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"The Navajo Nation is going to greatly benefit from that," she said. Among other programs the Navajo EPA is working on with federal funding is: * Drinking Water - $3 million for phase 1 for Sweetwater-to-Shiprock drinking water. This will serve 93 homes without piped water near three unregulated water sources that have been contaminated with uranium, 845 homes served by public water systems that exceed the arsenic drinking water standard, and 982 homes with inadequate water supply. * Waste Water - $9.7 million through the global Interagency Agreement through HIS. * Tribal Drinking Water Set Aside Funding Projects: Dennehotso New Water System - $2 million from U.S. EPA and $2 million from HUD to construct a new 50-mile water system to serve 102 homes without piped water, near 2 unregulated water sources contaminated with Uranium. * Water Hauling Feasibility Study/Pilot Project to serve 4,000 homes without piped water. USEPA is expected to soon provide funding to the Navajo Nation Department of Water Resources to develop a water hauling feasibility study and pilot project to serve residents in uranium-impacted areas, and to develop safe water hauling guidelines and conduct outreach. * Black Falls Water Line Extension - U.S. EPA provided $830,000 to construct a water line and safe water hauling point to serves 40 homes without piped water near four unregulated water sources contaminated with uranium. * Clean Water Act/Wastewater Tribal Set Aside Projects: $1.75 million award - $1 million will be in a direct grant to NTUA's Stimulus proposal submitted for Window Rock Wastewater Treatment plant upgrades; $752,867 into inter-agency agreement with IHS to fund other wastewater treatment facility projects.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

It is still dubious as to how many nuclear reactors will be installed in Alberta since it all depends on water and approval after the environmental assessment. Schacherl claims that Energy Alberta Corporation, the original nuclear proponent, was intending to build 13 nuclear reactors in Alberta as part of their business plan. Then Bruce Power bought them out. Elena Schacherl founder of CAUSE explains, "When Bruce Power first came to Alberta, CEO Duncan Hawthorne stated that the Peace River region reactors are 'just the start' of development in Alberta. He admitted that the company has a 'very aggressive growth program.'" "What will be problematic for this plan in going forward, aside from public opposition, will be insufficient water for cooling. Nuclear uses 50% more water to generate electricity than fossil fuels. Bruce Power is now planning to build cooling towers and a cooling pond for the reactors proposed in Northern Alberta because there is not enough water for a 'once through cooling system' in the Peace River. But even then they have to pipe in water from the river to keep the cooling pond sufficiently filled. Not sure where they will find the water to venture into southern Alberta as well," warns Schacherl.

Chronology of events surrounding crippled Fukushima nuclear plant A school building, which was submerged as a result of a tsunami on March 11, stands in an area of Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture. (Mainichi) TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The following is a chronology of events regarding the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Fukushima Prefecture, triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern and eastern Japan. March 11 -- Magnitude 9.0 earthquake forces power plant's Nos. 1-3 reactors to suspend operations automatically (Nos. 4-6 reactors were shut down, undergoing regular checks). Prime Minister Kan declares nuclear emergency, directing local residents in 3-kilometer radius of plant to evacuate. March 12 -- Kan inspects stricken plant. Radioactive steam is vented from No. 1 reactor's containment vessel. Hydrogen explosion rips No. 1 reactor building. Government expands evacuation zone to 20 km radius of plant. March 14 -- Hydrogen explosion rocks No. 3 reactor building. No. 2 reactor's fuel rods are exposed as water recedes inside reactor vessel. March 15 -- Kan scolds Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) officials at company head office. Explosion is heard near suppression chamber of No. 2 reactor's containment vessel. Explosion is also heard at No. 4 reactor. Government directs residents in 20-30-km ring of plant to stay indoors. A tsunami crests the embankment of the Heikawa River in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, before sweeping into the city on March 11. (Mainichi) March 16 -- Damage is feared to have been done to No. 3 reactor's containment vessel, forcing workers to retreat. March 17 -- Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters drop water on No. 3 reactor building. Fire engines spray water from ground. March 18 -- Nuclear safety agency gives crisis involving Nos. 1-3 reactors preliminary value of Level 5 on nuclear accident scale of 7. March 19 -- Tokyo firefighters spray water at No. 3 reactor. Government announces detecti

Residents couldn't have been happier when, in February, a ribbon cutting was held to officially open the Black Falls Church watering point. Ideally, it meant water haulers wouldn't have to travel long distances anymore to fill their barrels with safe drinking water. For people such as Nina Tohannie, it meant that her brother Ronald wouldn't be sending her down into Dry Spring to scrub the walls of the well with chlorine and pull out the bones and carcasses of dead animals. "When it's like that, you can smell it," Ronald said. "We'd have to clean out the well and siphon all that water out with a water pump. Then somebody has to crawl down in there and get what's left. I can't get it with the water pump. It's really thick. So we have to take a bucket down there with a rope on it.

Critics of a plan to divert river water to support a proposed nuclear reactor in Emery County say any diversion should be put on hold until a new study of the Colorado River's water supplies is completed. Additionally, they say Utah's water engineer should hold off until their protests are formally heard in the spring of 2010. At issue is the transfer of 24,000 acre-feet of water from the San Juan River to the Green River in support of Blue Castle Holdings' nuclear reactor at an industrial park. Another 29,600 acre-feet of water is pending for lease from the Kane County Water Conservancy District in support of the project's development.

Critics of a plan to divert river water to support a proposed nuclear reactor in Emery County say any diversion should be put on hold until a new study of the Colorado River's water supplies is completed. Additionally, they say Utah's water engineer should hold off until their protests are formally heard in the spring of 2010. At issue is the transfer of 24,000 acre-feet of water from the San Juan River to the Green River in support of Blue Castle Holdings' nuclear reactor at an industrial park. Another 29,600 acre-feet of water is pending for lease from the Kane County Water Conservancy District in support of the project's development.

"On Tuesday the Utah Division of Water Rights will hold public hearings on applications by both the Kane County and the San Juan County water conservancy districts to change the diversion points of 53,600 acre-feet of water from the Colorado and San Juan rivers upstream to the Green River. The applications also seek to change the designated use of the water to facilitate operation of a nuclear reactor along the Green River proposed by Blue Castle Holdings, Inc. The nuclear facility and its water consumption would deplete and alter Green River flows already threatened by climate disruption-flows that the survival and recovery of four endangered fish species depend (Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, bonytail and humpback chub). The reactor further threatens to kill endangered fish caught in water intake structures and to exacerbate regional water contamination by associated uranium mining that is already contributing to the fish's decline in the upper Colorado River basin. Other imperiled species will also potentially be harmed, including the roundtail chub, bluehead sucker and flannelmouth sucker, all of which are subject to conservation agreements between the state and federal governments in order to preclude the need to list them under the Endangered Species Act. "Imposing this massive water withdrawal atop climate change and regional drying would force unacceptable risks on to endangered fish and the Colorado River system," said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity, "It's time for the era of pollution- and water-intensive energy development to end. Those old technologies need to be replaced with clean renewables and energy conservation.""

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that the Carlsbad Field Office will transfer the DOE-owned Waste Isolation Pilot Plant water line to the city of Carlsbad. The move will provide the city with an additional water supply while saving the Department of Energy thousands of dollars. DOE first installed the water line in 1984 to support the ongoing operations of the department's disposal facility. It now transports water from the city-owned Double Eagle Water System wells to the plant. Under the finalized bill of sale, the city will take over complete responsibility for maintaining and repairing the pipeline in exchange for the water line. The city of Carlsbad also agrees to maintain WIPP's existing priority water use and will supply WIPP with up to 6.6 million gallons of water a year.

"Scientists, researchers and other experts warn that the United States is entering an era of water scarcity. Back in 2003, the US General Accounting Office (now known as the US Government Accountability Office or GAO) projected that 36 states, under normal conditions, could face water shortages by 2013. However, those shortages were realized in 2008 -- five years sooner than predicted. Current forecasts suggest that climate change will only exacerbate the challenges of managing and protecting water resources. Water scarcity has widespread implications for our nation. As a recent New York Times (Global Edition) article notes, water scarcity is increasingly a major constraint for the production of electricity. But what, in particular, does this mean for the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants? Generating electricity with nuclear power is extremely water intensive, which is why nuclear plants are typically built on the shores of rivers, lakes and oceans. Many plants rely on submerged intake pipes to draw water -- hundreds of millions to a few billion gallons per day -- for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants' turbines."

Two Saugus water wells were shut down more than a decade ago because they were contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic byproduct of rocket fuel production. But soon, they might be running again. Within about four months, the Castaic Lake Water Agency expects to open a new, $20 million water treatment plant and pipeline system that will pump safe drinking water from those wells. The plant is set to open in March, said Brian Folsom, engineering and operations manager for the water agency. The state Department of Public Health still has to certify the plant. It represents a step in an arduous cleanup process that has gone on for years - and has several more to go.

Two Saugus water wells were shut down more than a decade ago because they were contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic byproduct of rocket fuel production. But soon, they might be running again. Within about four months, the Castaic Lake Water Agency expects to open a new, $20 million water treatment plant and pipeline system that will pump safe drinking water from those wells. The plant is set to open in March, said Brian Folsom, engineering and operations manager for the water agency. The state Department of Public Health still has to certify the plant. It represents a step in an arduous cleanup process that has gone on for years - and has several more to go.

The Navajo Nation has weathered severe drought conditions for about the last 20 years, so when a water source presents itself, the last thing usually considered is whether it might be contaminated. "Water is precious," said Eleanor Peshlakai, 67, of Black Falls. "Last year I was hauling water in my truck during the middle of a real dry spell. As I was filling up at a water trough, some of the water sprayed out from the hose and out of nowhere the lizards came running. They were thirsty. They, too, are suffering the drought, just like the humans, waiting for any form of moisture."

As the global population expands, demand for water for agriculture and personal use will increase dramatically, but there could be a solution that will produce clean drinking water and help reduce carbon emissions as well. That process is nuclear desalination. Many areas of the world are suffering from a water crisis - and it's not just arid, developing countries that are suffering. The Western US is particularly vulnerable and its water crisis is getting more severe by the day.

As the global population expands, demand for water for agriculture and personal use will increase dramatically, but there could be a solution that will produce clean drinking water and help reduce carbon emissions as well. That process is nuclear desalination. Many areas of the world are suffering from a water crisis - and it's not just arid, developing countries that are suffering. The Western US is particularly vulnerable and its water crisis is getting more severe by the day.

"It will take another three years for state water officials to determine whether nuclear power plants like the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station are required to install dozens of cooling towers so as to avoid using ocean water for cooling. Following an all-day hearing Tuesday, board members with the state Water Quality Control Board unanimously passed new regulations for the state's 19 coastal power plants. The regulations require plants using ocean water for cooling to reduce their intake by more than 90 percent in order to dramatically reduce the amount of fish and fish eggs that are taken from the Pacific Ocean and killed in the process of generating electricity. However, reducing water intake requires the use of evaporative cooling towers that expose hot water to cool air in a continuous loop. Closed cooling tower systems are estimated to use only about 5 percent as much water at the "once through" systems currently used by most plants."

The radiation leakage in a state-run nuclear power plant in southern India is an "act of sabotage" possibly by a disgruntled employees at the plant, India's Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar said on Sunday. Some 50 employees of highly protected Kaiga Atomic Power Plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, southern India, fell ill for being exposed to the radiation leakage, after they drank water from a cooler in the operating area on Nov. 24. "Somebody deliberately put the tritiated water vials into a drinking water cooler. Therefore, we are investigating who is behind the malevolent act. People involved will be punished under the Atomic Energy and other acts after investigation," Kakodkar told the media. "The investigations are being carried out from two angles. First to ascertain as to who contaminated the water cooler with tritiated heavy water, and the second from radiation protection angle," said Kakodkar.

The radiation leakage in a state-run nuclear power plant in southern India is an "act of sabotage" possibly by a disgruntled employees at the plant, India's Atomic Energy Commission chief Anil Kakodkar said on Sunday. Some 50 employees of highly protected Kaiga Atomic Power Plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, southern India, fell ill for being exposed to the radiation leakage, after they drank water from a cooler in the operating area on Nov. 24. "Somebody deliberately put the tritiated water vials into a drinking water cooler. Therefore, we are investigating who is behind the malevolent act. People involved will be punished under the Atomic Energy and other acts after investigation," Kakodkar told the media. "The investigations are being carried out from two angles. First to ascertain as to who contaminated the water cooler with tritiated heavy water, and the second from radiation protection angle," said Kakodkar.

"Knowing how salt travels in water is easy, since it dissolves quickly and evenly. But determining where groundwater carries that salt isn't as simple. Local and state officials whose job it is to keep track of and remove the toxic salt perchlorate are leaning on science to find out how far and fast the Santa Clarita Valley's underground water is traveling - and taking the toxin with it. State and local water officials are redoubling efforts to track the spread of perchlorate, in light of the discovery last year of the salt at Well 201 in Valencia, owned by the Valencia Water Company. A state health official said the finding was a surprise, although local water officials say the discovery was expected. Valencia Water has been testing water from Well 201 every month since first finding perchlorate there in August 2010."

State water officials have decided to schedule a public hearing on a proposal that would transfer water rights amounting to billions of gallons from Kane and San Juan counties to a company that wants to build a nuclear power plant at Green River. They're going to get an earful. Hundreds of people and organizations have filed protests on the action, which would transfer 29,600 acre-feet of water from Kane County and 24,000 acre-feet per year from San Juan County to Blue Castle Holdings, a company working to secure a license to build a power plant. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons. The company would lease the water rights for 70 years.

State water officials have decided to schedule a public hearing on a proposal that would transfer water rights amounting to billions of gallons from Kane and San Juan counties to a company that wants to build a nuclear power plant at Green River. They're going to get an earful. Hundreds of people and organizations have filed protests on the action, which would transfer 29,600 acre-feet of water from Kane County and 24,000 acre-feet per year from San Juan County to Blue Castle Holdings, a company working to secure a license to build a power plant. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons. The company would lease the water rights for 70 years.

"An environmental group lost the latest round in a court fight over a disputed water permit for North Anna Power Station. The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled this week that the State Water Control Board's 2007 renewal of a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit was appropriate. In February, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer sided with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League's contention that the plant's waste heat treatment facility should be subject to the federal Clean Water Act. Since the plant began operating in the late 1970s, Dominion has contended that the lagoon, where heated water from the plant's two reactors is cooled, is a waste facility and not a water impoundment. The lagoon, ringed by houses and boat docks, is also known as the lake's hot side. Water from the hot side eventually drains back into the main lake through a dike."

Southern California's largest water agency moved forward with a groundwater extraction project without disclosing that the water is contaminated with uranium and other toxic chemicals, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California knew eight years ago about a "major stumbling block" with the proposed Hayfield Groundwater Storage Program but failed to inform key officials or the public, according to an Orange County Register investigation. Water tests in 2000 found that uranium contamination at Hayfield averaged roughly 16 picocuries per liter, with a high of 35 picocuries per liter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's limit for uranium in drinking water is 20 picocuries per liter. The five largest community water agencies in Orange County report average uranium levels of 1.9 to 9.4 picocuries per liter.

The state is combing old water records to determine whether highly contaminated groundwater -- which now stretches for miles from an industrial site in Rialto -- caused illnesses among residents in the many decades before it was discovered, health officials said during a community meeting Wednesday night. In 1997, three wells were found to have high levels of perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, an industrial solvent, which seeped into the soil and underground water. Water was not tested for perchlorate before then. The source is a 160-acre site north of Interstate 210, between Alder and Locust avenues, where private companies and government agencies stored, tested and manufactured munitions, rocket motors and fireworks. It is the Inland region's largest uncontrolled plume of perchlorate in a drinking-water supply.

The state is combing old water records to determine whether highly contaminated groundwater -- which now stretches for miles from an industrial site in Rialto -- caused illnesses among residents in the many decades before it was discovered, health officials said during a community meeting Wednesday night. In 1997, three wells were found to have high levels of perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, an industrial solvent, which seeped into the soil and underground water. Water was not tested for perchlorate before then. The source is a 160-acre site north of Interstate 210, between Alder and Locust avenues, where private companies and government agencies stored, tested and manufactured munitions, rocket motors and fireworks. It is the Inland region's largest uncontrolled plume of perchlorate in a drinking-water supply.

State-owned power company launches inquiry after radioactive tritium in water cooler makes 55 employees ill Authorities investigating the deliberate leaking of a radioactive substance into drinking water at an Indian atomic plant say a disgruntled worker could be behind the safety scare. The state-owned atomic power company launched an inquiry into how radioactive tritium seeped into a water cooler and remained at levels dangerous enough to make 55 employees ill after they drank the contaminated water. Urine samples found workers at the Kaiga nuclear power plant, in the southern state of Karnataka, had unusually high levels of radioactivity in their bodies.

State-owned power company launches inquiry after radioactive tritium in water cooler makes 55 employees ill Authorities investigating the deliberate leaking of a radioactive substance into drinking water at an Indian atomic plant say a disgruntled worker could be behind the safety scare. The state-owned atomic power company launched an inquiry into how radioactive tritium seeped into a water cooler and remained at levels dangerous enough to make 55 employees ill after they drank the contaminated water. Urine samples found workers at the Kaiga nuclear power plant, in the southern state of Karnataka, had unusually high levels of radioactivity in their bodies.

"Radioactive water that leaked from the nation's oldest nuclear power plant has now reached a major underground aquifer that supplies drinking water to much of southern New Jersey, the state's environmental chief said Friday. The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station to halt the spread of contaminated water underground, even as it said there was no imminent threat to drinking water supplies. The department launched a new investigation Friday into the April 2009 spill and said the actions of plant owner Exelon Corp. have not been sufficient to contain water contaminated with tritium."