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Participating in nuclear power hearing can be a 'learn-as-you-go' process Joseph Wojcicki concedes his last name can twist tongues. "It's Voo-tess-kee," the West Columbia man says with a thick Polish accent. "But you can call me 'Joe the Intervenor.'" A retired Midlands Tech math teacher, Wojcicki took part as a citizen intervenor in the Public Service Commission's almost three-week-long hearing on SCE&G's $9.8 billion plan to add two reactor units to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station at Jenkinsville. Intervenors, 12/22/08 Intervenors Pamela Greenlaw, bottom left, Meira Warshauer, center, and Joseph Wojcicki, right, listen to attorney Bob Guild, standing left, as he enters an objection to secret building cost amounts during the hearing before the commission. The intervenors sit at the table with lawyers for other groups challenging the nuclear plan. They represent the consumer. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Lay-people known as "intervenors" question witnesses at the Public Service Commission hearing on SCE&G's plan to build two reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 About a half-dozen lay-people known as "intervenors" are questioning witnesses at the Public Service Commission hearing on SCE&G's plan to build two reactors at its plant in Jenkinsville. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Intervenors Pamela Greenlaw, bottom left, Meira Warshauer, center, and Joseph Wojcicki, right, listen to attorney Bob Guild, standing left, as he enters an objection to secret building cost amounts during the hearing before the commission. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Intervenor Joseph Wojcicki looks through documents during the hearing before the commission. - Tim Dominick/tdominick@thestate. /The State Intervenors, 12/22/08 Citizen intervenor Meira Warshauer, left, asks a que

The Energy Department's Carlsbad Field Office has reached an agreement to sell salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M., to a Hereford company that will use it as a livestock feed supplement. In 2008, Washington TRU Solutions issued a request for interest in salt tailings that have accumulated on the surface at the WIPP site since mining began in the 1970s. Through the years, uncontaminated salt has been mined from the WIPP Plant, which stores radioactive waste in rooms mined from ancient salt formations 2,150 feet below the surface, according to information from the Department of Energy. WIPP, which began waste-disposal operations in 1999, is 26 miles outside Carlsbad. Hereford-based Magnum Minerals, which is owned and operated by Tim and Keith Ann Gearn and sons Jason and Dustin Gearn, specializes in providing minerals for the livestock industry. DOE officials said the project will save taxpayers money and benefit private industry. The salt tailings normally would be disposed of in a landfill. Magnum Minerals will pay the government about $600,00 for the contract, which could have cost the government $4.5 million in disposal costs, said Tim Gearn, president of Magnum Minerals.

The Energy Department's Carlsbad Field Office has reached an agreement to sell salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, N.M., to a Hereford company that will use it as a livestock feed supplement. In 2008, Washington TRU Solutions issued a request for interest in salt tailings that have accumulated on the surface at the WIPP site since mining began in the 1970s. Through the years, uncontaminated salt has been mined from the WIPP Plant, which stores radioactive waste in rooms mined from ancient salt formations 2,150 feet below the surface, according to information from the Department of Energy. WIPP, which began waste-disposal operations in 1999, is 26 miles outside Carlsbad. Hereford-based Magnum Minerals, which is owned and operated by Tim and Keith Ann Gearn and sons Jason and Dustin Gearn, specializes in providing minerals for the livestock industry. DOE officials said the project will save taxpayers money and benefit private industry. The salt tailings normally would be disposed of in a landfill. Magnum Minerals will pay the government about $600,00 for the contract, which could have cost the government $4.5 million in disposal costs, said Tim Gearn, president of Magnum Minerals.

The debate over new plants is obscuring a bigger problem: there isn't enough money being spent on decommissioning old ones. Tim Webb reports

"The right wing revolt in the Utah Republican Party that denied renomination to incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett has now produced an issue affecting Nevada. The two Republicans contending in the primary election to replace Bennett have both talked about reviving nuclear testing in Nevada. "We need to always have our eye on the ball for developing new weapons systems, and that is going to require new testing," candidate Mike Lee told the Salt Lake Tribune. His opponent Tim Bridgewater agreed. "I would support that," he said. "I would prefer that we don't have to move down that road, but … we shouldn't give up our strong position in the world because more nations are becoming nuclear powers, and the greater the deterrent, the less likely we ever have to use them.""

"Stimulus funds wills ease environmental concerns BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) met with representatives of the Department Energy Tuesday at Brookhaven National Laboratory to announce that the lab will receive an additional $28 million in Recovery Act funding to complete the dismantling of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor by this fall. The remaining steps include the removal of a 300-foot stack at the site and a concrete shield that once surrounded the reactor's core, already removed. Also to be dismantled are concrete air ducts, equipment from an associated ventilation building and exhaust filters, and other contaminated pipes and structures."

The search for a successor to nuclear waste chief Bob Loux has been narrowed to three Northern Nevadans. The Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects has selected former Sparks Mayor Bruce Breslow, former state Consumer Advocate Tim Hay and attorney Keith Tierney as the three names to submit to Gov. Jim Gibbons, who will make the final appointment.

Cumbria County Council has voted to join the government consultation process into the siting of the facility, but has stressed it has not committed itself to host the repository. The decision has also been supported by Copeland Borough Council and Millom Town Council. Councillor Tim Knowles, Cumbria County Council's cabinet member responsible for nuclear issues, said: "This decision doesn't involve any commitments but it does formally bring Cumbria County Council to the table. It ensures that any decision on whether Cumbria is the right place for a deep geological repository will take on board the views of the democratic body representing everyone in Cumbria." Cllr Knowles added that the council intended to fully consult the public on all issues surrounding the siting of the facility.

Award-winning Frozen Seed screens Nov. 6 Imagine a frozen wasteland where food is scarce and winter is permanent. A nuclear war has forced survivors to seek refuge underground. A buried seed cache lays somewhere in the ruins of modern society and scientists are racing against a totalitarian regime, trying to find it. It's a compelling tale told in just under 10 minutes by producers Tim Bissell and Craig Watkins.

A Nuclear Fuel Services executive reported last week to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the company has taken steps to strengthen its safety culture. NFS General Manager Tim Lindstrom spoke on behalf of his company during during a public meeting Oct. 1, between NFS and the NRC.

State Sen. Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, was among seven Tennessee senators who signed a letter asking Energy Secretary Steven Chu to intervene on behalf of USEC in granting a loan guarantee for the American Centrifuge Project. McNally is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Others who signed the letter were Speaker Pro Tempore Jamie Woodson, R-Knoxville, and state Sens. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown; Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville; Mike Faulk, R- Church Hill; Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville; and Ken Yager, R-Harriman. In a statement, McNally said, "The American Centrifuge Project is one of those key opportunities where we can promote innovative American technologie, while creating good-paying Tennessee jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy."

Jody Williams, 58, a native of Brattleboro and a graduate of the University of Vermont, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. In 2006, with five other peace-prize laureates, she co-founded the Nobel Women's Initiative, in support of women's organizations worldwide working for peace, justice and equality. She divides her time between homes in Fredericksburg, Va. and Westminster West, Vt. Williams was in Burlington last Thursday -- the anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima -- to speak at a Nuclear Disarmament Day rally sponsored by area peace groups. She sat down with the Free Press before her speech to discuss her views on nuclear energy. Her discourse was sprinkled with obscenities. "You can edit my lovely language," she said at one point. "When I get worked up, I swear a lot." Advertisement Tim Johnson: What are your thoughts on nuclear energy as a power source?

MP Tim Farron will call for Sellafield's compensation scheme for radiation-linked diseases to be extended to the wider population. The nuclear industry scheme to compensate workers or their dependents for diseases which may be radiation-linked was set up by BNFL and the unions at Sellafield in 1982. Compensation is paid on a balance of possibilities (20 per cent and over) that a cancer may have been induced by occupational exposure to radiation. A total of £6.2m has so far been paid out. Many of the cases were linked to Sellafield, but the scheme has now been widened to include all nuclear radiation workers. Radiation Free Lakeland is calling for the scheme to be extended to the wider population - within at least a 5km radius of Sellafield. Mr Farron, the Liberal Democrat MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, will ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will bring forward proposals to extend the scheme for radiation-linked diseases.

The NRC has contacted 18 nuclear power plants to clarify how the companies will address the recent economic downturn's effects on funds to decommission reactors in the future. Nuclear power plant operators are required to set aside funds during a reactor's operating life to ensure the reactor site will be properly cleaned up once the reactor is permanently shut down. The NRC's review of the latest reports on decommissioning funding assurance suggests several plants must adjust their funding plans. "We'll discuss this with the plants over the next few weeks so they can explain to us how they'll get the funds back on track to account for their decommissioning cost estimates," said Tim McGinty, director of Policy and Rulemaking in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. "This is not a current safety issue, but the plants do have to prove to us they're setting aside money appropriately." The letters for the affected plants will be available in the NRC's electronic documents database, ADAMS, by entering each letter's accession number (indicated below) here: http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm.

Officials with Exelon Corp's Dresden nuclear plant near Morris, Ill., have identified an aluminum pipe as the likely source of a tritium leak reported this month. Officials said the leak posed no health threat. Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen. Testing at the plant, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, found tritium levels of 3.2 million picocuries per liter of water in a monitoring well, storm drains and concrete vault. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's limit for drinking water is 20,000 picocuries per liter. Repairs are in progress, said Tim Hanley, the plant's vice president. The 24-inch pipe carries water between storage tanks. Records show Exelon took steps to hide tritium spills at its Braidwood Generation Station in Will County between 1996 and 2003. It agreed to pay $11.5 million toward a new water supply for the nearby village of Godley and is now required to inform state and federal officials of tritium spills as soon as they are discovered.

As Xcel Energy pushes plans to extend the life of the Prairie Island nuclear plant, Red Wing officials say that Gov. Tim Pawlenty's state aid cuts have made them less confident in their longterm ability to protect it. City officials, in an unusual step, have intervened in Xcel's proposal before the state public utilities commission -- a sign that Pawlenty's budget cuts may have unintended consequences.

Area residents will have a chance to speak out on Progress Energy Florida electric rates and a controversial electricity charge at public forums to be held this summer. Nine hearings are planned, according to the state's Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers before the Florida Public Service Commission. The main focus will concern Progress Energy base rates that would go into effect in 2010, a Progress Energy spokesman, Tim Leljedal, said today.

Billions are going to be spent on nuclear power stations in the next 10 years, assuming, that is, we can find 33,000 recruits in a hurry. Which is where you come in... As we know, the most reliable way of becoming a superhero is to have some kind of accident involving radioactivity. In the case of Tim Scroggins, the mild-mannered construction manager who built a neutrino-generator in his potting shed using a meteorite he found while camping in the New Forest (it's a long story), the mishap turned him into Captain Uranium, able to build nuclear power stations wearing only his underpants, and boil water for tea by looking at it. In our own time-space continuum, the transformative possibilities of nuclear energy are still fairly impressive, and have the additional advantage that you don't have to have a nasty accident first.

Bankruptcy of Tronox Inc. throws West Branch project into limbo A $500 million effort to remove radioactive material along a waterway in western DuPage County will likely be delayed after the company responsible for the cleanup filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, local and federal officials said. On Jan. 12, Tronox Inc. asked a New York bankruptcy court for protection from creditors while it reorganizes financially. The bankruptcy filing means it is unlikely that funding will be available to complete a segment of the cleanup in Warrenville this summer as planned, said Tim Fischer, a remedial project manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "We are really just in a holding pattern until the court figures out which creditors get paid in what order," Fischer said.

"SFU researcher finds children in Basrah have four times the rate of leukemia as those in Kuwait A Simon Fraser University researcher will concentrate his search for potential causes of childhood leukemia in southern Iraq, where the rate of the blood cancer in some areas is now four times that of neighbouring Kuwait. Tim Takaro and his associates from the University of Washington, Mustansiriya University in Baghdad and Basrah University say in a newly published study that the rate of leukemia in children under 15 from Basrah rose to 8.5 cases per 100,000 from three per 100,000 over the 15-year study period. The rate in nearby Kuwait is two per 100,000. The intensity and duration of armed conflict in Basrah has presented researchers with a natural laboratory in which to conduct their search for the causes of childhood leukemia, Takaro said."

"A researcher from Simon Fraser University is investigating childhood leukemia in southern Iraq, where the rate of the blood cancer in some areas is now four times that of neighbouring Kuwait. Tim Takaro and his associates from the University of Washington, Mustansiriya University in Baghdad and Basrah University said in a newly published study that the rate of leukemia in children under 15 from Basrah rose to 8.5 cases per 100,000 from three per 100,000 over the 15-year study period. The rate in nearby Kuwait is two per 100,000. The intensity and duration of armed conflict in Basrah has presented researchers with a natural laboratory to conduct their search for the causes of childhood leukemia, Takaro said."