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The ownership of the Crow Butte Resources uranium mine near Crawford by a Canadian mining company is a legitimate issue for argument in deciding whether the mine should be allowed to expand its operation to a nearby site, a three-member panel of Nuclear Regulatory Commission judges has ruled. In a decision issued Jan. 27, the NRC judges also said that questions of the impact of low levels of arsenic in water returned to aquifers during mining operations, the relationship between arsenic exposure and diabetes and information about an alleged cluster of pancreatic cancer in the Chadron area can also be raised during hearings on the mine's proposed North Trend expansion.

To provide our service members and their families the benefits they deserve, and to ensure our military is equipped and in a proper state of readiness to deal with 21st century challenges, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA - 07) supported the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which was approved by the House Armed Services Committee. In total, HR 2647 authorizes $550.4 billion in budget authority for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the national security programs of the Department of Energy. In the bill approved by the committee, the Congressman authored nine amendments to deal with specific areas in which the military must improve to keep our nation safe and offer the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation - and their families - the care they deserve.

- Most Support EPA Designation of Carbon Dioxide as Public Health Threat - Majorities See Danger in Nuclear Waste - Wind Energy Perceived as Safest - One-Third See More Nuclear Weapons as Plants Increase Fairfield, Connecticut - A new national poll of 800 residents by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute found a nearly even split between those suggesting nuclear energy was very or somewhat safe (46.1%) and those who said somewhat dangerous or very dangerous (44.7%).

Speculation about storing nuclear waste in the province is premature, said New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir, even as a growing number of experts say the province has geology that may be suited to the task. '[The province] might be suitable and it might be possible to develop a repository'- Tom Al, UNB geologist The Nuclear Waste Management Organization was in New Brunswick this week meeting with people in various communities about its plan to build an underground storage site somewhere in Canada for spent nuclear fuel. The organization, which was formed in 2002 to be responsible for the long-term management of Canada's used nuclear fuel, seemed to catch the provincial government off guard on Thursday when a company official said that any of the four Canadian provinces involved in the nuclear industry - New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan - could be home to this proposed storage facility.

"It's a great pleasure to be back in the Bay Area, and be once again in the company of George Shultz, as he continues to lead us to address the most difficult questions before our nation. We are grateful for your interest, your hard work, and your patriotism on the issues of energy and nonproliferation that threaten our economic future, our national security, and international stability. The Obama administration is working on many fronts to solve some of our toughest problems, including health care, the economy, climate change, and terrorism. I was actually pleased not to be a member of Congress last summer, when I would have had to host a town hall meeting or two. Let me say how honored - and relieved - I am to be here today."

"The Cooper Nuclear Station in Southeast Nebraska has passed the halfway point in renewing its operating license with the federal government. The Nebraska Public Power District is seeking a 20-year extension to its current license, which is set to expire in January 2014. The plant received its initial license and began operating in 1974. The re-licensing is occurring at a time when the federal government is expressing more interest in developing power from nuclear resources. Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will seek public comments April 7 on a draft environmental impact statement concerning the plant."

"For fifty years we have known about this site. Today, I am exposing the politics and the hypocrisy that our own Politicians have been perpetuating on the American Public. This country has never had a Nuclear Waste Storage problem! Here's why."

"One out of four American nuclear facilities registers a leak of Tritium, a radioactive and carcinogen substance, which is yet another flaw in Oyster Creek, New Jersey, the oldest nuclear site. Ground waters have been reached and contaminated. The nightmares of America do not seem to be over in recent times. Black tides, Pakistani Taliban and financial crackdowns are now accompanied by a new homemade specter. The oldest nuclear facility of the country, located in Oyster Creek, which started operations in 1969, is the latest in the long list of U.S. plants presenting a dangerous leak. The menace is now represented by Tritium, a toxic substance which started leaking more than a year ago."

"Congressman Sestak submitted language directing a study on the use of thorium-liquid fueled nuclear reactors for naval power, an important assessment of an energy source that has shown great potential to be more efficient for our military. As a result, the House Armed Services Committee included funding in the bill for research and development of a nuclear-powered destroyer reactor utilizing thorium energy. While our nuclear Navy has thrived with a continuing record of zero reactor accidents, thorium may be more efficient than uranium as a fuel source. Massive fuel rods would not have to be utilized, and it produces only 1/2000th the waste of uranium. In domestic applications, waste can even be stored on-site, eliminating the necessity of facilities such as Yucca Mountain. Large deposits of thorium can be mined domestically in States such as Idaho, and we already have 160,000 tons in reserve."

"In relation to the nuclear crisis, the government counted ¥275.4 billion in provisional costs, including ¥120 billion for the government's part of compensation for the problems at Fukushima No. 1, whose operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., will have to shoulder a bigger part of overall damage. Second extra budget's key outlays Kyodo * ¥800 billion in reserve for future emergency spending. * ¥545.5 billion in grants to local governments affected by the disaster. * ¥300 billion in additional spending on financial support to those who had their homes badly damaged or destroyed. * ¥120 billion for the government's part of compensation over the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. * ¥78.2 billion to finance health checks over the next 30 years on people in Fukushima Prefecture in the wake of the nuclear crisis. The government plans to create a ¥96.2 billion fund to cover expenditures on health issues concerning people in Fukushima Prefecture. Of that amount, ¥78.2 billion would finance health checks over the next 30 years for people in the prefecture, the ministry said. The government would also enhance the monitoring of radiation levels throughout the country, spending ¥23.5 billion."