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Category: Washington DC
Current U.S. Nuclear Weapons Issues: Monthly Update — December 15, 2021
December 15, 2021 December 21, 2021 Biden Administration, DOE, FY 2022 Budget, Modernization, NNSA, Nuclear Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Trump Administration, Washington DC
FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act: The Bad News.
As Politico put it:
PROGRESSIVES' PENTAGON POUNDING: … progressives barely put their stamp on Pentagon policy this go-round. Bipartisan provisions requiring women to register for the draft, cracking down on Saudi Arabia and imposing sanctions on Russia were nixed; legislation repealing outdated Iraq war authorizations fell by the wayside; reforms to the military justice system and efforts to combat extremism in the ranks were pared back; and a proposal to give Washington, D.C., control of its National Guard was dropped," they wrote. Democrats hold power in the House, Senate and White House for the first time in more than a decade, yet the high-profile defense bill got more GOP votes than from Biden's own party. As progressive lawmakers made their dissatisfaction with the bill's high price tag clear, centrist Democrats knew they needed Republican support to pass the House and Senate."
Progressives truly felt they had a historic chance to turn their priorities into policy, but the realities of a 50-50 Senate with no filibuster made that near impossible. And with midterms next year, it's likely they missed their best chance.
Nuclear weapons: Congress added $500 million to Biden's request for NNSA Total Weapons Activities, which was essentially Trump's request to begin with. Trump's Sea-Launched Cruise Missile and B83 (1.2 megatons) service life program were kept. $1.72 billion request for "Plutonium Modernization" authorized.
However, the NDAA is authorization, not appropriations. The 2nd Continuing Resolution runs until February after which the appropriators will have to come up with something. There's a chance that the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile and B83 sustainment program could be shot down. While those would be notable victories, they really only amount to damage control (i.e., rolling back two of Trump's pet projects) as the $1.7 trillion modernization beast lumbers on.
Virtual Advocacy for "Safety, Security, and Savings" at ANA DC Days:
May 26, 2021 June 7, 2021 Biden Administration, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Modernization, Nuclear Policy, Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Weapons, Pit Production at LANL, Pit Production at SRS, Savannah River Site, Washington DC
Nuclear Watch New Mexico virtually visited Washington, DC this month to participate in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability's "DC Days," an annual event where organizations from across the nation, whose members are directly affected by nuclear weapons production and the incidental health and environmental consequences, make their voice heard to federal policy makers.
Nuclear Watch NM was focused on opposing new plutonium pit production at Savannah River Site and Los Alamos, pushing for safe and secure toxic cleanup and prioritizing public health while saving billions by terminating ill-conceived new nuclear weapons programs. View more information on these issues in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability's new report, "Safety, Security, and Savings," which describes in detail the foundation of our 2021 advocacy. The report includes a series of fact sheets and recommendations covering new warheads, bomb plants, nuclear waste, cleanup, and more.
LANL Regional Coalition Faces More Opposition
May 2, 2019 May 2, 2019 DOE, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nuclear News, Washington DC
The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) is facing scrutiny from several directions lately. The Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General is conducting an investigation. Two members of the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners abstained from a vote on new RCLC financial controls because the commissioners opposed blindly supporting LANL's mission, which is 70% nuclear weapons work. And SF New Mexican columnist Milan Simonich suggested that the RCLC "should die with a whimper."
Trump's 2020 Nuclear Weapons Budget Escalates New Arms Race
March 25, 2019 September 17, 2019 DOE, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., NNSA, Nuclear Policy, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Weapons, Plutonium, Plutonium Pit Production, Press Releases, Washington DC
Posted By Scott Kovac
Santa Fe, NM – Today the Trump Administration released more budget details for the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration's nuclear weapons programs for fiscal year 2020. This same fiscal year will also mark the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Global Nuclear Weapons Threats Are Rising
More than 25 years after the end of the Cold War, all eight established nuclear weapons powers are "modernizing" their stockpiles. Talks have broken down with North Korea, the new nuclear weapons power. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan narrowly averted war last month. Russian President Vladmir Putin made new nuclear threats in response to Trump's announced withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. This could lead to hair-trigger missile emplacements in the heart of Europe and block extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. If so, the world will be without any nuclear arms control at all for the first time since 1972.
Sandia National Laboratories Annual Budget is 81% Military Work
March 20, 2019 March 25, 2019 DOE, Nuclear Weapons, Sandia National Laboratories, Washington DC
Posted by Scott Kovac – Sandia National Laboratories, has one of the Department Of Energy's (DOE's) largest annual budgets and the fiscal year 2020 (FY20) Congressional Budget Request shows continued military priorities for the Lab. There are two components of Sandia's annual budget – work for DOE (with a $2.4 billion request for FY20) and 'Work For Others' (with an annual request of $1.2 billion). Sandia's work for DOE centers around nuclear weapons engineering. 'Work for Others' (WFO) is work done for federal agencies other than the DOE and for non-federal entities. An annual total budget of $3.6 billion puts Sandia's budget second only behind Washington Headquarters among DOE sites.
New Momentum for Saner Nuclear Policy: Event Highlights
March 18, 2019 March 25, 2019 Climate Change, DOE, Nuclear Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Washington DC
On-stage from left to right: Kate Folb, Liz Warner, Michael Douglas, Joe Cirincione, Kennette Benedict, Ted Lieu, Yasmeen Silva, Ben Rhodes
BY SOPHIA STROUD | – NukeWatch NM Web Designer
Monday 3/18 Ploughshares Fund hosted an in-depth discussion about the momentum building for a new, saner nuclear policy and how California can lead the way to a safer, more secure world.
"The more that I dug into the history of nuclear weapons and the legacy that system has today, the more I realized that all the issues I cared about, from gender-based violence, to environmental justice, to climate change, to human rights, to money in politics, is so influenced by the nuclear system. I realized that taking up this mantle now…not only would I be working on issues I'm passionate about and clearing those hurdles that the nuclear system have put up across the board for socialized institutions we care about, but also working on preventing nuclear Armageddon."
– Yasmeen Silva, Lead organizer for Beyond the Bomb's #NoFirstUse and other campaigns
How could New Mexico's senators support Heather Wilson for Air Force Secretary?
May 12, 2017 August 28, 2018 Nuclear Security, Washington DC
Commentary by NukeWatch Steering Committee member Chuck Montaño. Chuck is a federally protected LANLK whistleblower, and we're proud to have him!
It's disturbing, but not surprising that both New Mexico U.S. Senators, and so many of their Senate colleagues, supported Donald Trump's nomination of former New Mexico Congresswomen, Heather Wilson, to the position of Air Force Secretary. My award-winning book about the corrupting influence of money and politics, titled Los Alamos: Secret Colony, Hidden Truths, provides in depth perspective on how this occurs and why, regardless of political party affiliation.
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, most fraud, waste and abuse can be attributed to managerial malfeasance occurring at the highest levels of leadership, and a reluctance(if not outright refusal) by those with oversight authority to hold those responsible accountable. A couple of years back, Ms Wilson was caught lobbying for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia, and other federal facilities, she receiving tens of thousands of dollars a month in the process. These federal installations were later forced to reimburse the taxpayer for those monies, this being akin to the proverbial slap on the wrist with a wet noodle.
As a former auditor and fraud investigator in Los Alamos, and the once director of fraud and special investigations for the office of the New Mexico state auditor, I know for a fact that using taxpayer dollars to lobby is a blatant violation of federal and state law. I also know that employees are legally required to report fraud, waste and abuse occurring at taxpayer-funded institutions. Indeed, it is a condition of employment at federally-funded facilities. So why did New Mexico U.S. Senator's Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, and so many of their Senate colleagues, choose to ignore the evidence about Wilson's lobbying activity, introduced into the record at her recent confirmation hearing? Indeed, why do our elected representatives prefer to look the other way as government whistleblower's (AKA employees) careers get destroyed, by these employers, for reporting such malfeasance? Perhaps we are a nation of laws, but the institutions and individuals charged to enforce them are clearly selective as to how and when they choose to do so, thus ensuring the powerful get their way and, perhaps most importantly, that the status quo always always remains intact.
Charles 'Chuck' Montano, author
Los Alamos: Secret Colony, Hidden Truths
www.losalamosdiary.com
Trump adds to DC muck with Heather Wilson as Air Force Secretary
May 9, 2017 August 28, 2018 Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nuclear Weapons, Sandia National Laboratories, Washington DC
So much for draining the swamp. Trump and the Senate just added to the muck in Washington, DC by confirming ex-Congresswoman Heather Wilson as Secretary of the Air Force. Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest weapons contractor, started paying her $10,000 a month the day after she stepped down from office to help devise a strategy to extend its $2.6 bilion/year management contract of the Sandia Labs without competitive bid (the Labs are in her district). She went on to get a similar contract with the Los Alamos Lab, also for $10,000 a month. Good work, if you can get it!
Now as Air Force Secretary she will oversee the world's most expensive weapons systems made by guess who? Lockheed Martin. All this for a Defense Department that has never been able to pass a financial audit for how it spends taxpayers' money. Sadly, it's business it as usual for the weapons megabusiness.
In particular, it's especially hypocritical for New Mexico's senior senator Tom Udall to have voted for her, given that he sent out an email fundraiser immediately after Trump's speech to Congress denouncing his cabinet nominee's conflicts-of-interest. I think it shows that the New Mexican congressional delegation's primary loyalty is to the nuclear weapons industry in our state, instead of to political party or even good governance.
In contrast, praise and glory to California's senior senator Dianne Feinstein who issued a strong statement against Heather Wilson because of her possibly illegal lobbying activities. Both the Sandia and Los Alamos Labs had to pay back the US government the ~$430,000 they had been reimbursed for paying her, but there is no public record of Wilson ever paying back one red cent.
As Trump Seeks to Expand U.S. Nuclear Weapons Capabilities New Sandia Labs Director Argued for Expanded Use of Nuclear Weapons
January 26, 2017 August 28, 2018 Nuclear Weapons, Washington DC
On December 22, 2016 president-elect Donald Trump upended four decades of U.S. policy to reduce nuclear weapons by tweeting "the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." The next morning he doubled down by declaring, "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all."
That same day Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his country's nuclear weapons are fully capable of penetrating any American missile defense system, and observed "It's not us who have been speeding up the arms race." Earlier Trump had suggested that Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia should perhaps obtain nuclear weapons, and reportedly asked a foreign policy advisor why the U.S. couldn't use nuclear weapons if it already had them. Further, Trump refused to rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe or against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Underlying all this is a trillion dollar effort begun under the Obama Administration to upgrade U.S. nuclear forces, including new nuclear weapons production plants, and new missiles, submarines and bombers, all expected to be operational until around the year 2080.
One of the most important players in the trillion dollar nuclear weapons upgrade is the Sandia National Laboratories, with its newly appointed director Stephen Younger. Long before Trump, Younger argued for the expanded use of nuclear weapons, writing in his June 2000 paper Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century "[i]t is often, but not universally, thought that nuclear weapons would only be used in extremis, when the nation is in the gravest danger…..This may not be true in the future." (P. 2)
Although generally the least publicly recognized of the three American nuclear weapons labs, Sandia is the largest by both budget and number of personnel (the other two nuclear weapons labs are the Los Alamos and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories). Sandia has multiple sites (hence is called "Labs" in the plural), but its main facility is on Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, NM. Nearby is the Kirtland Underground Munitions Maintenance and Storage Complex, likely the largest storage facility for nuclear weapons in the nation, with up to 2,500 warheads. Kirtland AFB also sites the Air Force's national Nuclear Weapons Center, which describes itself as the "The Nucleus of America's Deterrent", whose stated mission is to "Deliver nuclear capabilities Warfighters use every day to deter and assure."
Although "deterrence" has been sold to the American taxpayer for decades as the rationale for nuclear weapons, in reality the U.S. (and Russian) arsenal is for nuclear warfighting, as a 2013 top-level Pentagon document explicitly states:
The new guidance requires the United States to maintain significant counterforce capabilities against potential adversaries. The new guidance does not rely on a "counter-value' or "minimum deterrence" strategy.
As one source explains
Counterforce doctrine, in nuclear strategy, [is] the targeting of an opponent's military infrastructure with a nuclear strike. The counterforce doctrine is differentiated from the countervalue doctrine, which targets the enemy's cities, destroying its civilian population and economic base. The counterforce doctrine asserts that a nuclear war can be limited and that it can be fought and won. https://www.britannica.com/topic/counterforce-doctrine
In turn, counterforce requires thousands of nuclear weapons for nuclear warfighting, instead of the few hundred needed for only deterrence. But as President Ronald Reagan famously put it in his 1984 State of the Union address:
A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?
In 1988 Reagan nearly reached agreement with Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ban nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, relying on false promises made by then-Livermore Lab Director Edward Teller, Reagan insisted on pursuing ballistic missile defenses (or "Star Wars"), which killed any possible deal. Thus, sadly, counterforce and the capability to wage a nuclear war remain the operative national security policy as we face today's very real risk of entering into a new nuclear arms race with Russia.
Stephen Younger already foreshadowed this in his 2000 paper when he wrote, "The United States employs a counterforce strategy that targets military assets that could inflict damage to our national interests." (P. 9) He is now in a prime position to implement that counterforce policy as Sandia Labs Director.
Sandia's main mission is design of the thousands of nonnuclear components (such as fuzes, radars, etc.) that weaponize the nuclear designs of the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories into deliverable weapons of mass destruction. However, Sandia's secondary mission is studying nuclear weapons "effects," which are not the horrific effects of nuclear weapons on humans and the environment. Instead, this concerns the effects of nuclear weapons on nuclear weapons, to make sure that they are radiation hardened so that they will operate in the severe environments of a nuclear war. This is aimed at mostly the fratricidal effects of our own weapons, since any single target might be hit with multiple warheads. This has every thing to do with nuclear warfighting and first strike capabilities, rather than mere "deterrence."
Younger's appointment as director is also indicative of Sandia's growing focus on nuclear weapons, principally due to Life Extension Programs (LEPs) that not only seek to indefinitely preserve existing nuclear weapons, but to also give them new military capabilities (Sandia is currently the lead lab for the B61-12 LEP, which is transforming a "dumb" bomb into the world's first nuclear smart bomb). A decade ago Sandia Labs fell below 50% funded by nuclear weapons programs, which was publicly touted by the New Mexican congressional delegation as successful mission diversification leading to possible greater regional economic development. However, that trend is now reversed. In the FY 2017 federal budget request Sandia is 56% funded by nuclear weapons programs. In terms of gross funding for nuclear weapons programs Sandia is tied with the Los Alamos Lab at $1.58 billion for FY 2017, while Lawrence Livermore Lab's nuclear weapons program is $1.07 billion. Sandia's total annual budget is around $2.8 billion, the largest of the three nuclear weapons labs.
Jay Coghlan, Nuclear Watch New Mexico Director, commented, "Americans can't allow an unpredictable president and a greedy nuclear weapons complex to fool us into a new nuclear arms race. Reagan said it best that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought." We need to make sure that Trump gets that message as well. He says he wants to both rebuild the nation's infrastructure and expand nuclear weapons capabilities. But it's one or the other – Trump will find out the hard way that the country can't afford to have it both ways."
Stephen Younger's June 2000 paper "Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century" is available at https://www.nukewatch.org/importantdocs/resources/NuclearWeaponsIn21stCentury.pdf
For more on the Kirtland Air Force Base, the nuclear weapons complex within the nuclear weapons complex, please see https://nukewatch.org/Kirtland.html
The quote on U.S. nuclear weapons counterforce policy is from: Report on Nuclear Implementation Strategy of the United States Specified in Section 491 of 10. U.S.C. Department of Defense, June 2013, page 4 (quotation marks in the original) http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/policy/dod/us-nuclear-employment-strategy.pdf
Obama's Speech in Hiroshima
Obama's speech is beautiful and very moving.
But he'll be gone soon while the one trillion dollar modernization of U.S. nuclear forces that begins under him will go on for 30 years and then some (unless we stop it, that is).
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/world/asia/text-of-president-obamas-speech-in-hiroshima-japan.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
Text of President Obama's Speech in Hiroshima, Japan
What does $4.79 million look like to Lockheed Martin?
August 24, 2015 August 28, 2018 Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Weapons, Pantex Plant, Sandia National Laboratories, Washington DC, Y-12 Nat'l Security Complex
What does $4.79 million look like to Lockheed Martin Inc, the world's biggest defense contractor?
Recently, Lockheed Martin (LM) agreed to pay a $4.79 million settlement to the federal government to settle Justice Department allegations that LM illegally used taxpayer money to lobby for an extension of its Sandia Labs management contract.LM was trying to get its $2.5 billion annual management and operating contract extended without any pesky competition.
What may seem like a large amount to us is just a slap on the wrist to LM, which has scored almost $300 billion in 169,345 different contracts with the US federal government since 2008.
The website USA Spending tells us that LM did $32 billion in business with the federal government in 2014. Of that, $25 billion was contracted with the Department of Defense and almost $3 billion with the Department of Energy (DOE). It is for DOE that LM runs Sandia and co-manages Pantex and Y-12 with Bechtel. These 3 sites are a large part of the US nuclear weapons complex. We are all familiar with LM's defense contracting, but Lockheed Martin is also contracting to help build the nuclear warheads for the missiles and aircraft that it also builds, for example with the world's first nuclear "smart" bomb, the B61-12. It's one-stop nuclear war machine shopping.
Lockheed Martin also has its tentacles in many diverse federal agencies, for instance the Internal Revenue Service where it provides computer-related services. The taxpayer ultimately pays for all contracts.
The settlement on clearly illegal lobbying behavior represents only .015% of LM's annual total federal contracts and just .16% of the DOE contracts for 2014.
To LM, $4.79 million must look like the cost of doing business.
Here are some Lockheed Martin numbers for 2014:
US Agency Year(s) Amount Contracts Source
Total for LM
$32,496,127,143 20,156
WATCHDOG GROUPS HEAD TO D.C.TO URGE CONGRESS TO CONFRONT "THE GROWING U.S. NUCLEAR THREAT"
May 14, 2015 August 28, 2018 Environmental Impact, Kansas City Plant, Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nuclear Power, Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Weapons, Pantex Plant, Press Releases, Sandia National Laboratories, Savannah River Site, Washington DC, WIPP, Y-12 Nat'l Security Complex
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
A national network of organizations working to address issues of nuclear weapons production and waste cleanup
WATCHDOG GROUPS HEAD TO D.C. TO URGE CONGRESS, OBAMA ADMIN.
TO CONFRONT "THE GROWING U.S. NUCLEAR THREAT;"
NEW REPORT SEEKS CUTS IN BOMB PLANTS, WARHEAD MODERNIZATION
DIVERTING SAVINGS TO CLEANUP AND WEAPONS DISMANTLEMENT
Dozens of community leaders from around the country will travel to Washington, DC next week to oppose U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons projects, which they say will waste billions in taxpayer funds, damage the environment and undermine the nation's non-proliferation goals. The group will meet with leading members of Congress, committee staffers, and top administration officials with responsibility for U. S. nuclear policies to press for new funding priorities.
Activists from nearly a dozen states are participating in the 27th annual Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) "DC Days." They will deliver copies of ANA's just-published report, The Growing U.S. Nuclear Threat (http://bit.ly/growing_nuclear_threat). The new 20-page analysis dissects the Obama Administration's latest plans to spend hundreds of billions more on nuclear weapons programs without, the authors conclude, enhancing U.S. security.
Joining the Alliance will be four members of Nuclear Watch New Mexico: Dr. James Doyle, a nonproliferation expert fired by the Los Alamos Lab after writing a study arguing for nuclear weapons abolition; Chuck Montano, former LANL auditor and author of his just-released book Los Alamos: A Whistleblower's Diary (http://losalamosdiary.com/index.html); Jay Coghlan, Executive Director; and Scott Kovac, Operations Director. "We will use this opportunity to represent New Mexicans who oppose the open checkbook policy for nuclear weapons by Congress to the National Labs," Kovac stated.
Both Doyle and Coghlan have recently returned from the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the United Nations in New York City where they witnessed U.S. officials claiming that one trillion dollar plans for nuclear weapons modernization "contribute to and do not detract from progress on our NPT nuclear disarmament obligations." But as Ralph Hutchison of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, the report's editor, noted, "Massive spending on nuclear weapons 'modernization' increases the nuclear danger for the U.S. Lack of accountability at DOE wastes billions and puts the public at even greater risk. ANA members from across the country will urge policy-makers to cut programs that fund dangerous boondoggles. The money saved should be redirected to cleaning up the legacy of nuclear weapons research, testing and production." Participants in DC Days include activists from groups that monitor such U.S. nuclear weapons facilities as Hanford, Lawrence Livermore, Rocky Flats, Los Alamos, Kansas City Plant, Pantex, Sandia, Oak Ridge, Savannah River and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability is a network of local, regional and national organizations representing the concerns of communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear weapons production and radioactive waste disposal sites. As part of its DC Days, ANA will sponsor an Awards Reception honoring leaders of the movement for responsible nuclear policies on Monday evening, May 18. Honorees include U.S. Senator Harry Reid, U.S. Representative John Garamendi, Los Alamos whistleblower Dr. James Doyle, former FBI investigator of Rocky Flats Jon Lipsky, and nuclear campaigner Michael Keegan: The event will take place in Room B-340 of the Rayburn House Office Building from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.
After learning of his award, Dr. James Doyle replied, "It is an honor to be recognized by citizen organizations across the country who have been opposing nuclear weapons at the grassroots for decades. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability is an important part of the fabric of our civil society and helps create an informed citizenry essential to our freedom and security. My case shows that even in America you must be careful when you question nuclear weapons. These groups have been trying to change that since before I knew what nuclear war would mean for humanity. I am proud to be working with them to eliminate nuclear weapons."
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Tom Udall's Unlikely Alliance With the Chemical Industry
March 7, 2015 August 28, 2018 Washington DC
NukeWatch NM Commentary: Not to mention Tom Udall's not-so-unlikely alliance with the nuclear weapons industry in New Mexico. For that he sits on the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, the same seat from which Pete Domenici sent buckets of money to the Los Alamos and Sandia Labs. Except given the beginning of the trillion dollars over 30 years for nuclear weapons "modernization," Tom is outdoing Pete in supplying money for nuclear weapons programs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/us/tom-udalls-unlikely-alliance-with-the-chemical-industry.html?_r=0
By ERIC LIPTONMARCH 6, 2015
WASHINGTON — Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico has earned a reputation as an environmental champion. He helped lead the fight against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and pushed through legislation for a new federal wilderness area in his home state of New Mexico.
It is part of his family legacy, dating back to the Kennedy administration, when his father, Stewart, served as the secretary of interior, and later played a vital role in enacting the landmark Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.
So environmental activists were stunned to learn that Mr. Udall's political supporters now include the chemical industry, which has donated tens of thousands of dollars to his campaigns and sponsored a television ad that praised his leadership.
This unlikely alliance has been forged as Mr. Udall emerged as the chief Senate negotiator for Democrats on legislation that would fundamentally change the way the federal government evaluates the safety of more than 80,000 chemicals.
Some of Mr. Udall's Democratic Senate colleagues and prominent environmentalists say he has helped the industry write new regulations in a way that protects profits more than public health.
Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, who until last year served as chairwoman of the committee that oversees the Environmental Protection Agency, has been the harshest critic of the negotiations between Mr. Udall and Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, notably over the language that would prevent states from setting their own, tougher standards.
"I've been around the Senate for a long time, but I have never before seen so much heavy-handed, big-spending lobbying on any issue," Ms. Boxer said. "To me it looks like the chemical industry itself is writing this bill."
Mr. Udall emphatically rejects the notion that he is industry's emissary. "I am fighting for our children and trying to make sure they are not being pumped full of chemicals in the next generation," he said. "We can't do something that is pie in the sky; we have to deal with the reality."
It is a reality that pleases industry officials who have worked to get close to Mr. Udall over the past 20 months, after the death of Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, who once led Democrats in negotiations on a deal with Senate Republicans.
"The leadership he is providing is absolutely critical," said Cal M. Dooley, a former Democratic representative from California, who is now the president and a lobbyist at the American Chemistry Council, which represents DuPont, Dow and other giants in the $800 billion-a-year industry.
The courting of Mr. Udall, even with Republicans in control of Congress, demonstrates how important securing the support of at least a few Democrats in the Senate is to any corporate agenda in Washington, where almost nothing can emerge from the chamber without 60 votes.
Unlike most industries that fight new federal regulations, the chemical industry wants Congress to act. T he existing fe deral law, adopted in 1976, is so antiquated that individual state governments have imposed their own chemical safety regulations.
The E.P.A. acknowledges there are about 1,000 chemicals used in the United States that might represent health hazards. Asbestos, for example, is still illegal to manufacture and sell, but the agency for decades h as been unable to ban its use.
Industry executives also realize the public is increasingly losing confidence in the safety of common chemicals once routinely found in toys or baby bottles, a fear they say can be addressed with more rigorous regulations.
But some environmental activists involved in the negotiations between Mr. Udall and Mr. Vitter are convinced that Mr. Udall has been too open to pressure from the industry.
"Senator Udall's strong support for the legislation, in spite of its remaining flaws, has emboldened the chemical industry to take a more aggressive approach in Congress and try to disregard the critique of health experts and state governments," said Andy Igrejas, national campaign director of a nonprofit group called Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, which represents hundreds of public health, labor and environmental groups.
The criticism is, in part, a negotiating tactic. The environmental groups still hope to toughen the draft legislation. But the disagreements are real.
The most intense disputes are over the pace the E.P.A. will attempt to test the backlog of chemicals whose safety has never been comprehensively assessed. The speed depends in part on how much the chemical industry must pay to cover the cost of tests and rule-making.
Mr. Udall's current draft would require the start of testing just 10 high-risk chemicals in the first year, a figure Mr. Udall conceded he wishes could be higher.
But Mr. Udall added that the current draft legislation does give the E.P.A. clearer authority to impose limits on chemicals that its tests show cause any "unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment."
Richard Denison, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund who has been involved in drafting the bill, along with other environmentalists and chemical industry representatives, said this new safety standard language is a major improvement.
"It is not the bill I would have written from scratch," Mr. Denison said. "But it's a solid compromise that would be much more protective of public health."
Still, the chemical industry prefers Mr. Udall and Mr. Vitter over Ms. Boxer. "Senator Boxer can no longer unilaterally stop the progress of reform," said Anne Womack Kolton, a Chemistry Council spokeswoman.
The Chemistry Council is engaged in an aggressive push to pass the legislation, which will be named after Mr. Lautenberg as another tip of the hat to Democrats.
As part of its push, the Chemistry Council spent more than $4 million during the 2014 election cycle on television and radio spots to help their allies in Congress.
"These days in Washington, it is not easy getting things done," said the advertisement that ran in New Mexico, featuring images of Mr. Udall. "But New Mexico's Tom Udall brings both sides together to get results."
Millions of dollars in campaign contributions were also distributed among the political accounts of the lawmakers involved in the debate, including Mr. Udall. First elected to the House in 1998, Mr. Udall had never before received a contribution from the Chemistry Council. The industry also made donations to Mr. Vitter, who is running for governor in Louisiana, and Representative Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which would oversee the debate in the House.
Lobbyists from at least 100 chemical manufacturers, retailers that sell chemicals or trade associations representing them were registered as of last year to lobby Congress on the topic, disclosure records show, compared with a total of about 15 environmental, public health and educational institutions.
Mr. Udall and Mr. Vitter circulated a new draft on Thursday, but some environmentalists were still critical. The chief lobbyist at the Natural Resources Defense Council said that the law, if adopted without being strengthened, would actually harm public health. And the California attorney general's office wrote a strongly worded letter late Thursday calling the new draft an "unnecessary evisceration of state regulatory authority."
Mr. Dooley, of the Chemistry Council, said the industry was pleased with the new draft — and confident that it would prevail.
"This is the best moment, without question," Mr. Dooley said from his office overlooking the Capitol. "I think we will get 70 votes on the Senate floor, or that is what Senator Udall, who spoke with us the other day, predicted."
Questions for the DOE FY 2016 Nuclear Weapons and Cleanup Budget Request
January 30, 2015 August 28, 2018 Environmental Impact, Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Weapons, Press Releases, Savannah River Site, Washington DC, WIPP, Y-12 Nat'l Security Complex
The Administration releases its Congressional Budget Request this Monday, February 2, 2015.
Questions for the U.S. Department of Energy FY 2016 Nuclear Weapons and Cleanup Budget Request
The US nuclear weapons budget continues to spiral out of control. Look for double-digit increases in Department of Energy (DOE) weapons activities. Core nonproliferation programs will be cut because of funding for mixed-oxide fuel. Cleanup of radioactive and toxic pollution from weapons research, testing, production and waste disposal will fall further behind. The DOE budget for FY 2016 will illuminate the Obama Administration's misplaced nuclear priorities.
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), a 28-year-old network of groups from communities downwind and downstream of U.S. nuclear sites, will be looking at the following issues. For details, contact the ANA leaders listed at the end of this Advisory.
— Does the budget request boost funding for "modernization" programs that indefinitely maintain nuclear warheads? Such funding is contrary to the Obama Administration's previously declared goal of a future world free of nuclear weapons.
— Does the budget reflect the Administration's commitment to reduce funding (currently $335 million) on the multi-billion dollar Uranium Processing Facility at Oak Ridge by downsizing it to the capacity needed to support stockpile surveillance, maintenance and limited life extension?
— Does the budget increase funds for nuclear weapons dismantlement capacity? Will cooperative programs with Russia be maintained?
— Is there increased funding for expanded production of plutonium bomb cores? Why is expanded production needed when expert studies find that existing plutonium pits are durable?
— Is more than $300 million provided for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Livermore Lab that has repeatedly failed to achieve "ignition"? What is the funding level for uncontained plutonium shots although they will taint the NIF target chamber and optics with alpha radiation?
— Does the budget seek an increase for the B61 Life Extension Program (currently $643 million)?
— As DOE affirms that the $30-billion plutonium fuel (MOX) project at the Savannah River Site is financially unsustainable, is the MOX plant construction again proposed for "cold standby" (~$200 million) or a level to barely allow it to survive (~300+ million)? Does the budget include the current validated base-line cost of MOX plant, a validated construction and operation schedule and names of nuclear utilities willing to use experimental MOX fuel?
— Does the budget include $0 for Yucca Mountain? No funding is consistent with past requests that terminate this technically flawed site that is strongly opposed by Nevada state officials and the public.
— Does the budget provide additional Environmental Management (EM) funding (currently $5 billion) to meet all legally mandated cleanup milestones? States say cleanup agreements at a dozen major sites are underfunded by hundreds of million dollars.
– How will DOE and its contractors pay fines for missing milestones? In the past three months, the states of New Mexico, Idaho, and Washington have issued fines of tens of millions of dollars, and fines loom in South Carolina. In which other states does DOE face fines and lawsuits for missing milestones?
— What is the high range for total life-cycle cleanup costs (LCC) for EM sites? Because of funding shortfalls, High Range LCC costs have increased from $308.5 billion in the FY 2013 Budget Request, to $330.9 billion in the FY 2014 Request, and were $328.4 billion in the FY 2015 Request.
— How much does the budget include for the shut down of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)? How much is for recovery and how much for waste emplacement (previously $220 million a year) even though no waste is being emplaced? How much additional funding is requested for the Idaho National Lab, Los Alamos, Savannah River, and Oak Ridge because of the shutdown?
— Does the budget for Hanford (more than $2 billion) protect workers from toxic chemical exposures, provide an Operational Readiness Review of the nuclear safety of the Waste Treatment Plant, and fund construction of new double-shell tanks to replace the leaking ones?
— Does the budget increase funding (currently $28.5 million) for the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) to provide independent oversight of DOE projects because of the many cost overruns, schedule delays, safety culture issues and technical problems?
— Is the funding for design and licensing of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) enough to make them viable? As private financing is lacking, will DOE reaffirm that it will not finance SMR construction?
Jay Coghlan jay(at)nukewatch.org
Download the pdf and more contact info here.
Nonproliferation Expert Highlights Need for New Tools for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Verification
January 13, 2015 August 28, 2018 Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Weapons, Press Releases, Washington DC
January 12,2015, nonproliferation expert Dr. James Doyle is releasing a report making the case for expansion of the nation's nonproliferation programs, and will brief key congressional staff on his findings. While in Washington DC, Dr. Doyle is also meeting with the Department of Energy on his contractor employee protection (AKA whistleblower) program complaint regarding his termination from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Lab claims he was merely laid off, after he wrote his study Why Eliminate Nuclear Weapons? arguing for abolition. LANL initially cleared his study for release, but then retroactively classified it, despite the fact that it was already available on the Internet.
Dr. Doyle's new study, Essential Capabilities Needed for Nuclear Security: A National Program for Nonproliferation and Verification Technology Development, builds upon his earlier study. In this new study, written in collaboration with Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Doyle seeks to encourage development and/or deployment of new and existing verification and monitoring technologies that would help make a future world free of nuclear weapons more technically and politically feasible.
Doyle observed, "Nonproliferation and arms verification have for too long been considered "soft power" tools of the diplomatic and arms control communities. Real nuclear security requires that we now consider these capabilities as vital elements of our national security infrastructure. They are potent "smart power" tools offering unique advantages in a rapidly evolving nuclear security environment, which unfortunately includes the threat of nuclear terrorism. Aggressive verification and monitoring technologies will produce a far greater national security return on the taxpayer dollar than will exorbitant "modernization" programs for an unnecessarily oversized nuclear arsenal."
He continued, "As America allegedly reduces its reliance on nuclear weapons and hopefully further reduces the size of its stockpile, it needs new tools and new capabilities to keep weapons and materials secure and verify that other nations are complying with similar obligations. To meet these needs a new, integrated multiagency program to develop nonproliferation, verification and monitoring technologies for nuclear security should be initiated without delay."
Some key findings of Doyle's new report are:
• The program to develop new nonproliferation, verification and monitoring technologies should be funded as a core aspect of the nation's nuclear infrastructure modernization plan, and thus implemented jointly by the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Defense, with guidance from the State Department, intelligence community and National Academy of Sciences.
• Responsibility for this interagency mission should be assigned to high-level officials who have budget and program authority across the nuclear weapons and nonproliferation programs within the Departments of Defense and NNSA. The State Department should assign a senior task force leader to coordinate with the DoD and NNSA program directors.
• The program should maximize international collaboration, including Russia. Program plans and activities should be a central element of the P-5 dialogue on verification. Other non-nuclear weapons states that support verification and monitoring R&D should also be involved.
· The need for this program was formally codified as an explicit objective in the Obama Administration's 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, and has been repeatedly articulated by both the U.S. government and independent assessments. That need should be met now. Failure in the form of a nuclear detonation on American soil (or anywhere) is not an option
Jay Coghlan, Nuclear Watch Director, commented, "The nuclear weapons establishment is planning to spend more than a trillion dollars to "modernize" existing weapons, and build new missiles, subs and bombers. Meanwhile, the NNSA is cutting nonproliferation and dismantlement programs to help pay this colossal bill. This is exactly upside down. We should be making smart investments into new nonproliferation, verification and monitoring technologies that will help make a world free of nuclear weapons feasible, eliminating the threat for all time."
Dr. James Doyle's report is made possible by the support of the Ploughshares Fund.
His full report, Essential Capabilities Needed for Nuclear Security:
A National Program for Nonproliferation and Verification Technology Development, is available here.
It contains an extensive list of already developed verification and monitoring technologies that have yet to be broadly deployed to help protect the nation.
An executive summary is available here.
Doyle's February 2013 study Why Eliminate Nuclear Weapons? is available here.
Comments to DOE Re: Transition of Legacy Clean-up Work at Los Alamos National Laboratory
December 12, 2014 August 28, 2018 Environmental Impact, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Waste, Washington DC
Jack R. Craig, Jr.
DOE EM
Re: Transition of Legacy Clean-up Work at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Mr. Craig,
Please consider these preliminary comments and requests concerning the transition of legacy clean-up work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Through comprehensive research, public education and effective citizen action, Nuclear Watch New Mexico seeks to promote safety and environmental protection at regional nuclear facilities; mission diversification away from nuclear weapons programs; greater accountability and cleanup in the nation-wide nuclear weapons complex; and consistent U.S. leadership toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
First, we request that alternatives to the current Department of Energy contract process be considered. The privatization of the nuclear weapons complex may be failing the U.S. taxpayer. Cost overruns plague the current system. Different variations of the same contractors still continue to line up for different variations of the same contracts. Yet, with a few exceptions, cleanup only crawls along. Many of the sites are still contaminated decades after the work was completed. And now, WIPP is shut down.
We ask that alternatives such as looking to governmental agencies instead of private contractors be tasked with cleanup at Los Alamos. For instance, could the Army Corp. of Engineers do the job?
We also strongly request that alternatives to "No-Bid" and "Cost-Plus" contracts be considered first. Recently, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain spoke to prohibit the Pentagon from awarding cost-plus contracts, arguing such deals encourage nefariousness. (DefenseNews.com, December 5, 2014)
Second, if a conventional contract is used, we request that the following specific items be included in the proposed new EM contract at LANL. We also ask that these items be included in the 'bridge' contract:
Must be tied to LANL Consent Order and LANL RCRA permit.
Any "campaigns" must be legally binding, and not used as justification to miss Consent Order milestones.
Should be more incentive based – less fixed.
Should be more transparent like ARRA, including public availability of Performance Evaluations.
Should have dramatically lower overhead costs, for example lower security and no LDRD costs. These overhead costs should be made public just as the old Functional Support Costs were available to the public.
Must include public update meetings semi-annually.
Should favor local/regional economic development.
Must have public update meetings at least semi-annually.
Third, for the new bridge contract and any final contract we ask:
Cleanup must continue at current pace during transition.
There must be a new lifecycle baseline – with the range with assumptions spelled out. Comprehensive cleanup must be considered, not just cap and cover.
Corrective Measures Evaluations must be completed on all areas as one of the priorities.
Finally, concerning the new bridge contract, the synopsis doesn't address the issue of how much LANS will be paid under the to-be-finalized bridge contract in relation to how much it would have been paid under the existing contract. It also doesn't state which of the tasks mentioned are different than under the existing contract. We request that costs and tasks be fully described in the to-be-finalized bridge contract.
Thank you for your consideration in these matters and please call if you have any questions.
Jay Coghlan Scott Kovac
Executive Director Research Director
WIPP Video Story and Congressional Delegation Statements from KRQE
March 5, 2014 August 28, 2018 Environmental Impact, Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Waste, Washington DC, WIPP
KRQE TV 13 aired a news story last night that included statements from the five members of the NM Congressional Delegation:
On the recent radiation leak: "From my perspective on the (U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources) committee, the first priority is making sure that the personnel who actually work at WIPP are safe and that the community and environment around WIPP is safe."
On whether high-level waste should be stored at WIPP: "WIPP was never designed as a high level facility, and I don't think we should retrofit it to be a high level facility. There has been talk of moving other transuranic waste there that was generated in different ways than the transuranic waste that's coming from Los Alamos, for example. That's something we can have the conversation about, but it should never be a high level facility."
On any future change in WIPP's mission: "We have a very long standing and robust conversation in my office with the community in Carlsbad all the time. The input from the community is always critical." "There is nothing more important than making sure that that community feels like we are doing everything possible to make sure that WIPP is a success, and that the people who work there in the surrounding community and their well-being is our first priority."
~ U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico
"It's too early to say whether the leak factors into my thoughts about the future of WIPP because we don't know what happened. I'm taking the leak very seriously, and our focus right now is on the immediate safety of the community and WIPP personnel and the recovery work. It would be premature to draw any conclusions. This is a very technical issue, and the science is extremely important. My position on expansion now is the same as it has always been. When it comes to proposals that would significantly change WIPP's mission, I support the provision in the current law that bans high-level waste at WIPP. WIPP was not fully studied for high-level waste, and it does not meet permit requirements for high-level waste. Additionally, New Mexico's people and state government are the ones who have the power to decide what waste our state will accept and under what terms. Any attempt to alter WIPP's mission would take many years of study, permitting, and require the state of New Mexico's full support."
~ U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico
On the radiation leak: "Congressman Pearce has introduced legislation to protect New Mexico jobs at WIPP, which has safely disposed of TRU waste for over a decade. Right now, Congressman Pearce is focused on monitoring the present situation closely, ensuring DOE and WIPP continue to make public safety the top priority. To date, all information shared with our office indicates there is no risk or danger to the community. At the appropriate time, the Congressman fully expects and will insist that the Department of Energy conduct a thorough investigation and answer all the public's questions."
On whether high-level waste should be stored at WIPP: "Now is not the time to speculate about proposals that are not even on the table. Taking high level waste at WIPP is not on the table. Congressman Pearce's number one priority right now is public safety, and there are many questions that need to be answered before any changes in WIPP's mission are discussed."
~ Eric Layer, Spokesman for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-NM 2nd District
"Right now, the number one priority is the health and safety of the WIPP employees who were affected by the leak as well as the residents of the surrounding community. As the response effort continues, there must be nothing short of full transparency and accountability to ensure the public that they are safe. This incident further proves that any expansion of WIPP's mission warrants close scrutiny that's rooted in science and that includes extensive outreach to and input from all stakeholders and local communities."
~ U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-NM 1st District
"I am very concerned about the recent detection of radiation near WIPP and the health and safety of those exposed to radiation. It will be important that answers are provided detailing the causes of the elevated levels and how this will be prevented in the future. The safety and security of the community must be the top priority.
As far as the larger discussion about changes at WIPP, one aspect that cannot be forgotten or overlooked – especially given the recent incident – is the reality of exposure and what will happen when workers or members of the community are exposed to harmful levels of radiation. Sadly in New Mexico, we are all too familiar with the story of those who worked in uranium mines and other government facilities and suffered exposure to radiation. They contributed to our national security, yet paid a steep cost as many individuals became sick and some paid with their life. I am still fighting in Congress to see that many of these workers are compensated for the health problems they developed as a result of their work. While we hope we never have to face a similar situation in the future, it is important we have these discussions now rather than when it's too late, especially given the recent reports that 13 workers tested positive for radiation exposure."
~ U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-NM 3rd District
Help Stop Increased Nuclear Weapons Funding
July 8, 2013 August 28, 2018 Nuclear Security, Washington DC
Immediate Action Required
The House of Representatives Energy & Water Appropriations bill is coming up for a vote this week of July 8, 2013. It will come up tomorrow, with votes on amendments as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. Rep. Quigley (D-IL) will be offering a floor amendment cutting the increase that the Energy & Water subcommittee added to the B61 Life Extension Program.
Please call urging your Representative to vote yes on the Quigley amendment to cut funding on the B61 nuclear warhead program. Please call rather than email at this point, to DC offices, as the timeline is very short.
Over the last few years, spending on nuclear weapons and nuclear bomb plants has continued to grow despite massive cost overruns. Especially wasteful is the plan to overhaul the B61 nuclear bomb, with an eventual total cost of $10 billion by 2019. This is way too much money for a bomb that is dangerous and outdated, and it is urgent that we slow down the spending before it is too late.
Cutting nukes spending in the Republican-controlled House can be an uphill battle. But we have been working with allies in Congress to stop this program that would overhaul 400 B61 nuclear bombs at a total price tag of $25 million each (almost double their weight in gold). We can see some wins, if our representatives feel the pressure.
Call your representative now at (202) 224-3121 to vote for the Quigley amendment to cut funds for the B61 nuclear bomb. [Direct phone numbers for the New Mexican delegation below.]
Subject Line: Budget Cut for Nuclear Bombs
Dear [Name],
Call your representative at (202) 224-3121 right now. To look up your representative click here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Use this sample message and add your own words:
"My name is [your name] and I live in [your city]. I am calling to tell Rep. [your rep's name] to vote for the Quigley amendment to the Appropriations bill to cut excess funds for the B61 nuclear bomb."
This is an important chance to cut wasteful spending on dangerous and outdated nuclear weapons. You can convince Congress to make this a priority.
New Mexico Representatives
Rep. Ben Ray Luján
http://lujan.house.gov/
Washington D.C. Office • Ph: (202) 225-6190
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham
http://lujangrisham.house.gov/
Washington, DC Office?•?Phone: 202-225-6316?
Rep. Steve Pearce
http://pearce.house.gov/
Washington, DC Office • Phone: 855-4-PEARCE (732723) or (202) 225-2365
NukeWatch NM's compilation of the National Nuclear Security Administration's FY 2014 budget request
April 10, 2013 August 28, 2018 Kansas City Plant, Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab, Los Alamos Nat'l Lab., Nevada National Security Site, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Weapons, Pantex Plant, Sandia National Laboratories, Savannah River Site, Washington DC, Y-12 Nat'l Security Complex
The National Nuclear Security Administration's FY 2014 budget request includes a 13% increase for nuclear weapons programs above FY 2013 sequester levels.
NukeWatch NM's compilation of the NNSA FY 2014 budget request is available at
http://nukewatch.org/economics/FY2014_NNSA_Budget_4-10-13_Print.pdf
Further analysis by us will follow.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


EBENSBURG, Nov. 8 – Following a report by the Pennsylvania auditor general, state Rep. Frank Burns announced that Central Cambria School District will receive $119,517 this year in transportation funding the district is owed by the state Department of Education.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale recently identified more than $8.4 million in incorrect transportation reimbursements to schools statewide. A series of audits identified clerical errors that led to the inaccurate payments. State transportation subsidies help school districts defray the cost of student transportation.
Central Cambria was underpaid $46,017 for the 2012-13 school year and $73,500 for the 2013-14 school year, an audit showed. The Department of Education confirmed that Central Cambria will receive the $119,517 it is owed before this fiscal year ends on June 30, 2019.
"Safe transportation to and from school is a right of all students, but the cost can be substantial in rural communities where students live farther apart," Burns said.


The rates for home inspections by Foundation & Up Home Inspections Ltd. can be found in the following table. These rates are based on the size of the structure and the location of the property within Eastern Ontario. If you have any questions in regards to our home inspection rates or if you cannot find your type of property (such as duplex, triplex) in the table, contact us and we will deal with these properties on an individual basis.
*All Inspection Fees are subject to HST. And all Fees must be paid before the inspection report will be made available to you.
+Based on size and complexity.


Get the true value of your property, as required when selling or buying real estate in Cyprus.
Certified property valuations are essential by Cyprus law when selling or buying property. They are requested by banks and financial institutions for loans, mortgages and financing purposes, as well as by the property registrar in order to ensure conformity in market price standards and transactions. Indeed, in order to obtain accurate and real property value, property valuations must always consider the crucial determining factors of macro market conditions and trends, property-building specs and exact property location. These are then reaffirmed by same or similar property price comparisons and benchmarking.
Property valuation services at Urban Keys – thorough analysis of market, property and location.
Urban Keys's team of expert valuers carry out hundreds of fully certified valuations every month throughout Nicosia and Cyprus for individual owners, property developers and companies, as well as recognised by all Cypriot banks/financial institutions, and sitting on a number of bank valuation panels. Urban Keys's property valuation team subsequently advise on special property matters and arbitrations, representing either owners or buyers, landlords or tenants, as well as acting as an independent expert witness in court cases and out-of-court disputes.
This puts Urban Keys in excellent stead to understand the Cyprus property market, prices and trends, whilst providing clients throughout Cyprus with a meticulous and prompt property valuation service. In turn, this market insight bestows added value when selling property on behalf of owners, or when assisting buyers/renters to find real estate in Cyprus.
What's involved in the property valuation process in Cyprus?
In order to obtain accurate and real property value when selling and buying, property valuations must always consider the crucial determining factors of macro market conditions and trends, property-building specs and exact property location. At the same time, property price comparisons and benchmarking is a primary tool for defining and verifying values according to each property market, property type and property location.
Macro market analysis: property values must always be determined in a wider market context, and in turn factor changing dynamics and trends. Key elements include macro economic conditions and trends, such as in GDP and GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, foreign direct investment and any major investment initiatives, unemployment rate and consumer confidence/purchasing power, as well as any major political and geopolitical changes. Trends in these areas directly influence economic conditions of a market and in turn property prices.
Property and building specs: each property is of course unique and as such must be valued on an individual property basis. Consider obvious factors such as property type (apartment, detached house, semi-detached, town house, villa, agricultural, commercial, industrial), size, facilities and amenities, age, and condition – determined by a specific building survey, which also looks at any recently completed or necessary renovations/restorations and structural repairs. Property valuations must then inspect properties inside-out.
Property location: as it is commonly referred to in real estate as location, location, location. Just as each property market and type is different so to is each property location. Location aspects that are considered when determining a property's value include proximity to town centre, business districts and/or coast, surrounding neighbourhood, local facilities (i.e. schools, leisure centres, libraries, cultural centres, entertainment, bicycle lanes, parks and green areas, etc.), transport and accessibility, road infrastructure, as well as upcoming town planning and urban development projects.
Property price comparisons and benchmarking are then utilised to verify property values. For instance, benchmarking similar property types in similar markets and locations; vital when selling or buying.
Below is an overview guide of how Urban Keys undertakes property valuations in Cyprus.
A great deal of information is collected whilst considerable time is involved in the property valuation process. Professional experience, judgment and integrity are certainly required on the part of the valuation firm, of course together with full certification and accreditation.
We obtain information from the client and local council as to the age, construction and size of your building and land, as well as any recent upgrades/improvements. This includes all necessary documentation for verification purposes.
A macro market analysis needs to be put together, looking at general conditions and trends of Cyprus and your property's sub-market (i.e. city, town, village), such as economical and political environment, transport and accessibility, infrastructure, and major developments. Such conditions influence property prices across the entire island and therefore your property. They must never be neglected.
The best example to think of is the Global Financial Crisis and property bubble in 2008 and then more severely in Cyprus in 2013 with the outbreak of the banking crisis. This dramatically reduced consumer confidence and purchasing power in an already somewhat oversupplied market – since salary cuts were endured, unemployment increased, and as people even lost a portion of their savings – and damaged business investor confidence in Cyprus for the short term. As a result, property prices (buying and rental) had to come down. However, the reverse is also true. As supply and demand come to equilibrium, and then later great prospects in natural gas resources eventuate in Cyprus, property prices will significantly increase.
We then investigate and qualify what comparable properties have been sold recently within your area. Comparison is the premier tool in arriving at a valuation. We maintain a number of sales and rental databases at our office that we can source, given a number of variables such as type of property, location and date of sale to produce a comparable list of sales.
It should be noted that some of these properties are discounted, and may not really be comparable for a number of reasons, such as differing style, construction type, land size etc.
For verification, we then speak to the selling agents of each of the properties that we believe are most comparable to the subject property. From the selling agent we will obtain details such as number of rooms, condition of building, improvements, as well as other factors affecting its final sale price. We confirm both the building and land size of each of these comparable sales with your local council.
We subscribe to a number of sources allowing us to view internal photographs of many sold properties in Cyprus and your particular region (obtained from selling brochures).
All this information allows us to accurately benchmark and compare your property with properties sold within the immediate vicinity and form the basis of how we arrive at your valuation amount.
Confidence in impartial advice, enhanced technical knowledge and professional standards in building surveying in Cyprus.
Building surveying is a recognised profession in Cyprus, like in the UK and other Commonwealth country markets (but also increasingly continental Europe). Building surveying covers a broad spectrum of work; it is an interesting and valued area of expertise that is constantly evolving to reflect what is happening in the real estate sector and construction.
A building survey is required in order to accurately determine a property's true valuation and worth, or often required from buyers before buying a property or for owners who like to maintain a record of their property's condition. Other clients that might need a building survey include business and government institutions. Property surveying is also needed by architects, planners, quantity surveyors, engineers, homeowners/landlords and tenants groups. Furthermore, a building survey may be required in a court of law as evidence or expert testimony. Building surveys can advise on many aspects of a building, including design, costs, maintenance, sustainability, necessary repairs, renovations/restorations, refurbishment, among other.
Maintaining know-how and procedures to writing accurate property survey reports, considering structural elements and all detail.
Essentially, a building survey is an examination of a building in order to produce a report on the structural inspection of a building and the state of repair. Building surveys commonly report on the condition of the property's structure (i.e. foundations, walls, floors and ceilings), incidence of any defects to the fabric of the building and the state of repair of fixtures and fittings, services and plant installations or improvements/renovations.


Sealife Loch Lomond is based at the impressive Drumkinnon Tower on Ben Lomond Way, in Balloch, Scotland, nestling in a picture postcard countryside scene not far from Dumbarton. It is the country's newest Sealife maritime centre – the first in some 10 years – and in spite of creating something of a hoo-ha early on, over the appropriateness of a family attraction in such a lovely region, it's become a leading family day out and is among the best institutes of its kind in the UK.
Sealife Loch Lomond is a family attraction that houses a whole raft of mainly Scottish sea and freshwater creatures, with more than two dozen exhibits taking in residents of the Clyde Estuary and the North Sea, along with examples from overseas, notably the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Some of the unusual species to be seen by ticket holders are sharks, stingrays and seahorses, while among its conservation endeavours are a thriving Otter Sanctuary. Its Asian Short Clawed Otters are a top draw, their home boasting a tumbling waterfall and torrential stream, their activities being one of the key features of a fun family day at Sealife Loch Lomond.
Domestic species include freshwater minnows, Perch, Trout, Stickleback and Eels, not to mention sea-based examples of Cod, Bass, Skate and stingrays.
The Tropical Ocean Display features a mock up of a submerged shipwreck – the SS Sea King – which was constructed in the vicinity on the river Clyde, and its viewing tank is awash with tropical fish and basking sharks, besides the awe-inspiring wreckfish, all of which can be seen from a display tunnel as part of a ticket to the family attraction. Also a highlight of a family day out at Sealife Loch Lomond is a daily display of assorted marine creatures, with ticket holders given the chance to have a hands-on encounter with numerous types of crustacea.
The Finding Nemo tank contains Clownfish and Blue Tang, which were archetypes for Nemo and Dory in the cartoon film, and related gifts from the site shop, near the café, are available to buy.
The Sealife Loch Lomond institute additionally has more than 20 species of tropical fish, including six black tip sharks, a pair of nurse sharks and a zebra shark dubbed Sir Bobby Robson (after the ex-Newcastle and England football coach!).
In addition to information provided about freshwater animals from nearby Dumbarton and the Clyde Estuary, Sealife Loch Lomond stages regular talks about more exotic critters including Sharks, Seahorses, Otters and stingrays, as well as furnishing groups of school children with education opportunities – also extended to ticket holders a fun family day out. Just the ticket.
Furthermore, a Sealife ticket takes in audio-visual displays and a touch pool, ensuring an illuminating as well as enjoyable family day out that the weather cannot spoil, thus providing a grand family day out for everyone.


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Perspective | myFutureNC blog series: Keys to success for increased FAFSA completion – Lessons learned in Louisiana
Brittani Williams
by Brittani Williams, EducationNC

Perspective | myFutureNC blog series: Keys to success for increased FAFSA completion – Lessons learned in Louisiana

by Brittani Williams, EducationNC
October 30, 2019

Louisiana ranked number one in the nation for FAFSA completion rates for the second consecutive year, according to the National College Access Network's (NCAN) FAFSA Tracker. In fact, 78.7% of Louisiana's 47,837 seniors completed their FAFSA during the 2019-2020 award year. This result follows a mandate by the Louisiana Department of Education that includes FAFSA submission as a graduation requirement.

The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), a program of the Louisiana Board of Regents, and our partners developed best practices that: 1) Help students and their families navigate the financial aid process to minimize student loan debt and maximize gift aid awards, and 2) Help students and their families understand that FAFSA completion is just one step towards college access and success.

We learned that we must also:

Develop strategies to engage students and parents;

Offer student-centered wraparound services where students can be guided and supported with help from professionals; and

Collaborate with stakeholders to spread the word on best strategies for assisting with filling out the FAFSA.

Using a holistic approach, our team connects the importance of academic persistence to college scholarships and, initiates conversations to explain the financial aid process and student loan debt.

This approach includes:

One-on-one engagement. LOSFA provides line-by-line assistance to students and parents in order to complete their respective portions of the FAFSA application.

Providing opportunities for assistance. High school professionals can coordinate with LOSFA to host multiple events at their schools to ensure a full range of opportunities to understand the financial aid process.

Communication. LOSFA uses Signal Vine text messaging, emails, one-calls, and social media campaigns to spread the word about FAFSA, financial aid opportunities, and other resources to provide college readiness support.

LOSFA's FAFSA Lab. LOSFA has a FAFSA lab for families who need additional assistance with completing their FAFSA outside of school or home.

Geaux FAFSA. LOSFA hosts an email address (GeauxFAFSA@la.gov) for parents and students to ask FAFSA questions.

We found these strategies, coupled with a supportive effort between schools, colleges, the Department of Education, and community partners, to be key to Louisiana's increased FAFSA completion.

Editor's note: This perspective was first published by The Hunt Institute. It was posted with the author's permission.

This article first appeared on EducationNC and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Perspective myFutureNC The Hunt Institute Attainment
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application to receive financial aid for the 2020-2021 school year opened on October 1, but research shows that many high school students don't always take advantage of this opportunity. In order to meet myFutureNC's ambitious postsecondary attainment goal for North Carolina we will need to identify innovative approaches to improving college access. Completion of the FAFSA has a positive association with college enrollment and can serve as an early indicator of both access and success in postsecondary education. With nearly 80% of Louisiana seniors completing FAFSA last year, North Carolina can look to the state for ways to increase engagement and FAFSA completion.
Louisiana ranked number one in the nation for FAFSA completion rates for the second consecutive year, according to the National College Access Network's (NCAN) FAFSA Tracker. In fact, 78.7% of Louisiana's 47,837 seniors completed their FAFSA during the 2019-2020 award year. This result follows a mandate by the Louisiana Department of Education that includes FAFSA submission as a graduation requirement.
The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance (LOSFA), a program of the Louisiana Board of Regents, and our partners developed best practices that: 1) Help students and their families navigate the financial aid process to minimize student loan debt and maximize gift aid awards, and 2) Help students and their families understand that FAFSA completion is just one step towards college access and success.
We learned that we must also:
Develop strategies to engage students and parents;
Offer student-centered wraparound services where students can be guided and supported with help from professionals; and
Collaborate with stakeholders to spread the word on best strategies for assisting with filling out the FAFSA.
Using a holistic approach, our team connects the importance of academic persistence to college scholarships and, initiates conversations to explain the financial aid process and student loan debt.
This approach includes:
One-on-one engagement. LOSFA provides line-by-line assistance to students and parents in order to complete their respective portions of the FAFSA application.
Providing opportunities for assistance. High school professionals can coordinate with LOSFA to host multiple events at their schools to ensure a full range of opportunities to understand the financial aid process.
Communication. LOSFA uses Signal Vine text messaging, emails, one-calls, and social media campaigns to spread the word about FAFSA, financial aid opportunities, and other resources to provide college readiness support.
LOSFA's FAFSA Lab. LOSFA has a FAFSA lab for families who need additional assistance with completing their FAFSA outside of school or home.
Geaux FAFSA. LOSFA hosts an email address (GeauxFAFSA@la.gov) for parents and students to ask FAFSA questions.
We found these strategies, coupled with a supportive effort between schools, colleges, the Department of Education, and community partners, to be key to Louisiana's increased FAFSA completion.
Editor's note: This perspective was first published by The Hunt Institute. It was posted with the author's permission.
Brittani Williams is the Financial Aid and Career Development Specialist for the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance.
Here's how a bill could help students in Ocracoke and community colleges recover from storms
by Rupen R. Fofaria | October 30, 2019
Eye to Eye announces major initiative to reach 25% of middle school students
by Staff | October 30, 2019
Republicans announce teacher pay raise bill


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Baphomet's Blood – In Satan We Trust (Iron Bonehead)
I love the Iron Bonehead roster much like Hells Headbangers as well, their roster of bands are some of the most vicious and vile on the planet, plus when you order from them they are efficient and understand the importance of well packaged records as I've purchased a few times from them as my next purchase will be this fourth full length from Italian dirty speedsters Baphomet's Blood who criminally have evaded my speed metal radar since the mid 2000s.
Baphomet's Blood owe much of their approach to the mid 80s speed metal from bands like Iron Angel, Living Death and Warrant to name a few. However I was surprised to see that this album starts with an eight minute tune, though a good portion of it is some sort of sample, possibly film based that I didn't recognise stating the intention of the album via its quote of "In The Name Of Satan… Ruler Of The Earth…". It does go on a bit, two minutes or so as a symphonic choir (like "O'Fortuna" from the Carmina Burana) takes over ready for the tune to begin properly. [It's from The Lords Of Salem horror buff editor]. The elongated build up of double kick and repeating riff is similar to Slayer's Hell Awaits in some respects by minute four the speed riff bursts in. The speed is cranked up too and immediately this gets a tick of approval for the guitar sound as it definitely resides in the 80s though a tad more polished overall. The title track has a feel of old Motörhead on the riff but with a high velocity double kick saturating the track. Speed metal isn't about finesse or acrobatic song arrangements, it's about fist pumping aggression via memorable riffs and catchy choruses and these Italians were probably weaned on molten steel as a result.
"Hellbreaker" is what you'd expect, the riff blazes in with accompanying cymbal smashing to signal the start as here they sound like their compatriots Violentor. A short fade in for "Underground Demons" reveals a purer heavy metal style though the speed is much faster and has a touch of early Razor about it. Bordering Priest like on "Infernal Overdrive" especially from the "Painkiller" album the tune is far more restrained but no less invigorating on the ear as the tune chops around riff wise over its six minutes as occasional pitch increases are accompanied by sporadic changes in speed especially when it dips into Venom territory and debut Slayer too. Using a sample start "Whiskey Rocker" is what you'd expect though the sample is just plain weird until the riff rockets in and is very like Finnish demons Speedtrap but also Iron Angel as I mentioned earlier. The album closes with a cover of "Eleg" by a Hungarian band called Fáraó that I enjoyed so much I checked them out for their own stuff only to find one demo from 1986 and a full length from last year. The tune is great if a little tacky but it's a heads down neck snapping joy with chanted choral vocals and a scorching hot riff fest just like this whole album is.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baphomets-Blood-official/116241875112834
http://184421.bandcamp.com
Rock and metal have been in my existence for about 30 years and saw me go through a rapid weaning period that covered AC/DC, Maiden, Saxon, Whitesnake, Motorhead, etc from about 1982 to 1984 before shifting to thrash in the summer of 1984. At that point my only mission was to find the fastest, most violent music on the planet resulting checking out every genre in extreme music from death metal and grindcore to crust punk and hardcore all of which I still adore today and buy albums from and go see live. During the 80s I grew up in the infamous Bradford thrash scene, a time I still dearly miss such was the inventiveness and great camaraderie it held. I'm a bit of phase metaller, going from one style to another, through sheer investigation of finding something new, but always sticking with them all. I'm a total sucker for double bass and blast beats and always will be no matter what genre it comes from. I absolutely detest people that have joined the metal scene because it is trendy or their mates like it, likewise I detest people who are shallow and think this music is a fad of growing up. Most of us are extremely well educated and articulate individuals who prefer freedom of self expression than indoctrination by mass media organisations hell bent on artistic sterilisation. Much of my cash is spent on following metal and I wouldn't change a thing about it because it is the best music scene in the world.
Baphomet's Blood, Fáraó, Iron Angel, Living Death, Motorhead, Razor, Slayer, Speed Metal, Speedtrap, Warrant
18/01/20	Insomnium in Norwich at Waterfront
19/01/20	Insomnium in London at Islington Assembly Rooms
20/01/20	Slipknot in Sheffield at The Arena


Freebee! Who do you want?
What if I told you this quiz is over because I can't think of anything else?
• Its okay I had fun taking this quiz make more (me: aww thanks I had fun making it! I will make more!
If you met One Direction?


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Science & technologyDec 19th 2015 edition
Human exoskeletons
From the battlefield via the factory floor to the orthopaedic clinic, artificial bones and muscles worn outside the body are providing help and protection
SOLDIERS kitted up in expectation of their first taste of combat often reflect on how much of their bodies a bulletproof jacket and helmet do not cover. About 81%, it turns out. More armour than this would be impractically heavy. Indeed, many soldiers already carry at least 50kg of kit and supplies, which is more than double what America's Army Science Board advises as the limit if damage to a soldier's skeleton and musculature is to be avoided.
The answer, many suggest, is a second, external skeleton, complete with artificial muscles, that would let its wearer carry far more weight without strain. Such exoskeletons, moreover, are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Interest in their uses, both on and off the battlefield, is growing.
One of the most advanced is the Kinetic Operations Suit (KOS) made by Revision Military, a firm in Vermont. For a soldier this triples his armour-protection while adding little burden to his movement. An artificial articulated spine transfers most of the weight of the suit's helmet (which fully encases the wearer's head) to armour on his shoulders. The weight of the armour protecting his torso is similarly transferred to his hips and legs through another section of artificial spine. All this reduces strain on his neck and lower back, the natural skeleton's weakest links. His legs must still bear the extra weight, however. To assist with this, the KOS uses titanium-aluminium shafts which are strapped, along with armour, to his lower limbs. Electric motors, taking their cue from accelerometers and other sensors embedded in the suit, move these shafts in step with the way the soldier moves his legs.
According to Brian Dowling, a former special-forces soldier in the American army who works for Revision Military, the system is both nimble enough and robust enough to help its wearer run, fully laden, across uneven terrain. The armies of several countries, America's included, are now evaluating such claims.
A second military exoskeleton, more ambitious even than KOS, is being developed by the special forces themselves. This project's contractors include many of the most famous names of America's defence establishment, such as General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Intriguingly, they also include Legacy Effects, the firm that designed the exoskeletons which feature in the "Iron Man" science-fiction films. The device these firms have come up with is called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, a name crafted to yield the acronym TALOS, the ancient Greek name of a mythical animated bronze statue.
TALOS will weigh twice as much as the soldier inside it. The components contributing to this weight will, however, make it bullet- and shrapnel-proof. They will also offer its wearer a cooling system; a set of sensors that monitor his physiology; and superhuman strength. The result, according to General Joseph Votel, head of the Special Operations Command, will be "peerless tactical capability".
If, of course, it works. That is not certain. To start with, the actuators that operate TALOS will need to become more agile. Replicating the movements of the shoulder joint, the human body's most mobile, remains particularly difficult. The device will also need far more power than portable batteries can provide. General Atomics, another of the military-industrial complex's usual suspects, has proposed designing a small internal-combustion engine to run the whole thing. But such engines are noisy, which could alert the enemy. Also, soldiers might, quite reasonably, be reluctant to wear a tank of petrol into battle.
Power down
A prototype of TALOS should be available by 2018, though a battle-ready version is at least a decade away. And even Revision Military's more modest system will probably not be fit for combat for several years. In the meantime, though, the world's armed forces are looking at the idea of unpowered exoskeletons.
Australia's Department of Defence, to take one example, has designed a skeleton that diverts much of the weight of a backpack, or of armour designed to protect the torso, directly to its wearer's boots. Two steel cables—encased in flexible tubes which are, in turn, held in place by loops in the wearer's trousers—run directly from the backpack or armour to the soles of the boots. It is these cables that transmit the load. The tubes stop them buckling, letting them support their burden while retaining sufficient flexibility for the wearer to walk or run unhindered. The system is a prototype. But two other unpowered exoskeletons, one developed by Lockheed Martin and the other by BAE Systems, a British defence giant, are already in use—not for combat, but for industry.
A worker holding a rivet gun or other similarly heavy tool may have to set it down to shake out his arms and recover his strength so often that he is resting nearly half the time he is on a job. To help, Lockheed Martin has designed FORTIS, a 17.5kg unpowered exoskeleton now being tried out by the American navy and also by nearly a dozen manufacturing companies. FORTIS's articulated aluminium frame supports a gimballed arm (see picture). One end of this arm, in front of the worker, is attached to the tool being used. The other end, behind him, carries an appropriate counterweight. Whether he is standing or kneeling to do the job in question, the combined weight of both tool and counterweight is transferred to the ground through the exoskeleton rather than through his bones. The tool itself thus seems weightless, and the worker does not so much wield as guide it. And, because that tool is attached to the exoskeleton, rather than being carried in the worker's hands, this arrangement also prevents injuries caused by dropped tools.
Both FORTIS and BAE's competing system, the Orthotic Load Assistance Device, boost productivity by about 50%, reckons Dana Ellis of the National Centre for Manufacturing Sciences. This industry body, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is helping both manufacturers and America's Department of Defence adopt the technology. At American naval shipyards, FORTIS lets two workers do more with a grinder than the three-man team they have replaced, says Trish Aelker, exoskeletons boss at Lockheed Martin. At the end of their shift, she adds, workers are no longer so fatigued that they routinely "go home and crash on the couch".
Carmakers are interested, too. Earlier this year Audi and Daimler, along with three other firms that prefer to remain anonymous, began testing a device called the Chairless Chair, made by Noonee, a Swiss firm. The Chairless Chair is a padded titanium exoskeleton that a worker straps to his buttocks, thighs and calves. Internal hydraulics allow its configuration to be locked at the push of a button, holding the wearer in a sitting position until he tries to stand up. Doing so automatically disengages the lock, permitting him to rise. The device weighs less than 4kg, so someone wearing it does not feel encumbered when standing or walking around. But, the button pushed, it lets him crouch comfortably inside the frame of a half-built car in order to add to its structure. According to Tanja Schembera-Kneifel, who runs Audi's tests of the product, by reducing workers' musculoskeletal problems, the Chairless Chair has also reduced absenteeism. Audi plans to deploy the device widely.
Other partial exoskeletons are in the works. One, the Personal Lift Assist Device, designed by Mohammad Abdoli-Eramaki of Ryerson University in Toronto, is also being tested by carmakers. Dr Abdoli-Eramaki's invention involves a sheathed spring that runs down the spine. When the wearer bends to grasp and lift something, the spring stretches, reducing the effort required to stop gravity pulling his body to the floor. Then, when he stands up, the spring contracts, pulling on his torso enough to reduce by more than 15% the effort his muscles have to use to lift him.
Another partial skeleton, unveiled earlier this year by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, is called the Walking Assist Clutch. It is worn around the ankle and the calf, and uses a short elastic cord to reduce the work required of the muscles that pull on the Achilles' tendon of one foot while the other is in the air. As the cord stretches, it stores energy which, a moment later, is released to tug the heel up, helping that foot push off the ground. According to its inventor, Steven Collins, the Walking Assist Clutch decreases the effort involved in walking around by 7%. For someone like an infantryman, that would be a valuable gain.
In the end, though, the future of exoskeletons probably does lie with powered versions. The European Union, for example, is putting €15m ($17m) into a transnational project to develop a system called Robo-Mate. This is an exoskeleton with upper- and lower-arm motors that reduces the perceived weight of an object by 90%. Trials begin in 2016. One of the guinea pigs is Fiat, another carmaker (whose chairman, John Elkann, sits on the board of The Economist's parent company). The second is INDRA, a French firm whose business is the even-more-labour-intensive one of dismantling and recycling vehicles.
Nor is Robo-Mate alone. Power Loader from Activelink, a subsidiary of Panasonic, a Japanese company; Hal from Cyberdyne, another Japanese firm; and the Body Extender from Percro, a robotics laboratory at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy, are all in development, too. They may do more than make existing workers safer and more productive. Carmen Constantinescu, Robo-Mate's project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute campus in Stuttgart, Germany, observes that they will also redefine who can become a worker. By abolishing the strength advantage enjoyed by men, exoskeletons will open up to women jobs that many now find too strenuous. They will also help older men, who might otherwise have to give up work.
The group whose lives may be changed most by powered exoskeletons, though, are paraplegics. Both ReWalk Robotics, an Israeli firm, and Parker Hannifin, of Cleveland, Ohio, make devices that consist of an artificial pelvic girdle sporting two powered, jointed, limb-like appendages that strap to the wearer's legs. Combined with a pair of walking sticks attached to his forearms, these let a user walk for hours at a time before the batteries run out. They can even permit him to climb a flight of stairs.
ReWalk's device has been available in Europe since 2012, and in America since 2014. Parker Hannifin's was approved for use in Europe in November, and American approval is expected soon. Exoskeletons, then, come in many guises. Some may help on the field of battle. But sometimes, conquering a staircase will be enough.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Full metal jacket"
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Washington, DC – November 8, 2017 – The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) today recognizes the significant safety achievement of the industry's 603 short line railroads – operating for a full year fatality-free.
Short lines operate 47,500 rail miles in 49 states, or 29% of freight rail. One in five cars are handled by the 603 short lines, providing the first or last mile of the journey. Particularly in rural America, short lines provide the opportunity for a wide variety of industries to have access to market.
Darr also gave a nod to the excellent work of the Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI), and its influence on the industry. The SLSI focuses on safety culture, or the people side of the safety equation.


Associate Dean and Professor of Lawyering Skills Trilby Robinson-Dorn spoke in front of an international audience of law professors at the 2018 Global Legal Skills Conference in Melbourne, Australia on Dec. 11, 2018.
Presented by the John Marshall Law School, the conference provided an opportunity for leading experts to share best practices of international legal skills education. The title of Prof. Robinson-Dorn's presentation was "How to Teach the Important Global Lawyering Skill of Professionalism From Day One of Law School." She was the sole representative from UCI Law at the conference, and one of three law professors from California to speak.


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Released in 1975. Island ILPS 9317.
On the Hear Fear promo album Cale announces cover versions of Jerusalem, Girl From The North Country (Bob Dylan), Eight Miles High (the Byrds), and I Can See For Miles (The Who), all to be included on the this album.
A recorded cover version of God Only Knows with the St. Paul Cathedral Choir does not make the album.
All songs written by John Cale, except Heartbreak Hotel written by Mae Axton, Tommy Durden and Elvis Presley.
American CD label Culture Factory reissues the album in 2013 on compact-disc which reproduces meticulously all the components of the original LP and are their exact replicas in compact-disc size (5.3 x 5.3 inches). The music is encoded using state of the art, high definition remastering in 96 kHz / 24 BIT audio.