NucNews November 30, 2006 -------- NUCLEAR -------- africa Security of Congo's Uranium Worrying - Diplomats Story by Louis Charbonneau REUTERS GERMANY: November 30, 2006 http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39231/story.htm BERLIN - Countries suspected of seeking nuclear arms may have exploited lax security in the Democratic Republic of Congo to get their hands on uranium from the giant central African state, diplomatic and intelligence sources say. During World War Two when it was still a Belgian colony, Congo provided high-quality uranium for the Manhattan Project, the secret US programme that produced the two atomic weapons dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Congo's Supreme Court this week confirmed the election of Joseph Kabila as the giant central African state's first elected leader in 40 years, capping a peace process ending a 1998-2003 war which devastated the country and killed 4 million people. The newly elected president has many challenges ahead of him and diplomats say one of them is making sure the Shinkolobwe mines in the unstable Katanga province are securely safeguarded. "For quite some time there have been suspicions that Iran has been trying to exploit the chaos in Congo and purchase uranium via middlemen. There is no hard proof but there are indications there may be something to the suspicion," a European diplomat told Reuters, citing his country's intelligence. Several other Western security sources echoed this view. Tehran says its nuclear programme is aimed solely at producing electricity and has denied getting uranium from Congo. Raw uranium from Congo would have to be processed and enriched to a very high level of purity in order to be usable in weapons. Iran has its own limited uranium deposits but has made little progress in exploiting them, diplomats said. IAEA PLANS MISSION TO CONGO One Western diplomat said the United Nations' Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was planning to send a routine mission to Congo next year to look at the mine and assess the credibility of the allegations that uranium might have left Congo for places like Iran. "Let's suppose Iran was running a parallel (secret) uranium enrichment programme. Where would they get the resources? Congo would be an obvious choice," said one Western diplomat. "This is why the IAEA is interested," he added. Congo allows the IAEA to conduct intrusive, short-notice inspections, several Vienna diplomats said. "Congo is also in the sights of the UN Security Council, which follows and reports events there regularly," one said. But German officials familiar with the security situation on the ground in Congo, where Germany has been leading a 4-month-old European military mission to ensure the elections were peaceful, confirmed conditions remained chaotic. Safety conditions at the mine reflect the poor security at the site, diplomats said. When Congo was granted independence in 1960, Belgium sealed the Shinkolobwe mine by filling its shafts with concrete. At the time the mine was shut, Congo supplied 60 percent of the world's uranium, according to the security website Globalsecurity.org. Despite this, diplomats say hordes of poor free-lance miners continue to dig at Shinkolobwe with pickaxes and shovels, though most appear to be hunting for cobalt and copper, not uranium. The conditions there are so bad that in July 2004 a mine at Shinkolobwe collapsed and killed eight people. A subsequent UN report described conditions there as "anarchistic ... (with) no respect for mining safety regulations." (Additional reporting by Mark Heinrich in Vienna, David Lewis in Kinshasa and Parisa Hafezi in Tehran) ---- Ammunitions plant fire raises concerns By: Arnold Wyrick Nov 30, 2006 Heartland News http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=5747011 WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Il. --Firefighters from Herrin, Marion, and Lake of Egypt responded to a fire emergency at the General Dynamics plant in Williamson County around 12:30am Wednesday morning. But when they arrived at the factory, they were denied access to the buildings. So they sat outside the main gate until they got an all clear signal from company officials. According to a statement released by a company spokesperson, "We thank the Herrin, Marion, and Lake of Egypt Fire Departments for their prompt response and appreciate that their fire fighting expertise was available but not employed." In fact no one is allowed on the General Dynamics facilities nestled into the woods on Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, without permission from the company. And now some folks living near the plant worry about what they believe is being produced behind the closed doors, and 10-foot high barbed wire fences. "I think people ought to be concerned. I think they're manufacturing depleted uranium down there. People ought to be more concerned about it for their health," says Jessie Goins of Energy, Illinois. But in a news release from General Dynamics dated January 2001, the main battle tanks ammunition sent overseas didn't contain any of the chemical. The company does admit that the U.S. Army uses depleted uranium in it's armor, but never exported it in it's main battle tanks. Still some folks in Southern Illinois aren't resting easy knowing that explosives are being made near their neighborhoods. "I think we should be concerned about those things that are destructive, and could have consequences for us. I mean anything could happen when you're making weapons," says Kenny Shelton of Herrin, Illinois. No one with the company will talk about what is exactly being produced in their plain looking white warehouses, shrouded in the heavily wooded areas surrounding Crab Orchard Lake. But outside General Dynamics people are talking about the products being manufactured, and their own safety. "I'm totally against violence. I'd just soon see the War in Iraq stopped, and everybody be at peace. I think it would be a better world for our kids," says Amy Mitchell of Herrin, Illinois. General Dynamics employs more than 80,000 people worldwide. And the company reported $21-billion in sales for 2005. -------- britain Radioactive traces found at a dozen British sites Associated Press 30/11/06 http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-0-0&fp=456e736a40f2aafd&ei=I-VuRZ-kGM-SafLo0O0M&url=http%3A//www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061130.wspy1130/BNStory/International/home&cid=1111251378 London — Traces of radiation have been found at a dozen sites in Britain during the investigation of the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Home Secretary John Reid said Thursday. Mr. Reid also told Parliament that a fourth jetliner is being investigated for possible radiation contamination. On Wednesday, British Airways said two of its Boeing 767s at London's Heathrow Airport tested positive and a third was grounded in Moscow awaiting examination. The fourth aircraft, a Boeing 737 operated by the Russian airline Transaero, arrived at Heathrow airport Thursday morning, Mr. Reid said, but he gave no further details. A Transaero airline official later said no toxic substance was found on any company planes being investigated in the poisoned spy investigation. The search for contaminated sites has intensified since the Nov. 23 death in a London hospital of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a Kremlin critic who was found to have polonium-210 in his body. Mr. Reid said 1,700 calls had been made to the National Health Service, and 69 people were referred to the Health Protection Agency. Of those, 18 who may have been exposed to polonium-210 have been referred to specialist clinics, but all urine tests so far have been negative, he said. The Health Protection Agency expected to clear one of the three British Airways aircraft that operate the London-Moscow route — which were identified Wednesday night as having possible radioactive contamination, Mr. Reid said. Tests continue on the other two, he said. Mr. Reid said “around 24 venues” have been or are being monitored and that experts had confirmed traces of contamination at “around 12 of these venues.” British Airways said “the risk to public health is low” but that it was attempting to contact to some 33,000 passengers who have flown on the jets since Oct. 25. ---- Former Soviet spy's autopsy poised to begin 30 November 2006 New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10694-former-soviet-spys-autopsy-poised-to-begin.html Radioactive traces have now been found on two British Airways passenger planes currently grounded at London’s Heathrow Airport, the UK Home Office announced on Wednesday. Three other planes, also suspected of contamination, are now being examined, on Thursday. The web of intrigue surrounding the apparent assassination of former Soviet spy Alexander Litvinenko, on 23 November, appears larger and more complex than ever on Thursday, as the inquest into his death opens in London. UK authorities are currently tracing many thousands of people who may unwittingly be at risk, after coming into contact with the radioactive material suspected of poisoning Litvinenko. This now includes the 33,000 passengers and 3000 aircrew that flew on any of the 221 flights that the five planes made between 25 October and 29 November. The risk to these people, however, is thought to be very low. Adding to the international drama, former Russian prime minister Yegor Gaidar is currently in a Moscow hospital recovering from a suspected poisoning thought to be connected to the death of Litvinenko, Russian newspapers reported on Thursday. Gaidar's daughter Maria said he was in a "satisfactory" condition late on Wednesday but "there was a serious threat to his life" after he fell ill on 24 November in Ireland, where he had been attending a conference. The doctors will make their final diagnosis on Friday, but "a poison unknown to civilian medicine" is deemed the most likely cause of his illness, a hospital spokesman said. Radiation death Meanwhile, possibly the most delicate autopsy ever performed in London is due to take place on Friday, when radiation-suited pathologists gingerly prise apart the highly toxic body of Litvinenko. What they find might suggests where the radioactive element polonium-210 suspected of poisoning him came from. Litvinenko, aged 43, claimed to have been poisoned at a London sushi bar on 1 November, and died 23 days later, following symptoms of radiation sickness. Polonium-210 was found in his blood, and at several London locations including his home and the sushi bar (see Radioactive element found in blood of Russian ex-spy). “It looks like a typical 30-day radiation death,” says Dudley Goodhead, former director of the British Medical Research Council’s Radiation and Genome Stability Unit at Harwell in Oxfordshire. Relative doses A person dies of the highest doses of radiation immediately. If the dose was high enough to destroy the intestinal wall, death takes five days, Goodhead explains. At lower doses, enough to destroy the bone marrow, a particular syndrome sets in with death typically at around 30 days, with some variation. Both Litvinenko’s symptoms and time to death are consistent with that, he says. That means he probably received only microgram amounts of polonium, Goodhead suggests. But only half would have been cleared from his body before he died. “There will be plenty left for the autopsy team to worry about,” as the polonium would be distributed widely throughout the body. Since the radioactive element decays fast, with a half-life of only 138 days, the alpha particles it emits possess very high energy, making even tiny amounts toxic. As an unexplained death, by law Litvinenko must receive an autopsy. But just the small droplets released, for example, as the autopsy team opens his chest, could be dangerous. Space suits New Scientist understands, from sources close to the case, that the examiners will be wearing the “space suits” used to fully protect scientists from toxic exposure. But those high-energy alpha particles also make polonium easy to identify. The team should take samples from the liver, spleen, kidney, lung and other tissues, reduce them to ash, and test them with an alpha spectrometer, says Goodhead. That should reveal what dose of polonium Litvinenko received, and whether it was in particles or soluble. Combined with tests for beta and gamma emissions, the samples will also reveal what other radioactive elements are present, if any, and that could point to the polonium’s source. If it was diverted from the eight grams Russia sells to the US each year, for use in anti-static devices, the mix of elements should match (see Ex-spy's polonium poisoning suggests sophistication). If it was produced by bombarding bismuth with neutrons in a research reactor, some of the bismuth, and its daughter product, thallium, could remain. And if it was isolated from the rogue’s gallery of radiochemicals in nuclear reactor waste it could be accompanied by ruthenium, and even plutonium. Passengers concerned that they may be at risk from the radioactive material are advised to call the BA helpline, on 0845 6040171 from the UK, or on 0044 191 211 3690 for international calls. ---- Britain to publish plans next week on replacing nuclear deterrent LONDON (AFP) Nov 30, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/2006/061130122343.9gjlzzdj.html Plans on the future of Britian's nuclear deterrent missile system will be set out next week and a parliamentary vote will follow next year, Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman said Thursday. The government will formally publish its proposals about the ageing Trident weapons system on Monday. Members of the lower House of Commons will then vote on whether to replace it early in the new year, he told reporters. The proposals will be published after a cabinet meeting on Monday. Government members had already been briefed "in detail" by Defence Secretary Des Browne and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, he added. Blair's government is widely expected to give the green light to developing a replacement for the US-built missiles, which are carried on four Royal Navy Vanguard class submarines, one of which is always on patrol. Trident will become obsolete in the mid-2020s. A successor would require many years of development and according to observers could cost up to 25 billion pounds (37 billion euros, 46 billion dollars). Blair and his finance minister Gordon Brown have both indicated that they back the maintenance of an independent nuclear deterrent, despite the costs. But opposition to nuclear weapons and power is historically a central plank of Labour policy and Blair may have a fight on his hands to push through his proposals. Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain and International Development Secretary Hilary Benn are reportedly against Trident and about 120 backbench lawmakers from Blair's governing Labour Party have lobbied him to rethink. In the 1980s, Labour leaders like Neil Kinnock spoke at marches organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the issue figured prominently in the party's general election manifestos. Since Blair took over as leader in 1994 and took the left-wing party to the centre ground, however, that position has been reversed. Blair is also in favour of new nuclear power stations to help address Britain's future energy needs. ---- Clarke 'sceptical' about Trident The operational end of Trident's life is due to be 2024 Thursday, 30 November 2006 (BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6159035.stm Ex-Home Secretary Charles Clarke says he is currently "extremely sceptical" about the need to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system. Mr Clarke, the most senior Labour MP to speak out on the issue, said Trident had been designed for the Cold War era. Things had changed since then and the UK should focus on future threats rather than building weapons to "fight the last war", he said. A white paper outlining options for replacing Trident is due on Monday. Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown have both indicated they want to see the UK keeping its own nuclear weapons system. How Trident works Although there have been reports of some disagreements in Cabinet, ministers are to outline their favoured option - expected to be a replacement for the Trident system - in the white paper, expected next week. There will then follow a three-month consultation on the plans and a vote by MPs in the House of Commons. Ministers want a quick decision to ensure any replacement is ready when Trident's working life ends in 2024. Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I am extremely sceptical. Trident was an expensive weapons system developed in the Cold War to meet the conditions of the Cold War, which ended 17 years ago. "It is still capable of functioning for about another 15 years. I think we have to take our security decisions on the basis of what are likely to be the main security threats in the future, rather than building weapons to fight the last war." Deterrence The main security threats today involve terrorism, organised crime and people trafficking, said Mr Clarke. "These types of threats that we have to face today aren't in my opinion confronted by the Trident submarine-borne missile system," he said. Despite his scepticism he said he would wait to see the case put in the white paper for replacing Trident, before deciding whether to vote for or against. Supporters argue Trident is needed to deter any threat - particularly at a time when countries like North Korea and Iran harbour their own nuclear ambitions. The Conservatives also back retaining nuclear weapons, while the Liberal Democrats have called for a wider vote on the options. Britain has 16 Trident missiles based on each of the four nuclear submarines. MPs on the Commons defence committee, who are looking at the issue, are also considering a "middle way" of overhauling, rather than replacing, the submarine fleet carrying the US-made Trident missiles. Anti-nuclear campaigners say they fear the government has already decided to go ahead with replacing Trident. Critics say the cost of replacing Trident - estimated at up to £25bn - would be better spent elsewhere, particularly as nuclear weapons would be useless in the fight against international terrorism. TRIDENT MISSILE SYSTEM Trident Missile length: 44ft (13m) Weight: 130,000lb (58,500kg) Diameter: 74 inches (1.9m) Range: More than 4,600 miles (7,400km) Power plant: Three stage solid propellant rocket Cost: £16.8m ($29.1m) per missile Source: Federation of American Scientists -------- china U.S. overstates China nuclear clout, report says By Jim Wolf Thu Nov 30, 2006 (Reuters) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061130/pl_nm/china_usa_nuclear_dc WASHINGTON - The United States has been exaggerating China's nuclear clout in a process that could lock the two into a Cold War-style arms race, two arms-control advocacy groups said in a report Thursday. The Defense Department and U.S. intelligence agencies have portrayed Chinese weapons developments as more threatening than warranted, to justify building a new generation of weapons, according to the study by the Federation of American Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The report's main finding is that the Pentagon and others routinely highlight specific incidents out of context that inaccurately portray a looming Chinese threat," the groups said in a statement. Specifically, they said, the Defense Department and U.S. intelligence agencies had been "embellishing China's submarine and long-range missile capabilities." China, in turn, views U.S. arms upgrades as a reason for modernizing its arsenal, said the 250-page report, which is based on an analysis of declassified and unclassified U.S. government documents as well as commercial satellite images of Chinese installations. This could pitch the two into "a dangerous action-and-reaction competition reminiscent of the Cold War," the two groups said. But they said China was unlikely to build large nuclear forces of its own despite a desire to make its arsenal more powerful. "Military planners always need a rationale -- a real or potential danger -- for why they must have new weapons or new strategies and plans," said the study, "Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning." "With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which occupied that role for almost 50 years, the United States has turned its attention to China to help fill the vacuum," it said. The report faulted China for cloaking its nuclear forces in secrecy, amid what it portrayed as a U.S. government scare campaign bolstered by conservative media and think tanks. Beijing has concealed the scale, scope and purpose of its military modernization, it said, adding: "Inflated and worst-case descriptions of China's nuclear programs feed on the lack of information." The Pentagon and the office of the Director of National Intelligence had no immediate comment. The report said the U.S. arsenal of about 10,000 nuclear weapons dwarfed China's roughly 200 and would continue to do so. In a long-range planning document published in February, the Pentagon sounded an alarm at China's investments in "sophisticated land and sea-based (nuclear strike) systems." The threat puts a premium on developing U.S. forces "capable of sustained operations at great distances into denied areas," the Pentagon's planning review said. China is about to field three new long-range ballistic missiles that U.S. intelligence says were developed in response to Washington's deployment of more-accurate Trident II sea-launched ballistic missiles. China has about 20 ballistic missiles capable of reaching the continental United States; the United States has more than 830 missiles -- most with multiple warheads -- that can hit China, it added. "China is no Soviet Union," said Robert Norris, a Natural Resources Defense Council analyst and a report co-author. He said the Pentagon had been using China to justify buying new missiles, destroyers, submarines and fighter planes. Hans Kristensen, project director at the Federation of American Scientists and the report's lead author, told Reuters: "The hype has occurred, as far as we can see, in the assessments of the size of the Chinese nuclear arsenal, predicting and reporting when new systems will be deployed, and in 'cherry-picking' dramatic new developments taken out of context that overstate a threat." ---- China a major contributor to global nuclear-fusion reactor November 30, 2006 China Daily http://english.people.com.cn/200611/30/eng20061130_326779.html China is confident of making a big contribution to an international bid to meet future energy needs through nuclear power, a senior official said yesterday. Jin Xiaoming, director-general of the International Co-operation Bureau of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the country has succeeded in the trial operation of a miniature of a planned international reactor. The US$12.8 billion International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project involves nations representing half the world's population and aims to develop a viable fusion power reactor. Chinese scientists conducted a successful test with a device known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, or EAST, that is of a similar configuration to, but much smaller than, the ITER two weeks ago in Hefei of Anhui Province. An international committee will evaluate the device next month. "The building of the EAST shows that China has the capability to contribute more to the ITER," Jin told China Daily. The ITER project, whose members are China, the European Union, the United States, Russia, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea, seeks to turn seawater into fuel by mimicking the way the sun produces energy creating an alternative to polluting fossil fuels. Ministers from the seven sides signed the agreement to implement the project on November 21. Unlike existing fission reactors, which release energy by splitting atoms apart, ITER would generate energy by combining them. Power has been harnessed from fusion in laboratories but scientists have so far been unable to build a commercially-viable reactor. The 500MW ITER reactor will use deuterium, extracted from seawater, as its major fuel and a giant electromagnetic ring to fuse atomic nuclei at extremely high temperatures. "It is the largest and most expensive international science programme that China has ever joined," said Jin. "China has been welcomed into the project primarily because of its achievements in nuclear fusion research. "Joining the ITER is one of the key steps China has taken to be involved in international mega science programmes and projects and in international efforts to develop new energy sources and fight global warming," he added. China is a member of numerous global science programmes, such as the Human Genome Programme, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Programme and the Galileo Project. It is also considering whether to join FutureGen, a US-based project to build the world's first coal-fed, near-zero emission power plant. Before the ITER, the nation's most expensive foray was in the Europe-based Galileo satellite navigation project, to which it has committed 200 million euros. On the ITER, China will spend more than US$1 billion in total and about 1,000 scientists will be involved, according to Jin. Scientists and managers will be sent on a rotating basis to the ITER headquarters at Cadarache in France, said Jin. There are already six Chinese working there and more than 20 will soon join them. -------- depleted uranium Ammunitions plant fire raises concerns By: Arnold Wyrick Nov 30, 2006 KFVS http://www.kfvs12.com/Global/story.asp?S=5747011&nav=0RWl' WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Il. --Firefighters from Herrin, Marion, and Lake of Egypt responded to a fire emergency at the General Dynamics plant in Williamson County around 12:30am Wednesday morning. But when they arrived at the factory, they were denied access to the buildings. So they sat outside the main gate until they got an all clear signal from company officials. According to a statement released by a company spokesperson, "We thank the Herrin, Marion, and Lake of Egypt Fire Departments for their prompt response and appreciate that their fire fighting expertise was available but not employed." In fact no one is allowed on the General Dynamics facilities nestled into the woods on Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, without permission from the company. And now some folks living near the plant worry about what they believe is being produced behind the closed doors, and 10-foot high barbed wire fences. "I think people ought to be concerned. I think they're manufacturing depleted uranium down there. People ought to be more concerned about it for their health," says Jessie Goins of Energy, Illinois. But in a news release from General Dynamics dated January 2001, the main battle tanks ammunition sent overseas didn't contain any of the chemical. The company does admit that the U.S. Army uses depleted uranium in it's armor, but never exported it in it's main battle tanks. Still some folks in Southern Illinois aren't resting easy knowing that explosives are being made near their neighborhoods. "I think we should be concerned about those things that are destructive, and could have consequences for us. I mean anything could happen when you're making weapons," says Kenny Shelton of Herrin, Illinois. No one with the company will talk about what is exactly being produced in their plain looking white warehouses, shrouded in the heavily wooded areas surrounding Crab Orchard Lake. But outside General Dynamics people are talking about the products being manufactured, and their own safety. "I'm totally against violence. I'd just soon see the War in Iraq stopped, and everybody be at peace. I think it would be a better world for our kids," says Amy Mitchell of Herrin, Illinois. General Dynamics employs more than 80,000 people worldwide. And the company reported $21-billion in sales for 2005. ---- Meeting opened eyes to local uranium threat Karen Giles, Bedford, Pa. November 30, 2006 Cumberland MD Times News http://www.times-news.com/opinion/local_story_334095511.html To the Editor: I attended a local forum and was horrified to learn that weapons that use depleted uranium — waste from nuclear reactors — are being manufactured at ATK, just a few miles from Cumberland and not far from my home. According to Dr. Doug Rokke, PhD., former director of U.S. Army Depleted Uranium project, the adverse health and environmental effects from uranium weapons are not limited to combat zones but include the sites where uranium weapons are manufactured. Employees, and residents living near uranium manufacturing facilities, have reported health problems similar to those reported by soldiers exposed to depleted uranium in the Gulf Wars. Soldiers whose tests show they were exposed to depleted uranium complain of headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, joint pain and unusually frequent urination. Medical evidence exists to prove other adverse health effects such as cancer, neurological abnormalities, chronic kidney pain, rashes, vision loss, uranium in semen, sexual dysfunction, and birth defects in offspring. If there was an accident involving fire during the transportation of these materials, the health consequences would be horrendous. The dust from depleted uranium can travel great distances and contaminate, air, water, and soil. The UN Human Rights Commission determined in 1996 that depleted uranium is a weapon of mass destruction that should not be used, since it causes unnecessary suffering and keeps on acting after the battle is over. It seems logical to me that the best way to stop this madness is to stop the production of uranium weapons. ---- Fisk's Fraudulent Uranium Weapons Claim November 30, 2006 http://blog.camera.org/archives/2006/11/fisks_fraudulent_uranium_weapo_1.html Anti-Israel agitator-cum-journalist Robert Fisk has a habit of fabricating stories about Israeli atrocities. Recently, he speculates that Israel has developed and used a "secret new uranium-based weapon" in Lebanon this summer("Mystery of Israel's Secret Uranium Bomb," Oct. 28, 2006, Independent). Fisk cites alleged results of tests on soil samples collected from bomb craters in Lebanon. These tests were conducted by Chris Busby, the British Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk — a group of scientists who believe that internal radiation emitters, especially depleted uranium (DU), are the main cause of the world wide cancer "epidemic." Fisk's piece reads like science fiction — and apparently it was. Experts from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a statement on November 8, stating that they had found no evidence of penetrators or metal made of DU or other radioactive material. In addition, no DU shrapnel, or other radioactive residue was found. The analysis of all smear samples taken shows no DU, nor enriched Uranium nor higher than natural uranium content in the samples. ---- Digital Abrams: The M1A2 SEP Program (updated) Posted 30-Nov-2006 Defense Industry Daily http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2006/11/digital-abrams-the-m1a2-sep-program-updated/index.php America's M1 Abrams tanks come in a number of versions. In addition to the M1A1 that is now standard, the US Army is beginning to field its M1 TUSK for urban warfare. It also operates the M1A2 and M1A2 System Enhancement Program (SEP), currently the most advanced standard variant. The M1A2 SEP is builds on the digitized M1A2 platform with an improved armor package of third generation steel-encased depleted uranium armor, a new command and control system, second-generation FLIR thermal sights that include a Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) for "hunter-killer" operation, the Under Armor Auxiliary Power Unit (UAAPU) and a Thermal Management System (TMS - i.e. air conditioning for crew & electronics). The M1A2 SEP also features enhanced electronics like color maps and displays, improved networked communications, high-density computer memory and increased microprocessing speed, a user friendly Soldier Machine Interface (SMI) and an open operating system that will allow for future growth. This DID article covers the M1A2 Abrams SEP upgrade program, and will be updated and backfilled as new contracts are issued and key events take place. New materials will be noted in green. The most recent addition is a $305 million contract to RESET 312 M1A2 SEP tanks, and upgrade some of them to M1A1 SEPv2 status; it accompanies a recent contract to upgrade 180 tanks to M1A2 SEPv2 status. M1A2 SEP: Further Background and Key Events Note that the M1A2 SEP's advanced FLIR/thermal sights are part of the US Army's Horizontal Technology Integration (HTI) Second Generation Forward Looking Infrared (HTI SGF) sighting systems program. The M1A2 SEP is a formidable upgrade package, but it may be missing a small but crucial item. Troops in Iraq and elsewhere are also clamoring for a phoneset on the outside of the tank that will let them talk to the vehicle crew. This was common as far back as World War 2, and its lack is hampering coordination on the modern battlefield - especially in urban areas. A General Dynamics representative noted that future M1A2 Abrams TUSK (Tank Urban Survivability Kit) vehicles will have this feature, but the SEP tanks will not. M1A2 SEP: Related Contracts The Armor Site notes that: "A multi-year contract for 307 M1A2 Abrams Systems Enhancement Program (SEP) tanks was awarded in March 2001 with production into 2004. The current Army plan allows for a fleet of 588 M1A2 SEP, 586 M1A2 and 4,393 M1A1 tanks. The potential exits for a retrofit program of 129 M1A2 tanks to the SEP configuration between 2004 and 2005.... The US Army decided to cancel future production of the M1A2 SEP from FY2004, but in June 2005 ordered the upgraded of a further 60 M1A2 tanks to SEP configuration." It would appear that additional M1A2 SEPs are on the way, and DID is trying to nail down exact numbers and plans. Unless otherwise specified, all contracts are awarded by The U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI; and the recipient is General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, MI. Dec 4/06: A delivery order amount of $305 million as part of a $351 million cost contract for RESET of Abrams M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP)v1 to M1A2 SEPv2 tanks, and long lead material for the additional RESET of M1A2 SEPv1 and M1A2 SEPv2 tanks. A GDLS representative confirms that the contact covers 312 tanks returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Work will be performed in Lima, OH (75%), Tallahassee, FL (10%), Anniston, AL (9%), Scranton, PA (3%), and Sterling Heights, MI (3%), and is expected to be complete on Sept. 30, 2009. This was a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 20, 2006 (W56HZV-06-G-0006). Nov 27/06: The full $379.8 million delivery order amount of a firm-fixed-price contract to upgrade 180 M1A2 tanks to Abrams M1A2 SEP Version 2 status, alon g with total packing fielding material for initial fielding. Work will be performed in Lima, Ohio (75%), Tallahassee, FL (10%), Anniston, AL (9%), Scranton, PA (3%), and Sterling Heights, MI (3%), and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2009. This was a sole source contract initiated on August 29, 2006 (W56HZV-06-G-0006). See also GDLS press release, and a subsequent release gives the number. A GDLS representative confirmed that the conversions involved M1A2 tanks. Nov 27/06: GM subsidiary Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, IN received an $11 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Zero-Timed X1100-3B Transmissions in Support of the System Enhancement Package RESET Program. This would be the RESET maintenance program for M1A2 SEP tanks. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, IN and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2007. This was a sole source contract initiated on Aug. 22, 2006 (DAAE07-01-C-N040). Nov 27/06: GM subsidiary Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, IN received a $32.6 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Zero-Timed X1100-3B Transmissions in Support of the Improved System Enhancement Package RESET Program. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, IN and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on Sept. 29, 2006 (DAAE07-01-C-N040). Improved SEP program? Readers with background to offer are urged to email tips, over here @defenseindustrydaily dot com. Nov 27/06: GM subsidiary Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, IN received a $24.2 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Zero-Timed X1100-3B Transmissions in Support of the System Enhancement Package Retrofit Program. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, IN and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on Aug. 18, 2006 (DAAE07-01-C-N040). Nov 27/06: GM subsidiary Allison Transmission in Indianapolis, IN received a $16.1 million modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for Upgraded X1100-3B Transmissions with Refurbished Containers in Support of the System Enhancement Package Program. Work will be performed in Indianapolis, IN and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 25, 2006 (DAAE07-01-C-N040). Aug 4/06: General Dynamics Land Systems in Sterling Heights, MI received the full delivery order amount of $134.7 million as part of a firm-fixed-price contract for Abrams M1A2 SEP retrofits to 60 existing M1A2 Abrams tanks, along with total package fielding material for initial fielding. The M1A2 SEP is the latest, most technologically advanced Abrams variant, and the contract also includes a $145 million option to upgrade 60 more M1A2s, bringing the total to $280 million if all options are exercised. Work on this SEP upgrade contract will be performed in Lima, OH (75%), Tallahassee, FL (10%), Anniston, AL (9%), Scranton, PA (3%), and Sterling Heights, MI (3%). Delivery of the first 60 vehicles is slated to begin in November 2007 and is expected to be complete by Nov. 30, 2008. Delivery of the 60 option vehicles would begin in November 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on Feb. 1, 2006 by the Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, MI (W56HZV-06-G-0006). See DID coverage, also General Dynamics release. M1A2 Abrams July 8/05: An estimated $7.3 million firm-fixed price contract for 90 commanders display units for the M1A2 Abrams System Enhanced Program (M1A2 SEP) Tank. The work is to be performed at the company's Tallahassee, FL location and is to be completed Sept. 20, 2007. The Tank-automotive Armament Command in Rock Island, IL issued the contract (DAAE20-02-G-0009 delivery order 0109). DID coverage. June 20/05: A $141.1 million firm-fixed-price contract for M1A2 Abrams Upgrade Tanks to the System and Continuous Enhancement Program Configurations. Work will be performed in Lima, OH (75%), Imperial Valley, CA (1%), Tallahassee, FL (1%), Sterling Heights, MI (1%), Scranton, PA (3%), and Anniston, AL (9%), and is expected to be complete by Jan. 31, 2008. This was a sole source contract initiated on March 1, 2003 (DAAE07-01-G-N001). See GDLS press release, which places the number of tanks upgraded to M1A2 SEP at 60. It adds that vehicle deliveries to General Dynamics are scheduled for January through October 2007, with vehicle hand-off to the U.S. Army expected in January 2008. April 29/05: An $8.2 million cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for unique spares for the M1A2 SEP Abrams Tank, and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Work will be performed in Killeen, TX (85%); Sterling Heights, MI (10%); and Southwest Asia (5%), and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2010. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 14, 2004 by US Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command in Rock Island, IL (W52H09-05-C-0089). See also GDLS press release. Sept 2/04: A $22.4 million firm-fixed-price contract for repair and modification to 111 M1A2 SEP Tanks. Work will be performed in Lima, OH and is expected to be complete by July 30, 2005. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 14, 2004 (DAAE07-01-G-N001). A subsequent GDLS press release clarified that this is a contract "to repair and modify 111 M1A2 Abrams System Enhancement Package (SEP) tanks that have recently returned from the war zone." Work will be performed at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, and is expected to be complete by July 30, 2005. The total value for this effort is actually about $70 million, allocated between TACOM ($40 million, to include major component repair by Anniston Army Depot), and GDLS ($29.9 Million). May 6/04: General Dynamics Land Systems announces a $121 million delivery order as part of a contract valued at $244 million, to retrofit 65 M1A2 Abrams tanks to the M1A2 SEP (System Enhancement Program) configuration. The tanks are being retrofitted to modernize the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Work will be performed with the existing workforce at General Dynamics' facilities in Lima, OH (74%); Tallahassee, FL (10%); Anniston, AL (9%); Scranton, PA (3%); Imperial Valley, CA. (1%); Muskegon, MI (1%); and Sterling Heights, MI (1%). Work will also be done at Fort Carson, CO (1%). May 15/03: A delivery order amount of $26,029,150 as part of a $26,055,258 firm-fixed-price contract to retrofit 14 M1A2 Abrams Upgrade Tanks to the M1A2 SEP configuration. Work will be performed in Lima, OH (75%), Imperial Valley, CA (1%), Tallahassee, FL (10%), Sterling Heights, MI (1%), Scranton, PA (3%), Anniston, AL (9%), and Muskegon, IL (1%), and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2004. This was a sole source contract initiated on April 29, 2002 (DAAE07-01-G-N001). Nov 29/02: A delivery order amount of $5.8 million as part of an $8.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for 10 gigabyte solid state removable memory cartridges for retrofit into M1A2 Abrams SEP tanks. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights (0.2%) and Bloomington, MN (99.8%), and is to be complete by Aug. 31, 2003. This was a sole source contract initiated on Nov. 15, 2002 (DAAE07-01-G-N001). May 16/02: A delivery order amount of $2.9 million as part of a $5.8 million (cumulative total) un-priced contractual action for 9 lines of spare parts in support of the M1A2 SEP Abrams Tank. Work will be performed in Lima, OH (10%); Imperial, CA (40%); Tallahassee, FL (40%), Anniston, AL (10%), and is to be complete by Oct. 30, 2003. This is a sole-source contract initiated on Feb. 14, 2002 by the U. S. Army Tank and Automotive Command in Rock Island, IL (DAAE20-97-G-0002). Feb 9/01: A $142 million modification to firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract DAAE07-95-C-0292. This procurement is an equitable adjustment to change-order modification P00110, that incorporated the System Enhancement Package (SEP) into 240 M1A2 Abrams Upgrade Tanks. This modification adds first article tests for the SEP into 240 tanks, adds material and testing for Under Armor Auxiliary Power Units that are to be retrofitted onto M1A2 Abrams Upgrade Tanks with the SEP. Work will be performed in Lima, OH (80%); Scranton, PA (3%); Imperial Valley, CA (1%); Anniston, AL (4%); Tallahassee, FL (10%); Muskegon, MS (1%), and Sterling Heights, MI (1%), and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2001. Of the total contract funds, $97.3 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 18, 1995. Jan 16/01: The Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park, NC received a $6 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract N61339-95-C-0015, exercising exercise an option for the production of one M1A2 Tank System Enhancement Package and one Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Maintenance Training System, Trainer Unique Modification Kit. Work will be performed in Research Triangle Park, NC (60%) and Daytona, FL (40%); and is expected to be complete by September 2001. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL issued the contract. Feb 10/2000: The Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park, NC received a $5 million modification to previously awarded contract N61339-95-C-0015 for the design, refurbishment, documentation, fabrication, integration, testing, manufacture, delivery and installation of the M1A2 system enhancement package maintenance training systems. Work will be performed in Research Triangle Park, NC (60%) and Daytona, FL (40%), and is expected to be complete by November 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division in Orlando, FL issued the contract. Dec 22/99: A $24.9 million modification to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract DAAE07-96-C-X195, to exercise the option for system technical support for the Abrams Tank Program, a system enhancement package M1A2 retrofit for the Abrams Tank. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, MI and is expected to be complete by July 30, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on May 2, 1996. Nov 23/99: A $5 modification to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract DAAE07-96-C-X195, to exercise priced options for system technical support for the Abrams Tank Program, the M1A2 retrofit System Enhancement Package. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, MI and is expected to be complete by Aug. 30, 2001. This is a sole source contract initiated on May 2, 1996. May 4/98: A $9.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for various spares in support of fielding of the System Enhancement Package (SEP) of the M1A2 upgrade tank. Work will be performed in Tallahassee, FL (75%); Lima, OH (10%); Imperial Valley, CA (10%); and Scranton, OH (5%), and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2000. This is a sole source contract initiated on Dec. 8, 1997 by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive & Armaments Command at Rock Island, IL (DAAE20-97-G-0002/0008). Sept 26/97: A $7.3 million increment of a $24.3 million modification to a $127.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development for the Abrams System Enhancement Package (ASEP) that will be incorporated into the M1A2 Abrams Tank. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, MI and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 1999. Of the total contract funds, $14,757 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Nov. 23, 1994 (DAAE07-94-C-0727). Aug 8/96: A $10 million modification to a cost plus fixed fee contract for two Heavy Assault Bridge Pre-Low Rate Initial Production Pilot/Test vehicles in Abrams M1A2 System Enhancement Package (SEP) configuration. Work will be performed in Sterling Heights, MI and is expected to be complete by February 28, 1998. This is a sole source contract initiated on May 29, 1996 (DAAE07-94-C-0727). Additional Readings & Sources * The Armor Site - M1A1/2 Abrams. Simply the best Abrams tank refence. * US Army Logistics Management College, ALOG Magazine (Jan-Feb 1996) - Keeping M1A1's in Action. A new way to employ the Army's M1A1 full-up power pack (FUPP) saves time and money and helps ensure a combat-ready tank unit. A FUPP consists of a Honeywell AGT-1500 turbine engine, which contains four modules, and an Allison X1100-3B transmission. -------- europe Kazakhstan, EU to sign energy accords ALMATY (AFP) Nov 30, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/2006/061130084402.6zvfurz2.html Kazakhstan and the European Union are to sign two accords on energy cooperation in December, the EU's Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said Thursday. The first document, a memorandum, concerns energy supplies from Kazakhstan to the European Union and investment in the Kazakh energy sector, Piebalgs said during a visit to the Central Asian state, Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency reported. The text is due to be signed during a visit to Brussels at the beginning of December by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose country holds large oil reserves. The European Union, which depends heavily on Russia for energy supplies, is trying to diversify imports and has been at loggerheads with Moscow over investment in Russia's energy sector. The second document is on nuclear energy and "gives the possibility for direct cooperation in the field of trade in radioactive materials," Piebalgs said. Kazakhstan has around a quarter of the uranium reserves in the world. "Nuclear energy is quite developed in the European Union and, of course, uranium supplies are important," Piebalgs said. The European Union still lags behind China, Russia and the United States in terms of energy cooperation with Kazakhstan, which is becoming an increasingly powerful global energy player thanks to its location and reserves. -------- india Britain, France and Russia have expressed support for civil nuclear cooperation between India and the US Media Release Nov. 30, 2006 http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/14506.asp Britain, France and Russia have expressed support for civil nuclear cooperation between India and the US while other Nuclear Supplier Group members are yet to formalise their position, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. While the US is working with NSG members to adjust its guidelines to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India, New Delhi has taken up the issue bilaterally with a number of NSG member countries, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a written reply. He said it was an ongoing process. Mukherjee described the position of different members of the European Union and the Nuclear Suppliers Group with regard to civil nuclear cooperation as "evolving". He said an Indian delegation made a presentation to the NSG Consultative Group meeting in Vienna in October, 2006. "As a result of our efforts, several important countries of the NSG have expressed their understanding for the initiative", Mukherjee said. ---- Radiation processing technology catching up It is used in food processing, medical products' sterilisation Staff Correspondent Thursday, Nov 30, 2006 The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/30/stories/2006113005270500.htm DISCUSSING TECHNOLOGY: Mangalore University Vice-Chancellor K.M. Kaveriappa (left) with A.K. Kohli, chief executive, Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology, at a seminar in Mangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: R. Eswarraj MANGALORE: Radiation processing technology in the country is spreading with companies evincing interest in adopting the technology in industries such as food processing and sterilisation of medical products, A.K. Kohli, Chief Executive, Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) under the Department of Atomic Energy, has said. He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day seminar on "Applications of radioisotopes and radiation technology" organised by Mangalore University, the National Association for Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation in Industry and BRIT here on Wednesday. Mr. Kohli said the BRIT had made significant progress in spreading radiation-processing technology both for food products and sterilisation of medical products. Five plants in the private sector had been built in the country with assistance from the BRIT. Once such plant commissioned in Bangalore recently would be inaugurated on December 4. He said that Innova Agri Bio Park Limited, Bangalore, had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the BRIT for setting up a plant for food products at Malur in Kolar district. He said there was lot of potential for expansion of radioisotopes applications in the country. K.M. Kaveriappa, Vice-Chancellor, Mangalore University, underlined the importance of nuclear energy. People think that radiation is harmful probably because of consequences of atomic explosion in world wars. Living organisms are well connected with radiation, he said. M.I. Savadatti, former Vice-Chancellor, Mangalore University, who inaugurated an exhibition on "Peaceful uses of nuclear energy," said practitioners of nuclear energy were mainly responsible for spreading a myth that application of nuclear energy was harmful. Nuclear technology is an accepted technology now, he said. G. Nageswara Rao, Station Director, Kaiga Nuclear Power Generating Station, released a souvenir. -------- iran Iran's Growing Array Of Missiles File photo: Iran's Revolutionary Guards fired test missiles during the first phase of military manoeuvres in the central desert outside the holy city of Qom, 02 November 2006. Photo courtesy of AFP. by Joshua Brilliant UPI Correspondent Tel Aviv (UPI) Nov 30, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_Growing_Array_Of_Missiles_999.html With missiles that can reach every corner of the Middle East and survive preemptive strikes, Iran is already "the major missile power of the region, at least in theory," said a former head of Israel's missile defense program. "No other country in the world ... comes close to Iran in the number and variety of ballistic missiles in development or already deployed," Uzi Rubin wrote in a study published by the Institute for National Security Studies. And yet, some of those missiles' effectiveness is questionable, he noted. Rubin based his study on published materials but his background -- from 1991 to 1999 he was the Arrow anti-ballistic missile program manager -- enables him to better analyze those reports. He wrote that most of the missiles designed to control the sea, land, and air near Iran show Chinese and Russian pedigree. The Raad, apparently an advanced version of the Chinese Silkworm, is a shore based anti-ship missile whose range should be sufficient to bloc the Persian Gulf at its widest point. The Zelzal, which originally hails from China, is intended to hit hostile troops concentrated some 125 miles away. Other programs are externally similar to the old Soviet Strela, and anti-tank missiles. During naval exercises, in April 2006, Iran unveiled a rocket propelled underwater projectile and a flying boat. However, "A cursory examination of the video images revealed them to be 1960s vintage Soviet technologies" that Russian companies are marketing, "Apparently with no great success." Iran's Shahab family of ballistic missiles shares the heritage, propulsion technology and general layout of the Soviet R11 missiles of the 1950s, also known as the Scuds. Gradually it has been increasing its missiles' ranges and they are, "an indispensable complement to its nuclear ambitions," according to Rubin. Iran bought Scud B and Scud C missiles with their launchers and production lines, dubbed them Shahab 1 and 2, and manufactured them "in considerable quantities," Rubin noted. That program was initially designed to counter the Iraqi threat. Eventually Iran amended its threat perception. It sought to dissuade Saudi Arabia from hosting U.S. forces, and -- if the U.S. attacked -- planned to strike at Israel. Hence the Shahab 3. It is, "a very close relative, if not a full fledged clone of the North Korean mysterious No Dong," wrote Rubin. In 2004, Iran tested an extended version of the Shahab 3. It is a longer missile, its internal design seems to have been significantly modified, and it "carries the telltale signs of Soviet-style missile engineering." After that test the Iranians said their missiles have a range of about 1,250 miles. With them, "Every major city and military installation between the western shores of Turkey and the eastern border of Pakistan and between the Black Sea in the north and the southern narrows of the Red Sea are within range," Rubin noted. Moreover, it can hit any point in the Middle East from fixed sites deep inside Iran. It can deploy the missiles from well-protected silos "survivable against preemption." Only 10 Shahab 3 flight tests were conducted between July 1998, when it was first tried, and May 2006. "This is a remarkably low number for what is surely a strategic weapon for Iran." About half those tests ended in total or partial failure, Rubin said. By Western standards the Shahab 3 would not yet be considered operational. It would not be mass-produced. However, Iranians seem to think that if the design works once or twice, they are ready to take the chance that it will work in the battlefield too. "There should be no doubt that in case of conflict, Iran will launch Shahab 3 missiles regardless of their flight test record, and that some of them will reach their destinations," Rubin stressed. Last year Iran's then-Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani elaborately extolled solid propellant rocketry and alluded to a twin-engine missile; Rubin inferred that Iran is engaged in developing a multi-stage strategic range ballistic missile. He told United Press International he believes Iran's intelligence was behind the theft of KH55 (Kent) cruise missiles in the Ukraine. The plane that flew them out belonged to a company whose address was a Tehran mailbox. "The theft ... will serve for the development of an indigenous version of a strategic cruise missile," he maintained. According to Israeli intelligence, and a German account, a BM 25 missile, with a range of roughly 1,500 to 2,200 miles, was transferred from North Korea to Iran. But the Iranians do not need such a missile to hit targets in the Middle East. The Shahab 3's range is sufficient for that. It should, however, concern the Europeans since it could reach central Europe. Iran is also developing satellites. Its achievements have been "relatively meager," according to Rubin, but its statements and disclosures about that program suggest it is picking up speed. "Any suitably modified SLV (Space Launch Vehicle) can serve as an ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile), Rubin noted. All indications are that Iran's missile and space programs "have suffered from deficiencies in leadership and resources ... The disparate programs are making headway, but in a somewhat chaotic manner," he wrote. Nevertheless, Iran's missile and space programs "are no paper tigers." At the rate they are going, "Iranian missiles will dominate the entire continent of Europe by the end of this decade. Once they perfect their workhorse SLV, their reach will become truly global," Rubin added. -------- japan DPJ might back collective defense Kyodo News Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?appURL=nn20061130f1.html The Democratic Party of Japan may change its stance and endorse collective defense, under certain circumstances. The main opposition party put the proposal into a draft policy platform, which until now has maintained that exercising the right to collective defense is banned under the war-renouncing Constitution. The DPJ also wants to promote compulsory education through high school. The party said Tuesday that if it was in power, Japan would take the lead in promoting nuclear disarmament, take part actively in U.N. peacekeeping operations, continue to strengthen its alliance with the United States as an equal partner, and build mutual trust with China, South Korea and other Asian neighbors. "The right of self-defense shall be exercised in the limited situation" where an imminent transgression "directly threatens the peace and security of our country, in conformity with Article 9 of the Constitution and on the basis of the principle of an exclusively defensive policy, without dwelling on the history of discussions on whether it is individual or collective (defense)," the proposal says. "Under no other circumstances shall force be used," it says. In disclosing the policy draft, Hirotaka Akamatsu, chairman of the nine-member panel that compiled the proposal, and DPJ policy chief Takeaki Matsumoto did not provide further clarification of the party's definition of collective defense. ---- Japan able to develop nuclear weapons: foreign minister TOKYO (AFP) Nov 30, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/2006/061130100100.zxwrisc7.html http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_Able_To_Develop_Nuclear_Weapons_999.html Japan has the ability to produce nuclear weapons but chooses not to, its foreign minister said Thursday amid debate on breaking the nuclear taboo after neighboring North Korea tested an atomic bomb. "We have the technology to develop nuclear weapons," Taro Aso, Japan's outspoken foreign minister, told a parliamentary committee. "But this doesn't mean we will immediately create nuclear weapons to possess them," Aso added. Aso has been at the forefront of pushing for Japan -- the only country to have been attacked with atomic bombs -- to debate the nuclear option. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ruled out even discussing building nuclear weapons, but the issue has caused concern in neighboring countries. Experts have long believed Japan has the knowhow to develop nuclear weapons quickly, in part because it relies on nuclear technology for nearly a third of its energy needs. "Technologically speaking, we have the capability to develop atom bombs and we have the ability to launch satellites with rockets. We also have plutonium, under the supervision of the IAEA," or International Atomic Energy Agency, Aso said. Aso met later in the day with IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who is visiting Japan in part for talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Aso was responding to a question by the opposition, which has called on Abe to sack the foreign minister to show his commitment against nuclear weapons. Aso reiterated the government's view that Japan has the right to nuclear weapons despite its pacifist constitution, which was imposed by the United States after World War II. "From a purely theoretical viewpoint, possession of a necessary minimum of nuclear weapons for the purpose of self-defense is not banned under the current constitution," Aso said. Japan is particularly concerned about North Korea, which launched a missile over Japan's main island in 1998. The communist regime tested its first atomic bomb on October 9. Under a 1967 policy, Japan refuses the production, possession or presence of nuclear weapons on its soil. US nuclear bombs obliterated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War II, killing more than 210,000 people. ---- Japan capable of making nuclear weapon By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 30, 2006 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061130/ap_on_re_as/japan_nuclear_weapons TOKYO - Japan has the technological know-how to produce a nuclear weapon but has no immediate plans to do so, the foreign minister said Thursday, several weeks after communist North Korea carried out a nuclear test. Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who has called for discussion of Japan's non-nuclear policy, also asserted in parliament that the pacifist constitution does not forbid possession of the bomb. "Japan is capable of producing nuclear weapons," Aso told a parliamentary committee on security issues. "But we are not saying we have plans to possess nuclear weapons." Japan, the only country ever attacked by atomic weapons, has for decades espoused a strict policy of not possessing, developing or allowing the introduction of nuclear bombs on its territory. Aso's comments appear to be stronger than those made last month by Defense Minister Fimio Kyuma, who stated that Japan has "advanced technology and missile capabilities so perhaps we do have the potential to make nuclear arms." The non-nuclear stance has come under increasing scrutiny since North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test, which raised severe security concerns in Japan. The test has raised fears it could trigger a regional arms race. The North's nuclear test followed Pyongyang's test firing of several ballistic missiles capable of hitting Japan. Kiyomi Tsujimoto of pacifist opposition Social Democratic Party, criticized Aso for supporting open debate over a possession of nuclear weapons amid such concerns. "International community is greatly concerned about Japan's plutonium possession," she said. "As foreign minister, Mr. Aso, are you aware of global impact of saying it's not bad to discuss nuclear possession under the circumstances?" Aso, however, denied he was fanning the debate. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has asserted several times since the test that Japan would not stray from its non-nuclear policy, and he has refused to initiate a formal review of that stance. Several high-ranking government and ruling party members, however, including Aso, have argued for a high-level reappraisal of the nuclear policy in light of the North Korean threat. In a hearing before the lower house of parliament's Security Committee, Aso reiterated his belief that the constitution's pacifist clause does not prevent Japan from having nuclear bombs for the purpose of defense. The constitution's Article 9 bars Japan from the use of force to settle international disputes. "Possession of minimum level of arms for defense is not prohibited under the Article 9 of the Constitution," Aso said. "Even nuclear weapons, if there are any that fall within that limit, they are not prohibited." -------- korea UN nuclear watchdog ready to inspect North Korea TOKYO (AFP) Nov 30, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/2006/061130094608.g177djr6.html United Nations atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday that inspectors were ready to return to North Korea if planned six-nation disarmament talks produced a deal. North Korea kicked out International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in 2002 as a crisis escalated over US allegations that the communist state had developed atomic bombs. On a visit Thursday to neighboring Japan, the IAEA chief condemned North Korea's October 9 nuclear test but said that dialogue was the best way to move forward. "I am pleased to note the recent agreement to resume the six-party talks," ElBaradei said in a speech in Tokyo. "The IAEA stands ready to work with the DPRK and with all others towards a solution for this issue that would make use of the agency's verification capability," he said, using the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. IAEA involvement would help "assure the international community that all nuclear activities in the DPRK are exclusively for peaceful purposes," he said. North Korea agreed on October 31 to return to six-nation negotiations on ending its nuclear program. But two days of talks in Beijing this week between US and North Korean negotiators failed to set a date for the new round. "The DPRK nuclear test is a clear setback to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and while the test is a matter of deep concern and regret, it unfortunately came as no surprise," ElBaradei said. He stressed the importance for the international community to engage in an "immediate and sustained dialogue" to address the underlying causes. North Korea has pushed for bilateral talks with the United States, but President George W. Bush's administration has said it will only negotiate through the six-way talks. The talks also bring together China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. ElBaradei, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his efforts to stem nuclear proliferation, urged existing nuclear powers to set an example. "The countries that have nuclear weapons should get rid of them and move toward nuclear disarmament," he said. "Unfortunately the movement by the weapons states on their commitment to disarm has been sluggish at best," he said, noting that 27,000 warheads exist worldwide more than 30 years after the Non-Proliferation Treaty was concluded. "We will continue to have countries that will be tempted to develop nuclear weapons, either because of a sense of insecurity or because they think that nuclear weapons will bring power and prestige. "To change that environment, in my view, the weapons states need to lead by example," he argued, calling for a universal ban on nuclear testing through the enforcement of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The CTBT, which bans all nuclear explosions, cannot come into force until it is ratified by the required 44 states which had nuclear research or power facilities when it was adopted in 1996. ElBaradei also stressed the importance of atomic power as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels to help alleviate global poverty. "Nuclear energy at least for the next 50 years or so has to be fully utilised as part of the energy mix to deal with the energy shortage," with roughly two billion people around the world lacking access to electricity. "Without electricity there is no development. Without development there is misery; there is violence; there is civil war," he warned. ElBaradei arrived in Japan on Wednesday and was meeting later Thursday with Foreign Minister Taro Aso. He heads to China on Monday. ---- North Korea Says Won't Give Up Nuclear Weapons Unilaterally by Staff Writers Seoul (AFP) Nov 30, 2006 http://www.spacewar.com/reports/North_Korea_Says_Wont_Give_Up_Nuclear_Weapons_Unilaterally_999.html North Korea said Thursday it will not give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally but remains committed to denuclearisation in the region. The communist state's chief nuclear negotiator made the comments in Beijing, after talks aimed at restarting six-nation disarmament negotiations ended without apparent major progress. Kim Kye-Gwan was responding to a question on whether his country, which staged its first nuclear test on October 9, would be willing to give up its atomic weapons. "There are many commitments in the September 19 joint statement and at this stage, there won't be any unilateral abandonment (of nuclear weapons)," South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted Kim as saying. "The denuclearization (of the Korean peninsula) was the wish by the Great Leader (Kim Il-Sung) and we are willing to implement our commitments made in the joint statement." In the statement, agreed at the six-party talks in September last year, the North agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for energy and economic aid and security guarantees. But it boycotted the forum two months later in protest at a US-inspired freeze on its overseas bank accounts. The North has agreed in principle to return to the six-party talks if the issue of the US financial curbs is settled. But the nuclear envoys meeting in Beijing this week failed to agree a firm date. The countries involved in the talks are the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. -------- security Polonium-210? it's yours for $69, no questions asked UK Times Online | November 30, 2006 | Tony Halpin http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2478908.html The radioactive poison used to kill the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is being offered for sale over the internet for less than £40. A company in the US claims to supply polonium-210 to anyone for just $69 plus postage and packing. A three-pack set of “alpha, beta, gamma” radioactive isotopes also includes polonium-210. United Nuclear, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, tells purchasers: “If you’re looking for clean, accurate, certified radiation sources, here they are. . . All isotopes are produced fresh in a nuclear reactor and shipped directly to you.” The company says that it has supplied radioactive materials to “the science hobbyist”, businesses, government bodies and teachers since 1998. “We specialise in small orders.” United Nuclear assures customers that they run no risk of being tipped off to the US Department for Homeland Security. “Chemical suppliers routinely forward customers’ names, along with their purchases, to government officials/Homeland Security officials etc. We do not — and never will. We respect your privacy and will fight for it,” the company’s website states. The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico describes polonium-210 as 250 billion times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. The apparent availability of polonium-210 intensifies the problems facing Scotland Yard detectives in establishing the source of the poison that killed Mr Litvinenko in London last week. Many commentators have asserted that the material could only have come from a state-controlled nuclear facility, leading critics of President Putin to point the finger at Russia’s secret service. Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia’s atomic energy agency, has revealed that it sells 8g of polonium-210 each month to American companies for “scientific purposes”. United Nuclear says it accepts orders only through its online service and that materials can be sent only to addresses in the US. But it is not difficult to arrange for a delivery in the US to be forwarded to another country. -------- u.s. nuc weapons Study Shows Warhead Plutonium Long-Lasting November 30, 2006 — By H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=11753 WASHINGTON — The plutonium in nuclear warheads will be reliable for as long as 100 years, twice as long as previously thought, according to a study released Wednesday, raising questions by some critics over the need to replace aging weapons. The five-year government study involving all of the warheads in the nuclear stockpile, concluded that the plutonium pits -- softball size devices used to trigger a nuclear explosion -- degrade at a much slower rate than previously believed. The research was conducted by nuclear scientists at the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore weapons laboratories and reviewed by an outside panel of nuclear physicists and weapons experts known as the JASON panel. "These studies show that the degradation of plutonium in our nuclear weapons will not affect warhead reliability for decades," said Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Energy Department agency that oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile. The government has long assumed that plutonium would deteriorate to the point that it no longer could be relied upon in 45 to 60 years. The new study put the minimum lifetime for plutonium pits at 85 to 100 years. Some nuclear weapons watchdogs said the new finding undermines the Bush administration's plan to build a factory to make new plutonium pits and its program to replace current warheads with more robust designs for longer reliability. "The U.S. has a huge surplus of plutonium pits and now DOE's own independent expert scientists confirm that they last 100 years," said Susan Gordon, director of the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. She said the DOE argument for a new pit factory and new warheads has largely rested on a pit lifetime expectancy of 45 years, so they now are "completely unnecessary." The alliance represents a network of citizen groups near federal nuclear weapons facilities. But National Nuclear Security Administration officials said plutonium aging is only one variable that can affect overall system reliability and that the report does not change the need to manufacture more plutonium pits or design sturdier warheads. The country currently has no pit manufacturing plant, using pits taken out of dismantled warheads. "What this (finding) does do is it informs us that pit age isn't the primary thing that concerns us," said Tom D'Agostino, the nuclear agency's deputy administrator for defense programs. He said the research gives the government more time to establish a new supply of plutonium pits for the weapons stockpile. He said the agency still wants to have a new pit production facility by 2022 to ensure future supplies. "Although plutonium aging contributes, other factors control the overall life expectancy of nuclear weapons systems" making no less important the development of sturdier long-lasting warheads, said Brooks. These factors include the aging of high explosives and other organic components in the weapons and corrosion of weapons parts. -------- u.s. nuc facilities -------- idaho Idaho Location Among 11 Possible DOE Nuke Fuel Recycling Sites Nov 30, 2006 Associated Press http://www.kidk.com/news/local/4791866.html YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) _ The Department of Energy says eleven sites have been selected as possible places to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from reactors. One of the sites is the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho. The program is part of the Energy Department's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. The Bush administration has touted it as a means to safely expand nuclear energy. The eleven sites will share as much as 16 (m) million in grants next year. Proponents say the program will allow countries to rely on nuclear energy while reducing the amount of waste generated by power plants. Critics say reprocessing could make it easier for terrorists or enemy states to obtain plutonium for nuclear weapons. And Jeremy Maxand of the Snake River Alliance says bringing spent fuel from commercial reactors to Idaho violates a 1995 cleanup agreement between Idaho and the D-O-E. -------- michigan Environmentalists debate recreation area at former nuclear site November 30, 2006 Associated Press http://www.woodtv.com/global/story.asp?s=5746861 TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- An environmentalist coalition is fighting a plan to convert a former nuclear plant site into a state recreation area, saying it's a liability risk because of residual contamination and the presence of highly radioactive wastes. But a land conservancy wants the state to buy the wooded property along Lake Michigan, describing it as an ecological and historical treasure that otherwise will be lost to residential development. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources plans to seek support for the purchase next week from overseers of a state trust fund used to acquire and improve land for parks and other recreation areas. The Charlevoix County site previously was the location of the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant, the nation's oldest nuclear generator when shut down in 1997 after operating 35 years. The plant was razed. Its owner, Consumers Energy, said in August it had finished cleanup and site restoration, although 441 bundles of spent fuel rods loaded with uranium will remain there until a federal storage area is opened. Consumers Energy, a subsidiary of Jackson-based CMS Energy Corp., is offering about 450 acres to the state, excluding the high-security waste storage area and a 100-acre buffer zone, spokesman Tim Petrosky said. He wouldn't disclose the asking price, but supporters of the deal said it's around $20 million. The DNR plans to ask the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board for a $3 million grant toward the purchase and would seek additional funding later. The board is expected to award about $35 million Dec. 6. It has received 162 grant applications for projects around the state. The Michigan Environmental Council, the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C., criticized the proposed purchase in a statement Wednesday. "Among the most troublesome questions is the wisdom of the state's taxpayers potentially assuming legal liability for land with a history of radioactive releases and dangerous nuclear waste that will be there indefinitely," they said. Lana Pollack, president of the environmental council and a member of the Natural Resources Trust Fund Board, said she had been lobbied by environmentalists in the Charlevoix area to support the purchase. "I cannot in good conscience do that," Pollack said in an interview. "The risks are too high, the unknowns too great." Petrosky would not comment on liability issues, saying they were a subject of negotiations with the state. The property is habitat for deer, porcupines, bears, bald eagles and endangered plant species, said Tom Bailey, executive director of the Little Traverse Bay Conservancy. It's in a rapidly growing resort area where much of the Lake Michigan shoreline is privately owned. If the state takes a pass, the land probably will be sold for development, Petrosky said. "For every new subdivision that goes in, we'd like to see a new nature preserve somewhere," Bailey said. The property "is in very good shape. The natural aspects are very attractive and the offshore environment is good for aquatic life." Also favoring the purchase is the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. The Big Rock Point area was once a seasonal gathering place for Indian tribes. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said it would designate the grounds a "greenfield" safe for any type of use. But the environmental groups said risks "still abound at the site." The plant released radioactivity into the air, soil, groundwater and Lake Michigan because of "leaks, spills, overflows, floods and sloppy handling over the decades," their statement said. A 1984 leak sent 20,000 gallons of tritium, or radioactive hydrogen, into the groundwater, it said. Petrosky said Big Rock Point emitted less than 1 percent of the radiation allowed under its federal permit during its 35 years of operation. "These releases were short-lived radioactivity that naturally dissipated," he said. The plant's decommissioning included extensive testing for residual contamination that showed the area was safe, he said. Recent groundwater tests turned up no detectable levels of tritium, he said. "Overwhelming scientific data proves that there would be no risk to anyone using the Big Rock Point property," Petrosky said. EDITOR'S NOTE _ John Flesher is the AP correspondent in Traverse City and has covered environmental issues since 1992. ---- Plan to convert nuclear site criticized Thursday, November 30, 2006 (AP) http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1164904767303510.xml&coll=3 TRAVERSE CITY -- Plans to convert a former nuclear plant site owned by Consumers Energy into a state recreation area is stirring debate. An environmentalist coalition is fighting the plan, saying it's a liability risk because of residual contamination and the presence of highly radioactive wastes. But a land conservancy wants the state to buy the wooded property along Lake Michigan, describing it as an ecological and historical treasure that otherwise will be lost to residential development. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources plans to seek support for the purchase next week from overseers of a state trust fund used to acquire and improve land for parks and other recreation areas. The Charlevoix County site previously was the location of the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant, the nation's oldest nuclear generator when shut down in 1997 after operating 35 years. The plant was razed. Consumers Energy said in August it had finished cleanup and site restoration, although 441 bundles of spent fuel rods loaded with uranium will remain there until a federal storage area is opened. Consumers Energy is offering about 450 acres to the state, excluding the high-security waste storage area and a 100-acre buffer zone, spokesman Tim Petrosky said. He wouldn't disclose the asking price, but supporters of the deal said it's around $20 million. The DNR plans to ask the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board for a $3 million grant toward the purchase and would seek additional funding later. The board is expected to award about $35 million Dec. 6. It has received 162 grant applications for projects around the state. The Michigan Environmental Council, the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C., criticized the proposed purchase in a statement Wednesday. "Among the most troublesome questions is the wisdom of the state's taxpayers potentially assuming legal liability for land with a history of radioactive releases and dangerous nuclear waste that will be there indefinitely," they said. Petrosky would not comment on liability issues, saying they were a subject of negotiations with the state. The property is habitat for deer, porcupines, bears, bald eagles and endangered plant species, said Tom Bailey, executive director of the Little Traverse Bay Conservancy. It's in a rapidly growing resort area where much of the Lake Michigan shoreline is privately owned. If the state takes a pass, the land probably will be sold for development, Petrosky said. "For every new subdivision that goes in, we'd like to see a new nature preserve somewhere," Bailey said. The property "is in very good shape. The natural aspects are very attractive and the offshore environment is good for aquatic life." -------- south carolina S.C. groups eligible for nuclear fuel study Thu, Nov. 30, 2006 The State http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16125122.htm Two S.C. business groups are eligible for federal money to study recycling nuclear fuel, a controversial program that could bring thousands of jobs to the state. Sites near Barnwell and Aiken are among 11 places nationally under consideration for parts of $16 million to be awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy for studies, the DOE announced Wednesday. Energy Solutions LLC is interested in developing a recycling facility near Barnwell. The S.C. Economic Development Partnership of Aiken and Edgefield counties is interested in a facility at the Savannah River Site. Business leaders want the government to establish recycling facilities at or near SRS to help the economy. But environmentalists say recycling spent nuclear fuel will create more toxic atomic waste for the government to deal with. Nuclear fuel recycling was abandoned by the federal government more than 20 years ago, but President Bush has revived the proposal. Contributors: Staff writers Sammy Fretwell, Ben Werner and The Associated Press -------- washington DOE selects Hanford among 11 possible fuel recycling sites Nov 30, 2006 By Associated Press http://www.keprtv.com/news/local/4791846.html RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - The Hanford nuclear reservation in southeast Washington is one of eleven possible sites selected by the Energy Department to reprocess spent nuclear fuel. The sites can receive up to 16 (m) million dollars next year for studies for possible facilities. The other sites under consideration: Idaho National Laboratory; Atomic City, Idaho; Savannah River National Laboratory, S.C.; Barnwell, S.C.; Hobbs, N.M.; Roswell, N.M.; Morris, Ill.; Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tenn.; Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Ky.; Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Ohio. -------- us nuc waste Reid to block Yucca site Senator is wrong to oppose a permanent and safe disposal site for the nation's nuclear waste. Greenville SC News, Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 6:00 am http://www.greenvillenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061130/OPINION/611300304/1008 With Democrats in power in Washington, South Carolina's nuclear-waste problems are only going to get worse. The change in party control has propelled Nevada Sen. Harry Reid to the top leadership post in the Senate. Reid is the most vocal opponent of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump, which was to be the eventual disposal site for the nation's nuclear waste. Reid made it clear that he would use his new leadership post to block the Yucca Mountain site. One of Reid's first acts after the recent election was to convene a conference call with home-state reporters to declare Yucca Mountain "dead right now," according to an Associated Press story. That would leave at least 3,100 metric tons of nuclear waste stored in far from ideal conditions at several sites throughout South Carolina. Nationwide, there's at least 77,000 tons of commercial and defense waste waiting for disposal. As a Nevada senator, Reid is seeking to thwart a waste site that residents of his state strenuously oppose. But Reid's Senate leadership position means that Nevada's narrow interests would override the far more vital interests of the nation. At a time of terrorist threats, the nation's hodgepodge of 131 temporary storage sites is not a safe way to stockpile nuclear waste. The effort to create a national nuclear waste site already has cost $9 billion -- and the Yucca Mountain project is 19 years behind schedule. For more than 20 years, electricity customers nationwide have paid money through their monthly electric bills into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund specifically for the development of a repository for used nuclear fuel. South Carolinians have contributed more than $1 billion to that fund. South Carolina has five nuclear waste sites. At Oconee Nuclear Station, 35 miles from Greenville, more than 1,500 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel are being stored -- and 90 tons are added each year. Waste also is being stored in nonpermanent facilities in York, Fairfield, Darlington and Aiken counties. The nation needs a secure and permanent place to store its nuclear waste. The current 131 above-ground nuclear sites in 39 states are not built for permanent storage. Burying the nation's nuclear waste stockpile would render the material less vulnerable to accidental leakage or terrorist attack. At Yucca Mountain, 90 miles north of Las Vegas, nuclear waste could be buried 1,000 feet underground, secured and closely monitored. Reid's opposition is not only parochial but misguided -- the site is safe. For the security of the nation, the Yucca Mountain project should be allowed to move forward. -------- MILITARY -------- israel / palestine Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid...Jimmy Carter In His Own Words Thursday, November 30th, 2006 Democracy Now! http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/30/1452225 Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is accusing Israel of creating an apartheid system in the West Bank and Gaza. The charge comes in his new book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." We play an address by Carter talking about the Palestine-Israel conflict, the role of the United States and much more. Carter says, "Palestinians are deprived of basic human rights, their land has been occupied, then confiscated, then colonized by the Israeli settlers." [includes rush transcript] Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is accusing Israel of creating an apartheid system in the West Bank and Gaza. The charge comes in his new book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid." The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been deeply involved in Middle East policies for the past three decades. As president he negotiated the Camp David Accords - which secured a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt. In his new book, Jimmy Carter writes, "Israel's continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land." Carter criticizes Israel for building what he describes as an imprisonment wall through the West Bank. He accuses Israel of strangling the residents of Gaza where the poverty rate has reached 70 percent and where the malnutrition rate mirrors countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. And Carter is critical of Washington's role. He writes, "The United States is squandering international prestige and goodwill and intensifying global anti-American terrorism by unofficially condoning or abetting the Israeli confiscation and colonization of Palestinian territories." Some of the most vocal critics of Carter's book have been fellow Democrats. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "It is wrong to suggest that the Jewish people would support a government in Israel or anywhere else that institutionalizes ethnically based oppression, and Democrats reject that allegation vigorously." John Conyers, the incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee, urged Carter to change the title of the book, which he described as "offensive and wrong." Meanwhile, the nation's newspapers have largely ignored Jimmy Carter's book since its publication two weeks ago. The book hasn't even been mentioned in the news pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Boston Globe or Los Angeles Times. Today on Democracy Now we are going to hear Jimmy Carter in his own words. On Tuesday night he discussed his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" at an event in Virginia. * Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President, speaking November 28th, 2006. RUSH TRANSCRIPT AMY GOODMAN: Today on Democracy Now!, we’ll hear Jimmy Carter in his own words. On Tuesday night, he discussed his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, at an event in Virginia. JIMMY CARTER: Some people have said the title is provocative, and I accept that categorization, but I don't consider the word "provocative" to be a negative description, because it's designed to provoke discussion and analysis and debate in a country where debate and discussion is almost completely absent if it involves any criticism at all of the policies of Israel. And I think the book is very balanced. Secondly, the words “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” were carefully chosen by me. First of all, it's Palestine, the area of Palestinians. It doesn't refer to Israel. I’ve never and would imply that Israel is guilty of any form of apartheid in their own country, because Arabs who live inside Israel have the same voting rights and the same citizenship rights as do the Jews who live there. And the next word is “peace.” And my hope is that the publication of this book will not only precipitate debate, as I’ve already mentioned, but also will rejuvenate an absolutely dormant or absent peace process. For the last six years there's not been one single day of good faith negotiations between Israelis and their neighbors, the Palestinians. And this is absolutely a departure from what has happened under all previous presidents since Israel became a nation. We’ve all negotiated or attempted to negotiate peace agreements. That has been totally absent now for six years. So “peace.” And then the last two words, “not apartheid.” The alternative to peace is apartheid, not inside Israel, to repeat myself, but in the West Bank and Gaza and East Jerusalem, the Palestinian territory. And there, apartheid exists in its more despicable forms, that Palestinians are deprived of basic human rights. Their land has been occupied and then confiscated and then colonized by the Israeli settlers. And they have now more than 205 settlements in the West Bank itself. And what has happened is, over a period of years, the Israelis have connected settlements with highways, and those highways make the West Bank look like a honeycomb and maybe a spider web. You can envision it. And in many cases, most cases, the Palestinians are prevented from using the highways at all, and in many cases, even from crossing the highways. I’d like to make one other point. When Israel was founded back in 1948 by the United Nations, Israel was allocated 56% of what we would call “the holy land” between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. After the wars, when the Arabs tried to destroy Israel, treaties were worked out, and Israel wound up with 77% of the holy land. 22% was designated as the West Bank, and 1% only, Gaza. So at the optimum case, as recognized by all the United Nations resolutions, Israel would wind up with 77% of the area, and the Palestinians only 23%, including Gaza and the West Bank. And remember that Gaza is on the sea coast, where the Philistines lived during the time of King David, and it’s separated by 40 kilometers, about 30 miles, from the rest of Palestinian territory. So in order for a Palestinian to go from Gaza to the West Bank, they have to go through 30 miles of Israeli land, though that’s just a geographical description. This book is designed to restimulate the prospect for peace. And I’m going to just read three options that Israelis face. And I’d like to say at the beginning that none of them are completely acceptable to all Israelis. But for the last 40 years, a strong majority of Israelis have preferred to relinquish Arab land in return for peace. And this sentiment prevailed until the time when Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated by an irate Israeli who didn't like what Rabin and Shimon Peres had done at Oslo in negotiating a peace agreement for which they both received the Nobel Peace Prize. AMY GOODMAN: Former US President Jimmy Carter, speaking in Virginia. We’ll come back to this address in a minute. [break] AMY GOODMAN: We return to the words of former President Jimmy Carter. He was speaking Tuesday night at a book event in Virginia, where he read from his new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. JIMMY CARTER: Although a clear majority of Israelis are persistently willing to accept terms that are tolerable to most of their Arab neighbors, it is clear that none of the options is attractive for all of the Israelis. And these are the three options. First one has been discussed quite extensively and most persistently by the present prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, who presented this thesis quite early in his career as a young member of the Israeli parliament -- he's now the prime minister -- a forceful annexation of Palestine and its legal absorption into Israel, which would give large numbers of non-Jewish citizens the right to vote and live as equals under the law. So, a large sectarian nation involving both Israelis and Palestinians is this option. This would directly violate international standards and the Camp David Accords, which are the basis for peace with Egypt. At the same time, non-Jewish citizens would immediately make up a powerful swing vote if other Israelis were divided. In other words, if Israelis, who now have a majority, were divided 60-40 or 50-50, as you could see, then if the Palestinians voted as a bloc, they would prevail in establishing the basic policies of Israel, if other Israelis were divided. It would also maybe constitute an outright majority in the new greater Israel. This is because of demographic trends. The Palestinians have a much higher birthrate than do the Israelis, the Israeli Jews. In fact, in Gaza, which I describe, the Palestinian birthrate is 4.7% annually, which is the highest in the world. And that means that in Gaza at this time, half their citizens are 15 years old or less. Israel would be further isolated and condemned by the international community. So I think within 20 years or less, in a combined Israel and Palestinian land, the Arabs would actually have a majority, more than the Jews. Second, a system of apartheid -- this is, remember, in Palestine -- with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights. This is a policy now being followed, although many citizens of Israel deride the racist connotation, which I certainly don’t imply, of prescribing permanent second-class status for the Palestinians. As one prominent Israeli stated, quote, “I am afraid that we are moving toward a government like that of South Africa, with a dual society of Jewish rulers and Arab subjects with few rights of citizenship. The West Bank,” this Israel said, “is not worth it.” And that’s a majority -- that’s the opinion of a majority of Israelis. An unacceptable modification of this choice now being proposed is the taking of substantial portions of the occupied territory with the remaining Palestinians completely surrounded by walls, fences and Israeli checkpoints, living as prisoners within the small portion of land left to them. I think you can quickly see the unacceptability of both of those options. There's only one option left, and that is withdrawal to the 1967 border, as specified in UN Resolution 242 and as promised legally by the Israeli government in the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Agreement and prescribed in the Road Map of the International Quartet. You remember, the Quartet consists of the United States and Russia and the United Nations and the European Union. Those four comprise a Quartet. And they have devised the latest proposal, known as the Road Map for Peace, which has been enthusiastically endorsed by President Bush, as you know. This is the most attractive option and the only one that can ultimately be acceptable as a basis for peace. Good faith negotiations can lead to mutually agreeable exchanges of land, perhaps permitting a number of Israeli settlers to remain in their present homes near Jerusalem inside Palestinian territory. One version of this choice was spelled out in the Geneva Initiative. The Geneva Initiative is described in a separate chapter. I was involved, in some ways, in the preparation of the Geneva Initiative, and I was there and made the keynote speech in Geneva when this initiative was prescribed. But what it does do is work out a compromise between the Palestinians and the Israelis through which about half of the total Israelis who live now in the West Bank could stay where they are, and the others would withdraw, which would still leave the Palestinians with a contiguous -- that is, a constant -- area of land over which they could have a united government of Palestinians. And also a part of that was a swap of land. Whenever the Palestinians would give up part of their land, where the large Jewish settlements are built, then the Israelis would give up an equal amount of land that might lie just west of Gaza or some parts -- relatively uninhabited parts -- of Israel. So it was a swap of land for land. The other step was the right of return. This is a very important thing for Palestinians, none of whom would give this up. It's guaranteed in United Nations Resolution 194. The right of Palestinians to return to their homeland, or either to be compensated for their property if they can prove that they actually have title to that property. And a compromise worked out in the Geneva Initiative was, okay, the Palestinians can return, but they can return only to Palestine. They cannot return to Israel, the new nation of Israel, unless Israelis approve each application for return. But they would still be -- have available to them some kind of compensation. And the third major issue -- I’m summarizing very quickly -- is the settlement of the property, about who controls or owns East Jerusalem. And this is covered quite extensively throughout the book. But a very good compromise was reached, where the holy places would be under the complete control of the Arabs, on the one hand, and the Jews, on the other, including the Wailing Wall and the adjacent land. And then the rest of East Jerusalem would be administered by a joint commission that would take care of housing and schools and garbage collection and water and electricity and that sort of thing. So it was a very good compromise. In my opinion, ultimately something very close to the Geneva Initiative described in this book is the only avenue toward permanent peace for Israel, with justice and peace for their Palestinian neighbors. So the book is deliberately -- I wouldn't say controversial, but it's deliberately designed to be provocative, because, as I said earlier, in Israel and in Europe, these kind of issues are debated every day, in a most vehement way, particularly in Israel. Pros and cons, arguing back and forth, in the news media, television, radio, the major newspapers. Never, in this country, do you hear any of these issues proposed publicly by an elected member of the House or the Senate or in the White House or NBC or ABC or CBS, New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times. Never. And I think it's time for Americans to start looking at the facts about the Mid-East situation. And only then, and based on the knowledge of the facts, will we ever have a chance to move forward and consummate a peace agreement that would give Israel what they need and what they deserve -- permanent peace, recognized by their neighbors and all Arab countries and the rest of the world -- and the Palestinians to have their human rights, their land and a chance to have their own state, side by side, living in peace with their Israeli neighbors. AMY GOODMAN: Afterward President Jimmy Carter spoke on Tuesday about his book, Palestine: Apartheid Not Peace [sic], he took questions from the audience. He was asked to outline what a balanced US-Middle East policy would look like. Again, his book is called Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. JIMMY CARTER: Yeah, the word “balance” is one that's almost unacceptable in our country. If you had a candidate for Congress running either Democratic or Republican and they announced to the general public, “I’m going to take a balanced position between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” they would never be elected. That's an impossibility in our country. But that doesn't preclude an incumbent administration from demonstrating with their own actions and words that they are concerned about Israeli peace, they are also concerned about peace and justice for the Palestinians. And that's what I did. It’s what Richard Nixon did. It’s what Ronald Reagan did after I left office. It’s what George Bush, Sr. did. It’s what Bill Clinton did. But it's not being done now. There is a general feeling throughout the Arab world, throughout Europe, not even noticed in this country, that our present administration has not given any consideration, in my opinion, to the plight of the Palestinians. And you don't have to be anti-Israel to protect the rights of the Palestinians to have their own land and to live in peace and without being subjugated by an occupying power. So I think that that is a proper approach. If it is impossible during the next two years of President Bush's administration for him to take that, to use your word, “balanced” approach, then as a fallback, it may be possible for the International Quartet to take that role. And that would obviously be the United States playing a major role, but not the only role, and for it to involve the United Nations and Russia and the European Union. And I think they could say, okay, let us orchestrate peace talks based on United Nations resolutions, based on the Camp David Agreement that I worked out, based on the Oslo Agreement, and based on the will of a majority of Israeli citizens, and based on the Road Map that we ourselves have prescribed. By the way, every element of the Road Map has been adopted enthusiastically by the Palestinian side. None of the key elements in the Road Map have been adopted by the Israeli side. They have rejected all of them. And I have the actual action of the Israeli cabinet in the appendix to this book. So, to summarize, the international group of leaders, the Quartet, could take strong action to implement the terms of the Road Map. Thank you all very much, and I will sign a few books. AMY GOODMAN: Former US President Jimmy Carter talking about his new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. -------- latin america Ex-Mexican President Ordered to Stand Trial for Tlatelolco Massacre Thursday, November 30th, 2006 Democracy Now! Headlines http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/30/1452216 In Mexico, former President Luis Echeverria has been ordered to stand trial for his role in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre of student protesters. Echeverria was interior minister at the time and has been accused of ordering government forces to open fire. The killings occurred ten days before Mexico hosted the Olympic Games. Human rights groups estimate up to three hundred people were killed. -------- POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS / JUSTICE -------- torture CIA torture victim expresses confidence in US justice system Thursday, November 30, 2006 http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=33823 WASHINGTON: On his first visit to the United States, Khaledel-Masri, who claims the CIA tortured him at a prison in Afghanistan, is expressing confidence in the US justice system. El-Masri spoke to reporters after a federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, heard arguments by his attorneys on Tuesday that lawsuit he filed against the former head of the CIA should be reinstated. He arrived Sunday from Germany and planned to hold a Washington news conference Wednesday morning. His accusations against the CIA have put a spotlight on the intelligence agency’s secret rendition program to capture terror suspects for interrogation in foreign countries, which has been heavily criticized by human rights groups. “I have confidence in the American judicial systems and its courts. What I really want is that they admit to me that aninjustice was done to me,” el-Masri said through a translator after the appeals court hearing. “I would like an explanation and I wouldlike an apology.”’ El-Masri previously was denied entry into the United States when he arrived to publicize the filing of his lawsuit last year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which has supported his case. In recent weeks, he was issued a visa. The lawsuit filed against former CIA director George Tenet and others was dismissed in May when a judge ruled that a trial could harm national security by revealing details about CIA activities. ACLU lawyer Ben Wizner told the court Tuesday that el-Masri was “the public face of a publicly acknowledged program.” Since the basics of the rendition program already are common knowledge, he argued, the lawsuit could be considered without exposing state secrets. Greg Katsis, a lawyer for the US Department of Justice, argued that the government properly invoked its state secrets privilege to protect information outlined in a classified affidavit that JudgeT.S. Ellis III read before dismissing the lawsuit. El-Masri alleges he was mistakenly identified as an associate of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers and was kidnapped while attempting to enter Macedonia for a vacation on Dec. 31, 2003. He claims he was flown to a CIA-run prison known as the “salt pit” in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was beaten and sodomized with an object during five months in captivity. The CIA has refused throughout to comment on el-Masri’s allegations. El-Masri’s allegations also are the subject of a German parliamentary investigation that is trying to clarify when German government officials became aware of el-Masri’s case and whether German security services participated in interrogations in Afghanistan. The appeals court usually takes several weeks to issue its ruling. -------- POLITICS -------- us politics Blood fatigue by Robert C. Koehler November 30, 2006 http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/20/2006/2265 Troublemaker Charles Rangel, the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has a deliciously bad idea. The New York congressman recently reprised his audacious proposal - first made nearly four years ago, with the U.S. about to launch Operation Iraqi Quagmire - to reinstate the draft. He reasoned that, if a military action is really necessary, we should, you know, share the sacrifice: get congressmen's' children, presumably even Jenna and Barbara, involved in the action. And if it isn't, we shouldn't go to war. As a faux-naive device for exposing hypocrisy, Rangel's idea is worthy of Michael Moore, if not Borat. The hemming and hawing of establishment opposition is worth savoring for a news cycle. But the real reason why the draft, so passionately defended by conservatives during the Vietnam era, is no longer "necessary" or wanted by the military-industrial-media complex is that the country is far too peace-loving to tolerate it. What the proponents of the New Military can't say is that a reinstated draft would blow the whole game. The draft equals Vietnam Syndrome - the public's blood fatigue and rescinded mandate for military adventurism. A draft would wake up Generation Y. This is the one lesson the militarists have learned from the '60s. Hell no, they won't go - not with blind obedience they won't. The draft would put the wars hatched in think tanks like Project for the New American Century under too much scrutiny. It'd be a mess. Far better to wage war with the army we can get: the truly gung-ho, the desperate, the deluded. And with stop-loss orders, we can recycle these men and women through the meat grinder again and again. We don't need the draft, congressman, but thanks anyway. All of which makes Rangel's threatened legislation immensely enticing. "There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that . . . kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," he said on "Face the Nation." This indictment is so extraordinary it's worth a pause long enough to let a shudder pass through our bodies. If kids from gated communities would have had to suit up, inhale depleted uranium dust, maybe come home with shrapnel in their skulls, the war pushers would have said "forget it" to the whole enterprise? Well, we sort of know this, don't we? Rangel's proposal forces us to stop being in denial about what we know. It forces us to put words to it. And as we do so, the ache of awakening only intensifies. And the more we look at what we're really asking of our kids - or other people's kids - the more we realize that the draft is a bad idea because the military itself, down to its core principles, is a deeply flawed institution that needs rethinking as we confront the requirements of the 21st century. I wonder, for instance, what sense it makes that an institution that manifests the worst of human nature and is premised on blatant moral relativism - it's acceptable to kill, might makes right - commands half the federal budget? Pageantry and parade rhetoric aside, this is an institution that dehumanizes not only "the enemy" but, all too often, its own children. For instance, we've evolved as a nation to a belief in gender equality that is belied by the macho tradition of the military. Women are now accepted in the ranks, but not in the sustaining mythology. The traditional belief is that military service is the path to manhood, not womanhood. This creates a fearful paradox, which also has another name: rape. The best intentions in the world won't make this go away; the problem is endemic. "When you are over there, you are lower than dirt; you are expendable as a soldier in general, and as a woman, it's worse," said U.S. Army Specialist Suzanne Swift, who refused to redeploy with her unit to Iraq at the beginning of this year because of sexual harassment. She's hardly alone. A House Veterans Affairs study, which the Bush administration tried to suppress, found that 11 percent of the women in the National Guard and Reserve had experienced rape and 60 percent had been sexually harassed. Beyond the specific experiences of women, the military is notorious for using GIs as guinea pigs, through forced inoculations with experimental vaccines and exposure to nuclear radiation and all manner of toxic substances, from Agent Orange to depleted uranium. Gulf War Syndrome has sickened a third of the 1991 fighting force in Iraq and Kuwait and claimed more than 10,000 lives. And in keeping with its policy of contempt for men and women in the ranks, the brass have repeatedly denied responsibility for the mystery illnesses veterans contract. For all these reasons and more, the draft is a terrible idea and the military an unfit focal point for the ideal of national service. But I applaud Rangel's scheme to force our hypocrisy about it out into the open. Robert Koehler, an award-winning, Chicago-based journalist, is an editor at Tribune Media Services and nationally syndicated writer. You can respond to this column at bkoehler@tribune.com or visit his Web site at commonwonders.com. © 2006 Tribune Media Services, Inc. -------- ENERGY -------- alternative energy Biofuel Markets Hinge on Biomass Progress - Report Story by K.T. Arasu REUTERS USA: November 30, 2006 http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/39253/story.htm CHICAGO - The fast-expanding biofuels market could falter without significant progress in making fuel from biomass like plant stalks and wood chips, according to a report issued Wednesday. "Without a significant innovation in cellulosic ethanol, the biofuels market is likely to falter, or at least lack the pace necessary to satisfy a significant percentage of demand...", according to the report by BioWorld Today, which bills itself as the daily biotechnology newspaper. "Corn cannot conceivably handle the displacement of gasoline in the US anymore than crop-based ethanol can keep pace with global gasoline consumption without running out of steam," the report added. The global biofuel sector has been growing at a dizzying pace as motorists seek cheaper alternatives to high-priced oil, with ethanol output in the United States -- the world's largest consumer of energy -- expanding rapidly. Corn is the feedstock of choice for the US ethanol industry, while Brazil has been using the vast quantities of sugar it produces to make the clean-burning green fuel. Oil squeezed from soybeans and oil palm are being used to produce biodiesel. In both the cases of ethanol and biodiesel, the prices for the feedstocks like corn and sugar have soared. The BioWorld report said ethanol production in the United States topped the 1 billion gallon annual production mark with 1.1 billion gallons in 1992, and that production is expected to rise to around 4.3 billion by end of 2006. "Yes, this is progress, but is put into perspective when considering that in the US alone, gasoline is being consumed at an annual rate of 145 billion gallons," the report said. It said that while ethanol is the market placeholder today, cellulosic ethanol represents the evolution of the technology into the immediate future of six to 40 years. Exports at a conference earlier this month in Chicago said many investors have been reluctant to finance new cellulosic ethanol plants, which are costlier than corn-based plants, due to the extra steps needed to break down cellulose into sugars before they can be processed into fuel. They said machinery needed to harvest and compact cellulosic material such as agricultural waste for shipment are still being developed and streamlined. The report said based on current models and trends in legislative, investment and production dynamics, BioWorld estimates the market for cellulosic to have a production value of 20 billion gallons annually in 2020. "Any product that could be blended into, or even replace, gasoline as the fuel of choice for the millions of automobiles in use on the roads, stands to share or inherit immense market share," the report said. The report said it is possible that corn farmers may be unequipped to handle the demand for biofuels feedstock if the ethanol market grows by triple digits over the next two years, as may be the case, according to the current growth rate. Financing, land availability, weather-related disasters and other considerations may impinge upon their ability to handle the workload for such an "overnight" market. -------- ACTIVISTS Spying Won't Deter Us, Peace Groups Say by Aaron Glantz, November 30, 2006 (Inter Press Service) http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=10085 A coalition of U.S. peace groups is pressing ahead with plans for what it hopes will be a massive march on Washington Jan. 27, even though newly released documents show the antiwar community is under Pentagon surveillance. "The peace and justice movement helped make ending the war in Iraq the primary issue in this last election," the umbrella group United for Peace and Justice said in a statement. "The actions we take do make a difference, and now there is a new opportunity for us to move our work forward. On Election Day [Nov. 7], people took individual action by voting. On January 27, we will take collective action, as we march in Washington, D.C., to make sure Congress understands the urgency of this moment." Pentagon documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union last week show the Department of Defense monitoring the activities of a wide swath of peace groups, including Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Code Pink, the American Friends Service Committee, the War Resisters League, and United for Peace and Justice, the umbrella group organizing January's protest. "This might have a chilling effect on some groups," said United for Peace and Justice's Leslie Cagan, "particularly among high-risk communities like immigrants who don't have their papers yet and U.S. citizens or people with green cards who are of Muslim or South Asian or Middle Eastern descent. They've already been targeted by the government and they might feel like with this it's just too dangerous to come out and protest." The documents come in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union earlier this year after evidence surfaced that the Pentagon was secretly conducting surveillance of peaceful antiwar and counter-military recruitment groups, including Quakers and student groups. "We are not trying to hide anything," Veterans for Peace Director Michael McPhearson told IPS. "We are not going to fear our government because it is our government and we're citizens of this nation. All of us have served this nation, and we have the right to do this." "Veterans for Peace erected an antiwar display the week of 18 April 2005 at a local university," reads a report on a New Orleans protest from the Pentagon's Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) database. "A local army recruiter mistook the event as a memorial to fallen service members and arrived to view the display." According to the TALON report, six individuals shouted "war monger" and "baby killer" at the recruiter and a shoving match ensued. "Veterans for Peace claim to be nonviolent," the report concludes. "This incident demonstrates a propensity for violence, and the Veterans for Peace should be viewed as a possible threat to Army and DoD [Defense Department] personnel." Another Pentagon report documents an Apr. 5, 2005, protest in New Mexico. "Veterans for Peace (veteransforpeace.org), a peaceful antiwar/anti-military organization, held a protest east of the student union at New Mexico State University Campus in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Veterans for Peace members set up hundreds of white crosses in an open field representing soldiers killed in Iraq and were handing out antiwar, anti-military literature." The report, which was prepared by an "active duty U.S. Army officer," goes on to mention that the group was planning similar low-key demonstrations at seven other universities in the U.S. Midwest, South, and Northeast. "Veterans for Peace is a peaceful organization," it says, "but there is a potential future protests could become violent." After the document's release, Pentagon officials told reporters the material on antiwar groups should not have been collected. "I don't want it, we shouldn't have had it, not interested in it," Daniel Baur, the acting director of the Defense Department's counterintelligence field activity unit, told the New York Times. "I don't want to deal with it." Baur told the Times his agency is no longer monitoring peace groups. "I don't think the policy was as clear as it could have been," he said. Once the problem was discovered, he said, "We fixed it." Baur told the Times more than 180 entries in the database related to war protests were deleted from the system last year. Experts on government spying caution not to take the Pentagon at its word, however. The American Civil Liberties Union notes the Defense Department documents reveal that other government agencies were also involved in the spying. In one report, a Department of Homeland Security agent warned after a nonviolent protest by the War Resisters League at a military recruiting station that the group may favor"civil disobedience and vandalism." The report indicates that the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces in Atlanta and New York were briefed on planned protests. "In order to justify spying you have to have something called a predicate, which means there has to be some possibility of some kind of illegal activity," intelligence analyst Chip Berlet told IPS from his office at Political Research Associates in Massachusetts. "It has to be built around the idea of violence," he said, "or the threat of violence or some kind of gunrunning and bomb-making, and so what they have is a career necessity to find predicates so that there is a tendency to look at any situation and say 'this could lead to violence.' And the next step is that if you can't find the next evidence, then what you do is the agent in place helps the group build a bomb or buy weapons." So far, there's no evidence the Pentagon or federal law enforcement are involved instigating violence among opponents of the Iraq war, but during the Vietnam War era, FBI counterintelligence programs often attempted to provoke peaceful activists. According to a U.S. Senate Committee chaired by Idaho Senator Frank Church, this included "sending an anonymous letter to the leader of a Chicago street gang (described as 'violence-prone') stating that the Black Panthers were supposed to have 'a hit out for you.' The letter was suggested because it "may intensify … animosity" and cause the street gang leader to 'take retaliatory action.'" The Church committee also reported in that in 1968, "Bureau headquarters explained to the field that Dr. [Martin Luther] King must be destroyed because he was seen as a potential 'messiah' who could 'unify and electrify' the 'black nationalist movement.' Indeed, to the FBI he was a potential threat because he might 'abandon his supposed 'obedience' to white liberal doctrines (nonviolence). In short, a nonviolent man was to be secretly attacked and destroyed as insurance against his abandoning nonviolence." "This is not new in the history of this country, but it is outrageous," United for Peace and Justice's Leslie Cagan said of the Bush administration's spying on antiwar activists. "If we just look at this issue in isolation then we're missing the heart of the matter," she added. "One of the main things we have to be concerned about is how this whole war on terror plays out here at home and how they use it to justify absolutely everything they do, no matter how outrageous." ---- Anti-war Democrat has ties to U.S.' prewar Iraq claims Freshman lawmaker worked for Pentagon unit touting al-Qaida link By GREG MILLER Los Angeles Times Nov. 24, 2006 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/4358468.html WASHINGTON — Of all the Democrats who rode a wave of public anger about Iraq to election victories this month, Chris Carney had the most unlikely credentials as a war critic. Before winning the race for Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District, Carney was part of an intelligence unit at the Pentagon that was responsible for some of the most alarming — and, it turned out, unfounded — prewar claims about Iraq. Assigned to search for links between Iraq and al-Qaida, the unit reached a series of conclusions, including that a Sept. 11 hijacker had met with an Iraqi agent in Prague, that since have been widely discredited. The Pentagon unit was created and run by one of the Iraq war's principal architects, then-Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. Carney took part in briefings at the White House and the Pentagon that disparaged the CIA for underestimating the relationship between Baghdad and the terrorist network. Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials frequently touted the findings to bolster the case for war. Despite his background, Carney campaigned as an anti-war Democrat and said he got a "very warm reception" when he arrived at Capitol Hill this week to take part in orientation activities for incoming members. Carney is a lifelong Democrat, according to his press secretary. "They are intrigued," Carney said of his fellow freshmen. "But I'm not sure all of them know about this." Not apologetic Carney's election underscores the conservative leanings of some of the newly arriving Democrats who have given their party control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in more than a decade. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said she was disturbed by the work that came out of Feith's office but doubted that members would hold that against Carney. Eshoo said she met Carney this week, and "he seems really lovely." "I think that in retrospect that what happened there is deeply troubling, and we're paying a price for it," Eshoo said. "But I don't want to cast judgment on him." Carney, 47, is not apologetic about his work for Feith's unit at the Pentagon. "I certainly stand by the fact that I believe there was some sort of relationship," he said in an interview. "On a scale from zero to 10, with zero being no relationship and 10 perfect operational coordination," Carney said, the Iraq-al-Qaida link was "somewhere in the 2.5 range." That appears to be a more qualified assessment than the so-called Counterterrorism Evaluation Group presented to policymakers during a series of briefings in 2002. In one briefing slide, the group asserted that there was "more than a decade of numerous contacts" between Iraq and al-Qaida, and that there were "multiple areas of cooperation," possibly including the Sept. 11 attacks. Didn't expect to win race Carney, a reserve officer in the U.S. Navy and political science professor at Pennsylvania State University, wasn't expected to win his conservative-leaning district in eastern Pennsylvania. But his chances improved when the Republican incumbent, Don Sherwood, admitted he had a five-year extramarital affair and later denied accusations that he had choked his mistress. Carney said he