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"There are four "fairly firm" proposals from companies interested in a proposed energy park at Hanford that would help provide power to the vitrification plant under construction at the site, a representative of the Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative said Tuesday. The Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative, a group seeking to establish the energy park, is working to secure 20 square miles of reclaimed land on the Hanford site for the energy park by 2013 and 60 square miles by 2015. Gary Petersen, vice president of Hanford programs for the Tri-City Development Council, told Richland City Council members at a Tuesday workshop that the types of energy the companies interested in the park would provide include piped natural gas supplied by Cascade Natural Gas, and biofuel, anhydrous ammonia and liquefied natural gas plants."

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Duke Energy, Areva, USEC Inc. and UniStar Nuclear Energy said Thursday they formed an alliance to build a nuclear power plant at a U.S. Department of Energy site in Piketon, Ohio. Dubbed as the Southern Ohio Clean Energy Park Alliance, the partnership will evaluate the site as a potential location for a new nuclear power plant, including preparing a plant siting study and licensing documents for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. UniStar is a joint alliance between France's EDF and Constellation Energy /quotes/comstock/13*!ceg/quotes/nls/ceg (CEG 26.32, -0.50, -1.86%) . The clean energy park comes after a DOE effort to convert former weapons sites for energy production. Duke will manage the project, provide project oversight and serve as the applicant for any NRC licensing applications.

Gary Gilmartin, executive director of the Oak Ridge Energy Parks Initiative, is the speaker at the June 25 membership meeting of ETEBA (Energy, Technology and Environmental Business Association). According to info distributed by ETEBA, Gilmartin will speak on the Tennessee Valley Nuclear Energy Coalition, a partnership of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, ORNL, Y-12 and TVA. "The partners plan to make the Tennessee Valley Corridor a center of excellence for nuclear research, technology and power generation," the ETEBA release said. Gilmartin, in his role as executive director of the Energy Parks Initiative, is working with CROET to develop a pilot energy park in Oak Ridge.

A workshop to discuss a proposed 2,700-acre energy park at Savannah River Site will be held next week and was scheduled after an environmental group's complaint that more public involvement was needed in the planning process. In a June 21 letter dated to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Friends of the Earth asked that the department halt development of an environmental assessment that could lead to the land's lease to the SRS Community Reuse Organization for an energy park. The group's primary concern is that the park could become another place that handles or processes nuclear waste, rather than a research center for alternative energy fuels, said Tom Clements, the group's Southeastern nuclear campaign coordinator.

A proposed energy park at Hanford could include piped natural gas, a biofuel plant and acres of solar panels that may help power the vitrification plant and one day produce commercial power. Gary Petersen, vice president of Hanford programs for the Tri-City Development Council, told Benton County commissioners Wednesday that Cascade Natural Gas has proposed piping natural gas to the future site, which could supply a significant amount of the energy needed to power the vitrification plant being built there. Two Cascade pipelines could be used. One would have to cross the Yakima River and the other would have to cross the Columbia. Natural gas is one of four proposals being eyed to offset energy consumption by the massive plant being built to turn some of Hanford's worst waste into a stable glass form.

A proposed energy park at Hanford could include piped natural gas, a biofuel plant and acres of solar panels that may help power the vitrification plant and one day produce commercial power. Gary Petersen, vice president of Hanford programs for the Tri-City Development Council, told Benton County commissioners Wednesday that Cascade Natural Gas has proposed piping natural gas to the future site, which could supply a significant amount of the energy needed to power the vitrification plant being built there. Two Cascade pipelines could be used. One would have to cross the Yakima River and the other would have to cross the Columbia. Natural gas is one of four proposals being eyed to offset energy consumption by the massive plant being built to turn some of Hanford's worst waste into a stable glass form.

Calling it the "beginning of the beginning," Duke Energy chairman, president and CEO James Rogers Thursday officially kicked off the effort to bring 400 to 700 new permanent jobs to Piketon within roughly the next decade. Advertisement The process will be pursued by a newly created partnership whose aim is to construct a new nuclear power facility in Piketon. And while it will take a considerable amount of time to complete, officials are hopeful it will lead the way to new life in a county that is presently facing 15.1 percent unemployment and routinely ranks among the highest jobless rates in the state. "It will, I think, help revitalize the economy of this part of the state," Gov. Ted Strickland said, adding that the project would make Ohio the only state including next-generation nuclear power production in its energy portfolio.

In 2003, there were a mere 100 mining claims in the million or so acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Now there are more than 8,500 - mostly for uranium - with more than 1,100 claims less than five miles from arguably America's most iconic national park. Late last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar received nearly 100,000 public comments supporting a permanent ban on new mining claims on the 1 million acres of national forest and Bureau of Land Management land surrounding the park. ken salazar And H.R. 644, floated by House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee chairman Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) and cosponsored by 40 House members - including Colorado Rep. Jared Polis (D-Boulder) - would make permanent a temporary moratorium Salazar imposed in July.

In 2003, there were a mere 100 mining claims in the million or so acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Now there are more than 8,500 - mostly for uranium - with more than 1,100 claims less than five miles from arguably America's most iconic national park. Late last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar received nearly 100,000 public comments supporting a permanent ban on new mining claims on the 1 million acres of national forest and Bureau of Land Management land surrounding the park. ken salazar And H.R. 644, floated by House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee chairman Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) and cosponsored by 40 House members - including Colorado Rep. Jared Polis (D-Boulder) - would make permanent a temporary moratorium Salazar imposed in July.

Collaboration and working locally toward national goals were expressed as overarching themes Friday as the National Environmental Research Parks (NERP) workshop came to an end in Aiken. Researchers and scholars from all seven of the nationwide facilities gathered at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory's conference center. "The commonality of programs has come through," said Ken McLeod, co-director of SREL. "Despite our geographical differences, we are working on similar research themes." SREL hosted the workshop for representatives from the seven environmental research park sites located at DOE nuclear sites: Los Alamos in New Mexico, Hanford in Washington, Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Oak Ridge in Tennessee, Fermilab in Illinois, the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho and the Savannah River Site. The network of research parks offers opportunities for scientists to combine their data to create a comprehensive picture of the impacts of climate change across widely varied geographic regions.

Collaboration and working locally toward national goals were expressed as overarching themes Friday as the National Environmental Research Parks (NERP) workshop came to an end in Aiken. Researchers and scholars from all seven of the nationwide facilities gathered at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory's conference center. "The commonality of programs has come through," said Ken McLeod, co-director of SREL. "Despite our geographical differences, we are working on similar research themes." SREL hosted the workshop for representatives from the seven environmental research park sites located at DOE nuclear sites: Los Alamos in New Mexico, Hanford in Washington, Yucca Mountain in Nevada, Oak Ridge in Tennessee, Fermilab in Illinois, the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho and the Savannah River Site. The network of research parks offers opportunities for scientists to combine their data to create a comprehensive picture of the impacts of climate change across widely varied geographic regions.

Despite the promise of thousands of jobs in this hard-hit part of Appalachia, some community members are skeptical as Duke Energy considers building a nuclear power plant at a former uranium enrichment plant here. Advertisement "Myself and a few other members are disillusioned and upset," said Lorry Swain, a South Shore, Ky., resident who serves on a 20-member community panel formed last year to give the Department of Energy environmental cleanup advice at the site. She said the panel, created under federal law to increase local input around decisions at the 3,700-acre Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion plant, didn't learn about Duke's proposal until a few days before it was announced on June 18. With a great deal of fanfare, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Sen. George Voinovich and Duke Energy Chairman James Rogers announced the formation of the Southern Ohio Clean Energy Park Alliance to pursue development of the Midwest's first nuclear power plant in decades. The plan comes under an Energy Department initiative to convert former government weapons sites to clean-energy alternatives.

"AREVA and Fresno Nuclear Energy Group (FNEG) today announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a Clean Energy Park near Fresno, California, including nuclear and renewable generation. According to the MOU, AREVA and FNEG will work together on the site selection and initial development of a nominal 1,600 Megawatt U.S. EPR™ reactor. The agreement also includes potential development of other AREVA energy technologies such as concentrated solar power. "Our goal is to create a power-producing infrastructure that combines clean electric energy sources, including nuclear, solar, and future technologies," said John Hutson, president of FNEG."

RWE hopes to construct a new plant near Sellafield and a scheme to transmit energy under the sea could deflect concerns from the Lake District National Park Authority about the possibility of pylons running across the countryside. Energy generated by wind farms in Cumbria could be transferred to the grid in the same way. Although RWE has not yet decided for definite how to connect power to the grid, the scheme has received some support. Steve Ratcliffe, director of planning and partnerships for the LDNPA, said: "The national park has been in active discussions with the group and supports the undersea pipelines option."

In one of Ohio's poorest regions, a jazz combo played "Pennies From Heaven." Executives from bitterly competitive companies embraced. Politicians of the two parties declared esteem for one another. A Republican senator gave a shout-out to a union leader. Americans even applauded the French. The world didn't come to an end, but there were many stars in alignment Thursday, June 18, as dignitaries announced plans to turn a contaminated Cold War-era atomic plant into America's first "clean energy park," home to Ohio's first nuclear reactor in two decades. The new Southern Ohio Clean Energy Park Alliance will prepare plans and licensing documents to locate at least one reactor on a 3,700-acre federal complex 100 miles southeast of Dayton.

"President Barack Obama's call for a new generation of nuclear power plants could weigh on decisions about a possible new nuclear power facility at the former uranium processing reservation in Piketon. But nobody expects any significant activity soon. It's been more than six months since Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, top officials from Duke Energy and other utility companies announced formation of the Southern Ohio Clean Energy Park Alliance. The informal alliance was formed to explore development of a 1,600-megawatt nuclear generating plant at a "clean energy park" that could cost more than $10 billion, take more than a decade to build and create thousands of jobs."

As the nation settles in for a long and increasingly contentious health care debate, residents of the CSRA are starting to draw battle lines of their own regarding the future of the Savannah River Site (SRS). According to the Department of Energy's Strategic Plan for the Savannah River Site, the 310-square-mile site is poised to become the DOE's premier location for new energy initiatives. It's got the land, the infrastructure, the brainpower and the workforce. All it needs are the initiatives. Skeptics of such an energy park, however, suspect the only real initiative the DOE is interested in involves prolonging its involvement in nuclear activities. "I think it's all a big ruse," says the Sierra Club's Susan Corbett. "What they really want are more nuclear missions."

As the nation settles in for a long and increasingly contentious health care debate, residents of the CSRA are starting to draw battle lines of their own regarding the future of the Savannah River Site (SRS). According to the Department of Energy's Strategic Plan for the Savannah River Site, the 310-square-mile site is poised to become the DOE's premier location for new energy initiatives. It's got the land, the infrastructure, the brainpower and the workforce. All it needs are the initiatives. Skeptics of such an energy park, however, suspect the only real initiative the DOE is interested in involves prolonging its involvement in nuclear activities. "I think it's all a big ruse," says the Sierra Club's Susan Corbett. "What they really want are more nuclear missions."

As the nation settles in for a long and increasingly contentious health care debate, residents of the CSRA are starting to draw battle lines of their own regarding the future of the Savannah River Site (SRS). According to the Department of Energy's Strategic Plan for the Savannah River Site, the 310-square-mile site is poised to become the DOE's premier location for new energy initiatives. It's got the land, the infrastructure, the brainpower and the workforce. All it needs are the initiatives. Skeptics of such an energy park, however, suspect the only real initiative the DOE is interested in involves prolonging its involvement in nuclear activities. "I think it's all a big ruse," says the Sierra Club's Susan Corbett. "What they really want are more nuclear missions."

"The old B Reactor on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation doesn't look like it's going to be a National Park anytime soon. But the National Park Service says there are ways to increase public access to the site. The agency held a public hearing on that idea Thursday in Richland as correspondent Anna King reports. The B Reactor, at Hanford, was part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. But now many of the sites associated with the race to build a nuclear bomb are disappearing. The National Parks Service came out with a study in December on how to save some of that history for the public."

"The Canadian government may be hampered in trying to sell Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. because of a decision by the New Brunswick government to work with a competitor, the Globe and Mail reported. New Brunswick dropped a proposal by Atomic Energy to build a new nuclear reactor because the Canadian crown corporation had failed to make progress on a plan to build the reactor and sell the power to New England, the newspaper said. Instead, the province signed a letter of intent yesterday with Areva SA of France to build a so-called "energy park." "

An environmental group won its request to review safety and engineering records of a Department of Energy nuclear reactor 100 miles upwind of Yellowstone National Park, according to federal court records. The Jackson-based Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free will be able to review 1,400 pages evaluating the safety of the advanced test reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to the Sept. 14 order by Chief U.S. District Judge William Downes. The lab is a 890-square-site with three main complexes west of Idaho Falls. "KYNF has been anxiously awaiting this decision because they maintain that the redacted documents contain the DOE's assessment of the safety and consequences of an accident at the controversial ATR, the largest nuclear test reactor in the world, said Mary Woollen, the environmental group's director. However, the environment group did not disagree with a Department of Energy motion granted by Downes to put the order on hold until Nov. 27 because of a possible appeal. The government also needs the time to review the documents and edit certain details.

An environmental group won its request to review safety and engineering records of a Department of Energy nuclear reactor 100 miles upwind of Yellowstone National Park, according to federal court records. The Jackson-based Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free will be able to review 1,400 pages evaluating the safety of the advanced test reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to the Sept. 14 order by Chief U.S. District Judge William Downes. The lab is a 890-square-site with three main complexes west of Idaho Falls. "KYNF has been anxiously awaiting this decision because they maintain that the redacted documents contain the DOE's assessment of the safety and consequences of an accident at the controversial ATR, the largest nuclear test reactor in the world, said Mary Woollen, the environmental group's director. However, the environment group did not disagree with a Department of Energy motion granted by Downes to put the order on hold until Nov. 27 because of a possible appeal. The government also needs the time to review the documents and edit certain details.

The U.S. Energy Department has halted its plan to conduct an Environmental Assessment involving the proposed lease of 2,700 acres at Savannah River Site for an energy park. The assessment was to be the first step in the process of determining the suitability of allowing the SRS Community Reuse Or­gan­ization to use the land for economic development purposes that critics fear could bring additional nuclear waste to South Carolina. Jim Giusti, a DOE spokesman at the site, said halting the assessment will allow time for more dialogue and discussion before any binding decisions are made.

A federal judge said Tuesday that he will decide soon if he should dismiss a Highland Park man's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy or allow it to go forward. Moniem El-Ganayni claims the Energy Department revoked his national security clearance, causing him to lose his job as a nuclear physicist at a West Mifflin laboratory, in retaliation for him publicly condemning the war in Iraq and local FBI agents for allegedly mistreating Muslims. The Egyptian-born U.S. citizen claims the Energy Department's actions violated his constitutional rights to free speech and to not be discriminated against for his ethnicity or religion.

"The long and drawn-out process of gathering environmental and regulatory information for a building permit occupy plans for a nuclear power plant that could be in the future at the site of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Piketon. The plant shut down in 2001 after nearly 50 years of turning out weapons-grade uranium. The loss of 900 jobs was felt throughout the southern Ohio communities surrounding the plant. It's been just over a year now since officials from four of the nation's biggest energy companies came together and announced formation of an alliance to pursue the development of America's first clean energy park at the site, owned by the U.S. Department of Energy. "