[New
York Times] 11/07/2004 Undaunted
by warnings from the scientific community
that the highly radioactive gas is a
carcinogen, tens of thousands of health-seekers
like Umeda are drawn each year to hot springs
in Japan that claim radon can cure an array
of ills.
[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
11/06/2004 A federal judge has
ruled that plutonium-making at Hanford
in the mid-1940s was an "abnormally
dangerous" activity that put thousands
of people in Eastern Washington at risk.
[New York
Times] 11/07/2004 A federal appeals
court ruled Friday that it was too early
to decide whether the Energy Department
should be allowed to leave radioactive
sludge in underground tanks in Washington
State instead of shipping it to a central
repository.
[Seattle
Post-Intelligencer] 11/07/2004
Egypt denied it has a secret nuclear
weapons program in an angry response
Sunday to reports that the U.N. atomic
watchdog is investigating the discovery
of plutonium particles near an Egyptian
nuclear facility.
[Seattle
Post-Intelligencer] 11/08/2004
The head of the International Atomic
Energy Agency on Monday said that a preliminary
agreement between Iran and the European
Union's three big powers over Tehran 's
nuclear program was a "step in the
right direction."
[New York Times]
11/07/2004 The world faces a ``race
against time'' to prevent nuclear terror,
the United Nation's nuclear watchdog
chief said on Monday, citing an extensive
illicit market in nuclear and radioactive
materials after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Russian officials on Saturday restarted
a nuclear reactor that sparked widespread
panic in southern Russia when it automatically
shut down earlier this week.
India test fires
nuclear-capable missile
[USA
Today] 11/07/2004 India on Sunday
tested a nuclear-capable ship-launched
missile off its eastern coast, an official
said.
[Eurekalert] 11/3/04
An international team of astronomers has produced the first ever image
of an astronomical object using high energy gamma rays, helping to
solve a 100 year old mystery - an origin of cosmic rays.
[Nature: Science Update] 11/04/04 Spinning
matter sends out two types of X-ray.
Radioactive Waste
Election/Referendum Results
[USA Today] 11/03/04]
Washington State approved a measure to block federal government from
sending radioactive waste from other states to Hanford nuclear site
until waste already there is cleaned up.
[Associated Press in the Seattle Times]
11/03/04
State officials are reviewing a voter-approved initiative that calls
for limiting the amount of nuclear waste stored at the Hanford site,
trying to determine what will be required to enforce it.Opponents of
the initiative contend its future remains in doubt despite overwhelming
support from voters Tuesday.
[Tri-City Herald] 11/05/04
PORTLAND -- Concerned that national plans will not move forward to
dispose of nuclear weapons waste, the chairmen of the advisory boards
for nine Department of Energy nuclear sites have drafted a joint
letter calling for a national forum.
"We're staring gridlock in the face," Todd
Martin, chairman of the Hanford Advisory
Board, said Thursday as the board met
in Portland.
[San Francisco Chronicle] 11/04/2004
- Breaking News
Opponents of a national nuclear waste dump in Nevada lost their chance
to put an ally in the White House with President Bush's defeat of Democratic
Sen. John Kerry.
[Kathimerini, Greece] 11/05/04
But the allegation by Ano Liosia Mayor Nikos Papadimas was refuted
by Greece’s top atomic energy agency, which said it had found
no sign of radiation at the
[Environment News Service (subscription) ]
11/04/04
The state of New Mexico is setting watchmen in place to ensure that
no high-level radioactive waste enters the ...
[Carlsbad Current-Argus]
11/05/04
CARLSBAD — The head of Carlsbad’s federal Energy Department
field office is leaving, and local leaders say they want a voice in
choosing his successor.
[Associated Press in the Seattle Times]
11/03/04
SANTA FE, N.M. - At least 602 drums of plutonium-contaminated waste
sent to the federal government's nuclear waste dump near Carlsbad,
N.M. violated a directive against shipping waste when there are questions
about whether the shipments were properly tested.An internal Environmental
[Science Magazine (subscription)]
11/04/04
Deinococcus radiodurans is extremely resistant to ionizing radiation.
How this bacterium can grow under chronic radiation [50 grays ...
[ EurekAlert, DC ] 11/05/04
... reveals that tumbleweeds, aka Russian thistle, and some other weeds
common to dry Western lands have a knack for soaking up depleted
uranium from contaminated ...
[ Kansas City Star (subscription)]
11/05/04
VIENNA, Austria - UN experts have found traces of plutonium near an
Egyptian nuclear facility and are investigating whether it could be
weapons-related or ...
[Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA]
11/03/04 Law enforcement
authorities in Chatham, Ga., have arrested
a 34-year-old man on charges that he
stole a device containing radioactive material
from Norfolk ...
[CBC News, Canada] 11/04/04
... signed last week by Ukrainian and US officials proposes $250,000
US in US government funding to develop the Ukrainian State Register
for Radiation Sources and ...
[Idaho Press-Tribune, ID] 11/05/04
... Although the state wasn't initially included in the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act, Idaho's congressional delegation has moved to make
Idahoans eligible. ...
[Mid Columbia Tri City Herald, WA]
11/05/04
People who believe their health was harmed by radioactive releases
from Hanford will not have to prove early Hanford contractors were
negligent to win their ...
[New
York Times] 11/05/04
Theodore Taylor, a theoretical
physicist who spent his early career
as a designer of streamlined nuclear
weapons and his later career as an
antinuclear campaigner, died on Oct.
28 at a nursing home in Silver Spring,
Md. He was 79 and until recently lived
in the western New York community of
Wellsville.
[Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, PA] 11/04/04
... given Dominion energy company the go-ahead to test a new licensing
process that could lead to one or more new reactors at the North
Anna nuclear power station ...
[WIVB, NY ] 11/05/04
A train derailment has halted the transfer of radioactive cargo in
West Valley. It happened ... Train
Derailment Stalls Cargo TransferWIVB
[The
Washington Post] Lockheed Martin Corp.
said yesterday it will take a $110 million
charge in the fourth quarter after losing
a six-year court battle over a failed contract
with the Energy Department for cleanup of
a radioactive-waste dump in Idaho .
[New
York Times] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission
has granted permission to the owners of the
Indian Point nuclear power complex to increase
output at one of its reactors by 3.3 percent.
[Seattle
Post-Intelligencer] 11/01/2004 Like most
of us, politicians don't know much about
isotopes. But because they know something
about money and jobs, lawmakers from Illinois
and Michigan are locked in a battle to convince
the federal government that their state and
not the other one is the perfect place for
a new lab devoted to these unstable atomic
forms.
[news@nature.com] Now scientists think they
have figured out how geological processes
conspired to create the equivalent of a 100-kilowatt
nuclear plant that produced pulses of power
every three hours for a period of about 150,000
years.
[New
York Times] A Russian atomic scientist
surrendered eight containers filled with
arms-grade nuclear material to police Tuesday
after keeping it in his garage for eight
years, Russian media reported.
[Seattle
Post Intelligencer] 10/29/2004 A measuring
device containing radioactive material was
found in a coastal Virginia pawnshop Friday,
almost two weeks after it was stolen from
a truck while the driver shopped.
[San
Francisco Chronicle] 11-01-2004 Pacific
Gas and Electric Co. and University of California
physicists are in a big spat over a proposed
Big Science project at the utility's Diablo
Canyon nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo
County .
[Las Vegas
Sun] 11/01/2004 I have heard many reasons
that try to justify the government's effort
to bury 77,000 tons of radioactive waste
just a few miles from Las Vegas , and each
one of them has been, in the language of
our youth, bogus.
[Seattle
Post Intelligencer] 10/30/2004 The key
to winning Nevada 's five electoral votes
might lie with a ridge of volcanic rock some
90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
[San Francisco Chronicle]
10/30/2004 A vote for President Bush
is a vote for the controversial Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste dump, former President Bill
Clinton said in a speech Saturday.
[New
York Times] 10/31/2004 To cries of ``Death
to America '' and ``God is Greatest'' Iran
's hard-liner-dominated parliament passed
a bill on Sunday obliging the government
to continue efforts to develop a nuclear
energy program.
[The
Washington Post] 11/01/2004 The Oct.
26 front-page story "Unprecedented
Peril Forces Tough Calls" understated
the work of the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) in securing nuclear weapons materials
in Russia .
[The
Washington Post] 10/29/2004 The United
States faces a major test with Tehran over
its nuclear program just three weeks after
the U.S. election. Yet neither candidate
has addressed the growing prospects that
diplomacy may not work, that the world may
be too divided to agree on punitive sanctions,
and that military options, after Iraq , could
spark major new domestic and international
controversy.
[The
Washington Post] 10/29/2004 But all of
Nevada cares deeply about the fate of Yucca
Mountain , which stands 90 miles west of
Las Vegas . Nevada cares so deeply that Yucca
Mountain may decide whether President Bush
or Sen. John F. Kerry wins the state's five
electoral votes on Tuesday -- and with them,
perhaps the presidency.
[Tri-City
Herald] 10/29/2004 The initiative, backed
by Heart of America Northwest, would block
shipments of waste to the Hanford reservation
until waste there from the past production
of plutonium for nuclear weapons is cleaned
up.
[Las Vegas Sun] 10/28/2004 About 429,000
gallons of radioactive wastes have been retrieved
from old storage tanks on the Oak Ridge nuclear
research and weapons reservation and shipped
to Nevada since January, officials said Wednesday.
[New
York Times] 10/29/2004 U.S. officials
were warned about the vulnerability of explosives
stored at Iraq 's Al-Qaqaa military installation
after another facility -- the country's main
nuclear complex -- was looted in April 2003,
the U.N. nuclear agency said Thursday.
EPA Posters
from New Mexico Public Meetings -- Now Available!
Based on feedback from interested parties that attended
our public meetings this past summer, we have provided
online copies (in Adobe .pdf format) of each of our
poster topics below:
EPA-DOE
Correspondence Regarding the WIPP Compliance Recertification
Application
EPA has recently issued its third letter to the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) regarding their Compliance
Recertification Application (CRA). This letter, sent
on September 2, 2004, outlines additional EPA comments
and requests for additional information.
You will find copies of all EPA & DOE correspondence
related to the CRA below in Adobe .pdf format [about
pdf format].
Requests for copies of additional enclosures or hard
copies of these documents can be made by sending an
e-mail to <lee.raymond@epa.gov>.
Update to EPA's
New Electronic Docket System -- EPA Dockets (EDOCKET)
On June 1, 2002, EPA unveiled its new electronic
docketing system, EDOCKET, for use by the Agency and
the general public. This new system supports the President's
new E-Government Strategy for expanding electronic
government to make interactions easier and more effective.
Very recently, EPA has made some changes to EDOCKET
that will result in increased speed and an easier
way to scroll through large docket indexes. These
changes include:
All new, user-friendly text on EDOCKET homepage,
including new sidebar links and tips on using the
site and eRulemaking
The return of the "Print Docket" feature
Ability to print search results
Ability to bookmark specific dockets and documents
EPA established EDOCKET #OAR-2002-0005 for the proposed
revisions to 40 CFR Part 194. The WIPP team is currently
finalizing its efforts to publish A-98-49 through
the EDOCKET system. There are some documents that
still must be scanned into the system; however, you
can view a partial list of A-98-49 documents by searching
under EDOCKET #OAR-2001-0012. We will continue to
post updates as we receive them.
For more information on the system and how it works,
please visit the EDOCKET website at: http://www.epa.gov/edocket
Final
Rule -- Alternative Provisions to 40 CFR Part 194
EPA has finalized changes to the criteria used to
determine whether the WIPP complies with the Agency's
radioactive waste disposal standards. The final rule
for this action was published in the Federal Register
on July 16, 2004. An Adobe .pdf version of the rule
can be found below:
Provide equivalent or improved oversight and
better prioritization of technical issues in EPA
inspections to evaluate waste characterization activities
at Department of Energy WIPP waste generator sites;
and
Offer more direct public input into EPA'ss decisions
about what waste can be disposed at WIPP.
Based on extensive oversight experience with the
WIPP, and after consideration of all public comments,
EPA is finalizing the following changes to the compliance
criteria:
Streamline the procedures for approving DOE's
waste characterization programs, to improve technical
oversight and public participation [Section 194.8(b)];
Allow administrative changes and minor amendments
to be made more efficiently in the future (Section
194.6);
Allow electronic versions of compliance applications
and reference materials (Sections 194.12 and 194.13);
Clarify terminology related to waste characterization
[Section 194.24(c)(3)]; and
Make minor editorial changes to other sections
of the Compliance Criteria (40 CFR Part 194) for
consistency with the above provisions.
These updates ensure that the WIPP compliance criteria
remain comprehensive and appropriate, based upon current
knowledge and information. The new provisions maintain
the current technical approach EPA uses during its
independent inspections to evaluate a site's waste
characterization capabilities, and do not lessen the
requirements the Department of Energy must meet to
comply with Agency's radioactive waste disposal standards.
The proposed rule, entitled "Criteria for the
Certification and Recertification of the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant's Compliance with 40 CFR Part 191 Disposal
Regulations; Alternative Provisions," was published
in the Federal Register on August 9, 2002, which marked
the beginning of a 120-day comment period. Public
hearings were also held in Albuquerque and Santa Fe,
New Mexico, on September 24-25, 2002. Background material
supporting this final action (i.e., Technical Support
Document, Response to Comments) is also available.
Please refer to EPA's
EDOCKET website for online .pdf versions of these
documents.
Federal Register Notice -- Receipt of the Compliance
Recertification Application
EPA has published a Federal Register Notice announcing
the receipt of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's)
Compliance Recertification Application (CRA). This
notice was published on May 24, 2004, and officially
opens the public comment period. You can view a copy
of this notice (in Adobe .pdf format) below:
An electronic docket (EDOCKET) has also been established
for this action. To view the contents of this docket
(and submit comments online), please visit EPA's
EDOCKET site and search for docket number OAR-2004-0025.
EPA-DOE Technial Meeting
-- April 20, 2004
A technical meeting between EPA and DOE's Carlsbad
Field Office (CBFO) was held on April 20, 2004, in
Washington, DC. The purpose of the meeting was to
discuss DOE's Compliance Recertification Application
(CRA) and the review process that will continue over
the next year. Below, you will find Adobe .pdf vesions
of each presentation at the meeting. Hard copies of
these presentations will be sent to our dockets as
well.
Official Compliance
Recertification Application -- Now Available!
EPA has posted the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's)
official Compliance Recertification Application (CRA)
below, which was received on March 26, 2004. A Federal
Register notice announcing the receipt of the application
and the opening of an official comment period will
be published in the coming weeks. A WIPP-NEWS
message will be sent to subscribers regarding this
notice in the near future.
EPA's chapter summaries are still available as well.
Please note that these summaries were completed in
response to DOE's draft application.
We have just recently begun our review of the official
application, so they do not necessarily take into
account any changes that have been made since the
draft submission.
In these documents, all text that has remained unchanged
since the Certification Decision is in black. Any
additions or new language is printed in blue italics,
and any text that has been deleted since the original
certification has been struck out (i.e., a line through
the text). All documents are available in Adobe .pdf
format:
EPA Approves DOE's Request
to Dispose of Compressed Waste at WIPP
On March 26, 2004, EPA approved DOE’s request
to allow disposal in WIPP of compressed waste from
the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Facility at the
Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory
site. EPA’s evaluation of this request found
that disposing of compressed waste in WIPP does not
impact the long-term performance of the repository.
As with other wastes, before allowing shipment for
disposal at WIPP, EPA will conduct an on-site inspection
to evaluate DOE’s ability to measure and track
the contents of this type of waste.
What is Compressed TRU Waste?
This type of transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste
is compressed using special equipment at the Advanced
Mixed Waste Treatment Facility within the Idaho National
Environmental and Engineering Laboratory (INEEL) site.
The Department of Energy (DOE) designed this special
equipment to compress standard 55-gallon drums of
transuranic (TRU) waste and combine them into one
waste package. Three to five of these compressed 55-gallon
drums are placed in a 100-gallon shipping container
that looks like a large 55-gallon drum Although more
waste is concentrated into one container, a shipment
of compressed waste contains less radioactivity than
a comparable shipment of standard 55-gallon drums.
This is accomplished by carefully managing the TRU
wastes that are compressed and packaged together to
meet the allowable shipping limits on radioactive
containers for WIPP.
Why does DOE want to compress waste?
In December 2002, DOE requested EPA’s approval
to dispose of waste from this compression process
in WIPP. By using this process, DOE intends to reduce
the volume of TRU waste that is to be shipped from
INEEL to WIPP. By reducing the volume of waste, DOE
also expects to reduce the transportation costs associated
with shipping the waste to WIPP.
Is compressed waste different from the
waste that already goes to WIPP?
The wastes before and after compression are classified
as TRU waste, the only type of waste that is allowed
to be disposed of at WIPP. Although the compressed
waste is still TRU waste, some of the non-radioactive
properties of the compressed waste are different than
the waste in the standard 55-gallon containers. For
example, although the 100-gallon compressed waste
containers have no more radioactivity than a standard
55-gallon container, a compressed waste drum may contains
more cellulosic, plastic, and rubber material. Because
of the these differences, EPA conducted a thorough
analysis of the DOE proposal requesting approval to
dispose of compressed waste in WIPP.
Why did EPA decide to allow this type
of waste at WIPP?
Since December 2002, EPA has been working hard to
understand and evaluate the impact that compressed
waste could have on the WIPP repository. EPA’s
analysis shows that having compressed waste in the
WIPP repository does not impact the long-term safety
and performance of WIPP. WIPP can safely contain regular
and compressed waste.
When will this type of waste by shipped
to WIPP?
Although EPA has approved DOE’s request to
dispose of compressed waste in WIPP, DOE cannot ship
compressed waste until EPA conducts inspections and
approves the waste characterization and quality assurance
programs of the waste compression process at INEEL.
These inspections are conducted at all the sites that
send waste to WIPP. They ensure that DOE knows enough
about the waste that is going to WIPP and that they
can track the waste from shipment through emplacement
in the repository.
EPA does not expect to conduct an inspection of
compressed waste activities until 2005. Compressed
waste cannot be shipped to WIPP until EPA conducts
its inspections. EPA will announce the inspection
schedule on the EPA Web site when the dates have been
determined.
How much waste will be compressed?
DOE plans to compress the waste of approximately 224,374
standard 55-gallon drums into 52,440 100-gallon drums.
According to DOE projections, the compressed waste
will be approximately 11.8% of the total volume of
contact-handled waste emplaced in WIPP.
Compressing waste containers will allow DOE to put
more actual waste containers in WIPP than DOE previously
stated. However, the radioactivity of all the WIPP
waste containers still cannot exceed the limit set
by Congress in the 1992 WIPP Land Withdrawal Act.
Where can I get more information about
compressed waste?
EPA’s letter to DOE approving the disposal
of compressed waste from INEEL and EPA’s supporting
technical evaluation is available at any of our docket
locations. This documentation can also be downloaded
in Adobe .pdf format below:
EPA Issues Final Decision
on Remote-Handled Transuranic (RH-TRU) Waste
EPA has approved the U.S. Department of Energy’s
(DOE’s) general framework for characterizing
remote-handled (RH) transuranic (TRU) waste. After
an intensive and detailed review, EPA has concluded
that the RH Waste Characterization Program Implementation
Plan (WCPIP) provides an adequate framework while
giving waste generator sites the flexibility to develop
site-specific programs for characterizing RH waste.
We are issuing this decision after careful consideration
of public comments, which came in response to our
preliminary RH determination announced on this website
and in the WIPP Bulletin in December 2003.
This approval allows DOE to proceed with developing
site-specific characterization plans for RH waste.
However, this approval does not authorize DOE to characterize
or ship RH waste to the WIPP. In order to obtain this
authorization, DOE must first submit documentation
specific to each of the waste generator sites to show
the requirements in the WCPIP have been fully met.
Each site must also be inspected and approved by EPA
to evaluate whether it is adequately implementing
the site-specific RH waste characterization programs.
EPA will make the site-specific waste characterization
plans and inspection reports available in the WIPP
dockets and on its website. The website and WIPP-NEWS
e-mail service [link to WIPP-NEWS] will also announce
opportunities for public comment on our waste characterization
activities. Please use the following links for more
information on this decision:
2004 will be a very busy year for EPA and the WIPP.
Aside from this year’s WIPP Bulletin, we have
set up an electronic update service entitled “WIPP-NEWS”
to keep you informed about EPA’s WIPP-related
efforts. We will send out periodic e-mail updates
to any interested subscribers on current topics such
as recertification and ongoing inspection activities.
Update to EPA's New Electronic Docket System --
EPA Dockets (EDOCKET)
On June 1, 2002, EPA unveiled its new electronic
docketing system, EDOCKET, for use by the Agency and
the general public. This new system supports the President's
new E-Government Strategy for expanding electronic
government to make interactions easier and more effective.
EPA established EDOCKET #OAR-2002-0005 for the proposed
revisions to 40 CFR Part 194. The WIPP team is currently
finalizing its efforts to publish A-98-49 through
the EDOCKET system. There are some documents that
still must be scanned into the system; however, you
can view a partial list of A-98-49 documents by searching
under EDOCKET #OAR-2001-0012. We will continue to
post updates as we receive them.
For more information on the system and how it works,
please visit the EDOCKET
website.
EPA conducted a radiation emergency training
exercise in Leavenworth, Kansas, during the week
of July 26. The exercise, dubbed "Ruby
Slippers," simulated a radiological emergency;
no hazardous materials were actually be used.
