July 2006 E-Newsletter

We extend our sincere and profuse apologies for the lack of a newsletter over the past 2 months. When last we produced a newsletter in April, the Divine Strake test blast had just been announced. Since that time we have been involved both in the legal action, coalition building and direct action which has made our routine activities more challenging to complete. This newsletter will be a bit longer than normal, covering April through June. We will release another newsletter covering July in early August.

About Our Main Programs

Skull Valley

The BLM comment period closed on May 8, after receiving approximately 7000 comments. The BLM has indicated that no decision is likely before the end of 2006. In a hopeful development, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has indicated that the process by which the original contract was approved was irregular, and that this may impact its final approval. Information compiled by the Utah Department of Transportation, indicates that the trucks that would be used by PFS to transport waste from an intermodal transfer station would be too big for the road, and the condition of the road is such that it could not withstand the traffic and weight. At the end of June, an amendment was added to the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that would restrict the storage of spent fuel to states that already have nuclear power plants. While this amendment is good news for Utah, the amendment also includes language that would allow other marginalized and disenfranchised groups to become prey for the big energy companies and the Department of Energy. NIRS is actively fighting this amendment. Margene Bullcreek recently participated in a Chamber of Commerce press conference in Salt Lake City on April 10. We have a link to an MP3 of her comments.

Yucca Mountain

Because of the numerous quality assurance issues, the opening date on Yucca Mountain has been pushed back to 2020. In response Sen. Pete Domenici R-NM threatened to introduce legislation to make changes in the project to ease industry concerns. On April 4, this legislation was introduced, and among other provisions, raises the ceiling on the amount of waste that will be accepted to 132,000 tons , and opens the possibility of reprocessing, or " recycling" as Senator Domenici calls it. The bill also expedites a railroad spur, and water use, both of which are being fought by the State of Nevada, and formally designates 147,000 acres of land surrounding Yucca Mountain as under the control of the Department of Energy. Much of this land is claimed by the Western Shoshone Nation under the Treaty of Ruby Valley. Near the end of June, the bill failed, with Senators saying that it tried to do too much too fast, and did not address reprocessing. There also appears to be a timing issue which might make the bills passage in the next session. If the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership gains traction, reprocessing may become more politically viable.

Energy Solutions

Envirocare merged with Scientech and BNG, the American subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuel in February, forming Energy Solutions. In June, the acquisition of Duratek was finalized. Energy Solutions is now pushing for a piece of the re-processing pie. It has bid for a contract to operate a pilot plant. but is tight-lipped about where such a plant may be located. It acquired re-processing expertise with its purchase of Duratek. It is also expressing the opinion that reprocessing technology will make the PFS site obsolete. The merger/acquisition of BNG America has made it difficult to track the activities of the company, as press coverage is not always specific about whether BNG means the American nuclear waste branch, or the portion still owned by British Nuclear Fuels. In June we learned that a train bound for the Clive, Utah facility with a load of radioactive material derailed in Michigan. Disturbingly, neither personnel from the decommissioned facility, rail personnel or emergency response personnel seemed to know what the contents were (compare the accounts in the three articles we posted). The emergency response personnel also seemed unprepared for dealing with a toxic or radioactive accident, and didn' t even attempt to check for elevated radiation levels. We are very concerned at the lack of training, or funding for it, even as experts point to railways as a favored target of terrorists and saboteurs.

Recent Events

Divine Strake

Since our last newsletter, we have seen the formation of a 50+ member coalition to oppose the test, a 3-week postponement, an " indefinite" postponement, actions in Reno, St George, Kanab and at the Nevada Test Site to oppose it, dissent noted in the media in Boise, a petition drive in St. George and most recently a court action and withdrawal of the Finding of No Significant Impact. There continues to be controversy over whether adequate soil testing has been done. The government has agreed to public meetings in Las Vegas and St. George, and perhaps in Salt Lake City. We urge you to attend these meetings. The government has also indicated that it would be too risky to conduct the test during the summer " lightning" months, and that a new date would be scheduled no earlier than September. Although Congress discontinued funding for the " bunker buster" or Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator in October of 2005, this test clearly supports the same objectives. The coalition continues to plan opposing actions, and we will release blueprints soon for actions you can take locally, even if you are not in Nevada, Idaho or Utah. Please visit our " Divine Strake" page for current news and commentary about the test, as well as information about direct action to oppose it.

Weapons Issues

The Bush Administration has been taking very dangerous steps with our security, under secret directives going back to 2002, the Nuclear Posture Review of 2002, and now the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. An amendment has been attached to the Defense Appropriations Bill by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), that would ask the president to determine whether the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was still relevant, and if not to determine what steps are necessary to formally withdraw, and announce this action to the world. At that point, there would remain few barriers to renewed nuclear testing. The groundwork for this position was laid back in 2003. The United States is talking and acting tough with Iran about insisting it cease nuclear enrichment, although that right is guaranteed to Iran under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. These demands are provoking Iran to threaten to withdraw from the treaty. At the same time, the United States proposes an alliance with India, a non-signatory that would allow the sharing of information explicitly forbidden under the treaty. Two weapons labs are vying for the honor of designing the next generation of nuclear weapons under the name Reliable Replacement Warhead program, and the rate of plutonium " pit" (weapon trigger) production at Los Alamos is set to quadruple. We are seeing the long term legacy of the failure of the Pentagon to clean up its messes in Hanford and Savannah River, Lawrence Livermore and other sites, and the costs skyrocketing. Despite claims by nuclear proponents that the Nuclear Industry has done a good job of taking care of its waste, the evidence is to the contrary. And finally, despite numerous security problems with the firm, the Department of Energy decided to renew the Nevada Test Site security contract with Wackenhut.

Grassroots and Local Legislative Resistance to the Nuclear Industry

Oyster Creek, Vermont Yankee, A landmark decision was made in federal court at the beginning of June. A number of groups including the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace challenged the environmental report that did not account for the threat of terrorism, should spent fuel be stored on site. The court found that this threat must be assessed. There have been far-reaching effects to this decision. Opponents of the re-licensing of Oyster Creek in New Jersey, and the proposed PFS dump in Utah both see this decision as a possible support for their opposition. In May, a federal court dealt another set-back to states wanting to have control over the shipping of nuclear waste within their borders. A Washington State law with overwhelming public support was successfully challenged by the Department of Energy. The court found it to violate the Atomic Energy act and the commerce clause of the US Constitution. Some local governments are starting to protest that there is no requirement for the NRC to review emergency and evacuation plants once a plant is licensed. Even if the population and traffic patters change significantly in the vicinity of a plant, the plant owner is not required to submit, and the NRC is not required to review updated plans. Pilgrim in Massachusetts and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania are among the locations where local governments are protesting. In early May, workers were contaminated during an accident at Prairie Island in Wisconsin.

Power Plant Safety Issues

There is an interesting trend on the Reuters wire service. They have been reporting every instance of a nuclear plant falling below 100% output, as well as all planned and unplanned outages. We have been collecting these reports on our Nuclear Power Plants page. They demonstrate beyond doubt that nuclear power does not operate 24/7, and that in fact some plants operate at consistently reduced efficiency, such as the 19 outages experienced by Palo Verde since February 2004, at increased cost to their ratepayers. At Three Mile Island in late May, a control room worker failed to notice the presence of an inspector, because he was too engrossed in his video game. A damning report released in late June by the Government Accountability Office noted problems with the " safety culture" of the nuclear industry, including the NRC, and calls its oversight of nuclear power plants " ineffective." There have been siren failures, more radioactive waterleaks, radioactive parts have gone missing,

What We' re Doing

Western Shoshone Logistical Support

In May we provided support for the Western Shoshone Defense Project Spring Gathering in the form of our large army tents and water buffalo. One of the tents was also used at the Rock Creek Gathering in early June.

Divine Strake

Shundahai Network, along with the Western Shoshone Defense Project, was instrumental in getting out a press release opposing the test blast, and in getting the ball rolling on forming a coalition that within 6 weeks grew to 50+ members. We issued an invitation letter to numerous organizations, and handled media requests nationally and internationally, including Spain and Italy. The coalition planned and executed 2 events, a major event at the Nevada Test Site on May 28, and the River of Peace event in Reno on June 3. Shundahai Network provided logistics at the NTS event in the form of large gathering tents, communal kitchen, sanitary and water facilities, event literature and security equipment. There is an excellent account of this event on Deanna Taylor' s blog site. Scroll down to the May 30 entry. The coalition continues to grow. We have now brought Andrew Kishner into the coalition. He and his partner Karen Tobin organized an opposition event in Kanab, and Andrew has created an excellent web site which is serving as a repository for information on Divine Strake and the efforts to oppose it. The coalition is currently working on small local actions and strategy, and a possible event in October.

Outreach and Education

We have been tabling at a local street fair on Friday nights for the past month. We encourage you to conduct local tabling operations where possible. Let us know if you are interested, and we can give you pointers on how to get started. Outreach is particularly important in states that benefit from nuclear power, to convince residents that dumping this waste on someone else is immoral.

On Our Web Site

On our Documents page, we have fact sheets on Divine Strake and nuclear power, and will be adding more as we convert our documents to PDFs. Please download these documents and distribute them locally.

Please Contribute

We have a very lean operation in Salt Lake City, but we do still have to keep the bills paid! Donations of any amount are always welcome. You can donate securely through PayPal by pressing the button below our logo.

We will be organizing an event on October 4-10, including all of the planning and logistical support such an event requires. We will be creating information packets to help local organizers protest renewed nuclear testing, as well as the Divine Strake test. We are continuing to support Margene Bullcreek in her organizing efforts to help bring elder indigenous women together to defend their communities against environmental racism. We cannot do so without your support. Please be generous.

Volunteer Opportunities

We are always looking for volunteers to help with outreach tables at community events, flyering, phone banking, and posting articles on our web site. We are also looking for particularly motivated volunteers who would like to become subject matter experts, and contribute in substantial ways to our fact sheets and web content. Please take a look at out Volunteer Opportunities page to see our current needs.

Special Thanks

Thanks to Deanna Taylor for setting up the discussion list for the Divine Strake Coalition, and for her participation in conference calls, note taking, her blog reports of the event, and her excellent photos, which have been selected for publication in Spanish and Italian media in addition to US media. Deanna and her husband Tom King were an indispensable part of the Stop Divine Strake event on May 28, with set up, logistics, and the creation of a camp kitchen under extraordinarily difficult conditions. Thanks to all of the coalition members, especially those who contributed to cover the logistical expenses of the May 28 action. Thanks to Michelle Carfaro and her friend Corey who have been updating the website and our media list.

Stay tuned…