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The 4th AtomTrans-2009 international nuclear forum has opened in St. Petersburg. BaltInfo.ru news agency reported Tuesday that AtomTrans-2009 Press Secretary Vadim Titov said that a key topic of forum discussions will be "efforts to ensure safety in the transportation and use of radioactive materials, as well as safety in the handling of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste." Addressing Atomtrans-2009 participants Atomspetstrans JSC Director Vladimir Naschokin said that upgrading Russia's containers for transporting spent nuclear fuel will require investment of $79 million to $93 million. Otherwise, according to Naschokin, while the need for transport will continue until 2028, in the absence of investment a shortage of containers for transporting spent nuclear fuel from Russia's 19 VVER-440 440-megawatt reactors will occur beginning in 2016. Besides radioactive material transport issues, the forum will also cover matters concerning intermediate storage and final isolation of radioactive waste. Scientists and specialists attending the forum will also tour nuclear power industry facilities in northwestern Russia.

The 4th AtomTrans-2009 international nuclear forum has opened in St. Petersburg. BaltInfo.ru news agency reported Tuesday that AtomTrans-2009 Press Secretary Vadim Titov said that a key topic of forum discussions will be "efforts to ensure safety in the transportation and use of radioactive materials, as well as safety in the handling of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste." Addressing Atomtrans-2009 participants Atomspetstrans JSC Director Vladimir Naschokin said that upgrading Russia's containers for transporting spent nuclear fuel will require investment of $79 million to $93 million. Otherwise, according to Naschokin, while the need for transport will continue until 2028, in the absence of investment a shortage of containers for transporting spent nuclear fuel from Russia's 19 VVER-440 440-megawatt reactors will occur beginning in 2016. Besides radioactive material transport issues, the forum will also cover matters concerning intermediate storage and final isolation of radioactive waste. Scientists and specialists attending the forum will also tour nuclear power industry facilities in northwestern Russia.

Indigenous people from across North America will meet in Acoma in late October to launch a campaign to end recent efforts to resume uranium mining, which is seen as a threat to Indian lands in several Native locations across the country. * The Seventh Indigenous Uranium Forum was established in 1987 with conferences on the environmental and health effects of uranium development in the Grants Mineral Belt. Since its inception the forum has developed as a vehicle for strategy development and coordination of communities along the lifeline of nuclear power, from uranium mining in Grants to nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. A statement from the forum reads, "The 7th Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum will focus on the recent onslaught of exploratory measures to mine and mill uranium in the Grants Mineral Belt. Due to recent price fluctuations of uranium on the world market and U.S. policy still emphasizing nuclear power as an answer to global warming and climate change, we will inform and educate participants of local, national and international nuclear issues impacting Indigenous people." There will also be presentations on health issues affecting both mining and non-mining populations in the affected communities.

Indigenous people from across North America will meet in Acoma in late October to launch a campaign to end recent efforts to resume uranium mining, which is seen as a threat to Indian lands in several Native locations across the country. * The Seventh Indigenous Uranium Forum was established in 1987 with conferences on the environmental and health effects of uranium development in the Grants Mineral Belt. Since its inception the forum has developed as a vehicle for strategy development and coordination of communities along the lifeline of nuclear power, from uranium mining in Grants to nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. A statement from the forum reads, "The 7th Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum will focus on the recent onslaught of exploratory measures to mine and mill uranium in the Grants Mineral Belt. Due to recent price fluctuations of uranium on the world market and U.S. policy still emphasizing nuclear power as an answer to global warming and climate change, we will inform and educate participants of local, national and international nuclear issues impacting Indigenous people." There will also be presentations on health issues affecting both mining and non-mining populations in the affected communities.

All four panelists at Wednesday's forum on nuclear energy agreed the decision to partner in or forgo the expansion of the nuclear South Texas Project will play a large role in shaping San Antonio's economic future. That's where the agreement ended. The San Antonio Clean Technology Forum brought in three national experts to join CPS Energy interim General Manager Steve Bartley. The forum focused on the economics around the utility's plans to partner with NRG Energy to build two more nuclear reactors near Bay City. The utility estimates the project will cost $13 billion and wants to take a 40 percent share. CPS already has spent $276 million on the planning and permitting, and the City Council is expected in October to vote on another $400 million to enable CPS to stay in the project.

On October 29, ELI will hold the principal policy event of its 40th anniversary year, the ELI-Miriam Hamilton Keare Policy Forum. The topic this year will explore whether expanded use of nuclear power and coal is inevitable in our climate-constrained future, and if so, how best to manage them. This issue has gained greater salience in recent years, as advances in technology promise a new generation of safer nuclear reactors and the possibility of sequestering coal emissions. In 2007, Sir Patrick Moore, the founder of Greenpeace, proclaimed that nuclear power is essential to combating climate change. Producers of coal maintain that it is impossible to ignore the most-abundant fossil fuel -- and that it can compete with lower-carbon energy sources. The Hon. Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will be among the panelists participating in the Forum. Representing an entirely different viewpoint, Wellinghoff once told reporters, "we may not need any, ever," referring to new coal and nuclear power plants. State regulators, meanwhile, are responsible to ratepayers and pollution control mandates. Environmental organizations have mostly opposed expanded use of both energy sources, but that opinion is by no means monolithic.

On October 29, ELI will hold the principal policy event of its 40th anniversary year, the ELI-Miriam Hamilton Keare Policy Forum. The topic this year will explore whether expanded use of nuclear power and coal is inevitable in our climate-constrained future, and if so, how best to manage them. This issue has gained greater salience in recent years, as advances in technology promise a new generation of safer nuclear reactors and the possibility of sequestering coal emissions. In 2007, Sir Patrick Moore, the founder of Greenpeace, proclaimed that nuclear power is essential to combating climate change. Producers of coal maintain that it is impossible to ignore the most-abundant fossil fuel -- and that it can compete with lower-carbon energy sources. The Hon. Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will be among the panelists participating in the Forum. Representing an entirely different viewpoint, Wellinghoff once told reporters, "we may not need any, ever," referring to new coal and nuclear power plants. State regulators, meanwhile, are responsible to ratepayers and pollution control mandates. Environmental organizations have mostly opposed expanded use of both energy sources, but that opinion is by no means monolithic.

Managing lake levels is a delicate balancing act at best, a Duke official said Thursday, but the general outlook calls for levels of some lakes to decline. Lake Jocassee can expect to take the biggest hit, said George Galleher of Duke Energy hydroelectric operations, because of the lake's part in the whole balancing act. Galleher spoke at a forum on the overall health of the Duke Energy lakes and their watershed. The forum was sponsored by the Friends of Lake Keowee Society and held at Duke Energy's World of Energy center north of Seneca.

Managing lake levels is a delicate balancing act at best, a Duke official said Thursday, but the general outlook calls for levels of some lakes to decline. Lake Jocassee can expect to take the biggest hit, said George Galleher of Duke Energy hydroelectric operations, because of the lake's part in the whole balancing act. Galleher spoke at a forum on the overall health of the Duke Energy lakes and their watershed. The forum was sponsored by the Friends of Lake Keowee Society and held at Duke Energy's World of Energy center north of Seneca.

Opponents of the idea to use the Northern Territory for nuclear waste dumping will seek support for their campaign in Wollongong. Following the high-profile transfer of spent nuclear fuel to Port Kembla last month, the organisers of a public forum at the Illawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre are hoping they might find sympathy for their cause in the Illawarra. The public forum will be held on April 22 at 6pm and coincides with the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference, a major industry event being held in Sydney. Traditional land owners from the Muckaty land trust in the Northern Territory will speak at the forum. In 2011, the first shipment of Australia's re-processed low and intermediate level waste is due back from Scotland and France and needs to be stored somewhere, based on an agreement signed in the 1990s.

Ahead of a two-day European Nuclear Energy Forum meeting, DW-WORLD.DE spoke to both sides of the debate over whether Germany should stick to its total phase-out of nuclear power. The European Nuclear Energy Forum was established in 2007 as a platform for discussing issues related to nuclear power -- with an eye toward arriving at common EU policy. It's starting its two-day second session on Thursday, May 22, in Prague.

Concerns center on water usage, cost and spent fuel disposal. The future of San Antonio's ever-growing power needs was addressed Aug. 26 in McAllister Fine Arts Center during KSTX's Town Hall forum on energy. While the topic of the forum was all things energy, most of the evening's questions centered on CPS' proposed $10 billion-$13 billion expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear power plant in Bay City, which intends to add two additional nuclear reactors, as well as conversation on use of alternative and renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Construction for the new reactors, dubbed STP 3 & 4, is slated to begin in 2012. CPS' use of renewable resources, including solar, wind and natural gas, equals over 11 percent of the city's peak energy demand, according to the company's Web site. The Web site also lists a goal to increase that percentage to 20 percent by 2020.

More than 400 people gathered in Regina to weigh in on the province's nuclear options, with many in the crowd firmly opposed to the idea of building a reactor. The group responded to the findings of the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP), a panel struck by the Saskatchewan Party government to recommend how the province can add value to the uranium mined here. It suggested the province pursue a nuclear reactor to help meet future electricity needs.

"GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Ltd. and Westinghouse Electric Co. plan to use India as a low-cost supplier of nuclear parts for export to the U.S. and Europe, executives said on Thursday. "We see India as a very good supply chain for us to supply our world market," said Daniel Roderick, senior vice president at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, an alliance between General Electric Co. and Japan's Hitachi Ltd. based in Wilmington, N.C. The decision was driven by cost pressures both companies face as they prepare to build nuclear reactors in India, and it would not have been possible if the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group had not lifted a three-decade global ban on nuclear trade with India last year. In order to keep costs low enough to supply cost-competitive power to India, GE Hitachi said itplans to localize up to 70 percent of production, while Westinghouse plans to use local manufacturing and labour for up to 80 percent of its India work. "

Top Obama Administration officials, in Seattle for a Clean Energy Economy forum, touted new "clean" power sources as a wellspring for new American jobs. But there were surprisingly glowing words for nuclear power. "We're laying a foundation for our economic future: We all believe that a cornerstone of that will be a clean energy economy," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency boss Lisa Jackson. But an administration colleague, Undersecretary of Energy Kristina Johnson, praised nuclear energy - even though a collapsing nuclear construction program once threatened to melt down the Northwest's economy.

Top Obama Administration officials, in Seattle for a Clean Energy Economy forum, touted new "clean" power sources as a wellspring for new American jobs. But there were surprisingly glowing words for nuclear power. "We're laying a foundation for our economic future: We all believe that a cornerstone of that will be a clean energy economy," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency boss Lisa Jackson. But an administration colleague, Undersecretary of Energy Kristina Johnson, praised nuclear energy - even though a collapsing nuclear construction program once threatened to melt down the Northwest's economy.

Mayor Julian Castro City of San Antonio,Steve Bartley Interim General Manager, CPS Energy,Craig Severance, CPA Author, Business Risks & Costs of New Nuclear Power,Dr. Patrick Moore Co-Chair, Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, Dr. Arjun Makhijani President, Institute for Energy & Environmental Research At the San Antonio Clean Tech Forum noted pundits square off and discuss the San Antonio's involvement in the proposed expansion of the South Texas Nuclear project.

Mayor Julian Castro City of San Antonio,Steve Bartley Interim General Manager, CPS Energy,Craig Severance, CPA Author, Business Risks & Costs of New Nuclear Power,Dr. Patrick Moore Co-Chair, Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, Dr. Arjun Makhijani President, Institute for Energy & Environmental Research At the San Antonio Clean Tech Forum noted pundits square off and discuss the San Antonio's involvement in the proposed expansion of the South Texas Nuclear project.

"To whom does scientific debate belong? That was a central question raised by many of the 200-plus people who attended a citizens' forum in Tokyo on Oct. 12, as they criticized the ways in which the Japanese government and radiation specialists working for it are assessing and monitoring the health effects of the ongoing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The daylong conference, organized by the Japanese citizens' groups SAY-Peace Project and Citizens' Radioactivity Measuring Station (CRMS), featured experts who dispute much of the evidence on which the government has based its health and welfare decisions affecting residents of Fukushima Prefecture and beyond."

An informational forum on depleted uranium sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Jan. 30 in the 3M auditorium at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. In recent years, significant numbers of service members, including those in the Minnesota National Guard and Reserves, have been deployed overseas, where they might have worked with munitions and tanks reinforced with depleted uranium, a very dense metal.

City refuses to air meeting on Channel 15, but did air pro-nuke speakers A group of residents concerned about nuclear power coming to Victoria doesn't think the city is giving it a "fair shake." Texans for a Sound Energy Policy Alliance asked to air a recording of the "Nuclear 101" forum tonight on the city's Channel 15, but city leaders declined, director John Figer said.

Two days after Exelon Nuclear stepped forward in its quest to set up shop here, opponents sounded a warning and announced an October community forum. John Figer, director of Texans for a Sound Energy Alliance, said questions remain regarding nuclear power, safety and water usage.

The Generation IV International Forum, or GIF, was chartered in July 2001 to lead the collaborative efforts of the world's leading nuclear technology nations to develop next generation nuclear energy systems to meet the world's future energy needs. This unique international effort reached a major milestone in 2005 when five of the forum's member countries signed the world's first agreement aimed at the international development of advanced nuclear energy systems.

The feasibility study for the Aktau nuclear power plant (NPP) is currently being appraised by the state regulators, while the first block of the power plant is scheduled for launch in 2016, Kazatomprom vice president Sergei Yashin said. "The feasibility study has been completed and currently being appraised by the authorized state agencies," Yashin said at the forum of Kazakhstan Energy Week on Friday in Astana. Yashin reminded that the design and building of VBER-300 reactor and the NPP was the prerogative of the Russian-Kazakh joint venture established in October last year.

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.

The European Nuclear Energy Forum (Enef) was set up to bring together the nuclear power industry and green groups to encourage "an open debate without taboos" about the future of nuclear power. Fat chance. The industry will now have to talk to itself because Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Sortir du Nucléaire, the only groups invited into the industry-dominated body, have walked out, accusing Enef of stifling critical voices, ignoring their concerns and riding roughshod over alternative scientific evidence. A case of Enef's enough.