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Russia is planning a fleet of floating and submersible nuclear power stations to exploit Arctic oil and gas reserves, causing widespread alarm among environmentalists. A prototype floating nuclear power station being constructed at the SevMash shipyard in Severodvinsk is due to be completed next year. Agreement to build a further four was reached between the Russian state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, and the northern Siberian republic of Yakutiya in February.

The Mountain Home Junior High School auditorium was filled to capacity last Wednesday evening when the Elmore County Board of Commissioners conducted a public hearing on a rezone application submitted by Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc., the company proposing to build a 1,600 megawatt nuclear energy plant near Hammett. The Board of Commissioners took oral testimony from both opponents and supporters of the rezone request during the hearing, which lasted just over four hours.

The White House science adviser on Thursday acknowledged that the US likely would build new nuclear power plants, but added that challenges to embracing nuclear power remain. "We are probably going to see some new nuclear power plants in this country," said John Holdren, the President Barack Obama's science adviser and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Those new plants will be of a new generation and have better safety characteristics, Holdren told an annual science policy forum that the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in Washington.

The Maryland Public Service Commission's (PSC) issuance today of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to UniStar Nuclear is a costly step in the wrong direction for Maryland's energy future. This permit serves as the state's nod to construct a new uranium-fueled reactor in southern Maryland, a decision that not only could prove to be extraordinarily costly for taxpayers - as testimony provided to the PSC made clear - but tethers Maryland to continued reliance on dirty energy generation rather than moving our state toward becoming a leader in clean energy. The permit in its current form subjects UniStar Nuclear - a joint venture between Constellation Energy and the French-state controlled Electricite de France (EDF), which increasingly controls Constellation itself - only to some minor conditions.

Eleven years after its last nuclear reactor was shut down, the University may be making strides to reinstate a new one on campus. The Illinois Student Senate approved a resolution April 8 to create a new integral fast reactor for use by the nuclear engineering department. "The integral fast reactor is a research reactor," said David Wall, freshman in LAS. "It takes spent fuel from your normal reactor and uses it as more energy." Spent fuel, or fuel that has already been used, is a problem in energy consumption and conservation, said Wall, who served in the U.S. Navy as an electrical and nuclear operator. The new reactor would enable engineers to use this energy instead of leaving it in the form of waste. Wall said this is the equivalent of taking a tissue box full of used or spent fuel and creating a shot glass-sized amount of waste out of it.

Central Java: Some 1,500 residents of Balong subdistrict, Kembang district, staged a rally over the weekend protesting against a government plan to build a nuclear powered electric generator (PLTN) in their village. The rally, also held to commemorate the 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine, nuclear reactor tragedy, was started from Proliman Balong. Wearing bandages bearing writings saying "No to PLTN" they marched on trucks, heading to a site near Kembang district administration office. There they spread a 500-meter banner, on which they signed names to express support for the refusal of the nuclear project. "We want to show to the government and the community that Jepara people really refuse the PLTN," Sardi Elbayano of the people's and student's coalition refusing the PLTN said.

An official charged with weighing the pros and cons of building a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs power plant recommended Wednesday that state energy regulators approve the project. Constellation Energy Group and a French partner are seeking permission to expand Constellation's plant in Calvert County, work that Gov. Martin O'Malley and others say will help address a predicted electricity shortage while slowing customer rate increases. The approval proposed Wednesday by Public Service Commission hearing examiner Joel M. Bright will become final May 29, unless the commission or one of the parties objects.

8 reactors proposed by 2016 at $6-8 billion each COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A ghost from the nuclear industry's early years has reappeared. It is not public apprehension about safety or disposal issues this time, but the staggering cost of building nuclear reactors. A wave of new reactors now in the works is intended to solve at least part of the nation's energy problems as it attempts to shift away from fossil fuels. But cost is likely to plague every upcoming nuclear project.

Nuclear power is seen by some European countries as an effective way to keep up electricity supplies while cutting emissions of climate warming gases produced when fossil fuels are burnt. Lingering concerns over nuclear safety, waste disposal and costs have limited the sector's growth in western Europe but several central and eastern European countries are keen to build them as a way of reducing their reliance on imported fuels. Below are the nuclear plants being built or planned across Europe:

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland touched on a wide range of subjects in a 90-minute meeting with the Enquirer's editorial board - everything from the possibility of another nuclear power plant in Ohio to the Warren County commissioners' turning down federal stimulus money. Advertisement Strickland, who came to the board to talk about the education funding plan now making its way through the Ohio legislature, said that he talked recently with Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, saying Rogers talked about the possibility of the energy company putting a nuclear power plant somewhere in Ohio. "We were talking nuclear," he said. But not in Cincinnati, the governor said. Strickland said the two did not discuss any specific locations, just the possibility of Duke pursuing it in the future.

* Opposition party says Sofia holds talks on Russian loans * Wants parliament interference to stop the talks * Another party says crisis means project should be delayed By Anna Mudeva SOFIA, April 21 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's rightist opposition urged the government on Tuesday to freeze a multi-billion project to build a new nuclear power plant due to problems with funding in times of a global economic crisis. The Socialist-led government and German utility RWE (RWEG.DE) have signed a deal to build Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant of Belene by 2014-2015 as part of Sofia's efforts to recover its position as a major power exporter in the Balkans. But sources close to the project say the state-owned utility NEK, which has a 51 percent stake in the project, has problems raising funding and Belene faces a delay.

An action group has now been set up to fight plans to build the plant at Layriggs Farm in Kirksanton. A private vote carried out by campaigners found that 90 per cent of villagers said they would leave Kirksanton if the nuclear power station was built. Construction would leave 75 residents living less than half-a-mile from the plant. Furious homeowners crammed into the village hall yesterday to voice their fears at what marks the beginning of a two-year consultation process. Fears over the impact on house prices and damage to tourism were also aired.

Sofia is in talks with Moscow for securing temporary financing for the planned EUR 4.0 B nuclear power plant at Belene, for which Bulgaria contracted Russia's Atomstroyexport. The statement was made by Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko in an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio and confirmed earlier reports. Speaking to journalists in Brussels, where he joined an international conference on the upgrade of Ukraine gas-transmitting system, Shmatko said Russia and Bulgaria are partners in Belene project, "who trust and understand each other".

MORE than 50 nations are in talks with the UN atomic watchdog to build nuclear power plants, a twofold increase over the last four years, a top agency official said. "The IAEA is talking with 50-60 countries about the construction of nuclear power plants," Hans-Holger Rogner, head of planning and economic studies at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in the German newsletter VDI Nachrichten published overnight.

With only a few regulatory hurdles remaining, a nuclear power plant in Utah may not be that far off in the state's future. The state does, however, have other options, besides nuclear, with renewable energy sources ranging from solar, wind and geothermal, said Eric Spreng, community outreach coordinator for HEAL Utah. The Healthy Environment Alliance has scheduled a free presentation Thursday to cover the essential facts and discuss what it terms as "many of the myths" surrounding nuclear power as well as explore the vast untapped potential of renewable energy sources. "There is so much potential with wind, solar and geothermal and we are starting to see projects come on line," Spreng said. "I don't think nuclear is necessary with the green renewable technology."

The government has released a list of 11 sites in England and Wales where new nuclear power stations could be built. The locations were nominated by companies interested in building the stations, and the government has given its initial approval to the sites. Nine of the locations have previously had nuclear reactors, and the other two are close to Sellafield in Cumbria. A month-long public consultation period now commences. The government wants the first reactors operational by 2018.

Federal regulators say SCE&G operates a safe nuclear plant, but that doesn't stop Tange Jacobs from worrying about where she and her neighbors would go if there was an accident. "I know people who are in wheelchairs and bedridden," Jacobs said. "What are you going to do about them?" Jacobs voiced her concerns about V.C. Summer Nuclear Station during an open house Monday night at McCrorey-Liston Elementary School. South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and its state-operated partner, Santee Cooper, are seeking federal approval to add two reactor generating units costing $9.8 billion to the nuclear plant.

Who really benefits from the rezoning of Elmore County agricultural land to industrial in order to build a nuclear power plant? AEHI, the company behind the proposed nuclear plant, would have Elmore County citizens believe they would be the beneficiaries with job production and economic wealth. But how would AEHI benefit and does it matter? It matters if AEHI cannot finance a $30 billion nuclear power facility themselves and end up selling the land and permits to out-of-state or worse, out of country energy companies. Then this power plant is no longer an Idaho company and the land in Elmore County no longer belongs to the citizens of Idaho.

A nuclear energy bill ran into trouble Thursday in a Senate committee. Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, had to lay over House Bill 1750, dubbed the "Nuclear Energy Incentive Act," after fielding numerous questions from senators in the Energy and Environment Committee. However, a similar measure, Senate Bill 831, remains alive in the House. Bingman said he didn't want his measure to die. Laying the bill over means he can revive it next session, he said. If the bill had been voted down, it would be dead for two years. The measure sets up a procedure for companies that want to build nuclear power plants in Oklahoma.

A state representative pushing to bring nuclear energy to Utah has applied to the state to take billions of gallons of water from the Green River to supply reactors that could produce electricity for 3 million households. Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District, has filed an application with the Utah Division of Water Rights to transfer 29,600 acre-feet of water to Emery County.