From: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com (abolition-usa-digest) To: abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: abolition-usa-digest V1 #296 Reply-To: abolition-usa-digest Sender: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-abolition-usa-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk abolition-usa-digest Wednesday, April 26 2000 Volume 01 : Number 296 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 11:56:38 -0700 From: "David Crockett Williams" Subject: (abolition-usa) "When I started Earth Day in 1970..." From: "David Crockett Williams" To: "Gaylord Nelson" ; "DOE-StrategicPlan" Cc: "EarthDay2000 Chris Curtis" ; "John McConnell" Subject: "When I started Earth Day in 1970..." Date: Monday, April 24, 2000 11:29 AM To: Senator Gaylord Nelson, April 24, 2000 Cc: US Department of Energy Secretary Richardson Dear Senator Nelson: Many thanks to you and Department of Energy Secretary Richardson for championing "Clean Energy Now!" on April 22nd in Washington DC. Today is the extended deadline for public comments to DOE on its Strategic Plan draft so I am copying this as part of my public comments, and as an action request for you. I am writing you, along with others who respond in agreement with this message, to ask you and Secretary Richardson to strongly and publicly support "A Year for The Earth 2000-2001", ending with the initiation of an annual "Earth Month" from the Spring Equinox (March 21, 2001) to April 22, 2001. This proposal was offered by the Global Peace Walk 2000 at its Earth Day 2000 event in Taos, New Mexico, to unite an effective global peace, justice, environment, and spritual reawakening movement, on its way walking from San Francisco to Washington DC to the United Nations for its 55th anniversary October 24th to help inaugurate this UN Year and Decade of Creating a Culture of Peace for the 21st Century. The social and environmental situation in the world today is at a global emergency level and I/we strongly urge you and the Earth Day Network to accept this proposal to help empower the "Every Day is Earth Day" message and the Earth Day 2000 theme of "Clean Energy Now!". This proposal was circulated to national media and activists email lists on April 17th as archived at http://www.egroups.com/group/global-peace-walk/324.html , "DOE & Earth Day Expansion Call: 'Earth Month' and 'A Year for The Earth 2000-2001'". It is essential in today's world for the peace, social justice, and environmental movements to unite because this global emergency condition effects all of their related issues. We must actually make "Global Peace Now!" into a universal human resolve, a firm resolve by all of humanity, as the very first realistic step in order to have any hope of achieving our goals. We need global peace now so that the human and financial resources now being squandered on war and the preparations for war can be redirected towards solving critical environmental and social justice problems before it is too late to avert an environmental catastrophe, increasing domestic social upheaval, or even a Third World War. Please also investigate the new clean Emerging Energy Technologies information submitted in the last couple of weeks to DoE that is archived at http://www.egroups.com/group/strategic-plan because these applications of forefront science offer little know additional superior alternatives to nuclear and fossil fuel power, as well as the remediation of nuclear wastes. My previous CNES comments are also referenced there and include the case for hemp relegalization and its widespread cultivation to replace the need for deforestation and for healing the atmosphere to ameliorate global climate change. The DOE Strategic Plan draft is at http://www.doe.gov/strategic_plan A good overview article of these newest Clean-Energy technologies, co-authored by Stephen Kaplan (who you know) and Dr. Brian O'Leary, is at http://www.connexion.org/kaplan . Saturday on CSPAN I saw your speech of April 22nd in Washington DC on the occasion of Earth Day 2000 where near the beginning you started one sentence with "When I started Earth Day in 1970...". I noted that you did not say "when the first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970, in response to my call for a national environmental teach-in/protest for the Earth, after John McConnell first began Earth Day on the Spring Equinox of 1970 after making the announcement suggesting an annual Earth Day at the October 1969 UNESCO Conference on the Environment in San Francisco,..." Perhaps you had more important things to say in your brief allotted time Saturday, or perhaps I am in error in my understanding of the facts of the matter in this regard as depicted at http://www.earthsite.org, so I wonder what your comments might be about this historical point of fact whose failure of your mention makes the "Earth Day Movement", that you initiated according to Robert F Kennedy Jr's speech Saturday, seem less than fully in accord with the truth. The historical facts documented on that website represent a shadow on your name as the Founder of Earth Day, even though there is no doubt that your dedication and your call for a 1970 environmental teach-in on that April 22nd has been a major inspiration for what has become the successful global Earth Day Network. I would suggest that this misunderstanding may be cleared up best, and the objectives of Earth Day best fulfilled, by your personally taking the lead in championing this "A Year for The Earth 2000-2001" campaign for an annual "Earth Month". I noticed on the http://www.earthday.net website that the speakers in Washington DC on Saturday were in the main activists, scientists, political figures, and lawyers, with no religious or spiritual leaders listed that I could recognize. It seems that the original idea behind Mr. McConnell's original annual Earth Day proposal was to also bring together people of all faiths, almost in the spirit of a prayer for the Earth, to consider solutions to environmental problems. It seems to me that this is the one element that so far seems to have been overlooked. As a spiritual walk to bring out the prayer for "Global Peace Now!" as a universal human resolve, the Global Peace Walk 2000 supports this idea and hopes that you will incorporate it into the Earth Day theme by supporting this "Earth Month" and "A Year for The Earth" proposal. On behalf of All Life on Earth, with respect and thanks, David Crockett Williams, C.L.U. General Agency Services gear2000@lightspeed.net http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/genagency.html Global Peace Walk 2000 http://www.globalpeacenow.org Updates/Voicemail 415-267-1877 Global Emergency Alert Response http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000 Science & Technology in Society & Public Policy List http://www.egroups.com/group/dcwilliams Nuclear Disarmament & Economic Conversion Act http://www.PetitionOnline.com/prop1/petition.html USCampaign gear2000@onemain.com DCWilliams for President, Leonard Peltier for VP http://www.egroups.com/group/williams-peltier An Agenda for Peace http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/agenda.html The Vision of Paradise on Earth, DCWilliams http://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/vision.html Easy way to Email Media and Government http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 06:07:41 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/04/26 - Significant events today in DC - --=====================_29787065==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable April 26, 2000 Washington Times Daybook=20 http://www.washtimes.com/national/daybook-2000426213611.htm Nuclear-power study news conference =97 9:30 a.m. =97 Public Citizen, the= Star Foundation, and the Radiation and Public Health Project hold a news= conference to discuss a new study, which contends that infant mortality rates around= five nuclear-power reactors dropped after the reactors closed. Location: First Amendment Room, National Press Club, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/588-7742. Biological-weapons discussion =97 3 p.m. =97 Georgetown University holds a= =20 discussion, "Biological Weapons: The Peril, the Prospects, the Policy." =20 Location: Riggs Library, Healy Hall, Georgetown University, 37th and O= streets NW. Contact: 202/687-1639. Chernobyl briefing =97 4 p.m. =97 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty holds a=20 briefing, "Chernobyl's Continuing Political Fallout in Belarus." Stanislau= =20 Shushkevich, Social Democratic Assembly chairman, and former Belarus president, participates. Location: Fourth-floor conference room, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW. Contact: 202/457-6949. Foreign policy conference =979 a.m. =97 The State Department and the= Hispanic=20 Council on International Relations hold a U.S. foreign-policy conference. SENATE COMMITTEES=20 10 a.m. =97 Appropriations defense subcommittee holds a hearing on= fiscal =20 2001 defense appropriations. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen testifies.= =20 Location: 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Contact: 202/224-3471. ___________________________________________________ NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Subscribe: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.): DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com | http://members.aol.com/doewatch=20 Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com | http://downwinders@onelist.com=20 EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews= =20 Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of all, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_29787065==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
April 26, 2000 Washington Times Daybook

Nuclear-power study news conference =97 9:30 a.m. =97 Public Citizen,  the Star Foundation, and the Radiation and Public Health Project hold a news conference to discuss a new study,  which contends that infant mortality rates around five nuclear-power reactors dropped after the reactors  closed. Location: First Amendment  Room, National Press Club, 14th and F streets NW. Contact: 202/588-7742.

Biological-weapons discussion =97 3 p.m. =97 Georgetown University hold= s a  discussion, "Biological Weapons: The  Peril, the Prospects, the Policy."   Location: Riggs Library, Healy Hall,  Georgetown University, 37th and O streets NW. Contact: 202/687-1639.

Chernobyl briefing =97 4 p.m. =97 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty holds a  briefing, "Chernobyl's Continuing Political Fallout in Belarus." Stanislau  Shushkevich, Social Democratic  Assembly chairman, and former  Belarus president, participates.   Location: Fourth-floor conference  room, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW.  Contact: 202/457-6949.

Foreign policy conference =979 a.m. =97  The State Department and the Hispanic  Council on International Relations hold  a U.S. foreign-policy conference.

SENATE COMMITTEES

    10 a.m. =97 Appropriations defense subcommittee holds a hearing on fiscal   2001 defense appropriations. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen testifies.  Location: 192 Dirksen Senate Office  Building. Contact: 202/224-3471.


     ___________________________________________________

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Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm
Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org= (NucNews-Editor)
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Subscribe:  mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe)

Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for= educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.):

DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com |= http://members.aol.com/doewatch
Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com |= http://downwinders@onelist.com
EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews
Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www.planetark.org/news/
Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org

      Distributed without payment for= research and educational
   purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of= all,
             in= accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.


- --=====================_29787065==_.ALT-- - - To unsubscribe to abolition-usa, send an email to "majordomo@xmission.com" with "unsubscribe abolition-usa" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 14:35:35 -0400 From: Ellen Thomas Subject: (abolition-usa) NucNews 00/04/26-(2) - Chernobyl Remembered, Lafayette Park, 6:30 pm (DC) - --=====================_12538705==_.ALT Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Chernobyl remembered=20 April 26, 2000 Washington Times Embassy Row, by James Morrison http://www.washtimes.com/world/embassy-2000426214254.htm Ukrainian Ambassador Kostyantyn Gryshchenko this evening will lead a commemoration on the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Mr. Gryshchenko will be joined by representatives of the Ukrainian-American community and clergymen from the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic churches at the 6:30 p.m. gathering in Lafayette Park. - ---- Here are some stories today and yesterday about Chernobyl: APRIL 26, 01:31 EDT=20 Ukraine Promises To Close Chernobyl By MARINA SYSOYEVA=20 Associated Press Writer=20 http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=3DEUROPE&STORYID=3DAPIS7= 437U780 CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) =97 For 14 years, Ukraine has coped with the legacy of the world's worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl =97 and the path to recovery is still long. Now the government is again promising to shut the ill-fated plant, but refuses to give a date.=20 ``Chernobyl will be closed down,'' Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko pledged Tuesday night, the eve of the accident's anniversary. He spoke after laying a wreath at a memorial to firefighters who were among the first to combat radioactive flames from the disaster =97 and among the first to die.=20 The pre-dawn accident on April 26, 1986 sent a cloud that rained radiation over much of Europe and contaminated large areas in then-Soviet Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.=20 According to Ukrainian government figures, more than 4,000 of those who took part in the hasty and poorly organized Soviet cleanup effort have died, and more than 70,000 Ukrainians were fully disabled by the disaster.=20 Overall, about 3.4 million of Ukraine's 50 million people, including about 1.26 million children, are considered affected by Chernobyl. Of them, 400,000 adults and nearly 1.1 million children are entitled to state aid for Chernobyl-linked health problems.=20 But despite the terrible legacy, Chernobyl's closure =97 long urged by Western nations and environmentalists the world over =97 remains uncertain.=20 The plant now has just one working reactor, No. 3. The 1986 calamity ruined its reactor No. 4. Another of Chernobyl's RBMK reactors has been inactive since a 1991 fire and a third was stopped in 1996.=20 Ukraine had promised to fully close down Chernobyl by the end of 1999, but delayed the closure until an unspecified date this year, saying it is too strapped for energy and needs financial aid to build two new reactors as compensation.=20 Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Ukraine to give a definite closure date for what many see as the embodiment of the evils of the atomic era.=20 ``It is essential to have a date fixed,'' Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said during a visit to Kiev this month.=20 Yushchenko, touring the plant 80 miles north of the capital, was noncommittal Tuesday, saying only that the date might be released by the summer meeting of international donors for Chernobyl.=20 The Group of Seven richest nations promised aid in 1995 to help Ukraine close Chernobyl, but Kiev complains the money has been slow in coming. Yushchenko reiterated that, asking for more support.=20 ``Despite the world's good political understanding of the Chernobyl problem, Ukraine is left alone to deal with practical liquidation of the danger that Chernobyl represents,'' he said.=20 The government says Ukraine spent $5.7 billion to battle the effects of the disaster during Soviet times and $5 billion since independence in 1991.=20 Over the past year, Western money has helped Ukraine conduct repairs on the leaky concrete and steel sarcophagus over the exploded reactor, and workers have started to build a nuclear waste storage facility.=20 Still, much remains to be done.=20 With the economy declining badly since the Soviet collapse, state funding covered only an average of 51.6 percent of Chernobyl relief needs from 1996-98. Financial constraints forced the Cabinet to actually finance just 85 percent of Chernobyl-linked social programs in 1999.=20 The 2000 budget allocated only $290 million of at least $830 million needed a year for social and health programs to help Chernobyl victims, Emergency Situations Minister Vasyl Durdynets said recently.=20 Officials say the health of affected populace is steadily deteriorating.=20 The number of diseases among affected children is 17 percent higher on average than among their ordinary counterparts, and the incidence of some illnesses twice exceeds the norm.=20 A Health Ministry report released last week said thyroid cancer among Ukrainian children has risen dramatically since the accident. About 1,400 people who were children or adolescents at the time of the disaster have been operated on for thyroid cancer so far.=20 Chernobyl-related troubles are not limited to health issues.=20 The working reactor has suffered repeated shutdowns this winter over failures at its safety valves. The government is far from clear on what to do with about 6,000 plant workers and their families once Chernobyl is closed. Vast areas of Ukraine remain contaminated. Tons of nuclear fuel apparently are still inside the sarcophagus.=20 ``The Ukrainian people have performed a heroic deed during those 14 years as they fought to contain this tragedy,'' Yushchenko said. ``Ukraine must not be left alone.''=20 - ---- Ukraine Chernobyl survivors mark 14th anniversary UKRAINE: April 26, 2000 http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=3D6464 KIEV - About 1,500 Ukrainian survivors of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and their families marched through Kiev on Sunday to mark the 14th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident.=20 Umbrellas bobbed in drizzling rain among the orange and blue flags of activist groups, as marchers protesting against diminishing government compensation payments waved black banners, one of which read "Revising Chernobyl laws is genocide of the people". "This year's budget is offensive to the invalids, widows and orphans of Chernobyl," the head of the Chernobyl Union Yuri Andreyev told Reuters, referrring to the cash-strapped government's tight fiscal plan for 2000. "We all know it will finish with a complete end to the Chernobyl programme of social security." Health officials said this week the April 26, 1986 fire and explosion at the plant's fourth reactor was still blighting the lives and health of Ukrainians, with some 3.5 million people sickened by radioactive contamination. Over a third of that number were children. United Nations data show millions of people still live on contaminated land in Belarus, which bore the brunt of the disaster, and in Russia. Some parts of Western Europe were also polluted. The U.N. has called for the international community, whose efforts so far have concentrated on trying to close the last remaining reactor at Chernobyl, to raise $9.5 million for health and ecological projects in the impoverished region. "The health of people affected by the Chernobyl accident is getting worse and worse every year," Deputy Ukrainian Health Minister Olha Bobyleva told a news conference this week. UKRAINE PROMISES CHERNOBYL CLOSURE THIS YEAR Ukraine has promised the international community, fearing a repeat disaster if the Soviet-era station keeps working, to close Chernobyl by the end of this year but has set no date. It says foreign partners have not stumped up promised funds to help close the station - a complex and lengthy process - and complete new reactors at other atomic stations to replace capacity lost at Chernobyl. Ukraine's five nuclear power plants produce about half the nation's supply of electricity, which is in any case erratic across most of the country due to payment arrears and ageing infrastructure. The Group of Seven leading industrial nations says Ukraine must make good on its closure promises first. Closure also puts a large question mark over the fate of roughly 6,000 workers who keep the station running. "Of course I am for closing Chernobyl but it should have been done long ago. It's not so simple, and God forbid there should be any accident when they shut it down," said Nadezhda Matyash, head of a group of mothers of children with cancer. "Closing it takes a lot of money which we don't have, and our foreign partners promise and promise but don't give funds."=20 Story by Christina Ling=20 REUTERS NEWS SERVICE=20 - ---- APRIL 25, 13:31 EDT=20 Russia Urged To Cut Fuel Leaks=20 By ANNA DOLGOV=20 Associated Press Writer=20 http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=3DEUROPE&STORYID=3DAPIS7= 42TCCG0 MOSCOW (AP) =97 The oil and natural gas that Russia loses in leaks and spills every year could provide enough energy to allow the country to close its nuclear power plants, Greenpeace said Tuesday.=20 The comments by the Russian, German and Dutch branches of the environmental group came on the eve of the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in Ukraine, which sent a radioactive cloud over much of Europe.=20 Russia relies heavily on its nine nuclear power plants. No major accidents have been reported at the Russian plants and the government says all Chernobyl-type reactors have been modernized and are safe.=20 ``We are trying to prove that ... the output of nuclear power stations could be substituted,'' said Oganes Targulian, a Greenpeace-Russia oil specialist.=20 Russian Nuclear Power Ministry spokesman Vladislav Petrov was skeptical about the Greenpeace proposal.=20 ``It's a bit like saying, 'Let's take the whole humankind and transport it to a new, wonderful planet,''' Petrov said by telephone. ``The idea is nice, but can it be realized?''=20 Between 70 million and 140 million barrels of oil are spilled in Russia every year, out of the approximately 2.1 billion barrels the country produces, according to government and environmentalist estimates cited in a Greenpeace report released Tuesday.=20 The country also loses between 210 billion cubic feet to 1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in pipeline leaks every year, the report said. Russia's annual natural gas production has hovered around 19 trillion cubic feet the past few years, according to government figures.=20 The exact losses are hard to estimate because some companies underreport leaks and spills to avoid paying fines, while others may exaggerate them to hide fuel theft, Targulian told reporters.=20 Every year, another 630 billion cubic feet of associated natural gas =97 a byproduct of oil fields =97 is simply burnt up because Russian oil companies say transporting or converting it into energy is unprofitable, Targulian said.=20 Depending on fuel leak estimates and the efficiency of power plants, the wasted oil and gas could give Russia between 70 billion and 316 billion extra kilowatt-hours of energy every year, according to the Greenpeace report.=20 In comparison, Russia's nuclear power plants produce 120 billion kilowatt- hours of energy annually, according to government figures cited in the Greenpeace report.=20 Russia relies on aging pipelines, often hastily built during the Soviet era, and patching fuel leaks would require major upgrades. Greenpeace has not estimated the cost of renovations needed to reduce leaks, Targulian said. - ---- April 25, 2000 Worst Effects of Chernobyl To Come http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-UN-Chernobyl.html By The Associated Press GENEVA (AP) -- The United Nations released a new assessment of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown Tuesday, saying the worst health consequences for millions of people may be yet to come.=20 ``At least 100 times as much radiation was released by this accident as by the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined'' at the end of World War II, said a 32-page booklet released to mark the 14th anniversary of the disaster.=20 Three people were killed in the explosion on April 26, 1986, and 28 emergency workers died within the first three months, the report said. It gave no other death toll, but noted that 106 of the other emergency workers that were first on the scene also were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome.=20 And, the report said, a total of 600,000 emergency workers who helped in the cleanup and later built a cover to seal the destroyed reactor ``must be constantly monitored for the effects of exposure to radiation.''=20 The booklet, published by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the three countries most affected by the radiation -- Belarus, Ukraine and Russia -- continue to pay the price.=20 ``Chernobyl is a word we would all like to erase from our memory,'' said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a foreword.=20 But, Annan added, ``more than 7 million of our fellow human beings do not have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering, everyday, as a result of what happened.'' He said the exact number of victims may never be known, but that 3 million children require treatment and ``many will die prematurely.''=20 ``Not until 2016, at the earliest, will be known the full number of those likely to develop serious medical conditions'' because of delayed reactions to radiation exposure, he said.=20 Annan said response to a U.N. appeal launched three years ago had fallen so short that the original list of 60 projects had been shortened to the nine most urgent.=20 ``These nine projects could, if implemented, make a vital difference to the lives of many people,'' Annan said in appealing for governments and institutions to contribute $9.5 million.=20 The projects include modernization of a hospital, creation of a network of centers to treat children and decontamination of schools, kindergartens and hospitals in Belarus.=20 ___________________________________________________ NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm Submit Letter/Notice/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm E-Mail Archive: http://www.onelist.com/archive/NucNews Subscribe: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Here are excellent e-mail news resources (free, by subscription, for educational purposes, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.): DOE Watch - doewatch@onelist.com | http://members.aol.com/doewatch=20 Downwinders - downwinders@onelist.com | http://downwinders@onelist.com=20 EnviroNews - environews@envirolink.org|http://www.envirolink.org/environews= =20 Planet Ark - mailto:anna@planetark.org|http://www.planetark.org/news/ Radbull (Radiation Bulletin for Activists) - mailto:rogerh@energy-net.org Distributed without payment for research and educational=20 purposes only, by subscription, and archived for the use of all, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. - --=====================_12538705==_.ALT Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Chernobyl remembered

April 26, 2000 Washington Times
 Embassy Row, by
 James Morrison


 Ukrainian Ambassador Kostyantyn
 Gryshchenko this evening will lead a
 commemoration on the 14th
 anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear
 accident.

 Mr. Gryshchenko will be joined by
 representatives of the
 Ukrainian-American community and
 clergymen from the Ukrainian
 Orthodox and Catholic churches at the
 6:30 p.m. gathering in Lafayette Park.

----

Here are some stories today and yesterday about Chernobyl:

APRIL 26, 01:31 EDT

 Ukraine Promises To Close Chernobyl

 By MARINA SYSOYEVA
 Associated Press Writer


 CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP)
 =97 For 14 years, Ukraine has
 coped with the legacy of the
 world's worst nuclear disaster
 at Chernobyl =97 and the path
 to recovery is still long. Now
 the government is again
 promising to shut the ill-fated
 plant, but refuses to give a
 date.

 ``Chernobyl will be closed
 down,'' Prime Minister Viktor
 Yushchenko pledged Tuesday night, the eve of the accident's
 anniversary. He spoke after laying a wreath at a memorial to
 firefighters who were among the first to combat radioactive
 flames from the disaster =97 and among the first to die.=20

 The pre-dawn accident on April 26, 1986 sent a cloud that
 rained radiation over much of Europe and contaminated large
 areas in then-Soviet Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

 According to Ukrainian government figures, more than 4,000 of
 those who took part in the hasty and poorly organized Soviet
 cleanup effort have died, and more than 70,000 Ukrainians
 were fully disabled by the disaster.

 Overall, about 3.4 million of Ukraine's 50
 million people, including about 1.26
 million children, are considered affected
 by Chernobyl. Of them, 400,000 adults
 and nearly 1.1 million children are
 entitled to state aid for Chernobyl-linked
 health problems.

 But despite the terrible legacy,
 Chernobyl's closure =97 long urged by
 Western nations and environmentalists
 the world over =97 remains uncertain.

 The plant now has just one working
 reactor, No. 3. The 1986 calamity ruined
 its reactor No. 4. Another of Chernobyl's
 RBMK reactors has been inactive since a
 1991 fire and a third was stopped in 1996.

 Ukraine had promised to fully close down Chernobyl by the end
 of 1999, but delayed the closure until an unspecified date this
 year, saying it is too strapped for energy and needs financial aid
 to build two new reactors as compensation.

 Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on
 Ukraine to give a definite closure date
 for what many see as the embodiment of
 the evils of the atomic era.

 ``It is essential to have a date fixed,''
 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
 said during a visit to Kiev this month.

 Yushchenko, touring the plant 80 miles
 north of the capital, was noncommittal
 Tuesday, saying only that the date might
 be released by the summer meeting of
 international donors for Chernobyl.

 The Group of Seven richest nations
 promised aid in 1995 to help Ukraine
 close Chernobyl, but Kiev complains the
 money has been slow in coming.
 Yushchenko reiterated that, asking for more support.

 ``Despite the world's good political understanding of the
 Chernobyl problem, Ukraine is left alone to deal with practical
 liquidation of the danger that Chernobyl represents,'' he said.

 The government says Ukraine spent $5.7 billion to battle the
 effects of the disaster during Soviet times and $5 billion since
 independence in 1991.

 Over the past year, Western money has helped Ukraine
 conduct repairs on the leaky concrete and steel sarcophagus
 over the exploded reactor, and workers have started to build a
 nuclear waste storage facility.

 Still, much remains to be done.

 With the economy declining badly since the Soviet collapse,
 state funding covered only an average of 51.6 percent of
 Chernobyl relief needs from 1996-98. Financial constraints
 forced the Cabinet to actually finance just 85 percent of
 Chernobyl-linked social programs in 1999.

 The 2000 budget allocated only $290 million of at least $830
 million needed a year for social and health programs to help
 Chernobyl victims, Emergency Situations Minister Vasyl
 Durdynets said recently.

 Officials say the health of affected populace is steadily
 deteriorating.

 The number of diseases among affected children is 17 percent
 higher on average than among their ordinary counterparts, and
 the incidence of some illnesses twice exceeds the norm.

 A Health Ministry report released last week said thyroid cancer
 among Ukrainian children has risen dramatically since the
 accident. About 1,400 people who were children or adolescents
 at the time of the disaster have been operated on for thyroid
 cancer so far.

 Chernobyl-related troubles are not limited to health issues.

 The working reactor has suffered repeated shutdowns this
 winter over failures at its safety valves. The government is far
 from clear on what to do with about 6,000 plant workers and
 their families once Chernobyl is closed. Vast areas of Ukraine
 remain contaminated. Tons of nuclear fuel apparently are still
 inside the sarcophagus.

 ``The Ukrainian people have performed a heroic deed during
 those 14 years as they fought to contain this tragedy,''
 Yushchenko said. ``Ukraine must not be left alone.''

----

 Ukraine Chernobyl survivors
 mark 14th anniversary

 UKRAINE: April 26, 2000


 KIEV - About 1,500 Ukrainian survivors of the
 1986 Chernobyl disaster and their families
 marched through Kiev on Sunday to mark
 the 14th anniversary of the world's worst
 nuclear accident.

 Umbrellas bobbed in drizzling rain among the
 orange and blue flags of activist groups, as
 marchers protesting against diminishing
 government compensation payments waved black
 banners, one of which read "Revising Chernobyl
 laws is genocide of the people".

 "This year's budget is offensive to the invalids,
 widows and orphans of Chernobyl," the head of
 the Chernobyl Union Yuri Andreyev told Reuters,
 referrring to the cash-strapped government's tight
 fiscal plan for 2000.

 "We all know it will finish with a complete end=20 to
 the Chernobyl programme of social security."

 Health officials said this week the April 26, 1986
 fire and explosion at the plant's fourth reactor was
 still blighting the lives and health of Ukrainians,
 with some 3.5 million people sickened by
 radioactive contamination.

 Over a third of that number were children. United
 Nations data show millions of people still live on
 contaminated land in Belarus, which bore the
 brunt of the disaster, and in Russia. Some parts of
 Western Europe were also polluted.

 The U.N. has called for the international
 community, whose efforts so far have
 concentrated on trying to close the last remaining
 reactor at Chernobyl, to raise $9.5 million for
 health and ecological projects in the impoverished
 region.

 "The health of people affected by the Chernobyl
 accident is getting worse and worse every year,"
 Deputy Ukrainian Health Minister Olha Bobyleva
 told a news conference this week.

 UKRAINE PROMISES CHERNOBYL CLOSURE
 THIS YEAR

 Ukraine has promised the international
 community, fearing a repeat disaster if the
 Soviet-era station keeps working, to close
 Chernobyl by the end of this year but has set no
 date.

 It says foreign partners have not stumped up
 promised funds to help close the station - a
 complex and lengthy process - and complete new
 reactors at other atomic stations to replace
 capacity lost at Chernobyl.

 Ukraine's five nuclear power plants produce about
 half the nation's supply of electricity, which is in
 any case erratic across most of the country due to
 payment arrears and ageing infrastructure.

 The Group of Seven leading industrial nations
 says Ukraine must make good on its closure
 promises first.

 Closure also puts a large question mark over the
 fate of roughly 6,000 workers who keep the station
 running.

 "Of course I am for closing Chernobyl but it should
 have been done long ago. It's not so simple, and
 God forbid there should be any accident when
 they shut it down," said Nadezhda Matyash, head
 of a group of mothers of children with cancer.

 "Closing it takes a lot of money which we don't
 have, and our foreign partners promise and
 promise but don't give funds."

 Story by Christina Ling

 REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

----

APRIL 25, 13:31 EDT

 Russia Urged To Cut Fuel Leaks

 By ANNA DOLGOV
 Associated Press Writer


 MOSCOW (AP) =97 The oil and natural gas that Russia loses in
 leaks and spills every year could provide enough energy to allow
 the country to close its nuclear power plants, Greenpeace said
 Tuesday.

 The comments by the Russian, German and Dutch branches of
 the environmental group came on the eve of the 14th
 anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in
 Ukraine, which sent a radioactive cloud over much of Europe.

 Russia relies heavily on its nine nuclear power plants. No major
 accidents have been reported at the Russian plants and the
 government says all Chernobyl-type reactors have been
 modernized and are safe.

 ``We are trying to prove that ... the output of nuclear power
 stations could be substituted,'' said Oganes Targulian, a
 Greenpeace-Russia oil specialist.

 Russian Nuclear Power Ministry spokesman Vladislav Petrov
 was skeptical about the Greenpeace proposal.

 ``It's a bit like saying, 'Let's take the whole humankind and
 transport it to a new, wonderful planet,''' Petrov said by
 telephone. ``The idea is nice, but can it be realized?''

 Between 70 million and 140 million barrels of oil are spilled in
 Russia every year, out of the approximately 2.1 billion barrels
 the country produces, according to government and
 environmentalist estimates cited in a Greenpeace=20 report
 released Tuesday.

 The country also loses between 210 billion cubic feet to 1.8
 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in pipeline leaks every year, the
 report said. Russia's annual natural gas production has hovered
 around 19 trillion cubic feet the past few years, according to
 government figures.

 The exact losses are hard to estimate because some companies
 underreport leaks and spills to avoid paying fines, while others
 may exaggerate them to hide fuel theft, Targulian told
 reporters.

 Every year, another 630 billion cubic feet of associated natural
 gas =97 a byproduct of oil fields =97 is simply burnt up because
 Russian oil companies say transporting or converting it into
 energy is unprofitable, Targulian said.

 Depending on fuel leak estimates and the efficiency of power
 plants, the wasted oil and gas could give Russia between 70
 billion and 316 billion extra kilowatt-hours of energy every
 year, according to the Greenpeace report.

 In comparison, Russia's nuclear power plants produce 120
 billion kilowatt- hours of energy annually, according to
 government figures cited in the Greenpeace report.

 Russia relies on aging pipelines, often hastily built during the
 Soviet era, and patching fuel leaks would require=20 major
 upgrades. Greenpeace has not estimated the cost of renovations
 needed to reduce leaks, Targulian said.

----

April 25, 2000

 Worst Effects of Chernobyl To Come


 By The Associated Press

 GENEVA (AP) -- The United Nations released a new
 assessment of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
 Tuesday, saying the worst health consequences for
 millions of people may be yet to come.

 ``At least 100 times as much radiation was released by
 this accident as by the two atomic bombs dropped on
 Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined'' at the end of
 World War II, said a 32-page booklet released to mark
 the 14th anniversary of the disaster.

 Three people were killed in the explosion on April 26,
 1986, and 28 emergency workers died within the first
 three months, the report said. It gave no other death toll,
 but noted that 106 of the other emergency workers that
 were first on the scene also were diagnosed with acute
 radiation syndrome.

 And, the report said, a total of 600,000 emergency
 workers who helped in the cleanup and later built a
 cover to seal the destroyed reactor ``must be constantly
 monitored for the effects of exposure to radiation.''

 The booklet, published by the U.N. Office for the
 Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the three
 countries most affected by the radiation -- Belarus,
 Ukraine and Russia -- continue to pay the price.

 ``Chernobyl is a word we would all like to erase from
 our memory,'' said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
 in a foreword.

 But, Annan added, ``more than 7 million of our fellow
 human beings do not have the luxury of forgetting.=20 They
 are still suffering, everyday, as a result of what
 happened.'' He said the exact number of victims may
 never be known, but that 3 million children require
 treatment and ``many will die prematurely.''

 ``Not until 2016, at the earliest, will be known the full
 number of those likely to develop serious medical
 conditions'' because of delayed reactions to radiation
 exposure, he said.

 Annan said response to a U.N. appeal launched three
 years ago had fallen so short that the original list of 60
 projects had been shortened to the nine most urgent.

 ``These nine projects could, if implemented, make a
 vital difference to the lives of many people,'' Annan
 said in appealing for governments and institutions to
 contribute $9.5 million.

 The projects include modernization of a hospital,
 creation of a network of centers to treat children and
 decontamination of schools, kindergartens and=20 hospitals
 in Belarus.

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