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A Washington State University Press book by former Hanford regulator Max S. Power has been chosen one of the "Best of the Best from the University Presses" by the American Library Association. America's Nuclear Wastelands: Politics, Accountability, and Cleanup, looks at the legacy of waste left at Hanford and other nuclear sites from decades of nuclear weapons production. The book also covers the current institutional and political environment as it affects waste cleanup and the critical role of public involvement in making decisions about cleanup.

The state's environmental review of Xcel Energy's proposal to ramp up operations at its Prairie Island nuclear plant is too narrow, critics said Tuesday. State officials met with the public at Red Wing Public Library for feedback on a study about the potential environmental impacts of increasing operations at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant. "I feel there are many unanswered questions," Joan Marshman, a Florence Township resident, said. The most common criticism was that the report doesn't prepare for the possibility that nuclear storage at Prairie Island will potentially be permanent, which critics said is necessary considering recent political events.

"When the U.S. Government began testing nuclear weapons between July 1945 and November 1962, about the only things test officials were sure of was that the bombs made big explosions and intriguing mushroom clouds. Since then, scientists and doctors have identified the deadly effects of radiation poisoning. Representatives from the Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program (RESEP) offer an educational lecture forum at 9 a.m. Thursday at Sharlot Hall Museum Library and Archives, 115 S. McCormick St., in Prescott. "Commonly known as the 'Downwinder Program,' RESEP helps individuals who live, or lived, in areas where U.S. nuclear weapons testing occurred," Sharlot Hall archivist Scott Anderson wrote in a press release. "The RESEP website lists Arizona as a high impact state." The Health Resources and Services Administration, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, oversees the radiation exposure program. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Program offers compensation payments from $50,000 to $100,000 for specific cancers and chronic diseases that may have resulted from radiation exposure. Sharlot Hall Museum Archives is one of the statewide locations where residents can search for proof of residency during the testing periods in order to file a claim for compensation."

"The Obama administration plans to ask Congress to increase spending on the U.S. nuclear arsenal by more than $5 billion over the next five years as part of its strategy to halt the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually rid the world of them. The administration argues that the boost is needed to ensure that U.S. warheads remain secure and work as designed as the arsenal shrinks and ages nearly 18 years into a moratorium on underground testing and more than two decades after large-scale warhead production ended. The increase is also required to modernize facilities - some dating to World War II - that support the U.S. stockpile and to retain experts who "will help meet the president's goal of securing vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide ... and enable us to track and thwart nuclear trafficking (and) verify weapons reductions," Vice President Joe Biden wrote in a Friday Wall Street Journal opinion piece. The administration will seek an initial $600-million increase for nuclear weapons programs in the proposed 2011 budget it submits to Congress on Monday. That would increase annual spending on those programs by about 10 percent, to almost $7 billion."

"Renowned Canadian author and historian Norman Leach will be visiting Terrace this week to speak about his book 'Broken Arrow-America's First Lost Nuclear Weapon' to mark the 60th anniversary of the historic aviation accident. Leach will be lecturing across the Northwest to schools, museums, libraries and community centers from Houston to Terrace to inspire, students and adults alike to develop a healthy interest in their community's local history. On the eve of Valentine's Day, 1950, an American Strategic Air Command B-36 bomber loaded with an atomic bomb, was flying a simulated bombing run from Alaska to San Francisco. "

"The FY 2011 budget request will be released on Monday, February 1, 2010. The Obama administration has laid out an aggressive nonproliferation agenda that includes deep reductions in nuclear stockpiles, ratification of a nuclear test ban, and decreased prominence for nuclear weapons in US defense policy. Despite this agenda, the Department of Energy's (DOE) budget request will ask Congress to significantly increase nuclear weapons activities, including funding for construction of new facilities that will expand U.S. warhead production capacity. The DOE request will not reflect recent independent scientific conclusions that existing nuclear weapons can be reliably maintained for decades under current, well-established programs. The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA), a national network representing communities downwind and downstream from U.S. nuclear weapons facilities, is concerned that increased funding for nuclear energy and weapons research and production will rob precious resources for needed environmental cleanup and clean, sustainable energy solutions. Items of interest:"

"The Department of Labor (DOL) Site Exposure Matrices (SEM) Website is a repository of information gathered from a variety of sources regarding toxic substances present at Department of Energy (DOE) and Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) facilities covered under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). In putting together SEM, DOL held round table meetings with workers from DOE facilities all over the country and gathered their input on the hazards at these sites. DOL also obtained copies of thousands of documents from DOE regarding toxic substances at those facilities. In addition to toxic substance information, the SEM Website also contains information regarding scientifically established links between toxic substances and illnesses. Displayed links for diagnosed illnesses show how these correlate to toxic substance exposures. The relationship between toxic substances and diagnosed illnesses shown in SEM is derived from records of research by recognized medical authorities maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). DOL continually updates these relationships as new disease associations are recognized by NLM. The causal links provided by NLM do not represent an exclusive list of the pathways necessary for an affirmative Part E causation determination. Every case is evaluated on its own evidentiary merits. (Please note, however that SEM does not address the relationship between radiation and cancer. For purposes of EEOICPA, the relationship between radiation and cancer is evaluated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH))."

The Committee's recommendation for Defense Environmental Cleanup totals $5,425,202,000, an increase of $127,946,000 over the budget request of $5,297,256,000. Within the amounts provided, the Department is directed to fund hazardous waste worker training at $10,000,000. Closure Sites.--The Committee recommendation provides $45,883,000, the same as the budget request. The recommendation provides $13,209,000 for Closure Sites Administration, $30,574,000 for Miamisburg, Ohio, and $2,100,000 for Fernald, Ohio.

The following collection contains documents describing agreements between the NRC and other organizations. This is the NRC's link to all MOU's between the present and 1984

1. On 15 September 2008, the Director General reported to the Board of Governors on the implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of Security Council resolutions 1737 (2006), 1747 (2007) and 1803 (2008) in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) (GOV/2008/38). On 27 September 2008, the Security Council adopted resolution 1835 (2008) on the same matter. This report covers relevant developments since September 2008.

The online Encyclopedia of Peace Education provides a comprehensive overview of scholarly developments in the field to date as well as new insights from across the globe from various actors involved in advancing peace education. This online resource serves as a living reference guide that traces the history and emergence of the field, highlights foundational concepts, contextualizes peace education practice across international and disciplinary borders, and suggests new directions for peace educators. From core conceptual perspectives to the moral and spiritual foundations of the field to the role of the United Nations, the Encyclopedia grounds peace education in a solid theoretical and practical framework through the writings of some of the field's most renowned scholars and its emerging voices. This online resource targets undergraduate and graduate students as well as scholars and practitioners working in international and non-governmental organizations in the field of peace education.

The Trade & Environment Database (TED) is a collection of categorical case studies that began with a focus on solely environmental issues, but did not include the economic consequences of other social policy choices, such as culture, rights, or other issues. TED cases include 28 categories that include both coded and reporting, organized into 6 clusters of information with extensive search and knowledge capabilities. There are around 700 TED cases studies. Please search the TED databases, read more about our research, see about the TED book, participate in Mandala events, and get involved (internships and distance learning). Click here to see the NEW Geographic Indications and International Trade (GIANT) project

In August 1975, somebody scored a sweet deal. That summer, a transport company paid $2 a barrel to dump 2,353 drums into a Ephrata landfill. There were no records of what was in the barrels, which since then have rotted and leaked toxic chemicals into an underlying aquifer, according to this story by Michelle McNiel in the Wenatchee World .

For more than a month in the summer of 2006, a metal recycler in Longview, Texas, produced half a million pounds of radioactive material, state and federal documents show. When LeTourneau Inc. workers melted Cesium-137 -- a radioactive material commonly released in nuclear accidents -- the dust containing the radioactive isotope contaminated the workers, along with sections of the facility, according to a July 2006 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission report. No workers suffered direct or immediate harm that could be detected in medical screening. And none of the metal sent to LeTourneau's customers was radioactive, according to the report.