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"Local opposition to the proposed nuclear waste repository was strong. A public hearing at the Asheville Civic Center April 4, 1986 lasted nine hours. This "Free Vacation Map" shows some of the creativity the opposition brought to bear. Lee also possesses a vinyl recording of a song written about the proposed nuclear waste repository, "There's a Glow in the Smokies Tonight.""

"The cost to remove radioactive dirt and debris from the nuclear waste dump along Route 66 in Parks has skyrocketed from $76 million to $170 million. The increase adds to a growing tally of expenses related to the production of nuclear fuel at the former Nuclear Material and Equipment Corp. in Apollo and Parks from 1957 to the mid-1980s. Lawsuits for personal injury and contamination, the razing and cleanup of two nuclear fuel plants and government payments to contaminated workers have topped $267 million over the last two decades. The Army Corps of Engineers in Pittsburgh, the federal agency charged by Congress to excavate and remove the radiological materials, revised its cost estimates as officials hammer out the details to start digging up the site next year."

"Deep in an abandoned German salt mine, barrels of nuclear waste lie in a jumbled heap-untouched since the 1970s, when this picture was taken. Since the 1960s the Asse II chambers in Lower Saxony (map) have served as storage sites for more than a hundred thousand barrels of low- to medium-level nuclear waste. Low-level waste isn't considered dangerous to handle, but medium-level waste may need shielding before disposal-such as encasing reactor components in concrete-according to the World Nuclear Association, which promotes nuclear energy. In 2008 reports emerged that water leaking from Asse II since the 1980s is radioactive."

"The Oswego County Legislature has approved a one-year tax agreement with Constellation Energy Nuclear Group for the Nine Mile Point Unit I plant. The tax agreement nearly triples the amount of taxes the company would pay Oswego County, the town of Scriba and the Oswego school district. The company this year paid $4 million through its payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, and would pay $11 million in 2011 with the tax agreement. The county receives $1,489,000 this year and would receive $4,096,400 under the tax agreement."

"The possibility that depleted uranium could be stored at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant has parents like Stacey Moody worried for their families' safety. Moody lives on Salem Road, about two miles from the arsenal, with her husband and 2-year-old daughter Elizabeth. She said storing depleted uranium at the arsenal would pose a threat to people and wildlife if a truck accident or explosion exposed people to the element that is classified as nuclear waste. "It would be very easy for a truck to turn over or have an accident," Moody said. "What kind of sickness would it cause if there was an accident? That's something we don't know." The Milan Arsenal is being used by American Ordinance to manufacture 40-millimeter munitions, 60mm and 81mm mortars and other munitions for the U.S. military, primarily the U.S. Army. The company has proposed moving that manufacturing to Iowa. It would then use Milan as a place to store depleted uranium shipped from Iowa and from weapons sent to the local arsenal for destruction. American Ordnance's plan must first be approved by the military. The plan can be found at www.jmc.army.mil/milan-ea.pdf."

"Far more sewage has been spilled in Canadian urban centres over the last six years than any other harmful contaminant, newly released figures show. An analysis by The Canadian Press reveals hundreds of millions of litres of sewage, as well as many other dangerous liquids, have been dumped right under Canadians' noses."

"If you start out with one teapot and a bag of Earl Grey blend, no matter how long you let the bag steep, you still end up with tea. That analogy, offered by the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was touched on with reporters Monday while Gregory Jaczko was in Salt Lake City for a meeting of the Health Physics Society. Processed low-level radioactive waste or so-called "blended waste" - if it remains Class A material - "it is Class A material," Jaczko said. EnergySolutions' efforts to store the processed waste at its Clive facility have been met with criticism from some environmental advocacy groups and elicited a public policy statement of opposition to the practice by state regulators and Gov. Gary Herbert. The board, however, was careful to note that it recognized down-blended waste does not pose any unique health and safety issues, but emphasized it was opposed if the intent of blending is to alter the waste's classification."

"Namibia's Chamber of Mines, which represents the mining industry in the southern African country, is concerned that power and water supply shortages and royalty tax legislation could hamper investment. Mike Leech, president of the industry body in one of the world's top uranium producers, said a royalty tax passed at the end of 2008 would "increase rather than reduce investor risk". "(The tax) is likely ... to make it harder for exploration companies to get projects past the credit committees of the banking institutions they will have to raise the money from," he said in an annual review the chamber published last week."

"U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future to provide recommendations for developing a safe, long-term solution to managing the nation's used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. The 15 person commission is being co-chaired by former Congressman Lee Hamilton and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. They, along with officials and members of the public, toured five Hanford waste sites on Wednesday. The commission will provide advice and make recommendations on issues including alternatives for the storage, processing, and disposal of civilian and defense spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. "

Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized the governor's plan to cut staff at the state agency responsible for battling the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. In the budget he unveiled last week, Gov. Jim Gibbons called for staff at the state Nuclear Projects to be cut from seven to two.

Tuesday was a good day for a landmark demolition to begin. The misting rain helped keep down the dust from the crunching of beams and bricks, and the day's general dreariness seemed to underscore the fact that a piece of history was disappearing - a sad inevitability for many. The milelong K-25 building, a brawny symbol of the nuclear age when it was constructed 65 years ago, never looked worse for wear. With its siding already stripped away, exposing the base structure, K-25 appeared ready to come down, and shortly after 4 p.m. workers got started on a task that will take a couple of years and hundreds of millions of dollars to complete.

The Tennessee Valley Authority continues its way on a troubling path of the unknown with nuclear power plants. Given all the potential ramifications of flaws at any nuclear power facility, the public has good reason to question the path taken by TVA. Among the most recent concerns about TVA operations are questions about the design for potential new nuclear reactors at the Bellefonte nuclear power site near Huntsville, Ala. TVA is seeking a license to build a plant based on a new design, the AP-1000 Westinghouse, but environmental groups say while the licensing process goes forward changes are being made to the design. Advertisement TVA insists the changes in the design are only peripheral to the basic plan. Design changes include changes to the pressurizer; changes in the seismic analysis involving rock and soil conditions; changes in instruments and a redesign of fuel racks. Advocates of the licensing process say the design changes at issue are only the kinds of items that can be carried easily on a parallel track with the application process. The basic design is said to be a simpler version of a nuclear reactor. The design is significant because if and when it is approved for Bellefonte, it streamlines the process for other plant sites that might want to build on a Bellefonte model.

Increased toxins likely as energy companies seek oil, gas, uranium When the Colorado River emerged as an important piece of his coverage, Lustgarten started working with The San Diego Union-Tribune's David Hasemyer, who has written about uranium mining's impact on the waterway for more than a decade. Together, they looked at the potential environmental and water-use consequences of increased mining and drilling in the river's watershed. The Colorado River has endured drought, large-scale climate changes, pollution, ecological damage from dams and battles by seven states to draw more water. Now the life vein of the Southwest faces another threat: Energy companies are sucking up the Colorado's water to support increased development of oil, natural gas and uranium deposits along the river's basin. The mining and drilling will likely send more toxins into the waterway, which provides drinking water for one out of 12 Americans and nourishes 15 percent of the nation's crops along its journey from Wyoming and Colorado to Mexico.

Judge David Katz of U.S. District Court has upheld the guilty verdicts against Andrew Siemaszko, paving the way for the last of three men to be tried for the Davis-Besse cover-up to be sentenced Feb. 6. The judge acknowledged that Siemaszko's conviction was "a close case," but said he found "sufficient circumstantial evidence upon which a reasonable jury could have based a finding of knowledge and intent."

The American atom bomb known as Fat Man being prepared for dropping on Nagasaki during World War II. Soviet spies gave its design to Moscow and Moscow in turn gave the secrets to Beijing. In time, China entrusted the design information to Pakistan. A.Q. Khan, Pakistan's rogue atomic pioneer, then sold them on the global back market.

Environmental groups are protesting a proposed $50 billion increase to an existing federal loan guarantee program for "innovative" energy technologies that could expand funding beyond renewable energy to include nuclear power and certain kinds of coal plants. The proposal is part of the Senate's $884 billion version of the government's stimulus package. It is just one example of the number and size of items buried in the proposal and an illustration of the battles that loom as the House and Senate try to reconcile their proposals.

After his brother's funeral Saturday, Rick Wolf started talking with a couple he'd never met. He recounted how difficult it had been for Charlie Wolf to prove he deserved federal compensation for the brain cancer that the government eventually admitted was linked to work at U.S. nuclear weapons sites. Charlie Wolf had become something of a celebrity as he battled brain cancer and the federal government to the very end of his life, determined to prove that he and other sick nuclear weapons workers were being denied aid that was promised them. His story was chronicled last July in a Rocky Mountain News special report, "Deadly Denial."

ELLAFIELD is under threat from rising sea levels, according to new research. Experts from Manchester University claim high tide levels could soar by almost three feet by 2080. And threatened areas include wildlife habitats, historic places and industrial sites on the west coast such as Sellafield. But bosses at the nuclear plant says their operations would not be under threat - even if levels were to rise by twice that amount.

Analysis: Even if unanimity in standards exists, waste disposal after decades of nuclear weapon production will require taking risks. This is Part Two of a three-part series on nuclear waste. Part One covered what it will take to clean up the mess left by the nuclear arms race. Part Three will illustrate how openness, accountability and trust can lead to effective actions to reduce present and future risks.

About a thousand feet below the desert at the Nevada Test site are some two kilometers of tunnels, labs, plutonium and scientists. Often among them is the president of National Security Technologies, Stephen Younger. "I feel perfectly safe there," says Younger, a Las Vegan since taking over the subcontractor NST in 2006. "The Test Site is pristine." Although there have been no nuclear tests since the 1992 Nuclear Testing and Comprehensive Test Ban, a lot still goes on at the Test Site, and a lot goes on in the mind of Younger, who is on a mission to educate people about nuclear weapons and nuclear politics.