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Kazakhstan, which has one of the world's largest Uranium reserves, is willing to supply nuclear material to India and interested in a comprehensive energy agreement, a scholar from that country has said. Marat Shaikhutdinov from Kazakhstan, who was here to participate in a conference on 'India-Kazakhstan Engagement: issues and prospects', said his country has no problem in supplying Uranium to India. Kazakhstan is also interested in a comprehensive energy agreement with India, including supply of oil and gas, he added. The conference was organised on the eve of Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to India. Kazakhstan, which will chair the Orgnisation of Islamic Conference in 2011, also wants to actively cooperate with India in fighting terror.

Uranium leaks discovered in the groundwater have come closer to contaminating the entire supply of drinking water for two villages in the Hopi reservation. A series of studies conducted by consultants of the Hopi tribe and Navajo Nation show uranium contamination within 100 feet of water supply wells that provide all the drinking water to the village of Lower Moencopi.

Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, New Mexico AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior. ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Planning Report and Final Environmental Impact Statement FES 09-10. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (as amended), Public Law (Pub. L.) 92-199, and the general authority to conduct water resources planning under the Reclamation Act of 1902 and all acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), in cooperation with the Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation, City of Gallup, State of New Mexico, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Heath Service, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, and Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments, has prepared and made available to the public a Planning Report and Final Environmental Impact Statement (PR/FEIS). This document was undertaken to provide a discussion for the (1) Various ways to provide a municipal and industrial (M&I) water supply to the Navajo Nation, City of Gallup, and Jicarilla Apache Nation; (2) identification of a preferred alternative; and (3) associated environmental impacts and costs of the No Action and two action alternatives.

"GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Ltd. and Westinghouse Electric Co. plan to use India as a low-cost supplier of nuclear parts for export to the U.S. and Europe, executives said on Thursday. "We see India as a very good supply chain for us to supply our world market," said Daniel Roderick, senior vice president at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, an alliance between General Electric Co. and Japan's Hitachi Ltd. based in Wilmington, N.C. The decision was driven by cost pressures both companies face as they prepare to build nuclear reactors in India, and it would not have been possible if the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group had not lifted a three-decade global ban on nuclear trade with India last year. In order to keep costs low enough to supply cost-competitive power to India, GE Hitachi said itplans to localize up to 70 percent of production, while Westinghouse plans to use local manufacturing and labour for up to 80 percent of its India work. "

Nearly 400 miles (645 kilometers) north of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on the Alberta border, lies the McArthur River uranium mine. Owned and operated by Cameco Corporation, the world's largest producer of uranium, the mine disgorged about 18.7 million pounds (8.5 million kilograms) of the nuclear element in 2007. The year's output was enough to supply roughly one quarter of the annual fuel needs of the 104 U.S. nuclear reactors, according to World Nuclear Association (WNA) figures. Such uranium deposits in Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan comprise the bulk of the world's known supply-although uranium is a ubiquitous atom that can even be derived from seawater. With 436 reactors worldwide consuming 65,000 metric tons (one metric ton equals 1.1 U.S. tons) of enriched uranium per year, demand for this nuclear reactor fuel outstrips available supply, which has caused uranium prices to jump from a low of $10 per pound a few years ago to more than $130 per pound in 2007 and still more than $50 per pound today.

The development of nuclear reactors on the Hanford Reservation in Central Washington during World War II encouraged electric utility planners to pursue the construction of nuclear reactors to satisfy rapidly escalating demands for electricity from both residential and industrial customers in the 1960s and 1970s. Public utility districts and municipal utilities throughout Washington joined in a cooperative named the Washington Public Power Supply System to finance the construction of three nuclear reactors to produce electricity for consumers throughout Washington State. Some historical questions: What impact has WPPSS had the electric power supply of the Pacific Northwest? The construction of WPPSS nuclear reactors was financed by the sale of bonds. What kind of return did WPPSS bond holders get on their investment?. Why wasn't system completed? What characteristics of nuclear energy caused trouble for the system? How were the increasing electricity needs of the State met without WPPSS's nuclear power plants? Be sure to consider other possibilities for historical questions as you analyze and interpret this topic.

* Russian supplies to keep filling global supply gap * Russia seeks lucrative direct deals with U.S. firms * Eyes China, India and other markets * Uranium mines to expand production By Robin Paxton MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nearly one in 10 U.S. households runs on power from Soviet nuclear bombs. Now Russia hopes its Cold War arsenal, twinned with fast-growing uranium mines and enrichment capacity, will also be powering China, India and other booming economies when a 20-year nuclear fuel pact with the United States expires in 2013. Russia has expressed no desire to refresh the 'Megatons to Megawatts' programme, under which it will recycle the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads and create enough uranium to power the entire United States for two years.

* Russian supplies to keep filling global supply gap * Russia seeks lucrative direct deals with U.S. firms * Eyes China, India and other markets * Uranium mines to expand production By Robin Paxton MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nearly one in 10 U.S. households runs on power from Soviet nuclear bombs. Now Russia hopes its Cold War arsenal, twinned with fast-growing uranium mines and enrichment capacity, will also be powering China, India and other booming economies when a 20-year nuclear fuel pact with the United States expires in 2013. Russia has expressed no desire to refresh the 'Megatons to Megawatts' programme, under which it will recycle the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads and create enough uranium to power the entire United States for two years.

Chalk River supply headed back to U.S. By Sheldon Alberts, Canwest News ServiceApril 13, 2010 Canada has agreed to ship an 11-year stockpile of highly enriched uranium back to the United States out of concern the spent fuel could fall into the hands of terrorists and be used to produce a nuclear weapon, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday. Seeking to burnish Canada's reputation with President Barack Obama on the opening day of a global summit on arms control, Harper said the world faced an "immediate threat" from nuclear terrorism unless nations moved to secure supplies of bomb-grade uranium. The deal will result in supplies of spent inventories of uranium at the Chalk River Laboratories being shipped to the U.S. over an eight-year period, starting this year."

In what would come as a major relief for India, the Kazakhstan government has announced that it is willing to carry out nuclear commerce with this country, including supplying 'yellow cake' to India. In an exclusive interview to this paper, Kazakhstan's ambassador to India Kairat Umarov has said that his country, slated to become the largest producer of uranium by 2010, is ready to supply uranium to India and that Kazakhstan also has the potential to take part in construction of atomic power plants. Kazakhstan is among the four countries (the others being Canada, Mongolia and Niger) India, which faces a shortage of 100,000 tonnes of high-grade uranium, has desperately seeks uranium from.

According to a report by the Organic Consumers Association, a toxic chemical that is a byproduct of rocket fuel is rapidly poisoning the food and water supply in the United States. Known as perchlorate, this chemical has been found in 93% of the nation's milk and lettuce supply in a recent FDA study. It has also been found in the drinking water for at least 22 states at extremely alarming levels. Perhaps the scariest statistic is that perchlorate has been found in the breast milk of 97% of the mothers who were tested.

The Ukrainian Enerhoatom nuclear power generating company and the Russian TVEL Corporation have signed contracts on supplies of nuclear fuel to Ukrainian nuclear power plants in 2009. Ukrainian News learned this from a joint statement by Enerhoatom and the TVEL Corporation. According to the statement, a part of the nuclear fuel will be made from Ukrainian uranium. The statement reads that the Enerhoatom nuclear power generating company and the TVEL Corporation are intending to sign a long-term contract on supplies of nuclear fuel to the Ukrainian nuclear power plants after 2010.

Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt named four members of an expert panel Friday, whom the federal government has asked to find a way for Canada to secure a stable, long-term supply of medical isotopes, used to help diagnose and treat more than two million patients a year. The government also invited formal "expressions of interest" from potential isotope suppliers. The operators of research reactors and particle accelerator facilities at McMaster University in Hamilton and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver are among a handful of Canadian organizations expected to signal their interest.

Desalination might become increasingly necessary if severe drought continues in the United States. This process of removing salt from seawater will require an abundant, clean energy source with a secure domestic supply that avoids the emission of greenhouse gases. Nuclear energy is that source, and the good news is that the technology for nuclear desalination is proven and available. The Lewis and Clark project demonstrates that easily accessible water resources cannot fully support the anticipated future demand for crops, livestock, industry and people. In fact, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, many water resources across North America already are heavily used by industry and agriculture in addition to drinking water and electricity production. The fresh-water supply in Western states is susceptible to an extended drought that would reduce rainfall and the Rocky Mountain snowpack, both of which feed the Missouri River.

Uranium slid 1.8 percent for the second straight week as both demand and supply tumbled by half and trading volumes diminished. Uranium-oxide concentrate for immediate delivery fell 75 cents to $40.50 a pound, Denver-based pricing service TradeTech LLC said in a report yesterday. Weekly supply declined to about 2.5 million pounds, while demand was more than 3 million pounds. Two transactions for a total of 350,000 pounds took place last week, TradeTech said.

"The project manager for uranium exploration at the Angela Pamela deposit, 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs, says mining will only go ahead if the company can prove that it won't harm the town's water supply. The Angela Pamela exploration site lies close to the aquifer that supplies the town with water. Stephan Stander says it won't be known until the end of this year whether or not Cameco Paladin will apply for a mining licence."

"In a special issue of Daedalus on the "Global Nuclear Future," published by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Pierre Goldschmidt posits that further improving the reliability of fuel supply is best achieved by giving priority to fuel leasing contracts coupled with long-term generic export licenses, and last resort multilateral fuel supply arrangements. Regarding the back-end of the fuel cycle, Goldschmidt argues that developing multinational fuel-storage and geological disposal facilities will be relegated to the distant horizon due to the prevailing "Not-In-My-Backyard" syndrome."

"Ukraine is seeking to supply its nuclear reactors with uranium mined in the country from 2015, Deputy Fuel and Energy Minister Natalia Shumkova said. Ukraine aims to increase uranium production to 5,000 metric tons a year in 2020 and 6,000 tons in 2030, from 830 tons, Shumkova said at a conference in Kiev today. The eastern European country needs to invest 9.9 billion hryvnia ($1.25 billion) in uranium output through 2013, she said. The ministry this week announced a tender to build a uranium plant and will pick a winner by early October, according to Shumkova. Russia's OAO Tvel and Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse Electric Co. have the experience to build the plant, she said. Ukraine plans to construct a third nuclear reactor at its Khmelnytskyi power plant by 2016 and a fourth by 2017, Yuriy Nedashkovskyi, the president of DP NAEK Energoatom, Ukraine's state-owned operator of nuclear power stations, said at the same event. The construction is worth 30.1 billion hryvnia, he said. "

HOW do you manage a global boom in nuclear power while discouraging weapons proliferation? Uranium and plutonium are most likely to find their way into weapons via the enrichment and reprocessing of fuel for nuclear power plants. If all of the countries now planning to go nuclear also handle their own fuel cycles, the proliferation risk could skyrocket. The answer may be to put the fuel cycle entirely under international control. Many governments, international agencies and arms control experts are calling for the establishment of international fuel banks, and eventually fuel production plants, that would pledge to supply nuclear materials to any country so long as it meets non-proliferation rules. The US already supports the idea, at least for new nuclear powers, and last month the European Union (EU) pledged €25 million towards the first fuel bank. Yet this means countries with new nuclear programmes would have to place control of their fuel supply at least partly in foreign hands. Could it actually work?

South Africa, suffering a power crisis that's limiting supplies to gold and platinum mines, canceled a plan to build a nuclear plant for about 120 billion rand ($12 billion) as the credit freeze cuts financing. State-owned Eskom Holdings Ltd's decision won't undermine "national security of supply" as economic growth will slow and other plants are being built, the government communications office said in an e-mailed statement today.

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will receive additional oversight from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a result of a "white" inspection finding related to problems with an emergency battery used for supplying power to plant safety systems. The plant, operated by Southern California Edison Co., is located near San Clemente, Ca. NRC inspectors found that the battery used to supply power to plant safety systems under some accident conditions, was inoperable between 2004 and 2008 because of loose electrical connections caused by inadequate maintenance instructions. The problem was discovered on March 25 during testing, prompting the NRC to conduct a special inspection. "The problem stemmed from inadequate maintenance procedures," said Region IV Administrator Elmo E. Collins. "The problem was promptly corrected, but is troubling because the condition persisted for so long."