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More trains filled with depleted uranium are coming to Utah. Even as state regulators consider a moratorium on new shipments of the radioactive material -- which becomes more hazardous over time -- the U.S. Department of Energy plans to ship another 14,800 barrels of it to the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site in Tooele County. Part of the $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money for the Savannah River cleanup site in South Carolina will pay for rail cars filled with depleted uranium to be buried in Utah during the next 13 months. "This is exactly the situation we were hoping to prevent by asking the state Radiation Control Board to enact a moratorium on depleted uranium," said Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

More trains filled with depleted uranium are coming to Utah. Even as state regulators consider a moratorium on new shipments of the radioactive material -- which becomes more hazardous over time -- the U.S. Department of Energy plans to ship another 14,800 barrels of it to the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site in Tooele County. Part of the $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money for the Savannah River cleanup site in South Carolina will pay for rail cars filled with depleted uranium to be buried in Utah during the next 13 months. "This is exactly the situation we were hoping to prevent by asking the state Radiation Control Board to enact a moratorium on depleted uranium," said Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

More trains filled with depleted uranium are coming to Utah. Even as state regulators consider a moratorium on new shipments of the radioactive material -- which becomes more hazardous over time -- the U.S. Department of Energy plans to ship another 14,800 barrels of it to the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site in Tooele County. Part of the $1.6 billion in federal stimulus money for the Savannah River cleanup site in South Carolina will pay for rail cars filled with depleted uranium to be buried in Utah during the next 13 months. "This is exactly the situation we were hoping to prevent by asking the state Radiation Control Board to enact a moratorium on depleted uranium," said Christopher Thomas of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah.

North Carolina's top elected officials have agreed the state should pay another quarter-million dollars for outside lawyers and expert witnesses for three pending lawsuits. Council of State members approved yesterday giving $253,000 from a special fund to the state Justice Department. Attorney General Roy Cooper said the money will pay invoices for defending North Carolina against lawsuits filed by other states involving a low-level radioactive waste compact and the Catawba River basin. And Cooper said the state's lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority already is leading to reduced pollution from TVA power plants. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry voted no because she's not persuaded all expenses are justified. The council has authorized more than $4 million for the three lawsuits over the years.

North Carolina's top elected officials have agreed the state should pay another quarter-million dollars for outside lawyers and expert witnesses for three pending lawsuits. Council of State members approved yesterday giving $253,000 from a special fund to the state Justice Department. Attorney General Roy Cooper said the money will pay invoices for defending North Carolina against lawsuits filed by other states involving a low-level radioactive waste compact and the Catawba River basin. And Cooper said the state's lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority already is leading to reduced pollution from TVA power plants. Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry voted no because she's not persuaded all expenses are justified. The council has authorized more than $4 million for the three lawsuits over the years.

Washington » A 137-year-old exemption that allows companies to extract hard-rock minerals from public lands without paying royalties could cost the nation $1.6 billion during the next decade, says a new report by the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining. To reverse that exemption, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., introduced legislation Tuesday that would treat the mineral-extraction companies the same as coal, oil and gas industries, which pay a percentage royalty for using public lands. "Given our current economic crisis and the empty state of our national treasury, it is ludicrous to be allowing this outmoded law to continue to exempt these lucrative mining activities from paying a fair return to the American people," Rahall said in a statement.

When Florida Power & Light chief Armando Olivera was asked Tuesday whether he and company executives would be willing to give up a pay raise to help struggling consumers with their bills, he offered a short answer: "No," he said, "because that would be short- sighted." Olivera, who as FPL's CEO is paid $3.6 million a year, told state regulators that although the economy is tight, executive pay is crucial to the successful operation of the company and the pay packages offered by FPL are justified.

Nuclear Innovation North America argued in court Wednesday that CPS Energy had refused to pay its portion of January's development costs for the nuclear deal, a move that could kill the project. But later Wednesday, CPS said it would pay its share of January's costs, eliminating one of the many legal points of contention between the partners. "Our sole goal today was to ensure the ability of the STP expansion to continue past Jan. 1, and their decision accomplishes that goal," NRG spokesman Dave Knox said. NINA is owned by NRG and Toshiba Inc.

Nuclear Innovation North America argued in court Wednesday that CPS Energy had refused to pay its portion of January's development costs for the nuclear deal, a move that could kill the project. But later Wednesday, CPS said it would pay its share of January's costs, eliminating one of the many legal points of contention between the partners. "Our sole goal today was to ensure the ability of the STP expansion to continue past Jan. 1, and their decision accomplishes that goal," NRG spokesman Dave Knox said. NINA is owned by NRG and Toshiba Inc.

Customers and shareholders of AmerenUE do not stand to benefit from the proposed second nuclear reactor at Callaway County. The cost is estimated at $6 billion to $11 billion. Customers will have to pay if the Construction Work in Progress law is repealed by the Missouri Legislature in 2009. Taxpaying customers will have to pay through federal subsidies (which the next administration may or may not favor). Shareholders, who probably also would be customers, are paying for Ameren's lobbying efforts and will be the primary payers if the law is not repealed.

Scana Corp. said it and Santee Cooper will pay $6.4 billion to the companies hired to design and build two proposed nuclear power generators in the Midlands. The two contractors on the 1,117-megawatt nuclear expansion are Westinghouse Electric Co. and Stone & Webster Inc. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $9.8 billion, with SCE&G paying $5.4 billion and state-owned Santee Cooper paying $4.4 billion.

Ontario's decision to build new nuclear reactors to maintain the province's generating capacity as it shuts coal-fired plants carries long-term risks and will have consumers digging deeper into their pocketbooks to cover inevitable cost overruns, a Niagara opposition MPP warns. "It has inherent dangers. It has long-term risk in terms of disposing of spent fuel and also it's very, very expensive electricity," says Welland NDP MPP Peter Kormos. "The cost overruns are huge, inevitably, and that means the consumer will be paying and paying and paying more and more and more."

Ontario's decision to build new nuclear reactors to maintain the province's generating capacity as it turns away from coal-fired plants carries long-term risks and will have consumers digging deeper into their pocket books to cover inevitable cost overruns, a Niagara opposition MPP warns. "It has inherent dangers, it has long-term risk in terms of disposing of spent fuel and also it's very, very expensive electricity," says Welland NDP MPP Peter Kormos. "The cost overruns are huge, inevitably, and that means the consumer will be paying and paying and paying more and more and more."

The Nevada Commission on Ethics Thursday cleared former Nuclear Projects Director Bob Loux of charges he broke the rules by raising his own pay. They did so on a 3-2 vote with the majority pointing out that the charges levied against him were wrong because they said he raised his own pay "above the legislatively approved" amount. Commissioners George Keele, Don Classic and James Shaw all agreed the legislature doesn't approve specific salaries for non-classified state employees in the governor's office. "It should have said, did he give himself a pay raise above the governor's approved salary," said Klassic.

The lawyer acting for Bikini Islanders says there is little hope their case will go to the US Supreme Court as they seek compensation for the 23 US nuclear weapons tests carried on their atoll. The Bikinians filed suit in the US Federal Court of Claims in 2006 after a Nuclear Claims Tribunal issued a 563 million US dollar damage award in their favour but did not have the money to pay it. The Bikinians contend that the US Congress cannot take away their US Constitution Fifth Amendment protections for just compensation payments for damage the nuclear tests did to their islands. But the US Justice Department said in earlier court hearings that the US Congress provided a full and final settlement through a 150 million US dollar compensation fund in a Compact of Free Association approved by the US and Marshall Islands governments in 1986. The Tribunal proved incapable of paying even one percent of the compensation. The atoll is still uninhabited because of radiation contamination.--RNZI

The lawyer acting for Bikini Islanders says there is little hope their case will go to the US Supreme Court as they seek compensation for the 23 US nuclear weapons tests carried on their atoll. The Bikinians filed suit in the US Federal Court of Claims in 2006 after a Nuclear Claims Tribunal issued a 563 million US dollar damage award in their favour but did not have the money to pay it. The Bikinians contend that the US Congress cannot take away their US Constitution Fifth Amendment protections for just compensation payments for damage the nuclear tests did to their islands. But the US Justice Department said in earlier court hearings that the US Congress provided a full and final settlement through a 150 million US dollar compensation fund in a Compact of Free Association approved by the US and Marshall Islands governments in 1986. The Tribunal proved incapable of paying even one percent of the compensation. The atoll is still uninhabited because of radiation contamination.--RNZI

DENVER (AP) - Two companies that worked as contractors with the now-defunct Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant have been ordered to pay $925 million to residents who claimed that contamination blown from the facility endangered people's health and devalued their property. A federal judge on Monday ordered Dow Chemical Co. to pay $653 million and the former Rockwell International Corp. $508 million in compensatory damages, but capped the amount to be collected at $725 million.

Georgia Power will pay approximately $6.4 billion to Westinghouse Electric to build its share of two proposed 1,100-megawatt nuclear reactors at the utility's Vogtle plant south of Augusta, the utility said Wednesday. If approved, the plants promise customers higher power bills starting in 2018 . Customers would pay an additional $12 a month on a typical 1,000 kilowatt-hour bill, the company said. That amount is expected to decline over time, the company said.

A multinational consortium of energy companies is paying £70m for land adjacent to Sellafield suitable for building a new atomic power station. Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), Spain's Iberdrola and France's GDF Suez have acquired the 470-acre site, which is the fourth piece of land to be sold by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The consortium plans to build an installation with a capacity of up to 3.6 gigawatts, starting in 2015. The SSE/Iberdrola/GDF group is the third new entrant to the UK nuclear industry after France's EDF bought British Energy for £12.5bn in January, and a consortium of Germany's RWE Npower and E.ON was successful in earlier NDA land auctions in April. SSE/Iberdrola/GDF was also a bidder in previous auctions for land at Wylfa, Oldbury and Bradwell. But the group pulled out after competition became so fierce it ran for six weeks rather than the expected one, and netted the Government a whopping £387m rather than the expected £100m.

A multinational consortium of energy companies is paying £70m for land adjacent to Sellafield suitable for building a new atomic power station. Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), Spain's Iberdrola and France's GDF Suez have acquired the 470-acre site, which is the fourth piece of land to be sold by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The consortium plans to build an installation with a capacity of up to 3.6 gigawatts, starting in 2015. The SSE/Iberdrola/GDF group is the third new entrant to the UK nuclear industry after France's EDF bought British Energy for £12.5bn in January, and a consortium of Germany's RWE Npower and E.ON was successful in earlier NDA land auctions in April. SSE/Iberdrola/GDF was also a bidder in previous auctions for land at Wylfa, Oldbury and Bradwell. But the group pulled out after competition became so fierce it ran for six weeks rather than the expected one, and netted the Government a whopping £387m rather than the expected £100m.

"our article on the costs associated with nuclear reactors addresses a fundamental question about how we de-carbonise our energy supply, and who pays (Nuclear waste offer 'has hidden subsidy', 3 June). But the suggestion that EDF Energy was engaged in "behind-the scenes lobbying" to gain a "hidden subsidy" is wrong. We were responding to an open pre-consultation by government. This invited views from all parties, including ourselves and NGOs, on the price for radioactive waste disposal. We work hard to be part of the debate and recently set out our commitment to transparency. We have always been open that we expect to pay the full costs of decommissioning and our full share of the waste management and disposal costs from our new-build programme."

"BP's apocalyptic Gulf gusher has put our ability to survive in serious doubt. We have no reason to believe an end to the crisis is near---or even in sight. Nor can we begin to calculate the damage to our Mother Earth…to her oceans, to the core of her being…and to each of us as individual organisms. Only one thing IS clear: we cannot ultimately survive without a rapid conversion to a Solartopian economy that is totally green-powered. That transformation will be forced by biological imperatives, not money or markets. The powers that be studiously avoid the core reality that this disaster stems from the ability of large corporations to make all of us pay for their irresponsible greed. The black poisons killing our global body gush from a system that grants corporations human rights but does not demand human responsibility. It is suicidal to allow corporations to deploy technologies they cannot mange or insure and then make us pay for their greed. "

"Greenpeace is collecting signatures to force the government to review the nuclear liability bill which it says allows foreign corporations to get away by paying a meagre compensation in case of a nuclear accident. With already over 1.8 lakh signatures online, the petition will be forwarded to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to stop the bill in its current form and review it. "The proposed nuclear liability bill appeases foreign corporations by allowing them to get away by paying a meagre compensatory amount in case of a nuclear accident, which is not fair," reads the petition. It alleged that the government was only considering cosmetic changes in the bill. Drawing a parallel with the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984, the petition said: "The Bhopal judgment highlights the manner in which an American corporation has been so easily let off after causing the deaths of over 25,000 people and affecting thousands more." "India must hold a public consultation before changing the liability rules for any nuclear accidents caused by US corporations." A Bhopal court on June 07 sentenced seven former employees of Union Carbide Indian Ltd to two years imprisonment for culpability in the tragedy and quickly bailed them. The ruling has triggered a furore. "

"The Oswego County Legislature has approved a one-year tax agreement with Constellation Energy Nuclear Group for the Nine Mile Point Unit I plant. The tax agreement nearly triples the amount of taxes the company would pay Oswego County, the town of Scriba and the Oswego school district. The company this year paid $4 million through its payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, and would pay $11 million in 2011 with the tax agreement. The county receives $1,489,000 this year and would receive $4,096,400 under the tax agreement."

Ratepayers will pay most of bill for nuclear plant upgrades FREDERICTON - If they weren't stuck with the bill, ratepayers might be able to sympathize with surprise costs that face NB Power's refurbishment project at Point Lepreau. The refurbishment project is currently running three to four months behind schedule, at a cost of about $20 million per month to ratepayers. Each extra day will cost an extra $1 million in replacement fuel, and CEO David Hay says NB Power is on track to pay between $70 million to $90 million in unexpected replacement fuel costs to replace power normally generated by the reactor during the period it is down.

Ten percent of 20 is two. Five percent is one. To make the deal go down at the Public Service Board level 1 percent of the 20 percent uprated Vermont Yankee power (in 2006 it went from a 540 Megawatt ((Mw)) to a 650 Mw. reactor) was sold to a small utility up north in Vermont at below-market rates. As a result of the uprate decision at the PSB, Entergy must pay taxes to Vermont on all power from the uprate sold out of state. Translated, this means that Entergy must pay taxes on 19 of the uprated 20 percent of the power sold. This is money to the state coffers. The PSB makes decisions based primarily on economics. The PSB will decide to continue Yankee past 2012. The PSB will play their quasijudicial role as arbiter and Entergy will sweeten the deal for the supposed ratepayer advocate Department of Public Service (read: governor's right-and team) in a Memorandum of Understanding just before the PSB decision.