European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 a a a the stars and stripes sunday March 25, 1990 thumb time for dreaming Amy Simmons 5, finds her thumb soothing and her desk a Good place to drop off to dreamland Friday. She s one of the children attending kindergarten at the Moseley elementary school in Palatka Fla. Gas buildup in storage tanks at nuke site could explode Richland. Wash. Apr Hydrogen Gas building up in nuclear waste storage tanks at the Hanford nuclear reservation could explode possibly spewing radioactivity into the atmosphere . Officials say. The Hydrogen buildup has been spotted in 20 storage tanks at Hanford and is the result of the decomposition of organic wastes introduced into the tanks in the 1970s, Hanford manager Mike Lawrence said Friday. The wastes in the form of a slurry with a surface crust that traps gases underneath Are byproducts of production of nuclear weapons materials at Hanford. The Chance of an explosion is Low Lawrence insisted Friday but added that scientists do not know enough about the problem to Rule it out. A we have taken every precaution we can think of. But i can t give you an absolute guarantee a Lawrence told a hastily called news conference. A the worst Case is any explosion that could cause the dome to collapse and Send the contents up to the air a he said. A i can to sit Here and say its not going to  the tanks Are built of 1.5-foot-thick reinforced steel and Concrete and Are buried under 6 feet to 8 feet of dirt. There has never been a storage tank explosion at Hanford but nuclear waste storage tanks have apparently exploded in the soviet Union. A 1989 report from the official soviet news Agency Tass said 10,000 people were evacuated after a 1957 explosion. But other reports of the 1957 Accident indicated that hundreds of people had died. The potential Hanford danger came to Light in a study performed by the Westinghouse Hanford co. The main department of Energy contractor at the reservation. The study was prompted by concerns raised by Congress late last year about the possibility of Furro cyanide exploding in the tanks. Ferrocyanide was added to the liquid waste Stream from 1954-1975 to concentrate the waste and produce additional storage space in the tanks. While the Ferrocyanide threat was ultimately ruled to be very Low scientists discovered that Hydrogen Gas buildup in the tanks was a greater danger than previously thought Lawrence said. He said he first Learned of the study s conclusions thursday. No copy of the study was immediately available. One of the newer double Shell storage tanks is of particular concern Lawrence said. That million gallon tank known As 101-Sy, has seen its waste level Rise and fall by As much As 33 inches because of Hydrogen Gas buildup he said. The wastes Rise was first noticed in 1977, and scientists since 1984 have tried various methods to reduce the tanks Gas buildup including injecting water into the slurry and Lancing the surface crust with pipes to relieve pressure. None of those measures worked. Lawrence said. Man goes free in vagrants death new York apr a grand jury refused Friday to indict a Man who fatally injured a homeless Man in a subway platform Brawl two months ago. Rodney Sumter 39, claimed he was Only protecting himself and his 3-year-old son in the incident late Jan. 21. Witnesses said the homeless Man had verbally abused spit on and punched Sumter before he struck Back. A the grand jury has acted As the conscience of this Community by acquitting Rodney Sumter a said his attorney Mel Sachs. A the has been  Sumter and his son Ptah now 4, had been waiting for the train Home after seeing a movie. Sumter initially was charged with first degree manslaughter in the death despite a Public outcry that the killing was Justi fied. Quot it is our policy to submit every homicide Case to the grand jury for investigation a said District attorney Robert Morgenthau. The homeless Man a regular Denizen of the subway station never was identified. He was buried feb. 14 in an unmarked grave in Queens. Sumter who is working As a plumber was not immediately available for comment following the decision. Peter Smith head of the partnership for the homeless praised the grand jury a decision but he said the metropolitan transportation authority does nothing to relocate disturbed homeless people living in the subways. Fight stateside Delaware River Oil spill contained by workers Marcus Hook Penn. Apr an Oil t a incr Friday spilled a Small amount of Oil into the Dehi a River the . Coast guard said. About 150 Gallons spilled authorities said earlier the coast guard and Sun co. Refinery officials estimated the spill at 1,000 Gallons. A had workers at the Sun refinery Dock noticed the still a it the 865-foot Tanker Nike was unloading its cargo of Bonney Light crude Oil from Nigeria. Petty officer Joseph no Rcd said. A a we were  Sun spokesman Doug Peters said a the wind and tide were with us keeping the Oil right into the Dock  6 unloading was stopped and floating booms were placed in the water around the Singapore registered ship. A private anti pollution contractor was also called in to clean up the spill nored said. The spill was reported to the coast guard about 6 25 . The cause of the Accident was under investigation nored said.1 5-cent postcard to Aid against illiteracy Washington apr Barbara Bush joined the postmaster general in unveiling a 15-cent postcard that promotes the fight against illiteracy. The card depicts a Globe atop a Book and the legend. A the world is an open  it also shows a computer screen bearing the message a literacy a stronger future a better  postmaster general Anthony m. Frank said the card a Marks the Start of an intensified on going program by the postal service. To help stamp out  a if Reading was not an integral part of our lives the postal service would be out of  Frank said. The first lady said president Bush was determined Quot to wipe out illiteracy before the end of the  the postal service has printed 15 million of the  redoubt Volcano briefly erupts again Anchorage Alaska up a redoubt erupted Early Friday sending a plume of Ash and steam 35.000 feet High but the Ash blew toward sparsely populated areas the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported. The 10.197-foot Volcano. 110 Miles West of Anchorage exploded at 4 04 . In an eruption lasting about 10 minutes geologist Michael Doukas said. The Mountain continued to steam and the plume was visible from Anchorage in the Clear weather. Increased earthquake activity at the Mountain alerted geologists that an eruption was imminent and they issued a warning. Redoubt has been erupting at least once a week Lor almost two months since bursting to life last dec. 14.Trotsky-to-Lenin letter auctioned for $27,500 new York apr a Handwritten 1918 letter from russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky to i Lenin was auctioned at Swann galleries for $27,500. An Quot extreme bargain in the View of the buyer a California Book dealer. Louis Weinstein owner of the heritage bookshop inc. Of los Angeles bought the one Page Trotsky Jotter and said he planned to offer it for resale at a new York Book fair. Quot it was very cheap. I expected it would go Lor $60,000 to $70,000.�?� he said. The letter addressed to a dear Vladimir ily Ich is considered historically significant because it outlined Trotsky a own plan for a a no War. No peace settlement with the so called Central Powers led by Germany near the end of world War i. It was also intended Tor Lenin a cohort Josef Stalin. The letter written during the turbulent period just after the abdication of Czar Nicholas ii and the seizure of Power by the bolsheviks has been quoted in previous writings on the period but had not itself been available to scholars of the russian revolution. It was offered for Sale from the estate of Adek Bernstein of Binghamton the daughter in Law of Herman Bernstein a noted american foreign Corr spot Dent who obtained the letter in Russia