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In Saturday's National Post Kathryn Blaze Carlson writes about the future of the nuclear industry. Below some crucial numbers on the industry. Listen to Kathryn Carlson on nuclear power

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announces official Yucca Mountain closure. What does it mean for the nuclear industry? The writing has been on the wall for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository ever since Steven Chu took control of the Department of Energy earlier this year. In March, YMNWR was cut out of the energy stimulus package, and now after a long-term campaign to rid his state of the project many call "the failed $100 billion dinosaur in the desert," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that all application funding has been cut for the project, meaning that it will likely never be resuscitated.

'Citizens Action to Dismantle Nuclear Weapons Completely' has prepared a 33 page report showing the presence of tens of tons of depleted uranium in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli attacks of late December and January are the culprit, report the international organization. "The quantity of depleted uranium may amount to no less than 75 tons found in the soil and subsoil in the Gaza Strip," is the study's quote. As many have suggested, the Israeli military used or may have used depleted uranium in the ground and air assaults on the Strip during the operation in the period between 27 December 2008 and January 18, 2009.

A new report suggests building new nuclear power plants would be a bad investment for Wisconsin. The nuclear industry has proposed building dozens of new plants across the country, at a cost of nearly $300 billion. WISPIRG advocate Kara Rumsey says taxpayer subsidies and rate hikes would end up covering a large portion of that price tag. A study from WISPIRG found that renewable energy options can produce more cost-effective electricity. Dollar for dollar, Rumsey says implementing more energy efficient technologies could produce up to five times more energy than nuclear power.

Among the biggest challenges facing the nuclear power industry is figuring out what to do with all the waste. Radioactive leftovers have been piling up for decades, and it's become clear that the controversial long-term repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, isn't going to solve the problem entirely. The site's capacity is 70,000 metric tons of radioactive waste; by the end of 2006, nuclear power plants had generated some 56,000 metric tons of spent fuel, and that amount is growing by about 2,000 metric tons each year.

A Toronto man is under arrest after he allegedly tried to smuggle pressure transducers into Iran. Pressure transducers can be used in centrifuges to produce nuclear material. The National Post graphics team illustrates how they work.

As one of Florida's largest utilities prepared to unveil details about its nuclear plans in March 2008, its executives showed a noticeable wariness about one detail in particular: the price. At Progress Energy Florida's new St. Petersburg headquarters, the top brass carefully husbanded their latest estimates. As the date of their public filing neared, the utility's executives arranged meetings with newspaper editors throughout its territory. Bill Johnson, chairman, president and CEO of the Florida utility's parent company, flew down from North Carolina for a meeting with Governor Charlie Crist. Progress Energy's extraordinary care acknowledged that the "nuclear renaissance" perched delicately on the public's goodwill. An erosion of public support could shake the political support that new nuclear has lately enjoyed. Florida wouldn't be the only casualty; 21 other new nuclear projects have been announced throughout the U.S.

On March 28, 1979, there was a transient event at the second reactor at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant just south of Harrisburg, the capital city of Pennsylvania. A transient event. It was the term used by a plant spokesman to describe the fact that all hell was on the verge of breaking loose. A broken pump, a stuck valve, a false reading, and operator error drained the water out of the second reactor, exposing the superheated core and threatening a meltdown and massive radiation release. The reactor core partially melted, but after three tense days, the containment system held. The nuclear industry's credibility didn't.

"Two recent nuclear leaks expose the danger of overhyping a technology that is still not ready for prime time. There has been a recent bout of positive press for the hurting nuclear energy industry, with props given by the likes of Barack Obama and Bill Gates, causing some to call it a nuclear "comeback." And while I agree with both our president and our most famous billionaire that nuclear will at some point it the future be a big part of the solution, a spate of recent events has drawn attention to the fact that though it helps on the carbon front, nuclear power is still very dangerous business. Last year the Chalk River power plant in Ottowa sprung two leaks, spewing 7,000 liters of radioactive water per day into the Ottowa River and this month a similar mysterious leak at the Yankee Vermont plant is resulting in dangerous tritium contamination of the nearby Connecticut River. A full 25 percent of the 104 nuclear reactors in the U.S. have leaked tritium, a known carcinogen. Yes, these are old plants but they call attention to the fact when nuclear goes wrong it can go very wrong. Though there are some newer, safer next-generation nuclear technologies available, they are prohibitively expensive to bring online and still require highly radioactive fuel stocks. There are many exciting developments in nuclear R & D (see my visit to LANL) which make use of downgraded nuclear fuels, but they are in the early stages of development, and that means we're not likely to see them popping up in the landscape anytime in the near future. * Nuclear, Strike 1: TOXIC WASTE * Nuclear, Strike 2: EXCESSIVE COST * Nuclear, Strike 3: WATER DEMAND * The 6 myths of nuclear energy exposed"

"uclear terrorism and the possibility of a nuclear weapon unleashed in any city present the greatest potential threat to US security, public health and the economy. Current and future US nuclear policy will be presented March 1st when President Obama is scheduled to release the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) as mandated by congress. This follows the recent Quadrennial Review of the Department of Defense strategy and priorities. The NPR outlines to our allies and the world the US position on the role nuclear weapons play in our security. President Obama has joined bipartisan architects of cold war nuclear and security policy, the so called "gang of four" including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry and Former Senator Sam Nunn head of the Senate Arms Services Committee in stating his vision of a world without nuclear weapons in his speech delivered in Prague last April. The NPR formulated in consultation with the Departments of Defense, Energy and State will provide the opportunity to lay out the means of making this critical vision a reality. "

"Stuart Hinnefeld, interim director of NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health ) explained certain gaps in report presentations on the Huntington Pilot/Reduction Pilot Plant (HPP/RPP), as well as informed speculation related to data. This agency functions to handle radiation dose reconstructions for workers (or their survivors) applying for benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICPA). These benefits , in brief, provide compensation to Department of Energy (DOE) employees, its contractors or subcontractors, and atomic weapons workers with radiation induced cancer if the cancer developed after working at a covered facility (of which HPP/RPP is a covered facility) or the cancer is "determined at least as likely as not related to that employment) or the employee fits a Special Exposure Cohort (by working at least 250 days before February 1, 1992 at one or more gaseous diffusion plants or underground nuclear test at Amchitka, Alaska) and developed specified cancers. "

"Banks won't touch them they are so financially risky. So why does Obama want U.S. taxpayers to fund nuclear plants when there is a 50% chance they will fail? Whether you are Republican or Democrat, pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear, you probably will agree with me that it is wrong to ask the American taxpayers to fund an investment that is so risky it has a 50 percent chance of failing."

"HNN has confirmed through publicly available, unclassified documents that the workers at the formerly 'secret' Huntington Pilot Plant/Reduction Pilot Plant (HPP/RPP) on the INCO campus were exposed to [at least] "trace quantities" of Neptunium and Plutonium. The Huntington facility received nickel from reactors at Hansford and Savannah River, as well as the Paducah and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plants. The Portsmouth, Ohio, plant is located in Piketon, Ohio. Vina Colley, a compensated Portsmouth (Piketon) Diffusion Plant former atomic worker and activist for compensation of workers, believes that plutonium and other residue on materials sent to Huntington for recycling and decontamination eventually made the Huntington plant contaminated beyond clean up. "

"It's climate-friendly and creates jobs, but as the U.S. reconsiders atom smashing, old worries about nuclear waste, meltdowns and price tags persist. The United States is on the brink of a nuclear revival, fueled by fear of climate change, demand for electricity and distrust of renewable power. Combined with a festering recession, these modern woes are suddenly drowning out many of the older worries - such as meltdowns and radioactive waste - that plagued nuclear power's past. After a nearly 30-year lull in building new nuclear reactors, due largely to the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, U.S. energy companies have applied to build more than two dozen in the last three years, and some advocates are calling for much more. President Obama touted the benefits of nuclear power during last month's State of the Union address, and in his 2011 federal budget, he proposed tripling government loan guarantees for new nuclear projects, raising the total to more than $54 billion."

Scanning previous internet "news" reports, two stand out in regard to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant: A Tornado and suspicions regarding buried Huntington Pilot Plant materials. Scioto and Pike Counties in Ohio often experience more intense wind bursts when summer thunder storms form and occasionally turn to tornadoes. On July 11, 2009, NBC reported that "some damage" had been reported at the plant from a "tornado-like storm," based on word from public information officer Jack Williams the damage did not impact plant operations. In 1993, residents complained about an alleged 2.5 hour "unreported release." They alleged 13 workers were checked for exposure but no sirens sounded. However, after investigation, those responsible for the plant indicated that the 'release' was not a threat to those outside the plant. The Portsmouth facility has sirens for public notification.

Scanning previous internet "news" reports, two stand out in regard to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant: A Tornado and suspicions regarding buried Huntington Pilot Plant materials. Scioto and Pike Counties in Ohio often experience more intense wind bursts when summer thunder storms form and occasionally turn to tornadoes. On July 11, 2009, NBC reported that "some damage" had been reported at the plant from a "tornado-like storm," based on word from public information officer Jack Williams the damage did not impact plant operations. In 1993, residents complained about an alleged 2.5 hour "unreported release." They alleged 13 workers were checked for exposure but no sirens sounded. However, after investigation, those responsible for the plant indicated that the 'release' was not a threat to those outside the plant. The Portsmouth facility has sirens for public notification.

During their Cold War service, employees of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant "were generally happy in the belief that their efforts were protecting the country," states Paul Becker (University of Dayton) and Alan Bruce (Quinnipiac University) in the Western Criminology Review article "State Corporate Crime and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant" (2007). Due to the threat of missiles from Russia and China, the public supported the nuclear industry, accepted the sense of urgency and as a result "environmental concerns were less important than the pressing demands of the Cold War," a 2000 Department of Energy report stated.

During their Cold War service, employees of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant "were generally happy in the belief that their efforts were protecting the country," states Paul Becker (University of Dayton) and Alan Bruce (Quinnipiac University) in the Western Criminology Review article "State Corporate Crime and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant" (2007). Due to the threat of missiles from Russia and China, the public supported the nuclear industry, accepted the sense of urgency and as a result "environmental concerns were less important than the pressing demands of the Cold War," a 2000 Department of Energy report stated.

During the Cold War, Huntington contained a DOE plant involved in the production of radioactive and/or potentially nuclear materials. After its decommissioning, the remains --- except for the compressor building --- were hauled away and buried in Piketon, Ohio. During a 2006 meeting with union members representatives of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Office of Compensation Analysis and support discussed compensation for health conditions acquired due to working near contaminated materials. After an exhaustive search of the internet, HNN at this time emphasizes the official analysis that current potential radiation exposure --- even at the remaining Compressor Building ---- was/is considered negligible as it results in an annual dose of less than 1 m/rem to the maximally exposure organ. (Based on CDC/OSAS documents) However, worker reports taken from the 2006 meeting create unanswered questions. In fact, the internet search did NOT turn up further documents related to the local USWA and NIOSH. Thus, we have a series of unanswered (or unfound) questions raised by those in attendance.

During the Cold War, Huntington contained a DOE plant involved in the production of radioactive and/or potentially nuclear materials. After its decommissioning, the remains --- except for the compressor building --- were hauled away and buried in Piketon, Ohio. During a 2006 meeting with union members representatives of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Office of Compensation Analysis and support discussed compensation for health conditions acquired due to working near contaminated materials. After an exhaustive search of the internet, HNN at this time emphasizes the official analysis that current potential radiation exposure --- even at the remaining Compressor Building ---- was/is considered negligible as it results in an annual dose of less than 1 m/rem to the maximally exposure organ. (Based on CDC/OSAS documents) However, worker reports taken from the 2006 meeting create unanswered questions. In fact, the internet search did NOT turn up further documents related to the local USWA and NIOSH. Thus, we have a series of unanswered (or unfound) questions raised by those in attendance.

Although still in experimental infancy, Russian scientists reported in 2008 the discovery of a mineral that absorbs radiation from liquid nuclear waste. They hope to clone the mineral as only a scant amount has been found in nature.

Although still in experimental infancy, Russian scientists reported in 2008 the discovery of a mineral that absorbs radiation from liquid nuclear waste. They hope to clone the mineral as only a scant amount has been found in nature.

"Years after the Manhattan Project, the Department of Energy learned that workers exposed to nickel powder at various sites, including those at Oakridge, Pudacha, and Portsmouth Gaseous diffusion Plants, were at high risk. In fact, the data strongly suggested that women and African Americans were most susceptible. What did the DOE do? According to a paper, NUCLEAR POWDER/ NUCLEAR WEAPONS: The Untold Story, the agency in 1976 created a "political" study that falsified the true mortality for workers exposed to nickel power in the workplace. Urine testing had revealed purposefully negligent air monitoring. The nickel levels found in the urine of the K-25 workers were ten to hundreds of times higher than any other nickel workers in this country and around the world. In short, as the global warming emails have accused scientists, two-third (the women and African Americans) were excluded due to the government's need to have an outcome that would show workers unharmed by nickel dust. Waste handling operations at K-25 (Oak Ridge) nuclear waste operations --- and other locations --- reported hazy, smoky and foggy nickel dust conditions. "

"Buried Remains of Huntington Pilot Plant Still Classified Portsmouth, OH (HNN) - Members of the Site Specific Decontamination & Decommissioning Subcommittee heard a proposal for "asset recovery" from various parcels of the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. "Shall we try to preserve an asset," asked William Murphie, Manager of the Department of Energy's Portsmouth / Paducah Project Office. He referred to possible construction of a melting facility to recover metals such as nickel, copper, steel and aluminum from contaminated buildings and equipment. As explained, the contaminated items would be melted into ingots and stored on site at Piketon until final disposition decisions are made. One option would be a recycling use of the materials --- which would contain traces of radiological metals such as uranium --- for use only at Department of Energy facilities. "