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"We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the Department of Energy's (DOE's) lack of transparency in managing the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program. DOE's continuing refusal to disclose even the most basic information about the program stands in gross violation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and is inconsistent with President Obama's January 21, 2009, Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government and Memorandum on the Freedom Information Act; and the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) December 8, 2010 Open Government Directive. DOE has been authorized to issue a total of $51 billion in loan guarantees under Section 1703 with $18.5 billion earmarked for nuclear reactors, $2 billion for uranium enrichment, $8 billion for coal projects and $18.5 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency. These guarantees could expose taxpayers to tens of billions of dollars in default risk; yet DOE's lack of transparency regarding this program means that taxpayers will have little, if any, ability to evaluate the feasibility of the projects they are being asked to underwrite. "

"'Under the Radar': Outgoing Bush White House Hiked Likely Penalties Borne by Taxpayers By Inking Deals With Over a Dozen Utilities; 170 Groups in All 50 States Release Principles Urging an Upgrade in Spent Reactor Fuel Storage Safety to Withstand Equivalent of '9/11 Attacks' Between the output of existing commercial nuclear reactors and 21 proposed nuclear reactors covered by agreements quietly signed by the outgoing Bush Administration with more than a dozen electric utilities, the United States already has agreed to store enough spent (used) reactor fuel to fill the equivalent of not one, but two, Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste repositories, according to documents acquired under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Given that the U.S. is back to square one for the first repository, U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook for potentially tens of billions of dollars in penalties that would have to be paid to utilities if the 21 proposed reactor projects proceed. This new information about the daunting scale of the challenge that faces the United States in disposing of spent fuel from commercial nuclear reactors comes one day before the first meeting of the Obama Administration's "Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future." In addition to highlighting the serious consequences of the eleventh-hour deals stuck by the Bush White House, experts also focused public attention on the fact that the recently cancelled Yucca Mountain repository -- even if it were open today, 35 years after the process to create it started -- would already be filled to its legal limit of 63,000 metric tons of commercial waste by this spring. A second repository the same size would be filled with the 42,000 additional metric tons of spent fuel yet to be produced by existing nuclear reactors and the 21,000 metric tons that would be produced by the 21 proposed reactors covered under the Bush-industry agreements."

WASHINGTON (April 6, 2011) - In the weeks following the Fukushima accident, Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and nuclear industry officials have been asserting that U.S. nuclear plants are better prepared to withstand a catastrophic event like the March 11 earthquake and tsunami than Japanese plants because they have additional safety measures in place. However, according to internal NRC documents (links provided below) released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), there is no consensus within the NRC that U.S. plants are sufficiently protected. The documents indicate that technical staff members doubt the effectiveness of key safety measures adopted after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. UCS obtained the documents on March 25 from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request it made a month before the Japanese disaster.

Suffice it to say, Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, has not been very pleased with the NNSA's treatment of public information in recent years regarding operations at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant. He also wasn't happy when the feds at Y-12 recently turned down a request for a tour during Dr. Helen Caldicott's upcoming visit.

"NEWS EVENT DOCUMENTS 1. 032410 IEER news release: EXPERTS: U.S. HAS AGREED TO STORE ENOUGH NUCLEAR REACTOR WASTE TO FILL TWO YUCCA MOUNTAINS … OR FACE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN NEW PENALTIES" 2. Backgrounder on New DOE Contracts for Commercial High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal 3. Principles for Safeguarding Nuclear Waste at Reactors 4. Listen to the streaming audio of the news event"

An environmental group won its request to review safety and engineering records of a Department of Energy nuclear reactor 100 miles upwind of Yellowstone National Park, according to federal court records. The Jackson-based Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free will be able to review 1,400 pages evaluating the safety of the advanced test reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to the Sept. 14 order by Chief U.S. District Judge William Downes. The lab is a 890-square-site with three main complexes west of Idaho Falls. "KYNF has been anxiously awaiting this decision because they maintain that the redacted documents contain the DOE's assessment of the safety and consequences of an accident at the controversial ATR, the largest nuclear test reactor in the world, said Mary Woollen, the environmental group's director. However, the environment group did not disagree with a Department of Energy motion granted by Downes to put the order on hold until Nov. 27 because of a possible appeal. The government also needs the time to review the documents and edit certain details.

An environmental group won its request to review safety and engineering records of a Department of Energy nuclear reactor 100 miles upwind of Yellowstone National Park, according to federal court records. The Jackson-based Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free will be able to review 1,400 pages evaluating the safety of the advanced test reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory, according to the Sept. 14 order by Chief U.S. District Judge William Downes. The lab is a 890-square-site with three main complexes west of Idaho Falls. "KYNF has been anxiously awaiting this decision because they maintain that the redacted documents contain the DOE's assessment of the safety and consequences of an accident at the controversial ATR, the largest nuclear test reactor in the world, said Mary Woollen, the environmental group's director. However, the environment group did not disagree with a Department of Energy motion granted by Downes to put the order on hold until Nov. 27 because of a possible appeal. The government also needs the time to review the documents and edit certain details.