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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.

Lawyers have charged £16million in the battle to get justice for Britain's nuclear test veterans. The money has been spent by legal teams for the UK Ministry of Defence and the veterans during a fiercely contested High Court action. It means the final bill could be much higher than any com-pensation eventually received. The revelation comes after a judge told both sides, who are meant to have been negotiating a settlement for the past six months, to start talks. Some 22,000 men, who were sent to Australia and the South Pacific to witness atomic bomb tests, allegedly suffered a range of health problems. Many of the 3,000 survivors have joined together in a major legal case to sue the MoD for negligence. But the case has descended into farce, with the MoD claiming a confidential offer has been made, but vets' lawyers saying they haven't received one. The High Court was told on Friday that costs are already at £15m for the three-year case, with a further £1m expected to pay for an appeal brought by the MoD which will be heard in May.

Lawyers have charged £16million in the battle to get justice for Britain's nuclear test veterans. The money has been spent by legal teams for the UK Ministry of Defence and the veterans during a fiercely contested High Court action. It means the final bill could be much higher than any com-pensation eventually received. The revelation comes after a judge told both sides, who are meant to have been negotiating a settlement for the past six months, to start talks. Some 22,000 men, who were sent to Australia and the South Pacific to witness atomic bomb tests, allegedly suffered a range of health problems. Many of the 3,000 survivors have joined together in a major legal case to sue the MoD for negligence. But the case has descended into farce, with the MoD claiming a confidential offer has been made, but vets' lawyers saying they haven't received one. The High Court was told on Friday that costs are already at £15m for the three-year case, with a further £1m expected to pay for an appeal brought by the MoD which will be heard in May.

A request for a temporary restraining order against CPS Energy has been denied by Bexar County District Judge John D. Gabriel. Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA) LLC, the joint venture of NRG Energy and Toshiba Corp., had sought the order during a hearing to determine a court date when legal pleadings will be heard concerning CPS Energy's lawsuit against NINA. The legal dispute arose over questions about the cost estimate of two nuclear reactors at the South Texas Project near Bay City, Texas. CPS Energy contends that the estimate came in $4 billion higher than the utility anticipated.

A request for a temporary restraining order against CPS Energy has been denied by Bexar County District Judge John D. Gabriel. Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA) LLC, the joint venture of NRG Energy and Toshiba Corp., had sought the order during a hearing to determine a court date when legal pleadings will be heard concerning CPS Energy's lawsuit against NINA. The legal dispute arose over questions about the cost estimate of two nuclear reactors at the South Texas Project near Bay City, Texas. CPS Energy contends that the estimate came in $4 billion higher than the utility anticipated.

"* Nuclear producers say might study legal ways to fight tax * Eye energy plan in August for new line on life extensions German utilities said on Thursday they might sue the government over a planned tax on nuclear power production after a meeting in Berlin on Wednesday failed to appease them. "We will look into possible legal steps if the tax is imposed without any compensation," a spokesman for E.ON (EONGn.DE) said. A spokesman for RWE (RWEG.DE) said it would consider legal steps, once the tax plan became more concrete, not least because stock market regulations would oblige the company to do so. "But, currently, it does not make sense to issue threats as the plans have not been spelled out in detail," he said."

EnergySolutions won't be able to bring more depleted uranium to Utah until the company proves the waste can be safely disposed in Tooele County for the long run. That's what the Utah Radiation Control Board decided Tuesday by sticking to principles it adopted last month, even after the company threatened legal action. The limit on DU, as depleted uranium is often called, does not go into effect for several months, and that leaves open a window for EnergySolutions to bring up to 15,000 drums of it from a government cleanup in South Carolina. But board members said their action Tuesday actually gets the safeguard in place sooner than originally expected. EnergySolutions sent its attorney to the board meeting Tuesday to warn of potential legal consequences if the board did not backtrack on actions taken at its October meeting.

EnergySolutions won't be able to bring more depleted uranium to Utah until the company proves the waste can be safely disposed in Tooele County for the long run. That's what the Utah Radiation Control Board decided Tuesday by sticking to principles it adopted last month, even after the company threatened legal action. The limit on DU, as depleted uranium is often called, does not go into effect for several months, and that leaves open a window for EnergySolutions to bring up to 15,000 drums of it from a government cleanup in South Carolina. But board members said their action Tuesday actually gets the safeguard in place sooner than originally expected. EnergySolutions sent its attorney to the board meeting Tuesday to warn of potential legal consequences if the board did not backtrack on actions taken at its October meeting.

Friends of the Earth said it filed an appeal May 22 with the South Carolina Supreme Court over state regulators' approvals for two new Westinghouse AP1000s at the Summer reactor site. The group is challenging the legality of the South Carolina Public Service Commission's decision in February to permit South Carolina Electric & Gas to build the two new units and to begin recovering some of the costs from ratepayers during construction. The PSC in March denied FOE's appeal of its decision. In a statement, FOE said the filing is the first legal challenge to South Carolina's Baseload Review Act and a decision made under it. The Baseload Review Act, passed in 2007, provides for early cost recovery for nuclear power plant projects.

"Friends of the Earth has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the government over its "fundamentally flawed" plans to approve hundreds of new nuclear reactors, power plants, wind farms, electricity pylons and pipelines. The group has written to energy secretary Ed Miliband warning him that government planning statements issued in November breach environmental regulations and had not followed proper consultation. Friends of the Earth said it was also supported by conservation groups, the WWF and RSPB. The energy industry and ministers have been braced for a legal challenge for months, particularly over plans to build as many as 10 new nuclear reactors."

he BNP has said it is considering "legal avenues" after its leader was refused permission to visit the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. Nick Griffin had wanted a fact-finding tour of the site, which is in his North West European Parliament constituency. But Sellafield Limited, the facility's operator, said it was concerned about security and possible demonstrations.

he BNP has said it is considering "legal avenues" after its leader was refused permission to visit the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. Nick Griffin had wanted a fact-finding tour of the site, which is in his North West European Parliament constituency. But Sellafield Limited, the facility's operator, said it was concerned about security and possible demonstrations.

he BNP has said it is considering "legal avenues" after its leader was refused permission to visit the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. Nick Griffin had wanted a fact-finding tour of the site, which is in his North West European Parliament constituency. But Sellafield Limited, the facility's operator, said it was concerned about security and possible demonstrations.

"Bellona presents an analysis of the draft law "On Management of Radioactive Waste," currently under consideration in the Russian legislature. This position reflects the opinion shared equally by Bellona and experts from most ecological non-governmental organisations operating in Russia. Aleksandr Nikitin, 01/07-2010 - Translated by Maria Kaminskaya Foreword The draft Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Management of Radioactive Waste" (hereinafter, the Bill) has been under preparation by Russian legislators for over ten years. At present, the bill is going through its second reading at the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma. According to the requirements set forth by the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, which Russia signed in Vienna in 1999 and ratified in 2005, countries that employ nuclear energy must have a regulatory and legal framework in place to ensure safe management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste. The proposed legislation will govern all legal relations arising in the field of management of SNF and radioactive waste. As an instrument to regulate such relations, the Bill is without doubt a necessity. Precisely how such relations will be regulated by the Bill in its current form, however, is a different matter. For the reader's convenience, the following analysis has been divided into three distinct parts detailing the potential ecological, social, and economical issues raised by the Bill. This analysis represents the opinion shared equally by Bellona and the majority of experts working with ecological non-governmental organisations in Russia. The ecological impact 1. The fundamental ecological problem that arises with the passing of the Bill is that it will legalise the existing practice of injecting liquid radioactive waste (LRW) inside geological formations for disposal."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission set ground rules Wednesday for appeals of this week's ruling that sidetracked plans to scrap a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste license. The agency issued a one-page order setting a July 9 date for appeals and arguments on why the decision issued by an agency legal panel should not be overturned. Follow-up briefs are due July 16. Attorneys and officials who follow the Yucca Mountain case interpreted it as a sign that the commission wants to address the issue sooner rather than later. It was widely expected that the leaders of the regulatory agency would have the final word after the initial ruling. Based on the schedule for legal briefs and the amount of time taken for the commission to resolve a matter last year in the Yucca case, it is possible that a final decision could come around mid-August, according to Charles Fitzpatrick, an attorney representing Nevada."

"How does a federal ruling finding that the Obama administration does not have the legal authority to abandon Nevada's Yucca Mountain waste site affect U.S. nuclear energy policy? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's board ruled last week that the administration does not have the legal right to withdraw its license for the proposed nuclear waste repository site. President Obama has already yanked funding for the site, and many aspects of the project are being ramped down. The Energy Department plans to appeal the commission's ruling. "

"A Nuclear Regulatory Commission legal panel says the federal Department of Energy can't withdraw its application to build a national nuclear waste dump in Nevada. The NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled Tuesday that Congress directed the DOE to file an application for the Yucca Mountain repository, and directed the NRC to consider it. It says letting the department "single-handedly derail" the process would be "contrary to congressional intent." The NRC legal panel held hearings on the issue earlier this month in Las Vegas."

"* Report highlights widespread failings at Europe's biggest atomic site * Safety watchdog closes one plant and takes legal action against site's operators The government's safety watchdog is cracking down on Britain's biggest and oldest nuclear complex after a series of radioactive leaks and safety blunders, despite private sector managers receiving multimillion-pound "performance-related" payments from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has closed down a vital nuclear waste plant at Sellafield in Cumbria, and is taking legal action to force the site's operators to improve their flawed safety procedures. The HSE has also rejected a £40bn plan for cleaning up Sellafield because of proposed delays in dismantling ageing and potentially hazardous facilities."

PG&E's decision to begin moving its spent fuel to above-ground canisters sparked a legal battle Operators at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will begin loading the first dry cask with highly radioactive used reactor fuel on June 1. The decision by plant owners Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to begin transferring its spent fuel to above-ground canisters touched off a groundbreaking legal battle with local antinuclear activists in 2002 - and it continues to this day. San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace wants federal regulators to require that PG&E take additional steps to protect the storage facility from terrorist attacks.

A war veteran from near Chorley is taking his case to the High Court this month after being exposed to atomic bomb tests during the 1950s. George Harrison, 73, isn't well enough to travel to London to fight his legal battle against the Ministry of Defence in person but he hopes the case - part of one of largest compensation claims against the MoD from hundreds of servicemen - will reach a positive conclusion after more than half a century.

A state panel decided Tuesday the former president of a radioactive-waste disposal site does not have legal standing to block a renewal of the site's license. The Radiation Control Board was poised to vote on a measure to give Charles Judd the right to bring forward evidence in support of his case. But it quickly reversed course after the board's attorney advised that members' policy discussions in coming months might be drastically limited because of the legal wrangling. The move was a victory for EnergySolutions Inc., the Salt Lake City nuclear services company that operates a mile-square disposal site for low-level radioactive waste in Tooele County.

The Nigeria Atomic Energy Agency on Friday received a draft legal framework which would guide the implementation of the nation's nuclear power programme. The existing legal framework was signed into law in 1976, although Nigeria only initiated efforts to utilise nuclear resources to generate electricity in 2006.

It hit 117 degrees here in Las Vegas, but what's heating up longer term is another kind of heat -- radiation. The Department of Energy applied for its long-sought permit to open a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. DOE proceeded, as it always has on this project, with reckless disregard of the fact that isn't nearly ready to answer the questions that will arise. Just before the filing, the State of Nevada revealed that it had identified between 250 and 500 legal flaws in the permit process, any one of which could be the basis for a legal challenge.

Imagine a Utah that cannot shut the gate on foreign radioactive waste, cannot outlaw hotter low-level waste and cannot even revoke the license of a nuclear waste disposal site within its borders. That anything-goes scenario might well become reality if EnergySolutions Inc. wins its legal quest to strip a regional waste agency of its legal powers, according to a lawyer for the state of Utah. The issue is at the core of a case argued Thursday before U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart. EnergySolutions says a regional oversight agency has no say over the company's mile-square disposal site in Tooele County, since it's a private business with cross-border commerce rights granted by the U.S. Constitution.

A coalition of environmental groups is asking federal regulators to put the brakes on the proposed expansion of the Fermi nuclear power plant in Monroe County on the grounds that it is unnecessary and poses threats to the environment and human health. Beyond Nuclear, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan and the Sierra Club, are all representing locals who live within 50 miles of Fermi and therefore have legal standing to intervene in the reactor permitting process. According to Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Scott Burnell, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a panel of administrative law judges, will determine whether the groups' contentions should be introduced as part of the hearing on the permit. There is one operational nuclear reactor at the electricity-generating complex in Monroe County's Frenchtown Township, known as Fermi 2. Fermi 1 shut down in 1972.