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Radioactive waste left in the groundwater at the former Fernald uranium-processing plant in southwestern Ohio could linger for a century, state officials estimate. That's why the U.S. Department of Energy agreed yesterday to pay a record $13.75 million to settle a lawsuit that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency filed in 1986.

And Eskom GM says a mild winter will go a long way to minimise load shedding The government's plan to include nuclear and renewable sources in the energy mix could push electricity bills even higher than currently foreseen, a senior Eskom official said yesterday. The Cabinet has formally committed the country to build conventional and Pebble Bed nuclear power stations.

TORONTO - Electricity consumers in Ontario will be on the hook for about one half of a cost overrun that could reach 35 per cent for refurbishing reactors at a privately operated nuclear station. Bruce Power, the privately owned consortium that operates the nuclear station on Lake Huron, said yesterday that the total cost for getting two of the idle reactors up and running will now range between $3.1-billion and $3.4-billion, well above the initial estimate of $2.5-billion.

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.

Not even $52.5 million is enough to relieve all the damage and pain that nuclear radiation caused for years in Apollo and Parks, residents and claimants in a long-running legal battle said Sunday. "We'll live with it forever," Helen Hutchison, 88, said of the area's nuclear contamination legacy. "Money doesn't cure the problem." The U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh approved the $52.5 million settlement from Babcock & Wilcox on Friday to 365 claimants who alleged injury, wrongful death and property damage from years of contamination. B&W, and its predecessors -- the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. and the Atlantic Richfield Co. -- produced nuclear fuel and other products for the government at plants in Apollo and Parks from 1957 to 1986. Co-defendant Atlantic Richfield settled its portion of the case last year for $27.5 million.

"In January of next year, Georgia Power customers will begin to pay for new nuclear reactors. This is the second part of a series investigating the financial and environmental implications of the Plant Vogtle expansion. The first part of the series discussed how federal tax dollars were being used to subsidize the development of the nuclear industry. Beginning in January 2011, most Georgia Power customers will see an increase in their electric bill. It will start small, about $1.30 per month. Over the next several years it will increase, until 2017, when residential and small business ratepayers are coughing up an additional $9.10 or more per month."

Given the increasingly serious circumstances involving Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the firm cannot be allowed to get away with ambiguous statements. Appearing Wednesday at a press conference at TEPCO's head office, the first he had held in about a month, company President Masataka Shimizu did not go into detail about future actions concerning the nuclear plant. All he said was: "I want to indicate [when the accident can be contained] as soon as possible." On the subject of compensation for people affected by the crisis, Shimizu said: "We'll act based on the law concerning compensation for nuclear disasters. We're considering provisional payments for urgently needed money." Under the law, the government will shoulder up to 240 billion yen for the Fukushima accident. If the total amount exceeds that figure, TEPCO is in principle responsible for the remainder. The total amount of compensation may reach trillions of yen, however, making it doubtful TEPCO will be able to shoulder such a burden. Therefore, the government and TEPCO have begun discussing a plan to establish a fund for compensation payments, to which other electric power companies will also contribute money.

"As Japan struggles to regain control of its Fukushima Daiichi power plant, there's lots of talk about which technical safeguards the plant lacked and which should be required in future nuclear facilities. But a new report points to another kind of safeguard that failed: public institutions. Nuclear power plants are designed for what the industry calls defense in depth: the inclusion of backup safeguards in case the primary safeguards fail. No single layer of protection should be trusted entirely. The same is true of people. No power plant operator should be trusted to maintain the safety of its reactors. We need multiple layers of scrutiny-inspectors, regulators, independent nuclear experts-to double- and triple-check the operator's work."