclear programme and on bilateral ties with the West African country.

Ahmadinejad was received at the capital's international airport by Wade.

A Senegalese presidential source told AFP that the controversial nuclear question would feature on the two leaders' agenda.

Faced with a barrage of Western threats over Iran's nuclear programme, Ahmadinejad is expectedly seeking backing from a fellow Muslim country as he will from his other Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) allies at an upcoming summit in Cuba.

The trip comes amid continuing efforts to resolve a protracted international standoff over Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but the United States believes is aimed at building nuclear weapons.

Wade has already urged the West to change its approach to Iran's nuclear program by starting talks without any conditions.

"My own role as a Muslim yet unabashedly pro-Western intermediary between the European Union and Iran makes me think there is a better way: drop the preconditions to opening negotiations," he wrote in a letter to the Financial Times in late August, cited by IRNA agency.

Negotiations "would allay Western suspicions that Iran is trying to buy time. I urge the West to let negotiations begin. What have you got to lose?" he asked.

The two heads of state are also to discuss bilateral energy cooperation following Wade's visit to Tehran in June, according to an Iranian diplomatic source in Dakar.

Among the projects being considered by the two is the construction of a 380 million euro oil refining plant in Senegal.

Ahmadinejad, who was in West Africa during the African Union summit in Gambia in July, is due to leave Dakar late Wednesday for Havana where the NAM summit starts on Friday.

After that he will proceed to Venezuela for talks with one of Tehran's fiery anti-US allies, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who has backed Iran on its nuclear programme and refusal to recognise Israel.

His 10-day global tour ends at the United Nations in New York for this year's General Assembly.



-------- australia

Scrap Labor uranium policy: Shorten

September 13, 2006 Australia Courier Mail

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20405068-1702,00.html?from=rss

THE Labor Party should scrap its "half pregnant" uranium mines policy, union boss and Labor candidate Bill Shorten said today.

But Mr Shorten has not decided whether he wants Australia to use nuclear power.

Labor leader Kim Beazley wants to scrap the party's policy of not allowing any new uranium mines. The issue will be decided at next year's ALP national conference.

Mr Shorten, the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union and candidate for the Melbourne seat of Maribyrnong, was speaking to high school students in Canberra today. He said Labor's policy was inconsistent and should be changed.

"I think, with uranium, the policy which they've got in place was invented 22 years ago to fix an argument then," Mr Shorten said.

"Not mining uranium doesn't stop uranium being sold.

"Not mining uranium in two states but mining uranium in two other states, to me is a bit like being half pregnant."

Mr Shorten said other issues that needed to be resolved were nuclear waste disposal and protocols for export.

"I think that one of the key issues about uranium is making sure that with other countries ... that you don't sell it to people who might turn it into nuclear weapons or do other unpleasant things," he said.

Asked whether nuclear energy was the answer to global warming, he said it was not an "either-or" and could be used with renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

"I think the case about nuclear power, the economic case, hasn't been made yet. The jury's a bit out on that," he said.

"In terms of the nuclear power debate, I don't know.

"For myself, the idea of nuclear power stations tends to raise hairs on the back of my neck. I'm not sure I'd want to live near one."




-------- business

Firms win nuclear detection contracts

Wed Sep 13, 2006 (Reuters) 

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?storyID=2006-09-13T151046Z_01_N13421484_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-CARGO.xml&rpc=81
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/us_nm/security_cargo_dc_1

WASHINGTON - L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., American Science & Engineering Inc. and Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC, have won $1.35 billion in contracts as part of developing a system to detect nuclear and radiological matter in cargo, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday.

The Cargo Advanced Automated Radiography System program is designed to create an imaging system to detect high density shielding that could be used to hide enriched uranium or weapons grade plutonium, the DHS said in a statement.

"This advanced equipment will greatly enhance our ability to detect these greater threats while also improving our ability to scan greater portions of cargo in a timely, effective manner," Vayl Oxford, director of the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, said in a statement.

The seven-year contracts include an estimated two-year period to develop a prototype system and five years for production.

The awards come as the U.S. Senate moves closer to voting on legislation aimed at beefing up security at U.S. ports. That bill includes a provision that would require that all U.S.-bound cargo be screened for nuclear materials using scanning technology that can see through dense objects.

----

Nuclear energy rules knocked as outdated

Sept. 13, 2006 (UPI) 

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060913-024946-5045r

WASHINGTON -- The nuclear energy industry wants Washington to respond to an emerging renewal of atomic generating plants with updated regulations and policies.

The Nuclear Energy Institute said Wednesday in testimony before a congressional panel that as many as 30 nuclear power plants could be built in the United States in the next two decades.

Among areas that need attention are unduly restrictive construction finance rules, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's new-plant licensing process and centralized interim storage of used nuclear fuel pending development of the Yucca Mountain, Nev., repository, said Frank L. "Skip" Bowman, the NEI's president and chief executive officer.

Many existing policies reflect a time when there was no perceived premium on clean power generation, as their is today.

Bowman told lawmakers that his industry is investing well over $1.5 billion in design and engineering work, licensing and procurement of long-lead equipment like reactor pressure vessels and steam generators.

"The first wave of these plants could begin site preparation by the end of 2008, move in to full-scale construction in 2010 when they receive their construction and operating licenses, and be ready for commercial operation in the 2014 to 2015 time frame," Bowman said.

----

Climate change to make nuclear power a winner: Citi

Wed Sep 13, 2006 (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/sc_nm/energy_carbon_nuclear_dc_2

LONDON - The increasingly urgent need to combat climate change will probably spawn U.S. policies to impose fossil fuel charges and so dramatically favor nuclear power, Citigroup said in a research note on Wednesday.

Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil is one of the biggest sources of the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists fear are leading to dangerous climate change.

In response, a carbon market in Europe already charges heavy industry to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) above a certain limit -- requiring companies to buy tradeable carbon credits -- and some U.S. states are set to adopt similar schemes.

This will sort winners from losers in power markets, with nuclear especially seen benefiting from increases in power prices driven by carbon charging, as zero-carbon emitters facing none of the costs of having to buy carbon credits.

"Under such (U.S.) legislation nuclear generators would win," Citigroup said.

"Nuclear Winners... should see material gross margin expansion, as revenues will likely rise dramatically without costs escalating."

Carbon markets work by giving for free or auctioning a certain quota of carbon credits, and businesses have to buy extra credits if their emissions exceed that quota.

Coal generators could lose out -- depending on how tough the new regimes are.

A tough regime would see governments auction rather give away for free the baseline quota, and would set these quotas less generously.

As the European Union's scheme showed last year -- when a there was a surplus of credits -- countries are finding it difficult to set tough targets given complaints from some industry about the possible impact on competitiveness.

"Coal generators in gas markets would likely suffer in strict regimes, which are unlikely given their economic impact."

Coal generators which the bank said faced a "material downside exposure" from a strict regime included Allegheny, Dynegy, Edison, NRG, and TXU.

Nuclear generators Entergy, Exelon, and Constellation stood to be significant beneficiaries, it said. 



<a name="du"></a>

-------- depleted uranium

Study: "Gulf War syndrome doesn't exist"
VA-funded report unable to find evidence of complex of symptoms

Sept 13, 2006 Associated Press

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14801666/
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/060912b_wire.aspx

WASHINGTON - There is no such thing as Gulf War syndrome, even though U.S. and foreign veterans of the war report more symptoms of illness than do soldiers who didn't serve there, a federally funded study concludes.

U.S. and foreign veterans of the Gulf War do suffer from an array of very real problems, according to the Veterans Administration-sponsored report released Tuesday.

Yet there is no one complex of symptoms to suggest those veterans — nearly 30 percent of all those who served — suffered or still suffer from a single identifiable syndrome.

"There's no unique pattern of symptoms. Every pattern identified in Gulf War veterans also seems to exist in other veterans, though it is important to note the symptom rate is higher, and it is a serious issue," said Dr. Lynn Goldman, of Johns Hopkins University, who headed the Institute of Medicine committee that prepared the report.

The VA contracted with the institute, part of the National Academy of Sciences, to review scientific studies and probe the issue at the direction of Congress.

Disability benefits at issue

Tuesday's report is the latest in the important series, which the VA will rely on to determine whether Gulf War veterans are eligible for special disability benefits if they are found to suffer from illnesses that can be linked to their service.

Veterans can now claim those benefits only by making an undiagnosed illness claim, said Steve Robinson, a Gulf War Army veteran and government relations director for Veterans for America.

"They keep saying it over and over, every year. We know that — we know that there is no single thing that made veterans sick. We know this thing is likely a combination of various exposures," Robinson said in pushing for new studies he hopes will find what ails tens of thousands of his fellow vets.

A member of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, also chartered by Congress, called the report the "first step" in cataloging the studies done on veterans of the conflict.

    * Agent Orange study ends, no cancer link
    * Message Board: What do you think about the report denying 'Gulf War syndrome'?

"But the most prevalent problems in Gulf War veterans are the multisymptom illness/Gulf War syndrome-type problems that still affect a sizable proportion of those who served in the war. I am disappointed that the IOM report does little to analyze what these studies collectively tell us about the nature and causes of these conditions," said Lea Steele, a Kansas State University epidemiologist who is the committee's scientific director.

Soldiers who served in the Persian Gulf following the Iraqi invasion of neighboring Kuwait in August 1990 have reported symptoms that include fatigue, memory loss, muscle and joint pain, rashes and difficulty sleeping. But not all suffer from the same array of symptoms, which has complicated efforts to pinpoint their cause, according to the report.

Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Phil Budahn said the VA would not comment until it had a chance to study the report. The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States also was reviewing the study.

Toxic exposures

Nearly 700,000 U.S. soldiers, along with troops from 34 other countries, took part in the Gulf War. Once in the region, those soldiers were exposed to a wide array of toxins and other potential health hazards, including smoke from hundreds of oil well fires, pesticides, depleted uranium ammunition and possibly the nerve agent sarin, released during the demolition of a munitions dump.

Inadequate screening of soldiers before deployment in the Gulf War, coupled with a lack of environmental monitoring during the conflict, have hindered efforts to determine whether exposure to those contaminants is linked to any illness, the report also notes.

For years, the government denied the mysterious illnesses were linked to the war. It now acknowledges that at least some were due to wartime service. The government is no longer pointing to stress as the likely reason, as some federally funded studies had suggested.

The new report did find evidence of an elevated risk of the rare nerve disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, among Gulf War veterans. They also face an increased risk of anxiety disorders, depression and substance abuse, it said.

----

Japanese newsmaker on a mission to show legacy of Vietnam War

By Makoto Igarashi, The Asahi Shimbun Wednesday, September 13, 2006 

http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10&newsid=19990

Nguyen Viet and Nguyen Duc were born attached as a complication of the US use of the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War 	

For the last 30 years, Japanese photojournalist Goro Nakamura has focused on one thing: the damage made to the Vietnamese people and their country by the US use of the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

And now, the 65-year-old photojournalist, who is based in Saitama, will be taking his work to the United States.

The exhibition will be Nakamura's first in the country responsible for the use of Agent Orange - which contains dioxins known to be harmful to humans -  in Vietnam.

"The tragedies caused by the defoliant did not end with the generation who suffered from it directly. They are ongoing. I want to show these realities to as many people as I can," Nakamura said.

The exhibition, entitled "Silent Spring - Agent Orange Photographs," is scheduled to be held at the John Jay College of the City University of New York (CUNY) from Oct. 3 - 28.

Images to be shown in the exhibition include that of a small boy standing in a forest of mangrove trees.

The trees have withered due to the defoliant, their branches are bare. The photo was taken in Ca Mau Cape in the southern tip of Vietnam in 1976, a year after the war ended.

The boy is now in his 30s and bed-ridden.

Portraits of Nguyen Viet and Nguyen Duc, conjoined twins born in 1981 whose condition was blamed on exposure to the defoliant, will also be included.

Nakamura started to take photos of the damage caused by Agent Orange in 1976.

Since 1982, he has also taken pictures of American soldiers and their children. The soldiers had returned to the United States but were also suffering from the aftereffects caused by use of the defoliant.

The US government has provided compensatory payments for these soldiers, whose suffering has caught the imagination of the American people.

However, similar attention has not been paid to the people of Vietnam and the damage done to their country during the war.

Nakamura made it his mission to find somewhere to show his work in the United States. An acquaintance put him in touch with CUNY.

Nakamura is also planning to hold a larger-scale photo exhibition elsewhere in the United States in the near future. The total cost for the two exhibitions will amount to several million yen.

But even with these two shows Nakamura's work is not yet done.

He is also worried about the possible effects from the depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used in Iraq by US military forces.

Nakamura fears similar stories will emerge from Iraq through the use of such shells.



-------- india 

Don`t bother if nuclear deal doesn`t come through: Kakodkar

Sept 13, 2006 Zee News

http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=322342&sid=NAT&ssid=

Bangalore: Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar today said India should not "bother" if the proposed Indo-US civil nuclear agreement does not come through and also asserted that New Delhi would not accept any proposal that does not allow reprocessing of spent fuel.

"I have only told you what the Indian position is. If within that..if everything...There is an agreement, it will come very soon. If it (the deal) doesn`t (come through), don`t bother. Indian programme is going on," Kakodkar, also secretary in the department of atomic energy, said when asked how soon he expects the deal to come through.

On reported US concerns regarding spent fuel and whether the issue has been resolved, he said New Delhi is not going to accept anything which does not allow reprocessing.

Speaking to reporters after inaugurating the "emergency response Centre" at atomic minerals directorate for exploration and research here, he said spent fuel cannot be left as spent fuel in perpetuity.

"That`s part of Indian policy. We have adopted the closed nuclear fuel cycle which is getting broader...worldwide recognition...that it`s the correct strategy. So, we are not going to accept where there is no recycle of the plutonium and uranium that`s there in the spent fuel because it`s required even from environmental point of view and even from the point of view of credible waste management. Recycling of spent fuel is important. We are not going to accept anything which does not allow (reprocessing)," he said.

Indo-U.S. nuclear deal in global interest, no compromise involved

Anil Kakodkar also said that there was no compromise involved in the civil nuclear cooperation deal signed and re-emphasised that the pact was in the global interest.

Talking to reporters Kakodkar said India`s present nuclear pariah status would end once U.S. Congress ratified the deal unconditionally.

The passing of the agreement would ensure New Delhi`s access to American nuclear technology and fuel, despite not being a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he said.

Kakodkar predicted that the agreement would not only serve energy hungry India`s interests, but would also cater to international demands.

"The fact still remains that India is a country with advanced nuclear technology. The fact still remains that energy requirements in India are very large. Also, the fact remains that a large faction of nuclear power in India is of course in Indian interest but also in global interest," Kakodkar told reporters on the sidelines.

"It is linked with the sustainability of fossil fuels the world over, the prices of hydrocarbons particularly, and also even more importantly linked with global climate change issues, which are going to affect everybody," he added.

"So, there is this recognition that India offers a very large market in the energy segment," Kakodkar said.

Last month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured the nation`s top nuclear scientists that India would not accept any significant changes in the deal, which was given initial approval by both the US House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in July.

"Well it is for us to decide and finally when we come to an agreement we will of course ensure that the Indian interest is fully met and these have been very clearly spelt out," said Kakodkar.

India is going to make a big push for nuclear energy and reduce reliance on the very expensive fossil fuels. India imports 70 percent of its crude-oil requirements.

There is, however, the fear that the nuclear pact will be delayed because of congressional preoccupation with domestic issues and elections this autumn. While launching an international bid, India is at the same time trying to ensure that its own house is in order.

The Indian government has drawn up an ambitious bid to garner 60 million tonnes per annum of equity oil from overseas by 2025 by empowering public-sector oil companies to enter exploration and production business abroad.

Last month, New Delhi announced that plans were being chalked up to double electricity production from nuclear power plants by 2030 with the possibility of international cooperation.

"We are trying to realize the target of 20,000 megawatts and scale it up to 40,000MW by 2030," Kakodkar said then.

At the current level of 3,310MW, nuclear energy constitutes only three percent of the installed capacity in the country.

Recently, India`s 16th nuclear plant went critical at Tarapur, while sites have been cleared by the government for four 700MW nuclear power plants (two each) at Kakrapar in Gujarat and Rawatbhata in Rajasthan.

Once the 540MW Tarapur plant, which is the second pressurized heavy-water reactor in the country, is synchronized to the western grid, the total installed capacity of nuclear energy will go up to 3,890MW. Pre-project work has begun at sites in Jaitapur and Kudankulam for four 1,000MW light-water reactors.

To provide nuclear power to eastern India, the government has in principle approved a 2,000MW plant in the impoverished state of Bihar. The Uranium Corporation of India Ltd is looking to increase domestic production of nuclear fuel in the states of Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

The Nuclear Power Corp of India (NPCIL) has announced plans to spend 1.2 billion dollars on a stake in a uranium mine, taking on competition from China and Japan.

New Delhi is also working on amending the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) to allow private participation in nuclear-power production that has so far been the fief of only government agencies. Many private players, including Reliance, Tata and US-based General Electric (GE) have expressed interest in building nuclear plants.

"We are working on moving forward to broadening of the [Atomic Energy] Act,`` Kakodkar said recently.

The July 18, 2005 agreement has been a subject of heated debate in both India and the United States, especially over rumours that the conditions enshrined in original pact will be changed.

Bureau Report 

----

U.S. envoy sees Senate approving India nuclear bill

By Kamil Zaheer Wed Sep 13, 2006 (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/wl_nm/nuclear_india_usa_dc_2

NEW DELHI - A controversial India-U.S. nuclear cooperation deal is expected to be approved by a big majority in the Senate, which is likely to vote on it this month, Washington's envoy to New Delhi said on Wednesday.

The deal, a sign of blossoming energy, commercial and strategic ties between the two countries, aims to overturn three decades of sanctions against New Delhi and supply atomic fuel and equipment to meet its spiraling energy needs.

It was approved by a overwhelming majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in July. But some experts feel the bill could face a tough time in the Senate due to objections by lawmakers who are vocal supporters of nuclear non-proliferation.

Ambassador David Mulford apparently sought to allay those concerns.

"We hope the Senate will vote this month. If there is Senate action, we believe there will again be a large majority," he told a Indo-U.S. business summit in New Delhi.

The bill, after approval by the Senate, has to be reconciled by the two chambers and jointly approved by them. It also needs the backing of the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations that control global atomic trade.

The non-proliferation lobby in the U.S. has slammed the deal, saying Washington was encouraging arms proliferation by giving away too much to India, which has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and conducted nuclear tests.

On the other hand, many Indian lawmakers and nuclear scientists are wary that the long-drawn U.S. legislative process could lead to changes in the original deal that would go against India's strategic interests.

Mulford said the fears were unfounded.

"The procedural movements and debates in American politics are often baffling to our friends around the world, but we will honor the agreement that has been reached," he told Indian and U.S. businessmen.

Some changes proposed by U.S. politicians include a clause that would make it mandatory for the U.S. administration to certify India is sticking to the deal's terms and a condition that nuclear cooperation would end if it tests an atomic device.

New Delhi has repeatedly warned that any changes could destroy the pact.

Mulford said the original deal would not be reworked to India's disadvantage.

"The goalposts are not being moved ... when finally implemented (it) will mark a new level of trust and cooperation in our partnership," the envoy said. 



-------- iran

Non Aligned summit calls for unconditional talks on nuclear Iran

by Patrick Moser Wed Sep 13, 2006 (AFP)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060913/wl_asia_afp/cubanamsummit_060913062501

HAVANA - Representatives from more than 100 developing nations meeting in Havana called for unconditional negotiations to resolve the tense standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

Delegates at the six-day Non Aligned Movement (NAM) summit also lashed out at Israel, but dropped a proposed demand it be punished for "warcrimes."

While the Middle East was high on the agenda, with the expected arrival of the Syrian and Lebanese presidents, the gathering was also the scene of rival lobbying by Venezuela and Guatemala for a seat on the UN Security Council. Caracas claimed it had locked in the votes to get a seat.

As senior officials met for a second day, it remained unclear whether Cuban President Fidel Castro, 80, would show up in the summit in what would be his first public appearance since he underwent intestinal surgery in July.

The officials hammered out separate resolutions on Iran and the Palestinian territories, while also fine-tuning a draft final document the heads of state and government are to adopt on Saturday.

Issues such as terrorism, Iran and the Middle East were hotly debated at the closed-door meetings, participants said.

On Iran, the officials essentially updated a resolution adopted by a NAM meeting in May, but added a paragraph stating the need for an "unconditional resumption of dialogue," the head of a prominent delegation said privately.

The statement adopted at the May gathering in Putrajaya, Malaysia insisted any country had the right to use nuclear energy and welcomed what it said was Iran's "voluntary confidence-building efforts" aimed at resolving the issue.

The delegates also worked on a document demanding that Israel withdraw from the West Bank, stop its "aggression" in Gaza and release jailed Palestinian officials.

"When that happens it will open the door for the resumption of the political process," said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations.

But a senior official said the delegates dropped a proposed paragraph that called the Israeli actions "warcrimes for which the perpetrators must be held accountable and brought the justice."

Mansour said statements by the NAM would add to the pressure on the Security Council to implement its resolutions on the Palestinian territories.

"We hope the Security Council will begin the process of standing up to its responsibility," he told AFP.

Several delegations also engaged in intense lobbying to garner support for specific issues.

Venezuela insisted it now had secured enough votes to win a seat on the UN Security Council.

"We can assure the world that Venezuela will have a position on the Security Council as a non-permanent member," the Venezuelan vice foreign minister, Jorge Valero, told journalists.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez planned to meet Castro for breakfast on Wednesday.

Venezuela and Cuba, as well as North Korea, Iran and Syria, are among the staunch foes of the United States in the NAM.

But the summit also brings together several US allies.

"There are many moderate voices in the movement," K.C. Singh, who heads the Indian delegation, told AFP.

The gathering brings together leaders from about 50 developing nations, and high-level representatives from dozens more.

Heads of state and government will meet on Friday and Saturday following two days of talks at the ministerial level.

Raul Castro, who is temporarily replacing his brother Fidel as Cuba's president, made his appearance at the summit and insisted that his sibling was still giving orders.

Raul Castro appeared on Cuban television with Laos President Choummaly Sayasone, and the two discussed the "excellent development of bilateral relations between Cuba and Laos," said Cuban television.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Telesur, a regional television channel, Raul Castro said his 80-year-old brother was still working hard.

"Don't think that he is laying down in a bed," said Raul Castro, 75. "He is on the telephone giving orders."



-------- japan

Iranian nuclear issue bedevils Japan’s oil deal

By Gareth Smyth
September 13 2006 Financial Times

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/057fe3ce-42b8-11db-8dc3-0000779e2340.html

At the Tehran office of the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, staff keep one eye on CNN and one on the Iranian news channel. But for the Japanese government, balancing the US and Iran is becoming harder as Washington raises pressure on Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Tokyo’s warm relationship with Tehran goes back to 1953, when the Japanese tanker Nissho-maru defied a British blockade imposed after Iran’s prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, nationalised the oil industry. Today, Japan is Iran’s biggest export market for crude.

But the US has been the cornerstone of Japanese postwar foreign policy and is crucial to Tokyo’s hopes of containing the missile and nuclear programme of North Korea.

The rapport between Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister, and President George W. Bush has brought the two allies closer. Japan has said it would back Washington over sanctions against Iran – while hoping oil exports would be exempt.

So far, Tokyo has successfully juggled both relationships and there remains the possibility of a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff.

But Iran has given Inpex, the Japanese oil company, a deadline of Friday to go ahead with developing the huge Azadegan oil field, which has a potential daily output of 400,000 barrels and reserves of 26bn barrels.

Work has been sluggish since a $2bn deal was signed, against US objections, in 2004. With negligible energy reserves, Japan saw Azadegan as a steady source of crude after it lost in 2000 the Khafji field in the Saudi-Kuwait neutral zone. While Inpex is only 36 per cent state-owned, its officials have close relations with the government.

Inpex, which has a 75:25 per cent project share with the National Iranian Oil Company, has expressed dissatisfaction over progress in de-mining the area, a battlefield in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. There is also disagreement between the two sides over the rising cost of steel for installations.

But analysts say the real delay is political. “The nightmare scenario for Tokyo is that sanctions don’t come through the UN,” says Ken Ando, Tehran bureau chief of Asahi Shimbun. “If Japan joins a US-led ‘coalition of the willing’, it will be harder to tell the Iranians it is acting with reluctance.”

There are signs of Japanese nervousness. Fumiaki Watari, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan, said last week the oil industry had discussed with the government a possible halt to oil imports from Iran in the event of sanctions. Analysts in Japan say that financial sanctions could block Inpex from raising capital for the project.

Nippon Oil announced in March it would reduce imports from Iran from 142,000 to 120,000 bpd, citing “economic reasons”, but Iran remains Japan’s third biggest supplier of crude. The most recent official figures give Iran 14 per cent of Japan’s 2004 supply, behind the UAE with 25 per cent and Saudi Arabia with 29 per cent. Sensing the hesitation, Iranian officials have hinted Tehran might switch Azadegan to Chinese operators.

Japanese advocates of the project argue that Iran needs Japan. Crude exports bring around 80 per cent of Tehran’s foreign exchange earnings and Japan is Iran’s biggest oil market, taking 23 per cent of exports, far ahead of China’s 9 per cent.

“The Iranians know Inpex has a higher technical standard than the Chinese,” says one analyst. Fundamentalist Iranian conservatives have suggested they would like Iran to be an “Islamic Japan”, a country that combines technology with cultural tradition.

Inpex’s case appeared strengthened in Tehran by last week’s announcement from Total, the French major, that it was considering a stake in Azadegan. Hossein Kazempour-Ardebili, Iran’s Opec representative, said the deal would go ahead within two weeks after “an understanding” reached by the three parties.

Japanese diplomats also point to Japan’s good relationship with Manoucher Mottaki, Iran’s foreign minister, who was ambassador to Tokyo between 1995 and 1999. But despite both sides’ desire for continued good relations, their behaviour suggests the nuclear issue is a stumbling block.

“I feel the Japanese government will buy time while awaiting the outcome of the nuclear issue, and Tehran will also try to keep the options open,” says Mr Ando. “But it’s a risky situation for everyone.”



-------- korea

U.S. tries to contact N.Korea on nuclear issue : Seoul

Wed Sep 13, 2006 (Reuters)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060913/wl_nm/korea_north_envoys_dc_1

SEOUL - The chief U.S. nuclear envoy sought to contact Pyongyang to help resume stalled six-country talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program but was rebuffed, a South Korean official said on Wednesday.

The offer by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was turned down by the North last week while Hill was visiting China, the official said without elaborating.

"I understand Assistant Secretary Hill made the gesture on his own initiative to try to resume the six-party talks," South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters when asked about the possibility Hill had sought out the chief North Korean nuclear envoy.

Yu would not say what Hill's gesture was, when it was made or whether he might have been seeking direct talks with envoy Kim Kye-gwan.

The North has long sought direct talks with the United States and Hill has insisted over the past several months such contacts could only take place as a part of the six-country discussions.

Pyongyang insists Washington must end a crackdown on its finances before it will return to the six-party forum.

Before the current confrontation, Hill managed to help bring North Korea back to the table in July 2005 for the first time in more than a year by having discussions with envoy Kim over a steak and cheesecake dinner in Beijing.

Hill ended his latest North Asian tour on Tuesday, which included an extended stay in China. Speaking in Seoul on Monday, he expressed frustration that North Korea has refused to make any serious moves to jump-start the talks, stalled since November.

The talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States hit a snag over a U.S. crackdown on firms it suspects of aiding Pyongyang in illicit activities, such as drug running.

Yu said it was difficult to anticipate a resumption of the talks any time soon because there was little to form a common denominator between Washington and Pyongyang.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and President George W. Bushare to meet in Washington on Thursday and the North's nuclear ambitions will be a key area of discussions. 

---- 

U.S. denies it sought to contact N. Korea on nukes

Wed Sep 13, 2006 (Reuters) 

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-13T234141Z_01_N13471017_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-ENVOYS.xml

SEOUL - The U.S. State Department denied on Wednesday that its top negotiator with North Korea sought to contact Pyongyang while on a recent trip to Asia.

A South Korean official had earlier said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill tried to contact Pyongyang to help resume stalled talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program but was rebuffed.

"I understand Assistant Secretary Hill made the gesture on his own initiative to try to resume the six-party talks," South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters when asked about the possibility Hill had sought out the chief North Korean nuclear envoy.

The official said Hill's offer was turned down by the North last week while the U.S. diplomat was visiting China. Yu would not say what Hill's gesture was, when it was made or whether he might have been seeking direct talks with envoy Kim Kye-gwan.

Asked if Hill recently sought to contact Pyongyang, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "No. I checked with Chris on this and somewhere along the line there is a garble there. He took this trip (and) didn't try to contact the North Koreans."

McCormack stressed Hill's previous statements that he is willing to meet with the North Koreans directly but only as part of the multi-country discussions.

"He'd be willing to have as many meetings as the North Koreans can take in the context of the six-party talks -- if they would only come back to those talks. But they have simply refused to do so," McCormack said.

Pyongyang insists Washington must end a crackdown on its finances before it will return to the forum for the negotiations.

Before the current confrontation, Hill managed to help bring North Korea back to the table in July 2005 for the first time in more than a year by having discussions with envoy Kim over dinner in Beijing.

Hill ended his latest North Asian tour on Tuesday, which included an extended stay in China. Speaking in Seoul on Monday, he expressed frustration that North Korea has refused to make any serious moves to jump-start the talks, stalled since November.

The talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States hit a snag over a U.S. crackdown on firms it suspects of aiding Pyongyang in illicit activities, such as drug running.



-------- u.s. nuc weapons

Divine Strake fight not over

September 13, 2006 The Spectrum

http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006609130333

The staunch opposition that won out over Private Fuel Storage's plight to store high-level nuclear waste in Utah's west desert needs to be as ardent against any future nuclear-type testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Getting caught up in triumph, while well-deserved and worthy of praise, does not mean other battles are abandoned. Putting a stop to the detonation of conventional and nuclear bombs created to destroy deep tunnels where weapons of mass destruction are assumed to be buried is a cause that must maintain continuum.

Divine Strake, the 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb originally planned for a 35-foot open-air pit dug into a limestone ridge at the Nevada Test Site, is by far extinguished. Though a lawsuit, public outcry with petitions and Nevada and Utah Congressional delegations objected emphatically, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is pursuing setting the low-yield blast off in mid to late 2007.

Where it will happen does not rule out our arid neighbor approximately 85 miles from Las Vegas because it already possesses monitoring and diagnostic equipment needed to study the explosion. It will be a costly expenditure to duplicate that somewhere else.

Irene Smith, a spokesman from the DTRA, mentioned an alternative location in Mitchell, Ind., where a limestone quarry was home to smaller tests involving 3,000-pound batches of explosives in 2004 and 2005. According to DTRA, that is not going to happen and never intended for it to occur in Indiana.

What is going to happen? That is the looming question that remains unanswered by the Department of Defense. Since it is clearly avoided, vigilance in getting a response is essential to find out where in the process the $23 million test is now.

Utah has won one battle that will keep the Goshute Tribal lands free of radioactive waste storage, but it simply cannot rest on its laurels in its fight to win over an explosion that has yet to prove it will not pose health risks to the local population from toxic materials released and dispersed by a predicted 10,000-foot mushroom cloud.

While discovering ways to root out enemies and weapons hidden in limestone tunnels is understandable, it should not be done by experimentation at the expense of innocent American civilians. Southern Utah has been down that road before and refuses to tread that path again. When the constant threat of nuclear weapons testing is more than temporarily postponed, it will definitely be a victory worth celebrating.



-------- u.s. nuc facilities


-------- colorado

7th District foes spar over waste site
Perlmutter highlights O'Donnell's position switch

By Christopher N. Osher
Denver Post Staff Writer
09/13/2006

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_4333391

Congressional candidate Ed Perlmutter on Wednesday questioned his Republican opponent's stance on a controversial move to accept low-level radioactive waste at a site in Adams County.

Perlmutter highlighted a Jan. 11 article quoting his 7th Congressional District opponent, Rick O'Donnell, as saying he did not have a problem with the move.

"We're not talking about materials from Energy Department defense-grade weapons - there's no nuclear material, uranium or plutonium," O'Donnell was quoted as telling Environment and Energy Daily, an online publication based in Washington, D.C., that tracks energy and environmental policies.

O'Donnell's campaign said he hadn't been fully aware of the issue when he spoke with the reporter. It said O'Donnell now opposes the dumping of low-level radioactive waste at the 250-acre Clean Harbors Deer Trail Facility near Last Chance.

Perlmutter, however, said he doubted O'Donnell's stated lack of awareness of the issue, pointing out that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment amended the site's permit and license to allow the low-level radioactive waste when it was chaired by Doug Benevento.

Benevento is now an attorney for the Denver law firm that hosted a fundraiser for O'Donnell that was headlined by the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

"People don't want this to be a national radioactive-waste dump site," Perlmutter said. "Adams County doesn't want it. The only people who want it are people like Rick O'Don nell and his contributors like Doug Benevento, and now, apparently Rick O'Donnell doesn't want it."

The issue flared on a day when U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., received word that the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate would honor his request to investigate permitting for the site.

Also Wednesday, the Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Board - which regulates low-level radioactive waste in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico - voted to permit low-level radioactive waste at the site.

Adams County commissioners have filed lawsuits in Denver and Adams County seeking to block low-level radioactive waste from the site.

Those suits have been dismissed, but the commissioners have filed appeals.

Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com. 



-------- connecticut

Whistleblower's Old Job Not Reinstated

Hartford Courant
By GARY LIBOW
September 13, 2006

http://www.topix.net/content/trb/4144997117209634472230457787263304695881

In today's decision, DPUC let a courageous Millstone employee down. 

The state Department of Public Utility Control has ordered the owner of the Millstone nuclear power plant to provide a whistleblower - whose job was axed during a corporate restructuring - office space until he accepts another post within the company. The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, which wanted Sham Menta reinstated to his old job of recording employee concerns, was highly critical of the DPUC.

'DPUC is required by state law to protect nuclear whistleblowers,' Nancy Burton, coalition president, said in a prepared statement. 'In today's decision, DPUC let a courageous Millstone employee down.' In a draft decision issued Tuesday, the DPUC ordered Dominion Nuclear Connecticut to treat Menta as an active employee of the Waterford-based nuclear plant. The anti-Millstone coalition is urging state legislators to investigate the DPUC's draft decision and alleged flaws in Millstone's security system.

Menta, on paid administrative leave since Jan. 31, had his old job eliminated by Dominion. Menta filed a report in 2004 raising safety and security concerns at the plant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Menta alleged that Millstone officials deactivated the plant's electronic security system to avoid false alarms. He claims Dominion retaliated by reorganizing his old department and giving him poor performance reviews. The crux of the DPUC's decision, agency spokeswoman Beryl Lyons said, is that Menta is a whistleblower whose employment with Dominion is protected. Lyons, noting it's impossible to reinstate Menta to a job that no longer exists, said the DPUC's draft decision is scheduled to be finalized Sept 27.

Contact Gary Libow at glibow@courant.com.

An Associated Press report was included in this story. 



-------- washington

Errors, costs stall nuclear waste project

By Ralph Vartabedian
Los Angeles Times
September 13, 2006

http://www.dailytidings.com/2006/0913/stories/0913_nuclear_waste.php

RICHLAND, Wash. — On a desert plateau seven miles from the Columbia River, a massive federal project to clean up a Cold War-era nuclear weapons plant is deeply troubled.

The effort to avoid an environmental calamity here, at the most polluted site in North America, is a priority of the Energy Department but has foundered because of engineering mistakes and runaway costs. Fifty-three million gallons of radioactive sludge, most of it the texture of ketchup, is stored in scores of underground tanks, some of which have leaked for years.

The Energy Department and contractor Bechtel Corp. are trying to build a sophisticated waste treatment complex — a small-scale industrial city — that would transform the sludge into radioactive glass. After spending $4 billion since 1989 and getting rid of three previous contractors, the program has yet to transform a gallon of sludge.

"We have had some world-class technical issues," acknowledged John Eschenberg, the federal manager for construction. "I have made mistakes. Bechtel has made mistakes. If I could relive the last three years, there are things I would do differently."

The project is a long-distance race to empty the leaky tanks and secure the radioactive waste before it becomes a greater menace to the Columbia River. The job is likely to take decades, and the price tag could approach $100 billion.

In January, the Energy Department stopped construction on the two most important parts of the project after it realized it had miscalculated the earthquake risks at the sprawling federal facility, known as the Hanford Site. In recent weeks, it put off any resumption of construction until after October 2007. At best, the plant would be finished in 2019.

What remains uncertain is whether the plant's remarkably complex technology will work as planned. Shortly after construction was halted, a team of experts delivered a sobering report that warned of a large number of other potential technical issues that could undermine the plant's operation.

In addition, a long list of major safety problems has been discovered — though these problems are fixable, construction managers say. They include the potential for explosive hydrogen gas to build up inside the plant's pipes; concerns that the steel frame had inadequate fireproofing; and the discovery of faulty welds in tanks designed to hold dangerous waste.

The cumulative effect of all the problems and challenges has been staggering.

Energy Department officials disclosed in May that the plant would probably cost $11.6 billion to build, double the estimate of only three years ago. An independent cost estimate due in coming weeks from the Army Corps of Engineers is expected to exceed $13 billion.

"You want to take somebody out and hang them," said Rep. David L. Hobson, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that pays for the project. "It is already outrageous what it is costing."

Meanwhile, officials in Washington state are furious about the continued delays. The state has a legal agreement with the Energy Department that promised the plant would be operating by 1999, meaning it is now 20 years behind schedule.

"We are extremely frustrated," said Suzanne Dahl, the top official at Hanford from Washington's Department of Ecology. "It is becoming impossible to accept more delays."

Construction of the waste treatment complex, consisting of two dozen massive buildings, is only 30 percent completed, and engineering work is about 70 percent completed, Eschenberg said. Building and designing the plant at the same time was necessary, he said, to get the cleanup done as quickly as possible. The decision to halt construction was a prudent step that will give engineers time to solve all the problems, he said.

James Rispoli, assistant Energy secretary for the nuclear waste cleanup program, acknowledges the program has had setbacks but says it is not facing any problems that would derail the project.

Although work has stopped on the pretreatment plant and high-level-waste plant, construction is continuing on 20 other facilities in the complex, Rispoli said. "We are keeping the forward momentum," he said.

Bechtel says it underestimated how much U.S. expertise in nuclear engineering has atrophied. Academic experts agree that the U.S. has lost much of its nuclear know-how.

The history of problems at Hanford raises questions about how effectively the radioactive waste dumps left over from the Cold War can be cleaned up — even with the best technology and with almost unlimited federal spending.

Rough estimates for building and operating the plant — then decommissioning the facility when the job is done — range from more than $50 billion to $100 billion.

There is also an urgency to the mission, given the risk that radioactive waste will someday reach the Columbia River, the largest river in the West. About 1 million gallons of the waste has already leaked into the ground at Hanford, though government experts are confident the rate of leakage has slowed or stopped.

Government hydrologists say they have no evidence that any leaked sludge has reached the water table 250 feet below ground, and they cannot calculate when — or whether — the radioactivity will reach the Columbia River.

Such assurances are rejected by some outside experts, including geotechnical engineer John Brodeur, who conducted a comprehensive study of the tanks in the late 1990s for the Energy Department.

"Some of the ground under the tanks is screaming hot," said Brodeur. "The groundwater is already contaminated."

By 2019, the plant is supposed to be ready to transform the waste into glass, a process called vitrification. New pipelines would carry the waste to a facility consisting of three huge radioactive waste treatment plants, a water treatment plant, a laboratory, a power distribution center and a maintenance shop.

The idea is to separate the highly radioactive materials into two waste streams: a small amount of high-level waste that will be vitrified and shipped to a future dump in Nevada; and a much larger volume of lower-level waste to be vitrified and buried at Hanford. Eventually, there would be 10,000 canisters of high-level vitrified waste and 100,000 canisters of low-activity waste.

The separation process is the biggest challenge, because the waste composition is so complex. Some of the highly lethal waste is a thick red or green sludge, and some is made of hard salt cakes. A teacup of the waste would deliver a lethal dose in minutes, nuclear waste experts say.

The separation occurs in a huge pretreatment plant, which by itself will cover the size of four football fields and reach 12 stories high. For safety, the concrete walls are 4 feet thick. The separate processes use both fine metal filters and two chemical processes, which have never been tested together on a large scale.

"They are taking a real risk the thing won't work and they will have a $11.5 billion white elephant sitting in the desert," said Tom Carpenter, nuclear oversight program director at the Government Accountability Project, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group.

Amid growing congressional concerns about Hanford's technology, Bechtel assembled a team of the top nuclear experts in the nation.

In a March report, they cited a number of defects that would have to be fixed for the plant to work. They said one of the two chemical processes was "undemonstrated" and the other "will not provide acceptable performance." The whole pretreatment facility "will be difficult to reliably operate."

The team of outside experts also raised concerns with the vitrification processes. Once the waste streams are separated, they are sent to two different final treatment plants for vitrification. The melters in the low-level plant could wear out or fail prematurely, while the piping in the high-level plant could get plugged up, they said.

The report raised the prospect that the Hanford treatment plant might wear out before all the waste was treated, particularly if it could not operate reliably and avoid shutdowns.

Rispoli, the Energy Department environmental chief, believes the outside assessment shows that the plant will work. All the Energy Department has to do is solve the problems identified in the report. 



-------- us nuc waste

Xcel Energy's nuclear-storage lease rejected

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Pioneer Press
September 13, 2006

http://www.topix.net/content/kri/0261542784020336803140760622242897818654

There is, I think, significant activity and progress being made on Yucca Mountain 

Over the past decade, Xcel Energy has spent $23 million on a plan to store highly radioactive nuclear waste at a Utah Indian reservation. But that project might be dead.

The Interior Department last week rejected a lease Xcel and other utilities had signed with the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes to store waste on its reservation. It's still unclear whether an appeal will be filed, but Xcel said Wednesday it would not help pay for one.

The lease would have allowed Minneapolis-based Xcel and seven other utilities to ship up to 44,000 tons of nuclear waste to Goshute land southwest of Salt Lake City, where it would be stored for up to 50 years or until a permanent federal repository is available, either at Yucca Mountain in Nevada or elsewhere.

Xcel's need for that approach has diminished in recent years.

In 2003, it received state permission to expand nuclear-waste storage capacity at its Prairie Island nuclear power plant near Red Wing. Now, it's seeking permission to build a similar storage site at its Monticello plant.

After seemingly going nowhere for years, plans to store waste at Yucca Mountain have accelerated. Congress is considering changes to a nuclear-waste policy bill that could enable Yucca Mountain to open in 2017.

Last December, Xcel pledged to withhold future contributions for the private storage option if plans for Yucca Mountain continue to advance.

Charles Bomberger, general manager of nuclear assets for Xcel, said the company is maintaining that stance.

'There is, I think, significant activity and progress being made on Yucca Mountain,' Bomberger said.

Of the $23 million Xcel has spent so far on the private storage option, $800,000 was spent in 2003 and 2004 and none in the past two years. Still, Xcel has no plans to drop out of the consortium, called Private Fuel Storage.

'We are a passive participant in PFS,' Bomberger said. 'If progress is not being made, we reserve the right to resurrect active participation in PFS.'

Dennis Lien can be reached at dlien@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5588.

----

Public Citizen testifies before Congress on nuclear waste safe storage

Sept. 13, 2006 Public Citizen 

http://www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=1446

Michele Boyd, legislative director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, testified today before a House of Representatives subcommittee on the storage of highly radioactive and dangerous nuclear waste from commercial nuclear reactors.

At a hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, she presented a plan developed by national and grassroots public interest groups to address the urgent need to protect the public from the threats posed by the current vulnerable storage of commercial spent fuel. Ninety-four national and grassroots groups from 37 states have signed on to the principles thus far.

To read the full press release, click here.

To read Michele Boyd's testimony, click here.

To read "Principles for Safeguarding Nuclear Waste at Reactors," click here.



-------- MILITARY 


-------- landmines

Record Clearing of Landmines, Casualties up - Report

REUTERS SWITZERLAND: September 13, 2006

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38067/newsDate/13-Sep-2006/story.htm

GENEVA - A record area was cleared of landmines last year, but casualties caused by the weapons rose by 11 percent to 7,328, with many of the victims children, a report said on Wednesday.

Despite stepped-up clearance work, efforts to implement a 1997 international treaty banning the use of the anti-personnel weapons could slow without more funding, according to the Landmine Monitor Report 2006.

"Families affected by landmines want to see words become reality: they want to walk, play and live without fear, once and for all," said Sylvie Brigot, executive director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), one of the humanitarian groups which produces the annual report.

The rise in casualties was due to conflicts in areas such as Myanmar, India, Nepal and Pakistan, none of which are signatories to the ban, and in treaty member Colombia where there were more than 1,100 mine victims last year, the highest single total.

Children account for 20 percent of the 7,328 casualties reported in nearly 60 countries, but at least as many are estimated to go unrecorded although victims are killed or maimed for life, the report said.

The report, which monitors progress in applying the anti-mine treaty adopted by over 150 countries, said landmines remained in at least 78 countries.

"The longer states take to clear these mines, the longer these mines wait in the ground for innocent civilians to step on," said Jody Williams, ICBL ambassador and 1997 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate with the organisation.

The total area cleared worldwide in 2005 was 740 square kilometres (300 square miles), approximately the size of New York City. Some 470,000 landmines, including about 450,000 anti-personnel mines, and 3.75 million explosive devices were removed.

"Even if more land has been de-mined this year ... this trend needs to be sustained for states parties to live up to their legal obligations and commitments," said Brigot.

Funds for de-mining and for assisting victims fell for the first time since the treaty came into force to US$376 million, US$23 million less than in the previous year, the report said.

The European Union, the United States and eight other major donors all cut back on funding for de-mining activities. The steepest reductions were seen in Iraq, down 53 percent at US$30.9 million, followed by Afghanistan and Cambodia.

Money was needed not just for clearance, however. It was also required for the up to 500,000 surviving mine victims, many of whose injuries mean they will need help for the rest of their lives, the report said.

Under the treaty, countries pledged to de-mine their territory within 10 years. But 13 signatory states, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Mozambique and Thailand, are not on track to meet the goal, the report said.

The United States, Russia and China, all major arms producers, do not belong to the landmine treaty.

---

Record area cleared of landmines
Many victims of landmines are children

Wednesday, 13 September 2006 (BBC)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5343254.stm

Photo children: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42083000/jpg/_42083796_child_ap203x300b.jpg

A greater area was cleared of landmines last year than ever before, according to a new report from a group that monitors the use of the weapons.

But the International Campaign to Ban Landmines warned that a funding shortfall could lead to fewer clearance operations in the future.

And despite the success in 2005, casualties from mines rose by 11% to more than 7,000.

Since 1997, 151 countries have joined a treaty banning the use of landmines.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said that 740 sq km (286 sq miles) of land - an area the size of New York City - had been demined.

Funding needed

More than four million landmines and other explosive devices were removed and destroyed.

"Record demining was reported in 2005," said Stuart Maslen, one of the report's editors. "But landmines remain in over 78 countries and seven territories."

He said funding would need to be sustained if progress was to be made in eradicating landmines and meeting the needs of the growing number of survivors of mine explosions.

Fifty-eight countries reported new casualties last year, including around 2,000 deaths.

The ICBL believes that reported casualties are less than half of the actual number.

Almost all of the victims were civilians, many of them children.

The increase is attributed to intensified conflict in countries such as Burma, India, Nepal and Pakistan.

The report found that three governments are still using landmines: Burma, Nepal and Russia, with Burma planting the most mines in its campaign against rebel groups.

Major donors such as the European Union and the United States reduced their funding last year.

The total amount available in 2005 for landmine clearing, stockpile destruction, mine risk education and survivor assistance was cut nearly 6% to $376.

The ICBL monitors use and production of landmines around the world and issues annual reports.

The group scrutinises implementation and compliance with the 1997 Ottawa mine ban treaty.

One-hundred-and-fifty-one countries have joined the landmark treaty, but 40 remain outside it including China, Russia, Israel and the US. 



-------- nato

Taliban exposes cracks in Nato

Simon Tisdall
Wednesday September 13, 2006
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1871090,00.html

Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's public plea yesterday for up to 2,500 additional soldiers to fight alongside British, Canadian and Dutch forces in southern Afghanistan has highlighted deep internal strains in the alliance caused by unexpectedly fierce Taliban resistance in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

The Nato secretary-general's appeal followed an unsuccessful attempt to drum up more support from leading members such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain in Warsaw at the weekend. A formal force generation conference will be held today. "We are working on getting nations to do what they promised," Mr De Hoop Scheffer said. "I am calling for alliance solidarity because some nations are carrying more of the burden than others."

But promises notwithstanding, Nato might struggle to find the extra soldiers, said Lord Garden, former assistant chief of the defence staff. "They've got real problems. You have to remember how reluctant many members were to send troops south in the first place. And the agreement was for stabilisation and reconstruction, not counter-insurgency."

He added: "This is supposed to be the first stage of a two-stage operation. The plan is for Nato to take over from the Americans in the east next year. That is potentially even more problematic. So it's difficult to see who will provide the extra troops. They do seem to have been caught a bit short. They need to have a rethink about setting more modest objectives."

Countries accused of letting the side down dispute the charge. "France is already doing an awful lot in Afghanistan," a spokesman said. "We have over 1,000 troops there, including special forces attached to the [US-led] Operation Enduring Freedom. But now we are sending 2,000 soldiers to Lebanon. We have 14,000 troops deployed abroad in total - about the same as the UK. It's not a lack of solidarity. It's a question of resources."

Germany, with about 2,800 troops in Afghanistan, was already involved in "sharp-end" operations in the north and had quietly contributed special forces to counter-insurgency missions further south, said Constanze Stelzenmüller, a security specialist at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. "There is already a very robust engagement. And although there is public criticism, there is an understanding that we have to get the job done. What we are seeing is very usual. Nato can't quite bring itself to commit sufficient forces. But everyone knew that once Nato took over from the US, things would get a lot tougher. One reason is the drug trade. It is not a counter-insurgency on the scale of Iraq. It's more about money and local warlord power than ideology."

Stabilising Afghanistan was "do-able", she said. And she predicted Germany would do more if necessary. Domestic political considerations, national caveats and differing rules of engagement, cost considerations and, in the case of Spain, deeply held objections to the Bush administration's conduct of the "war on terror" are other factors in the reinforcements debate. Asked whether today's conference would deliver, a Nato official in Brussels said: "To be honest, we don't know. The request has been made. If it is not met, it will become a political matter." That could presage sharpening tension between the US and some European allies.

But even if Nato obtained all the troops it wanted, its current southern strategy would not achieve its stated aims and should be reconsidered, said Ayesha Khan, an Afghanistan specialist and associate fellow of Chatham House. "In fact, it's destabilising the area. It has sidelined the state-building and reconstruction agenda. It has sidelined the disarming of [independent] militias. It has also undermined efforts to stop the opium trade," she said.

"The US has made the south the frontline in the 'war on terror'. Nato came into this thinking peacekeeping, not conflict operations. They did not foresee the complications and the potential for mission creep. The strategy is not working."



-------- us

President Bush could learn a lot from Sun Tzu

By John Lang
Originally published September 13, 2006
Baltimore Sun

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.artofwar13sep13,0,1151236.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

Dear Mr. President,

It's too bad The Art of War wasn't on your summer reading list. If you'd read it, maybe we wouldn't be mired in Iraq. According to the author, Sun Tzu, esteemed for thousands of years as the Sage of Warfare, you're doing it all wrong.

Exactly what military principles you've broken - and how many - I learned by chance. On the first day of classes at Washington College, the title on a shelf of paperbacks caught my eye. I opened at random and found this on Page 10: "In war, better take a state intact than destroy it."

Then came a critique of your plan to recall reservists for more tours: "The skillful warrior never conscripts troops a second time." And, "Supplying an army at a distance drains the public coffers. ... Six-tenths are spent on broken chariots, worn-out horses." That last is archaically put, but don't we have thousands of war-wrecked Humvees and tanks now - while short of funds to fix them?

On Page 13, I found: "Treat prisoners of war kindly, and care for them." How does that square with Guantanamo?

Page after page, Sun Tzu has something to say to you, even though the principles were stated something like 2,500 years ago.

But your reading list this summer, so the White House said, included a three-volume history of the Louisiana Purchase. In a summer past, as casualties mounted, we were told you read a comprehensive history of salt.

That's hardly as germane as The Art of War, which states, "No nation has ever benefited from a protracted war."

Of course, reading lists of politicians are always suspect. You feed doubts when you tell us that this summer you also read "three Shakespeares." Your aides have said you don't read their briefing papers but direct them to read them to you.

Then why not get those neocons who advised you into this war to give Master Sun a glance? Vice President Dick Cheney owns the book; according to news reports, Chinese officials gave Mr. Cheney an out-of-print copy valued at $3,600, though it's not clear whether he's read it.

Perhaps your advisers can slip Sun Tzu's maxims into the daily digest. After, say, the latest blurb on slaughter between Sunni and Shiite factions, an aide could read:

"Without knowing the plans of the feudal lords, you cannot form alliances."

Or, before another retired general or formerly supportive Republican congressman goes looking for Iraq's back door, your reader can find: "When an army is confused and perplexed, the feudal princes will cause trouble. This creates chaos in the ranks and gives away victory."

Sir, you can be certain, if you don't know Sun Tzu, your enemies do. It's the revolutionary's primer. Mao Tse-tung carried a copy on his Long March. It was Fidel Castro's campfire reading when he was hiding out in the Sierra Maestre.

Can the teachings have escaped the notice of Osama bin Laden? Not likely. Consider The Art of War on evasion: "He changes his ways and alters his plans to keep the enemy in ignorance." Also, "The highest skill in forming dispositions is to be without form; formlessness is proof against the prying of the subtlest spy and the machinations of the wisest brain."

Concluding, "The place I intend to attack must not be known; if it is unknown, the enemy will have to reinforce many places ... but I shall attack few." And, "Throw your men where there is no escape, and they will die rather than flee."

Sounds exactly like al-Qaida. What would it hurt to read the guerrillas' guidebook? Don't you owe it to us, and yourself? After all, as you've said to us, "I am a wartime president."

And the Master says, "He who knows self, but not the enemy, will suffer one defeat for every victory. "

John Lang is director of the journalism intern program at Washington College in Chestertown. He was chief White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report during the Carter administration. His e-mail is johnlang@atlanticbb.net.



-------- POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE


-------- human rights

Human rights group says rights abuses by both government and rebels in Indian Kashmir

By AP
Wednesday September 13, 2006

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060912/210/67iia.html

An international human rights watchdog accused the Indian government and Islamic militants of killing civilians in India's part of the divided Kashmir region where insurgents are fighting New Delhi's rule.

Human Rights Watch said Kashmiri civilians are targeted both by Indian security forces and militants, who New Delhi alleges receive backing from its arch rival, Pakistan.

Islamic guerrillas have been fighting New Delhi's rule in Indian-administered Kashmir since 1989. The conflict has cost the lives of more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.

India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the militants, a charge Islamabad denies.

"The Indian government has effectively given its forces free rein, while Pakistan and armed militant groups have failed to hold militants accountable for the atrocities they have committed," the Human Rights Watch report said.

The report said abuses by security forces as well as the rebels continued to take place despite a tentative peace process that includes separate talks between India, Pakistan and some of Kashmir's separatist leaders.

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the top elected official of Indian-administered Kashmir said that if the militant groups gave up their violent insurrection, India would be willing to agree to a cease-fire.

The chief government spokesman of India's only Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state said authorities have prosecuted several troops and found them guilty of human rights violations.

However, he defended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which Human Rights Watch report said allowed government forces to detain people without trial for up to two years, making human rights prosecutions difficult.

"I must clarify that there is no need to repeal special laws as we are facing a proxy war in Kashmir. We have to have a safety system for our forces and we don't want them to be prosecuted for false allegations," Kuldip Khoda, told The Associated Press.

Also Tuesday, nearly 2,000 members of a pro-independence separatist Kashmiri group held a daylong hunger strike in Srinagar alleging human rights abuses by Indian security forces.

India and Pakistan initiated a peace dialogue in January 2004 to settle the decades-old Kashmir dispute. The process has been put on hold by India after a series of train blasts which killed more than 200 people in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital, in July this year.

On the Net:

http://www.hrw.org/



-------- POLITICS


-------- us politics

Limits to surveillance bill blocked

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 13, 1006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060913/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism_7

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans blocked Democratic attempts to rein in President Bush's domestic wiretapping program Wednesday, endorsing a White House-supported bill that would give the controversial surveillance legal status.

Under pressure from the Bush administration for quick action, the full Senate could take up the measure next week.

Progress on a companion bill in the House was not as tidy, in part because GOP leaders and Bush are intensely negotiating restrictions it proposes on the surveillance program. Even as the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Chairman Arlen Specter's bill to the Senate floor on a party line vote, the same panel in the House abruptly canceled its scheduled markup.

The developments come amid a sustained White House campaign to persuade Congress to give the administration broad authority to monitor, interrogate and prosecute terrorism suspects. The administration is up against an election season in which Republicans are struggling to keep its majority with approval from a war-weary electorate.

Specter, R-Pa., has acknowledged that GOP lawmakers fighting for re-election may not embrace a measure bearing Bush's stamp of approval.

While refusing to give the president a blank check to prosecute the war on terrorism, Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee kept to the White House's condition that a bill giving legal status to the surveillance program pass unamended. That's not a sure thing on the Senate floor, where several amendments await the measure.

The panel also approved other measures relating to the program, some of which contradict Specter's bill — meaning the possibility of even more debate on the Senate floor.

But Specter's bill survived the committee vote unchanged. Republicans defeated several Democratic amendments, including measures to insert a one-year expiration date into the bill and require the National Security Agency to report more often to Congress on the standards for its domestic surveillance program.

"We just don't want to see Americans' rights abused for the next 50 or 60 years because of an oversight on our part," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., who joined some Republicans in opposing some amendments offered by her Democratic colleagues.

But Republicans countered that the bill represented the best deal on the matter and should not be amended.

The deal is part of the White House's election-season campaign to preserve its ability to fight the war on terror despite congressional concerns about civil liberties.

A parade of White House officials seeking support for legal tools against terrorists was to culminate Thursday with an appearance by Bush himself before House Republicans anxious to maintain their majority in the November elections.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations were intense Wednesday. As the Senate bill moved toward committee approval, the House Judiciary Committee abruptly canceled its markup that had been scheduled to happen simultaneously. The reason for the cancellation wasn't immediately clear.

Sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., and endorsed by House GOP leaders, that measure would require the president to wait until an attack has occurred to initiate wiretapping without warrants, a provision administration officials say would hamper the White House's ability to prevent attacks.

Specter's bill would submit the warrantless wiretapping program to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court for a one-time constitutional review and extend from the current three days to seven days the time allowed for emergency surveillance before a warrant application is submitted and approved by that court.

Vice President Dick Cheney and other top aides encountered stiff resistance from senators and House leaders this week during visits to Capitol Hill. The standoffs raised questions about whether the president could unite Republicans on his anti-terror agenda before November's midterm elections.

Associated Press Writer Anne Plummer Flaherty contributed to this report.



-------- ENERGY 


-------- alternative energy

What It Takes to Drive on Vegetable Power

September 13, 2006 — By Michael Hill, Associated Press

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11249

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. — Joe and Barbara Floeser were cruising for free fuel behind a strip mall when they spotted the Chinese takeout place and stopped the car.

"Do you have any oil you're throwing out?" Joe asked through the back door.

"I'd like your oil ... Our car runs on it."

The suburban couple's 2001 Jetta diesel has been retro-fitted to run on vegetable oil -- even stuff already used to fry egg rolls or chicken wings.

As gas prices and anxiety about global warming rise, more people like the Floesers are bypassing the corner gas pump to run their cars on vegetable power. Kits are now available to create cars like the Floesers' Jetta -- nicknamed "Greased Lightning" -- and biodiesel pumps are popping up in more places.

Either way, a diesel vehicle is a requirement. It also helps to have a sense of initiative -- the sort that can take you to the service door of a Chinese restaurant looking for a fill-up.

"We're just regular people," Barbara said. "We're not scientists, we're not environmentalists ..."

"There's a long list of what we're not," Joe said.

"But we can do this," Barbara said.

Waste oil from food joints is just one option for today's vegetable-powered driver. Coming on strong is biodiesel, a processed vegetable fuel often sold blended with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is attractive to drivers who don't want to modify their diesel cars. The Floesers' Jetta retrofit cost $795 for the kit plus $600 for installation, but fuel is free for the asking.

Advocates of different systems argue about which is best, but they tend to be alike at heart. They generally are environmentally minded like Barbara Floeser, who felt bad about driving solo in her minivan when the kids were at school, and worse when fill-ups started costing $70. They also, at some level, seem to enjoy sticking it to Big Oil.

"Say goodbye to ExxonMobil & Co., you don't need them anymore," reads the pro-biodiesel Journey to Forever Web site.

Drivers considering any mechanical changes to their cars or putting alternative fuels in their tank should first check if they're voiding warranties.

Biodiesel is simple in some respects: Just put it in your diesel tank and go. First, though, you have to find a source.

The National Biodiesel Board estimates there are more than 800 retail pumps nationwide selling everything from straight biodiesel (called B100) to mixes with petroleum diesel, which are named for the percentage of biodiesel in the blend (e.g., a 20 percent mix is called B20). Biodiesel cooperatives have sprouted up around the nation.

"I hated going to the gas station," said Sienna Wildwood of Berkeley, Calif., who gets her fuel from the worker-owned BioFuel Oasis in her town. "I hope I never have to go again."

Biodiesel prices vary, however, and drivers can end up paying more than if they pumped petroleum diesel.

One way to save money is to make your own biodiesel, either through a cooperative or on your own. It's simple enough to do in your garage -- one Web site claims it's "easier than making beer" -- but typically used substances like lye and methanol make it potentially hazardous.

Some people avoid the fuss and cost by simply blending vegetable oil with petroleum diesel; that is not the same as biodiesel and is not recommended. The Engine Manufacturers Association, a trade group, warns that using gooey vegetable oil in blends can have "significant adverse effects" on diesel engines.

The commercial "Greasecar" system installed in the Floesers' car is designed to get around those problems by using two fuel tanks.

Greasecars run on petroleum diesel for the first five minutes or so until the vegetable oil heats up. Drivers purge vegetable oil from the system in the last five minutes of their trip and switch back to petroleum. Joe Floeser demonstrated on a recent fuel-hunting trip, waiting for the engine temperature to climb before switching the fuel line from petroleum and punching the accelerator. The Jetta zoomed ahead on yesterday's fry grease.

"As you can see," he says, "no loss of power being on vegetable."

The Floesers' fuel supply seems safe as long as Americans keep eating vast amounts of fried food. They make regular circuits around chicken wing joints, diners and Indian restaurants, securing used vegetable oil in plastic five-gallon containers. Restaurant workers are happy to give away their garbage. At the Chinese restaurant, workers had trouble understanding the Floesers across the language barrier, but after some gesturing poured out enough oil to fill two five-gallon containers -- enough to drive about 400 miles.

The Floesers must filter the syrupy brown oil before it goes in their car. It can be done with a simple paper cone, though they recently built an electric filter pump.

Joe Suchecki of the Engine Manufacturers Association warned that long-term effects of vegetable oil systems are unknown. Greasecar founder and president Justin Carven said some Greasecars have run more than 200,000 miles after conversion.

Greasecar reports selling between 100 and 400 kits a month, compared to 20 to 60 a month before Hurricane Katrina.

Meanwhile, biodiesel continues its growth spurt in the United States, with consumption tripling to 75 million gallons last year, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

With busted pipelines in Alaska and turmoil in the Middle East, expect more cars to pump out exhaust with the faint whiff of fried food. 

----

BMW to Roll out Hydrogen-Powered 7 Series in April

REUTERS GERMANY: September 13, 2006

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38078/newsDate/13-Sep-2006/story.htm

MUNICH - BMW will roll out the world's first hydrogen-burning car in serial production early next year, the German premium automaker said on Tuesday, eager to put its stamp on cars with green credentials.

The specially equipped 7-Series executive cars emit only water vapour when running on hydrogen.

The car hits the market next April and will be shown at the Los Angeles car show in November, the company said. It had said in March the hydrogen cars would arrive within two years.

A spokesman said the car would be leased to selected customers rather than sold because of its high price. Leasing rates would be similar to those for a top-end BMW 760LI with a full-service package.

The BMW 7 Series Hydrogen 7 Saloon is powered by a 260 hp twelve-cylinder engine and accelerates from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.5 seconds. Top speed is limited electronically to 230 km/h.

BMW has said it intends to build a few hundred such cars at first. They will be able to switch between burning standard petrol and hydrogen so that drivers will not be left stranded while the infrastructure to deliver hydrogen is built up.

"The integration of hydrogen drive in an existing vehicle concept which has already proven its merits in the market paves the way for an alternative to conventional drive concepts fully accepted in the market and with all the assets the customer is looking for in practice," BMW said.

The space that two fuel tanks take up means only the 7-Series will offer the hydrogen package at first. BMW's long-term goal is to offer hydrogen motors in all its cars.

BMW unveiled the world's fastest hydrogen-powered car at the 2004 Paris auto show. Dubbed the H2R, it can exceed 300 kilometres (185 miles) per hour and reaches 100 km per hour from a standing start in around six seconds.

While BMW is developing fuel-cell driven cars as well, it says it is concentrating on the combustion engine because the sum total of its features and characteristics offers the largest number of advantages and benefits all in one.

----

Shell Appeals Over Largest Offshore Wind Farm

REUTERS UK: September 13, 2006

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38079/newsDate/13-Sep-2006/story.htm

LONDON - Royal Dutch Shell and its partners in a project near London to build the world's biggest offshore wind farm have appealed against a local government's refusal of planning permission, the companies said.

Swale Borough Council in June rejected an application to build a substation needed to feed power from the London Array wind farm onto the UK's power grid.

"Swale councillors raised concerns when they considered our substation plans in June," the consortium said in a statement on Tuesday. "We now hope that the enhancements we've made to our proposals result in a solution that is acceptable to everyone."

London Array would cost about 1.5 billion pounds (US$2.81 billion), a source close to the project said.

Shell's partners in the project are the UK arm of German utility E.ON and anglo-Danish wind power developer Core Ltd.

London Array would have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, enough to supply the power needs of 750,000 homes.



-------- OTHER

Turning Farm Waste into Clothing Material

SAN FRANCISCO, California, September 13, 2006 (ENS)

http://ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2006/2006-09-13-09.asp#anchor8

Researchers are exploring ways to turn agricultural waste, such as chicken feathers and rice straw, into conventional-looking fabrics.

The feather-based fabric will resemble wool, while the rice straw fabric will look and feel more like linen or cotton, according to the researchers at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

The studies were presented this week at the 232nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Both fabrics are still in early development and may not reach the consumer market for several years, the researchers say.

"We hope that the research reported here will stimulate interest in using agricultural byproducts as textile fibers, which would add value to agricultural crops and also make the fiber industry more sustainable," said Yiqi Yang, a professor of textile science at the university.

With millions of tons of chicken feathers and rice straw available worldwide each year, these agricultural wastes represent an abundant, cheap and renewable alternative to petroleum-based synthetic fibers, Yang said. And unlike petroleum-based fibers, these agro-fibers are biodegradable. The development could be a boon to the nation's rice and chicken farmers, Yang says.

Rice fabrics are the most developed of the two fabric concepts to date, Yang said. Rice straw consists of the stems of the rice plant that are left over after rice grains are harvested. Like cotton and linen, rice straw is composed mostly of cellulose.

The properties of the fibers indicate that the fibers developed from the straw are capable of being spun into fabrics using common textile machinery.

Chicken feathers are composed mostly of keratin, the same type of protein that is found in wool. The researchers are particularly interested in the barbs and barbules, the thin, filamentous network that forms the fluffy parts of the feather. These structures have properties offer the potential for developing fabrics that have lighter weight, better shock absorption and superior insulation.

The new materials could also become "green" fabrics used in carpets, automobiles, building materials and a host of other everyday applications, the researchers said.




-------- environment

China's Water Woes Could Make it World Tech Leader

Story by Emma Graham-Harrison
REUTERS CHINA: September 13, 2006

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/38068/newsDate/13-Sep-2006/story.htm

BEIJING - China's bid to tackle widespread pollution and a shortage of water treatment facilities could make it a leader in waste management, experts said on Tuesday.

But its rivers and lakes may need years to recover from chronic misuse, they said.

More than two-fifths of cities, and tens of millions of rural dwellers pump used water directly into rivers, which risks damaging the heath of downstream users and the ecosystems of lakes where the water ends up.

Beijing plans to spend more than 330 billion yuan (US$41.5 billion) by 2010 to provide sewage treatment plants to all cities. If it invests in next-generation plants that effectively reprocess water, it could tackle waste and water scarcity while boosting its own economy.

"China, if it is going to remedy pollution, has to put in wastewater treatment. But that process constitutes an opportunity, because it can leapfrog to the latest technology," Paul Reiter, Executive Director of the International Water Association, told Reuters at a conference his group organised.

"It would be good for the environment, but its companies could also manufacture and market these systems."

Instead of shipping waste water away from city centres to treat it before discharge into a river, the smaller modern plants clean the water for just one neighbourhood to a quality where it can be recycled back into an urban supply system.

Reiter said the new plants, some no larger than an office building, are already economically competitive with old-fashioned treatment systems. Chinese firms are already manufacturing some components, mostly for export.

Such systems will face challenges in a country where many treatment plants are not connected to sewage systems and where it is common for local governments to ignore new technologies because they are too costly or too complicated to use.

FUTURISTIC SOLUTIONS

China has around one fifth of the world's population but only seven percent of its water supply.

The country is investing billions in a project to transfer water from the river systems of the south to the arid north, but the scarcity of its resources means that ultimately China will have to focus on more efficient management.

Among the new systems being tested is one that would power treatment systems with the very waste they are filtering, by using bacteria to create biofuel cells.

"We have already got cells which can power lightbulbs and we believe that in five to 10 years we could be in commercial production," said David Garman, President-elect of IWA.

But at present, the lack of working treatment systems is storing up problems that could take decades to correct.

The impact of wastewater run-off, including nutrient rich sewage, is compounded by careless and excessive application of fertilisers.

More than half of Chinese lakes are suffering from eutrophication, said IWA president Laszlo Somlyody, meaning their waters are so nutrient rich that they feed excess growth of algae, which can choke out other aquatic life.

Even when nutrient flows are cut back, the nitrogen and phosphorus that settles to the bottom of the lake at times of heavy pollution may keep on nourishing algae for years. Scientists have noted cases in which it has taken 15 years for lakes to begin to recover.

"This is the inertia of the ecosystem, the memory of the pollution," Somlyody said.

(Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck)



-------- imf / world bank / wto (economics)

IMF revamp focus of Singapore talks
At issue is how to distribute the 184-member IMF's voting power

Wednesday 13 September 2006, 12:48 Makka Time, 9:48 GMT  

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/18BFB9B0-38BB-4D25-9628-A975722DB87E.htm

A politically contentious plan to revamp the 61-year-old International Monetary Fund and give more say to the rising economic powers, will be hotly debated when world financial leaders gather in Singapore this week and next.

The meetings are one of the rare times when finance chiefs from both rich and poor countries can discuss the state of the world economy.

The IMF says economic risks have risen, given increased inflationary pressures, high oil prices and a slowing US economy.

The talks are being held under tight security in the tropical city-state, a staunch US ally and a major base for many Western businesses that sees itself as a prime terrorism target.

At issue is how to distribute the voting power of the IMF's 184-member countries to recognise a shifting order in which emerging economies are more influential. China now has the world's fourth-largest economy.

The changes would help boost the IMF's legitimacy in developing countries' eyes after it was criticised for its handling of the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis.

Member countries will vote in Singapore to overhaul the fund's arcane voting structures, starting with a one-off rise in the voting power of China, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey.

Voting rights

A second, more controversial phase, will seek further adjustments of voting rights based on a new formula and increases in so-called basic votes to benefit poor countries.

But large emerging economies such as Brazil, Argentina and India have objected, unconvinced that the reforms go far enough.

The European Union has backed the plan, but demanded that it be treated equally in any radical revamp, while the US has said it wants to maintain its dominant voting power.

Finance chiefs will also pore over proposals to increase the IMF's watchdog role over a more integrated global economy, where the potential is now even greater for financial crises to spill across borders.

One of the biggest - and thorniest - issues will be how to boost the IMF's surveillance of exchange rate policies of emerging economies such as China. The US wants China to increase the flexibility of its currency as China has built up a massive trade surplus.

With the IMF forecasting a slowdown in the US economy and warning it could cool more rapidly if the country's housing market slumps, pressure on China to loosen its hold on the yuan currency is likely to loom large at the Singapore meetings.

Widening imbalances

Adding to tensions is a widening global economic imbalance, which the IMF has warned could unwind quickly and chaotically and could lead to a slide in the US dollar if not addressed through coordinated policies.

The IMF has offered to broker a solution to the imbalance problem in talks with the US, Japan, China, the euro area and Saudi Arabia.

Re-balancing the global economy took on more urgency this week as the US trade deficit widened to a new record in July and policy makers said faltering global trade talks will increase protectionism.

Rodrigo Rato, IMF managing director, has said that the IMF will forecast growth in 2006 of around five per cent in its World Economic Outlook expected to be released at 0200 GMT on Thursday.

Nearly 23,700 delegates are estimated to descend on Singapore, a financial and shipping centre.

Singapore is banking on the meetings to draw attention to its development and Asia's growth, which the IMF says has been "nothing short of dazzling".



-------- ACTIVISTS

To put an end to terrorism by the Nuclear States, including France,
COME TO THE GRAND RALLY AT BISCAROSSE (south of Bordeaux)
on 22-24 SEPTEMBER

Publication date : 13 September 2006 ACDN

http://acdn.france.free.fr/spip/article.php3?id_article=228&lang=en

In the context of their national campaign for nuclear disarmament and a halt to the M51 missile programme, a dozen French NGOs belonging to the international "Aboliton 2000" network, joined by other NGOs and political parties, are organising a grand rally on 22-24 September at Biscarosse, near the CEL (the Landes Testing Centre) where the M51 is soon to be tested. This festive, informative and civic gathering will hear several concerts, notably with Johnny Clegg, Mouss & Akim (of Zebda), les Motivés, Hightones, La Phaz, La Ruda, Marcel and his orchestra, Enhancer, Desert Rebel, Bombes 2 bal, Tagada Jones, the Jolie Môme Company, etc. Plans have been made for street theatre, NGO displays, discussion forums, and camping sites.

This event is placed under the banner of nonviolence, and the marshals in charge of security will have received the appropriate training. All the actions under the responsibility of the organising NGOs will maintain strict obedience to legality. The "citizens’ inspection" of the site will be made by a delegation of elected representatives, NGO officials and citizens planned in advance by the collective; a letter has been sent to the CEL’s director asking him to receive the delegation.

Now that the organisers have agreed unanimously on this symbolic form of citizens’ monitoring, ACDN is calling on its members, its sympathisers, and all French citizens to

-  join in this gathering, and particularly in the peaceful demonstration which will march from Biscarosse-Plage towards the CEL on Saturday 23 September at 2pm;

-  not to enter without authorisation any part the military terrain of the CEL, and foil any provocation that might lead to violence and repression;

-  to question, by the recognised means of the French constitution and statutes, France’s nuclear policies, which are - simultaneously - militarily absurd, financially ruinous, morally indefensible and contrary to humanitarian and international law.

These nuclear policies are written into the LPM (Military Progammation Law), which was unfortunately passed by MPs apparently unaware of international law as defined by article VI of the NPT (which France ratified) and the advisory opinion given on 8 July 1996 by the International Court of Justice. Citizens have a duty to demand that the LPM, of which the M51 missiles form but one element, should be brought into conformity with international law. The Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1789, still valid, recognises that citizens have a fundamental right to "resist oppression" (Article 2). Before envisaging other forms of civilian resistance to nuclear dictatorship such as, for example, refusing to pay the share of our taxes that goes to develop the "strike force", we can still use two other means: one is judicial - a decision of international justice; the other is political and parliamentary - a new military law suspending any new nuclear arms programme.

The elections of 2007 can be a time for changing military policies. ACDN calls on all citizens, who are also voters, to seize the chance and to put the key question to current MPs and to future candidates for presidential and parliamentary office - it is this question:

« Do you want France to ask all nuclear states, whether or not they signed the NPT, to negotiate, adopt and implement by 2010 at the latest a timeline for the elimination of their nuclear arsenals under strict and effective international control, and to suspend until the end of 2010 her programmes for new nuclear weapons, transferring that budget instead to the meeting of needs in the social, health, cultural, educational, environmental and humanitarian areas?"

Candidates should be asked to commit to making this a referendum question during the year following their election.

The French Republic is based on "government of the people, by the people and for the people". The people must therefore choose how their security is guaranteed and how they are to live in peace. It is possible to show that nuclear weapons, on the contrary, contribute to the world’s disorder and prepare for its destruction. The only sensible way forward, the one chosen by the UN and by international law, is the methodical and controlled abolition of all weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons.

Further informations: http://www.acdn.net et http://www.nonaumissilem51.org/

For group travel from the Poitou-Charentes region (buses, car-pooling): phone 06 73 50 76 61

----

Urgent! Camp Democracy Will Pay Bus/Minivan Expenses to DC 

From: Carol Moore in DC <endviolence@carolmoore.net>
Date: Wed Sep 13, 2006 11:01 am

David Swanson of Camp Democracy confirms he will pay
for buses or even minivans, including gas, if you want to
organize a group to come to DC for a couple days until
September 21st. This weekend should be great! See
weekend schedule below. Full schedule at
http://campdemocracy.org/schedule
See photos at http://stopthewarnow.net/campdemocracy/

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: we pay for your bus
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:42:28 -0400
From: David Swanson <david@davidswanson.org>

Any group or groups that want to send a bus, large or small, full of
people to Camp Democracy - such as for the weekend of the 16th and 17th
- Camp Democracy will pay for your bus.

Please help us by reaching out to groups who can organize buses. Do you
know any good activists locally in peace or justice groups? Do you know
any college students who would like a free weekend in DC? Please get
them in touch with us.

Please spread the word.

David Swanson
202-329-7847
david@davidswanson.org
http://www.campdemocracy.org Organizer
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Be At Camp Democracy This Weekend

Camp Democracy has exciting events happening on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C., right now and up through September 21st. Here are
highlights for the upcoming weekend:

Friday Night

Movie -- pre-premier showing of the new movie finished just this week by
award wining producer Dorothy Fadiman, “Stealing America, Vote by Vote”
Introduced by panelists Rob Fitrakis and Jonathan Simon. Make this your
Friday night movie date….under the stars at Camp Democracy.

Plus: Ice cream social provided by Busboys and Poets.

Saturday PEACE DAY

The Case for a Reinvestigation of 9/11 – Kyle Hence and a 9/11 family
member.

Joe Jencks, Singer/Song-writer

Allison Hantschel (Athenae of First Draft), author of "Special Plans:
The Blogs on Douglas Feith & the Faulty Intelligence that Led to War"

Gael Murphy - Code Pink - Report on visit by U.S. peace workers’
delegation to meet with Iraqis in Jordan.

Kevin Zeese - How to Prevent More Violence in the Middle East

Raed Jarrar- Iraqi political analyst and blogger and member of Jordan
peace delegation.

Nick Mottern, Director, Consumers for Peace - ExxonMobil and the Middle
East War

Aseel Albana – A resident of Baghdad now living in the U.S. and a member
of the Jordan peace delegation.

Workshop provided by Center on Conscience and War's J.E. McNeil, Pat
Elder and Oskar Castro, Director of Youth and Militarism Program,
Ameircan Friends Service Committee: "Working for the De-Militarization
of Our Nation: Counter-recruitment, JROTC, and the Poverty Draft."

Nonviolence Training with Nadine Bloch, Gordon Clark

PLUS:

The Nuclear Relapse: Public Education and Organizing. Presented by Paul
Gunter, Director – Reactor Watchdog Project of the Nuclear Information
and Research Service

The Case for a Department of Peace, presented by the Virginia Department
of Peace Campaign

Uranium Weapons: What You Can Do. Presented by Sunny Miller – Stop DU
(Depleted Uranium) Activist

Sunday IMPEACHMENT DAY

9 – 10 a.m. David Green: Evidence of Impeachable Offenses

10 a.m. – noon Panel discussion with: John Nichols, author of "The
Genius of Impeachment"; Marcus Raskin, member of the special staff of
the National Security Council in President Kennedy’s Administration, and
author of "Liberalism," and co-editor of "In Democracy's Shadow";
Elizabeth de la Vega, former federal prosecutor; Dave Lindorff, authors
of "The Case for Impeachment"; Moderated by David Swanson, cofounder of
AfterDowningStreet.org.

Noon – 2 p.m. Songwriting for Peace: MUSIC
Dream Kitchen http://www.myspace.com/thedreamkitchen

Spook Handy http://spookhandy.com

Sue Jeffers http://www.fbirecords.com

2 – 3 p.m. Coalition for Justice and Accountability

3 – 5 p.m. Panel discussion with: Elizabeth Holtzman, former
congresswoman and co-author of "The Impeachment of George W. Bush"; Ray
McGovern, former CIA analyst; Jennifer Van Bergen, author and professor;
Geoff King, President of Constitution Summer; Michael Avery, president
of the National Lawyers Guild; Moderated by David Waldman, who blogs as
Kagro X;

5 – 7 p.m. Impeachment strategy meetings organized by home state /
region, led by and with opening workshop by Dan DeWalt, Steve Cobble,
Anthony St. Martin.

7 – 8 p.m. Screening of film "Articles of Impeachment."

PLUS:

Cindy Bogard: How to Frame Peace

Hip Hop Caucus Helping the Homeless "Stop the War, House the Poor" A
panel on the homeless situation in DC: while our president sleeps in his
bed at 1600 Pennyslvania Ave, over 12,000 people are homeless in DC.

Nonviolence Training with Mubarak Awad, Susan Crane

Hands-on Workshop on How to Get Ink in Local Media with Dave Lindorff

DC Anti-War Network: How to Organize Actions.

Freeway blogging with David Waldman and Frank Anderson.

Monday and Tuesday

Stick around if you can. On Monday we will have lobbying training and on
Tuesday lobbying for Rep. Jim McGovern's bill to cut off funding for the
war. For all the other exciting activities on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday, see
http://www.campdemocracy.org/schedule

Camp Democracy is a 17-day event focused not only on ending the war but
also on righting injustices here at home and on holding accountable the
Bush Administration and Congress.

For more information see: http://www.campdemocracy.org

Cindy Sheehan Urges You to Come:
http://campdemocracy.org/node/339

----

Retired generals criticize White House

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2006 (UPI)

http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060913-052947-9095r

Twenty-seven retired U.S. military leaders are pressing the Senate to reject the White House's attempt to relax interrogation standards for the CIA.

The same group was instrumental in helping to convince Congress last year to pass Sen. John McCain's Detainee Treatment Act, which prohibited torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment for all U.S. detainees.

The Supreme Court earlier this year affirmed that even al-Qaida terrorist prisoners are covered by the most basic Geneva Convention protections outlined in what is known as "Common Article 3."

That treaty prohibits violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; taking of hostages; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; and the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court.

It also requires prisoners to have all judicial guarantees universally recognized as indispensable.

The U.S. military affirmed last week that it considers the Geneva Convention its guide in the treatment of all prisoners, but U.S. President George W. Bush has proposed legislation that would downgrade the standards of Common Article 3 to a less stringent test.

"If any agency of the U.S. government is excused from compliance with these standards, or if we seek to redefine what Common Article 3 requires, we should not imagine that our enemies will take notice of the technical distinctions when they hold U.S. prisoners captive. If degradation, humiliation, physical or mental brutalization of prisoners is decriminalized or considered permissible under a restrictive interpretation of Common Article 3 we will forfeit all credible objections should such barbaric practices be inflicted upon American prisoners," states the group's Sept. 12 letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee leadership.

Among the letter's signatories is Marine Gen. Joseph Hoar (ret.), the commander of U.S. Central Command, and former CIA Director Adm. Stansfield Turner.