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If a picture's worth a thousand words, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group's photo mosaic of about 5,000 mini-portraits is something like 5 million words. And those words all say Vermont Yankee should be decommissioned. Advertisement VPIRG unveiled the mosaic Thursday on Elizabeth Hunt's freshly cut lawn in South Burlington. The mosaic's miniature portraits, taken of people at their homes throughout Vermont, put together and tinted slightly, become a pixilated picture roughly the size of a Publishers Clearing House check, of Hunt; her husband, Jesse Moore; and their 1-year-old son, Sam Moore. Members of the research group said they assembled the photo petition to personalize the state's general opinion of the 650-megawatt nuclear power plant. "You can tell a lot more by a person's face than their signature," said Anika James, 21, of Shelburne, who knocked on doors for VPIRG.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group's photo mosaic of about 5,000 mini-portraits is something like 5 million words. And those words all say Vermont Yankee should be decommissioned. Advertisement VPIRG unveiled the mosaic Thursday on Elizabeth Hunt's freshly cut lawn in South Burlington. The mosaic's miniature portraits, taken of people at their homes throughout Vermont, put together and tinted slightly, become a pixilated picture roughly the size of a Publishers Clearing House check, of Hunt; her husband, Jesse Moore; and their 1-year-old son, Sam Moore. Members of the research group said they assembled the photo petition to personalize the state's general opinion of the 650-megawatt nuclear power plant. "You can tell a lot more by a person's face than their signature," said Anika James, 21, of Shelburne, who knocked on doors for VPIRG.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group's photo mosaic of about 5,000 mini-portraits is something like 5 million words. And those words all say Vermont Yankee should be decommissioned. Advertisement VPIRG unveiled the mosaic Thursday on Elizabeth Hunt's freshly cut lawn in South Burlington. The mosaic's miniature portraits, taken of people at their homes throughout Vermont, put together and tinted slightly, become a pixilated picture roughly the size of a Publishers Clearing House check, of Hunt; her husband, Jesse Moore; and their 1-year-old son, Sam Moore. Members of the research group said they assembled the photo petition to personalize the state's general opinion of the 650-megawatt nuclear power plant. "You can tell a lot more by a person's face than their signature," said Anika James, 21, of Shelburne, who knocked on doors for VPIRG.

Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee lambasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a bill that would have required three-dimensional mapping to explore earthquake fault zones near Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Blakeslee submitted the bill last December, a month after the so-called Shoreline Fault was discovered less than a mile offshore from Diablo. The bill would have ordered Diablo Canyon's owner, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., to use the latest high-definition technologies to map the fault, including a technique called three-dimensional geophysical reflection mapping. The state was then to use that information to make recommendations on whether seismic strengthening was needed at the plant.

Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee lambasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of a bill that would have required three-dimensional mapping to explore earthquake fault zones near Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Blakeslee submitted the bill last December, a month after the so-called Shoreline Fault was discovered less than a mile offshore from Diablo. The bill would have ordered Diablo Canyon's owner, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., to use the latest high-definition technologies to map the fault, including a technique called three-dimensional geophysical reflection mapping. The state was then to use that information to make recommendations on whether seismic strengthening was needed at the plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a predecisional enforcement conference in Atlanta for Friday, Dec. 11 to discuss with officials of Global Nuclear Fuel -- Americas, LLC of Wilmington, N.C., apparent violations of NRC requirements associated with the company's safety analysis of the facility. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. at the NRC Region II office in Atlanta, located in the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth St. SW, Suite 23T85. The meeting will be open to observation by the public, and NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers. Members of the public interested in attending the meeting or participating by toll-free audio teleconference should contact the NRC's Chad Cramer at 404-562-4712 or chad.cramer@nrc.gov or the NRC's Richard Gibson at 404-562-4718 or richard.gibson@nrc.gov. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss apparent violations related to shortcomings in the company's required safety analysis, including the failure to identify or document credible accident scenarios.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a predecisional enforcement conference in Atlanta for Friday, Dec. 11 to discuss with officials of Global Nuclear Fuel -- Americas, LLC of Wilmington, N.C., apparent violations of NRC requirements associated with the company's safety analysis of the facility. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. at the NRC Region II office in Atlanta, located in the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth St. SW, Suite 23T85. The meeting will be open to observation by the public, and NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers. Members of the public interested in attending the meeting or participating by toll-free audio teleconference should contact the NRC's Chad Cramer at 404-562-4712 or chad.cramer@nrc.gov or the NRC's Richard Gibson at 404-562-4718 or richard.gibson@nrc.gov. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss apparent violations related to shortcomings in the company's required safety analysis, including the failure to identify or document credible accident scenarios.

"Regional water quality regulators have fined Boeing Co. $500,000 for contaminated stormwater runoff at a former nuclear and rocket engine testing facility in eastern Ventura County. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a consent judgment Thursday also ordering Boeing to pay $75,000 in attorneys fees and civil penalties for days when contaminants exceeded permitted limits at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Boeing spokeswoman Kamara Sams Holden says the judgment covers violations from 2007 through the end of 2009. The lab 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles was used for nuclear and rocket testing for more than four decades. A nuclear reactor had a partial meltdown at the 2,800 acre site in 1959."

To stop the nuke, we organized throughout our region on economic, ecological and political grounds. In February, 1974, a member of our commune named Sam Lovejoy toppled a weather tower at the site of the nuke. it was a great protest, memorialized in the award-winning "Lovejoy's Nuclear War" from Green Mountain Post Films (gmpfilms.org). When the cost of the nuke started to skyrocket, there were riots in Connecticut against rate hikes meant to pay for the plant. Facing increasingly stiff local and financial opposition, Northeast Utilities canceled the plant. Skyrocketing costs and fierce resistance led to the cancellation of scores of reactors across the US in the 1970s and '80s. Our demonstrations and interventions made a huge difference. Had there been no resistance, no one would have heard a word about Three Mile Island, which put a serious nail in the industry's plans. However, with the attempted "renaissance" of this murderous, suicidal technology, we will have to restart our movement.

To stop the nuke, we organized throughout our region on economic, ecological and political grounds. In February, 1974, a member of our commune named Sam Lovejoy toppled a weather tower at the site of the nuke. it was a great protest, memorialized in the award-winning "Lovejoy's Nuclear War" from Green Mountain Post Films (gmpfilms.org). When the cost of the nuke started to skyrocket, there were riots in Connecticut against rate hikes meant to pay for the plant. Facing increasingly stiff local and financial opposition, Northeast Utilities canceled the plant. Skyrocketing costs and fierce resistance led to the cancellation of scores of reactors across the US in the 1970s and '80s. Our demonstrations and interventions made a huge difference. Had there been no resistance, no one would have heard a word about Three Mile Island, which put a serious nail in the industry's plans. However, with the attempted "renaissance" of this murderous, suicidal technology, we will have to restart our movement.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) has elected Dr. Mario V. Bonaca as Chairman, Dr. Said Abdel-Khalik as Vice-Chairman, and Dr. J. Sam Armijo as Member-at-Large. The ACRS advises the Commission independently from the NRC staff on the safety and safeguards aspects of nuclear facilities and the adequacy of safety standards. Bonaca is a nuclear consultant with more than 30 years of experience in analysis, design and operational support of nuclear power plants. He has worked at Combustion Engineering, Babcock and Wilcox, and was director of nuclear engineering services at Northeast Utilities prior to his retirement. He has been a member of the ACRS since 1999, and served as the ACRS Chairman in 2003 and 2004. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of Florence, Italy.

This afternoon, the Nuclear Threat Initiative published a thick to-do list for the Barack Obama administration - a guide, if you will, to avoiding the holocaust of nuclear terrorism. NTI is the group co-chaired by CNN founder Ted Turner and former Georgia senator Sam Nunn, who is now an informal advisor to the Obama transition team. Which means Nunn's priorities could reflect those of the new president. Or vice versa. You can click here to read an 18-page executive summary of "Securing the Bomb 2008." Or read the entire report on the NTI web site. But don't read either in bed. You'll never sleep again.

Area residents made it clear to Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials Tuesday that they didn't believe their assurances that Entergy Nuclear's recurring problems with its cooling towers at Vermont Yankee didn't translate to more serious problems. Sam Collins, regional administrator for the NRC, told about 100 people gathered at the Latchis Theatre that while Entergy had problems with communication, design and oversight with the cooling towers, the problems didn't rise to the level of a safety threat.

The authors of a U.S. program designed to secure weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union say they worry that deteriorating relations between the United States and Russia could undermine efforts to keep the weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Sen. Richard Lugar and former Sen. Sam Nunn say the two countries have continued working together to secure nuclear, chemical and biological weapons despite growing hostility after Russia's invasion of Georgia last month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department will file an application in early June with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to operate a long-delayed nuclear waste dump in Nevada, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Thursday.

Can Big Government really solve the energy crisis? It would be nice to believe that. While America has a much-deserved reputation as the land of free-market-loving entrepreneurs, that doesn't mean Uncle Sam can't occasionally take the lead and achieve some pretty impressive results. Two that quickly come to mind are the Manhattan Project ($20 billion in today's dollars), which developed the atomic bomb, and the Apollo space program ($100 billion in today's dollars), which eventually put 12 men on the surface of the moon. And it's those two examples of successful collective action that many people think should serve as the models for how we deal with our current power problems, whether it's slowing climate change or achieving energy security. As Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has put it:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department has applied for a license to operate a long-delayed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman announced on Tuesday.

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) gives notice concerning the final effect of the HHS decision to designate a class of employees at the SAM (Special Alloyed or Substitute Alloy Materials) Laboratories of Columbia University in New York City, New York, as an addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. On May 30, 2008, as provided for under 42 U.S.C. 7384q(b), the Secretary of HHS designated the following class of employees as an addition to the SEC:

Are you in the market for a nuclear reactor? If so, you'll need about $10 billion to get started. Besides the environmental concerns, the cost of nuclear energy is also a problem. Sam Eaton looks into why it's so expensive.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled meetings for Thursday and Friday, June 4 and 5, to discuss plans to revise the process used for oversight and inspection of nuclear fuel enrichment, processing and manufacturing facilities licensed by the NRC. The meeting, which is open to the public, is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 4 and from 8:30 a.m. to noon on June 5, and will be held in the NRC's Region II office's main conference room, which is located in the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW in Atlanta. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss NRC plans to produce a fuel cycle oversight process that is more risk informed and performance based, and to get industry and public feedback on those plans. It is expected that NRC staff, industry representatives and others will make presentations on improvements with discussion following. There will also be opportunities for members of the public to participate at designated points during the meeting.

Republicans on the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Wednesday that panel Chairman Jeff Bingaman has agreed to include some incentives for new nuclear energy projects, clean coal and waste-to-energy in a renewable electricity mandate, though the change will not be enough to satisfy most of the panel's minority party members. The committee will vote on amendments Thursday, with a final vote on the full energy bill due as early as next week. Changes made to the renewable electricity standard will likely garner enough support to clear the committee, though only Kansas Republican Sam Brownback is considered likely to vote with Democrats in favor of the measure. In its current form, the RES supported by Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, and most or all of the panel's other Democrats would require utilities to derive 11% of their output from renewable energy and 4% from energy efficiency improvements. Robert Dillon, a spokesman for the panel's top Republican Lisa Murkowski, said that Bingaman had also agreed to take all new nuclear energy projects out of a utility's baseline, reducing the amount of renewable energy required to meet the standard. Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, would like existing nuclear energy to receive the same treatment.

"uclear terrorism and the possibility of a nuclear weapon unleashed in any city present the greatest potential threat to US security, public health and the economy. Current and future US nuclear policy will be presented March 1st when President Obama is scheduled to release the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) as mandated by congress. This follows the recent Quadrennial Review of the Department of Defense strategy and priorities. The NPR outlines to our allies and the world the US position on the role nuclear weapons play in our security. President Obama has joined bipartisan architects of cold war nuclear and security policy, the so called "gang of four" including former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, former Defense Secretary William Perry and Former Senator Sam Nunn head of the Senate Arms Services Committee in stating his vision of a world without nuclear weapons in his speech delivered in Prague last April. The NPR formulated in consultation with the Departments of Defense, Energy and State will provide the opportunity to lay out the means of making this critical vision a reality. "

""We don't need nuclear power", Sam Watson, Aboriginal community leader and Socialist Alliance Senate candidate, told a picket against the proposed nuclear waste dump at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, held outside PM Kevin Rudd's electorate office in Norman Park on April 12. "It is a fundamental principle of Aboriginal culture that you preserve the land and the environment, to hand on to future generations. Nuclear waste means radioactive poison for hundreds of thousands of years. "This nuclear dump would mean toxic waste would be returned to Aboriginal land, to permanently contaminate the water table. There are much cheaper and cleaner options for generating electric power. "

"Former government leaders from around the world have opened a plenary meeting of the InterAction Council to debate how nuclear weapons can best be eliminated. Sam Nunn, former chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a guest speech at the Hiroshima venue that the upcoming conference to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty must not repeat the failure of the previous meeting in 2005, when it ended without consensus. Among participants in the InterAction Council are 14 former heads of state, including former Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson who serves as cochair with former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, as well as former Japanese prime ministers Yasuo Fukuda and Tomiichi Murayama."

"Centrica and E.ON lobby Liberal Democrat energy secretary to commit government to £30bn nuclear newbuild programme Leaders of the nuclear industry have sought urgent meetings with the new energy secretary, Chris Huhne, amid concern that he will not provide the support needed for their £30bn investment programme in a new generation of reactors. Sam Laidlaw, Centrica's chief executive, and Paul Golby, head of E.ON UK, have scheduled talks in the coming days with Huhne, who has strongly indicated that his primary focus is renewable power."