Codes violation requires immediate summary seizure and forfeiture of ORNL under routine "civil" (martial law) ordinances

"Oak Ridge currently stores more low-level nuclear waste than any other DOE site in the nation. Oak Ridge facilities have more than 47,000 cubic yards of low-level waste in storage - roughly a third of DOE's total inventory nationwide. 26,937 cubic yards at East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly known as the K-25 site). 11,435 cubic yards at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 8,907 cubic yards at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. Many of the containers are stored outdoors, exposed to the elements."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "DOE on mission to cut costs, clean up low-level nuclear waste", March 4, 2002

"The Oak Ridge plant remains an integral cog in the U.S. nuclear defense, producing new parts for existing weapons and recycling old warheads from retired systems. Y-12, of course, is a symbolic location for protests because the plant produced the enriched uranium used in the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 6, 1945. Y-12 also serves as the nation's principal repository for bomb-grade uranium."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Y-12 a cool place for protesters on a budget ", February 6, 2002

"It's impossible to determine whether the public, workers and the environment are being protected from hazards. The high-ranking official in Washington said she found a "consistent theme of weaknesses" in the correction plan and thus could not approve it. Roberson indicated she was dismayed and surprised by the Oak Ridge report's inadequacies. "It is unclear how this plan could have gotten through your management system in its current condition," Roberson wrote to Dever. The Oak Ridge report was not only amateurish; it was late - failing to meet the 60-day requirement for approval of a corrective action plan. On Oct. 18, Roberson sent Dever another memo, this time revoking the Oak Ridge manager's authority to approve various safety documents. In years past, whenever there was an Oak Ridge problem (be it a negative audit on storage of nuclear materials or a chemical explosion injuring workers), the federal agency blamed the contractor and took steps to make amends - sometimes dumping the contractor. This time, however, the finger is pointing directly at DOE's Oak Ridge leadership."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Holding DOE's Oak Ridge team accountable", October 31, 2001

"Which of the government's Oak Ridge nuclear facilities - the K-25 uranium-enrichment complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory or the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant - posed the greatest hazard to workers? But, for whatever reason, the federal agency has not coughed up money for a screening program to identify health problems among thousands of retired laborers at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. K-25 employees came forward last year with evidence that cross-connections in the water pipelines created the potential for contamination of drinking-water supplies. Several activists are pushing for a criminal investigation and want to halt DOE's current demolition of buildings at K-25 until the hazards have been fully evaluated (the world's largest single building contaminated by radioactive dust)."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Y-12, ORNL workers not getting fair shake", August 29, 2001

"Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a world campus, and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and security-related fallout from those tragedies will not change that. ORNL confirmed that about 1,500 foreign nationals from 69 countries - Argentina to Zaire - currently are visiting the Oak Ridge lab. Thom Mason, the director of the Spallation Neutron Source, the biggest U.S. science project under construction, is not an American citizen. "I only got my green card in July,'' Mason said. More than 100 foreign nationals are full-time members of the scientific staff, and those numbers, of course, do not reflect the number of foreign-born scientists and engineers who have become naturalized U.S. citizens over the years. Recent statistics compiled by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education show that 40 percent of the graduate degrees in nuclear engineering at U.S. institutions were awarded to foreign nationals. Similar stats are found across the sciences and math and computing."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Oak Ridge lab is truly a global community", October 10, 2001

"Frank Akers, who heads the national security directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is on special assignment to Washington working on Homeland Security. Akers reportedly is working in the office of John Gordon, director of the National Nuclear Security Administration, and he's expected to remain there for three or four months. Everything is hush-hush. "I cannot discuss his assignment," lab communications chief Billy Stair said. Akers, it appears, would be qualified for many missions. Besides being an associate director of ORNL and coordinating the Oak Ridge work for the Department of Defense, he has headed the advanced technologies effort at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant (managed by British WXT). He is a retired brigadier general in the U.S Army, having held prominent posts - such as chief of staff for the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg (the terrorist training camp for the planet Earth). The laboratory has provided the U.S. Department of Energy with a rather lengthy list of technologies that may be of help in the war against terrorism. Multiple staff meetings were held in October to discuss concepts and research projects of potential use to the campaign. "Those are lists of technologies that are capable of dealing with some of the concerns - be that rapid detection of anthrax to better tracking of individuals around the country," Madia said. Several areas in the central part of the research complex are still off-limits because of the legacy of radioactive contamination from nuclear work in the 1940s, '50s and '60s."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "ORNL lends staff to national security effort", November 12, 2001

"The biggest science project in the United States is edging ever closer to reality at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Scientists around the world are already planning experiments for the Oak Ridge facilities. "I envy the younger scientists who are going to be able to use it and exploit it," Nobel Laureate Clifford Shull remarked at the project's groundbreaking ceremonies in late 1999. Former Vice President Al Gore, who was a key supporter in the SNS startup period." (Perhaps that's why Al Gore moved the hell out of Tennessee and to the terrorists' home of preference, Boston's Harvard University, where 20 Bin Laden's live and provide scholarships to study Saudi Arabia and where the airliners took off on their kamikaze missions on 911.)
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Spallation Neutron Source work will accelerate in 2002", January 27, 2002

"ORNL was prepared. Indeed, a lot of planning was done weeks -- even months -- in advance of Science magazine's publication of research results, and all because of two words: cold fusion. By no means was the ORNL director trashing or diminishing the research conducted by Rusi Taleyarkhan and colleagues at Oak Ridge, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences. There is a lot of important science taking place currently at Oak Ridge -- on climate change [HAARP and/or Chemtrails], functional genomics, superconductivity -- but it typically doesn't require his hands-on care or direction, Madia said."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Bubble hubbub - ORNL was ready when national media burst onto scene", March 11, 2002

08/19/2001 - Updated 10:49 PM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/08/20/aqi/metros.htm

Knoxville TN Ranks #1 In Rank Air USA

KNOX, ANDERSON, LOUDON, ROANE COUNTIES RANK IN TOP 90% OF USA
FOR HUNDREDS OF OTHER AIR-POISONS (1996 EPA)

Smokey Mountains and Cumberland Plateau blocks exit of smog from E TN Valley.

American Lung Association gave Knox County, TN an "F" for FLUNKING air quality (2001)

http://www.lungusa.org/air2001/states/f_tenn.html

http://www.lungusa.org/press/envir/air_072301.html

The EPA advisors are reviewing the summary of scientific literature about fine particle soot compiled by EPA scientists. This review is a preliminary step as EPA re-examines its current health standards. Six dozen new short-term studies from across the U.S. and around the world "confirm the effects of particle pollution on premature mortality, hospital admissions, emergency department visits, doctor's visits, respiratory and cardiac effects. New studies demonstrate that infants and children, especially asthmatic children, the elderly, and those with heart or lung disease are especially sensitive to the effects of fine particle pollution. DeLucia also called on EPA to set a meaningful new "coarse" particle standard to prevent health damage from bigger, but still respirable, chunks of soot.

Tennessee counties that received an "F" air quality grade include:

Anderson, Blount, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Jefferson, Knox, Lawrence, Putnam, Rutherford, Sevier, Shelby, Sullivan, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson.

View the full State of the Air 2001 report for Tennessee.

http://www.lungusa.org/air2001/states/s_tenn.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/08/20/aqi/metros.htm

USA TODAY

US EPA (2001) 2-year old data
Number of unhealthful air days
Code Orange or worse 
Metropolitan Statistical Area 
1990 to 1999 
Knoxville, TN 
Dead Air Days per year: 23, 10, 7, 25, 16, 24, 20, 36, 54, 59

RANK IN USA FOR AIR POLLUTION

1. Riverside CA = 93 days (50% decreasing)
2. Bakersfield CA = 88 days (decreasing)
3. Fresno CA = 81 days (decreasing)
4. Atlanta GA = 61 days (increasing)
5. Knoxville TN = 59 days (#1 increasing USA)
6. Houston TX = 50 days (decreasing)
7. Baltimore MD = 40 days (decreasing)
8. Washington DC = 39 days (decreasing)
9. Sacramento CA = 38 days (decreasing)
10. Memphis TN = 36 days (increasing)
11. Charlotte NC = 34 days (decreasing)
12. Nashville, TN = 33 days (increasing)
13. Philadelphia PA = 32 days (decreasing)
14. St. Louis MO-IL = 29 days (decreasing)
15. Los Angeles-Long Beach CA = 27 days (600% decreasing)
16. Raleigh NC = 26 days (increasing)
17. Richmond VA = 25 days (decreasing)
18. New York City NY = 24 days (decreasing)
19. Pittsburgh PA = 23 days (decreasing)
20. Dallas TX = 23 days (decreasing)
21. Newark NJ = 21 days (decreasing)
22. Indianapolis IN = 21 days (decreasing)
23. Fort Worth TX = 19 days (decreasing)
24. Cleveland OH = 18 days (decreasing)
25. New Orleans LA = 18 days (decreasing)
26. Jersey City NJ = 17 days (decreasing)
27. San Diego CA = 16 days (decreasing)
28. Detroit MI = 15 days (decreasing)
29. Chicago IL = 12 days (decreasing)
30. Cincinnati OH = 12 days (decreasing)
31. Phoenix AZ = 12 days (decreasing)
32. San Antonio TX = 9 days (decreasing)
33. Rochester NY = 9 days (decreasing)
34. Buffalo NY = 8 days (decreasing)
35. Austin TX = 8 days (decreasing)
36. Albany NY = 6 days (decreasing)
37. Little Rock AR = 6 days (decreasing)
38. El Paso TX = 6 days (decreasing)
39. Charleston SC = 5 days (increasing)
40. Boston MA = 5 days (decreasing)
41. Oakland CA = 5 days (decreasing)
42. Miami FL = 5 days (decreasing)
43. Syracuse NY = 4 days (decreasing)
44. Orlando FL = 4 days (decreasing)
45. Jacksonville FL = 3 days (decreasing)
46. Salt Lake City UT = 2 days (decreasing)
47. San Jose CA = 2 days (decreasing)
48. Portland-Vancouver OR-WA = 2 days (decreasing)
49. Tuscon AZ = 2 days (decreasing) 
50. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA = 1 day
51. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL = 1 day
52. Orange County, CA = 1 day (4,500% decrease)
53. Denver CO = 1 day (1,100% decrease)
54. Albuquerque NM = 1 day (800% decrease)
55. San Francisco CA = 0 days (decreasing)
56. Minneapolis-St. Paul MN-WI = 0 days
57. Las Vegas NV-AZ = 0 days (decreasing)
58. Honolulu, HI = 0 days (always zero days)
    
    

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata/mapemis.html

National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment 2001

Results: Map of 1996 Emission Densities

KNOX COUNTY, TN
Ranking in USA 1996 (latest data available for 2001)

INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF THE EAST TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGY PARK

Office of Environment, Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Energy (2000)

Pollution above toxic levels surrounding Oak Ridge Nuclear Laboratory (ETTP)

HTML Report (200 pages)
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/gdps/0010ettp/index.html

PDF Report (200 pages)
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/gdps/0010ettp/0010ettp.html

Verbatum from the declassified portion of the Report:

"Conservative estimates indicated that 35,000 pounds of uranium were released into the air from all sources. 4,300 pounds of uranium a month was unaccounted for or released to the environment. ETTP operates an incinerator which handles radioactive, hazardous and uranium-contaminated PCB wastes. ETTP generated transuranic elements (isotopes with atomic numbers greater than uranium) such as neptunium-237 and plutonium-239; fission products such as techneitum-99; PCBs; toxic metals; and volatile organic compunds such as trichloroethene (TCE) and present risk to the public. Some contaminants migrated outside the Plant boundary. Waste disposal practices included direct discharge of radioactive materials, toxics and caustics to holding ponds and storm drains, and incineration and burial. Reports reflected a number of spills of nitric and hydrochloric acids, in one case 200 gallons. Numerous large fires and explosions were reported. It is impossible to characterize exposure because of inadequate surveys and incomplete records. Records indicate that as contamination levels increased, exposure controls were reduced. Contamination above limits was commonly detected. Operations have released a variety of contaminants into the environment, such as burial of low-level and hazardous waste in landfills and dumping directly into the Clinch River. Large amounts of contaminated equipment and scrap material were sold at public auction. Tens of thousands of pounds of flourine and hydrogen flouride were emitted annually. The investigation team identified over 600 releases of uranium hexaflouride, and a large, visible cloud was released outside a building. Exposure to 'intense clouds' of uranium powder dusts was prevalent and resulted in intense beta radiation fields. Each month dozens or workers were identified as having exposures exceeding plant control guides. Extensive contamination was prevalent. Recordsindicate many air samples in excess of Plant Allowable Limits. Both chemical and radiological materials have routinely been discharged from the Plant, from both sanitary sewage and storm water systems and materials were directly discharged in Mitchell Branch and Poplar Creek. One million pounds of blowdown water was discharged a day. The hexavalent chromium concentration in Poplar Creek is equal to the level regulated by the site's permit. Contents of 500 uranium hexafloride and other gas cylinders were emptied into the unlined holding pond by shooting the cylinders with high-powered rifles, and this pond discharged into Poplar Creek. Records confirm that radiation exceeded drinking water standards. Over 80,000 drums of pond sludge with low concentrations of uranium were generated in 1988. Ventilation was modified to discharge mercury fumes above the roof. Elevated levels of mercury were found in urinalyses. Records refer to the recovery of tons of mercury. Traps would blow out spilling mercury on the floor. Air sampling in the 1990s identified mercury levels several times the Threshold Limit Value. Continual and volumnous process leaks (blowoffs) were vented to the atmosphere. 4,300 pounds of uranium hexaflouride were released per month. Losses were excessive. 10,000 union grievances were filed and management disputed grievances concerning safety in favor of economic considerations. Many storm drains were not moitored before 1992, and routine and accidental wastes have adversely impacted the environment and the aquatic habitat. Weaknesses in the sampling and monitoring of air pollutant emissions raise concerns regarding the accuracy of public dose and exposure calculations. Environmental radiological protection and surveillance are not compliant with DOE Order. Few records reflect involvement by the Atomic Energy Commission in investigations of serious events. Levels of airborne radioactivity were as high as 35,800 dpm/ft3, and far exceeded the PAL of 2 dpm/ft3. [That's radiation levels over 17,000 times the maximum limit.] Airborne radioactivity far in excess of normal background levels was measured off-site as far as five miles away. A number of criticality and sub-criticality accident experiments were performed and posed a severe radiation hazard. Bladder cancer rates were seven times higher than for the general population, and stomach ulcers were 6.5 times greater. Inhalation of airborn radiation can increase the risk of future cancer." [verbatum from the Report]

NOTE: This report only covered the K-25 plant, not the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration's Y-12 nuclear bombs factory, not the thousands of contaminated lab rats from ORNL's Y-12 nuclear bombs factory Mouse House that are incinerated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in downtown Knoxville, and did not cover Top Secret "criticality" pollution, "referred to as 'special hazards'" (ie, "small" explosions due to accidental nuclear reactions), and "are discussed in a separate classifed document." The GOPS government of Tennessee previously gave ETTP/ORNL a clean bill of health in 1999.

RALPH NADER ON NUKES: "High-level nuclear waste will be hazardous for more than 200,000 years. An Energy Department study found that a severe accident in a rural area could contaminate a 42-square-mile area, require over a year to 'clean up', and cost $620 million."

Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE)

http://gwis.circ.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/radiation/

ACHRE was created by President Clinton on January 15, 1994 to investigate and report on the use of human beings as subjects of federally funded research using ionizing radiation. 11.   Intentional Releases: Lifting the Veil of Secrecy

The Nation
Sept 16, 2001

Nuclear Safety?

by MATT BIVENS

Potassium Iodide Anti-Radiation Pill - Radioactive Iodine (Radioiodine) is a major radioisotope constituent of both nuclear power plant accidents and nuclear bomb explosions and can travel hundreds of miles on the winds. Even very small amounts of inhaled or ingested radioiodine can do grave damage as it will always concentrate, and be retained, in the small space of the thyroid gland. Eventually giving such a large radiation dose to thyroid cells there that abnormalities are likely to result, such as loss of thyroid function, nodules in the thyroid, or thyroid cancer. (Each year 12,000 Americans discover they have thyroid cancer, though from various assorted causes, and about 1000 die from it.) Chernobyl has shown, and continues to reveal, that the greatest danger from radioiodine is to the tiny thyroid glands of children. Researchers have found that in certain parts of Belarus, for example, 36.4 per cent of children, who were under the age of four at the time of the accident, can expect to develop thyroid cancer. Also, "This increase in incidence has been documented up to 500 km from the accident site." Health experts now estimate that the greatest health concerns affecting the largest number of people from a nuclear accident, or nuclear bomb explosion(s) anywhere in the world, will likely be from the release of radioiodine that is then carried downwind. The good news is that taking either Potassium Iodide (KI) or Potassium Iodate (KIO3) before exposure will saturate (fill up) a persons thyroid gland with safe stable iodine to where there is no room for later uptake of radioactive iodine. Once the thyroid is saturated, then any additional iodine (radioactive or stable) that is later inhaled or ingested is quickly eliminated via the kidneys.

What happens if a suicide bomber drives a jumbo jet into one of America's 103 nuclear power reactors? What happens if a fire fed by thousands of tons of jet fuel roars through a reactor complex--or, worse, through the enormous and barely-protected containment pools of spent nuclear fuel found at every such plant?

These questions are even more obvious and urgent than they may seem at first glance. Russian television reported on Wednesday: "Our [Russian] security services are warning the United States that what happened on Tuesday is just the beginning, and that the next target of the terrorists will be an American nuclear facility." [See www.nci.org.] Meanwhile, eight years ago, in the wake of the 1993 World Trade Center bombings, the terrorists themselves wrote to the New York Times to warn that nuclear attack would follow.

That letter, judged authentic by federal authorities, talked of "150 suicide soldiers" who would hit "nuclear targets." As if to drive home the point, those same terrorists had trained beforehand at a camp in Pennsylvania thirty miles from Three Mile Island. US law enforcement had them under surveillance at least a month before they struck--and at one point observed them conducting a mock assault on an electric power substation. That very same weekend, a man later judged to be mentally unwell drove his station wagon through the security barriers at Three Mile Island and parked next to a supposedly secured building. [See www.tmia.com.]

There are nuclear power plants outside many urban areas. There's Indian Point on the Hudson River, some twenty-five miles northwest of New York City; Limerick Plant some twenty miles outside of Philadelphia; Calvert Cliffs, forty-five miles from the nation's capital; and a handful of nuclear plants ringing Chicago, from Dresden to Braidwood. A terrorist strike at any such plant could not bring about a nuclear explosion--but there are a number of scenarios that would spread deadly radiation clouds across, in the NRC's famous phrase, an area the size of Pennsylvania. On top of the tens of thousands of eventual radiation-driven deaths, there is the mass panic such an attack might cause. And if we can clean up and rebuild after the World Trade Center bombing, a radiological attack would force us to write off huge swathes of land as national sacrifice areas.

So given the extraordinary events of this week, we're taking extraordinary measures to protect our nuclear plants, right?

Well, in France, the defense minister has stationed troops around nuclear power plants... But in America, not much is being done.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday in a statement said it had "recommended" that plants tighten security. Bob Jasinski, an NRC spokesman, said Friday that nothing had changed since then. (What about Wednesday's Russian TV report? Or the repeated insistence by authorities that there are more terrorist cells out there?) The NRC also says there have been "no credible general or specific threats to any of these [nuclear] facilities"--and does not seem interested in reconsidering the specific and, it now seems, very credible 1993 threats of 150 suicide soldiers headed the NRC's way.

Security Already "Privatized"

David Orrik, a former US Navy Seal, until recently ran a program that tested the security at civilian nuclear plants by organizing mock attacks against them. His exercises don't sound terribly ambitious--they pit a small team, moving on foot, against a nuclear plant security force that would be warned six months in advance of the test. Even so, half of all plants tested failed--and in at least one case, Orrik's men were able to simulate enough sabotage to cause a core melt. And remember, these tests did not simulate, say, the Osama bin Laden truck bombs so successful in demolishing US embassies in Africa in 1998.

The nuclear industry did not enjoy failing, and did not enjoy shelling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare for Orrik's tests--or to install security upgrades as the penalty for not passing. So it began to lean on the NRC to gut the program. This fall, the NRC is doing just that--phasing out Orrik's program in favor of one in which nuclear power plants will carry out "self-assessments." An NRC spokesman could not say if that plan would now be scrapped, and neither could Orrik. Asked on Friday if NRC was considering any dramatic new security measures, Orrik said he had "no sense at all" what would happen next. "I'm curious myself--will it be a sea change? Or business as usual?"

Sleeping in a Coffin

Ironically, one of the first real critical looks at the NRC's decision to let nuclear plants who failed security tests make up their own tests instead appeared in U.S. News & World Report's Monday edition--the day before, well, Tuesday.

That article quotes a representative of the Nuclear Enterprise Institute--the nuclear power industry's Washington-based trade group--as arguing that nuclear power plants "are overly defended at a level that is not at all commensurate with the risk." On Friday, the NEI's offices were closed. But a statement on the NEI website [www.nei.org] trumpeted the "extensive security measures" insisted on by the NRC, including employee background checks. These are the same background checks that let a man named Carl Drega work at three nuclear power plants throughout the 1990s. Shortly after leaving the third plant, Drega went on a 1997 killing spree that left dead two state troopers, a judge and a newspaper editor. Nor did such background checks blackball a computer programmer who worked at the Maine Yankee nuclear plant and slept in a coffin. That man goes on trial next year for the murder of seven co-workers at a Massachusetts technology company.

The NEI statement on nuclear plant security states that the reinforced concrete containment buildings that surround US reactors--they are there to prevent the spread of radiation in case of an accident--are "designed to withstand the impact of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and airborne objects up to a certain force." In reality, as even the NRC conceded on Friday, reactor containment buildings were not built with the idea of resisting an intentional assault by a modern-day jet--certainly not the monster 767s that crashed into the World Trade Center. The literature is actually strangely silent on this point--so much so that experts interviewed all named the same study, published in 1974 in Nuclear Safety, about probabilities of a plane accidentally hitting a nuclear reactor. That study concluded that some reactor containment structures had zero chance of sustaining a hit by a "large" plane, defined as more than 6.25 tons. The 767s that hit the trade center weighed 150 tons, and were probably moving at top speed.

In fact, the security vulnerabilities at nuclear plants are so ghastly that almost everyone contacted for this article balked at discussing them in any detail. Paul Gunter, an expert with the anti-nuclear power Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), recoiled when asked about one possible scenario. "Oh, I don't want to prescribe that. It's too terrifying to imagine." NRC spokesman Jasinski also refused to discuss that scenario. Bennett Ramberg, author of a sixteen-year-old book called Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons for the Enemy: an Unrecognized Military Peril, turned away some questions, saying, "I feel a little discomfort talking about that now." Later Friday, after Ramberg saw Wednesday's report of Pakistani terrorists threatening to target nuclear installations in India, and Tuesday's report of Israel thinking of bombing Iran's nuclear facilities, he felt freer to talk. "The cat's out of the bag," he observed.

This week's events have changed the national landscape for nuclear power. For starters, they make the industry's gushy talk about the next-generation Pebble Bed Reactor--the reactor so safe it won't even need a containment building--seem ghastly and ridiculous.

Terrorism also has implications for the Great Waste Debate. Our reactors have for fifty years been piling up vast quantities of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. The question of what to do with it all takes on a new urgency. Do we ship it all to a central site like the one proposed for Yucca Mountain--and create a spectacular series of terrorist targets for years, turning trains and trucks of waste into what critics deride as "Mobile Chernobyl"? Or do we keep waste in vast pools on site at reactor complexes--in buildings so frail that David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, says they could be pierced "by a Cessna"--and also keep producing more such waste every day?

There is no easy answer--which may explain such a sluggish and bleary-eyed response to potential terrorism against nuclear targets: the NRC and others are in denial. Not so long ago, they were arguing that terrorism was not a very scientific probability, and that terrorists had a moral impediment against taking life on a mass scale. So much for that. But if terrorism is real, then a clear-eyed view would suggest nuclear power is done for.

Nuclear power had been previously discredited on environmental grounds, on public safety grounds and even on financial grounds--don't be fooled, it's immensely costly, even with the public paying for both waste disposal and liability insurance. This week, nuclear power was also discredited on grounds of national security. A country that has nuclear power plants, it turns out, has handed over to "the enemy" a quasi-nuclear military capability.

We get 20 percent of our electricity from our fleet of enormously expensive and dangerous reactors. Regardless of what our vice president may think, through better energy efficiency and conservation alone we could reduce energy demand to the point of not needing any of those plants--of not even noticing that they had been shut down. The Rocky Mountain Institute, a prominent think-tank on energy matters, argues that "up to 75 percent of the electricity used in the United States today could be saved with energy efficiency measures that cost less than the electricity itself."

Given that our national will and purpose are now being mobilized, does anyone doubt that, properly channeled, we could succeed in this? Or that along the way we could also establish wind power, solar power and hydrogen fuel cells--and in so doing, completely wean ourselves from the oil of the Middle East? Surely this--and not open-ended war against every nation that has ever stamped bin Laden's passport--is the path to real victory and national security. After all, as Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists noted, no one this week is calling his colleagues in the alternative energy sectors to ask about terrorist threats to windmills.

In the meantime, we can follow France's lead and post National Guardsmen around all nuclear facilities. We can restore the NRC's compulsory security drills, and make them even more demanding. Hey, we can even consider anti-aircraft emplacements at each power plant. And we can see how safe that makes us feel when the White House starts trying to punish Afghanistan.

"There is a lot of important science taking place currently at Oak Ridge -- on climate change."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Bubble hubbub - ORNL was ready when national media burst onto scene", March 11, 2002

INTENTIONAL "Chemtrail" air pollution discharged from US military aircraft spraying Radioactive Barium, Aluminum and Anthrax "Simulations"

WARNING: Like most legislation, this one seems to authorize the opposite of what its name alleges, otherwise known as propaganda or "bait and switch". This one also seems to authorize mind-control technologies. It seems to say: "Let's ban STAR WARS'S Fraud, Waste & Abuse of taxpayer funds," while sneaking the real agenda through a giant loophole.

http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1150

Bill Seeks to Prohibit Mind Control Weapons and Chemtrails

11-Jan-2002 - Steven Aftergood, of Secrecy News, reports that a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on October 2nd by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) that would ban chemtrails and mind control weapons in space [BUT NOT BANNED ON EARTH NOR AIR]. Among the weapons that would be banned by the new measure are "psychotronic" devices that are "directed at individual persons or targeted populations for the purpose of mood management, or mind control." This suggests the U.S. military must already have developed classified mood and mind control weapons that can be used in space or that this type of weapon is at least in the planning stage. The bill would also prohibit "expelling chemical or biological agents" and mentions the word "chemtrails." This suggests that, despite being totally noncommittal on the subject, the government has information about chemtrails.

To preserve the cooperative, peaceful uses of space for the benefit of all humankind by permanently prohibiting the basing of weapons in space by the United States, and to require the President to take action to adopt and implement a world treaty banning space-based weapons.

Mr. KUCINICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To preserve the cooperative, peaceful uses of space for the benefit of all humankind by permanently prohibiting the basing of weapons in space by the United States, and to require the President to take action to adopt and implement a world treaty banning space-based weapons.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Space Preservation Act of 2001'.

SEC. 2. REAFFIRMATION OF POLICY ON THE PRESERVATION OF PEACE IN SPACE.

Congress reaffirms the policy expressed in section 102(a) of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451(a)), stating that it `is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.'.

SEC. 3. PERMANENT BAN ON BASING OF WEAPONS IN SPACE.

The President shall--

(1) implement a permanent ban on space-based weapons of the United States and remove from space any existing space-based weapons of the United States; and

(2) immediately order the permanent termination of research and development, testing, manufacturing, production, and deployment of all space-based weapons of the United States and their components.

SEC. 4. WORLD AGREEMENT BANNING SPACE-BASED WEAPONS.

The President shall direct the United States representatives to the United Nations and other international organizations to immediately work toward negotiating, adopting, and implementing a world agreement banning space-based weapons.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

The President shall submit to Congress not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, a report on--

(1) the implementation of the permanent ban on space-based weapons required by section 3; and

(2) progress toward negotiating, adopting, and implementing the agreement described in section 4.

SEC. 6. NON SPACE-BASED WEAPONS ACTIVITIES.

[LOOPHOLE:] Nothing in this Act may be construed as prohibiting the use of funds for--

(1) space exploration;

(2) space research and development;

(3) testing, manufacturing, or production that is not related to space-based weapons or systems; or

(4) civil, commercial, or defense activities (including communications, navigation, surveillance, reconnaissance, early warning, or remote sensing) that are not related to space-based weapons or systems.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) The term `space' means all space extending upward from an altitude greater than 60 kilometers above the surface of the earth and any celestial body in such space.

(2)(A) The terms `weapon' and `weapons system' mean a device capable of any of the following:

(i) Damaging or destroying an object (whether in outer space, in the atmosphere, or on earth) by--

(I) firing one or more projectiles to collide with that object;

(II) detonating one or more explosive devices in close proximity to that object [nuke-bomb tidal waves];

(III) directing a source of energy (including molecular or atomic energy, subatomic particle beams, electromagnetic radiation, plasma, or extremely low frequency (ELF) or ultra low frequency (ULF) energy radiation) against that object; or

(IV) any other unacknowledged or as yet undeveloped means.

(ii) Inflicting death or injury on, or damaging or destroying, a person (or the biological life, bodily health, mental health, or physical and economic well-being of a person)--

(I) through the use of any of the means described in clause (i) or subparagraph (B);

(II) through the use of land-based, sea-based, or space-based systems using radiation, electromagnetic, psychotronic, sonic, laser, or other energies directed at individual persons or targeted populations for the purpose of information war, mood management, or mind control of such persons or populations; or

(III) by expelling chemical or biological agents in the vicinity of a person.

(B) Such terms include exotic weapons systems such as--

(i) electronic, psychotronic, or information weapons;

(ii) chemtrails [air pollution];

(iii) high altitude ultra low frequency weapons systems;

(iv) plasma, electromagnetic, sonic, or ultrasonic weapons;

(v) laser weapons systems;

(vi) strategic, theater, tactical, or extraterrestrial weapons; and

(vii) chemical, biological, environmental, climate, or tectonic weapons [nuke-bomb tidal waves].

(C) The term `exotic weapons systems' includes weapons designed to damage space or natural ecosystems (such as the ionosphere and upper atmosphere) or climate, weather, and tectonic [nuke-bomb tidal waves] systems with the purpose of inducing damage or destruction upon a target population or region on earth or in space.

HIDDEN VIDEO OF SATAN WORSHIP AT US PRESIDENTIAL RETREAT 2000
MIND CONTROL USED TO CREATE PSYCHO KILLERS AND HUMAN SACRIFICES
INFORMATION PSYWARFARE USED TO DESENSITIZE AND BLIND THE SHEEPLE

"There is a lot of important science taking place currently at Oak Ridge -- on climate change."
—Frank Munger, editor, Knoxville News-Sentinel, "Bubble hubbub - ORNL was ready when national media burst onto scene", March 11, 2002

http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1108

Chemtrails Are Back--in the Mainstream Press

27-Dec-2001

The magazine "Columbus Alive" reports that they've received many reports about airplanes "spraying" or leaving behind mysterious "chemtrails" in the sky. When civilian flights were grounded immediately after September 11, this was more noticeable than ever. Some people feared the U.S. was under biochemical attack while others thought we were being inoculated against anthrax or some other biochemical hazard.

During a flight to Phoenix in early October, a Columbus Alive reporter saw jets spraying everywhere.

The way to tell the difference between a chemtrail and a normal contrail is that contrails can only form at temperatures below negative-76 degrees Fahrenheit and at humidity levels of 70 percent or more at high altitudes, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And even in most ideal conditions, a jet contrail lasts no more than 30 minutes.

Chemtrails are large, multiple trails that seem to hang in the sky indefinitely, then slowly feather out and appear to turn into cirrus clouds. Some seem to be sprayed intentionally in geometrically precise grid patterns. Their source and purpose is a mystery that is addressed by websites such as chemtrailcentral.com, chemtrail.com, carnicom.com. and goodsky.homestead.com (a skeptical site).

The official government response is that they're due to increased commercial air traffic. However, in the month after the attack on the World Trade Center, there was very little commercial airline traffic and virtually no private civilian air flights, but contrails could still be seen frequently over many localities.

One "Columbus Alive" reporter used high-quality binoculars to look at the planes producing chemtrails and saw that Stratotankers and KC-10 Extenders, which are refueling planes, appeared to be used for the spraying. [KC135 Stratotankers are based at McGhee Tyson ANG at Knoxville International Airport.]

The Canadian "Ottawa Citizen" newspaper reported a "fervor over chemtrails" on May 16 and said, "Ground fallout [from the chemtrails] analyzed in the United States contained carcinogens and bacteria. Coincidentally in the past decade, most jet fuel was re-engineered to reduce fire hazards by adding a long-banned pesticide, which was reportedly also found in gel samples from chemtrails. Also found were toxic micro-fibers, much finer than asbestos."

Explanations for chemtrails range from their use in military communications applications to scientific experiments designed to control the weather. A scientist working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, who insists on anonymity, told "Columbus Alive" that public disclosure of the experiments is inevitable and may occur soon. He said that two different secret projects have been conducted. One involved cloud creation experiments to lessen the effect of global warming. The other involved radiation reflection off clouds in conjunction with the military's High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Alaska.

The scientist claims that the two most common substances being sprayed into chemtrails are aluminum oxide and barium stearate. When you see planes flying back and forth marking parallel lines, X-patterns and grids in a clear sky, that's aluminum oxide. The goal is to create an artificial sunscreen to reflect solar radiation back into space to alleviate global warming.

In some cases, barium may be sprayed in a similar manner for the purpose of "high-tech 3-D radar imaging. The barium can be used for a 'wire' to shoot an electromagnetic beam through to take 3-D images of the ground far over the horizon," according to the scientist.

Ken Caldeira, a scientist at Lawrence Livermore Labs and one of the country's leading experts on weather modification, conducted the original computer modeling for the use of aluminum oxide to fight global warming. He says, "We originally did this study to show that this program [using massive spraying for weather modification] shouldn't be done," due to negative health effects. Caldeira says there are persistent rumors that the Bush administration will announce geo-engineering weather modification projects this spring, which he sees this as "political suicide."

Throughout the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union actively investigated the military use of weather modification. In 1958, Captain Howard T. Orville served as the White House's chief advisor on weather modification. He publicly admitted that the military was studying "ways to manipulate the charges of the earth and sky and so affect the weather through electronic beams to ionize and de-ionize the atmosphere."

Professor Gordon J.F. MacDonald served on the President's Science Advisory Committee in 1966, and frequently published papers on the military use of weather modification. In the book Unless Peace Comes, MacDonald titled a chapter "How To Wreck The Environment." He described the military applications of weather modification including climate change, melting the polar ice caps, techniques for depleting the ozone layer over the enemy, engineering earthquakes, manipulating ocean waves and using the earth's energy fields for brain wave manipulation. "The key to geophysical warfare is the identification of environmental instabilities to which the addition of a small amount of energy would release vastly greater amounts of energy," said MacDonald.

In the early 1970s, the U.S. Congressional Subcommittee on Oceans and International Environment held investigative hearings on the military's research into weather and climate modification. The committee's findings included detailed plans for creating tidal waves through the coordinated use of nuclear weapons.

A 1977 United Nations treaty, "The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of the Environmental Modification Techniques," prohibited "the use of techniques that would have widespread, long-lasting or severe effects through deliberate manipulation of natural processes and cause such phenomena as earthquakes, tidal waves and changes in climate and weather patterns."

Patent number 4347284, filed in August 1982, outlines plans to produce a "White covered sheet material capable of reflecting ultraviolet rays" from the sun. Numerous other patents attempted to perfect "aerial spraying of liquids," like patent number 4412654, registered in November 1983, which describes "a laminar microjet atomizer and method of aerial spraying involved the use of a streamlined body having a slot in the trailing edge thereof to afford a quiescent zone within the [airplane] wing and into which liquid for spraying is introduced."

A patent was filed in July 1986 describing a "liquid propane generator for cloud-seeding apparatus." It reads, "Apparatus is provided for release of liquid propane from the holding chamber of a cloud-seeding rocket." A new and improved "liquid atomizing apparatus for aerial spraying" was filed as patent number 4948050 in August 1990. "The generator is driven from a power take-off from the engine of the spraying aircraft, a drive assembly includes a device for controlling the speed of the generator relative to speed of the engine," it reads.

The New York Times reported on September 24, 1992 that a Russian company was selling electronic equipment to manipulate the weather in a specific area. The Times wrote that some Russian farmers used the weather-control technology for greater crop yields.

Shortly afterwards, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Russian company Elate Intelligence Technologies Inc. was selling weather control equipment using the slogan "Weather made to order." They quoted Igor Pirogoff as saying that Hurricane Andrew, which did an estimated $17 billion in damage, could have been turned "into a wimpy little squall" by his company.

South Africa's Water Resource Commission admitted to being involved in the actual testing of "hygroscopic seeding particles from a seeding flare" in an October 1994 patent, which says, "In a confidential technical trial which was conducted on a small isolated cloud formation above the Nelspriut area in the Transvaal province of the Republic of South Africa, two flares were ignited electrically from inside the aircraft…to produce rain."

Russia sold former Soviet military weather modification devices to any country willing to pay for them. "Malaysia to battle smog with cyclones" is a headline in the November 13, 1997, Wall Street Journal. "The plan calls for the use of new Russian technology to create cyclones—the giant storms also known as typhoons and hurricanes—to cause torrential rains washing the smoke out of the air," the Journal reported.

In April, the New York Times reported that Edward Teller, the father of the H-bomb, was "an ardent advocate of the Reagan administration's Star Wars anti-missile plan and, more recently, has promoted the idea of manipulating the earth's atmosphere to counteract global warming."

The U.S. Air Force told CNN in July that it had broken up a storm over the Atlantic using products made by a company called Dyn-O-Mat. The company's website, dynomat.com, lists "environmental absorbent products" such as Dyn-O- Drought and Dyn-O-Storm. On November 13, a patent was filed outlining a "method of modifying weather." The description says, "The polymer is dispersed into the cloud and the wind of the storm agitates the mixture causing the polymer to absorb the rain. This reaction forms a gelatinous substance which precipitate to the surface below. Thus, diminishing the cloud's ability to rain."

Ohio resident Dan King describes a rainy day in July when he was driving on a highway and "the rainwater looked like dish soap water on the highway. I thought it was just from the resurfacing, but when I got out in the country I saw the same thing. Piles of suds at the side of the road." The scientist who works at Wright-Patterson says that barium stearate is basically a soap bonded to a metal and could have produced the soapy-looking rain.

It's no secret that most governments support other kinds of manipulation of nature, such as the development of genetically-modified foods. It's clear the American public is worried about the weather, since many areas of the U.S. have suffered greatly from weather extremes in the past few years. So why are attempts at weather modification being kept secret? It can be assumed that a large percent of the public would be relieved that the government is trying to do something about the problem.

Perhaps it's because, until very recently, the official word from the Federal government has been that global warming isn't real. Could this be because oil companies and big businesses, who have a large stake in not reducing carbon dioxide emissions, are major contributors to political parties?

Insight: Three-dimensional, over-the-horizon radars use chemical substances sprayed into the atmosphere to enable them to get detailed, high-resolution images of targets over the horizon, and offer the fastest and most comprehensive imagery of foreign airspace. Post 9-11, such radars would have been in heavy use to guard against further attacks. There is no way to tell the difference between chemicals being sprayed for such radars and chemicals being sprayed for weather modification.

For more information, read "Angels Don't Play This Haarp" by Nick Begich,click here.
http://www.unknowncountry.com/store/?fid=10

To read the "Columbus Alive" story, click here.
http://www.columbusalive.com/2001/20011206/120601/12060101.html

Related Stories:
11-Jan-2002: Bill Seeks to Prohibit Mind Control Weapons and Chemtrails
03-Aug-2001: New Weather Control Powder Announced..but is it Already in Use?
05-Apr-2001: Chemtrails Expert Claims Source as 'Smoking Gun'
22-Mar-2001: Tape Seems to Confirm Chemtrails A Military Operation
20-Mar-2001: Possible Chemtrails Explanation
09-Feb-2001: Chemtrails Mystery Over Northern California
12-Jan-2001: Another European Chemtrail Witness-And He's Sick
10-Jan-2001: Chemtrails Now Being Seen in Europe
08-Jan-2001: Strange Material Falls From Sky in Syracuse, NY
19-Dec-2000: Chemtrail Wave Reported Over Texas

GERM WARFARE

The Hall of Shame

The United States has a long history of experimentation, on unwitting human subjects, which goes back to the beginning of this century. Both private firms and the military have used unknowing human populations to test various theories. However, the extent to which human experimentation has been a part of the U.S. Biological Weapons programs will probably never be known. The following examples are taken from information declassified in 1977, and from other private source accounts. Several involve incidents which are still of unknown origins and which cannot be fully explained:

http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ebkonop/GermIncidents2.html

AMERICA'S MOST REPUBLICAN IN A NUTS HELL

KNOXVILLE, TENN.—In Y2K, East Tennessee was reported by Metro Pulse's New-York-City owners as "the most consistently Republican-voting region in the United States"—a fact perhaps aided by Knox County Election Commission filing 25,000 votes in trash cans during Selection 2000. In 2001, USA TODAY reported that Knoxville had the worst increase in Ozone-Smog of any city in the United States, per EPA's data in 1999, and was the 5th worst city in the nation. It is also home to the world's garbage and tow-truck cartels, and Modern Mobs on A&E TV reported conviction of 25 of its subcontractors under RICO for membership of New York City's Genovese and Gambino Mafia "families". Knox County ranked in the top 90% in air pollution of dozens of other deadly ingredients. Acid rain is off the pH chart (test kits stop at a deadly 6.0).

Knoxville/Oak Ridge has a 60+ year history of pollution from nuclear radation and nuke-bomb manufacturing with many SuperFund sites, some with residential housing developments built on top of them. Radioactive garbage is burned in Oak Ridge and in downtown Knoxville, and has been for 60 years. Radioactive scrap metal from nuclear bomb factories in Oak Ridge was melted in downtown South Knoxville (David Witherspoon) for recycling into eating utensils, orthodontic appliances, dental mercury/silver amalgams, exercise equipment, jewelry and many other consumer items. Local anti-nuke opposition Stop the Bombs, Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, has thus far made zero impact in government policies or "news" coverage, though not through lack of trying.

Unregulated diesel exhaust pollution combines with other typres of air pollution to form deadly smog, especially on sunny days of temperature inversions. The White and US Department of Defense admitted in 1994 that ORNL intentionally released deadly radiation to test its effects on area residents, in addition to its secret Frankenstein experiments in local hospitals. All this pollution remains trapped in the Tennessee Valley of Death between the Cumberland Plateau and the Great Smokey Mountains.

"Weather" reports from local "News" corporations do their part to censor the facts of life from ignorant residents of Knoxville, Knox County and surrounding areas. Corporate contractors for ORNL and DOD get rich off our tax dollars while Knoxville News-Sentinel gets a $20-Million welfare check from the mayor to abandon downtown.

Meanwhile, cancer rates skyrocket and acidosis deaths claim lives of young "healthy" people who just drop dead in their homes after breathing Knoxville's acidic air. This author has known two local people in their 30s die this way in the past 12 months.

This author has conducted over $10,000 worth of investigative journalism and suffered the standard political retaliations from Powers That Want To Be. This website is an attempt to reverse this diabolical trend.

By John Lee

HOME OF ORNL NUKES

• 2-million lbs radioactive incineration began 2001 (NOT included in this data)
• radioactive waste incinerated by UT Hospital in downtown Knoxville (Mouse Genome Project at ORNL)
• PROBABLY #1 IN RADIATION POISONING (2000 DOE)

http://www.oocities.org/knoxville_tn_epa/usdoenukeindex.html

Knoxville TN is HQ of BFI/Waste Management/Allied Waste, owner of 10,000 garbage trucks (diesel-powered without emmisions regulations), which owns Miller Industries/RoadOne, owner of 10,000 towing trucks (diesel-powered) and world's largest manufacturer of towing equipment, which had 25 subcontractors convicted in 1997 for RICO as members of Gambino and Genovese crime families in NY City, according to A&E TV, Investigative Reports with Bill Curtis, Modern Mobs, 2001. Garbage and scrap dealers currently embroiled in $500-Million lawsuit over contracting fraud at ORNL nuke plants over purchasing of radioactive scrap metal to resell to the public for consumer items. Plaintiff in lawsuit had business burned down by arson in 2001. Miller Industries and RoadOne currently sued in class action in federal court in Knoxville TN over illegal towing, extortion and car theft, and represented by Ambassador Howard Baker's international law firm of 250 lawyers, along with partner Cedar Bluff Towing in Knoxville (owner's son in Knoxville is world's top lawyer in towing class actions to sue state and local governments to deregulate towing prices, and lobby US Congress).

www.bfi.com
www.millerind.com
www.roadone.com
www.towtimes.com
www.aande.com/tv/shows/billkurtis/index.html
www.oocities.org/towcrime

http://www.usatoday.com/hphoto.htm#more

USA TODAY
08/20/2001 - Updated 12:15 AM ET 

Checking ozone levels becoming routine for many 

By Patrick O'Driscoll 

As the summer's biggest heat wave swamped much of the USA this month, buzzwords hung in the stifling air. "Spare the Air" in Sacramento. "Ozone Watch" in Houston. "Code Red" in Washington, Baltimore and Raleigh, N.C. "Nozone Action" in Indianapolis. "Smog Alert" in Cincinnati. "Ozone Action" in Chicago, St. Louis and Philadelphia. However you say it, August is the peak of the nation's 6-month ozone "season," when summer heat and sunlight cook tailpipe exhaust, industrial emissions and other vaporous toxins into a lung-searing haze.

But in an unprecedented number of U.S. cities, residents are tuning in and logging on to local air-quality forecasts and alerts that were unheard of less than a decade ago. For many, monitoring the state of the air they breathe is becoming as routine as checking the daily weather report.

Joe Scuderi, a computer programmer and musician in Davis, Calif., gets ozone alerts via e-mail from Sacramento's air quality agency. If there's a warning, he curbs his driving and jogging. "I've heard the pollution index on the radio sometimes, too, but they don't do it enough. I think it should be part of everything."

Diana Stewart, a school district staffer in suburban St. Louis, checks one of the Missouri Department of Transportation's message boards that flash the next day's ozone forecast along busy commuter routes. "I find myself looking for it," says Stewart, a jogger who also gets e-mail alerts. "Is it going to be a 'green' day tomorrow, or a 'yellow' day or a 'red' day? Sucking bad air will scare me away from running, even in the early morning."

In Chapel Hill, N.C., artist Helen Davis catches the air outlook on her public radio station's morning newscast. "I'm not alarmist about it," she says, "but I think about it. This is the first place I've lived that I was so aware of it."

Driven by computer models, speedy Internet links and widespread reporting in print and on the airwaves, smog forecasts are seeping into cocktail chat, office water-cooler talk and dinner conversation. "Green Day," you say? We're talking clean air, dude, not the punk rock band.

Online, smogheads click on time-lapse area maps that swirl in yellow, orange and red to show where the day's ozone buildup is going. Web sites carry the next day's air predictions — and an array of advice both for surviving the smog and helping to reduce it. Thousands of individuals and hundreds of schools, companies and offices get forecasts by e-mail.

"We're doing it now because people want it," says Richard "Chet" Wayland  of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. EPA's "Air Now" Web site (www.epa.gov/airnow) posts online ozone forecasts and data for 161 cities in 39 states.

Even in healthy people, ozone can give lungs the equivalent of a sunburn. High in the stratosphere, the ozone layer shields Earth from solar radiation. But at the ground level, the colorless gas is smog's main ingredient, a concoction of nitrogen oxides (car and industrial exhaust) and hydrocarbon vapors (gasoline, solvents and other volatile chemicals). It can reduce lung capacity and cause shortness of breath, coughing, headaches, nausea and eye irritation. It's worse for children, the elderly, asthmatics and others with lung ailments. Nationally, air pollution costs an estimated $50 billion a year in health expenses.

Responding to rising public interest, EPA last month added a national ozone forecast map, dotted with virtual stickpins that chart each city by level of alert, to its Web site. Daily forecasting in an understandable format "has turned the tide" in attracting people's attention, Wayland says. "The AQI has made it simple."

Two years ago, the EPA revamped the way the agency reports how good or bad the air is. It replaced a system of parts-per-billion calculations with an easier, color-coded Air Quality Index — AQI for short. Green means "good," and yellow is "moderate." Orange is "unhealthy for sensitive groups," red means "unhealthy" and purple is "very unhealthy."

For consumers of the new flood of daily air data, it's simply gold

Broadcast outlets and some newspapers, including USA TODAY, now deliver the ozone outlook for dozens of cities. In St. Louis,& KMOV-TV runs a "Green Day Giveaway" with prizes on days when& the air level is "good." Sacramento's KCRA-TV displays animated ozone maps that rival the flashy "Pinpoint Doppler radar" visuals that anchor "WeatherCast3." They call them "Ozone Movies." The Internet presence of air data has exploded. Besides EPA's site, many states and some cities have forecast Web pages and links, from& Sacramento (sparetheair.com) to Chicago (www.cleantheair.org). Ditto for media outlets, from cable's The Weather Channel (weather.com) to the "Weather Underground" site (wunderground.com), which is popular with meteorology geeks. Webcam sites such as Camnet (hazecam.net) show continuous views of the air in urban and scenic locales from New York to Denver. EPA, meanwhile, is talking with America Online, the nation's largest Internet provider, about posting air quality data on AOL members' local home pages.

In several cities, local air agencies, the American Lung Association (http://www.lungusa.org/air/) and others offer free forecasts and warnings via e-mail, pager, fax and digital cellphone. School coaches subscribe for up-to-the-minute guidance on whether to allow teams and marching bands to practice. Day-care center nurses do the same to protect kids at play, especially those with asthma.

Educational programs aim to indoctrinate children so that curbing bad-air behavior will be second nature to them as adults.

Houston's "Andy the Airedale," a cartoon dog that teaches the AQI colors to kindergartners and first-graders, has spread to several other cities. The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District just created Save Planet Polluto, a slick computer adventure game on CD-ROM and the Internet (planetpolluto.com), in which "air cadets" in grades 4-8 learn about air pollution and clean up the home skies of the "Airidians" and alien cities such as Lung Angeles, El Gaso and NOxVille. Sacramento also hosts an online pollution simulator, Smog City (www.sonomatech.com/SmogCity/), where visitors can compute different AQIs by manipulating levels of urban population, traffic, weather and industry.

In Kentucky, mechanical engineering professor Geoffrey Cobourn of the  University of Louisville built and put online his own computer model to forecast ozone pollution (www.apcd.org/aq/forecasts/ozone12.htm). A local TV weathercaster and air agencies in three cities now use it. So do his students, for class papers on air pollution forecasting.

Next up? Personal air forecasts. Next spring, the commercial meteorology service Weather Central will begin beaming custom-tailored air quality reports in a free "Personal Microcast" via e-mail, pager or cellphone. EPA's national ozone maps are fine, says Weather Central President Terry Kelly, whose service already sends individualized weather data to subscribers in 50 of the nation's 200 TV markets. "But for their own health and activity needs, people need a lot more detail than that."

EPA's Wayland says that though air quality forecasting "is still where forecasting for weather was maybe 40 years ago," it's improving. This fall, EPA will begin test forecasting for fine particulates, the miscroscopic particles that color smog and haze and pose a more serious threat to the lungs.

An information revolution is in the air

The quiet revolution in forecasting relies mostly on computers and modems. Dozens of air testing stations that once had to be checked in person now can report automatically in "real time," updating at intervals from a minute to an hour. Computer models extrapolate the numbers into the maps, charts and lists to be posted on Web sites. Air agencies can instantly issue new warnings as ozone pollution worsens or cancel alerts if air quality improves. 

Despite these advances, getting people actually to change their air polluting habits is still elusive. Houston, Sacramento, Indianapolis and other cities do periodic surveys to measure the effect of their anti-pollution campaigns. All typically report greater awareness of ozone warnings and common steps to curb bad air: limiting car trips, taking the bus, refueling cars and mowing lawns in the evening.

But most register no major movement to alter behaviors. "People are not  going to do anything that is inconvenient," says Anne Mrok-Smith of the  Houston-Galveston Area Council, an air quality group. 

Houston became the butt of late-night TV jokes when it had the worst ozone  pollution in America in 1999, beating even perennial front-runner Los  Angeles. But because its air doesn't carry as many of the tiny particulates that  make smog brown and hazy, Houston has trouble convincing residents there's  an air problem. "The days that we have the worst ozone are usually just the  most beautiful days," says Lily Wells, the council's chief air quality planner. 

L.A. cuts smog by 75% in 15 years

Ironically, air officials in Los Angeles don't promote public awareness with  "Spare the Air" campaigns. Smog has been such an everyday issue in L.A. for  so long that "constantly urging people to carpool or do this or that might get  old fairly fast here," says Bill Kelly of the South Coast Air Quality  Management District. L.A.'s strategy — stricter regulation of cars, industry,  consumer products and other pollution sources — has cut smog by 75%  since 1985. 

During the 1990s, air quality improved in most of the nation's more than 260  metropolitan areas. But of the 34 areas with increasing pollution, most were  failing in ozone. Ozone also was the culprit for most of the bad air days in the  94 largest metro areas in the '90s. The American Lung Association's "State of  the Air" report, released in May and covering 1997-99, calculated that more  than 141 million Americans live in areas that got an "F" for ozone pollution. 

Which is why, like most air quality officials, Kerry Shearer of the Sacramento  air district has few illusions that today's greater awareness will eliminate air  pollution any time soon. "Think how long it took for the anti-smoking effort,"  Shearer says. 

"We've been at it since 1989, but it's going to take a while," he says. "Not  everybody is going to change. Not everybody agrees there is a problem." 

© Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. 

http://www.wbir.com/News/news.asp?ID=4021
 
Knoxville, TN 
8/20/2001 1:32 A.M. 

EPA ASKING DOE FOR MORE DATA ON POLLUTION

The EPA wants more data on pollution possibly linked to health problems in small  communities near the government's Oak Ridge reservation. 

A letter had been sent to the Department of Energy outlining complaints received from  the Coalition for a Healthy Environment. It asks for DOE's Oak Ridge office to devise a  plan to address contamination issues. 

Coalition member Harry Williams says the group isn't happy with the thought of DOE  leading the investigation. He would prefer the EPA take an independent look at the  situation. 

Among the concerns are Roane County communities located along the Clinch River  and near a former uranium-enrichment plant. It's still the site of an incinerator that  burns radioactive and hazardous wastes. 

8/15/01 5:51:13 PM 
Reporter: AP Copyright- 2001 

US Dept of Energy Disaster Reports
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/reviews/index.html

Y12 criticality appx 5mb
Type A Accident Investigation of the December 8, 1999 Multiple Injury Accident Resulting from the Sodium-Potassium Explosion
in Building 9201-5 at the Y-12 Plant at the Y-12 plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/reviews/0001y12/0001y12.pdf

Review of Criticality Safety - Field Report for the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant Buildings 9212 and 9818, January 2000
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/reviews/0001y12/0001y12.pdf

ORNL Y-12 special agent fatality [heart attack on treadmill]
Type A Accident Investigation Board Report on the April 19, 1999
Special Agent Fatality at the Southeast Courier Section, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/accidents/typea/9904ornl/9904ornl.pdf

Office of Oversight Review of the Occupational Medicine Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, September 1998
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/reviews/9809ornl/9809ornl.pdf
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/reviews/9904y12/9904y12.html

Type B Accident Investigation Board Report on the February 27, 1998 Shipping Violations Involving the Corehole 8 Project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennesee
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/accidents/typeb/9802ornl/9802ornl.pdf

Type B Investigation Board Report on the June 19, 1997, Occupational Illness at the Y-12 Plant Oak Ridge, Tennessee
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oversight/reports/accidents/typeb/9706ornl/9706ornl.pdf

Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE)

http://gwis.circ.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/radiation/

US government at ORNL conducted secret Nazi experiments on Tennesseans as human guinea pigs into deadly hazards of nuclear radiation.

ACHRE was created by President Clinton on January 15, 1994 to investigate and report on the use of human beings as subjects of federally funded research using ionizing radiation. ACHRE constructed a gopher site to provide public electronic access to information about its activities. Created by Executive Order and subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the Advisory Committee was obligated to provide public access to its activities, processes and papers. The Advisory Committee believed, however, that the nature of the subject it investigated and the human stories that comprise it placed on it a special responsibility to disseminate as broadly as possible the results of its investigations, the implications of that history for our own time, and its best judgment concerning the rights and responsibilities of those involved.

The National Security Archive obtained the data from the ACHRE gopher when the Advisory Committee was dissolved in October of 1995. The information acquired from the original internet site includes:

• Information about the original ACHRE gopher

• Background of ACHRE, human radiation experiments, government records

• Committee meetings

• ACHRE offices and personnel

• The Interim Report of October 21, 1994

• Glossary, experiment and document collection descriptions, bibliography

• The Final Report

This data was obtained by the National Security Archive with the generous support of the W. Alton Jones Foundation (Charlottesville, VA).

Introduction - The Atomic Century

Part I - Ethics of Human Subjects Research: A Historical Perspective

Overview

1.   Government Standards for Human Experiments: The 1940s and 1950s

2.   Postwar Professional Standards and Practices for Human Experiments

3.   Government Standards for Human Experiments: The 1960s and 1970s

4.   Ethics Standards in Retrospect

Part II - Case Studies

Overview

5.   Experiments with Plutonium, Uranium, and Polonium

6.   The AEC Program of Radioisotope Distribution

7.   Nontherapeutic Research on Children

8.   Total-Body Irradiation: Problems When Research and Treatment Are Intertwined

9.   Prisoners: A Captive Research Population

10.   Atomic Veterans: Human Experimentation in Connection with Bomb Tests

11.   Intentional Releases: Lifting the Veil of Secrecy

12.   Observational Data Gathering

13.   Secrecy, Human Radiation Experiments, and Intentional Releases

Part III - Contemporary Projects

Overview

14.   Current Federal Policies Governing Human Subjects Research

15.   Research Proposal Review Project

16.   Subject Interview Study

Part IV - Coming to Terms with the Past, Looking Ahead to the Future

Overview

17.   Findings

18.   Recommendations

Statement By Committee Member Jay Katz

Official Documents

Executive Order

Charter

Appendices

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Public Comment Participants

A Citizen's Guide to the Nation's Archives: Where the Records Are and How to Find Them

One-time Plutonium Bioassay Service for Nuclear Test Personnel Review Program

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) (into which the Defense Special Weapons Agency consolidated) is the Executive Agent for the Nuclear Test Personnel Review (NTPR) Program, which serves veterans who participated in U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests or with the occupation forces of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan. Since its inception in 1978, the NTPR Program has identified approximately 400,000-plus Department of Defense (DoD) personnel who participated in these activities. The primary purpose of the NTPR Program is to provide participation data and radiation dose information to veterans.

DTRA made available a voluntary, one-time, limited plutonium bioassay test for eligible veterans in July 1998. Congress authorized funding for the testing in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1998. The funding was sufficient to test 100 eligible veterans. Eligible veterans are those who are confirmed participants of U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests or the occupation forces of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan. The NTPR Program has received commitments for all the bioassays that can be offered.

NTPR internal dose reconstructions are prepared following Title 32, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 218. The Government Printing Office has an Internet site (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html) to access the Code of Federal Regulations. If the bioassay result significantly exceeds the plutonium level of the veteran's NTPR-prepared internal dose reconstruction, the veteran's internal dose will be reevaluated. No veteran's internal dose assessment will be lowered as a result of the bioassay test. While it is premature to predict the outcome of all 100 bioassays, initial results of 39 bioassay measurements are consistent with previously compiled NTPR internal dose information. Upon the completion of the 100 bioassay samples, this one-time limited testing will be reviewed to assess its value.

Questions or requests for further information may be directed to the following agencies: The NTPR toll-free telephone number is (800) 462-3683. The address is: Defense Threat Reduction Agency/Tel, (ATTN: TDANP/NTPR), 6801 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22310-3398; or internet (http://www.dtra.mil). The VA telephone number is (202) 273-8575. Their address is: Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards (13), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20420.

www.militarycorruption.com

MILITARY CORRUPTION DOT COM

News articles and links for disabled and pissed-off veterans.

KILLER MUSHROOMS

The Years of Atmospheric Testing: 1945-1963

From 1945 to 1963 the U.S.A. conducted an extensive campaign of atmospheric nuclear tests, grouped into roughly 20 test "series." After 1963 when the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed testing for the U.S., Soviet Union, and Great Britain moved underground. France continued atmospheric testing until 1974 and China did so until 1980. This page focuses mainly on U.S. testing because those documents are most readily available.

Summary Table of U.S. Nuclear Test Series
This table shows the year, location, number of detonations, and approximate number of personnel for each of the twenty named atmospheric nuclear test series.

U.S. Nuclear Testing from Project TRINITY to the PLOWSHARE Program
This document gives a historical overview of the U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing program. It lists every detonation by name and summarizes the radiation exposures of test participants. Also available as Adobe Acrobat PDF [592Kb].

Map of. Nuclear Test Sites Worldwide
This map shows the name, approximate location, and years tests were conducted for each site of atmospheric nuclear tests through 1963.

Videos of Nuclear Tests

Note: These video clips were digitized from the best available copies of U.S. Government films. For additional information about these films, see the Historical Nuclear Test Films page at the DOE Nevada Test Site.

Crossroads ABLE Test [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 1.9 MB]
The ABLE test in 1946 was an air drop of the same Fatman-type weapon dropped on Nagasaki.
Crossroads BAKER Test [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 2.1 MB]
The BAKER test in 1946 was a Fatman-type weapon detonated 96 feet below the surface of the ocean.

Buster-Jangle Test [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 3.3 MB]
This video clip shows one of the test detonations from the Buster-Jangle series in Nevada. The narrator describes the visible characteristics of a nuclear detonation.
Tumbler-Snapper DOG [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 2.9 MB]
Tumbler-Snapper DOG was a 20 kiloton airdrop detonated on May 1, 1952. Army and Marine troops participated in four of the eight Tumber-Snapper shots, as shown in the two video clips below.
Desert Rock IV [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 1.9 MB]
Marine troops observed DOG shots at Tumbler-Snapper from trenches just 7,000 yards from ground zero.
Desert Rock IV [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 1.4 MB]
This video shows the blast wave crossing the desert and hitting the troop trenches.

Ivy MIKE, slow-motion closeup of fireball [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 900 KB]
The Ivy MIKE shot was the first U.S. thermonuclear test using the Teller-Ulam radiation-implosion principle. It used liquid deuterium as the fusion fuel and yielded 10.7 megatons. The fireball reached a diameter of 3.5 miles.
Ivy MIKE, distant fireball and cloud [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 1.9 MB]
This clip shows a real-time view of MIKE from a safe distance.
Ivy MIKE, later cloud stage [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 1.1 MB]
The MIKE cloud eventually rose to a height of 20 miles (into the stratosphere) and spread out to a width of 100 miles.
Ivy KING detonation [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 3.1 MB]
Ivy KING was an air-drop of the "Super-Oralloy" all-fission bomb, with a yield of 500 kilotons.

Castle BRAVO test [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 2.7 MB]
The Castle BRAVO test on March 1, 1954, yielded 15 megatons, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States. By accident the inhabited atolls of Rongelap, Rongerik and Utirik were contaminated with fallout, as was the Japanese fishing trawler Fukuryu Maru or Lucky Dragon. The controversy over fallout that simmered around the Nevada Test Site erupted into international alarm.
Castle ROMEO test [160x120 Quicktime MOV, 2.1 MB]
The Castle ROMEO test yielded 11 megatons. It was detonated from a barge in the BRAVO crater.

Atmospheric Test Photo Web Sites

Gallery of Nuclear Test Photos [Mirror--Original server has gone off-line indefinitely.]
This site has a large number of atmospheric nuclear detonation photos as GIF images.

Nevada Test Site Historical Photos and Films
This site has a large number of photos and some video clips showing atmospheric detonations. There is also information on how to order VHS videos of recently declassified DOE nuclear test films.

Other Web Sites about Nuclear Testing

Chart of Global Nuclear Weapons tests, 1945-1996
This year-by-year chart of the number of nuclear weapons tests is one example of the information available at the Brookings Institution's U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project.

Table of Known Nuclear Tests Worldwide: 1945-1996
This table breaks down the number of worldwide nuclear tests by country, year, and whether it was atmospheric or underground. There is a wealth of information, particularly about nuclear weapons stockpiles, at the home page for the Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Nuclear Weapons Program.

Nuclear Test Personnel Review
This page at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency describes the study that was done to catalog radiation exposure to participants in U.S. atmospheric nuclear tests.

Copyright © 1995-2000 Gregory Walker (gwalker@jump.net), Creator of Trinity Atomic Web Site
These HTML pages are published under the Open Content License (OPL), which is the non-software equivalent of the (GNU) General Public License. Basically, the license allows anyone to modify and distribute the documents as long as they make it freely available. For more information, visit the OpenContent organization. Here is a plain text copy of the OPL.

Most of the documents, photos, maps and videos presented here are from U.S. Government documents and believed to be in the public domain, unless specifically noted.

Last updated: April 2, 2000.
http://www.enviroweb.org/enviroissues/nuketesting/atmosphr/index.html
http://www.fas.org/nuke/trinity/atmosphr/index.html

Historical footnote: Hundreds of American POWs died in the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

http://www.prn.usm.my/my.html

INTRODUCTION

In 1945, a technology turned deadly. It could obliterate the world and has been man's scariest nightmare since. Attempts to control it has not been too successful despite more than 150 countries having signed the Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty, including Malaysia recently. Throughout 1995-1996, a series of nuclear tests were conducted near Mururoa Atoll in South Pacific. Again in May 1998, similar nuclear tests were conducted in the South Asia, further threatening humankind.

Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid, the only Malaysian to have survived the mass killing as a result of an Atomic Bomb explosion reminds us of his unforgetable experience.

Includes list of speeches and published news articles.

This website was developed as an integral part of the Malaysian Drug & Poison Net by Pusat Racun Negara, USM in conjunction with the 53th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1998 at 8.15am.

POETIC INJUSTICE:
THE AMERICA THAT LOVES TO HATE

A modern parody of Langston Hughes' "Why Can't America Be America Again?" (1936) http://www.oocities.org/knoxvillegreenparty/langston_hughes/

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_818659,00.html

KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL

Beryllium makers not liable for ill effects

Oak Ridge workers' lawsuits dismissed
(1 case of 10 cases in class action of thousands of dead or disabled workers)

By Laura Ayo
September 7, 2001

A federal judge's dismissal of a lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of beryllium used at nuclear weapons plants in Oak Ridge could mean the dismissal of similar lawsuits pending before the same judge, lawyers in the case said.

"If the other plaintiffs asserted similar claims in connection with the same sites, I would think if it's in the same court and (before) the same judge, I don't see how those claims would not be disposed of the same way," said John Traficonte, litigation counsel for Cabot Corp. of Pennsylvania. "Logically, they would have to be."

U.S. District Judge James Jarvis' order on Tuesday granting summary judgment to Cabot, Brush Wellman Inc. of Ohio, NGK Metal Corp. of Pennsylvania and Ceradyne Inc. of California dismisses one of 10 lawsuits pending before him.

In the lawsuit brought in 1994 by Y-12 workers Troy Murphy Morgan, Corky Dean McCarter, Richard Emory Myers Sr. and Kathleen Beatty and in the other nine lawsuits, Y-12 or K-25 workers claim they contracted a debilitating respiratory illness called chronic beryllium disease or tested positive for beryllium sensitivity from being exposed to airborne beryllium dust and fumes while working at the plants.

"In the remaining cases, there are motions filed similar to the ones filed in Morgan and the court's ruling should apply to those as well," said Jim Wright, who represents Ceradyne.

But Wright and other lawyers in the case said they'd only be guessing if they tried to conclude what effect the ruling would have on the pending cases. Court records show, however, that a motion for voluntary dismissal of all claims against all defendants in one of the other lawsuits was filed about two weeks after Jarvis indicated he was granting summary judgment in the Morgan case.

While Jarvis noted his decision in an Aug. 1 order, the order didn't become final until Tuesday when he issued a detailed 42-page opinion. Steve Jensen, one of the lawyers for the workers in the Morgan case and other cases, said he couldn't comment about pending litigation because an appeal is possible.

Most of the 10 lawsuits complained that the manufacturers and distributors, as well as other similar companies and the federal government, deliberately concealed for decades the true health risks to those who worked with the substance.

"Because the government and its contractors were the only parties in a position to warn the plaintiffs and protect them from the dangers of beryllium, the defendants had no duty to warn the plaintiffs," Jarvis ruled. "The duty was assumed by the United States and its contractors."

The judge noted Congress recently enacted a compensation plan entitling plaintiffs and other injured beryllium workers to receive a $150,000 lump-sum payment and medical benefits (part of the Tennessee 2nd Injury Fund for Workers Compensation).

Jarvis - like a Jefferson County, Colo., jury during a trial in a similar case in June - also rejected the workers' argument that the companies participated in a 50-year conspiracy to keep the actual dangers of beryllium exposure secret. Patrick Carpenter, a spokesman for Brush Wellman, said he received word late Wednesday that the plaintiffs' motion for new trial in the Colorado case had been denied.

The judge also rejected the workers' arguments on two other issues.

"We are extremely pleased that the District Court granted this motion," Brush Wellman wrote in a statement. "The Court can be commended for being thorough and reasoned in evaluating our position that Brush Wellman was not responsible for the health and safety of another company's employees."

Laura Ayo may be reached at 865-342-6341 or ayo@knews.com.

Copyright 2001 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.

1. Beryllium Related Legislation
Beryllium Support Group
http://dimensional.com/~mhj/legislation.html

2. National Beryllium Support Group
Provides fact sheets and articles about the incurable disease, plus details about government regulations regarding exposure to beryllium.
http://www.dimensional.com/~mhj

3. Office of Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski, United States Congress, United States House of Representatives, 11th District
Do you or a loved one have questions about beryllium exposure? Please call the Department of Energy Beryllium Hotline (toll-free): 877-447-9756 or contact me at (800)222-2346
http://www.house.gov/kanjorski/welcome.htm

4. Beryllium Injuries Lawyers Brayton Purcell: Beryllium Workers and Chronic Beryllium Disease
Is compensation provided to beryllium workers by The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 adequate?
http://www.braytonlaw.com/news/legalnews/120100-beryllium.htm

5. Office of Environment, Safety and Health
Summary of Legislation for Energy Employees' Beryllium Compensation Act
http://nattie.eh.doe.gov/portal/feature/pr99308.htm

6. Congress to consider compensation
By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY WASHINGTON
Questions about whether to compensate sick workers from private companies that were secretly hired to process hazardous material for the nuclear weapons production.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/poison/020.htm

7. Some Historical Suggested Reading Pertaining to Chronic Beryllium Diseases
Gary Foster LMES/Y-12 (423)947-7824 fostergs@usit.net 1. Sterner JH, Eisenbud M. Epidemiology of Beryllium Intoxication. A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Medicine
http://tis.eh.doe.gov/be/workshop/foster/refdenv.html

The Emperor's New Clothes:
Thompson Amendment is a farce on the American people

Ed Slavin - Letter to the Oak Ridger
June 15, 2000

The recent Senate Floor Amendment by Senator Thompson does not meet the reasonable expectations of sick Oak Ridge workers and residents for meaningful compensation legislation. On June 10, by E-mail, I asked Senator Thompson 50 questions about it: I have not received any substantive response.

Sadly, U.S. Senator Fred Dalton Thompson, on advice from DOE, passed an inept compensation bill, Senate Amendment 3250 to S.2549 does not pass the laugh test.

Senator Thompson has staged a farce for his colleagues and the American people. The Thompson-DOE Amendment does not meet minimum standards of Due Process -- set in Black Lung compensation -- as discussed by Oak Ridge lawyer Gene Joyce in his columns. Senator Thompson has dashed reasonable expectations of probity of the sick workers and residents. The Thompson-DOE Amendment does not require:

1. coverage of all sick workers and residents hurt by DOE toxicants

2. full funding of lifetime compensation and medical benefits by making the polluters pay

3. open public hearings with testimony under oath before independent DOL Administrative Law Judges, as provided for Black Lung claims (instead, the Thompson Amendment uses Government doctors to decide claims)

4. subpoena power and easy access to documents and answers from DOE and contractor managers (incredibly Thompson Amendment requires a separate Federal Court lawsuit to force discovery, after first waiting 180 days!)

5. appeals to the DOL Benefits Review Board and judicial review by the Court of Appeals, as provided for Black Lung and Longshore workers' compensation claims (Longshore legal precedents that provide penalties for employers who deceive workers about hazards and health)

6. strict action-forcing deadlines for Government action, with claims being granted if the Government waits too long

7. payment of full reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees and other litigation expenses at market rates and a ban on attorney solicitation and percentage contingency fees, as in Black Lung (instead, attorneys would be free to charge contingency fees, reducing the $200,000 lump sum to as little as $100,000 after expenses)

8. an end to the Federal Tort Claims Act discretionary function exemption for ultrahazardous activities, preserving worker rights to sue

9. coverage for genetic injuries to spouses, families, children and grandchildren of workers and for injuries caused by dangerous chemicals and heavy metals like cyanide, mercury and hydrogen fluoride

10. independence of the Department of Energy in deciding compensation and independent lifetime medical care and research, free of influence by DOE and its contractors

Rather than a fitting memorial to sick workers and residents whose suffering made the Cold War victory possible, Senator Thompson's bill is a snare and a delusion, guaranteed to result in denials and delays. Just what does Senator Thompson think his weak DOE-drafted Amendment is going to accomplish? Is his intention to pass a reform that is not worthy of the word? How many sick workers does Senator Thompson really think will be compensated under this restrictive bill?

Why does Senator Thompson think that U.S. Government doctors lacking in independence could fairly decide cases? He must not remember the Reagan Administration's efforts to pressure independent Social Security Administration Administrative Law Judges to deny benefits, sending SSA judges those who found too many workers disabled to what Rep. Barney Frank called "remedial judging school."

In one of my favorite movies, "The Hunt for Red October," a U.S. Navy Admiral (portrayed by none other than veteran character actor Fred Dalton Thompson) said (I must paraphrase): "The Russians don't [go to the bathroom] without a plan." What is Senator Thompson's plan in fronting for and passing such an monstrous piece of DOE-drafted legislation and acting like it is progress? Senator Thompson's fatally flawed Floor Amendment shows no character and makes it appear that Senator Thompson was indeed acting when he promised to help DOE's victims. If the devil is in the details, then the Thompson Amendment is an energumen: it will not silence the victims or meet their needs.

The U.S. House of Representatives and House-Senate Conference Committee must devise a just compensation system to cover all victims with full benefits, making polluters pay. We don't need another farce, written and run by the same DOE that created the ultrahazardous facilities and covered them up for nearly six decades.

With kindest regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Edward A. Slavin, Jr.
Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
(904) 471-7023
(904) 471-9918 (fax)

Back to Downwinders

KUB REACHES 2,000 SIGN-UPS, WINS FIRST GREEN POWER LEADERSHIP AWARD

The Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) continues to show their commitment to clean energy by reaching their goal of having 2,000 customers signed up for Green Power Switch by July 4th, 2001. KUB hosted a customer appreciation event to celebrate this accomplishment on August 2nd at Market Square. The event was a huge success and received media coverage from Knoxville's three major TV stations and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Attendees were given free green snow cones. KUB held this activity both to mark their milestone and to challenge even more people and businesses to participate in the program.

BUSHIT ALERT: KUB has no "Green Power" and publicly admits it has no intention of inventing any in the future. In fact, it abandoned its ugly Green HQ downtown, selling it for $500,000 to a criminal lawyer next door on Gay Street, to finance its old $15-million boob job and luxury palace on Gay Street, complete with VIP bedroom suites with jacuuzis and numerous VIP dining facilities with monogramed crystal goblets and fine bone china. KUB merely uses its "Green Power" donation scheme as propaganda to siphon money from political hacks extorted to contribute their paychecks in order to please the Republican Skull and Bones mayor and trial lawyer trying to stay one step ahead of impeachment, imprisonment and/or lynching. So mayor Ashe jumped at his promotion from fellow Bonesman George Bush Jr to take his Widenass to help loot Fannie Mae Savings and Loan.

Previous story: Beijing backs scientists in race to mass produce cloned organs

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It's beautiful, man!"
—Tom "Machine Gun" Cruise to Timothy "Follow The Orders" Hutton, from the movie Taps