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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.

A federal appeals court has dismissed an Indian Point case arguing that regulators improperly allowed the nuclear plant's owners to loosen a fire safety equipment standard at the Buchanan site. Advertisement "This case tests the limits of our jurisdiction ... to review orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Judge John Walker Jr. of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the 20-page decision. "Petitioners challenge only that exemption in this appeal," Walker wrote. "Because we lack jurisdiction ... we must dismiss the petition." Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, brought the case and said yesterday that he would decide his next move soon.

Dozens of workers diagnosed with cancer after their employment at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory may have more leverage in claiming federal compensation to help with their health care. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health first granted a special designation earlier this month for those assigned to the field lab's 270-acre Area IV, where much of the nuclear work was conducted. The designation applies to those who were exposed to radiation for at least 250 days, between Jan. 1, 1955 and Dec, 31, 1958. On Wednesday, the federal agency broadened the designation to include those who worked at the field lab in 1959, the year of a partial nuclear meltdown at the site. The federal action is the result of a efforts by Bonnie Klea of West Hills, who worked as a secretary for Rocketdyne in the 1960s. A survivor of bladder cancer, she compiled letters, press releases, news articles and documentaries about radioactive and chemical contamination at the site. She delivered the petition in 2007, after learning that the Department of Labor had denied most of the claims for compensation filed by cancer-stricken workers under the 2000 Energy Employees Occupational Illness Program Act. Of the 993 claims filed by Thursday with the Department of Labor, 249 had been denied, 164 had been approved and the rest are pending.

A ship wreck discovered off the coast of Italy two weeks ago may contain bodies, as well as radioactive waste, the mayor of Longobardi says. An underwater camera revealed orange barrels marked "toxic" and what may be two bodies. Authorities say the vessel was sunk in 1993 by a criminal organization to conceal toxic waste, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. It remains underwater 12 miles off the coast and by Thursday calls for government action to deal with the possible pollution were mounting. "This terrible threat from the bottom of our sea calls for more than just good intentions," Calabrian Member of Parliament Jole Santelli said. "Serious situations like the one we have now in Calabria should be examined in depth to ensure the right tools are available to clean the polluted sea swiftly and efficiently." The Environment Ministry promised to send the Astrea, an oceanographic survey ship, to look into the problem. However, Calabrian Environment Councilor Silvestro Greco said Wednesday the Astrea was not up to the task. Greco said the council of regional governments would petition the European Commission to assist. The ship was found after a mafia turncoat told prosecutors he was involved in the 1993 sinking of the Cunsky to hide 120 containers of radioactive waste. A robot was sent down to investigate the vessel.

Coalition Urges Scrutiny of French Company's Corporate Practices and Transparency BALTIMORE - The Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition applauds the Maryland Public Service Commission's (PSC) decision today to assert its jurisdiction over the nuclear sales transaction between Electricite de France (EdF) and Constellation Energy. The coalition delivered 650 petition signatures to the PSC on Friday urging the commission to examine the effects of the deal on Constellation subsidiary Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E) and Maryland ratepayers and consider the corporate track record of EdF before approving the deal. "The commission needs to make sure this sale will not negatively impact consumers in the long term or short term," said Johanna Neumann, state director for Maryland PIRG. "A laissez-faire approach by the last Public Service Commission allowed Constellation Energy to rake Maryland consumers over the coals time and again. We urge this commission to be an effective watchdog for the public by aggressively investigating this transaction."

Five environmental groups petitioned federal regulators Wednesday to block the only commercial nuclear reactor now under construction in the United States - an unfinished 1970s-era reactor the Tennessee Valley Authority is working to complete after three decades in mothballs. The groups claim TVA failed to consider the impact on the Tennessee River, public health and safety and the utility's need for more electricity when it revived a 1976 application for an operating license for the Watts Bar Plant Unit 2 reactor near Spring City, Tenn. "TVA keeps pushing for more nuclear reactors in spite of the massive cost overruns they always have when they build them," said Bill Reynolds, the nuclear committee chairman for the Sierra Club's Tennessee chapter.

Uranium Resources on Monday said it plans to ask a US appeals court to reconsider its ruling that a proposed uranium recovery site in northwestern Mexico is on Indian land and subject to permitting requirements under the US Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Act. The Lewisville, Texas-based company said that it plans to file a petition Monday asking for an "en banc" review in which all judges in the appellate court would rehear the case, instead of the three-judge panel that issued the original ruling. The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals on April 17 said it agreed with EPA's 2007 finding that Section 8 of the property in Churchrock, New Mexico, falls under federal, not state, jurisdiction.

An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) will hear oral arguments June 9 on two challenges to a license renewal application by Cogema Mining Inc. for the Irigaray and Christensen Ranch in-situ uranium recovery facilities in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. Oral arguments by lawyers for the parties will be heard in the Presentation Hall (Room 136) of the Whitney Building on the campus of Sheridan College in Sheridan, Wyo. The proceedings will continue on June 10 if necessary. Cogema submitted an application for a 10-year renewal of the Irigaray and Christensen Ranch recovery facilities on May 31, 2008. The facilities, which are under a single license, have not been operational since 2002; however, on Sept. 30, 2008, the NRC approved Cogema's request to return the facilities to operational status. The agency received petitions from the Oglala Delegation of the Great Sioux Nation Treaty Council and the Powder River Basin Resource Council, raising various contentions challenging Cogema's application. The oral arguments will discuss the standing of the petitioners and the admissibility of their contentions under NRC regulations. Lawyers from the NRC staff and Cogema will also participate.

PERTH - Demonstrators wore "nuclear warheads" while percussion band Junkadelik gave extra life to a spirited protest outside the Australian Uranium Summit on May 7. The 100-strong action was organised by the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of WA. The rally chair, veteran peace campaigner Jo Vallentine, said the campaign against uranium mining must gear up in the face of moves by the state Coalition government to allow uranium mining in WA. She called on activists to organise a petition to state parliament with the largest number of signatures in WA history. In response to a new pro-uranium push from the nuclear industry a further two protests were organised outside pro-uranium events for May 11. Anti-uranium campaigners have vowed to end uranium mining in the state.

Exelon Corp. has won approval from federal energy regulators for its $5.2 billion hostile takeover of NRG Energy Inc., furthering the company's bid to become the largest U.S. producer of electricity. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted in favor of Exelon's petition to buy NRG. But the Justice Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and at least five states still must approve the deal. NRG responded that the "board and management team continue to believe that Exelon's proposal significantly undervalues NRG and remains highly conditional, including the need to obtain financing, and very risky because of rating agency and other concerns."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking input from "potential parties" before proceeding with EnergySolutions' application for a license to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. The order was sent to today to the parties, including those who petitioned for a public hearing on the license application, following last week's ruling by a Federal Court that determine that the Northwest Compact has no authority to restrict out-of-region waste sent to the EnergySolutions landfill at Clive, Utah. The NRC had held the license proceedings in abeyance pending that ruling, and now is asking parties for their views on how the commission should proceed. They have until June 19 to file their views with the commission. The filings should be no longer than 15 pages, the order said. The potential parties include the Utah attorney general, the U.S. State Department, the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, and others.

Attorney General Martha Coakley and her counterparts in New York and Connecticut are appealing a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision that could impact the relicensing of Pilgrim Station Nuclear Power Plant. Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut officials have filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York challenging the NRC's ruling that there was no "new and significant information" on the risks of severe accidents in the spent fuel pools at nuclear plants, including Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee, caused by terrorist attack, human error, equipment malfunction, or natural disaster. In 2006, Massachusetts filed a petition claiming that new and significant information on these risks to Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee, both owned by Entergy Nuclear Operations, and should be part of the relicensing process for each nuclear power plant.

If CPS Energy thinks the citizens of South Texas are just going to stand by while the company sinks billions of dollars into a risky nuclear expansion project, it looks like they've got another think coming. Several Texas groups filed a petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week to block the expansion of two more reactors at the South Texas Project in Bay City.

An environmental group said Wednesday it may go to court to try to stop South Carolina's largest private utility from building two nuclear reactors after state regulators threw out the group's petition to block the project. Bob Guild, an attorney who represents Friends of the Earth, said he would review the ruling by the Public Service Commission and could decide to appeal the issue to a circuit court. Guild said he did not know how long the group would have to file an appeal of the panel's decision.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has upheld an Environmental Protection Agency decision that a proposed uranium mine in western New Mexico would be on American Indian land. A three-judge panel on Friday denied a petition from the New Mexico-based uranium producer, Hydro Resources Inc., challenging a 2007 EPA decision that an area where the company hoped to develop uranium mines is in "dependent Indian Country." The ruling means Hydro Resources must get a groundwater injection permit from the EPA, rather than use a permit already issued by the state of New Mexico.

Today the Center for Biological Diversity submitted to the Nevada State Engineer 11 protests of water-right applications filed by the Department of Energy for groundwater in the Oasis Valley Basin northeast of the town of Beatty, Nevada. The purpose of the protests is to protect spring and stream flow required for the survival of the Amargosa toad, a rare desert amphibian and a species the Center for Biological Diversity and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility petitioned the Interior Department to list under the Endangered Species Act on February 26, 2008. The water-right applications, filed by the Department of Energy in January 2009, are in support of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and associated proposed rail line. Each of the 11 applications sought 345 acre feet of water per year from a groundwater basin that is already at an annual deficit, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Service.

An environmental group has challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's reinstatement of TVA's construction permits for two nuclear reactors in northeast Alabama. Advertisement The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League has filed a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals over units 1 and 2 at the Bellefonte plant in Hollywood, the group said this week.

"Conscript was part of class-action suit against the state The death last Friday of a former Chilean soldier who was suing the state for health damages after he was overexposed to radiation once again highlights concerns over the future use of nuclear energy in Chile. Manuel Mella Tapia, 41, guarded the La Reina nuclear research facility near Santiago between 1987 and 1989 as part of his compulsory military service. Tapia was diagnosed with leukemia in 2008 and had been waiting for a bone marrow transplant at Santiago's Clinica Alemana. He was one of 64 ex-conscripts petitioning the government for US$85 million in compensation after being exposed to radioactive material while serving at the La Reina facility (ST. Oct 22, 2009). At least half of the men have experienced health problems related to radiation poisoning. "

"Joliet is pushing the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to more than double the concentration of cancer-causing radium it's allowed to dump onto farmland in the south suburbs, expanding the potential for deadly radon gas in these increasingly urban communities. Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element abundant in deep-water wells in northern Illinois and throughout the Midwest. Cities such as Joliet that rely on these deep wells spend millions of dollars each year to remove radium from their drinking water. Some communities pay to dump radium in a landfill, but Joliet and others use a cheaper alternative, mixing it with waste material that is sold to farmers as fertilizer. About 21,000 tons of Joliet's radium-enriched fertilizer has been dumped on area farms since 2005 The city is petitioning the state EPA to allow it to dispose of more than twice the level of radium that's currently allowed. If granted, it would be 10 times higher than what was considered safe just five years ago - rekindling concerns about the long-term exposure of concentrated radium on the soil."

"The radioactive leak of tritium at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant is just the tip of the iceberg of deferred maintenance, representatives for the New England Coalition said Wednesday during a meeting with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The watchdog group filed a petition with the NRC against Entergy Nuclear, the owner of Vermont Yankee, about a month ago, asking that the reactor be shut down until the source of the tritium leak was identified and shut off. While that immediate request was denied, the coalition is pushing for enforcement against Entergy Nuclear, saying the tritium leak is just an indication of a larger problem. "