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The Project On Government Oversight has obtained hundreds of pages of internal NRC documents from an NRC Inspector General investigation into then-Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield. The documents outline, among other things, how he disregarded advice from NRC's General Counsel and voted on two matters that "could have potentially" financially benefitted three companies-Shaw Group, Westinghouse, and General Electric-during the time he was directly involved in employment negotiations with those companies. The IG investigation found that in the two months before accepting a job created for him at the Shaw Group, Commissioner Merrifield voted both to approve China's purchase of AP 1000 reactors (in which the Shaw Group had a financial interest) and to change criteria of emergency cooling systems that would directly benefit Westinghouse (of which the Shaw Group owned a 20 percent interest). The IG referred the case to the Department of Justice.

The Project On Government Oversight has obtained hundreds of pages of internal NRC documents from an NRC Inspector General investigation into then-Commissioner Jeffrey Merrifield. The documents outline, among other things, how he disregarded advice from NRC's General Counsel and voted on two matters that "could have potentially" financially benefitted three companies-Shaw Group, Westinghouse, and General Electric-during the time he was directly involved in employment negotiations with those companies. The IG investigation found that in the two months before accepting a job created for him at the Shaw Group, Commissioner Merrifield voted both to approve China's purchase of AP 1000 reactors (in which the Shaw Group had a financial interest) and to change criteria of emergency cooling systems that would directly benefit Westinghouse (of which the Shaw Group owned a 20 percent interest). The IG referred the case to the Department of Justice.

"The Shaw Power Group has won a contract to study the feasibility of upgrading a 2,155-megwatt nuclear plant in Michigan to a capacity of more than 2,450 megawatts. Such nuclear upgrades are called "uprates" in the industry. Last week, executives of the power group's parent, The Shaw Group, told analysts that they were aggressively pursuing uprate business. CEO Jim Bernhard Jr. said about 37 of the 104 commercial nuclear reactors in the United States have been uprated. Shaw performd about half of those, and he said the remaining 67 units represented a potential market of $25 billion in contracts."

Today, Governor Bobby Jindal joined The Shaw Group Inc. and Westinghouse to announce that the companies will build the first module fabrication and assembly facility focused on constructing components for new and modified nuclear reactors in the United States. The facility, a joint venture between Shaw and Westinghouse, will be located at the Port of Lake Charles. Additionally, Governor Jindal and Shaw also announced that the company has committed to keep and grow its corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge for at least fifteen years.

Westinghouse vows to fix all the issues raised by regulators SCOTTSBORO - Westinghouse's failure to show that a shield building for a proposed nuclear plant near Scottsboro is structurally safe is "the tip of the iceberg of problems that lie ahead" for the project, said Lou Zeller, director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. Zeller said Friday that cracks could cause the steel and concrete buildings housing a nuclear reactor to leak into the air outside the plant. But Westinghouse spokesman Scott Shaw said that the plant "wouldn't be licensed" if that were the case. Zeller said containment buildings at older nuclear plants are "showing signs of wear and tear," including cracks. But Shaw said Westinghouse designed a concrete building with steel plates to prevent any leaks, instead of steel-reinforced bars used in previous nuclear plant designs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday informed Westinghouse, designer of the AP1000 plant proposed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bellefonte site, that it will need to modify its design.

Westinghouse vows to fix all the issues raised by regulators SCOTTSBORO - Westinghouse's failure to show that a shield building for a proposed nuclear plant near Scottsboro is structurally safe is "the tip of the iceberg of problems that lie ahead" for the project, said Lou Zeller, director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. Zeller said Friday that cracks could cause the steel and concrete buildings housing a nuclear reactor to leak into the air outside the plant. But Westinghouse spokesman Scott Shaw said that the plant "wouldn't be licensed" if that were the case. Zeller said containment buildings at older nuclear plants are "showing signs of wear and tear," including cracks. But Shaw said Westinghouse designed a concrete building with steel plates to prevent any leaks, instead of steel-reinforced bars used in previous nuclear plant designs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday informed Westinghouse, designer of the AP1000 plant proposed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bellefonte site, that it will need to modify its design.

Westinghouse and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet next week to discuss issues over the design of the safety building for the proposed AP1000 nuclear reactor, Bloomberg reports. Last month, the NRC rejected the design of the building that houses the reactor. The regulator says it is not clear the building can stand up to natural disasters such as tornadoes and earthquakes. It asked Westinghouse to make additional changes or demonstrate that the building meets the required standard. Bloomberg quotes NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko as saying that plans to build the structure in parts instead of a solid, single piece has raised regulatory concerns. Westinghouse and its principal parent Toshiba Corp. have growing nuclear operations in Charlotte. The Shaw Power Group, also based in Charlotte, is the preferred contractor for AP1000 projects. Its parent, The Shaw Group, owns a 20 percent stake in Westinghouse.

Westinghouse and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet next week to discuss issues over the design of the safety building for the proposed AP1000 nuclear reactor, Bloomberg reports. Last month, the NRC rejected the design of the building that houses the reactor. The regulator says it is not clear the building can stand up to natural disasters such as tornadoes and earthquakes. It asked Westinghouse to make additional changes or demonstrate that the building meets the required standard. Bloomberg quotes NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko as saying that plans to build the structure in parts instead of a solid, single piece has raised regulatory concerns. Westinghouse and its principal parent Toshiba Corp. have growing nuclear operations in Charlotte. The Shaw Power Group, also based in Charlotte, is the preferred contractor for AP1000 projects. Its parent, The Shaw Group, owns a 20 percent stake in Westinghouse.

The Shaw Group's power division has expanded its contract with Entergy Corp. to provide nuclear maintenance services at the 798-megawatt Palisades nuclear power plant near South Haven, Michigan. The Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge company that provides maintenance to roughly 40 percent of the nuclear reactors in the country, did not disclose how much it will be paid under the expanded contract.

"The construction contractor for Plant Vogtle, Shaw Group, temporarily stopped work after an internal audit showed new employees weren't given a questionnaire about their past or current abuse of drugs and alcohol. A Shaw spokesperson said employees were asked the questions verbally. "

Westinghouse Electric Co. said Monday it signed a $7.65 billion deal to build two nuclear reactors in Florida -- its third such contract in nine months. The agreement, which Westinghouse and partner The Shaw Group signed with Progress Energy Florida, is an engineering, procurement and construction contract to build two AP1000 reactors in Levy County, along the state's northern Gulf Coast. Shaw, of Baton Rouge, La., is a 20 percent owner of Westinghouse.

AIKEN - The U.S. Energy Department has finalized a $2.7 billion contract with a French company to build a South Carolina plant where weapons-grade plutonium will be converted into commercial reactor fuel, the company announced today. The modified contract allows Shaw Areva MOX Services to complete construction of the facility at the Savannah River nuclear complex near Aiken, said Shaw spokesman Sean Clancy. The facility for converting weapons-grade plutonium into a mixed-oxide fuel to be burned in commercial nuclear power reactors would be the first of its kind in the U.S

Faced with a paper trail of minor maintenance problems and mounting pressure from regulators, Southern California Edison has changed maintenance contractors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, the plant's majority owner and operator, said Friday that the company has hired Louisiana-based Shaw Industries to conduct all maintenance operations at the seaside plant. Since 1994 that work had been done by multinational Bechtel Inc., which also helped build the plant's atom splitters in the late 1980s. Shaw also performs maintenance activities at 36 of the nation's 104 operating nuclear power plants. A division of Bechtel has been working for years on an $800 million project to replace steam generators inside both of San Onofre's concrete containment domes. Alexander said the company will continue to work on that project.

Louisiana's two Fortune 500 companies have bet big on the future of nuclear power. New Orleans' Entergy Corp. has focused on attempting to get two licenses to build new plants in Louisiana and Mississippi for its utility business, while spinning off its existing fleet of wholesale power nuclear plants in the Northeast to generate better returns for shareholders. Those efforts have not gotten off the ground, but Entergy Corp. Chairman and CEO Wayne Leonard remains optimistic. "The things that we're working on will ultimately happen," Leonard said. Baton Rouge's Shaw Group, meanwhile, is building a $100 million, 600,000-square-foot factory in Lake Charles to build structural components, piping and equipment for Westinghouse Electric Co.-designed nuclear reactors. The plant is expected to open by the end of the year.

Ex-official said to have sought jobs from firms while on panel A former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated government ethics rules by directly contacting potential employers with business before the NRC before the end of his term in mid-2007, according to a report by the commission's inspector general. Jeffrey S. Merrifield twice cast votes on matters involving companies he had contacted about job prospects, the report says. The firms -- the Shaw Group, Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric and General Electric -- "could potentially have benefited financially from his votes . . . during the specific timeframes in which Merrifield was negotiating with the three companies," the report concludes.

Ex-official said to have sought jobs from firms while on panel A former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated government ethics rules by directly contacting potential employers with business before the NRC before the end of his term in mid-2007, according to a report by the commission's inspector general. Jeffrey S. Merrifield twice cast votes on matters involving companies he had contacted about job prospects, the report says. The firms -- the Shaw Group, Toshiba's Westinghouse Electric and General Electric -- "could potentially have benefited financially from his votes . . . during the specific timeframes in which Merrifield was negotiating with the three companies," the report concludes.

Progress Energy on Monday said it had signed a $7.65-billion engineering, procurement and construction contract with the consortium of Westinghouse and The Shaw Group to build two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at a site in Levy County, Florida, near its existing Crystal River-3 reactor. The utility said forecasted inflation, owner costs and contingencies will bring the total cost of the two-unit project to about $14 billion. The estimate also includes land price, plant components, financing costs, construction, labor, regulatory fees and reactor fuel for two units. An additional $3 billion is estimated for the necessary transmission equipment and about 200 miles of transmission lines associated with the project, Progress said.

URS Corporation (NYSE: URS) today announced that a team led by the Company has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada. The team would manage a scope of work with a maximum value of approximately $2.5 billion, if all options are exercised. The performance based, cost-plus award-fee contract will cover a five-year base performance period, with an additional five-year option. The URS-led team, USA Repository Services, LLC, includes the Washington Division of URS, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure, Inc., and AREVA Federal Services, Inc. USA Repository Services, LLC, will be responsible for completing the detailed design of a nuclear waste repository, defending and updating a license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), operating Yucca Mountain facilities prior to the NRC's Construction Authorization, and supporting construction management and operation of the Yucca Mountain repository.

Westinghouse Electric Co. and its Chinese client broke ground today on the first of four nuclear power plants the company will build in the energy-hungry nation. Monroeville-based Westinghouse announced that, along with engineering partner The Shaw Group, of Louisiana, and the Shandong Nuclear Power Co., it began excavation one month earlier than planned at the plant site in Haiyang, Shandong province in northeastern China.

South Carolina's two largest utilities said Tuesday they have agreed to pay nearly $10 billion through 2019 to add two nuclear reactors in Fairfield County - only the second time power companies have made a financial commitment to build a nuclear plant in 30 years. Columbia-based South Carolina Electric & Gas and state-owned Santee Cooper signed a contract with Westinghouse Electric Co. and The Shaw Group to design and build two reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, about 25 miles northwest of Columbia.

It wasn't just invectives that flew from mouths of the anti-nuclear activists at Thursday's Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Brattleboro. One activist also threw compost at Vermont Yankee's site vice president Michael Colomb. "You folks have no idea what to do with spent fuel or radioactive waste," said Sally Shaw, of Gill, Mass. Carrying a bag to the front of the conference room, she threw a handful of "spent food" at Colomb and other Entergy executives before depositing handfuls of compost on a table where NRC officials sat. "That's really good quality compost," she said.

The Nevada Commission on Ethics Thursday cleared former Nuclear Projects Director Bob Loux of charges he broke the rules by raising his own pay. They did so on a 3-2 vote with the majority pointing out that the charges levied against him were wrong because they said he raised his own pay "above the legislatively approved" amount. Commissioners George Keele, Don Classic and James Shaw all agreed the legislature doesn't approve specific salaries for non-classified state employees in the governor's office. "It should have said, did he give himself a pay raise above the governor's approved salary," said Klassic.

"The contractor hired to manage the $14.5 billion addition of two new reactors to Plant Vogtle is negotiating with national labor unions to provide employees. The project, for which limited site work is already under way, is expected to generate up to 3,500 temporary construction jobs and 800 permanent positions after the reactors go online in 2016 and 2017. Gentry Brann, the director of corporate communications for The Shaw Group -- the project's construction manager -- acknowledged that discussions are ongoing but said it would be premature to release details."

I am writing this on April 26, 2009, the 23rd anniversary of the tragic and deadly explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The Chernobyl disaster is widely considered to be the biggest technological and industrial disaster the world has ever known. And I am remembering the 1979 meltdown at the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island, about 100 miles from where I currently sit. Today, about a block from my home, I can look to the west and see the cooling towers of the Limerick nuclear power plant sending a steady flow of steam into the sky. Each month, the power company Exelon, which operates the Limerick plant, conducts a siren test to ensure that the noisemakers are in good working order in case they need to notify the public of an emergency.