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Advancing the hope for an early Indo-US nuclear accord, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to approve the Bill by 19 to 2, sending it to the full Senate (rpt) Senate. The two law makers who voted against the deal were Senators Barbara Boxer (by proxy) and Russel Feingold, both Democrats. Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and the Vice Presidental candidate Senator Joseph Biden, currently the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, voted by proxies to move the agreement to the Senate floor.

Today, U.S. Senator Mark Udall, expressed support for a Senate Resolution that would honor the workers who helped build America's nuclear weapons supply. Senator Udall was a co-sponsor of Senate Resolution 151, which passed Wednesday by unanimous consent. It designates a national day of remembrance for the workers on October 30, 2009.

Congress was in session Friday at Savannah River Site. All four U.S. senators from South Carolina and Georgia were on hand for a tour of the nuclear power facility. "I think we're making history today," said Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. "This is the first time all four senators from South Carolina and Georgia have been on site at the same time." Graham was joined by Jim DeMint, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. All four senators left the facility impressed by what they saw, each praising the virtues of SRS. "It's a national treasure," Graham said. "It's so well built it can survive the visit of all of these senators."

The once-demonized nuclear industry got its biggest boost in years Thursday. A bipartisan coalition of US senators put forward a "framework" for climate legislation that aims to dramatically increase off-shore oil drilling, ensure a "future for coal" and, above all, ramp up subsidies for the financially risky nuclear power industry. The announcement was timed, in part, to send a signal to negotiators at the climate conference in Copenhagen that the US Senate is supposedly serious about climate reform. Sen. John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joseph Lieberman are taking the lead in pushing an industry-friendly package that aims to bring down carbon emissions 17 percent from 2005 levels - a modest goal shared by House-passed legislation and President Obama. As The Hill reported: "White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called the framework a 'significant step' and said Obama believes it shows movement toward reaching a bipartisan Senate agreement."

The once-demonized nuclear industry got its biggest boost in years Thursday. A bipartisan coalition of US senators put forward a "framework" for climate legislation that aims to dramatically increase off-shore oil drilling, ensure a "future for coal" and, above all, ramp up subsidies for the financially risky nuclear power industry. The announcement was timed, in part, to send a signal to negotiators at the climate conference in Copenhagen that the US Senate is supposedly serious about climate reform. Sen. John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joseph Lieberman are taking the lead in pushing an industry-friendly package that aims to bring down carbon emissions 17 percent from 2005 levels - a modest goal shared by House-passed legislation and President Obama. As The Hill reported: "White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called the framework a 'significant step' and said Obama believes it shows movement toward reaching a bipartisan Senate agreement."

US Senate Democrats on Thursday pushed a sweeping climate change bill through a key committee, shrugging off a boycott by Republicans who oppose the measure and mostly shunned the debate. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the legislation by an all-Democratic 11-1 vote that forecasts a long, hard, road before the bill can clear the US Congress and President Barack Obama can sign it into law. "Today?s step in the process sends a clear message to the world that the United States is serious about tackling climate change and securing our clean energy future," said Democratic Senator John Kerry, the measure's lead author.

US Senate Democrats on Thursday pushed a sweeping climate change bill through a key committee, shrugging off a boycott by Republicans who oppose the measure and mostly shunned the debate. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the legislation by an all-Democratic 11-1 vote that forecasts a long, hard, road before the bill can clear the US Congress and President Barack Obama can sign it into law. "Today?s step in the process sends a clear message to the world that the United States is serious about tackling climate change and securing our clean energy future," said Democratic Senator John Kerry, the measure's lead author.

"Senators want uranium compensation on fast track Colorado's two U.S. senators are seeking a hearing on a bill that would expand the compensation program for the nation's nuclear-weapons industry workers. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, both Democrats, wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-N.J., urging a quick hearing on the measure, S. 3224, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2010. The measure "would address key deficiencies in RECA, and extend compensation to a number of currently unqualified but suffering uranium workers and downwinders," the senators wrote. The amendments would expand the qualifications for compensation for radiation exposure to include post-1971 uranium workers for compensation; equalize compensation for all claimants to $150,000; expand the downwind exposure area to include seven states; and fund an epidemiological study of the health impacts on families of uranium workers and residents of uranium-development communities. "

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, said on Friday he had begun laying the groundwork for Senate ratification of a global pact banning nuclear tests. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was rejected by the Senate a decade ago. President Barack Obama said during his campaign that he would seek to get it ratified. But ratification is up to the Senate, where two-thirds approval is required. "We are very close ... We don't have that many votes to win over to win," Kerry told a conference on U.S. policy toward Russia. "But they are serious folks and we are going to have to persuade them."

"Three nominees for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission received bipartisan support from members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at their confirmation hearing Tuesday. No senators expressed opposition at the hearing to the confirmation of George Apostolakis, William Magwood or William Ostendorff to serve as commissioners. Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the committee which oversees the NRC, told the nominees she plans to "move your appointments very quickly" after their answers to written questions are received by February 23. President Barack Obama in October nominated Apostolakis and Magwood to fill vacant seats on the five-member commission. Ostendorff was nominated in December by Obama to finish the term of Commissioner Dale Klein, who said he wants to resign as soon as his successor is in place. The full Senate must confirm the nominees. "

"I thank you for this special opportunity. I am here as a Senator from Kwajalein Atoll in the National Parliament of the Marshall Islands, the Nitijela. With me from Kwajalein are Iroij Senator Michael Kabua, Iroij Senator Christopher Loeak, Iroij Rod Nakamura, Senator Jeban Riklon, Alap Fredley Mawilong, and Alap Irumne Bondrik. We appear before you today representing the four Traditional Leaders of Kwajalein: Iroijlaplap Imata Kabua, Iroijlaplap Anjua Loeak, Iroij laplap Nelu, and Leroij Likwor Litokwa, all their elders, and all the people who belong to Kwajalein. This all inclusive leadership and grass roots delegation is unique in this aspect but is also reflective of our fervent desire to find a solution to the continuing disagreement which threatens to undermine the long and enduring relationship between our two countries. The story of Kwajalein is not new to the Honorable Members of this Committee. Kwajalein continues to play a significant role in America's quest for superiority in military technology as well as in lending support to the many diverse efforts of the United States to maintain international peace and security. Since 1944, Kwajalein has been an integral part of America's defense, from its early days of serving as a naval ah base, through its role as support base for the testing of Nuclear Weapons in the Marshall Islands from 1946-1958, to its present status as America's foremost testing facility for its missile defense programs. The Marshall Islands are a proud and reliable friend of the United States, and Kwajalein is an indispensable component of that friendship."

Nuclear power plants are being pushed as part of climate-change legislation. But the focus should be on renewable power sources, which are getting cheaper and don't produce radioactive waste. As the Senate debates climate legislation that could reinvent the country's energy infrastructure, it is richly ironic that lawmakers who consider themselves rock-ribbed fiscal conservatives are among the strongest backers of nuclear plants -- a vastly expensive, inefficient and dangerous source of energy that requires massive taxpayer bailouts. Senate Republicans and many moderate Democrats are seeking to lard up prospective climate and energy bills with billions of dollars in loan guarantees and other subsidies for nuclear power, even though it makes no sense as a solution to climate change and is a terrible option from an economic, environmental and national-security standpoint. Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), whose bipartisan effort to restructure the cap-and-trade climate bill (which Republicans like to deride as "cap and tax") offers its only hope of passage in the Senate this year, signaled their intent to add more nuclear pork to the bill in a recent Op-Ed article. Meanwhile, Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) recently introduced their own alternative climate bill calling for up to $100 billion in clean-energy loan guarantees, most of which would end up going to nuclear plants.

Nuclear power plants are being pushed as part of climate-change legislation. But the focus should be on renewable power sources, which are getting cheaper and don't produce radioactive waste. As the Senate debates climate legislation that could reinvent the country's energy infrastructure, it is richly ironic that lawmakers who consider themselves rock-ribbed fiscal conservatives are among the strongest backers of nuclear plants -- a vastly expensive, inefficient and dangerous source of energy that requires massive taxpayer bailouts. Senate Republicans and many moderate Democrats are seeking to lard up prospective climate and energy bills with billions of dollars in loan guarantees and other subsidies for nuclear power, even though it makes no sense as a solution to climate change and is a terrible option from an economic, environmental and national-security standpoint. Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), whose bipartisan effort to restructure the cap-and-trade climate bill (which Republicans like to deride as "cap and tax") offers its only hope of passage in the Senate this year, signaled their intent to add more nuclear pork to the bill in a recent Op-Ed article. Meanwhile, Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) recently introduced their own alternative climate bill calling for up to $100 billion in clean-energy loan guarantees, most of which would end up going to nuclear plants.

A bill to encourage construction of nuclear power plants in Oklahoma passed the Senate by a 36-9 vote on Tuesday. The Nuclear Energy Incentive Act would help companies that want to build nuclear power plants recover the money spent on construction. "We need to explore all the options for generating power," said Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, author of Senate Bill 831. Some senators opposed the bill because they were concerned about storage of nuclear waste. "If they were removing the nuclear waste, would they be driving that on our roads," asked Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau.

The Minnesota Senate voted 50-16 today to pass a compromise energy policy package that declines to lift a moratorium on new nuclear power in Minnesota. The Senate had adopted that position, but the House took the opposite view, and a conference committee opted to maintain the 15-year-old ban. Several Republican senators, however, registered their disappointment that the Senate position didn't prevail. The bill also contains a host of measures aimed at strengthening the state's commitment to renewable and sustainable energy development.

Senators trying to craft bipartisan climate legislation offered a revised proposal Thursday that would add incentives for building nuclear power plants and open the way for expanded oil and gas drilling off the nation's coastlines in hopes of attracting wider support. The new framework for a Senate climate bill would ease back requirements for early reductions of greenhouse gases. It calls for cuts in the range of 17 percent by 2020, instead of 20 percent, similar to reductions already approved by the House and what Obama will call for at an international climate conference in Copenhagen. "We would like to underscore the fact that the framework we are releasing today is a starting point for our negotiations going forward," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Senators trying to craft bipartisan climate legislation offered a revised proposal Thursday that would add incentives for building nuclear power plants and open the way for expanded oil and gas drilling off the nation's coastlines in hopes of attracting wider support. The new framework for a Senate climate bill would ease back requirements for early reductions of greenhouse gases. It calls for cuts in the range of 17 percent by 2020, instead of 20 percent, similar to reductions already approved by the House and what Obama will call for at an international climate conference in Copenhagen. "We would like to underscore the fact that the framework we are releasing today is a starting point for our negotiations going forward," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

One hurdle down, opponents of Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions' plan to bring foreign radioactive waste to Utah are now bracing for a tough fight in the Senate over a proposed ban on the stuff. The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday that would bar low-level radioactive waste from being brought from foreign countries into the United States for disposal. The measure is aimed squarely at EnergySolutions' efforts to bring 20,000 tons of Italian waste to Tennessee for processing, then ship some 1,600 tons of radioactive leftovers to the company's Tooele County site for burial. Bill supporters cheered Wednesday's 309-112 vote. But they know they face a bigger challenge in the Senate, where companion legislation hasn't moved nor attracted a single co-sponsor since it was introduced 11 months ago.

One hurdle down, opponents of Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions' plan to bring foreign radioactive waste to Utah are now bracing for a tough fight in the Senate over a proposed ban on the stuff. The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday that would bar low-level radioactive waste from being brought from foreign countries into the United States for disposal. The measure is aimed squarely at EnergySolutions' efforts to bring 20,000 tons of Italian waste to Tennessee for processing, then ship some 1,600 tons of radioactive leftovers to the company's Tooele County site for burial. Bill supporters cheered Wednesday's 309-112 vote. But they know they face a bigger challenge in the Senate, where companion legislation hasn't moved nor attracted a single co-sponsor since it was introduced 11 months ago.

One hurdle down, opponents of Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions' plan to bring foreign radioactive waste to Utah are now bracing for a tough fight in the Senate over a proposed ban on the stuff. The U.S. House overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday that would bar low-level radioactive waste from being brought from foreign countries into the United States for disposal. The measure is aimed squarely at EnergySolutions' efforts to bring 20,000 tons of Italian waste to Tennessee for processing, then ship some 1,600 tons of radioactive leftovers to the company's Tooele County site for burial. Bill supporters cheered Wednesday's 309-112 vote. But they know they face a bigger challenge in the Senate, where companion legislation hasn't moved nor attracted a single co-sponsor since it was introduced 11 months ago.

"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. "

"The state Senate Wednesday passed a tough new uranium processing bill that will require companies to clean up past toxic pollution before being allowed to expand operations. House Bill 1348 (pdf), the Uranium Processing Accountability Act, met little resistance in the Senate, where it passed 24-9 after sailing through House 62-2 earlier this month. The bill, which also requires companies to notify homeowners with drinking wells near contaminated groundwater and provides for more public input in the state regulatory process, now heads back to the House to work out amendments adopted in Senate. A concurrence vote could happen later this week "Actions have consequences and uranium companies need to clean up their mess," cosponsor Ken Kester (R-Las Animas) said in a release. Kester represents Cañon City in Fremont County, home to the Cotter Corporation's uranium mill and an EPA Superfund Clean-up site. Cotter has expressed interest in expanding its operations despite a toxic legacy dating back to the Cold War era."

A bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators, mostly from DOE host states, is pushing the plan to spend $6 billion in the economic recovery package to accelerate cleanup at old nuclear sites and use the "shovel-ready" projects to create 10,000 new jobs. The senators called for support in a letter to Sen. Daniel Inouye, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Sen. Thad Cochran, the commmittee's ranking Republican member.

"In an unusual state foray into nuclear regulation, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 Wednesday to block operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant after 2012, citing radioactive leaks, misstatements in testimony by plant officials and other problems. The Vermont Senate has voted to block a license extension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt. Nuclear opponents celebrated a State Senate vote Wednesday that could help close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in 2012. Unless the chamber reverses itself, it will be the first time in more than 20 years that the public or its representatives has decided to close a reactor. The vote came just more than a week after President Obama declared a new era of rebirth for the nation's nuclear industry, announcing federal loan guarantees of $8.3 billion to assure the construction of a twin-reactor plant near Augusta, Ga."

"Massachusetts Democratic Senator John Kerry, one of the three co-authors of the US climate and energy bill said the legislation will not be unveiled until a crucial Republican ally of the Obama Administration and Democratic leaders smooth over their differences over whether immigration legislation should fall under a separate floor debate, John Kerry's office reported. At the same time, Kerry donned a diplomatic mantle, telling reporters, ""There's a lot that's happening privately and quietly, and I think we all have to quiet down, stay on track, and this is just a hiccup on the road to paradise." Meanwhile, America's top environmental organisations sent letters to the entire senate urging them to move forward on getting the climate and energy bill to the long delayed Senate Floor debate. "

Leading U.S. environment and energy groups call on the Senate to reject any additions to the climate bill that would further "streamline" the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) licensing process for new reactors, because it could threaten public health and safety. The groups explain in the letter that "the acceleration of those review and hearing processes would not address the real cause of delays in the NRC's licensing process: premature submission of incomplete and poor-quality applications by the industry." The full text of the letter submitted to all 100 U.S. Senators is as follows:

Leading U.S. environment and energy groups call on the Senate to reject any additions to the climate bill that would further "streamline" the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) licensing process for new reactors, because it could threaten public health and safety. The groups explain in the letter that "the acceleration of those review and hearing processes would not address the real cause of delays in the NRC's licensing process: premature submission of incomplete and poor-quality applications by the industry." The full text of the letter submitted to all 100 U.S. Senators is as follows: