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"Riverkeeper has petitioned the state Department of Environmental Conservation urging the agency to uphold its decision not to grant certification to Entergy on the grounds that its Indian Point nuclear power plant does not meet state water quality standards. Entergy needs that certification as part of its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the plant's licenses for another 20 years. Riverkeeper's petition supports DEC's decision that continued operation of the power plant would violate state clean water standards and continued use of the once-through cooling system would lead to ongoing harmful impacts to the Hudson River's ecology and aquatic species, said staff attorney Deborah Brancato."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will consider the issues raised in a petition for rulemaking (PRM) submitted by Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (petitioner) in the NRC's rulemaking process. The petition was dated November 4, 1999, and was docketed as PRM-50-69. The petitioner requested that Table 1 in 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix G, be amended by removing requirements related to the metal temperature of the closure head flange and vessel flange regions. Specifically, the petitioner requested that footnotes (2) and (6) be removed from Table 1.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying the petition for rulemaking (PRM) filed by Mr. Raymond A. Crandall on May 17, 2007, and docketed on June 22, 2007 (Docket No. PRM-50-87). In his petition, the petitioner requested that the NRC amend the regulations that govern domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities to eliminate the specific criteria related to the radiological doses for control room habitability at nuclear power plants. The petitioner stated that the current deterministic radiological dose requirements for control room habitability have resulted in several negative safety consequences, including an increased risk to public safety. He requested that the NRC delete the 5 rem whole body dose limit and the 0.05 sievert (Sv) (5 rem) total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) limit specified in the current regulations.

A state petition listing more than 200 reasons for not opening a federal nuclear waste dump in southern Nevada was filed Friday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. Among major concerns highlighted by Masto and other state officials at a news conference in Las Vegas was what they termed an incomplete and inadequate plan for shipping high-level radioactive waste across the country to the Yucca Mountain site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

With anticipation growing over an Alberta government report on nuclear power, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups has submitted a 2,500-person province-wide petition against development of the energy source. "Why won't you shift government investment to renewable energy options instead of an option that creates radioactive waste that will threaten Albertans for tens of thousands of years?" NDP environment critic Rachel Notley said in the legislature Monday. The groups held press conferences in both Edmonton and Calgary on Monday before having Alberta Liberal and NDP MLAs table the petitions in the legislature.

Alberta's New Democrats tabled a petition in the legislature yesterday that contains signatures from close to 4,000 people who don't want nuclear power plants in Alberta's Peace Country, or anywhere else in the province. Rachael Notley, NDP MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona, said the petitions will hopefully entice the provincial government in revealing a report on nuclear power in Alberta as promised by Energy Minister Mel Knight seven months ago.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will consider the issues raised in a petition for rulemaking (PRM) submitted by Mark Edward Leyse in the NRC's rulemaking process. The petition was dated March 15, 2007, and was docketed as PRM-50-84. The petitioner requests that the NRC amend its regulations to require that nuclear power reactors be operated in a manner to limit the thickness of crud layers and/or the thickness of oxide layers on fuel rod cladding surfaces to ensure that the facilities operate in compliance with the emergency core cooling system (ECCS) acceptance criteria. The petitioner also requests that the requirements pertaining to ECCS evaluation models be amended to explicitly require that the steady-state temperature distribution and stored energy in reactor fuel at the onset of a postulated loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) be calculated by factoring in the role that the thermal resistance of crud and/or oxide layers on fuel cladding plays in increasing the stored energy of the fuel.

Thomas E. Magette on Behalf of EnergySolutions, LLC; Notice of Denial of Petition for Rulemaking AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking submitted by Mr. Thomas E. Magette on behalf of EnergySolutions, LLC. The petitioner requested that the NRC's regulations governing domestic licensing of production and utilization facilities be amended to provide a regulatory framework that would allow funds from licensees' decommissioning trust funds to be used for the cost of disposal of ``major radioactive components'' (MRCs) that have been removed from reactors before the permanent cessation of operations.

A local anti-nuclear activist has criticized a decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny a petition by state Attorney General Martha Coakley's office that could have affected the re-licensing of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth. "We deserve an airing of the issues to ensure the environment of public health and safety to be protected," said Duxbury resident May Lampert. "It doesn't make the agency credible if people think these issues don't have a fair hearing."

Decision To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees for the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York, To Be Included in the Special Exposure Cohort AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: 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 Lake Ontario Ordnance Works, Niagara Falls, New York, 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: Lake Ontario Ordnance Works. Location: Niagara Falls, New York.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Decision To Evaluate a Petition To Designate a Class of Employees for the Norton Company in Worcester, MA, To Be Included in the Special Exposure Cohort AGENCY: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: 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 Norton Company in Worcester, Massachusetts, 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: Norton Company. Location: Worcester, Massachusetts.

The Andrews County judge is verifying signatures this morning on a petition submitted late Monday requesting a recount after the bond to fund construction of a radioactive waste site passed by a three-vote margin Saturday. County Judge Richard Dolgener said 25 signatures are required to formally request a recount and he is in the process of verifying the signatures received Monday are all from registered voters before he accepts the petition. The request came at the prompting of Melodye and Peggy Pryor, who started the non-profit No Bonds for Billionaires, and spent the last weeks campaigning against the $75 million bond that would help Waste Control Specialists build a low-level radioactive waste site. With 642 votes for the bond and 639 against - or 50.12 percent for and 49.89 percent against - the Pryor sisters said they don't see the win as a clear victory.

"An advisory panel to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced it has rejected a petition to try to block construction of the original reactors at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant. But in a 40-page opinion, a panel of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board agreed there are "several possible areas of concern" with the mothballed plant and a hearing should be held before any of the reactors ever begin power generation. The Tennessee Valley Authority, which suspended construction of the twin-reactor plant in 1988, still must get regulatory approval before any construction could begin, NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said. But he said the decision does allow TVA to conduct further tests and prepare to ask federal regulators to upgrade the construction permit to active status when, and if, it decides to finish the units. TVA is studying whether to finish the original reactors at Bellefonte or pursue building one of the new Westinghouse AP-1000 reactors."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced the opportunity to request a hearing on an application to renew the operating license for the Cooper Nuclear Station for an additional 20 years. Cooper is a boiling water reactor located 23 miles south of Nebraska City, Neb. The plant owner, Nebraska Public Power District, submitted the renewal application Sept. 30. The current operating license for Cooper expires Jan. 18, 2014. The NRC staff has determined that the application contains sufficient information for the agency to formally "docket," or file, the application and begin its safety and environmental reviews. Docketing the application does not preclude requesting additional information as the reviews proceed, nor does it indicate whether the Commission will renew the license. A notice of opportunity to request a hearing has been published in the Federal Register, and the deadline for requesting a hearing is March 2, 2009. Petitions may be filed by anyone whose interest may be affected by the license renewal and who wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. A request for a hearing and a petition for leave to intervene must be filed through the NRC's E-Filing system. Anyone wishing to file should contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at HEARINGDOCKET@nrc.gov at least five days before the filing deadline to request a digital ID certificate and allow for the creation of an electronic docket. More information on the hearing process is available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/adjudicatory/hearing.html.

A federal agency has taken the first step toward possibly fast-tracking compensation for sick workers at a defunct Jefferson County nuclear fuel rod plant. Former workers at United Nuclear Corp.'s plant in Hematite recently were notified that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has certified a petition they filed this summer. The federal agency now will begin evaluating the petition seeking a special designation that, if granted, would allow compensation claims to be approved without forcing Hematite workers to prove how they were exposed to radiation.

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.''

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to deny a petition by a coalition seeking to suspend the agency's reactor license renewal process, a spokesman for the NRC said Monday. One Commissioner, Gregory Jaczko, dissented on part of the decision. The NRC limits commercial power reactor licenses to an initial 40 years but permits the licenses to be renewed for an additional 20 years. The 40-year term was based on economic and antitrust considerations - not on limitations of nuclear technology, the NRC said.

I AM concerned to read that both Allerdale and Copeland councils have expressed an interest in hosting an underground repository for the storage of radioactive material in West Cumbria, which is clearly just based on our Government's cash-for-community projects bribe.THE selfish attitude of Val Wiggin is breathtaking (letters, January 30). Many people cannot afford to buy a car, let alone run one.I NEVER fail to be surprised at the efforts ex-television stars employ trying to get the people involved with purchase of death and funeral benefits. OVER 12 months ago I created a petition on the No.10 e-petitions website for the A66 to be upgraded to dual carriageway from Chapel Brow to the M6 at Penrith.

Alyaksandr Valchanin, leader of the Union Chernobyl-Belarus, met with Mikhail Rusy, chairperson of the Chernobyl aftermath committee in the House of Representatives, on Monday to discuss the rights of workers involved in the massive cleanup effort after the 1986 nuclear accident. In an interview with BelaPAN, the activist said that he had been pushing for a meeting with the lawmaker for a long time but all of his petitions had been unanswered. The meeting was arranged after Mr. Valchanin petitioned Uladzimir Makey, head of the Presidential Administration, over the matter. The activist described the meeting as "constructive." "Mr. Rusy assured me that we can develop joint projects and representatives of our association would be invited to the committee's meetings. We discussed health resort treatment for Chernobyl cleanup workers, benefits for Chernobyl-affected people," he said. Mr. Valchanin said that the Belarusian authorities were ready to maintain some cooperation with the association. "This is even good that Mr. Rusy is poised for dialogue. I, for my part, offered to use my international contacts for solving the problems of Chernobyl-affected people. It seems to me that the proposal found understanding," he noted. Mr. Valchanin said that the possible registration of the union in Belarus had not been discussed. "But we intend to get registered in our country and will make every effort for this," he said. BelaPAN