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Terrie Barrie of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups circulated a Dec. 30 letter she received from Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada regarding the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. As for the earlier request he and other senators made for a comprehensive investigation of the federal program, Reid wrote, "I am pleased to let you know that GAO is giving priority status to our request. In fact, I was recently informed that the investigation is already under way, and I plan to closely monitor its progress." Reid said the findings of that GAO investigation would used for develop reforms of the program in the 111th Congress. He said he and Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico had recently asked NIOSH to establish a new online system to make it easier for claimants to check the status of their applications. "As a result of our persistence, NIOSH set up a special form at the following Web site: http://www2a.cdc.gov/ocas/status.html.

It could take more than a month for federal regulators to decide whether to take action against Babcock & Wilcox for possible violations, officials said Friday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a conference with B&W officials to discuss four "apparent violations" in the company's performance in ensuring safety and reporting emergencies. The issues relate to an event in July when uranium was found in a location without safety checks at B&W's Mt. Athos site in Campbell County. NRC officials voiced several concerns and B&W explained what happened in July, and how they have adjusted their procedures since then.

It could take more than a month for federal regulators to decide whether to take action against Babcock & Wilcox for possible violations, officials said Friday. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a conference with B&W officials to discuss four "apparent violations" in the company's performance in ensuring safety and reporting emergencies. The issues relate to an event in July when uranium was found in a location without safety checks at B&W's Mt. Athos site in Campbell County. NRC officials voiced several concerns and B&W explained what happened in July, and how they have adjusted their procedures since then.

"A new reactor vessel head, shrouded in a protective wrap, arrived at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant Monday morning. The equipment will be installed on the plant's Unit 1 reactor during a refueling shutdown in the fall. The large component was shipped via a 185-foot-long special transport vehicle from Mt. Vernon, Ind., that is the equivalent of three semitrucks. The reactor head itself is 17 feet in diameter, 8 feet tall and weighs 70 tons. As the name implies, the component sits on top of the reactor. The cost of replacing both vessel heads at the plant is $141 million. "

Areva, the Paris-based nuclear vendor, has signed a contract to deliver 300 mt of uranium to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, Areva said Thursday. The quantity is sufficient to fuel a third of the Indian state-owned utility's operating reactor fleet, Areva said. Npcil, which operates about 4 GW of nuclear plant, has had to reduce the output of its reactors last year and this year for lack of sufficient uranium supply. Until this fall, members of the international Nuclear Suppliers Group were not allowed to trade with the country, which has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Mt. Pleasant native George Kittrell graduated from Hay Long High School in 1948 and was in college at MTSU when he signed up for a three-year Army hitch on Sept. 11, 1950. "I knew my country was in trouble so I signed up to go to Korea," Kittrell said. But Kittrell did not go to Korea. He was 21 years old and a soldier at Ft. Campbell when in November 1951 he was re-assigned to Camp Desert Rock, Nevada.

Today, the Yucca Mountain project is a horseshoe-shaped tunnel under 1,000 feet of an unimpressive peak in Southern Nevada. It's 60 miles as the crow flies to the lowest point in the continental United States, Badwater in Death Valley National Park. From Yucca's ridge it is also possible to see the highest point in the continental United States, Mt. Whitney, as well as ancient volcanoes and a major fault line.

It's clear that Bob Loux is guilty of, at a minimum, poor judgment in granting himself and other staff members in the Nuclear Projects Office raises above the level authorized by the state. But it's troubling to think that lack of judgment may have jeopardized the mission of his agency, which is to assure that the health, safety, and welfare of Nevada's citizens are protected with regard to the Yucca Mt. nuclear waste project.

Calling climate change one of the greatest challenges ever faced by the human race, some former opponents of nuclear power have recently become its advocates, if cautious advocates. Our purpose here is not to debate climate change, but rather "Is nuclear power essential to addressing climate change and energy independence?"

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Lynchburg on July 24 to discuss Areva NP's safety record. The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. at Areva's headquarters at 3315 Old Forest Road. According to a letter posted on the commission's Web site, the public meeting will focus on a performance review that occurred at Areva's Mt. Athos Road plant in April.

A trace of uranium found in a container of oil Wednesday night prompted several hours of concern at the Babcock & Wilcox facility on Mt. Athos Road. The company notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it had found uranium in an unexpected location and began emergency procedures around 7:45 p.m., according to an NRC event report. At 12:35 a.m. today B&W said the situation was safe. Roger Hannah, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said a B&W employee saw traces of uranium in a container of oil. The oil had been used in a saw that cuts fuel components.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold its annual public meeting with Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Operations Group officials at 6 p.m., Sept. 28 at Lynchburg City Hall. The public meeting will include a report on the NRC's performance review of B&W's operations from June 2008 through June 2009. The performance review examined safety and the handling of nuclear materials at B&W's Mt. Athos Road facility in Campbell County. The NRC investigation concluded that B&W operates safely. NRC officials will be present to answer questions from people who attend.

Chicago area nuclear critics say recurring tritium leaks like the one at the Dresden Nuclear facility near Morris last month muddy the picture of nuclear plants as a clean energy source. "Is a June 2009 tritium leak at the Dresden NPP 150 times higher than the EPA water standard henceforth to be considered "clean"?" David Kraft, with the Nuclear Energy Information Service asks in a detailed critique the "Sense of Congress Regarding the Strategic Role of Nuclear Energy (and Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing)" approved in June by the Senate Energy Committee. But local critics of nuclear power say it is more non-sense than sense; and it could lay the groundwork to turn Illinois into the "de facto Yucca Mt. of the Great Lakes."

Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear power company, stands to rake in roughly an extra $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year if the House climate change bill passes, according to the company's own estimates. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Friday. A memo produced for Exelon by Bernstein Research, and obtained by the Huffington Post, reports that Exelon CEO John Rowe recently told a gathering of investors and senior executives that the energy bill "will add $700 to $750 million to Exelon's annual revenues for every $10 per metric ton (MT) increase in the price of CO2 allowances." Prices will range between $15 and $18 per metric ton, the report estimates, "implying a positive earnings impact of $1 to $1.30 per share." Read the full memo.

Testifying at a hearing held in Las Vegas today, Congresswoman Shelley Berkley pressed federal regulators with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to reject Bush administration plans to build a $3 billion railroad in Nevada to haul nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain. Members of the STB convened the forum to hear from elected officials, residents and businesses concerned about the impact on communities in Nevada and across the U.S. from thousands of shipments of toxic nuclear waste targeted for burial in the Silver State. "Nevadans oppose this $3 billion "Railroad to Nowhere" and we recognize the dangers that will accompany decades of toxic nuclear waste shipments to Yucca Mountain," said Berkley. "My hope is that the STB will listen to our concerns and that they will block any effort by this White House to push forward on the Yucca Mountain rail line as they head out the door," said Berkley.

U.S. Department of Energy Seeks Public Comment on National Transportation Plan for the Proposed Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is seeking public comment on a National Transportation Plan (Plan) that outlines DOE's current strategy and planning for developing and implementing a system to ship spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) safely and securely from where the material is generated or stored to the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

During a controversial meeting Thursday, state officials asked the U.S. Transportation Department to reject plans for a new multi-use railroad lines in Nevada. The lines would make it possible for trains to carry radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain. The lines would enter just east of Caliente and cross through several counties, including Nye County, before heading to Yucca Mountain.

Record of Decision and Floodplain Statement of Findings--Nevada Rail Alignment for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, NV AGENCY: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, U.S. Department of Energy. ACTION: Record of Decision. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: In July 2008, the Department of Energy (Department or DOE) issued the ``Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High- Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada--Nevada Rail Transportation Corridor'' (DOE/EIS-0250F-S2) (hereafter referred to as the final Nevada Rail Corridor SEIS), the ``Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Rail Alignment for the Construction and Operation of a Railroad in Nevada to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada'' (DOE/EIS-0369) (hereafter referred to as the final Rail Alignment EIS), and the ``Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada'' (DOE/EIS-0250F-S1) (hereafter referred to as the final Repository SEIS). The final Nevada Rail Corridor SEIS analyzed the potential impacts of constructing and operating a railroad for shipments of spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, and other materials in the Mina corridor, and DOE concluded that the Mina corridor warranted further analysis at the alignment level. This further, more detailed analysis is presented in the final Rail Alignment EIS, which analyzed the potential environmental impacts of constructing and operating a railroad along rail alignments in both the Caliente and Mina rail corridors. The final Rail Alignment EIS also analyzed the potential environmental impacts from shipments of general freight (also referred to as common carriage

Shigeko Sasamori was 13 years old when America dropped "Little Boy" on her hometown of Hiroshima. "My face was an all black ball, like a basketball," she said, adding that she could not open her eyes or walk.