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HHS gives notice as required by 42 CFR 83.12(e) of a decision to evaluate a petition to designate a class of employees for the Bliss & Laughlin Steel facility, in Buffalo, NY, to be included in the Special Exposure Cohort under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. The initial proposed definition for the class being evaluated, subject to revision as warranted by the evaluation, is as follows: Facility: Bliss & Laughlin Steel facility. Location: Buffalo, NY. Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All employees. Period of Employment: January 1, 1948 through December 31, 1998.

"Among the many environmental challenges Staten Island faces are two contaminated properties on the island's North Shore. NY1's Bree Driscoll filed the following report on what is being done to clean them up. On the surface, Richmond Terrace appears to be a beautiful site. But what's beneath is rather ugly. At 2351 Richmond Terrace, the Environmental Protection Agency found more than 200 times the uranium radiation level required to trigger a cleanup. That was in 2008. This contamination dates back to the times of the Manhattan Project, when uranium ore was stored at the property as part of the project to build the atomic bomb. Now more than 50 years later, it still sits there untreated. "

Two New York elected officials urged the federal government Tuesday to bar the use of highly enriched uranium in U.S. civilian research centers. Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said such use by researchers _ mostly at universities _ could allow the material for nuclear bomb-making to fall into the wrong hands.

The huge numbers of fish sucked to their death by the cooling system at the Indian Point nuclear plant prove that the system harms the Hudson River environment, a state official has ruled. The finding by J. Jared Snyder, assistant commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, is a victory for plant critics who claim that up to 1.2 billion fish and eggs are killed each year as the plant continuously draws in river water for use as a coolant.

Federal regulators say the owners of a nuclear plant in the New York City suburbs will have to check more underground pipes for corrosion. Last weekend, workers at Indian Point 2 in Buchanan were able to repair a pipe that was leaking slightly radioactive water from 8 feet underground. Neil Sheehan of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Entergy Northeast will have to do a study to see if corrosion is a problem at other pipes beneath the surface. Entergy owns the plant and its twin, Indian Point 3.

With a little more than a week left to be heard in the decades-old debate over how to clean up a western New York nuclear site, supporters of complete decontamination say anything less would jeopardize the health of the Great Lakes and its vital freshwater. State and federal energy officials in November recommended a two-phase plan that would have them spend $1 billion to remove contaminated buildings and soil from the West Valley site over the next several years, while deferring for up to 30 years the larger question of whether to leave some radioactive waste forever buried. The public comment period on the governments' Draft Environmental Impact Statement ends June 8. The 3,300-acre site 30 miles south of Buffalo housed the nation's first commercial nuclear reprocessing facility from 1966 to 1972.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Decision To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees at the Linde Ceramics Plant, Tonawanda, NY, To Be Included in the Special Exposure Cohort

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 2, LLC, Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 3, LLC, Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 (IP2 and IP3); Receipt of Request for Action Under 10 CFR 2.206 Notice is hereby given that by petition dated March 30, 2008, Mr. Sherwood Martinelli has requested that the NRC (1) ``* * * suspend the license for IP2 and IP3 reactors located in Buchanan, NY owned by Entergy until they are fully in compliance with all 10 CFR Rules and Regulations, as well as other local, state and federal laws and regulations, and have eliminated the environmental risks that have contributed to, and/or caused my wife's breast cancer,'' and (2) ``* * * halt the License Renewal Process.''

White Plains, NY - The latest version of the Indian Point Emergency Planning Guide is being mailed out starting this week to Westchester residents and businesses within the ten-mile Emergency Planning Zone around the nuclear power plants. The booklet includes an updated map that lists evacuation routes, reception centers, bus routes and critical information about school relocation.

A nuclear power plant that lies within commuting distance of New York City is more likely to be shaken by an earthquake than previously thought because it sits atop a newly identified intersection of two active seismic zones, scientists said. The Indian Point nuclear reactor is within a mile or two of both a seismic zone running from Stamford, Connecticut, to Peekskill, New York, and the Ramapo seismic line, said the study by seismologists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Decision To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees for the Linde Ceramics Plant, Tonawanda, NY, To Be Included in the Special Exposure Cohort

NEW YORK, NY April 28, 2008 -Entergy, the owner of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, is holding a public meeting on the safety of its facility, hosted by a panel of its own experts. Dr. Neil Todreas, the panel's co-chair, said he is confident his team can do an independent assessment:

03.05.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.05.09 Portsmouth Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Piketon, OH 03.05.09 Scoping Mtg.: EIS on Proposed Loan Guarantee for TX Energy, LLC, Industrial Gasification Facility Beaumont, TX 03.11.09 Nevada Test Site/Environmental Management Community Advisory Board Mtg. Las Vegas, NV 03.11.09 Oak Ridge Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 03.11.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.12.09 Paducah Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 03.18.09 - 03.19.09 Environmental Management Site Advisory Board Chairs' Mtg. Augusta, GA 03.23.09 - 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Aiken, SC 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.25.09 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 03.31.09 Public Mtg.: Revised Draft EIS on Decommissioning and/or Long-term Stewardship at West Valley Demonstration Project Irving, NY 03.31.09 Idaho National Lab/Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board Mtg.

03.05.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.05.09 Portsmouth Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Piketon, OH 03.05.09 Scoping Mtg.: EIS on Proposed Loan Guarantee for TX Energy, LLC, Industrial Gasification Facility Beaumont, TX 03.11.09 Nevada Test Site/Environmental Management Community Advisory Board Mtg. Las Vegas, NV 03.11.09 Oak Ridge Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Oak Ridge, TN 03.11.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.12.09 Paducah Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Paducah, KY 03.18.09 - 03.19.09 Environmental Management Site Advisory Board Chairs' Mtg. Augusta, GA 03.23.09 - 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Aiken, SC 03.24.09 Savannah River Site Public Tours Aiken, SC 03.25.09 Northern NM Citizens Advisory Board Mtg. Santa Fe, NM 03.31.09 Public Mtg.: Revised Draft EIS on Decommissioning and/or Long-term Stewardship at West Valley Demonstration Project Irving, NY 03.31.09 Idaho National Lab/Environmental Management Citizens Advisory Board Mtg.

There has been significant publicity about the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) munitions, its ability to travel very long distances and the consequences to our health. So where does DU come from, why is it used in munitions, what do such weapons look like, and what is their application in today's warfare? Although it was widely believed that DU munitions were used extensively during the Balkans War (1991-2001) it didn't show its true face until the occurrence of an accident at a military camp in Kuwait. in 1991. Events prior to this accident had started intense US military activity in the region as a result of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on the 2nd of August 1990. Iraq forces had occupied Kuwait for seven months and in February the following year saw Operation Desert Storm liberate Kuwait. At the request of the Kuwaiti Government the United States sent re enforcements to the region in order to stabilise Kuwait and secure its borders. It was obvious at the time that this build up was showing clear signs of some other hidden agenda in the build up to an attack on Iraq. It was reported in the NY Times on the 19th of May 1991 that Dick Cheney had emphasized that the move was temporary and said: "It is our objective to get them out as quickly as possible. And the president's made it clear we don't want a permanent long - lasting ground presence in the gulf." It is ironic that 18 years later US Forces are still deeply emended in Iraq with clear intentions of permanent bases within Iraq.

NRC delays review of Entergy NY Indian Pt renewal * NRC delays environment report by three months * Delay due to new information from Entergy * Entergy filed for renewal in 2007 NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission delayed the schedule for the review of the renewal of Entergy Corp's (ETR.N) Indian Point nuclear power reactors in New York, the NRC said in an email Friday. In a letter dated Feb. 2, the NRC told Entergy, of New Orleans, it delayed the issuance of the final supplemental environmental impact statement until May 31. Earlier, the NRC had expected to issue that report on Feb. 12. The statement is the last report needed before the commission can make a decision on Entergy's request to renew the reactors' operating licenses for an additional 20 years. The NRC said it delayed the report due to new information from Entergy including replacement aquatic data and revised severe accident mitigation analyses. In April 2007, Entergy filed with the NRC for the 20-year extensions of the units' original 40-year operating licenses."

I read your Dec. 4 editorial, "The nuclear option," with disappointment. You spoke of a small leak from a navy nuclear submarine and, in the final paragraph, somehow equated this to an "accident." This is hyperbole of the type usually seen only in the sloppiest of political campaigns. The radioactive leak, while unfortunate, likely was no larger than those of cruise ships that release waste from passengers who have undergone medical treatments. It most certainly was a smaller environmental impact than fossil fueled ships that circle the globe spewing and spilling noxious chemicals.

While it will cost taxpayers billions to clean out dangerous radioactive waste from a defunct nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, storing it there would cost billions more over the centuries - and risk contamination of Lake Erie. That was the conclusion of a state-funded report on the 3,300-acre West Valley nuclear site, closed since the early 1970s and once the nation's only commercial center for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Released Tuesday, the report comes during a growing national debate about stepping up nuclear power as a way to cut the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Critics continue to question the fate of spent fuel, which is dangerous for thousands of years. The report by Cambridge-based Synapse Energy Economics claimed it will cost nearly $10 billion to clean radioactive waste from West Valley over the next 60 years and ship it to a federal dump that does not exist yet.

Federal energy officials wrestling with the decades-old question of what to do with the West Valley nuclear site are recommending a phased-in approach that would remove contaminated buildings and soil soon, while deferring for up to 30 years the larger question of whether all waste should be removed. A revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement released this week compares alternatives for the future of the Cattaraugus County site, which from 1966 to 1972 housed the nation's first commercial nuclear reprocessing facility.

Albany County legislators told exam for articles is expensive, pioneering ALBANY - More than a half dozen speakers urged Albany County legislators Tuesday night to fund the continued testing of former employees and neighbors of the now-defunct NL Industries plant in Colonie for radiation contamination. Calling themselves Community Concerned About NL Industries, the speakers asked legislators to consider putting up $14,000 to test 16 former NL workers and Albany and Colonie residents who lived near the Central Avenue plant.