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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced today that applications for a 20-year renewal of the operating licenses for Salem Nuclear Generating Station Units 1 and 2, and Hope Creek Generating Station are available for public review. Both plants are located in Hancock Bridge, N.J., about 18 miles south of Wilmington, Del. The current operating licenses for Salem Nuclear Generating Station Units 1 and 2 expire on Aug. 13, 2016 and April 18, 2020; and the Hope Creek license expires on April 11, 2026. The licensee, PSEG Nuclear LLC, submitted the renewal applications on August 18 for Salem and Hope Creek, respectively. The applications are available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications.html. The NRC staff is currently conducting an initial review of the applications to determine whether they contain enough information for the required formal review. If the applications have sufficient information, the NRC will formally "docket," or file, the applications and will announce an opportunity to request a public hearing. For further information, contact Donnie Ashley, project manager, in the Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O11-F1, Washington, D.C. 20555; telephone (301) 415-3191 or email at Donnie.Ashley@nrc.gov.

Three nuclear power plants in southern New Jersey have begun their relicensing process. The Salem 1 and 2 and Hope Creek plants share an island on the Delaware River. The permit for Salem 2 is good until 2020 and Hope Creek is licensed to operate until 2026. But plant co-owner PSEG Nuclear says it is submitting relicensing materials for them along with Salem 1 because all the plants share operations. The Salem 1 license expires in 2016. Plant officials met with officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday to outline relicensing plans.

South and central New Jersey are Ground Zero, so to speak, concerning the future of aging U.S. nuclear electricity plants. The nation's oldest operating commercial plant, Oyster Creek in Lacy Township, awaits its fate, with its initial 40-year license set to expire this year. Meanwhile, PSEG Nuclear took official steps this month to extend the licenses of its three Salem County plants. And, Saturday was the 30th anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. While it resulted in the meltdown of a reactor core, the containment walls worked. The U.S. nuclear industry still can point to a safety record that traces no deaths directly to a plant release. At Salem, the original license for Unit 1 expires in 2016, the Unit 2 license expires in 2020, and Hope Creek is licensed until 2026. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires considerable lead time for relicensing, and there should be sufficient time to answer questions from citizens, experts and the NRC itself.

"The issue of tritium-contaminated water that leaked from the Oyster Creek nuclear generating station in Lacey dominated the annual briefing Tuesday night of the plant's safety performance. The May 14 discovery of water containing tritium - a weak radioactive isotope that is a byproduct of nuclear fission - has been of especial interest to environmentalists and other plant critics, who attended the meeting conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Exelon Nuclear, which operates the plan, has said the water was residue from a July 2007 leak from pipes in an underground vault. The NRC is in the process of verifying that statement. "The outstanding question, which we hope will be clarified, is whether the NRC helped Exelon to hide the truth from the public" regarding the May 14 discovery, Richard Webster, legal director of the Environmental Law Center, said prior to the assessment meeting held at the Toms River Holiday Inn."

An "unusual event" was declared at the Hope Creek nuclear reactor early Thursday morning after sump pumps failed to start and drain water accumulating in a service building. The incident occurred in a non-nuclear area of the plant where water is drawn into the plant from the Delaware River to be used for cooling the plant. A leak let about 2 inches of river water to accumulate on the floor of the building before an alarm sounded, according to Joe Delmar, a spokesman for the plant's operator, PSEG Nuclear.

Last week, PSEG Nuclear officially asked federal regulators to extend the licenses of the three nuclear reactors at the Salem/Hope Creek site for 20 more years. The reactors, which are just 15 miles from downtown Wilmington, are aging, and their original licenses will soon expire. Advertisement Regulators will take several years to make an official decision. But in reality, they have already made up their minds to approve it. In this decade, the government has granted 52 of 52 requests for license extension -- half of the 104 nuclear reactors in the U.S. -- with more likely to follow. Companies like PSEG Nuclear claim that nuclear reactors produce "safe, reliable, economic, and green energy." But for years, there have been major concerns about the health threat posed by nuclear reactors.

Last week, PSEG Nuclear officially asked federal regulators to extend the licenses of the three nuclear reactors at the Salem/Hope Creek site for 20 more years. The reactors, which are just 15 miles from downtown Wilmington, are aging, and their original licenses will soon expire. Advertisement Regulators will take several years to make an official decision. But in reality, they have already made up their minds to approve it. In this decade, the government has granted 52 of 52 requests for license extension -- half of the 104 nuclear reactors in the U.S. -- with more likely to follow. Companies like PSEG Nuclear claim that nuclear reactors produce "safe, reliable, economic, and green energy." But for years, there have been major concerns about the health threat posed by nuclear reactors.

One New Jersey nuclear power plant has been shut down and another put on reduced power because of ice in the Delaware River. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Salem Unit 2 was shut down around 8 a.m. Sunday because it was taking ice into its cooling mechanism. Salem Unit 1 was also reduced to 80 percent power for the same reason. It's not clear when the two plants will return to full power. Hope Creek, a third nuclear power plant in the same complex, was not powered down because of the ice.

One New Jersey nuclear power plant has been shut down and another put on reduced power because of ice in the Delaware River. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Salem Unit 2 was shut down around 8 a.m. Sunday because it was taking ice into its cooling mechanism. Salem Unit 1 was also reduced to 80 percent power for the same reason. It's not clear when the two plants will return to full power. Hope Creek, a third nuclear power plant in the same complex, was not powered down because of the ice.

URGENT ACTION ALERT! Condemned by health and environmental groups across the country, GNEP means foreign nuclear waste imported and "reprocessed" in the USA. This is a national issue! We need a big national outcry!!! Washington, Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, South Carolina, and all our sister states! Cold War nuclear sites are thirty years behind on clean-up! NO foreign waste! Global Nuclear Energy Partnership In the dying throes of the Bush administration, one last environmental disaster is being foisted on the public. With GNEP, the Pacific Northwest, Hanford Nuclear Reservation and Idaho Falls, the Southwest and sites in the Eastern USA could all get a lot more nuclear waste (both from within and outside the country) and dirty nuclear waste 'reprocessing' plants, "recycling" reactors, and "advanced fuel cycle research facilities"-all verbal green-washings of very dirty processes. The Department of Energy (DOE) is holding public hearings on GNEP in November through early December, 2008, final hearing on December 9 in Washington DC in a rush to push this awful idea in under the wire. Thursday, November 20, 7:00 p.m. Hilton Garden Inn 700 Lindsay Boulevard Idaho Falls, IDAHO 83402 Tuesday, November 18, 7:00 p.m. Best Western Hood River Inn - Gorge Room 1108 East Marina Way Hood River, OREGON 97031 Monday, November 17, 7:00 p.m. Red Lion Hotel 2525 North 20th Avenue Pasco, WASHINGTON 99301 Monday, November 17, 7:00 p.m. Lea County Event Center 5101 North Lovington-Hobbs Hwy Hobbs, NEW MEXICO 88240 Tuesday, November 18, 9:00 a.m. Pecos River Village Conference Center Carousel House 711 Muscatel Avenue Carlsbad, NEW MEXICO 88220 Tuesday, November 18, 7:00 p.m. Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell Occupational Technology Center Seminar Room 124 20 West Mathis Roswell, NEW MEXICO 88130 Thursday, November 20, 7:00 p.m. Hilltop House Best Western 400 Trinity Drive (at Central) Los Alamos, NEW MEXICO 87544 Mon