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Georgia, like other states in the Southeast, remains in growth mode despite the recession. Over the past decade, the state's population has swelled by more than 1.7 million, and it is projected to grow by another 1.2 million people over the coming decade. That means greater demand for energy. My nearly 40 years as an environmentalist have shown me that finding cost-effective and environmentally responsible energy sources is challenging. The demand for electricity to meet the needs of our growing population and to power our increasingly digital and connected economy continues to rise. At the same time, high demand for commodities such as steel and cement is driving up costs for building our electric infrastructure. To meet this challenge, Georgia needs to explore all energy alternatives - especially carbon-free nuclear power.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is poised to modify the structure of its legal panel as part of a review of its external advisers. The organisation will merge its three rosters into two distinct panels, with its national advisers combining with its projects roster, while the local panel remains separate. Acting head of legal Roger Clayson is leading the review and is currently considering submissions from around 15 interested parties. As part of the review, the firm will look to cut its existing advisers from nine to around six, with four or five firms on the combined national and projects panel and just one firm on the local roster.

FirstEnergy, owner of Davis-Besse nuclear power plant and operator of seven electric utility companies, laid off 335 employees Tuesday. Advertisement FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin said 29 of those worked in the Toledo area, which includes Davis-Besse, but Durbin couldn't say how many Davis-Besse employees were laid off. "Employees were notified today," Durbin said, "and severance packages were given." Durbin said packages included 1.5 weeks' pay for every full year of service as well the company's continuing contribution toward health benefits during that time. Durbin said the layoffs covered FirstEnergy's entire operation, which includes portions of Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey and Maryland. "It's something we didn't want to do," he said, "but based on the current economic climate it's something we had to do." Durbin said lower energy consumption by residential, industrial and business customers meant the company had to cut its operations, as well.

Washington doesn't have the geology to store high-level nuclear wastes. Too much groundwater; too much risk of radioactivity spreading into aquifers and the Columbia River. Such was the verdict of the scientists and policymakers who rejected Hanford as a nuclear waste dump more than 20 years ago. But President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are fast reversing that verdict. Their goal is to kill a planned permanent nuclear waste repository in Nevada, not create one in Washington. But it's the same difference. Hanford , the nuclear reservation in Eastern Washington, is already saddled with thousands of tons of intensely radioactive reactor-core byproducts. All of it was supposed to be buried in bone-dry caves under Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Terminate the Yucca Mountain project, and you eliminate what was supposed to be the destination of Washington's reactor wastes as well as wastes from more than 100 other reactor complexes across the United States.

It is among the most toxic substances on earth: 28,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste left over from the building of the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. And as the administration and the leader of the Senate move to close down a proposed repository for it in Nevada, the Idaho National Laboratory, along with the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, could become the de facto dump sites for years. After spending $10 billion to $12 billion studying a dump site at Yucca Mountain outside of Las Vegas, President Barack Obama is fulfilling a campaign promise by killing it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada also stands to benefit as he faces a difficult re-election fight next year.

The public will be left in the dark by a rushed schedule of legislative committee hearings on the province's energy future rammed through by the Saskatchewan Party government, the NDP Opposition said Wednesday. The Crown and Central Agencies committee was asked in the spring to "conduct an inquiry to determine how the province can best meet the growing demand for electricity in a manner that is safe, reliable, environmentally sustainable and affordable." But the NDP's Trent Wotherspoon said the government's plan for nine days of committee hearings to be held after the Sept. 21 byelections and before the start of the legislature session on Oct. 21 is woefully inadequate given the scope of the issue.

Workforce shortages could slow the growth of an industry poised for a comeback. Quirin Schiermeier reports. François Perchet, an electrical engineer by training, has seen the ebb and flow of the nuclear power industry in the course of his long career. He spent more than 30 years with the French electricity company EDF, which operates the country's 58 nuclear reactors, and knew most of the 19 nuclear plant sites in France. He worked in operations management, then in maintenance and repair, and later in probability-based safety studies. But last December, he crossed the English Channel for a two-year assignment as programme coordinator with the World Nuclear University (WNU) in London, where he helps promote nuclear training and education throughout the world.

During what company officials are calling a routine inspection, workers at the Beaver Valley nuclear power station discovered a hole in the containment building's steel encasement. "During the inspection of the Unit 1 containment building, a small blister was discovered on the steel liner," Todd Schneider, spokesman for FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), said in a telephone interview Friday night. A small hole was then discovered underneath some corrosion. Unit 1 at the Beaver Valley Power Station was shut down early Monday morning for a scheduled refueling and for maintenance work. "We are going to investigate on what caused it, but repairs should be completed during the time of the scheduled outage," Schneider predicted. According to information the company released to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the trouble spot was located at the 738-foot elevation level inside the containment area.

A program assistant who helps plan evacuation protocols near the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor is among the 320 state workers identified in the Douglas administration's reduction-in-force plan. Gov. James Douglas says the layoffs are needed to save $17 million in General Fund expenses. However, the radiological-preparedness position held by Jaclyn Harman - one of two state workers identified for potential elimination at the Department of Public Safety's 21-person Vermont Emergency Management division - is paid for entirely from a special reserve funded by the owners of the nuclear plant. Public Safety Commissioner Thomas Tremblay confirmed Wednesday that Harman's position is on the department's potential cut list, but he stressed that no final decisions have been made. The elimination of that position, if it happens, he said, would in no way threaten the safety of people living near the 500-megawatt power plant in Vernon.

"The biennial shutdown of Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is bringing hundreds of contractors -- and their money -- to Ottawa County. "Every two years we shut down the plant to refuel the reactor," said Todd Schneider, spokesman for First Energy. "We're going to have about 1,200 contractors in the area during that period of time, plus about 100 additional First Energy employees in the area from our other two nuclear plants. They come and assist.""

For the first time since 9-11, we get to see inside a highly secure plant, where plutonium was packaged for use in nuclear weapons. Plutonium production at Hanford ended after the cold war, but was still stored deep inside the Hanford site until just this past November. Now for the first time in nearly a decade security restrictions have been dropped. And the process now, is to get the building ready to be decontaminated, deconstructed and destroyed.

For the first time since 9-11, we get to see inside a highly secure plant, where plutonium was packaged for use in nuclear weapons. Plutonium production at Hanford ended after the cold war, but was still stored deep inside the Hanford site until just this past November. Now for the first time in nearly a decade security restrictions have been dropped. And the process now, is to get the building ready to be decontaminated, deconstructed and destroyed.