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Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, have signed an agreement to co-operate in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Holding talks in Moscow on Monday, the two leaders agreed to permit an increase in atomic fuel exports from Russia's state-owned Rusatom to India. Sergei Kiriyenko, Rosatom's CEO, said his company would also build several new nuclear power reactors in India, but did not give further details. The nuclear energy agreement is just one of the deals Singh is expected to sign during his two-day trip to Moscow.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, have signed an agreement to co-operate in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Holding talks in Moscow on Monday, the two leaders agreed to permit an increase in atomic fuel exports from Russia's state-owned Rusatom to India. Sergei Kiriyenko, Rosatom's CEO, said his company would also build several new nuclear power reactors in India, but did not give further details. The nuclear energy agreement is just one of the deals Singh is expected to sign during his two-day trip to Moscow.

Twenty-one years after TVA halted work on Alabama's biggest construction project, Jackson County officials say they want the federal utility to restart the nuclear plant work to help power the local economy and the Tennessee Valley electricity grid. Ron Bailey, 61 and a former mayor of Scottsboro, said community leaders continue to support plans for a new reactor at Bellefonte - either by finishing the old or building new. "As a taxpayer and ratepayer, I can't help think what a waste of money it is to see that plant sitting there idle," Mr. Bailey said of the unfinished $4 billion complex in Hollywood, Ala. "But as an elected official and Chamber of Commerce supporter, I also see the plant as a tremendous opportunity for our future for both jobs and energy."

Twenty-one years after TVA halted work on Alabama's biggest construction project, Jackson County officials say they want the federal utility to restart the nuclear plant work to help power the local economy and the Tennessee Valley electricity grid. Ron Bailey, 61 and a former mayor of Scottsboro, said community leaders continue to support plans for a new reactor at Bellefonte - either by finishing the old or building new. "As a taxpayer and ratepayer, I can't help think what a waste of money it is to see that plant sitting there idle," Mr. Bailey said of the unfinished $4 billion complex in Hollywood, Ala. "But as an elected official and Chamber of Commerce supporter, I also see the plant as a tremendous opportunity for our future for both jobs and energy."

"Federal regulators warned the Tennessee Valley Authority on Thursday about "apparent violations" involving fire safety at the utility's Browns Ferry nuclear plant in north Alabama. Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the findings don't pose an immediate safety risk but are urging TVA to fix the three-reactor plant, which suffered a nearly disastrous fire in 1975 and later had to shut down for more than two decades due to problems. The latest concerns were raised in an NRC inspection report and accompanying letter to TVA that said equipment necessary for shutting down the plant in case of a fire was not properly protected. The NRC said the plant also had flawed procedures that could delay fire response. "

"There has been a lot of talk of next-generation reactors in the U.S. "nuclear revival," but some plans for new nuclear power generation are looking back rather than ahead. Alongside a multitude of pending applications for new nuclear reactors, there is a move to restart construction at sites where the work began decades ago only to be abandoned before completion. On Monday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing on challenges to the reinstatement of construction permits for one such project. It involves permits granted to the Tennessee Valley Authority to build the Bellefonte nuclear reactors, two reactors that were started near Hollywood, Ala., in 1974 but never finished. "

"Mr. Johnson said TVA "will decide by the end of the year" whether to finish the old or pursue the new option. When TVA suspended construction at Bellefonte in 1988, the Unit 1 reactor was judged to be nearly 90 percent complete."

"An advisory panel to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced it has rejected a petition to try to block construction of the original reactors at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant. But in a 40-page opinion, a panel of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board agreed there are "several possible areas of concern" with the mothballed plant and a hearing should be held before any of the reactors ever begin power generation. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which suspended construction of the twin-reactor plant in 1988, still must get regulatory approval before any construction could begin, NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said. But he said the decision does allow TVA to conduct further tests and prepare to ask federal regulators to upgrade the construction permit to active status when, and if, it decides to finish the units. TVA is studying whether to finish the original reactors at Bellefonte or pursue building one of the new Westinghouse AP-1000 reactors."

"Sara Barczak, program director for high risk energy choices at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said the lack of storage for nuclear waste is a national problem. But it is especially problematic in the Southeast, where there is a concentration of nuclear plants, she said. She said reactor sites never were intended to be "mini Yucca Mountains." "These were sites that were evaluated in the 1970s and 1980s to be homes for nuclear power plants for about 40 years," Ms. Barczak said. "They were never intended to store what is basically the most toxic waste known to man.""

"The Tennessee Valley Authority reported today that nearly 1,000 gallons of water containing the radioactive isotope tritium spilled from a water storage tank at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant on Wednesday. In an incident report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today, TVA said plant personnel at the Alabama plant discovered that a small valve at the top of tank near the plant turbine building was leaking at a rate of about two gallons a minute early Wednesday. Don Jernigan, senior vice president of nuclear operation for TVA, said the federal utility is reporting the tritium leak to authorities under the industry's voluntary reporting guidelines."

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has issued the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the generation options associated with Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in north Alabama. With the statement final, four of five detailed studies are complete to support a future decision by the TVA Board of Directors about building or completing a reactor at Bellefonte. "Completing a nuclear unit is one option that would help us meet our customers' growing needs and provide a reliable and safe power source at significantly less cost per installed kilowatt than other generation options," said Ashok Bhatnagar, senior vice president of TVA's Nuclear Generation Development and Construction. "At the same time, additional nuclear generation leads to a reduction of our carbon footprint." The options being studied are whether to finish one of two partially built reactors at Bellefonte, build a newly designed Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 reactor there or take no action. "

Brown's Ferry nuclear reactor the subject of audit TVA was overbilled more than $1 million on work done to restart its Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 reactor, according to TVA's Office of Inspector General. Advertisement About $2.8 million in subcontractor costs billed to TVA by a contractor was audited and the preliminary review "caused us to have concerns that certain costs that were billed may have also been billed to TVA under other contracts," according to an emailed statement from the office. "In summary, we found TVA had been overbilled $1,075,020 including (1) $174,912 of unsupported and ineligible labor and per diem costs (2) $621,428 of unsupported and ineligible equipment costs (3) $199,180 of unsupported material costs. and (4) $79,500 of overstated task costs."

Brown's Ferry nuclear reactor the subject of audit TVA was overbilled more than $1 million on work done to restart its Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 reactor, according to TVA's Office of Inspector General. Advertisement About $2.8 million in subcontractor costs billed to TVA by a contractor was audited and the preliminary review "caused us to have concerns that certain costs that were billed may have also been billed to TVA under other contracts," according to an emailed statement from the office. "In summary, we found TVA had been overbilled $1,075,020 including (1) $174,912 of unsupported and ineligible labor and per diem costs (2) $621,428 of unsupported and ineligible equipment costs (3) $199,180 of unsupported material costs. and (4) $79,500 of overstated task costs."

In what is being called a rare victory for whistle blowers, a U.S. Department of Labor appeals panel has ruled that a Tennessee Valley Authority contractor violated the federal whistle-blower law when it fired a Tuscumbia man 2004. In a decision that was made public today, the Department of Labor's review board ruled that James Speegle was improperly dismissed from his job as a painting foreman for Louisiana-based Stone and Webster Construction Inc., while working at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant near Athens after reporting safety concerns to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In what is being called a rare victory for whistle blowers, a U.S. Department of Labor appeals panel has ruled that a Tennessee Valley Authority contractor violated the federal whistle-blower law when it fired a Tuscumbia man 2004. In a decision that was made public today, the Department of Labor's review board ruled that James Speegle was improperly dismissed from his job as a painting foreman for Louisiana-based Stone and Webster Construction Inc., while working at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant near Athens after reporting safety concerns to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.