nuke.news's feed | Diigo Group

Deseret News | NRC delays decision on Italian nuclear waste

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:56:16 -0000

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has delayed a decision on whether to allow EnergySolutions Inc. to import the largest-ever amount of nuclear waste into the U.S.

The NRC ruled Monday that it will wait until a federal court decides whether an interstate compact can block disposal of the waste in Utah.

Tags: energy energysolutions imports italy n-waste nrc nuclear nuke.news tn us ut

Posted by: theenergynet

Officials explain uranium processing plans | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:22:53 -0000

Local residents used a public meeting to ask how dangerous a highly enriched uranium gas would be if it escaped from a proposed East Tennessee processing line.

During a question-and-answer meeting on Thursday, officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the quantities of uranium hexaflouride proposed to be processed in the new facility at Nuclear Fuel Services are so small as to not pose a serious hazard.

Tags: conversion fuel-cycle nfs nuclear nuke.news tn

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The Greeneville Sun - NRC Panel Reviews Safety At Erwin Plant

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:10:34 -0000

Three members of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight panel met for more than two hours here on Wednesday afternoon with Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., officials to discuss efforts to improve the company's "safety culture."

The NRC ordered NFS on Feb. 21, 2007 to improve its safety culture after a series of safety violations at its Erwin plant, according to a press release it issued last week.

Tags: fuel-cycle n-weapons nfs nrc nuclear nuke.news safety tn

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EnergySolutions: Day of reckoning for Italian waste draws near - Salt Lake Tribune

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:49:46 -0000

October. Halloween. Ghosts and goblins. Just for the fun of it, we give ourselves a scare.
But this October has the potential for something truly frightening. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission may decide this month if Utah will be the final resting place for Italy's low-level radioactive waste.
That would be a bad thing for the nation, and for Utah in particular. Our No. 1 industry, tourism, would suffer. So would economic development. "World's Nuclear Waste Dumping Ground." It's not the kind of thing you put on a sign at the state border, or on chamber of commerce brochures. It's not the kind of reputation you want to have.

Tags: energy energysolutions fuel-cycle id italy n-waste nuclear nuke.news nw-transport tn

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Matheson writes letter opposing Italian waste in Utah - Salt Lake Tribune

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:08:40 -0000

Two congressmen argue in a letter sent Wednesday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission lacks power to grant a license for Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste into the United States.
Saying they understand a decision may be granted soon on EnergySolutions' request, Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., ask the NRC to reject the application to bring the waste to American shores because there is no site to store it.
"The NRC has no authority to import waste when there is not a facility to ultimately dispose of it," Matheson and Gordon wrote.

Tags: energy energysolutions fuel-cycle id italy n-waste nuclear nuke.news nw-transport tn

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DOE and Bechtel Jacobs sign $1.48B cleanup contract : Business : Knoxville News Sentinel

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:54:43 -0000

The Department of Energy and Bechtel Jacobs Co. have reached agreement on a newly restructured contract, valued at $1.48 billion, for Oak Ridge cleanup activities through 2011.

The new contract replaces Bechtel Jacobs’ previous contract and extends the contract period. It also establishes a fixed fee for the company’s future work and includes a settlement on previous fees owed to Bechtel Jacobs, which had been the subject of lengthy negotiations.

Tags: bechtel contract doe nuke.news ornl tn

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Matheson, Tennessee colleague team up against Italian N-waste - Salt Lake Tribune

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:53:02 -0000

Two congressman argue in a letter sent Wednesday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission lacks power to grant a license for Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions to import 20,000 tons of Italian low-level radioactive waste into the United States.
Saying they understand a decision may be granted soon on EnergySolutions' request, Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., ask the NRC to reject the application to bring the waste to American shores because there is no site to store it.

Tags: energy energysolutions italy n-waste nuclear nuke.news nw-transport tn ut

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TVA whistle-blowers contacted by feds| The Tennessean

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:03:35 -0000

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, looking into security issues at TVA nuclear plants, has called on two former plant guards who talked to The Tennessean about lax safety standards that they said went ignored.

The agency won't discuss the TVA situation and may never do so. The NRC's position is that security violations not be made public, said Roger Hannah, an agency spokesman in Atlanta.
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Since Sept. 11, 2001, the federal government has clamped down on access to a lot of information related to nuclear plants and other facilities that officials deemed terrorists could use.

Tags: energy nrc nuclear nuke.news tn tva whistleblower

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Sierra Club to honor TVA whistleblowe| The Tennessean

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:54:36 -0000

Ann Harris, a former TVA employee and nuclear plant whistleblower, has been named to receive a national Sierra Club award for her "strong and consistent commitment" to increasing awareness of how nuclear issues can affect lives, the environmental and conservation group announced.

Harris, who lives in East Tennessee, is a Sierra Club Tennessee Chapter member and leader of the national group's radiation committee.

Tags: activism awards energy nuclear nuke.news tn

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TVA may face debt cap: Knoxville News Sentinel

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:37:54 -0000

Completing nuclear sites, capital growth nears $30 billion limit

federal utility decides to build more nuclear plants.

TVA's debt now totals about $25.2 billion. The agency has been able to cut its debt by more than $2.5 billion since 1997. Still, this leaves less than $5 billion for new capital projects.

Tags: development economics energy nuclear nuke.news tn tva

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Alexander introduces more sick worker legislation - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:52:37 -0000

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., last week introduced legislation that would ensure compensation for the families of sick former nuclear workers won't be taken away in cases where sick workers or their eligible survivors die before their claims are processed.

"We should not allow an inefficient bureaucracy to run out the clock through a claims process that takes so long that our Cold War heroes are dying before their claims are processed, leaving their families with no compensation," Alexander said in a press release. "The men and women who built our nuclear deterrent -- and their families -- deserve better. According to estimates from the Department of Labor, this will affect approximately 1,200 current and future claimants."

Tags: compensation doe legislatin n-weapons nuclear nuke.news tn worker

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Building nukes may push TVA debt limit: WRAL.com

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:51:43 -0000

The Tennessee Valley Authority's $30 billion debt limit could be strained if the federal utility decides to build more nuclear plants.

TVA's debt now totals about $25.2 billion. The agency has been able to cut its debt by more than $2.5 billion since 1997. Still, this leaves less than $5 billion for new capital projects.

Two former TVA chairmen, S. David Freeman and Craven Crowell, worry the federal utility will be forced to ask Congress to raise the debt ceiling if it decides to build new reactors at the Bellefonte site in Alabama and undertakes new pollution controls for its fleet of coal-fired power plants.

Tags: al economics energy nuclear nuke.news tn tva

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Report frames energy issues : Knoxville News Sentinel

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:16:04 -0000

7 groups of opinion identified by ideas on U.S. 'portfolio'

The question of where the United States will get its energy in coming decades is central to this year's presidential race, and a new University of Tennessee report aims to help policymakers long-term by identifying where Americans stand on the issue.

"Until recently, we haven't given (energy policy) much thought," said K.C. Healy, director in the energy and resources practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP, which wrote the report with UT's Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.

Tags: energy nuclear nuke.news policy tn

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USEC gets tax break worth $5M - Oak Ridge, TN - The Oak Ridger

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:28:58 -0000

A city board endorsed a property tax abatement on Tuesday that could be worth $5 million.

It's the largest tax break approved by the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board since the abatement policies -- designed to lure new businesses to town -- went into effect several years ago.

Tags: corporate economics fuel-cycle nuclear nuke.news tn usec

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knoxnews.com |What to do with notorious White Oak Lake

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:17:39 -0000

Tomorrow's column will be about a tentative agreement to extend the deadline (now at 2016) for completing the Oak Ridge cleanup of the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge reservation.

One of the decisions yet to be made is what to do with White Oak Lake, which historically was used as a giant settling basin for ORNL's radioactive discharges before the water was released into the Clinch River and reservoirs beyond.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Tags: contamination doe fuel-cycle nuclear nuke.news ornl tn

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Chattanooga Times Free Press | Tennessee Valley Authority cuts contract for nuclear security

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:16:26 -0000

The Tennessee Valley Authority announced today that it will end its contract with a private security firm that has provided guards at TVA nuclear plants since 1997.

TVA Nuclear Chief Bill Campbell said the federal utility plans to terminate its contract with Pinkerton Government Services and bring back security positions as TVA employees during the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The change will affect about 500 security workers employed at TVA’s Sequoyah, Watts Bar and Browns Ferry nuclear plants, TVA spokesman John Moulton said.

Under its current contract, TVA paid Pinkerton $159 million, or $26.5 million a year, for security at the three nuclear plants from October 2002 through October 2008.

Tags: al contract energy ms nuclear nuke.news security tn tva

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knoxnews.com |Final cleanup of ORNL reactor on hold

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:41:34 -0000

The 1950s-era Tower Shielding Reactor was defueled a few years ago, and since then it's remained in a "surveillance and maintenance" mode.

There's no date yet for final cleanup, but DOE said it will be a part of the proposed Integrated Facilities Disposition Program, which still awaits funding.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Tags: decommissioning doe n-weapons nuclear nuke.news ornl reactor tn

Posted by: theenergynet

French firm rakes in TVA cash | Asheville Citizen-Times

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:01:40 -0000

Call it the French nuclear connection.

Electricity ratepayers’ dollars in Western North Carolina as well as federal tax money are increasingly going to a company owned largely by the French government: the nuclear power conglomerate AREVA.
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The company holds U.S. Department of Energy contracts for nuclear-related projects at major facilities such as Hanford, Wash., and Yucca Mountain, Nev., and others, including in Erwin, Tenn., and Aiken, S.C.

Tags: areva doe energy fuel-cycle n-weapons nuclear nuke.news tn tva

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knoxnews.com | 100 tons of weapons material off the books

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:03:21 -0000

The National Nuclear Security Administration announced today that 100 tons of highly enriched uranium -- enough for about 2,200 nuclear bombs -- had been downblended over the past decade to eliminate its weapons capability. All told, the U.S. government has designated 217 tons of HEU as "excess" and scheduled for downblending.

Tags: doe n-weapons nuclear nuke.news ornl scandal security tn

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TVA doesn't know what new Bellefonte reactors would cost | tennessean.com |

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:35:35 -0000

TVA has no estimates yet on the possible price tag for the four nuclear reactors it might want to build at its Bellefonte site in northern Alabama, TVA officials said Wednesday.

TVA is seeking a license, with several partners, for two reactors on the site, where it partially built and then abandoned a nuclear plant years ago.

Tags: al bellefonte economics energy nuclear nuke.news tn tva

Posted by: theenergynet