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One Coastal Bend county is contesting plans for a new uranium mine. Today, a court hearing was held in Goliad county for residents to voice their opinions. The Coastal Bend is the second biggest area in the nation for uranium mining. This is the first time a Coastal Bend county is challenging a permit application. This 1100 acres of land in Goliad County is the latest battleground over uranium mining. County leaders are challenging the Texas Commission on Environment Quality over its initial decision to approve a permit for Uranium Energy Corporation to mine here. The county is concerned about the future of ground water in the area.

* Plant's permit expires on July 5 * 40-year lifespan expires in 2011 * Polls favour plant staying open, but no new nuclear plants By Martin Roberts MADRID, June 25 (Reuters) - As Spain's government faces the first test of an electoral pledge to phase out nuclear power, unions and environmentalists expect it will either close an ageing plant or keep it open for another two years. The Garona plant's current operating permit expires on July 5 and the government has the final say on whether it stays open.

The Navajo Nation's anti-uranium mining ban scored a victory April 17 when the 10th Circuit Court upheld federal, rather than state, control over a permit for a proposed in situ leach uranium mine in a mixed-ownership area of northwestern New Mexico. Hydro Resources Inc. asked the federal appeals court to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency determination that HRI's proposed mine near Church Rock was in "Indian country" as legally defined and therefore must be permitted by EPA and not by the state.

Spain's nuclear regulator CSN on Friday recommended that the Garona plant may renew its operating permit for another 10 years on safety grounds, newspaper online reports said. The government has the final say and must decide by July 5. Permits to operate another six of Spain's eight nuclear plants are up for renewal in the next two years, or within the mandate of a government that has vowed to phase them out. Following are some key facts about Spain's eight nuclear power stations.

Greenpeace is calling for the construction permit for the Olkiluoto European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) in Finland - the world's largest prototype nuclear reactor - to be cancelled, following revelations of severe problems in the design of its electronic safety control systems. The call comes after a Finnish TV current affairs program broadcast details yesterday evening of a leaked letter from Finnish nuclear regulator STUK to Areva, the French constructor of the Olkiluoto 3 plant. The letter warns of a lack of 'real progress' in the 'design of control protection systems', which could lead to a halt in further construction work.1

The Maryland Public Service Commission's (PSC) issuance today of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to UniStar Nuclear is a costly step in the wrong direction for Maryland's energy future. This permit serves as the state's nod to construct a new uranium-fueled reactor in southern Maryland, a decision that not only could prove to be extraordinarily costly for taxpayers - as testimony provided to the PSC made clear - but tethers Maryland to continued reliance on dirty energy generation rather than moving our state toward becoming a leader in clean energy. The permit in its current form subjects UniStar Nuclear - a joint venture between Constellation Energy and the French-state controlled Electricite de France (EDF), which increasingly controls Constellation itself - only to some minor conditions.

The Florida Senate's Committee on Communications, Energy and Public Utilities late Tuesday passed a bill with a "clean energy portfolio standard" that establishes a 20%-by-2021 goal for power from generation that does not produce greenhouse gases, and permits up to one quarter of the goal to be met by either nuclear plants or integrated gasification/combined-cycle plants with carbon capture and sequestration. The bill, SB 1154, which was introduced by Senator Jim King, the Republican committee chairman from Jacksonville, sets a 7% "CEPS" goal for 2013, rising to 12% in 2016, 18% in 2019 and 20% in 2021. The bill permits the Florida Public Service Commission to "excuse" a utility from compliace with the CEPS if the supply of clean energy or clean energy credits is not adequate, or if compliance would raise customer rates by more than 2%.

"Residents, environmentalists and company officials on Wednesday debated a proposal requiring the Oyster Creek Generating Station to build cooling towers. The state Department of Environmental Protection wants the plant to build cooling towers as part of a water-discharge permit. The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., said closing the plant would be preferable financially to installing a cooling system the company estimated would cost more than $700 million. At the hearing, most local residents and elected officials sided with the company and urged the DEP to let the plant continue using its current cooling system, which circulates 662 million gallons of water per day from canals off the Forked River. Lacey Township Mayor Gary Quinn defended the private jobs and public revenue the plant provides, including more than $11 million in Energy Receipts Taxes the township receives each year. Exelon Corp. lawyer William J. Donohue said 700 plant employees would lose their jobs if the state prevailed in adding cooling towers to the plant's water-discharge permit."

"Plans for uranium exploration have ground to a halt at a Nunavut property held by Uravan Minerals Inc. Federal officials ordered Uravan to clean up a cache of materials from a mining camp site for which it did not have the proper land use permits. The site in question is at Sand Lake, on Uravan's sprawling Garry Lake uranium exploration property, located 245 kilometres northwest of Baker Lake in Nunavut's Kivalliq region. Not only did the company not have a permit to work on the Sand Lake site specifically, but the entire Garry Lake uranium property lies within the calving grounds of the Beverly caribou herd."

"Denison Mines President Ron Hochstein said uranium mining has returned to northern Arizona for the first time in nearly 20 years. Hochstein said while environmental groups attempted to stop the uranium mining in Mohave County, Ariz., with a lawsuit last September, his company obtained permission from state and Bureau of Land Management officials to mine for high-grade ore, The (Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sun said Wednesday. "They're challenging the permits, but the BLM and state have given us all the permits we need to operate," Hochstein insists."

"There has been a lot of talk of next-generation reactors in the U.S. "nuclear revival," but some plans for new nuclear power generation are looking back rather than ahead. Alongside a multitude of pending applications for new nuclear reactors, there is a move to restart construction at sites where the work began decades ago only to be abandoned before completion. On Monday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a hearing on challenges to the reinstatement of construction permits for one such project. It involves permits granted to the Tennessee Valley Authority to build the Bellefonte nuclear reactors, two reactors that were started near Hollywood, Ala., in 1974 but never finished. "

"Construction of nuclear power plants in Illinois could be permitted for the first time in more than 20 years under legislation that passed the state Senate today. Lawmakers closed the door to new nuclear construction in 1987, requiring federal standards for disposal of nuclear waste to be put in place before more plants could be added in the state. But modern lawmakers have tried to remove that requirement for several years with previously limited success. State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-Moline, sponsored this year's Senate bill (HB3388). It sailed through the Senate Energy committee, which Jacobs chairs, and the full chamber. "

"Earlier this month, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals approved a controversial permit for uranium mining operations at sites in Church Rock, New Mexico. The operation includes a site associated with the largest release of liquid radioactive waste in United States History -- a catastrophe which continues, a generation later, to negatively impact the lives and health of Navajo people residing near the spill site. Over a decade after Navajo leaders and community groups first challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) issuance of a mining permit to Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI) for uranium extraction in Church Rock, the appellate court decided on March 8th to uphold the NRC's decision. The court rejected the plaintiffs' argument that since the site already emits more radiation than federal regulations allow, a license for a new operation is impermissible because even the most miniscule amounts of new radiation emitted would exceed regulatory limits. Instead, the court affirmed both the NRC's decision under the Atomic Energy Act to only review an isolated portion of radiation from the site, as well as its corollary finding that the cumulative impacts of radiation emitted from the site are acceptable under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). "

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted for review the Early Site Permit (ESP) application for the Victoria County site near Victoria, Texas. The applicant, Exelon Nuclear Texas Holdings, submitted the application and associated information on March 25. The application, minus proprietary and security-related details, is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/esp/victoria.html. Exelon's ESP application seeks resolution of safety and environmental issues for the site, approximately 13 miles south of Victoria. Docketing the Victoria County application does not indicate whether the Commission will approve or reject the request. The NRC has established docket number 52-042 for this application, and the agency will subsequently publish a notice of opportunity to intervene in the required adjudicatory hearing. Petitions to intervene in a hearing may be filed within 60 days of the notice, by anyone whose interest may be affected by the proposed license and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. More information on the hearing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html. "

Nancy Burton sought Monday to expand the number of health issues to be considered as the state weighs a water-discharge permit for the Millstone nuclear power plants in Waterford. Burton, a resident of Redding Ridge who has seasonal property on Masons Island, indicated in a petition for intervenor status that she wants a Department of Environmental Protection hearing officer to consider the potential health effects of toxic materials and radiation, among other issues.

Evaluating Feasibility of Existing Assets As Future Generation Resource TVA has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reinstate the construction permits for its two unfinished nuclear units at the Bellefonte site in North Alabama as part of efforts to evaluate the feasibility of completing them to meet future power needs. No decision has been made to complete the Bellefonte units or to add any base load generating units beyond completing Unit 2 at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant in Spring City, officials said.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for an Early Site Permit (ESP) Application at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Site

Ohio EPA will hold a public information session and hearing at 6:30 p.m., July 24, at Woodmore High School, 633 Fremont St., Elmore, to accept comments on a draft air pollution control permit for a primary beryllium production facility at the Brush Wellman plant in Elmore.

GOLIAD - Residents can still comment on the ongoing uranium mining project in Goliad County. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality prepared the draft permit which is now available for public comment until July 25. Uranium Energy Corp. has not yet submitted its affidavit that it has printed a public notice, TCEQ spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said.

A groundwater discharge permit is being sought for Mount Taylor Uranium Mine and Mill owned by Rio Grande Resources, according to the New Mexico Environment Department. Gerald Schoeppner of NMED's Groundwater Quality Bureau said Wednesday that the company has an existing discharge plan for its mine that it's trying to renew, "but that's one of the pieces of the puzzle that's missing - how they're planning to treat their mine water for the dewatering to meet standards."