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"The judge overseeing CPS Energy's nuclear lawsuit frustrated lawyers for Nuclear Innovation North America on Wednesday as they tried to introduce evidence they said would show that utility executives knew they'd lose their investment if they withdrew from an expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear plant. State District Judge Larry Noll denied attorneys for NINA and parent company NRG Energy the ability to offer anything outside the actual language of the contracts to be submitted. CPS attorney Ricardo Cedillo wants Noll to rule that the utility has the right to withdraw from the project and that it will have no further financial obligations if it does - but would continue to own and control a 50 percent interest as a "tenant in common" with NINA."

Sometime in the near future, Topic A in San Antonio will be whether or not to move forward with a several-billion-dollar investment in additional nuclear energy. CPS Energy has invested $206 million on preliminary design and engineering to build two new nuclear reactors in Bay City and that money will run out at the end of the year. The debate over whether to move forward will be divisive because of the high costs of the project, which will almost certainly increase electric bills. The fact is that San Antonio, like every other city in America, is at a crossroads: Do we bet our future on the old energy drivers - coal, fossilized fuels and nuclear - or do we invest substantially in energy efficiency and renewable sources such as wind and solar? Put another way, how green, both economically and environmentally, is our future?

CPS Energy's longest-serving board trustee, Steve Hennigan, hasn't actually given me a copy of his nine-page "not so far-fetched theory document," but we spoke at length Friday night and Saturday afternoon about what's in it as he fights to keep his board seat and remain a major player at the municipal utility. "I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Hennigan, a credit union executive by day and an unmistakably nice man. Conspiracy theory, nevertheless, is making the rounds these days in one of those "truth stranger than fiction" scenarios as business and civic leaders ask what went wrong with a multibillion-dollar plan to expand the South Texas Project nuclear facility, the source of 30 percent of the city's current energy usage.

CPS Energy's longest-serving board trustee, Steve Hennigan, hasn't actually given me a copy of his nine-page "not so far-fetched theory document," but we spoke at length Friday night and Saturday afternoon about what's in it as he fights to keep his board seat and remain a major player at the municipal utility. "I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Hennigan, a credit union executive by day and an unmistakably nice man. Conspiracy theory, nevertheless, is making the rounds these days in one of those "truth stranger than fiction" scenarios as business and civic leaders ask what went wrong with a multibillion-dollar plan to expand the South Texas Project nuclear facility, the source of 30 percent of the city's current energy usage.

"A meeting between feuding officials of NRG Energy (NRG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and the San Antonio municipal electric utility ended abruptly on Monday with no resolution on the future of a $10 billion proposed expansion of Texas' largest nuclear facility. An NRG spokesman said later that the parties will meet again on Tuesday. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro last week invited the partners to negotiate a settlement to avoid a lengthy court battle scheduled later in January between NRG, its nuclear development arm and CPS Energy which is backing off a plan to invest in two new 1,350-megawatt reactors due to rising cost projections."

"* Second setback to new US reactors in January * NRG sees possible $400 mln pretax write-off NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - NRG Energy Inc (NRG.N) CEO David Crane said Friday the company would not pursue the $10 billion construction of two nuclear reactors in Texas, if an ongoing dispute with co-owner CPS Energy causes NRG to miss out on federal loan guarantees needed to finance the project. This could be the second setback for new nuclear reactors in the United States, after FPL Group Inc (FPL.N) said this month it would halt billions of dollars in capital expenditures, including development of two new reactors, after getting a negative rate case ruling from Florida regulators."

U.S. Congressman Charlie Gonzalez wanted two things out of the Waxman-Markey climate bill: assistance for the nuclear industry, and free pollution credits for utilities like our City-owned CPS Energy. He nailed free pollution days before the legislation was voted out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last week by requiring most carbon credits to be given away to industry rather than auctioned off. This industry-friendly change, among others, outraged the environmental community, most of whom still felt pressured to support the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 in order to make some progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Remarkably, however, amid the bill's 170,000 words, "nuclear" gets hardly a mention.

"CPS Energy has a potentially difficult week ahead of it as it prepares to tackle rate hikes and the future of its controversial nuclear project. The utility has proposed a 7.5 percent rate increase for electricity and 8.5 percent for gas. The hikes, which would raise consumers' total power bills a little more than 4 percent, would bring in $99 million for the remainder of fiscal 2010 and $110 million next year. The money would help pay for the new Spruce 2 coal plant, two natural gas units and other programs. Residents will have a chance to weigh in at a public forum Monday evening. The utility's board is expected to vote on the rate increases Wednesday, and the City Council will vote Feb. 18. The increases would take effect March 1."

The proposed expansion of the South Texas Nuclear Project (STP) would cost as much as $22 billion, boost the cost of electricity for consumers and curtail investment in energy-efficiency programs and solar power, a report released today by Public Citizen finds. The report, "Costs of Current and Planned Nuclear Power Plants in Texas: A Consumer Perspective," provides some answers to many of the key questions about CPS Energy's proposed partnership in the STP expansion that municipal candidates have said must be resolved before they can decide what is right for San Antonio. "We've been down this road before," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of Public Citizen's Texas office. "This nuclear expansion will have a significant impact on consumers in San Antonio, and perhaps throughout the Texas market. It is an irresponsible investment."

While the CPS Energy trials continue alliteratively rolling on regarding who's navigating the newest nuke news now and which wonks were worrying when, we'd be remiss not to remind you that some Texans (Dallas Repub billionaire Harold Simmons, owner of Waste Control Specialists, comes to mind) would like to turn Andrews County, Texas, into the next national radioactive waste dump. In their first meeting since August, the unfunded Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commissioners (rumor has it they raided UT science club study groups for the pimento-cheese finger sandwiches) will open the floor to public comment at 9 am, Thursday.

While the CPS Energy trials continue alliteratively rolling on regarding who's navigating the newest nuke news now and which wonks were worrying when, we'd be remiss not to remind you that some Texans (Dallas Repub billionaire Harold Simmons, owner of Waste Control Specialists, comes to mind) would like to turn Andrews County, Texas, into the next national radioactive waste dump. In their first meeting since August, the unfunded Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact Commissioners (rumor has it they raided UT science club study groups for the pimento-cheese finger sandwiches) will open the floor to public comment at 9 am, Thursday.

As a Thursday vote on two new nuclear reactors looms, cities around the state that purchase power from San Antonio's municipal utility, City Public Services (CPS), are balking at the prospect of buying pricey nuclear power from the reactors. Three problems exist with the planned expansion at the South Texas Nuclear Project (STP) facility. First, nuclear power creates dangerous radioactive waste that no one has figured out how to dispose of safely. Second, nuclear power is expensive - the nuclear industry requires taxpayer subsidies to prop it up. Third, no one knows for certain just how much the construction of the two reactors will cost ratepayers.

As a Thursday vote on two new nuclear reactors looms, cities around the state that purchase power from San Antonio's municipal utility, City Public Services (CPS), are balking at the prospect of buying pricey nuclear power from the reactors. Three problems exist with the planned expansion at the South Texas Nuclear Project (STP) facility. First, nuclear power creates dangerous radioactive waste that no one has figured out how to dispose of safely. Second, nuclear power is expensive - the nuclear industry requires taxpayer subsidies to prop it up. Third, no one knows for certain just how much the construction of the two reactors will cost ratepayers.

City Council gets: Carbon Free and Nuclear Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy Stockings filled with coal come by the Wyoming trainload to feed the furnaces powering CPS Energy's plants. But impending federal regulation of carbon emissions is causing utilities nationwide to wrestle with alternatives. CPS's position has been that natural-gas prices are too volatile. Solar's still too small. But does that imply nuclear is just right? San Antonio has been locked in stiff debate over that question this year. Local environmental and energy activists scored a key victory when they got language supporting the proposed doubling of the South Texas (Nuclear)Project stripped from CPS's May rate hike.

Sitting in on Mayor Julián Castro's town hall meeting Monday evening felt like watching some old movie in which you know all the lines by heart. It probably served some purpose on the front end - forcing CPS Energy officials to realize that their proposal for a $5.2 billion investment in two nuclear plants falls well short of a sure thing - but it didn't seem to shift opinions around much. Still, with all the talk about how the Big Decision will affect our grandchildren, it was easy to wonder which question will appear most prescient decades from now. Perhaps it will be the handwritten, photocopied 'No Nuclear Energy!' sheet passed out at the front door, on which a man named Ray Davidson Hillman guaranteed that if all North American nuclear plants are not shut down soon, the planet won't support life in one or two hundred years. If he's right, of course, no one will be around to realize how smart he was.

If CPS Energy thinks the citizens of South Texas are just going to stand by while the company sinks billions of dollars into a risky nuclear expansion project, it looks like they've got another think coming. Several Texas groups filed a petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week to block the expansion of two more reactors at the South Texas Project in Bay City.

In 2009, the local political sleeper was - drumroll, please - District 8 Councilman Reed Williams. Williams was anything but a brand name when he was elected. He'd worked 35 years in the oil industry but wasn't part of the small clique of local business leaders who regularly influence City Hall. At 62, Williams has an unassuming demeanor and zero political ambitions. Yet when it came to the debate over expansion of the South Texas Project, he played a critical behind-the-scenes role. He offered expertise and common sense that has made him a key voice in charting the city's energy future. He started out inclined to support the nuclear expansion. When he had an interview with the Sierra Club during the campaign, one of the leaders asked where he and the organization would differ.

In 2009, the local political sleeper was - drumroll, please - District 8 Councilman Reed Williams. Williams was anything but a brand name when he was elected. He'd worked 35 years in the oil industry but wasn't part of the small clique of local business leaders who regularly influence City Hall. At 62, Williams has an unassuming demeanor and zero political ambitions. Yet when it came to the debate over expansion of the South Texas Project, he played a critical behind-the-scenes role. He offered expertise and common sense that has made him a key voice in charting the city's energy future. He started out inclined to support the nuclear expansion. When he had an interview with the Sierra Club during the campaign, one of the leaders asked where he and the organization would differ.

[Local clean-energy activist Margaret Day says the following column was rejected by Express-News Editorial Page Editor Bruce Davidson because it insinuates NRG Energy's Executive VP of Nuclear Development, Mr. Steve Winn, "is a liar." Express-News Ombudsman Bob Richter said Davidson turned it down because he "had other, better anti-nuclear commentaries" and felt Day "misstated Winn's reasoning." Whatever. We got a kick out of it. Which is why we at the second most comprehensive source on all things nuclear wanted to give it a public airing.

[Local clean-energy activist Margaret Day says the following column was rejected by Express-News Editorial Page Editor Bruce Davidson because it insinuates NRG Energy's Executive VP of Nuclear Development, Mr. Steve Winn, "is a liar." Express-News Ombudsman Bob Richter said Davidson turned it down because he "had other, better anti-nuclear commentaries" and felt Day "misstated Winn's reasoning." Whatever. We got a kick out of it. Which is why we at the second most comprehensive source on all things nuclear wanted to give it a public airing.

The banquet room inside the city's lavishly refurbished Pearl Brewery is filled with solar advocates, coal-power people, city decision makers and bureaucrats, geothermal enthusiasts, and a table of Express-News staffers. They dine on salmon and judge in quiet gestures the performance of the panel at the front of the room. As a tense but generally amenable exchange between the nuclear-energy proponents and the renewable-power disciples winds down, Matagorda County resident Susan Dancer steps from the shadows at the back of the room to steer the conversation, briefly, into dangerous waters. In a rapid-fire indictment of the entire course of the debate, Dancer drops the controversial "C" word. But cancer isn't on the menu at today's forum. In fact, the talk is almost entirely of money. For more than a year, the city has been drifting, in multi-million-dollar installments, into a second helping of nuclear power from the South Texas Project nuclear facility outside Bay City.

The banquet room inside the city's lavishly refurbished Pearl Brewery is filled with solar advocates, coal-power people, city decision makers and bureaucrats, geothermal enthusiasts, and a table of Express-News staffers. They dine on salmon and judge in quiet gestures the performance of the panel at the front of the room. As a tense but generally amenable exchange between the nuclear-energy proponents and the renewable-power disciples winds down, Matagorda County resident Susan Dancer steps from the shadows at the back of the room to steer the conversation, briefly, into dangerous waters. In a rapid-fire indictment of the entire course of the debate, Dancer drops the controversial "C" word. But cancer isn't on the menu at today's forum. In fact, the talk is almost entirely of money. For more than a year, the city has been drifting, in multi-million-dollar installments, into a second helping of nuclear power from the South Texas Project nuclear facility outside Bay City.

FREDERICTON (CP) - Environmental groups in New Brunswick are calling for an immediate ban on uranium exploration and mining as companies continue staking large swaths of the province. Representatives of several conservation groups said Wednesday about 30 organizations, including church and farming groups, have signed a statement calling for a no-uranium mining policy, similar to moratoriums already in place in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

This joint study by the U.S. National Academies and the Russian Academy of Sciences (NAS and RAS) will provide an assessment of the technical, economic, legal/regulatory, and non-proliferation criteria necessary for the implementation of an international civilian nuclear fuel cycle. The study is not intended to be a comprehensive treatment of the topics listed, but rather a high-level, first cut at these complex issues. Specifically, the proposed NAS-RAS joint study will address the primary issues and questions listed below under headings A and B. The secondary issues and questions will be addressed to the extent that budget and time permit::

There are two million high-level radioactive fuel bundles sitting at temporary storage sites in Canada, as the Nuclear Waste Management Organization wrestles with the mandate of finding a community to host a central storage facility for the waste for perhaps tens of thousands of years. More than 120,000 high-level radioactive fuel bundles are stored at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick. (Canadian Press)More than 120,000 high-level radioactive fuel bundles are stored at the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant in New Brunswick. (Canadian Press) Throw in the fact that the cost of storing this nuclear waste could be up to $24 billion - a figure that will likely rise - and environmental groups are dead set against a central facility, and it shapes up to be a challenge of colossal proportions. The process of finding a site to bury the high-level spent fuel has dragged on for decades as reactors keep churning out more spent bundles.