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"The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) today called a new nuclear weapons agreement between the United States and Russia "a critical first step" to reduce the global nuclear threat. The so-called NEW START agreement will be signed on April 8 in Prague, Czech Republic, to coincide with the historic speech President Obama delivered there nearly one year ago calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide. "NEW START is a critical first step in a nuclear risk reduction agenda that has been embraced by countless world leaders and a bipartisan chorus of foreign policy heavyweights and former U.S. government officials," said David Wright, co-director of UCS's Global Security Program. "There is a growing recognition that nuclear weapons are now a liability, not an asset, and they don't make the world safer or address today's threats.""

* Global warming necessitates investment in low-emission, base-load electric generation alternatives, including new nuclear power plants. * International standards for safety and nonproliferation are necessary to ensure the successful development of new plants. * Nuclear weapon states need to strive to meet disarmament commitments to support nonproliferation efforts. Global warming necessitates the development of new forms of low-emissions, base-load power generating capacity. To assess the financial, regulatory, and proliferation concerns confronting nuclear energy and to develop strategies for addressing the barriers to the deployment of new reactors, in late September 2008, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists convened nearly 40 scientists, policy makers, industry representatives, and nongovernmental experts from around the world. The meeting was cosponsored by the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and the Chicago Council on Science and Technology. A subset of the meeting's participants developed the following findings and recommendations based upon the presentations and discussions at the meeting. These findings and recommendations do not represent the views of all of the meeting participants or sponsors. Conference participants who endorse this document are listed at the bottom.

All U.S. plants are in violation even though fire is 50% of meltdown risk WASHINGTON, DC - Deliberate bureaucratic negligence has left millions of Americans exposed to unnecessarily high risks from fire hazards at the nation's nuclear power reactors for more than a decade, and Congress must demand either the enforcement of fire protection regulations or the suspension of operating licenses. That's according to three watchdog organizations that today sent a new report, Fire When NOT Ready, to eight congressional committee chairs.

Both democracy and science are based on the free exchange of ideas. A strong democracy depends on well-informed citizens who have access to comprehensive and reliable information about their government's activities. Similarly, science thrives when scientists are free to interact with each other, opening their ideas to wide-ranging scrutiny. Because our country's decision makers need access to the best scientific information available, federal agencies must allow their scientists to participate in the scientific community and speak freely about their research to the media and the public. Yet too often an agency's desire to "control the message" has led to the suppression of information and the censorship of the government's own experts.

David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists; Consideration of Petition in the Rulemaking Process AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Resolution and closure of petition docket. SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issues raised in a petition for rulemaking submitted by David Lochbaum, on behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists, in the ongoing ``Power Reactor Security Requirements'' rulemaking. The petitioner requested that the NRC amend its regulations to require that licensees implement procedures to ensure that when information becomes known to a licensee about an individual that would prevent that individual from gaining unescorted access to the protected area of a nuclear power plant, the licensee will implement measures to ensure the individual does not enter the protected area, whether escorted, or not; and, when sufficient information is not available to a licensee about an individual to determine whether the criteria for unescorted access are satisfied, the licensee will implement measures to allow that individual to enter the protected area only when escorted at all times by an armed member of the security force who remains in periodic communication with security supervision.

The House of Representatives today passed the first comprehensive climate and energy bill, the "American Clean Energy and Security Act," by a 219 to 212 vote. Below is a statement by Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "We're thrilled that Congress has finally caught up with science and the American people in recognizing the need to switch on clean energy. Our future is now looking more like the Jetsons and less like the Flintstones.

Power generator Exelon Corp. said Tuesday it has called off plans for now to build a new nuclear plant in Texas because of worries over the economy and the limited availability of federal loan guarantees. The Chicago-based company, the largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., is the second company in the past two months to postpone work for a new nuclear plant. St. Louis-based AmerenUE said in April that it was suspending work on a reactor in Missouri. "We just aren't in a place to pursue the nuclear project," John Rowe, Exelon's chairman and CEO, told The Associated Press in an interview regarding the company's plans to add two nuclear reactors in Victoria, Texas.

"In anticipation of a major nuclear weapons policy review expected to be completed March 1, former government officials, nuclear weapons experts, and leaders of arms control organizations representing more than 1 million Americans have sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to fulfill his April 2009 pledge to "put an end to Cold War thinking" and "reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy." In the letter, sent to the White House and key cabinet members on February 1, the group called on the president to ensure that the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) "advances the highest security priorities: preventing terrorists or additional states from obtaining of using nuclear weapons; reducing global stockpiles, and moving toward a world without nuclear weapons.""