NucNews December 24, 2006


-------- NUCLEAR 


-------- britain

Consultation exercise a switch off

24 December 2006 UK Evening Star
	
http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED22%20Dec%202006%2007%3A45%3A40%3A447

A CONSULTATION exercise over the future of the Sizewell A site after the power station finishes producing electricity at the end of this year has proved a big “switch-off” for the public.

The consultation cost £30,000 with letters going out to 500 organisations and 13,500 leaflets being distributed.

But only 436 people bothered to fill in questionnaires - equivalent to about £68 for each form.

A total of only 59 people attended three public meetings - in Saxmundham, Aldeburgh and Leiston.

While the consultants say the response is better than that experienced elsewhere in the country, it has disappointed some members of the Sizewell Stakeholder Group (SSG) which commissioned the month-long exercise.

The SSG - set up to improve liaison between the nuclear site and the local community - is shortly to advise the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which now owns the A station site, on its preferred use for the land.

The power station is due to shut down for good on December 31 after reaching the end of its 40-year lifetime.

Options being considered include further use by industry, storage of radioactive waste and a return to “greenfield” condition.

Only 206 people returned questionnaires which were made available at libraries at other public buildings while only 230 filled in the form on-line.

A so far unknown number of people who work at the nuclear site were among the people who filled in questionnaires.

Most people listed public health and safety, the environment and local amenity as the main issues.

A majority indicated their preferred choice for the future of the site was for nature conservation and public access.

Among the other ideas suggested by members of the public were use for a prison or detention centre, a water theme park or an incinerator.

Long term radioactive waste disposal was the least preferred option.

Richard Smith, SSG chairman, said he was disappointed with the response. “The numbers are not as high as I expected,” he said.

Michael Clark, who represents Dunwich on the SSG, said he was surprised at the small number of participants. “I was expecting more,” he said.

----

 Trouble-torn Thorp to be out of action until the summer

By Tim Webb
UK Independent 24 December 2006

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2099913.ece

The Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant, which closed in April 2005 after a serious radioactive leak, will not restart until next summer following the discovery of another technical fault.

It is the latest blow for the plant's owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which is already facing a financial crisis. The NDA funds the £2bn annual budget for cleaning up Britain's nuclear reactors and is losing an estimated £40m in income every year because of Thorp's continued closure.

Thorp, part of the Sellafield site in Cumbria, reprocesses spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium. BNFL, the company that runs Sellafield for the NDA, told The Independent on Sunday in October 2005 that Thorp would reopen in March this year. The timetable then slipped to summer 2006 and then the autumn. In September, BNFL said Thorp's restart would take place in "early 2007".

But BNFL has admitted in a staff newsletter that new technical problems, involving a filter pump in an adjoining facility, mean Thorp will not restart before April. In reality, experts say that the plant is unlikely to be operational until next summer at the earliest.

The NDA estimates it will face a £200m shortfall in 2007-08, and it is believed this figure assumes that Thorp will reopen in the spring. If the plant remains closed for longer, the NDA's budget gap will widen even further.



-------- china 

Nuclear power renaissance

2006/12/24
The China Post

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/p_detail.asp?id=98328&GRP=i&onNews=

Nuclear power, arguably the most controversial source of energy, is enjoying a global renaissance as mainland China and Westinghouse signed a multibillion dollar agreement this week in Beijing to build two nuclear power plants in Zhejiang and Guangdong.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Westinghouse beat out France's Areva SA for the agreement to build four 1,000-megawatt reactors, valued at about US$1 billion to US$2 billion each. "The reactors will use advanced technology that differs from what is in place in most of the world's existing nuclear power plants," the report said.

The new technology will make the "third generation of reactors" safer because "it uses a simpler design that relies on passive mechanisms such as gravity and the natural circulation of water to prevent accidents," the paper said.

Safer and cleaner nuclear power is no doubt helping the global nuclear power renaissance, after the disastrous Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown in the former Soviet Union 30 years ago. The catastrophe spawned anti-nuclear power movements worldwide.

Taiwan was not immune to the anti-nuclear energy fever. The island's fourth nuclear power plant in Taipei County, which was under construction when the anti-nuclear Democratic Progressive Party took power in 2000, was halted abruptly, creating a political storm that has done irreparable damage to the country. Although the project resumed later, the plant is at least three years behind schedule, a delay costing billions of dollars.

Nuclear power is not only controversial in Taiwan. It is also controversial in many other countries in the West, including the United States and France, the two countries possessing advanced nuclear power generating technology. In France, nuclear power is its major source of power supply. Japan, the world's second largest economy, also depends heavily on nuclear power.

In Taiwan, about 20 per cent of the energy supply comes from the island's three existing nuclear plants.

As the price of crude oil is skyrocketing, and the safety of nuclear power generating is improving, the world is rediscovering nuclear power. Coal-fired and oil-fired thermal power plants are not environmentally friendly, as their emissions cause climate change and air pollution.

Mainland China, the world's second largest consumer of energy, is planning to build 32 nuclear reactors by 2020. It already has 10 reactors in operation or under construction. It seems that nuclear power will become the mainland's energy of the future, as the country is busy developing its own nuclear technology for power generation.

Taiwan currently has six reactors in operation and two under construction. The first two reactors, built in 1978 and 1979, will be decommissioned in 2008 and 2009 after 30 years of service. Fortunately, the two reactors under construction will be on line in time to fill the void, becoming operational in 2009 and 2010.

For decades, the debate on nuclear power generation has never ceased. There have been pros and cons. But is there an absolutely safe, economical, available energy in the world? If not, nuclear energy should be given consideration at a time when the technology of third and fourth generation of reactors are becoming safer than ever.



-------- india 

Police launch hunt for stolen uranium in India

Sunday, December 24, 2006 (AFP)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\24\story_24-12-2006_pg4_15

RANCHI: A container packed with radioactive material has been stolen from a fortified research facility in eastern India, prompting a major hunt and fears of contamination, officials said Saturday.

“It carries uranium and radiation and could have an adverse effect in an area of 1.5 kilometres” Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Khoda warned.

Khoda said the uranium was stolen nearly three weeks ago after being moved to a research site at the densely populated town of Rajrappa from a Federal Atomic Facility near Mumbai. The United States and India this month signed a landmark atomic energy deal to give India access to western technology and nuclear fuel, despite warnings from critics that demand tighter security measures to prevent proliferation.

Khoda did not say to what degree the uranium was enriched to, although an official from Jharkhand’s Central Mine Planning and Development Institute (CMPDI) said the missing material was not highly-enriched.

“It was not highly-enriched but neither was it just yellow cake (uranium ore) and it was meant for a project but we can’t talk about that,” the official from the Ranchi-based CMPDI said on condition of anonymity “It’s useless in the hands of unskilled people,” the official said without elaborating. The capsule was stolen from a CMPDI-run facility.

Rajrappa police said they were alerted to the theft on December 4.

Arjun Munda, an opposition leader in Jharkhand’s legislative assembly, demanded speedy action. “The government must initiate immediate steps to find the apparatus as it is extremely hazardous,” he said in state capital Ranchi.

The theft comes a year after police in the northeastern state of Assam arrested two uranium thieves after detectives posing as buyers offering 1.5 million rupees (34,000 dollars) managed to recover stolen radioactive material. In 1993, some 97 kilograms of semi-processed uranium ore was stolen from another Federal Department of the Atomic Energy facility.

Jharkhand is the only Indian state that produces uranium, but New Delhi says it is not economically viable to use the low-yield product to generate nuclear energy on a commercial scale. Some Indian scientists, however, say the country’s current uranium reserves estimated at about 70,000 tonnes can generate 10,000 megawatts of electricity for 30 years.

Intelligence agencies say Jharkhand’s secluded Jadugoda uranium minefields are a target of potential thieves as it transports semi-processed yellow cake to far-off centres for further enrichment to fuel nuclear power plants.

The Indian government declined to comment but pilferage from the fortified Jaduguda mines is common knowledge, according to rights activists campaigning against the effects of radioactivity on uranium miners.

---- 

Decks cleared for two more PHWRs
Nod awaited for units at Rawatbhatta

T.S. Subramanian
Sunday, Dec 24, 2006 The Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/24/stories/2006122404371000.htm

# Excavation for foundation-pit at Kakrapar to begin in 2007
# No more construction of 220 Mwe and 540 Mwe reactors

CHENNAI: Decks have been cleared for the construction of two indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) of 700 MWe capacity each at Kakrapar in Gujarat with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests giving them the final clearance. The environmental clearance for constructing two more PHWRs of 700 MWe capacity each at Rawatbhatta in Rajasthan is awaited. This is the first time that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which builds nuclear reactors in the country, will construct PHWRs of 700 MWe. It has so far built PHWRs with capacities of 220 MWe and 540 MWe.

S.K. Agrawal, Director, Projects, NPCIL, said: ``We have received the final clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the 700 MWe indigenous PHWRs at Kakrapar. We hope to get the clearance later for two more units at Rawatbhatta.'' Pre-project activities are already under way at both the sites.

The excavation for the foundation-pit of the two 700 MWe reactors at Kakrapar, about 80 km from Surat, would begin in 2007, Mr. Agrawal said. The first pour of the concrete might take place in 2008. He called the 700 MWe PHWRs ``a technical improvement'' of the two 540 MWe PHWRs already generating electricity at Tarapur in Maharastra. ``As far as the PHWR programme is concerned, the construction of the 700 MWe units is a big jump for our indigenous programme.

There will be no more construction of 220 MWe and 540 MWe reactors in the country. We will repeat the construction of 700 MWe reactors at many places,'' Mr. Agrawal said.

There are 16 nuclear reactors operating in India, with a total capacity of 3,900 MWe. Of these 16 reactors, 14 are PHWRs, which use natural uranium as fuel, and heavy water as coolant and moderator. The remaining two are Light Water Reactors (LWRs), which use enriched uranium as fuel, and light water as coolant and moderator.

Right now, construction of seven reactors of three types is under way at four sites. They are two LWRs of 1,000 MWe each at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu; one 500 Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam, also in Tamil Nadu; two PHWRs of 220 MWe each at Rawatbhatta; and two PHWRs of 220 MWe each at Kaiga in Karnataka. 



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


-------- washington

Energy Dept. Plans Further Cleanup of Nuclear Waste in Washington State

By Steve Peacock, ThePeacockReport.com; 12/24/2006

http://tpr.typepad.com/thepeacockreport/2006/12/washington.html

HanfordNuclear "burial grounds" at a U.S. Dept. of Energy-owned wasteland in southeastern Washington state are slated to undergo additional environmental remediation this summer, part of a larger cleanup aimed at ultimately removing millions of tons of contaminated soil and materials.

The 586 square-mile area known as the Hanford Site operated for 50 years as a military plutonium-production facility, beginning with the Manhattan Project’s World War II development of one of the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

Washington Closure Hanford LLC (WHC), which DoE selected in 2005 as the prime contractor for the initiative, is vetting potential subcontractors to focus on the cleanup of specific radiological trenches and other nuclear hotspots at the sprawling Benton County complex. According to a contracting document that TPR located during a routine search of the FedBizOpps procurement database, this phase of the remediation effort will take between two and four years to complete at an additional cost of $10-$20 million.

The contracting document, dated Dec. 14, says that work for the latest procurement action involves "excavation and removal of radiologically and/or chemically contaminated soils and debris. Work may be performed in radiation areas (including High Radiation Areas and Airborne Radiation Areas)..."

This segment of the cleanup is just one part of a larger effort centering on a 210-mile stretch of land along the Colombia River corridor, portions of which in 2000 were designated as the Hanford Reach National Monument/Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. According to WHC’s website, the cleanup "is scheduled to be completed in 2012 and cost $1.9 billion." During that time, WHC will "decontaminate and remove 510 facilities, close or remediate 486 waste sites, cocoon three reactors, and dispose of about four million tons of contaminated material."

To put the breadth of this endeavor in additional context, progress made -- and progress that needs to be made -- was spelled out in a 1,256-page declassified report released a year ago.

Public meetings and updates on the Hanford Site are regularly held in Richland, WA. For further information, a DoE "public involvement" site is available.



-------- MILITARY 

Short Peace In A Terrible War

12/24/2005 The Nation Blogs
	
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=44799

Alfred Anderson died last month at the very ripe old age of 109.

But it was not the Scotsman's many years that made him remarkable at the end of his long life. It was that, to his last days, he well recalled participating in the Christmas Truce of 1914 -- that brief respite from the carnage of World War I that saw soldiers of both sides in the conflict lay down their arms, climb out of their trenches and celebrate together along the 500-mile Western Front.

Anderson was the last surviving old soldier known to have participated in what he would refer to in his later years as "a short peace in a terrible war."

That peace, which was initiated not by presidents or prime ministers, but by the soldiers themselves, serves to this day as a reminder that war is seldom so necessary -- nor so unstoppable -- as politicians would have us believe.

So it comes as no surprise that the Christmas Truce of 1914 is a bit of history that many in power have neglected over the past 90 years.

But Anderson's long survival, and his clear memory, made it impossible to write this chapter out of history.

On December 25, 1914, Anderson was an 18-year-old soldier serving with 5th Battalion, Black Watch, of the British Army, one of the first to engage in the bloody trench warfare that was the ugliest manifestation of a war that claimed 31 million lives. But on that day, there was no violence.

Rather, Anderson recalled in an interview on the 90th anniversary of the truce, "there was a dead silence that morning, right across the land as far as you could see. We shouted 'Merry Christmas,' even though nobody felt merry."

The calls of "Merry Christmas" from the Brits were answered by Germans singing: "Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht. Alles Schlaft, einsam wacht."

The Brits responded by singing "Silent Night" in English. Then, from the trenches opposite them, climbed a German soldier who held a small tree lit with candles and shouted in broken English, "Merry Christmas. We not shoot. You not shoot."

Thus, began the Christmas Truce. Soldiers of both armies -- more than a million in all -- climbed from the trenches along the Western Front to exchange cigarettes and military badges. They even played soccer, using the helmets they had taken off as goalposts. And they did not rush to again take up arms. Along some stretches of the Front, the truce lasted into January of 1915.

Finally, distant commanders forced the fighting to begin anew.

Thus, it has ever been with war. As George McGovern, the decorated World War II veteran who would become one of America's greatest champions of peace, "old men (are always) thinking up wars for young men to die in."

But Alfred Anderson remembered, well beyond the century of two world wars and too many lesser conflicts, that the young men of opposing armies often have more in common with one another than they do with the old men who send them into battle.

Once, on a Christmas Day that ought not be forgotten, the young men decided to make a short peace in a terrible war.

The memory of the courage of those who chose, however briefly, to see the humanity in one another, and to lay down the arms of one of the most brutal wars this planet has ever seen, offers hope this weekend, as Christians mark the birth of the Nazarene who was called Prince of Peace. Perhaps, someday, we will make a Christmas truce that lasts not merely through the hours of good cheer on this Holiday but the whole year long. 

----

The Christmas Truce

By Aaron Shepard
Printed in Australia’s School Magazine, Apr. 2001

http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/061.html

NOTES: The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the most remarkable incidents of World War I and perhaps of all military history. Starting in some places on Christmas Eve and in others on Christmas Day, the truce covered as much as two-thirds of the British-German front, with thousands of soldiers taking part. Perhaps most remarkably, it grew out of no single initiative but sprang up in each place spontaneously and independently. Nearly everything described here is drawn from first-hand accounts in letters and diaries of the time. Britishisms include using Nowell instead of Noël, and football instead of soccer.
	
Christmas Day, 1914

My dear sister Janet,

It is 2:00 in the morning and most of our men are asleep in their dugouts—yet I could not sleep myself before writing to you of the wonderful events of Christmas Eve. In truth, what happened seems almost like a fairy tale, and if I hadn’t been through it myself, I would scarce believe it. Just imagine: While you and the family sang carols before the fire there in London, I did the same with enemy soldiers here on the battlefields of France!

As I wrote before, there has been little serious fighting of late. The first battles of the war left so many dead that both sides have held back until replacements could come from home. So we have mostly stayed in our trenches and waited.

But what a terrible waiting it has been! Knowing that any moment an artillery shell might land and explode beside us in the trench, killing or maiming several men. And in daylight not daring to lift our heads above ground, for fear of a sniper’s bullet.

And the rain—it has fallen almost daily. Of course, it collects right in our trenches, where we must bail it out with pots and pans. And with the rain has come mud—a good foot or more deep. It splatters and cakes everything, and constantly sucks at our boots. One new recruit got his feet stuck in it, and then his hands too when he tried to get out—just like in that American story of the tar baby!

Through all this, we couldn’t help feeling curious about the German soldiers across the way. After all, they faced the same dangers we did, and slogged about in the same muck. What’s more, their first trench was only 50 yards from ours. Between us lay No Man’s Land, bordered on both sides by barbed wire—yet they were close enough we sometimes heard their voices.

Of course, we hated them when they killed our friends. But other times, we joked about them and almost felt we had something in common. And now it seems they felt the same.

Just yesterday morning—Christmas Eve Day—we had our first good freeze. Cold as we were, we welcomed it, because at least the mud froze solid. Everything was tinged white with frost, while a bright sun shone over all. Perfect Christmas weather.

During the day, there was little shelling or rifle fire from either side. And as darkness fell on our Christmas Eve, the shooting stopped entirely. Our first complete silence in months! We hoped it might promise a peaceful holiday, but we didn’t count on it. We’d been told the Germans might attack and try to catch us off guard.

I went to the dugout to rest, and lying on my cot, I must have drifted asleep. All at once my friend John was shaking me awake, saying, “Come and see! See what the Germans are doing!” I grabbed my rifle, stumbled out into the trench, and stuck my head cautiously above the sandbags.

I never hope to see a stranger and more lovely sight. Clusters of tiny lights were shining all along the German line, left and right as far as the eye could see.

“What is it?” I asked in bewilderment, and John answered, “Christmas trees!”

And so it was. The Germans had placed Christmas trees in front of their trenches, lit by candle or lantern like beacons of good will.

And then we heard their voices raised in song.

    Stille nacht, heilige nacht . . . .

This carol may not yet be familiar to us in Britain, but John knew it and translated: “Silent night, holy night.” I’ve never heard one lovelier—or more meaningful, in that quiet, clear night, its dark softened by a first-quarter moon.

When the song finished, the men in our trenches applauded. Yes, British soldiers applauding Germans! Then one of our own men started singing, and we all joined in.

    The first Nowell, the angel did say . . . .

In truth, we sounded not nearly as good as the Germans, with their fine harmonies. But they responded with enthusiastic applause of their own and then began another.

    O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum . . . .

Then we replied.

    O come all ye faithful . . . .

But this time they joined in, singing the same words in Latin.

    Adeste fideles . . . .

British and German harmonizing across No Man’s Land! I would have thought nothing could be more amazing—but what came next was more so.

“English, come over!” we heard one of them shout. “You no shoot, we no shoot.”

There in the trenches, we looked at each other in bewilderment. Then one of us shouted jokingly, “You come over here.”

To our astonishment, we saw two figures rise from the trench, climb over their barbed wire, and advance unprotected across No Man’s Land. One of them called, “Send officer to talk.”

I saw one of our men lift his rifle to the ready, and no doubt others did the same—but our captain called out, “Hold your fire.” Then he climbed out and went to meet the Germans halfway. We heard them talking, and a few minutes later, the captain came back with a German cigar in his mouth!

“We’ve agreed there will be no shooting before midnight tomorrow,” he announced. “But sentries are to remain on duty, and the rest of you, stay alert.”

Across the way, we could make out groups of two or three men starting out of trenches and coming toward us. Then some of us were climbing out too, and in minutes more, there we were in No Man’s Land, over a hundred soldiers and officers of each side, shaking hands with men we’d been trying to kill just hours earlier!

Before long a bonfire was built, and around it we mingled—British khaki and German grey. I must say, the Germans were the better dressed, with fresh uniforms for the holiday.

Only a couple of our men knew German, but more of the Germans knew English. I asked one of them why that was.

“Because many have worked in England!” he said. “Before all this, I was a waiter at the Hotel Cecil. Perhaps I waited on your table!”

“Perhaps you did!” I said, laughing.

He told me he had a girlfriend in London and that the war had interrupted their plans for marriage. I told him, “Don’t worry. We’ll have you beat by Easter, then you can come back and marry the girl.”

He laughed at that. Then he asked if I’d send her a postcard he’d give me later, and I promised I would.

Another German had been a porter at Victoria Station. He showed me a picture of his family back in Munich. His eldest sister was so lovely, I said I should like to meet her someday. He beamed and said he would like that very much and gave me his family’s address.

Even those who could not converse could still exchange gifts—our cigarettes for their cigars, our tea for their coffee, our corned beef for their sausage. Badges and buttons from uniforms changed owners, and one of our lads walked off with the infamous spiked helmet! I myself traded a jackknife for a leather equipment belt—a fine souvenir to show when I get home.

Newspapers too changed hands, and the Germans howled with laughter at ours. They assured us that France was finished and Russia nearly beaten too. We told them that was nonsense, and one of them said, “Well, you believe your newspapers and we’ll believe ours.”

Clearly they are lied to—yet after meeting these men, I wonder how truthful our own newspapers have been. These are not the “savage barbarians” we’ve read so much about. They are men with homes and families, hopes and fears, principles and, yes, love of country. In other words, men like ourselves. Why are we led to believe otherwise?

As it grew late, a few more songs were traded around the fire, and then all joined in for—I am not lying to you—“Auld Lang Syne.” Then we parted with promises to meet again tomorrow, and even some talk of a football match.

I was just starting back to the trenches when an older German clutched my arm. “My God,” he said, “why cannot we have peace and all go home?”

I told him gently, “That you must ask your emperor.”

He looked at me then, searchingly. “Perhaps, my friend. But also we must ask our hearts.”

And so, dear sister, tell me, has there ever been such a Christmas Eve in all history? And what does it all mean, this impossible befriending of enemies?

For the fighting here, of course, it means regrettably little. Decent fellows those soldiers may be, but they follow orders and we do the same. Besides, we are here to stop their army and send it home, and never could we shirk that duty.

Still, one cannot help imagine what would happen if the spirit shown here were caught by the nations of the world. Of course, disputes must always arise. But what if our leaders were to offer well wishes in place of warnings? Songs in place of slurs? Presents in place of reprisals? Would not all war end at once?

All nations say they want peace. Yet on this Christmas morning, I wonder if we want it quite enough.
 
	
Your loving brother,
Tom

----

Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon

http://www.worldwar1.com/sfcitt.htm

My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Belgium and to Flanders, to Germany to here
I fought for King and country I love dear.
'Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung,
The frozen fields of France were still, no Christmas song was sung
Our families back in England were toasting us that day
Their brave and glorious lads so far away.

I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound
Says I, "Now listen up, me boys!" each soldier strained to hear
As one young German voice sang out so clear.
"He's singing bloody well, you know!" my partner says to me
Soon, one by one, each German voice joined in harmony
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more
As Christmas brought us respite from the war
As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" struck up some lads from Kent
The next they sang was "Stille Nacht." "Tis 'Silent Night'," says I
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky
"There's someone coming toward us!" the front line sentry cried
All sights were fixed on one long figure trudging from their side
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shown on that plain so bright
As he, bravely, strode unarmed into the night
Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man's Land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave 'em hell
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home
These sons and fathers far away from families of their own
Young Sanders played his squeezebox and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more
With sad farewells we each prepared to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wonderous night
"Whose family have I fixed within my sights?"
'Twas Christmas in the trenches where the frost, so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone forevermore

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell
Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well
That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we're the same

© 1984 John McCutcheon - All rights reserved 



-------- europe

EU constitution losing support  	 	

Germany will take over the EU rotating presidency in January from Portugal

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2006 Aljazeera

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8E1D7D43-8042-494A-93C0-8069625BA8B4.htm

The current European Union constitution does not have any chance of coming into effect but its values, principles and substance could be salvaged, Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European commission, has said.
	
In an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday, Barroso said that he believed Germany, which takes over the EU's six-month rotating presidency in January, could take important steps to quickly improve the union's ability to make decisions.

Barroso, when asked about Angela Merkel's aim to save the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, said: "I want to give you an honest answer: the EU constitution in its current form will not come into effect.

"We should not fool ourselves. It's important now to maintain its values, its principles and its substance. Above all, we have to improve the decision-making mechanism, and we need to do that as quickly as possible."
   
Barroso said: "I have confidence the Germany presidency can take important steps in this direction."
   
Germany takes over the EU presidency for six months with an agenda of reviving institutional reforms. The EU is set to grow to 27 members when Bulgaria and Romania join on January 1.
   
German leaders said they hoped to map out a timetable and blueprint for the EU constitution by the end of its presidency. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister, has pointed out that two-thirds of the EU members are behind the constitution.
   
At their last summit in Brussels earlier in December, EU leaders remained divided on whether and how to revive the stalled EU constitution, a treaty stalemate expected to last well into 2008.



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

Secret FBI files on John Lennon reveal little new

Sunday, December 24, 2006
By Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06358/748364-84.stm

The FBI has finally agreed to make public the final 10 documents about the surveillance of John Lennon that it had withheld for 25 years from a University of California, Irvine, historian on the grounds that releasing them could cause "military retaliation against the United States."

Despite the fierce battle the government waged to keep the documents secret, the files released Tuesday contain information that is hardly shocking, just new details about Lennon's ties to New Left leaders and antiwar groups in London in the early 1970s, said the historian, Jon Wiener.

For example, in one memo, then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover wrote to H.R. Haldeman, President Nixon's chief aide, that "Lennon had taken an interest in 'extreme left-wing activities in Britain' and is known to be a sympathizer of Trotskyist communists in England."

Another document that had been totally blacked out on the grounds of national security when Wiener obtained it more than 20 years ago through litigation brought under the Freedom of Information Act, said that two prominent British leftists, Tariq Ali and Robin Blackburn, had courted Mr. Lennon in hopes that he would "finance a left-wing bookshop and reading room in London."

But the newly released document adds, that Mr. Lennon apparently gave them no money "despite a long courtship by Blackburn and Ali."

Rather, the previously classified document states that Mr. Lennon was using his "tangible assets" to try to get custody of his wife Yoko Ono's child, who was in the care of her former husband.

Another surveillance report states explicitly that there was "no certain proof" that Mr. Lennon had provided money "for subversive purposes," and yet another states that there was no evidence that Mr. Lennon had any formal tie to any leftist group. Only one document alludes to Mr. Lennon's music, saying he has "encouraged the belief that he holds revolutionary views ... by the content of some of his songs."

Still another describes an interview with Mr. Lennon published in the 1971 in an underground London newspaper called the Red Mole. "Lennon emphasized his proletarian background and his sympathy with the oppressed and underprivileged people of Britain and the world," the document states. Another said he had signed an appeal supporting Cambodian Prince Nordom Sihanouk, who was neutral at the time the U.S. invaded Cambodia.

Mr. Wiener and his attorneys, Dan Marmalefsky of Morrison & Forster and Mark Rosenbaum of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, all said the documents revealed that there was no sign that government officials considered Mr. Lennon a serious threat. They expressed mystification that several administrations had for so long resisted making the material public.

"The content of the files released today is an embarrassment to the U.S. government," said Mr. Wiener, 62, who has written two books on the late Beatle, "Come Together: John Lennon in His Life," and "Gimme Some Truth."

"I doubt that Tony Blair's government will launch a military strike on the U.S. in retaliation for the release of these documents. Today, we can see that the national security claims that the FBI has been making for 25 years were absurd from the beginning," said Mr. Wiener, who first requested the documents in 1981.

Mr. Wiener initially obtained some documents showing that the FBI closely monitored Mr. Lennon's activities in 1971 and 1972. The documents indicated that the Nixon administration was concerned that Mr. Lennon would support then-Sen. George S. McGovern, D-S.D., for president against Mr. Nixon in 1972, the first year that 18-year-olds could vote. The files also revealed that government officials worried that Mr. Lennon might participate in protests at the Republican National Convention.

But the FBI also withheld numerous files, saying that they were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, including part of a surveillance report on a December 1971 antiwar rock concert and rally in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Mr. Lennon urged that activist and singer John Sinclair be released from prison. Mr. Sinclair was being held on a 10-year sentence for possession of two joints of marijuana. A judge soon freed Mr. Sinclair.

Mr. Wiener sued in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking all the documents. The FBI countered that some of the documents contained "national security information provided by a foreign government under an explicit promise of confidentiality," and that release of the documents "can reasonably be expected to ... lead to foreign diplomatic, economic and military retaliation against the United States," according to a government legal brief filed in 1983.

Mr. Wiener lost the initial court skirmishes, but in 1991 he won a major victory in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that declarations filed by FBI agents provided inadequate grounds for keeping the material secret. From that point forward, the court ruled, the FBI had to file "affidavits containing sufficient detail" to allow Mr. Wiener to "intelligently advocate" for their release and for a trial judge "to intelligently judge the contest."

That decision significantly strengthened the hand of people trying to pry secret documents out of the government. Justice Department attorneys, including John Roberts, who is now the chief justice, appealed, but the Supreme Court let the ruling stand.

----

Congress rebukes FBI's Okla. City probe

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer Sun Dec 24, 2006

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061224/ap_on_go_co/oklahoma_city_congress

WASHINGTON - The FBI failed to fully investigate information suggesting other suspects may have helped Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols with the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, allowing questions to linger more than a decade after the deadly attack, a congressional inquiry concludes.

The House International Relations investigative subcommittee will release the findings of its two-year review as early as Wednesday, declaring there is no conclusive evidence of a foreign connection to the attack but far too many unanswered questions remain.

The subcommittee's report will conclude there is no doubt McVeigh and Nichols were the main perpetrators, and it discloses for the first time that Nichols confirmed to House investigators he participated in the robbery of an Arkansas gun dealer that provided the proceeds for the attack.

There have long been questions about that robbery because the FBI concluded McVeigh was in another state at the time it occurred.

The report also sharply criticizes the FBI for failing to be curious enough to pursue credible information that foreign or U.S. citizens may have had contact with Nichols or McVeigh and could have assisted their plot.

"We did our best with limited resources, and I think we moved the understanding of this issue forward a couple of notches even though important questions remain unanswered," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., the subcommittee chairman, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Rohrabacher's subcommittee saved its sharpest words for the Justice Department, saying officials there exhibited a mindset of thwarting congressional oversight and did not assist the investigation fully.

The report rebukes the FBI for not fully pursuing leads suggesting other suspects may have provided support to McVeigh and Nichols before their truck bomb killed 168 people in the main federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

The report says the inadequacy of the bureau's work was exposed two years ago when some bombing evidence overlooked for 10 years was discovered in a home linked to Nichols that had been searched repeatedly by agents.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Sunday, "Having not yet read the report, it would be inappropriate to comment on its contents."

Nonetheless, Kolko said: "The Oklahoma City bombing case was the largest case the FBI worked on before 9/11. Agents at virtually every office, domestically and overseas, covered thousands of leads. Every bit of information was investigated and reviewed. The FBI worked tirelessly to cover all of the leads and conducted a thorough and complete investigation."

Previously, the bureau has said it believes its investigation of the bombing was exhaustive and there is no credible evidence that other people were involved.

The subcommittee concludes the Justice Department should not have rushed to execute McVeigh in 2001 after he dropped his court appeals, and officials should have made more efforts to interview and question him about evidence suggesting he might have gotten help from other people who remain unpunished.

The former lead FBI agent in the case, Dan Defenbaugh, told AP a few years ago he was trying to get one last interview with McVeigh to go over unanswered questions in the case but could not get it arranged before McVeigh was executed.

Rohrabacher's report cites several leads the subcommittee believes were not fully investigated, including:

_Information that McVeigh called a German citizen living at a white supremacist compound in Oklahoma two weeks before the bombing and that two witnesses saw the men together before the bombing.

_Witness accounts that another man was seen with McVeigh around the time of the bombing. The FBI originally looked for another suspect it named John Doe 2, even providing a sketch, but abruptly dropped that line of inquiry. The subcommittee concludes that decision was a mistake.

_Findings in AP articles in 2003 and 2004 that indicated the FBI had gathered some evidence suggesting a group of neo-Nazi bank robbers may have been tied to McVeigh. The subcommittee interviewed three of those robbers, and all denied a connection. A fourth member of the gang died and a fifth member could not be located by Congress.

_Phone record and witness testimony that persons associated with Middle Eastern terrorism in the Philippines may have had contact with Nichols, and that Nichols took a book about explosives to the Philippines. The FBI and Filipino police spent months investigating such a connection, but ruled it out.

_Information from a former TV reporter concerning an Iraqi national who was in Oklahoma around the time of the bombing.



-------- ENERGY 

Price of natural gas makes coal king as energy source

By DEBBIE KELLEY 
THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE
December 24, 2006

http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1328098&secid=1

Coal is experiencing a mini-boom as an energy source for generating electricity, thanks to soaring energy demand, abundant supplies and volatile natural-gas prices.

Utilities companies have concentrated on building cleaner-burning natural-gas power plants for the past two decades. Now, 153 new coalburning power plants are under way or being proposed nationwide, according to the National Energy Technology Lab, 24 of which would convert coal to clean-burning synthetic gas and capture carbon dioxide emissions.

Although there are proposals for 30 new nuclear reactors, a spokesman from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said, it’s questionable whether they will materialize. The last nuclear power plant built in the U.S. was ordered in 1978, the year before the Three Mile Island accident stopped the growth of the industry in its tracks. Still, nuclear power is second to coal in generating electricity.

One of three coal-fired plants proposed for Colorado is under construction close to home — Xcel Energy is building its first new coalfired unit in Colorado since 1981 in Pueblo at the Comanche Generating Station. When the unit opens in 2009, about 10 trains a week will pass through Colorado Springs en route to Pueblo. Four trains carrying Xcel coal currently travel through the Springs.

More than half the nation’s electricity is supplied by coal, but in Colorado it’s 71 percent, according to the Colorado Mining Association.

Colorado is a big player in coal mining, ranking as the nation’s seventh-largest producer, with 38 million tons excavated last year, according to the Colorado Geological Survey. That’s down from a record 40 million tons in 2004, when the state was the nation’s fastest growing coal producer, because several mines temporarily shut down. But higher prices led last year’s overall sales value of coal to increase by $100 million to $850 million, the association reports.

This year’s production estimation from the Colorado Geological Survey is 35 million tons, with a more robust haul expected for 2007 because the mines that halted production are back online.

Colorado coal producers boast that their coal is cleaner burning and burns more efficiently than coal from the East.

In response to the increased demand for coal, Twentymile, the state’s top coal producer and the main supplier for Colorado Springs Utilities, stepped up production. When Peabody Energy bought the mine in 2004, annual production was 7 million to 8 million tons. This year’s output should reach 10 million tons, according to Jerry Nettleton, environmental manager, with 12 million by 2008.

The local utilities company’s long-term contracts with Peabody expire at the end of 2009, and it’s possible the price of coal will be as much as double the local utilities’ current contract average of $13 a ton, said Michele Fujimoto, fuels and materials management supervisor for the city-owned utilities.

“It depends on what the market does, but I think that coal will still be cheaper than natural gas,” she said. “We expect coal to be the lowestcost fossil fuel for electric generation.”

Colorado coal prices are as much as $36 a ton for the highest quality coal and $25 to $33 a ton for lower-grade coal, according to Coal Daily. The price averaged $21.63 a ton in 2005, according to the Energy Department, up from recent years by $5 to $10 a ton.

But the coal industry, Fujimoto said, can be as volatile in supply as the natural gas industry is in price. At times, Colorado Springs Utilities has had problems receiving full shipments of coal from Twentymile, she said. Mechanical repairs were part of the problem, a Peabody Energy spokeswoman said, as well as the need to remove coal dust after a Mine Safety and Health Administration inspection.

Fujimoto said coal prices could go higher if the federal government imposes stricter regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Carbon dioxide is not currently limited, although environmentalists are pushing for regulation because they say it contributes to global warming.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0235

or debbie.kelley@gazette.com