This isn’t a 100 story week. How about 150…
I could spend a week just trying to describe what happened. I’ve got my hearing back! I’ve been working for the last 4 weeks without hearing in my left ear.   Back to the news.
A very dense week of news. Internationally, the UK and Japan topped the news with Mox protests taking place in Genkai Japan upon its arrival where the first reactor to use Mox is planned to start this coming November. There is a regional drive to get a special election held to ban its use.
In the UK the scandal over a 14th month leak at Sellafield is starting to unwind publicly.
Keeping an eye on congress was clearly a major issue this last week with attempts to give the nuclear industry a blank check in the proposed Energy Bank. The lobby community is now breathing hot and heavy. Check out the policy section for more details on this.
There was lots of local news around the country as well as a huge amount of NRC activity.
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Nuclear Reactor News
LICENSE RENEWAL FOR THE INDIAN POINT 2 AND 3 NUCLEAR REACTORS
I am writing to you to make you aware of a little-known tragic mistake that was made by the medical community and physicists like myself during the early years of the Cold War that has been playing a major role in the enormous rise of the incidence chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes, and thus the cost of healthcare in our nation. The mistake was to assume that the radiation exposure to the public due to the small amount of fallout from distant nuclear weapons tests or the operation of nuclear reactors would have no significant adverse effect on human health.
This assumption was based on our experience with a half-century of studies that showed no detectable increase in cancer rates for individuals given one or two diagnostic X-rays. What was not understood at the time was that the radioactive elements created in the fission of uranium did not just produce a small increase
in the external dose as received from the natural background sources. Instead, the particles and gases produced in the fission process released into the environment would lead to vastly greater radiation damage than from diagnostic X-rays or the gamma rays in background sources because the radioactive fission products and
uranium oxides were inhaled and ingested with the milk, the drinking water and the rest of the diet, concentrating in critical organs of the body.
Group goes to court over Summer reactor plans
Friends of the Earth said it filed an appeal May 22 with the South Carolina Supreme Court over state regulators’ approvals for two new Westinghouse AP1000s at the Summer reactor site. The group
is challenging the legality of the South Carolina Public Service Commission’s decision in February to permit South Carolina Electric & Gas to build the two new units and to begin recovering some of the costs from ratepayers during construction. The PSC in March denied FOE’s appeal of its decision. In a statement, FOE said the filing is the first legal challenge to South Carolina’s Baseload
Review Act and a decision made under it. The Baseload Review Act, passed in 2007, provides for early cost recovery for nuclear power plant projects.
Group appeals SCE&G nuclear plant application – The State
An environmental group Friday asked the state Supreme Court to block an application for South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. to build two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County.
In the lawsuit, Friends of the Earth challenges the constitutionality of a 2007 law that allows utilities to charge customers higher rates to cover future building costs for reactors.
The SCANA Corp. said it wasn’t surprised that Friends of the Earth appealed a regulators’ decisions allowing it move forward with a project expected to cost $10 billion.
New Report Shows Building New Nuclear Plants Is A Bad Investment – WISPIRG
New WISPIRG report shows that dollar for dollar, a clean energy portfolio can produce more energy than nuclear power
(Madison, WI) With the state considering solutions to reduce our global warming pollution, a new WISPIRG report finds that renewable energy sources can produce far more electricity than nuclear plants for less money.
Unfortunately, the nuclear industry has proposed thirty new reactors across the country at an estimated cost of $300 billion.
Taxpayers should not be subsidizing nuclear power when there are faster, cleaner, cheaper alternatives to meet our energy needs,” said WISPIRG Advocate Kara Rumsey.
Here in Wisconsin the nuclear industry is pushing to overturn a long-standing law that prevents new nuclear plants from being built unless the proposed plant is economically advantageous to ratepayers and there is safe and adequate disposal for radioactive waste.
Delays at Japan’s ill-fated nuclear plant – upiasia.com
Japan’s Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, built to extract plutonium from the spent fuel produced in Japan’s nuclear reactors, continues to be plagued by technical difficulties that have pushed its
start-up date for commercial operations to August this year.
The plant in Rokkasho in northern Japan was out of action for six months from the end of 2008 due to problems in one of its vitrification facilities, a furnace that mixes high active liquid waste with molten glass to seal radioactive waste in steel canisters that can safely be buried in the ground.
Attempts to restart the plant failed last November as problems with the glass melting process persisted. Then in January, 150 liters of high-level liquid radioactive waste leaked from pipes in the vitrification cell, forcing Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. to postpone operations until August.
The problems at Rokkasho, especially with extracting plutonium from spent nuclear fuel, are a blow to Japan’s nuclear fuel-cycle program, whose goal is to reprocess and re-use recoverable resources from spent nuclear fuel to produce fuel for its power plants. In fact the commitment to a domestic program to increase energy and reduce nuclear waste by reprocessing spent fuel led to the creation of Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.
Indian Point barriers to be subject of Federal appeals court ruling 
A matter of 24 minutes could affect the lives of 20 million people within 30 miles of the Indian Point Nuclear Plant.
That’s the core of an argument awaiting a ruling from a federal appeals court in a case against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for allowing lower-quality fire barriers at the Westchester County plant 24 miles outside of the city.
The case also marks the first time the NRC is challenged to grant so-called exemptions that affect public safety without alerting the public.
The court case comes on the heels of an NRC public meeting Thursday night on safety at Indian Point.
Barton’s Britain: Sizewell | The Guardian
The wind charges in from the North Sea, shakes the hedgerows, jostles the cow parsley and the bright yellow gorse. Above us,
the fizz and drone of electricity cables that score the morning’s pale blue sky.
Ahead stands Sizewell nuclear power station, its huge white dome and buff-coloured concrete block dominating the horizon.
Lawmakers need to weigh in on Oyster Creek | Asbury Park Press State Sen. Christopher Connors, R-Ocean, recently asked the state Department of Environmental Protection to answer tough questions about tritium leaks at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating
Station in Lacey that occurred about two weeks after the plant was relicensed for another 20 years.
Such action by an elected official is commendable. Now, Connors’ efforts must be directed toward the federal agency ultimately responsible for this problem.
By failing to ensure that a proper aging management program was in place at Oyster Creek, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has again shirked its responsibilities.
Corroding pipes leaking radioactive water into the surrounding environment is taking the NRC by surprise. This situation has been replicated at aging nuclear plants nationwide, including the Indian Point Nuclear Plant in Westchester County, N.Y., the Byron, Braidwood and Dresden reactors in Illinois and the Palo Verde
plant in Arizona.
Maryland Daily Record: Opponents saving fire on Calvert Cliffs 3
The preliminary approval of UniStar’s application to build a new nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs by state
regulators will not be contested, a member of an opposition coalition said Tuesday.
“We are not going to appeal the decision,” said Michael Mariotte, executive director of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Takoma Park, one of the organizations in the intervening group.
“We don’t think we would prevail,” he said. “We don’t think it’s a good use of limited resources.”
Government pressed to hold inquiry into construction of nuclear stations | guardian.co.uk
Academics and green groups say system for assessing need is ‘fatally flawed’
Worries over leaving final decision on nuclear plants to Ed Miliband
The government is under growing pressure to hold a public inquiry into building new nuclear stations amid claims that the current system of “justification” is fatally flawed and that public confidence in ministers is at an all-time low.
A group of leading academics has joined green pressure groups and others in demanding greater transparency. The justification process is required by the European Union as a high-level assessment to ensure the benefits of new-build nuclear stations outweigh potential detriments.
Thorp nuclear plant may close for years | The Guardian
Faulty reprocessing facility threatens UK atomic plans Critics call for plug to be pulled on ‘white elephant’
The company that runs the Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant admitted that it may have to close for a number of years owing to a series of technical problems.
The huge £1.8bn plant at Sellafield imports spent nuclear fuel from around the world and returns it to countries as new reactor fuel. But a series of catastrophic technical failures with associated equipment means Thorp could be mothballed at a cost of millions of pounds.
Under strict orders from the government’s safety watchdog, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, the plant’s operators, Sellafield Ltd, is expected to have little option but to mothball the reprocessing plant for at least four years.
Hyperion Has a $100M Valuation for Mini Nuclear Power | Reuters The idea of nuclear-in-a-box sounds like a joke, but investors and potential customers are taking Hyperion Power Generation very seriously the company is valued at a whopping $100 million
by investors, according to the Denver Post. The company is backed by Altira Group, and though Hyperion hasn’t disclosed how much financing it has raised to date, CEO John Grizz Deal told us he is looking to raise a Series B round of funding, with plans to raise a Series C in about two years.
Although nuclear power produces radioactive waste, it doesn’t release greenhouse gases and it has vocal supporters in the new administration, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu. So it’s not so far-fetched for investors to see the potential of Hyperion’s nuclear option.
Nuclear Health and Safety News
PNN- No less than 75 tons of depleted uranium found in Gaza soil and subsoil after Israel attacks
‘Citizens Action to Dismantle Nuclear Weapons Completely’ has prepared a 33 page report showing the presence of tens of tons of depleted uranium in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli attacks of late December and January are the culprit, report the international organization.
“The quantity of depleted uranium may amount to no less than 75 tons found in the soil and subsoil in the Gaza Strip,” is the study’s quote.
As many have suggested, the Israeli military used or may have used depleted uranium in the ground and air assaults on the Strip during the operation in the period between 27 December 2008 and January 18, 2009.
Uranium safety priority leaves doubts | GoDanRiver
The Uranium Mining Subcommittee’s approval Thursday of the final draft of a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia drew a variety of reactions from local
opponents and a supporter.
“We’re very gratified,” Patrick Wales, geologist and spokesman for Virginia Uranium Inc., said Friday. “An independent study of uranium mining and milling has been the one thing we’ve been proposing since the inception of our company.”
VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia currently has a moratorium on uranium mining.
BBC NEWS | UK | Staff contaminated at Sellafield
The operators of Sellafield are to be prosecuted after two contractors received a “higher than anticipated” dose of radiation.
The workers were refurbishing a floor at the site’s plutonium finishing and storage plant in July 2007 when they were exposed to airborne contamination.
Sellafield Ltd is accused of failing to discharge its duty under Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety Act 1974.
The case will be heard at Whitehaven Magistrates’ Court on 24 July.
FR: NIOSH: Cohort petition for U of Rochester workers
HHS gives notice as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to designate a class of employees for the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, to be included
in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows:
Facility: University of Rochester. Location: Rochester, New York. Job Titles and/or Job Duties: Laboratory Technicians who worked in the University of Rochester Atomic Energy Project laboratory building. Period of Employment: September 1, 1943 through
June 19, 1945.
Mark Udall | Senate Resolution Would Designate Oct. 30, 2009, to Remember Cold War Heroes’
Today, U.S. Senator Mark Udall, expressed support for a Senate Resolution that would honor the workers who helped build America’s nuclear weapons supply.
Senator Udall was a co-sponsor of Senate Resolution 151, which passed Wednesday by unanimous consent. It designates a national day of remembrance for the workers on October 30, 2009.
Mortality and cancer incidence following occupational radiation exposure: third analysis of the National Registry for Radiation Workers
Mortality and cancer incidence were studied in the National Registry for Radiation Workers in, relative to earlier analyses, an enlarged cohort of 174 541 persons, with longer follow-up (to 2001) and, for the first time, cancer registration data. SMRs for all causes and all
malignant neoplasms were 81 and 84 respectively, demonstrating a healthy worker effect’. Within the cohort, mortality and incidence from both leukaemia excluding CLL and the grouping of all malignant neoplasms excluding leukaemia increased to a statistically significant extent with increasing radiation dose. Estimates of the trend in risk with dose were similar to those for the Japanese A-bomb survivors,
with 90% confidence intervals that excluded both risks more than 23 times greater than the A-bomb values and no raised risk. Some evidence of an increasing trend with dose in mortality from all circulatory diseases may, at least partly, be due to confounding by smoking. This analysis provides the most precise estimates
to date of mortality and cancer risks following occupational radiation exposure and strengthens the evidence for raised risks from these exposures. The cancer risk estimates are consistent with values used to set radiation protection standards.
Whitehaven News | Sellafield braces for fall-out over undetected pipe leak
SELLAFIELD faces a top level probe into a radioactive leak which went 14 months before being spotted on the day of the Prime Minister’s recent visit.
Details of the leak from an overhead open-air pipe were first revealed in The Whitehaven News last week and today the News can disclose that the nuclear site’s regulators have decided to hold their own investigations.
It could lead to prosecution but no decisions have been made on what action might follow.
Ministry of Defence admits to further radioactive leaks from submarines | guardian.co.uk
Critics round on ministry’s ‘scandalous’ safety record after
admission to nine nuclear submarine leaks in past 12 years
Radioactive waste has leaked from Britain’s nuclear submarines nine times in the past 12 years, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted. Two of the leaks including one at Devonport near Plymouth two months ago had not been revealed until today.
Confirmation of the leaks raises new questions about the MoD’s safety record, which has been coming under increasing scrutiny since HMS Vanguard, a British submarine armed with Trident nuclear missiles, collided with a nuclear-armed French submarine, Le Triomphant, under the Atlantic in February.
Nuclear Plant Operator Uses RFID to Promote Safety – RFID Journal
Southern Co. employs a unique type of active tag to track employees’ locations at its training center, as well as teach them how to avoid excessive radiation exposure.
Southern Co. has completed a pilot testing an RFID-based system to train employees in how to limit their exposure to radiation. The RFID system, provided by Q-Track, feeds a worker’s location data to software that then calculates the level of exposure that person would have received in a real-world scenario. It’s part of a simulated
environment intended to train future employees of the electric utility company’s Plant Vogtle nuclear facility located in Waynesboro, Ga.how to gauge their exposure.
Staff members are instructed to base their radiation exposure on a floor map of the factory that demarks the locations of radiation hot spots, as well as to employ dosimeter readers displaying the cumulative level of radiation encountered.
Extent of tritium leaks still unknown | Asbury Park Press
A month after radioactive tritium was found in a concrete vault and then ground water at the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey, experts still are trying to define the scope of
the contamination.
Plant owner Exelon Corp. also is still investigating the cause of the contamination and whether there are other leaks, according to plant and federal officials.
* Tritium leaks at Oyster Creek not easily contained
* Radioactive tritium contaminated four wells at the Oyster Creek
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided last month that Oyster Creek was “good for 20 years, and it didn’t last three weeks before something failed,” said Richard Webster, legal director at the Eastern Environmental Law Center in Newark and lawyer for six national, state and local groups that fought the plant’s relicensing.
North West Evening Mail | Radioactive leak at Sellafield lasted 14 months
RADIOACTIVITY leaking from a pipe, which was first spotted on the day of the Prime Minister’s visit to Sellafield, had been escaping into the open for 14 months, it has been revealed.
The incident has been raised to level two on the International Event scale the highest at Sellafield since the major leak in Thorp four years ago.
Sellafield Ltd said: “There is no relation between the two. The amount of radioactivity involved in this incident was very low.”
The leak was discovered on January 23 the day the Prime Minister made his announcement about new reactors. The radioactivity came from an overhead ventilation duct carrying water vapour (condensate) from the Magnox reprocessing plant for dilution treatment before authorised discharge to the sea. There was a steady drip from a faulty valve flange contaminating a two metre square concrete slab. A walkway had to be cordoned off to prevent access. No workers are said to have been harmed and no contamination was found above normal background levels.
NRC News
NRC – NRC Issues Supplemental Safety Evaluation for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station License Renewal
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a supplemental safety evaluation report for the license renewal application of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station near Brattleboro, Vt.
The NRC staff developed and published a safety evaluation report (SER) in May  2008. One of the staff’s proposed license conditions in that SER required Entergy to perform fatigue analyses on certain components no later than two years prior to entering the period of extended operation.
NRCÂ – NRC to Hold Public Meeting June 4 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on Environmental Review for Proposed Enrichment Plant
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting June 4 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to seek comments about specific issues that should be addressed in its environmental review of a proposed uranium enrichment facility.
The meeting will be held at the Shilo Inn, 780 Lindsay Blvd. in Idaho Falls, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. NRC staff members will be available for an hour prior to the meeting to speak informally to members of the public.
AREVA Enrichment Services LLC submitted an application Dec. 30, 2008, for a license to construct and operate a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility near Idaho Falls. AREVA resubmitted its application April 24 to double the facility’s proposed production capacity.
The proposed facility would enrich uranium for use in the production of fuel for commercial nuclear power reactors.
NRC: Yankee question remains: Rutland Herald Online
The Vermont Yankee nuclear
plant edged one step closer Thursday to getting its final federal approval for another 20 years of operation.
But while one arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was satisfied with recent additional analyses done by Entergy Nuclear about the effects of metal fatigue on a key safety system, another arm of the federal agency criticized
Entergy’s plan on how it would handle its high-level radioactive waste and its decommissioning trust fund, saying it was lacking key information and financial analysis.
The issue of metal fatigue in the spray nozzles in the reactor’s containment was first raised by the New England Coalition during the appeal process of the NRC’s initial approval.
Forum highlights nuclear plans
Supporters and opponents of nuclear power faced off Wednesday, May 20, under the auspices of a forum sponsored by the Calvert
and St. Mary’s county chapters of the League of Women Voters.
The handling of nuclear waste was one fulcrum of discussion, with panelists discussing the safety and viability of short- and long-term storage methods.
Brian O’Connell, director of the Nuclear Waste Program Office for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said the federal government, not utility companies, is responsible for nuclear waste disposal. He lamented that plans for a permanent site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada have been put on hold by the Obama administration, a decision he said was politically motivated.
NRC contemplates the next step on imported waste – Salt Lake Tribune
Federal regulators want to know if the time is right to think about allowing a Utah company to import radioactive waste from Italy.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officially opened up its comment line last week to “potential parties” in EnergySolutions Inc.’s controversial import application.
The door opened for the Salt Lake City nuclear waste company to dispose of low-level waste from 39 states and foreign nations following a May 15 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart. The ruling basically said a regional radioactive waste organization has no authority to limit the waste the company buries at its Tooele
County landfill as Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste and the Rocky Mountain Compact had tried to do.
Time to Abolish the NRC
For 10 years now, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
has been busily extending the operating license of nuclear power plants designed to run for 40 years  another 20 years.
Imagine driving down a highway in a 60-year-old car.
But safety concerns are minimized by the NRC, a lapdog of the nuclear industry.
Just as the NRC has never denied a construction or operating license for a nuclear plant anywhere, anytime in the U.S., it has rubber-stamped every application for a 20-year extension for now 52 nuclear plants.
That’s half the 104 nuclear plants in the U.S. and, as the 40-year licenses of the rest get set to expire, watch the NRC extend their licenses to run for another 20 years, too.
And it may end up to be more than 20 years. The New York Times in a report April 2 on the NRC extending the operating license to 60 years of the oldest nuclear plant in the U.S., Oyster Creek in New Jersey, noted that “some commission officials have even discussed the possibility of a second round of extensions that would allow reactors to operate for up to 80 years.”
Imagine driving down a highway in an 80-year-old car.
FR: NRC: Oconee spent fuel storage license
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering an application dated January 30, 2008, from Duke Power Company LLC d/b/a Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, (Duke) for the renewal of its
Special Nuclear Material (SNM) License SNM-2503, under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72, for the receipt, possession, storage and transfer of spent fuel and other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel storage at the Oconee Nuclear Station (ONS) Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), located
at the ONS site in Oconee County, South Carolina. If granted, the renewed license will authorize Duke to continue to store spent fuel in a dry cask storage system at the ISFSI. Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 72.42, the renewal term of the license for an ISFSI is limited to 20 years. Duke, however, has also submitted an exemption request with its license renewal application, pursuant to 10 CFR
72.7, seeking a license renewal term of 40 years. In accordance with 10 CFR 72.34, Duke’s renewal application included an Environmental Report (which is attached as Enclosure 3, Appendix E of Duke’s application).
FR: NRC: GEIS license renewal for Beaver Valley
Firstenergy Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of Availability of the Final Supplement 36 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Regarding the License Renewal of Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2 Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission or NRC) has published a final plant-specific supplement to the “Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GEIS),” NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating licenses DPR-66 and NPF-73 for an additional 20 years of operation for the Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2, which are located in Shippingport, PA about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, PA. Possible alternatives to the
proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources.
NRC seeks input before proceeding on foreign waste | knoxnews The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking input from “potential parties” before proceeding with EnergySolutions’ application for a license to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy.
The order was sent to today to the parties, including those who petitioned for a public hearing on the license application, following last week’s ruling by a Federal Court that determine that the Northwest Compact has no authority to restrict out-of-region waste sent to the EnergySolutions landfill at Clive, Utah.
The NRC had held the license proceedings in abeyance pending that ruling, and now is asking parties for their views on how the commission should proceed.
They have until June 19 to file their views with the commission. The filings should be no longer than 15 pages, the order said. The potential parties include the Utah attorney general, the U.S. State Department, the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and others.
NRC staff agrees with nuclear plant’s conclusion that drywell is safe | Asbury Park Press
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff agrees with a assessment conducted by the owner of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant that its
drywell shell is safe to operate for another 20 years, despite reported corrosion.
The plant’s owner, Exelon Corp., conducted a three-dimensional finite element analysis of the plant’s drywell liner, which Exelon committed to perform as a condition for the facility’s 20-year license renewal. It concluded that the drywell liner, a critical component in the power plant’s reactor containment system, is up to standards to operate for another 20 years.
FR: NRC: EMC uranium mining license
By letter dated July 3, 2008, Energy Metals Corporation (Energy Metals) submitted a Source Materials License application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Antelope and JAB Uranium Project in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The Antelope and JAB Uranium Project would involve the recovery of uranium by in situ leach (ISL) extraction. An NRC Administrative review, documented in a letter to Energy Metals dated March 9, 2009, found the application acceptable to begin a technical and environmental
review. Before approving the license application, the NRC will need to make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and NRC’s regulations. These findings will be documented in a Safety Evaluation Report (SER) and a site-specific environmental review consistent with the provisions of 10 CFR Part 51.
NRC – NRC Issues Final Environmental Impact Statement for Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has completed its final environmental impact statement for the Beaver Valley Power Station Units 1 and 2, and concluded that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation.
Beaver Valley Power Station units are pressurized-water reactors, located in Shippingport (Beaver County), Pa., and operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. The current operating licenses for Beaver Valley Unit 1 and 2 are due to expire on Jan. 29, 2016, and May 27, 2027, respectively. On Aug. 28, 2007, FirstEnergy
submitted an application for a 20-year license extension for each unit.
FR: NRC: Cogema ASLB establishment for Wy mining
Cogema Mining, Inc.; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Pursuant to delegation by the Commission dated December 29, 1972, published in the Federal Register, 37 FR 28,710 (1972),
and the Commission’s regulations, see 10 CFR 2.104, 2.300, 2.303, 2.309, 2.311, 2.318, and 2.321, notice is hereby given that an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is being established to preside over the following proceeding:
Cogema Mining, Inc. Irigaray and Christensen Ranch Facilities (License Renewal for Source Materials License SUA-1341) This Board is being established in response to requests for hearing that were filed pursuant to a Notice of Request to Renew Source Materials License SUA-1341, COGEMA Mining, Inc., Irigaray and Christensen
Ranch Facilities, Johnson and Campbell Counties, WY, and Opportunity to Request a Hearing dated February 9, 2009 (74 FR 6436). Requests for hearing dated April 10, 2009 were filed by: (1) The Powder River Basin Resource Council; and (2) the Oglala Delegation of the Great Sioux Nation Treaty Council (Oglala Delegation), which also seeks “leave to make filings by e-mail due to problems with the NRC’s EIE document system encountered by [petitioner’s counsel] due to computer system and software incompatibilities” (Pet. for Hearing at 125)
FR: NRC: Criteria for Development of Evacuation Time Estimate Studies,
Draft Report for Comment AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. [[Page 23220]] ACTION:
Announcement of issuance for public comment, availability.
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public comment a document entitled: NUREG/CR-XXXX, “Criteria for Development of Evacuation Time Estimate Studies.” The Evacuation Time Estimate (ETE) is a calculation of the time to evacuate the plume exposure pathway emergency planning zone (EPZ), an area with a radius of about 10 miles around a nuclear power plant (NPP).
The ETE is primarily used to inform protective action decisions during NPP radiological emergencies and may be used to assist in the development of traffic management plans to support an evacuation. This document is an acceptable template for use by NPP licensees to meet NRC requirements for the development of ETE studies.
It also provides guidance for the update and review of ETEs. The format and criteria provided in this document will support consistent application of ETE methodology and will facilitate consistent NRC review of ETE studies.
FR: NRC: proposed rule: emergency preparedness enhancements Enhancements to Emergency Preparedness Regulations AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is proposing to amend certain emergency preparedness (EP) requirements in its regulations that govern domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities. A conforming provision would also be added in the regulations that govern licenses, certifications, and approvals for new nuclear power plants. The proposed amendments would codify certain voluntary protective measures contained in NRC Bulletin 2005-02,`Emergency
Preparedness and Response Actions for Security-Based Events,” and other generically applicable requirements similar to those previously imposed by Commission orders.
They would also amend other licensee emergency plan requirements based on a comprehensive review of the NRC’s EP regulations and guidance. The proposed requirements would enhance the ability of licensees in preparing to take and making certain emergency preparedness and protective measures in the event of a radiological emergency; address, in part, security issues identified after
the terrorist events of September 11, 2001; clarify regulations to effect consistent emergency plan implementation among licensees; and modify certain EP requirements to be more effective and efficient.
NRC: Options to Revise Radiation Protection Regulations and Guidance
On December 18, 2008, the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) submitted a Policy Issue Notation Vote Commission Paper, SECY-08-0197, requesting approval to revise the agency’s radiation protection regulations and guidance to achieve
greater alignment with the 2007 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP Publication 103). [The NRC’s Synopsis of ICRP Publication 103, which is available through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), discusses the broad implications of the new recommendations.]
Specifically, the revisions proposed to achieve alignment would affect the regulatory framework provided by Title 10, Part 20, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 20), “Standards for Protection Against Radiation”; 10 CFR Part 50, “Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities”; and Appendix I to 10 CFR Part 50, “Numerical Guides for Design Objectives and Limiting Conditions for Operation to Meet the Criterion ‘As Low as is Reasonably Achievable’ for Radioactive Material in Light-Water-Cooled Nuclear Power Reactor Effluents.”
The Commission subsequently accepted the staff’s recommendation through the related Staff Requirements Memorandum (SRM-SECY-08-0197), dated April 2, 2009, instructing the staff to immediately begin engagement with stakeholders and interested parties to initiate development of the technical basis for possible revision of the NRC’s radiation protection regulations, as appropriate and where
scientifically justified, to achieve greater alignment with the 2007 ICRP recommendations.
In addition, the staff will seek to identify the scope of any warranted conforming changes in other parts of the 10 CFR regulations.
NRC – NRC Seeking Comments on Proposed Rule Amending Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Licensed Nuclear Facilities
The NRC is seeking comments on a proposed rule, published in today’s Federal Register, that would change emergency preparedness requirements for operating nuclear power plants, for those that might be licensed and built in the future, and for research and test reactors.
The proposed rule would limit the duties of a plant’s onsite emergency responders to ensure they are not overburdened during an emergency event, and require specific provisions to protect them and other plant personnel during a hostile action event. In addition, the proposed rule would require all nuclear power plants to incorporate hostile action scenarios in their drills and exercises, which currently primarily focus on nuclear-related scenarios. New requirements for back-up measures for alerting and notification systems are also included in the proposed rule.
The NRC has held several public meetings while developing the proposed rule and will be holding additional public meetings at six locations over the next several weeks. At these meetings, hosted jointly by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), staff from both agencies will be available to answer questions about the proposed regulations and draft guidance. The first meeting will be held in the Philadelphia, Pa., area on June 2, 2009. Attendees are strongly encouraged to read the documents on http://www.regulations.gov
(Docket Nos. NRC-2008-0122 and FEMA-2008-0022) before the meeting.
After reviewing all public comments, the NRC staff plans to submit a proposed final rule to the Commission in February 2010.
NRC: 2 Wyo. uranium mine proposals moving ahead – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission now says two uranium mine proposals in Wyoming are going ahead as planned despite
greatly weakened prices for uranium.
The NRC told the Casper Star-Tribune this week that the Strathmore Minerals Corp. Reno Creek and Gas Hills proposals in Wyoming no longer were under consideration.
The Reno Creek project is near Wright and the Gas Hills project is southwest of Casper.
NRC spokesman David McIntyre says the agency “goofed” in reporting the information.
Strathmore officials say they’re making significant progress on the company’s uranium projects in Wyoming. They say the company is working with state regulators to obtain necessary permits.
Nuclear Fuel Cycle News
Enrichment without IAEA checks mulled | The Japan Times Japan may entrust uranium enrichment to a Russian nuclear plant not inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, sources knowledgeable about Japan-Russia relations said Sunday.
Such a move would indicate Tokyo is turning a blind eye to the principle of a recently struck bilateral deal that stipulates Moscow must accept IAEA checks.
The purpose of the provision is to ensure that Japanese nuclear material is not taken advantage of for Russian military purposes.
MOX use opposed by Genkai’s leery residents | Japan Times Online 
Nuclear fuel raises concern about future
GENKAI, Saga Pref. Before a two-lane access road was built to connect it with other parts of the prefecture, the village of Genkai, nestled in high hills with deep ravines beside the Sea of Japan, was so remote that even locals called it the “Tibet of Saga Prefecture.”
But this town of 6,600 residents, almost in sight of the spot where the Mongolian invasion fleet was hit by “divine winds” over 700 years ago, ending Khubla Khan’s dreams of conquest and adding the word “kamikaze” to the lexicon, may soon be the site of Japan’s first commercial use of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX) fuel.
Moves for large new uranium mine .jpg?n=4216)
The Yeelirrie uranium project in Western Australia has been reactivated after BHP Billiton applied to the federal government to commence a new process of environmental approval.
Yeelirrie is about 420 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie and close to the Goldfields
gas pipeline. The deposit was discovered by Western Mining (WMC) in 1972 and found to extend over an area of 9 km x 1.5 km, is up to seven metres thick and has an average depth of about seven metres of overburden. Old published figures show some 52,000 tonnes of uranium oxide at 0.15% average grade, and considerable metallurgical work was done before a new federal Labor government killed the project in 1983.
The uranium mineralisation is carnotite (hydrated potassium uranium vanadium oxide).
Nuclear fuel bank plans get push as three are plans tabled – Summary : Energy Environment
Efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to keep countries from acquiring nuclear technology by offering them alternatives got a boost this week as three plans for nuclear fuel banks and multinational fuel factories were tabled.
The latest proposal was put forward by Germany on Friday. The text foresees the creation of an internationally-governed nuclear fuel production plant.
Two additional, complementary, proposals for Russian and IAEA fuel banks to provide supply of last resort are also to be considered by the 35 countries on the IAEA’s governing board in June.
The ideas were proposed by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in 2003 to keep countries such as Iran from acquiring uranium enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which can be used not only for energy purposes, but also for making nuclear bomb material.
But diplomats say the Vienna-based nuclear agency is split on the issue between those countries that already hold the technology, and sceptical countries such as Egypt, Argentina and Brazil, many of them developing economies.
Uranium study OK’d | Lynchburg News Advance The uranium-mining study has begun. The Virginia Coal and Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee, tasked with overseeing a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely
in the commonwealth, approved a revised final draft of the study Thursday.
But Delegate Danny Marshall, R-Danville, said he is disappointed with the decision.
Marshall asked the subcommittee to post Thursday’s citizen input on its Web site and wait 60 days before deciding whether to approve the study.
“We’re not in a hurry to do this,” Marshall said during an interview before the meeting.
Subcommittee members pressed ahead after taking public comment, rearranging and adding amendments to the study’s 11-item “statement of task” before approving it by an 8-2 vote. Delegate William Janis, R-56th District and Delegate Watkins
Abbitt, I-59th District, opposed.
Gallup Independent: Churchrock cleanup begins: URI assessment looks for radiation hot spots
Uranium Resources Inc. and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency began a weeklong assessment Monday of Section 17 in Churchrock where its subsidiary, Hydro Resources Inc., has proposed in situ mining of uranium.
Rick Van Horn, chief operating officer for URI/HRI, said Tuesday that the two entities are looking at what the radiation values are and how they impact the air, soils, and water in the area of Section 17.
As part of the field work, background levels will be established under the review of Navajo EPA. “We have people that are looking over our shoulders providing oversight on-site, real time, and that will be part of the data set that we collect,” Van Horn said.
Best propaganda may determine uranium debate | The Coloradoan,
Despite my status as a card-carrying member of the vast right-wing conspiracy, there are certain issues where my sentiments come down on the side of what many might consider “green.” What a lot of people don’t realize (or refuse to admit) is that a lot of conservative individuals (if not a majority) are quite concerned about the environment for a variety of reasons. Among these are having an interest in farming, ranching or hunting, or simply the recognition that toxic planets have a tendency to poison, sicken and ultimately kill their inhabitants.
Canon City Daily Record- Time for Superfund meeting, informed decisions
Cotter is responsible for the 25-year-old Superfund site that engulfs Lincoln Park. A Superfund site is one of the most toxic places on Earth because of radioactive and chemical contamination.
It is time for a Superfund meeting, and it is time for informed decisions that protect our future and us. CCAT has asked for one right away so you can get answers about contamination in the Cotter/Lincoln Park Superfund site and about Cotter’s future plans. We have just received the news that there will be a meeting from
6 to 9 p.m. June 8 at Harrison School, 920 Field Ave.
USEC settles anti-dumping lawsuit with Areva – Reuters
* Companies to withdraw all pending appeals
* USEC says to realize $70 mln no earlier than Q4
* USEC shares up 6 pct
May 18 (Reuters) – Uranium fuel supplier USEC Inc and its French competitor Areva said they agreed to settle pending appeals related to an anti-dumping case involving imports of French low-enriched uranium. Under the settlement, the parties will immediately withdraw or request dismissal of all pending appeals and U.S. Department of Commerce proceedings.
USEC said it expected to realize about $70 million no earlier than the fourth quarter from estimated duties deposited by Areva’s holding company, Eurodif SA, as a result of the settlement.
Cameco set to resume Port Hope UF6 output | Reuters
* Resolves contract dispute with acid supplier
* To restart UF6 production in third quarter
* Shares up 4.4 percent
TORONTO, May 19 (Reuters) – Cameco Corp (CCO.TO) said on Tuesday it will restart production of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at its Port Hope, Ontario, plant after resolving a contract dispute with a key supplier.
The uranium producer suspended production of UF6 — used in the uranium enrichment process — last December after failing to come to terms with its main supplier of hydrofluoric acid, which is needed to produce UF6.
Appeals court upholds uranium mining curb on Navajo lands | Indian Country Today
The Navajo Nation’s anti-uranium mining ban scored a victory April 17 when the 10th Circuit Court upheld federal, rather than state, control over a permit for a proposed in situ leach uranium mine in a mixed-ownership area of northwestern New Mexico.
Hydro Resources Inc. asked the federal appeals court to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency determination that HRI’s proposed mine near Church Rock was in “Indian country” as legally defined and therefore must be permitted by EPA and not by the state.
Uranium Mine Battle Set in Goliad | KIII TV3 South Texas
One Coastal Bend county is contesting plans for a new uranium mine. Today, a court hearing was held in Goliad county for residents to voice their opinions.
The Coastal Bend is the second biggest area in the nation for uranium mining. This is the first time a Coastal Bend county is challenging a permit application.
This 1100 acres of land in Goliad County is the latest battleground over uranium mining. County leaders are challenging the Texas Commission on Environment Quality over its initial decision to approve a permit for Uranium Energy Corporation to mine here.
The county is concerned about the future of ground water in the area.
News: Mill termed “perpetual radioactive hazardous waste facility (Montrose, CO)
– Montrose County Planning Director Steve White said Thursday that he would not postpone a May 19 Montrose County Planning Commission public hearing on the Energy Fuels Pinon Ridge uranium mill special use permit. White received a request for hearing postponement and permit denial from the Durango-based Energy Mineral Law Center (EMLC).
EMLC attorney Travis Stills, on behalf of mill-opponents Paradox Valley Sustainability Association, e-mailed White a letter on May 13 requesting the action and stated that,”in addition to the milling facility, the special use permit under consideration could allow a series of specially designed byproduct disposal impoundments for purposes of perpetual disposal and storage of hazardous radioactive wastes, a use which is explicitly prohibited in the Agricultural Zone.â€Â
Recycled nuke fuel arrive Mon 
A VESSEL carrying a major shipment of recycled nuclear
fuel is expected to arrive in Japan as soon as Monday after its 70-day trip from France, local media reported.
The convoy, which left Cherbourg in March to deliver the MOX fuel – a blend of plutonium and reprocessed uranium – is expected to arrive in the central port of Omaezaki to unload part of the shipment, Kyodo News reported.
The business daily Nikkei in a similar report said that the convoy was due to arrive at the port ‘as soon as Monday.’
The Pacific Heron, a specially adapted ship with a British police team on board to head off possible hijackers, is then expected to unload fuel at two other ports adjacent to nuclear plants in southwestern Japan, the reports said.
Craig Daily Press / State geologist highlights importance of Colorado’s gas, uranium deposits
There are a few unmistakable realities in the world.
One of them, Vince Matthews thinks, is that increasing energy demands are unstoppable.
Another is that Colorado has a wealth of mineral and energy reserves that could be vital in meeting national and global appetites.
Matthews, Colorado state geologist and director of ColoÂÂrado Geological Survey, presented his views during the first seminar Thursday morning of the Fueling Energy Summit 2009, hosted by Yampa Valley Partners at the Holiday Inn of Craig.
Nuclear Waste News
Walsh: Rewriting the rules on hot waste – Salt Lake Tribune Steve Creamer is an old-fashioned guy. His word is his bond.
But I’m not sure the word of the latest millionaire running the radioactive waste dump at Clive is worth a limp handshake these days.
EnergySolutions’ persistent campaign to make Utah the world’s nuclear landfill sort of undermines that whole trustworthy thing.
A week ago, federal Judge Ted Stewart essentially opened up Utah’s borders to whatever nasty crap the company decides to import for hot-storage in the desert.
It was a predictable end to EnergySolutions’ successive broken political promises and half-baked P.R. schemes:
Remember when company Vice President Ken Alkema promised in 2001 that Clive “will not take out-of-country waste”?
MIT experts tackle nuclear power waste problem | – CNET News
Advocates say a nuclear power “renaissance” can solve global energy problems, but construction of new reactors in the U.S. faces a number of barriers, not the least of which is nuclear waste.
Delaware Senator Thomas Carper, who actively supports nuclear power, hosted a panel of experts on Monday to discuss nuclear waste at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. MIT on Monday also updated its 2003 study on how nuclear power can play a role in reducing carbon emissions (click for PDF).
The four panelists–executive director of the upcoming MIT Nuclear Fuels Cycle study Charles Forsberg, MIT professor of nuclear science and engineering Andrew Kadak, Harvard University associate professor and proliferation expert Matthew Bunn, and MIT Energy Initiative director Ernest Moniz–all favored more nuclear power.
Taipei Times – Tribes protest nuclear waste plan 
CONTAMINATED: The chief of Daren Township welcomed the proposal to build a nuclear waste facility because of theNT$5 billion in promised compensation Led by a royal descendant of an ancient line of Aboriginal Paiwan kings, residents
and environmentalists yesterday staged a parade in Daren Township, Taitung County, to protest Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to build a storage facility for nuclear waste there.
Taipower announced in March that Daren Township and Wangan Township, Penghu County, were the two candidate sites for the nuclear waste dumping ground.
Opposed to the plan, more than 100 Paiwan and Puyuma Aborigines and environmentalists rallied outside a local elementary school yesterday morning, where they were blessed by Paiwan elders in a traditional ritual before they departed. The demonstrators then carried a cross on a two-hour march to the site selected for the facility.
Making Texas Glow: Radioactive Dump Gets Go-Ahead over Ogallala 
How do you get people to vote for radioactive waste to be dumped in Texas in close proximity to the Ogallala and Dockum aquifers? And how do you also get the same community to agree to bankroll the project’s $75 million buildout costs? You sell it as a prosperity
issue.
The promise of future prosperity is more hopeful than discussing point-blank realities.
Namely, that the source of prosperity is a dumpsite in west Texas, near the border of New Mexico, that has the potential for receiving varying grades of radioactive waste from 36 states. And the geographical area in question has three inherent properties that have scientists, engineers and activists worried: red clay, aquifers
and high winds.
On May 9, voters from Andrews County went to the booth to participate in a bond election, paid for by Waste Control Specialists (WCS), to decide whether or not their county will pay for such a dumpsite. 642 people voted affirmative and 639 against.
Will Yucca licensing still continue if dump dies? – Las Vegas Sun
The paper of record weighs in today on the Yucca Mountain debate,
insisting the licensing process must go forward even if the dump is to be killed.
In an editorial in today’s editions, the New York Times worries that President Barack Obama’s proposed steep budget cuts to the nuclear waste repository project may leave the Energy Department unable to fully defend its application before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to license the facility.
Even with Obama’s stated intention to terminate the Yucca Mountain endeavor and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying the dump is dead, the paper reasons licensing should continue — and Congress should make sure adequate funding is there to do so.
Daily Kos: Recycling Nuclear Waste: Addressing Nuclear Waste in the 21st Century
Senator Tom Carper (D-Del) convened a hearing on nuclear waste issues at MIT on Monday, May 18. The Senator is the Chairman of the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee of the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
The panel consisted of Dr. Charles Forsberg, Executive Director of the Fuel Cycle Study, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT Dr. Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Dr. Ernest Moniz, Director, MIT Energy Initiative and Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics, MIT Dr. Andrew Kadak, Professor of the Practice of Nuclear Engineering, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT
The Norway Post – Stricter regulation for handling radioactive waste Environment Minister Erik Solheim has promised that Norway will get the World’s strictest regulations for the handling of radioactive waste, and that the danger level will be lowered from 10 to 0.5 Becquerel.
On Tuesday it was revealed that Norway does not have a complete overview of where waste from the oil industry ends up, waste that is regarded as radioactive and dangerous in many countries.
Up to now such waste has been burned at a plant in Gulen, in the Sogn og Fjordane county.
The authorities have now circulated for comments a proposal for new and stricter limits for what is to be regarded as radioactive and dangerous waste, with the limits lowered from 10 to 0.5 Becquerel.
Sen. Bingaman’s nuclear waste commission draft squeaks by with no amendments – NYTimes.com
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee narrowly defeated a GOP amendment yesterday that would have provided government support for two nuclear waste reprocessing
facilities and $1 million for places willing to site a temporary storage area for used fuel.
In Obama’s budget, money to fight Yucca also likely cut – Las Vegas Sun
President Barack Obama’s proposed slashing of the Yucca Mountain budget has had a perhaps unexpected fallout: It also likely cut the money the state of Nevada relies on to fight the project.
For the past several years the state Agency for Nuclear Projects has received $5 million from the U.S. Energy Department for its legal battle against the waste project. But Obama’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget provides the agency with just $3.2 million for the year.
US lawmakers debate creating panel on nuclear waste | Reuters
U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday debated amendments for a bill that would establish a national commission to study options for disposal of radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants.
With the Obama administration essentially shelving the long delayed nuclear waste dump site at Yucca Mountain, the bill would set up an 11 member federal advisory panel that would conduct a two-year analysis and recommend alternatives to Congress for managing nuclear waste.
Earlier this year, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he planned to create a blue ribbon panel to come up with a comprehensive plan to handle nuclear waste.
Treated radioactive water to enter Ottawa River
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. will
slowly release into the Ottawa River some treated radioactive water collected from an early December leak at its Chalk River Laboratory.
But in a report tabled Thursday in the House of Commons, the federal nuclear-safety regulator promises a controlled safe release of 47 kilograms of treated radioactive
water, and says it will pose no threat to human or environmental health.
The regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, was ordered to prepare the report by Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt. She wanted more information about two leaks in early December at the National Research Universal reactor at Chalk River.
ISS – Dumping in Dixie: Toxic waste from N.Y. river cleanup headed to Texas
In a bit of good news for the environment, work got underway this week to clean up hazardous PCB pollution that General Electric dumped into New York’s Upper Hudson
River.
But there’s also some bad news — which is that the toxic waste is being sent to a landfill that sits atop the Ogallala Aquifer, a key drinking-water source for West Texas.
“This is like a shell game, moving hazardous toxic PCBs from one sensitive location to another,” said Dr. Neil Carman, a chemist with Sierra Club’s Lone Star chapter. “We are concerned about contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer and other aquifers in this dry region of Texas that needs to protect and conserve water for drinking and agricultural uses.”
Radioactive waste from Italy still needs a passport – Salt Lake Tribune
EnergySolutions Inc. was a big winner in federal court Friday, but the Salt Lake City nuclear waste company is still a long way from its goal of bringing low-level radioactive waste from Italy and disposing it in Utah.
Multiple hurdles remain, including a possible court appeal and pending legislation in Congress to ban importation of waste from outside U.S. borders.
Although U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart ruled Friday that a regional oversight group has no authority to stop EnergySolutions from using its Utah site to bury foreign radioactive, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not revived its review of the Italy import request, said commission spokesman David McIntyre.
“You might have something from the commission soon,” he said, “but it is not going to be a yea or nay on the license.”
Like their counterparts at the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste, the state of Utah and Congress, the NRC’s lawyers are studying Stewart’s ruling . The judge found Congress never intended to give the compacts power to say what goes into disposal sites not specifically designated for the regional
waste groups.
Waste, or energy resource? – MIT News Office
A panel of nuclear power experts met on Monday at MIT to discuss how to address nuclear waste recycling or disposal, which many analysts consider the biggest obstacle to building a new generation
of nuclear power plants across America.
The meeting, convened by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), came on the heels of last week’s decision by the Obama administration to end the planning for Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the final repository for high-level radioactive material from all of the nation’s nuclear power plants. The planned facility had drawn strong opposition in Nevada,
but some of the panelists questioned that decision and suggested that Yucca Mountain should at least remain as an option for possible use.
Is it safe to store US nuclear waste above ground? – New Scientist
If leading US energy experts have their way, the US will be storing tens of thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste above ground for decades to come. But are dry casks, originally intended as a short-term fix for nuclear waste, a safe bet?
Researchers from MIT and Harvard University fielded questions from US Senator Tom Carper yesterday in Cambridge, Massachusetts on what the US should do with its nuclear waste now that plans for Yucca Mountain, a national underground repository,
have been put on hold by the Obama administration.
Surprisingly, the assembled scientists unanimously told Carper not to worry, saying existing aboveground storage would be perfectly save for another 60 to 70 years. Instead, they pressed the senator to spend time and money developing better waste reprocessing technology, rather than rush to develop the same reprocessing technology now used by Japan and other countries.
RFI – Armed vessel reaches Japan under heavy guard
An armed cargo ship carrying recycled nuclear fuel from France reached Japan on Monday. Environmental group Greenpeace says the ship’s load of plutonium would be enough to make 225 nuclear weapons. A small group of local residents and anti-nuclear activists protested at the ship’s arrival.
“Using the mixed oxide, MOX fuel at the nuclear plant here is suicidal,” said local activist Yoshika Shiratori in Omoaezaki fishing port on Japan’s Pacific coast.
“Once a big earthquake hits, there is no doubt this entire bay, the Pacific Ocean and all the seas around Japan would become contaminated,” he told the AFP news agency.
AFP: Protests as nuclear fuel ship docks in Japan
An armed vessel with a load of recycled nuclear fuel from France arrived amid heavy security Monday at a Japanese port where it was greeted by dozens of protesters.
The Pacific Heron — carrying a British police team to head off possible hijackers on its secretive two-month voyage — delivered a load of mixed-oxide or MOX fuel, a blend of plutonium and reprocessed uranium.
Several dozen anti-nuclear activists and concerned residents rallied at a pier of the Omaezaki fishing port as the ship docked under heavy police guard and cranes unloaded metal containers of the nuclear fuel.
Suit targets risks of nuclear waste – The Boston Globe
Coakley seeks debate on Pilgrim license renewal
State Attorney General Martha Coakley is asking a federal court to force nuclear energy regulators to consider risks to public safety caused by storing nuclear waste at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant before deciding whether to extend the facility’s license for 20 years.
Coakley joined with officials from New York and Connecticut to file suit in a federal appeals court in New York. The lawsuit asks the court to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to open debate on license extensions for plants such as Pilgrim to the potential threat posed by terrorists and accidents to used nuclear fuel stored inside the plants.
Foreign waste: The ball is back in NRC’s court | knoxnews.com
After last week’s Federal Court ruling that a regional compact didn’t have the authority to deny waste shipments to the EnergySolutions landfill in Utah, the decision on whether to allow EnergySolutions
to import up to 20,000 tons of radioactive waste from Italy is back in the hands of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Italian waste would be brought intitially to the EnergySolutions facility in Oak Ridge for incineration and other treatments, with the remaining residues sent to Utah for disposal. That’s the plan.
NRC spokesman David McIntyre said today the NRC has not taken any action regarding EnergySolutions’ application for an import license. He noted that that the commission earlier “set the matter aside” because of the pending activity in Federal Court.
Now, unless there is an appeal of the court ruling, McIntyre confirmed that the next move would involve the NRC. But, he said, it’s not necessarily clear what step that would be.
The import application, which contains the EnergySolutions proposal to import waste from Italy, has generated much controversy and more public comment than any similar application ever.
Incinerator closing could mean boost for local waste businesses: Knoxville News Sentinel
The Department of Energy’s decision to shut down its Oak Ridge incinerator doesn’t mean that less waste will be coming to Oak Ridge. Just the opposite could be the case.
With DOE’s incinerator out of business by year’s end, private companies are expected to pick up the slack in treating difficult waste streams – such as radioactive materials mixed with polychlorinated biphenyls – and some of those companies are in Oak Ridge.
Perma-Fix Environmental in March received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to burn PCB wastes, and Larry McNamara, the company’s chief operating officer, said two facilities owned by Perma-Fix will be involved in the broadening waste-treatment program.
Technology Review: Blogs: Potential Energy: Plenty of Time to Deal with Nuclear Waste?
Temporary storage is good enough for now, a panel says.
A panel of nuclear-power experts may have inadvertently talked a key senator out of pushing for fast action on nuclear waste. On Monday, its members agreed that the United States has plenty of time to sort out good alternatives to storing waste at Yucca Mountain now that the Obama administration wants to take that potential repository off the table. A much more urgent issue, the experts said, is pushing forward the permitting and construction of new nuclear-power plants.
Corbett: No new nuclear waste for South Carolina – Editorial Columns – The State
With the failure of the nation’s nuclear spent fuel repository at Yucca Mountain to open and $1.6 billion in federal stimulus funds in the offing, some legislative officials are offering up our state to become the nation’s dumping ground for the more than 55,000 tons of deadly radioactive waste generated by nuclear reactors, even suggesting a revival of the reprocessing debacle.
Nuclear reprocessing produces the sort of high-level waste that is sitting in leaking tanks at the Savannah River Site, considered by many, even DHEC, to be the most significant environmental hazard threatening South Carolina.
Why are some of our legislators actively pursuing what many consider the most risky, dirty and dangerous nuclear activity? U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Reps. James Clyburn and Joe Wilson are openly calling for reprocessing, although they admit our state has a dismal record of ever getting rid of any radioactive waste dumped here. Reprocessing would mean the whole nation would transport its high-level waste to our state. We would become Yucca Mountain.
In Our View: Waste threatens Utah – Daily Herald
The governmental system that is supposed to regulate the disposal of low-level radioactive waste seems to be broken. That’s ominous for Utah.
Decades ago, under federal guidelines, groups of states — compacts — were formed to make decisions about how to handle the toxic stuff. The idea behind the agreements was that regions would introduce some order into the process and spread out the dispersal of nasty garbage.
Recently, however, three East Coast states are bypassing their own waste dumps to ship their waste to the EnergySolutions disposal site in Tooele County.
Connecticut, New Jersey and South Carolina are in a compact, and they are supposed to send their waste to a facility in South Carolina. Instead they have sent 3.6 million cubic feet of low-level waste to Utah.
This is a clear violation of the original intent of the compacts. Yet it’s not clear why this happened, or what can be done to prevent it from continuing.
Deseret News | EnergySolutions wins court battle to import foreign waste
EnergySolutions Inc. has won its legal battle to import low-level radioactive waste from Italy, after a federal court ruling Friday.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart in Salt Lake City validated the Salt Lake City-based company’s arguments that its efforts to bring the waste to Utah fall outside the regulatory purview of the Northwest Compact, a regional coalition of states tasked with overseeing low-level radioactive-waste management.
Attorneys for EnergySolutions had successfully argued in February that the compact’s authority only extended to waste generated within the compact boundaries of its member states and that it was not the intent of Congress to grant any overreaching authority beyond that.
“The law is very clear, and we are very pleased with the ruling,” said Jill Segal, a company spokeswoman. “We always believed we are not a compact facility” subject to those regulations, she said.
A spokesman with the Utah Attorney General’s Office said late Friday that a decision on whether to appeal the judge’s ruling is under review
Nuclear Policy News
Debunking The French – US Nuclear Power Comparison : TreeHugger
We often get comments on our posts to the effect that ‘if only we were like the French with their successful nuclear power program.’ The most ridiculous one I recall asserted ‘If it weren’t for you anti-nuc liberals, we could have clean nuclear power like France does.’
So common is the US myth of French nuclear power as an exemplary model for the US, I can’t resist the occasional provocation, like I did in yesterday’s post with: ‘France is about the size of Texas and has lower total nuclear power output than the US currently does.’
After reading a recent article in the Global Journal of Energy Machinery, by Stephen Thomas, of the University of Greenwich, I found some more ”hot rods’ to insert in the myth reactor. Read on, for some fissionable quotes from Dr Thomas.
French, USA comparison on nuclear power development is delusional: a synopsis.
Nuclear plant foes prepare for fight – JSOnline
Opponents of nuclear power are gearing up for a big fight over changes to the state’s nuclear moratorium.
Nuclear plants are just too expensive to build, opponents say, and the lack of a resolution to the nuclear industry’s waste problem means the time hasn’t arrived to reconsider a Wisconsin policy that’s been in place for 25 years that, in effect, bans construction of new reactors.
No bills to change the state’s nuclear moratorium have yet been introduced, but opponents are reacting to increased lobbying by the nuclear industry in the state.
Wisconsin’s utilities say nuclear power, which generates no greenhouse gas emissions, must be at least on the table for consideration as the nation and state move toward regulating heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide.
TheStar.com | Ontario | Reactor contract likely delayed
Next month’s deadline for selecting the company to build Ontario’s new nuclear reactors will likely be delayed, admits Energy Minister George Smitherman.
The Liberal government had promised to announce by June 21 which firm, federally owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., France’s Areva SA, or U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co., would be awarded a contract expected to exceed $20 billion.
But Smitherman, who had originally pledged to reveal the winner by the end of last year, only to put it off by another six months, said yesterday Ontarians might have to wait even longer.
Stressing that the deadline was “self-imposed,” he played down concerns the province is dragging its feet on a project that will take a decade to complete.
The nuclear debate: Part five
It’s the morning after the grassroots group opposed to building a nuclear reactor
in the province, Renewable Power the Intelligent Choice (RPIC), waged its latest campaign, an April 27 rally outside Prince Albert City Hall, and already members are planning their next move.
Janis McKnight and Richard Swanby, owners of the Blunt hair salon, haven’t seen their first client for the day, except for local environmentalist and professional photographer, Thomas Porter.
But he’s not here for a trim. This is strategy. This is a war for public opinion.
US House committee narrowly rejects effort to add nuclear in RES
A US House of Representatives panel that is analyzing legislation to cap man-made carbon emissions and mandate standards to boost renewable electricity by 20% narrowly rejected Thursday an amendment to allow nuclear power to be considered a renewable energy source. Michigan Republican Fred Upton’s amendment failed in a 29-26 vote, but attracted support from four Democrats — John Barrow of Georgia, Mike Ross of Arkansas, Baron Hill of Indiana and Zack Space of Ohio — on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Douglas vetoes Yankee decomissioning bill: Times Argus Online
Gov. James Douglas vetoed a bill Friday that would have required the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to make financial guarantees that it has the money to shut down and clean up the site.
Douglas, who vetoed a similar bill passed by the Vermont Legislature last year, wrote in his four-page veto message that if this proposal was enacted, the state would likely be sued for breach of contract and electrical rates for residents would rise.
Exelon wins round in NRG takeover bid Exelon Corp. has won approval from federal energy regulators for its $5.2 billion hostile takeover of NRG Energy Inc., furthering the company’s bid to become the largest U.S. producer of electricity.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted in favor of Exelon’s petition to buy NRG. But the Justice Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and at least five states still must approve the deal.
NRG responded that the “board and management team continue to believe that Exelon’s proposal significantly undervalues NRG and remains highly conditional, including the need to obtain financing, and very risky because of rating agency and other concerns.”
AFP: Obama approves UAE civil nuclear deal
US President Barack Obama on Thursday approved a civilian nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which some observers see as striking a contrast with Iran’s defiant nuclear drive.
Obama sent the deal, negotiated by the previous Bush administration to Congress, which must now decide within 90 days whether to block the pact, which provides for US-UAE cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
His memorandum to the secretaries of state and energy, certifying that the deal was in US interests, did not mention US disquiet over a video of an Afghan merchant allegedly being beaten by a member of the UAE royal family, which raised human rights concerns in Congress.
Green Party leader girds for nuclear fight
The new leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan says the nuclear power debate prompted her to seek the position.
“Definitely for the short-term future our role is pretty clear,” Larissa
Shasko said of her party. “We are the only political party in Saskatchewan that stands united against nuclear power and uranium in Saskatchewan.”
The 27-year-old, a Moose Jaw resident who studies political science at the University of Regina, said she expects the Green party to be active in the coming months as members oppose the idea of a nuclear power plant in the province.
Bill to Benefit Nuclear, Clean-Power Utilities – WSJ.com
The Waxman-Markey bill will produce winners and losers in the utility sector.
Companies such as Exelon Corp., which provides utility services to about 12 million people in and around Chicago and Philadelphia, could do well. The company sold most of its coal-fired power plants in 2000 and owns a fleet of 17 nuclear power
reactors in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Exelon’s generation unit won’t need to buy credits to generate electricity, which could give it an edge.
Power companies in the Southeast could have the roughest transition, because they rely heavily on coal and have invested the least in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The Waxman-Markey bill would give power companies time to make adjustments so consumers don’t get hit with higher rates tied to the cost of buying emissions credits.
Nuclear power on the Moon | COSMOS magazine
It’s an ambitious plan of NASA’s to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and set up a lunar outpost.
Just one of the many challenges their engineers face is finding a way to power this most remote manned beacon of human civilization with nothing to burn, little sunlight, no running water and no wind.
One solution, though, could be nuclear power.
Fission Surface Power (FSP) is one of the more interesting options NASA is considering.
If this method is chosen, an engine invented in the early 1800s by Scottish brothers Robert and James Stirling could help make it work.
Wisconsin Radio Network: Moving away from nuclear power A new report suggests building new nuclear power plants would be a bad investment for Wisconsin.
The nuclear industry has proposed building dozens of new plants across the country, at a cost of nearly $300 billion. WISPIRG advocate Kara Rumsey says taxpayer subsidies and rate hikes would end up covering a large portion of that price tag.
A study from WISPIRG found that renewable energy options can produce more cost-effective electricity. Dollar for dollar, Rumsey says implementing more energy efficient technologies could produce up to five times more energy than nuclear power.
History of nuclear energy | KIDK CBS 3
On December 20, 1951 a reaction occurred that would change the future of electricity. The Experimental Breeder Reactor, or EBR-I,
was the first to use atomic energy peacefully in the world, by powering four simple light bulbs.
“I don’t think I realized at the time how important it was, no I really don’t,” says Weslie E. Molen, research technician at EBRI.
Nuclear Revival: Still On Hold, MIT Study Says – WSJ
MIT just updated its seminal 2003 study on the role nuclear power could play in America’s energy mix. The upshot: Nuclear power’s appeal may have grown due to concern over
greenhouse-gas emissions, but that hasn’t translated into any real progress in the U.S.
“The sober warning is that if more is not done, nuclear power will diminish as a practical and timely option for deployment at a scale that would constitute a material contribution to climate change risk mitigation,” the study concludes.
In 2003, MIT argued that nuclear power could play an important role in U.S. electricity generation, and that government help was needed to jumpstart a U.S. revival. That has yet to happen yet, the revised study notes.
Many of the challenges facing nuclear power are the same. Take economics. Building nuclear plants is still a lot more expensive than building coal- or gas-fired plants, and nuclear-generated electricity is still more expensive than either fossil-fuel option: 8.8 cents a kilowatt for nuclear versus 6.2 cents for coal and 6.5 cents for gas, MIT figures.
US lawmakers reject nuclear in renewable power goal | Reuters U.S. lawmakers pushing to include greater recognition for existing nuclear power in a national renewable energy standard failed to win new breaks for the industry when a U.S. congressional panel on Wednesday voted down an amendment to a controversial climate
change bill.
The sweeping bill, which seeks to cap greenhouse gas emissions, includes a renewable energy mandate that would require utilities to generate 15 percent of electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020.
Under the legislation sponsored by Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, utilities’ renewable mandate would be reduced in proportion to the portion of any electricity sales from new nuclear plants, but not existing nuclear plants.
House panel approves ‘clean energy’ bank – NYTimes.com
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a provision to its sweeping climate and energy bill that would create an autonomous Clean Energy Deployment Administration within the Energy Department and make reforms to DOE’s loan guarantee program for low-emission projects.
The time spent debating the amendment was more than hour, suggesting the committee will face a slog through the 946-page measure. The amendment passed 51-6, with ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) among a handful of Republicans who opposed
it.
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who offered the amendment with Democrats Jay Inslee of Washington and Bart Gordon of Tennessee, said the plan would aid deployment of new nuclear plants as well as renewable technologies. Changes to the loan guarantee program and creation of a “clean energy” bank within DOE are also part
of a major energy bill before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, although the plans are not identical.
The Clean Energy Deployment Administration would be empowered to provide a suite of financing options, including direct loans, letters of credit, loan guarantees, insurance products and others.
Kevin Knobloch: Climate Legislation Opponents Up to Same Old Tricks | Union of Concerned Scientists
The following essay by Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of
Concerned Scientists, was distributed by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service to newspapers across the country.
Thanks to documents recently uncovered by a lawsuit, we now know that a major industry trade group was told by its science advisers in 1995 that it was spreading false information about climate change.
But that didn’t matter to the Global Climate Coalition, which included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and a number of oil and auto companies. The coalition, which disbanded in 2002, simply continued to deny the consensus of the world’s climate scientists.
Associated Press: Big names and bucks back nuclear ‘bank’
Buffett’s bankroll, Obama’s clout and the partnership of a savvy ex-Soviet strongman may turn the steppes of central Asia into a nuclear mecca, a go-to place for “safe” uranium fuel in an increasingly nervous atomic age.
The $150 million idea, with seed money from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, must still navigate the tricky maze of global nuclear politics, along with a parallel Russian plan. But the notion of such fuel banks is moving higher on the world’s agenda as a way to keep ultimate weapons out of many more hands.
Decisions may come as early as next month here in Vienna.
Babcock & Wilcox in position to benefit if nuclear energy makes comeback by Evansville Courier & Press
If one judges by the number of requested permits, nuclear power is coming back in the United States.
Companies now are asking regulators to let them build about 30 reactors for generating electricity, far more than were put into operation in the past two decades. That bodes well for one factory in Mount Vernon, Ind.
Babcock & Wilcox came to Southwestern Indiana in the early 1960s and soon began building many of the components used in nuclear power plants. Among the factory’s main products are the large pressure vessels in which uranium atoms are split to release energy.
The plant’s customers include both private companies and the government
Will the nuclear cheerleader keep her job? | The Economist 
Will Anne Lauvergeon, the nuclear-energy industry’s most tireless cheerleader, keep
her job as boss of Areva?
WHEN Anne Lauvergeon arrived in 1999 as the new boss of COGEMA, a French state-owned uranium-mining and fuel-recycling firm, it was at a low point. Nuclear power was so unpopular that some employees would not admit to working for the company. A
friend told her taking the job would be professional suicide. When she first visited its headquarters, with decor unaltered since the 1970sâ€all chrome and dark-wood furniture, and long corridors of orange-laminated cupboards she realised it would take a huge effort to drag the firm into the 21st century.
Public Citizen Tells Congress Effective Federal Whistleblower Protections Depend on Full Access to Courts, Urges Obama to Fulfill Campaign Promise
Federal employees and contractors are in a unique position to contribute valuable information and save taxpayers huge sums of money, Angela Canterbury, director of advocacy for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, told lawmakers today. At a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Canterbury testified in support of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 1507), to restore and modernize the law that protects federal whistleblowers.
“Not only is it a national disgrace that speaking out about wrongdoing in government is still such a risky endeavor, it also is unsustainable. Federal spending is at unprecedented levels, and the need for strict accountability and oversight has never been more urgent, Canterbury said. “Whether the issue is stimulus spending,
fraud at a Wall Street firm, prescription drug safety, environmental protection or national defense, federal workers must be empowered to safeguard the public trust.
In 2007, the Ethics Resource Center found that more than half the federal workforce observed misconduct on the job, but only one-quarter of those reported wrongdoing because the rest feared retaliation. More than one in 10 who did report experienced retaliation.
Chances dim for Victoria nuclear plant, exec says – Houston Chronicle
Plans for a new nuclear power plant in Victoria are likely to be scrapped because the project isn’t expected to obtain necessary government-backed loans to help finance the facility, the CEO of the company proposing the plant said Friday.
Exelon Corp. CEO John Rowe said the Victoria plant would be canceled without the loan guarantees he called essential to putting the two-reactor operation online.
“We’ve been very clear we can’t do it without the guarantees, Rowe told reporters after a speech at the National Press Club.
But Rowe’s company still could end up driving the development of another Texas nuclear project that’s seeking a share of $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees designed to spur development of a new generation of nuclear power plants.
Since October, Exelon has been trying to acquire Princeton, N.J.-based NRG, the largest nuclear plant operator in the country.
Going nuclear, Nuclear power, Nuclear industry, Generation IV, Careers and Recruitment, Naturejobs
Workforce shortages could slow the growth of an industry poised for a comeback. Quirin Schiermeier reports. François Perchet, an electrical engineer by training, has seen the ebb and flow of the nuclear power industry in the course of his long career. He spent more than 30 years with the French electricity company EDF, which operates the country’s
58 nuclear reactors, and knew most of the 19 nuclear plant sites in France. He worked in operations management, then in maintenance and repair, and later in probability-based safety studies. But last December, he crossed the English Channel for a two-year assignment as programme coordinator with the World Nuclear University (WNU) in London, where he helps promote nuclear training and education throughout the world.
Nuclear Weapons News
US must rein in Israel’s nuclear arms | Gideon Spiro | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Obama needs to spell it out to the Israeli government: your weapons of mass destruction are just as dangerous as Iran’s
The surprise announcement by Rose Gottemoeller, a US assistant secretary of state, that America would like every nation including Israel to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) has sent shockwaves through Tel Aviv, confirming the fears (or hopes,
depending on who you ask) that the Obama administration is initiating a major overhaul of its policy on nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
The Israeli government will certainly challenge the Obama administration on this issue, as Israel is not likely to ÂÂco-operate, to put it mildly, with the state department’s new logical, fair-minded approach to non-proliferation.
French court rejects compensation claims related to A-bomb testing : Europe World
Paris – An appeals court in Paris Friday rejected a demand for compensation by
12 former soldiers who said they had contracted fatal cancers when they took part in French atomic weapons testing between 1960 and 1996, French media reported.
The court ruled the cases of 11 of the soldiers were invalid because their alleged radiation contamination took place before January 1, 1976, the threshold year fixed by law.
Regarding the case of the twelfth soldier, which dated from 1983, the judge ruled that the appeals court was not the correct venue. The case should have been heard by court competent to rule on workplace accidents, the judge said.
Only five of the 12 soldiers were on hand to hear the verdict. The other seven had died of their ailments, which included cancer of the skin, thyroid and kidney and leukemia.
An estimated 150,000 civilians and ex-soldiers who took part in the 210 above-ground nuclear weapons tests France carried out in Algeria and Polynesia were potentially affected by Friday’s ruling.
Defence Minister Herve Morin admitted in March that several hundred people may have developed cancers as a result of radiation from the tests. He proposed a compensation plan offering 10 million euros to the victims in 2009.
U.S., Russian Scientists Say Missile Shield Wouldn’t Protect Europe From Iran – washingtonpost.com
A planned U.S. missile shield to protect Europe from a possible Iranian attack would be ineffective against the kinds of missiles Iran is likely to deploy, according to a joint analysis by top U.S. and Russian scientists.
The U.S.-Russian team also judged that it would be more than five years before Iran is capable of building both a nuclear warhead and a missile capable of carrying it over long distances. And if Iran attempted such an attack, the experts say, it would ensure its own destruction.
Associated Press: UN chief: Time to break stalemate on cutting nukes
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged nations to seize on recent momentum in nuclear disarmament talks, saying they had a historic opportunity to make the world a safer place.
Closer cooperation between the United States and Russia this year has focused attention on negotiations at the 65-nation nuclear disarmament body.
“Now is the time to break more than 10 years of stalemate,” Ban told the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, calling for more intensive efforts to reduce the number of atomic weapons and ban production of the key ingredient for making them.
Ban referred to “new initiatives from nuclear and non-nuclear states that together provide a new momentum for disarmament.”
Thoughts on the H-Bomb
This article appeared in the November 29, 1952 edition of The Nation.
Now that the US has exploded its first hydrogen bomb, a negotiated peace with the Soviet Union is more important than ever.
Hiroshima, a month after the first atomic bomb was dropped by the US to hasten Japan’s surrender. AP Images</br>
Hiroshima, a month after the first atomic bomb was dropped by the US to hasten Japan’s surrender.
The announcement that the atomic age has now given birth to the H-bomb, said to be a thousand times more destructive than the 1945 A-bomb, must be considered in the light of several major realizations. On October 26, 1952, John Foster Dulles,
President-elect Eisenhower’s new Secretary of State, and Dr. Arthur H. Compton, in interviews with Richard G. Baumhoff of the St. Louis Port-Dispatch, agreed that it is now too late to outlaw or abandon the use of atomic weapons.
Jeffrey St. Clair: The Case of the Missing H-Bomb
When We Almost Nuked Savannah
Things go missing. It’s to be expected. Even at the Pentagon. Last October, the Pentagon’s inspector general reported that the military’s accountants had misplaced a destroyer, several tanks and armored personnel carriers, hundreds of machine guns, rounds of ammo, grenade launchers and some surface-to-air missiles. In all, nearly $8 billion in weapons were AWOL.
Those anomalies are bad enough. But what’s truly chilling is the fact that the Pentagon has lost track of the mother of all weapons, a hydrogen bomb. The thermonuclear weapon, designed to incinerate Moscow, has been sitting somewhere off the coast of Savannah, Georgia for the past 40 years. The Air Force has gone to greater lengths to conceal the mishap than to locate the bomb and secure it.
On the night of February 5, 1958 a B-47 Stratojet bomber carrying a hydrogen bomb on a night training flight off the Georgia coast collided with an F-86 Saberjet fighter at 36,000 feet. The collision destroyed the fighter and severely damaged a wing of the bomber, leaving one of its engines partially dislodged. The bomber’s pilot, Maj. Howard Richardson, was instructed to jettison the H-bomb before attempting a landing. Richardson dropped the bomb into the shallow waters of Wassaw Slough, near the mouth of the Savannah River, a few miles from the city of Tybee Island, where he believed the bomb would be swiftly recovered.
The Pentagon recorded the incident in a top secret memo to the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. The memo has been partially declassified: “A B-47 aircraft with a [word redacted] nuclear weapon aboard was damaged in a collision with an F-86 aircraft near Sylvania, Georgia, on February 5, 1958. The B-47 aircraft attempted three times unsuccessfully to land with the weapon. The weapon was then jettisoned visually over water off the mouth of the Savannah River. No detonation was observed.”
Department of Energy News
Flats crew garners support of lawmakers – The Denver Post
It was fitting that former Rocky Flats workers and their families got together for their monthly meeting so close to Memorial Day.
They are American heroes, said U.S. Rep. Jared Polis.
Polis and Sen. Michael Bennet, both Colorado Democrats, each spoke at the group’s Saturday afternoon meeting to discuss better treatment for nuclear workers suffering the effects of radiation and chemical exposure.
They specifically talked about the Charlie Wolf Act, a recently introduced bill that would make it easier for these workers to get compensation for illnesses they developed as a result of their job.
How to Speed Up DOE Loan Guarantees | Reuters The energy industry has had it up to here with delays in the Department of Energy loan guarantee program. Like Energy Secretary Steven Chu, they want to get money moving pronto. So this week groups
representing solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro and nuclear power companies sent a letter (PDF) to key White House officials calling for the DOE and the budget office to make nice and eliminate some hurdles. They’ve laid out a game plan to make that happen.
SRS receives 32 pounds of highly enriched uranium from Australia | Aiken Standard | Aiken, SC
The Savannah River Site has become the home of an Australian import that is a lot less cute than a kangaroo or koala.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Thursday that the Savannah River Site will be the new home for 32 pounds of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in spent nuclear fuel from Australia.
The HEU spent fuel was transported by truck, rail and ship under secure conditions with the cooperation of Australia and several international organizations. With the completion of this shipment, NNSA’s Global Threat Reduction Initiative has successfully removed more than 220 pounds of U.S.-origin HEU fuel from Australia
since 1998.
“The NNSA worked closely with Australia to oversee this important shipment of highly enriched uranium spent nuclear fuel,” said NNSA Principal Deputy Administrator Ken Baker. “The removal of this U.S.-origin highly enriched uranium from Australia is another major milestone in NNSA’s cooperative effort to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation and demonstrates the strong international
commitment to nonproliferation.”
Hanford News: Scientists trying to determine if Northwest fault line reaches Hanford site
An earthquake fault previously believed to be limited to an area south of Whidbey Island actually stretches 250 to 300 miles, from Victoria to Yakima, crossing the Cascade Mountains and is capable of producing a major earthquake, new research shows.
Many of the other faults in Western Washington could be connected to the South Whidbey Island Fault in a network similar to the San Andreas Fault system in California, Craig Weaver, the regional earthquake coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey based in Seattle, said in an interview this week.
Suzette Kimball, the USGS acting director, told Congress on Thursday that there was “strong evidence” other faults in Western Washington were connected to the South Whidbey fault.
“It appears there is a very large (fault) system in the Cascade arc,”
she told the House Interior appropriations subcommittee.
Senate approves slate of high-level DOE appointees | knoxnews.com The U.S. Senate this week confirmed the nominees to fill six
high-level positiions at the Dept. of Energy. According to a DOE release, those confirmed included Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman; Under Secretary for Energy Kristina Johnson; Under Secretary for Science Steven Koonin; Scott Blake Harris, general counsel; David Sandalow, asst. secretary for policy and international
affairs; and Ines Triay, asst. secretary for environmental management.
In a statement distributed by DOE, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, “.The department has set aggressive goals for creating green jobs, addressing our climate crisis and putting the country on a path to energy independence, and these confirmations are an important step toward reaching those goals.”
Here’s the background DOE provided on the political appointees:
Hanford evaporator condensing tank waste – Tri-City Herald Hanford workers have begun operating the nuclear reservation’s evaporator to create about 900,000 gallons of additional space to hold radioactive waste in the site’s sturdiest underground tanks.
Department of Energy contractor Washington River Protection Solutions is working to empty the waste from leak-prone single shell tanks to newer double shell tanks.
Space in the double-shell tanks is at a premium, but removing excess water from the waste frees up space.
The double-shell tanks can hold about 28 million gallons of waste, but Hanford has 53 million gallons of waste in underground tanks waiting to be processed at the vitrification plant under construction.
“Without the evaporator, we would have no storage space and without storage space, we can’t retrieve waste from old single-shell tanks,” said Rebecca Raven, the evaporator’s operations manager for Washington River Protection Solutions, in a statement. “That’s why it is so critical to upgrade and maintain the facility.”
This is the first evaporator run since 2007 when processing campaigns reduced waste volume by about 1.2 million gallons.
Department of Energy – Locke, Chu Announce Significant Steps in Smart Grid Development
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced significant progress that will help expedite development of a nationwide “smart” electric power grid.
A Smart Grid would replace the current, outdated system and employ real-time, two-way communication technologies to allow users to connect directly with power suppliers. The development of the grid will create jobs and spur the development of innovative products that can be exported. Once implemented, the Smart Grid is expected to save consumers money and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil by improving efficiency and spurring the use of renewable energy sources.
Before it can be constructed, however, there needs to be agreement on standards for the devices that will connect the grid.
After chairing a meeting of industry leaders at the White House, Locke and Chu announced the first set of standards that are needed for the interoperability and security of the Smart Grid and $10 million in Recovery Act funds provided by the Energy Department to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to support the development of interoperability standards.
Nuclear Cleanup Contractors Cited for Errors, Overruns Getting Stimulus Money – washingtonpost
A private company was being paid $300 million by the federal government to clean
up radioactive waste at two abandoned Cold War plants in Tennessee when an ironworker crashed through a rotted floor. That prompted a major safety review, which ended up forcing work to an abrupt halt, and the project was shut down for months. The delay and a host of other problems caused cost estimates to rise, eventually hitting $781 million.
Now, President Obama’s stimulus package is opening a bountiful stream of new funding, and the same contractor, Bechtel Jacobs, is slated to get $118 million to help complete the job.
Hanford News: Hanford Challenge plans nuclear legacy project
Hanford Challenge plans a Global Nuclear Legacy Project to explore the worldwide health and environmental affects of nuclear weapons and energy production.
The nonprofit group, which monitors Hanford environmental cleanup and advocates for workers, plans a meeting later this month in Budapest, Hungary. It expects scientists, politicians and activists from 10 countries to attend to lay the groundwork for hearings next year in the United States, Europe and Russia.
“Hanford Challenge is the natural group to start this process,” said Executive Director Tom Carpenter. “The Hanford site in Washington state is where the nuclear age made the jump from being a theoretical concept to the industrial and environmental reality that we know today.”
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability is a co-sponsor of the project.
Associated Press: DOE chief announces billions for clean coal
Energy Secretary Steven Chu says he will provide $2.4 billion from the economic recovery package to speed up development of technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and factories that burn coal.
Chu told a meeting of the National Coal Council on Friday that it’s essential that ways are found to capture carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants and industrial sources. Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is the leading greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.
Audit criticizes DOE Hanford contractor oversight | Tri-City Herald
The Department of Energy needs to improve oversight after a contractor at Hanford was allowed to approve federal funding on behalf of DOE for its own contract, according to an audit by the Department of Energy Office of Inspector General.
The audit also said that in some cases the contractor was allowed to prepare statements of work, which established DOE’s requirement for work to be performed under its contract.
The DOE Hanford Office of River Protection, or ORP, already has made some changes after recognizing that oversight of Project Assistance Corp. was weak before the Office of Inspector General began its investigation.
DOE issued a blanket purchase agreement to Project Assistance Corp. in 2003 for project management, risk assessment, program assessment, quality assurance, safety, cost and schedule estimating, budgeting and finance, and engineering.
Annual costs of the contract have increased from $4.7 million in 2005 to $9.2 million in 2008.
Other Energy News
Cost of Energy » Document alert: The true cost of the US’s oil addiction
Some days you have to wonder if everyone who’s been sounding the alarm about oil issues for years have been right all along, and the rest of the world, including the US power structure, is just now playing catch-up. At least that’s the thought I had when I read BusinessWeek’s U.S. Reliance on Oil an ‘Urgent Threat’:
A group of retired senior U.S. military officers has concluded that the country’s reliance on fossil fuels undermines its capacity to defend itself. Citing a “serious and urgent threat to national security,” the group has urged the Pentagon to take the lead in shifting to a new age in energy.
Peak Energy: The Renewables Hump: Digging Out of a Hole
Jeff Vail has started a series looking at what I’ve long called the “EROEI hole” problem – making sure we don’t leave the transition to renewables too late and find ourselves stuck in a situation where we have shrinking production of fossil fuels which are produced at ever lower EROEI values, thereby making constructing an alternative energy infrastructure a lot more problematic than it would be today
Peak Energy: Live Local
A new social media site for “experiments in local living” has been launched called “Live Local” which should be of interest to those of you interested in relocalisation and related ideas like the Transition Towns movement.
The site aims to be “a place to share stories and ideas about improving your community”, with the user generated ideas and stories being dubbed “experiments”.
live local is a project which we’ve developed as a joint social venture with Piers Dawson-Damer. The website is a place to share stories about improving our communities.
It makes it easy for local residents to document their experiences and adventures meeting neighbours, discovering neighbourhoods, supporting local economies, saving energy, water and much more.
At its heart the project encourages people to take more time to connect and engage with their community. I think its clear the alternative; working crazy hours to earn more money to more buy ‘stuff’ while leaving us little time to get to know our neighbours and spend time with family and friends, has spectacularly failed.
Many of us crave a smarter way of living; one that makes us happier.
As part of the launch of the site, they have issued the “live local challenge”, which encourages people to “live local” for a week.
Peak Energy: Ultra-Efficient Organic LEDs
Technology Review has an update on cheap, energy efficient OLED lighting – Ultra-Efficient Organic LEDs.
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) developed in Germany has the potential to produce the same quality of white light as incandescent bulbs but with power efficiencies considerably better than even fluorescent lighting.
The prototype OLED could emerge as an ultra-efficient light source for displays and general lighting, says Sebastian Reineke, who led the research at the Institute for Applied Photophysics, in Dresden, Germany. The long-term goal is to fabricate the device using conventional low-cost roll-to-roll printing.
In recent years, many countries have begun looking to switch from incandescent lighting to compact fluorescent bulbs because the latter are so much more energy efficient. There has also been a lot of interest in using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for displays and general lighting, again because of the potential energy savings they offer.
But with both fluorescent and LED lighting, the quality of white light produced has always left something to be desired. Fluorescent lighting can make people appear unhealthy because less red light is emitted, while most white LEDs on the market today have a bluish quality, making them appear cold.
ENN — Renewables Surge Despite Economic Crisis
The 2008 figures are in from the new REN 21 Renewables Global Status Report: Renewable power capacity (excluding large hydropower) increased a hefty 16 percent last year, which is remarkable given that world oil use actually declined. Growth in some renewable sectors was even more impressive.
Biodiesel production increased 34 percent, and solar power took the prize with a 73 percent jump.
Renewable energy has not entirely escaped the impact of the global recession – growth this year will almost certainly be slower – but it is clear that global energy markets have turned a corner. Political support and business investment in new energy sources have reached the point where the new industries appear hard to stop. REN 21 reports that 64 nations now have policies to promote renewable power generation. Scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs across the globe are responding with unprecedented innovation. Overnight, the energy business has begun to resemble the I.T. industry more than it does the energy industry of the past.
Europe’s Largest Onshore Wind Farm Switched on in Scotland
Renewable Energy World has a report on a new Scottish wind farm – Europe’s Largest Onshore Wind Farm Is Switched on in Scotland.
Today, the final phase of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm is being turned on in Scotland. The 322-megawatt (MW), 140-turbine Whitelee wind farm was built by ScottishPower Renewables, which is part of the Spanish power business Iberdrola.
In Spain and internationally, the Iberdrola Group, is the world’s largest developer of wind power, with nearly 9700 MW of installed capacity. The wind farm uses Siemens 2.3-MW machines.
Positioned 370 meters (1200 feet) above sea level, 15 kilometers (9 miles) outside of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, the new wind farm has over half a million people living within a 30-km radius of it. It’s one of the first large-scale wind farms to be constructed close to a large population center. The first phase of the wind farm started feeding power into the grid in January 2008.
GOP: Alternative energy alone won’t meet US needs – MiamiHerald
A GOP senator from the nation’s leading coal-producing state contends Democrats will increase energy costs and make the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil if they focus solely on alternative energy.
In the party’s weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said Republicans support a more comprehensive energy plan that would increase funding for energy research, develop U.S. oil and gas resources and promote clean
coal and nuclear power.
The Clean Energy Bank: Financing the transition to a low-carbon economy
Last week House Energy and Commerce members approved by 51-6 an amendment to the Waxman-Markey bill offered by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) to create a clean energy bank . As Greenwire explained, the amendment would “create an autonomous Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA) within the Energy Department” that would “provide a suite of financing options, including direct loans, letters of credit, loan guarantees, insurance products and others” for “energy production, transmission, storage and other areas that could reduce greenhouse gases, diversify energy supplies and save energy.”
CEDA must adopt a “portfolio investment approach” and “ensure no particular technology receives more than 30 percent of the total funding available.” John Podesta and Karen Kornbluh explain why we need a clean energy bank in a post first published here.
The United States is falling behind in the space race of our generation building long-term economic prosperity powered by low-carbon energy. China’s stimulus package invests $12.6 million every hour in greening its economy, for a total of $220 billion, twice as much as similar U.S. investments. Meanwhile, during the most
recent economic expansion the average American family paid more than $1,100 a year in rising energy bills for U.S. policies that favor fossil fuels.
Obama announces new fuel standards – Mike Allen and Eamon Javers – POLITICO.com
President Barack Obama announced plans on Tuesday for a national fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas standard that would significantly increase mileage requirements for cars and trucks by 2016.
Obama called it “an historic agreement to help America break its dependence on oil, reduce harmful pollution and begin the transition to a clean energy economy.”
The new requirements mark the first time there has been a nationwide standard for emissions of greenhouse gases. They require an average mileage standard of 39 miles per gallon for cars and 30 mpg for trucks by 2016 a jump from the current average for all vehicles of 25 miles per gallon.
Cap-and-trade bill to include nuclear power: US lawmaker Hoyer
US lawmakers will include an amendment promoting nuclear power to a cap-and-trade carbon emissions bill now being discussed in a mark-up session, US House of Representatives Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told nuclear industry officials Tuesday. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, told a Nuclear Energy Institute conference in Washington that the amendment would be offered by Michigan Democrat John Dingell at the markup of the energy legislation. Hoyer said the amendment would make clear in the Department of Energy’s $18.5 billion Title 17 loan guarantee program for new reactors that a final “term sheet” from the Secretary of Energy constitutes a binding commitment. A term sheet is an agreement with specific terms for the loan guarantee. “That will allow energy projects to obtain the non-federal financing they need with surety
that the federal government will proceed,” Hoyer said.
Obama takes aim at climate-warming car emissions | Reuters
President Barack Obama took aim at climate-warming greenhouse gases on Tuesday and ordered the struggling auto industry to make more fuel-efficient cars under tough new national standards to cut emissions and increase gas mileage.
Obama said the standards, announced at a White House ceremony attended by auto industry and union leaders, would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and give five years of cost certainty to an industry battling to survive.
“The status quo is no longer acceptable,” Obama said in an announcement that will pressure carmakers to transform and modernize the industry to produce more efficient vehicles.
Energy and Commerce panel’s Dems seek united front to pass climate bill – NYTimes.com
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to pass legislation this week that would overhaul U.S. energy and global warming policy, assuming Democrats can stay united in the face of hundreds of GOP amendments.
Unveiled Friday, H.R. 2454 (pdf) includes items long sought by environmentalists, including a cap-and-trade program to curb greenhouse gas emissions and a nationwide renewable electricity standard. The 932-page bill, also comes with the support of President Obama, who applauded the “historic agreement” after weeks of intense negotiations among Democrats representing vastly different regions and economic sectors.
Global Wind Installations Up 29% in 2008 – Renewable Energy World
Global wind capacity increased an estimated 27,051 megawatts in 2008, with cumulative installations up almost 29 percent. The United States led in new installations, surpassing Germany to rank first in wind energy cumulative capacity and electricity generation.
Nearly 400,000 people are employed by the wind industry worldwide, though this number could slide in the near term due to project financing difficulties, particularly in the United States.
A new snapshot of wind energy trends from Worldwatch Institute analyzes data since 1980 and reveals that for the first time last year, wind power represented Europe’s leading source of new electric capacity (with 8,877 megawatts added), well ahead of natural gas at 6,939 MW and coal at 763 MW.
UK’s London Array Given Green Light – Renewable Energy World
DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar have announced that they will invest EUR 2.2 billion (US $3 billion) in building the first 630-megawatt (MW) phase of the London Array offshore wind farm in England’s Thames Estuary. The wind farm is set to be build the world’s largest offshore wind farm.
The consortium hopes the first phase of 630 MW will be completed and generating in 2012. The first phase will consist of 175 turbines.
The announcement comes after the UK Government’s recent proposal to increase its support for offshore wind power. The partners are satisfied that the project is now financially viable and are now keen to push ahead with construction and to produce the first renewable power in 2012. Onshore work is now due to start in
the summer, with offshore work due to start in early 2011.
The Cost of Energy » Document alert: Green Cities Report
A new report released today called Green Cities is one of the first assessments of exactly how 40 of the country’s largest cities are trying to limit their carbon footprints and take the steps needed to raise these efforts to the next level. The report was initiated and conducted by Living Cities, a long-standing collaboration of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions.
Peak Energy: Largest Solar Plant in the World Coming to Arizona ?
TreeHugger has a post on a solar thermal power plant planned for Arizona (Which isn’t the largest announced, but how many of these get built in the short term remains to be seen) – Largest Solar Plant in the World Coming to Arizona ?.
Could be–details are still emerging and sketchy, but it looks like one of the world’s biggest solar projects will find its home in Arizona. The proposed 340 megawatt system would use advanced parabolic trough technology, and would cost over $2 billion–and yes, it would take advantage of stimulus funding. Looks like Arizona’s becoming a hotbed for solar power indeed–this would be the fourth solar plant in Mohave County, AZ alone. Here are the whispered details:
Mohave Sun Power and Albiasa Solar are the companies behind the ambitious installation, and they’ll be using the same technology as another recently proposed massive solar project:
Could a Clean Energy Bank Save the US Economy and Improve its Future Prospects? Yes!
Reliable, accessible and affordable energy has been one of the primary pillars of American prosperity since the dawning of the Industrial Age. Unfortunately, many of the energy sources that we have always used have been seriously depleted or produce a dangerous build up of waste products in our common environment. As the people’s representatives, Congress wants to help change that pattern by enabling and encouraging entrepreneurs, established corporations and private investors to make the long term investments that will be required to change a pattern of energy use that has been developing for almost 200 years.
One attempt at making that possible was the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which established a program where the federal government would back loans for carefully selected projects whose payback profile did not exactly match the demands of the short term thinkers on Wall Street. Unfortunately, that bill put the burden of developing the program onto the Department of Energy, an organization that remains ill equipped for the task. Part of the reason is that the DOE is dominated by other considerations (protection of the nuclear weapons stockpile) and by the established energy industry that has no desire or incentive to make a big change in the current market.
Municipal Solar Financing: The Biggest Revolution that You’ve Never Heard Of : Red, Green, and Blue
The whole thing is happening without flashy ad campaigns, so it’s not surprising if you’ve never heard of municipal solar financing. But the financing
program, also known as property tax financing, is a veritable underground solar
revolution.
It all started in Berkeley, CA with the Berkeley FIRST Program, which allows homeowners
to pay for solar panels through property tax bills over a 20 year period. The bills carry a fixed interest rate and stay with the house, so there’s no need to worry about paying for panels on a house you don’t live in anymore. The Berkeley program was so popular that California passed the AB811 bill to let any interested city in the state launch a similar program.
PG&E Buys Enough Future Solar Energy for 530,000 Homes
Large-scale solar power is beginning to take on the job of meeting the demands made by California’s air conditioners for electricity.
Pacific Gas & Electric and Brightsource Energy today announced they have expanded a series of solar power contracts for a total of 1,310 megawatts of electricity enough to power 530,000 California homes during peak hours with energy from the Sun.
Completion of the first project will nearly double the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the United States.
Giant Turbine Offers 20% Efficiency Boost : TreeHugger
Officially grid-connected and set to work this week in Germany is a new wind tower from ATS. The novel tower construction allows very high hub heights that may increase a turbine’s yield by 20% or more. With its hub height of 133 meters (436 feet), the system has an overall height of 180 meters (590 feet).
“This is a great day for wind energy. said Frans Brughuis, Managing Director of the tower construction specialist Advanced Tower Systems (ATS). “Now the pilot project can demonstrate the high cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the ATS concept,” The system, one of the largest wind energy systems with hybrid tower in the world, is installed at Germany’s Windtest test field at Grevenbroich,
near Cologne.
Ten Years of Progress in Environmental Remediation
Approach to Uranium Legacy
in Central Asia to Be Reviewed at IAEA-Led Conference
In the past, many industries, such as uranium mining, were often developed without consideration for environmental safety issues, in a context that often lacked appropriate or effective environmental laws and regulations.
As a result, contaminated sites have been created worldwide by other nuclear activities such as defence programs operations, as well as nuclear and radiological accidents such as Chernobyl and Goinia.
An IAEA-led international conference on environmental remediation to be held next week in Astana, Kazakhstan, will address these issues.
Bush team still haunts environmentals – Erika Lovley – POLITICO.com
Environmentalists who see this year as their best hope for a major global warming bill can’t seem
to escape a familiar foe: former Bush administration officials they fought year after year on energy and climate issues.
As the House Energy and Commerce Committee debates its ambitious cap-and-trade bill, environmentalists will find James Connaughton, President George W. Bush’s top environmental adviser, advocating for Constellation Energy. Karen Harbert,
a top Bush Energy Department official, is now heading the energy practice at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a leading critic of Democratic climate change proposals.
And F. Chase Hutto III, Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy and environment adviser, has formed ClearView Energy Partners, aimed at helping businesses navigate climate change legislation.
Nuclear Editorial and Opinions
Commentary: Nuclear is not competitive with coal, natural gas | McClatchy Policy analysts typically evaluate proposed new policies against the status quo. From this perspective, the question of whether Congress should encourage the development of nuclear power is moot, because support for nuclear power is a central element of the status quo.
Over the last 20 years the federal government has taken numerous steps to encourage nuclear power.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission streamlined the process for developing nuclear power plants; approving standardized reactor designs, allowing utilities to obtain pre-approval for reactor locations that may be banked for future use, and creating combined construction and operating licenses.
TheDay.com – It’s Time To Bury The Politics Of Dealing With Nuclear Waste
Since the administration has decided to abandon the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, Congress is obligated to come up with a plan for interim storage, and in so doing bolster nuclear power and, incidentally, do something that is good for the country.
For the sake of electricity ratepayers across the country Congress must confront the issue of nuclear waste disposal. Money collected from ratepayers to solve the problem, but never spent to actually do so, should be returned.
NUCLEAR POWER: No More Reactors at North Anna | Richmond Times-Dispatch
The recent ruling of the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond was short and to the point: “Virginia law requires regulation of Dominion’s thermal pollution discharge
because the exception for waste treatment simply doesn’t apply here.” With this ruling, a decades-old viola tion of the law was ended. The impact of the
decision could benefit the many thousands of people who use Lake Anna annually.
Dominion’s permit violated the law. In 2007 the Virginia Water Control Board approved a permit for Dominion Virginia Power to discharge hot water from its North Anna nuclear power plant into Lake Anna. The permit was illegal for several reasons.
Greenpeace founder claims group now energy inefficient [Montgomery Advertiser, Ala.]
A founder of Greenpeace said today’s environmental movement
is blocking meaningful clean energy development.
Patrick Moore, who now is co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, said environmentalists, especially those aligned with former Vice President Al Gore, have hijacked the clean energy debate.
He said the movement’s fixation on solar energy, which he called inefficient, has hindered exploration of other energy sources, such as geothermal and even nuclear power, which he once opposed.
Moore spoke to a conference organized by the Partnership for Affordable Clean Energy on Wednesday.
Public Citizen – Climate Change Bill Suffers from Backroom Dealings, Industry Influence The climate change legislation that will be debated this week is a huge disappointment.
Not only will it prove a boon to energy industries, but it won’t protect consumers and may very well not even curb global warming. The first draft, penned months ago, was on track to accomplish these goals, and we applauded it as a great start.
Since then, however, lawmakers have met in secret with representatives of the coal and oil industries and facilitated industry efforts to gut the bill.
The Obama administration got it right when officials released a budget that would auction 100 percent of pollution allowances. As long as pollution allowances are auctioned, the government will have the revenue necessary to mitigate energy price increases through rebates while having money to invest in the sustainable energy
infrastructure we need to end our reliance on fossil fuels.
Hardships as plant neighbor: Rutland Herald Online
We live in the shadow of Vermont Yankee (VY). We live with alarm radios in our homes, provided for us free by VY, to alert us if there is an accident at the outdated plant located only a few miles from our homes. We store our potassium iodide pills supplied by the VT Department of Health where we can easily find them. We dutifully review the emergency evacuation route that we must travel in case of a nuclear accident, knowing that VY has acknowledged that it is ineffective. Daily we feel unsafe in the homes and community that we love and have worked hard to live in.
Imagine reading these headlines in your newspaper about a nearby nuclear plant: “Nuclear Plant Tower Collapses” and ” Plant at 60% reduced Power Due to Radioactive Water Leaks.” Imagine reading these headlines knowing there is no insurance that will cover you or your home from the risks of an accident or sabotage or dangerous levels of radioactive waste.
Remember that this plant would not be licensed by today’s standards and is currently running at 20% over its original design capacity. Please imagine yourself in our place, and remember you too are not that far away and would be affected if there was a major disaster.
Please ask your legislator to reject the relicensing of this aged nuclear reactor.
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