Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Mon, Feb 24 1992 Date: Mon, 24 Feb 92 06:25:44 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Feb. 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network WORKERS EXPOSED TO RADIATION: People who work at and live near the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory have been exposed to excessive dosages of radiation during the past four decades, Congress' General Accounting Office says in a government report out Monday. Radiation has been released into the atmosphere at least 115 times since INEL opened in 1949. The six most serious accidents caused three deaths, says the GAO. (For more, see special INEL package below.) GOV'T PROBING YORK TRADING: USA TODAY reports Monday that the U.S. attorney's office in New York has subpoenaed traders of York Research stock. The subpoenas are seeking trading records in York stock. The subpoenas, USA TODAY reports, are part of a federal grand jury probe into trading in York. York, via partnerships, builds cogeneration facilities that provide electricity to residential and commercial projects. OIL CLOSES WEEK WITH A LOSS: Oil prices fell modestly Friday, wrapping up a week that saw crude take its biggest one-day plunge since the Persian Gulf War. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in April settled at $18.66 per barrel, down 8 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, crude oil fell 80 cents per barrel on contracts for next-month delivery. Crude oil fell $1.30 per barrel Tuesday. HEATING OIL, UNLEADED FALL: Home heating oil for delivery in March settled at 52.80 cents a gallon Friday, down .13 cent for the day and 1.78 cents for the week. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in March settled at 54.64 cents a gallon, down .86 cent for the day and 2.84 cents for the week. Natural gas prices were higher, with contracts for delivery in March settling at $1.249 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 10.4 cents. STORING REACTOR NOT A DANGER: Putting Three Mile Island's damaged nuclear reactor into long-term storage would not be dangerous, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report Friday. The operator of the two TMI reactors, GPU Nuclear Corp., wants Unit 2, which was crippled in 1979 in the worst accident to occur at a U.S. nuclear plant, put into storage until both plants are decommissioned in 2014. PUMPS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT: Motorists buying gasoline in New York may not be getting what they pay for. A state report out Monday says that 15.4% of the premium-grade gas sold in New York - 16.7% in New York City - was below octane rating stated at pump during 1991 tests of 2,260 retailers, according the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. A new law sets fines of up to $10,000 per violation. TRAIN POWERED BY LIQUID METHANE: Burlington Northern Railroad will do test run of a locomotive powered by liquid methane, produced from natural gas, between Glendive and Billings, Mont., Monday. The train's engine has undergone more than 500 hours of stationary testing in Tacoma, Wash., says a Burlington Northern offical. The 3,000-horsepower engine has been field tested since last December. HEARING ON BOILER SET: A public hearing is set for Tuesday on a proposed $100 million coal-fired boiler at the Tennessee Eastman plant in Kingsport, Tenn. The National Park Service says pollution has turned the Great Smoky Mountains' blue haze into yellow-whitish haze. Tennessee Eastman says the plant, which is expected to create 115 jobs, is crucial to area economy. TVA WORKERS BENEFITING: More than 200 former Tennessee Valley Authority staffers injured on the job receive both disability and pension benefits, costing ratepayers over $670,000 yearly, says the inspector general's report quoted in The Knoxville News-Sentinel Sunday. The report says that Congress might have to pass a law to end the problem. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON INEL: DOSES EXCEEDED SAFE LIMITS: The six most serious accidents at INEL also exposed 25 workers to radiation doses exceeding levels the government now believes to be safe, a GAO report says. The government's permissible limit for nuclear workers is 5 rems a year, and the limit for the public is 0.1 to 0.5 rems a year. A rem is a measurement used to gauge damage caused by absorbing a specific amount of radiation. MISHAPS HAPPENED IN EARLY YEARS: Almost all of the accidents occurred in the early years of INEL, whose prime function is to build, test and operate nuclear reactors and support facilities. From 1962 to 1985, says INEL, no worker received radiation doses exceeding the annual limit. Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee that monitors INEL, said the findings raise key questions. DOE NEVER STUDIED WORKERS: Sen. John Glenn said findings in a GAO report about INEL "raise key questions as to the health effects ... on both the workers and residents near the facility." And he questioned why the Department of Energy has never studied all INEL workers to determine the health risks posed by the plant. INEL officials verified the GAO's findings, according to the report. HEARING SET FOR TUESDAY: At a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, Glenn said he plans to raise the findings in the INEL report with energy officials "and ask why such careless attention has been paid to the people hurt by these government experiments." Glenn requested the study by the GAO, Congress' investigative arm, to determine the extent to which radiation accidents have affected contractors' award fees at INEL. (End of package.) Energy Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002240000D0224 HEAL- R P Smokers'-bones-heal-slower............ A D0224 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM