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"Entergy Nuclear officials failed to investigate five sinkholes that developed outside the reactor building for the past two years that were near the site of what turned out to be the radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee, according to a state report. And a state official said he believes the radioactive leak at Yankee had been going on for two years before it was discovered by Entergy Nuclear in early January, based on hydrology studies of the site. William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Department of Health, said Wednesday that during the first meeting he attended at Vermont Yankee after the tritium leak was discovered, he heard a top-level engineer say he had seen a sinkhole near the advanced off-gas building, which is where Entergy finally found the leak. "

"Federal nuclear power regulators want the public to weigh in on a preliminary report they say shows there are no environmental concerns that would keep two new nuclear reactors from being built in South Carolina. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are at White Hall AME Church in Jenkinsville on Thursday to discuss a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed reactors. South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., a subsidiary of Scana Corp., wants to build two, 1,100-megawatt reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, about 25 miles northwest of Columbia."

"Progress Energy wants approval to construct a new "cooling tower" at the Crystal River nuclear plant to help lower temperatures of discharge from the facility. The company needs the tower to help it comply with regulations about thermal output, as it works to upgrade the plant. The construction of the cooling tower and its operations would affect more than 1.3 acres of wetlands and 3.1 acres of surface waters. The impact on the wetlands "may affect" the West Indian manatee. It is unlikely that other wildlife will be affected, according to the utility's application. The company powered down the nuclear plant in September for a major maintenance project that was expected to be done by the end of December. But shortly after the job began, workers discovered that part of the containment wall had separated into two layers. "

"Nearly universal local opposition to the resumption of shipment of radioactive waste from Los Alamos plus howling winds from the southwest put a stop on transloading operations Monday morning. About 15 demonstrators with signs in opposition taped to their cars and a few signs secured to wooden posts and held on the south side of the highway by the operation's site were backed mid-morning by another document. A temporary injunction against the loading of railcars signed by 41 area citizens"

"The discovery of a pipe bomb at the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant indicates a need for enhanced security at all nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants are prime targets for terrorists. The nuclear material used to make nuclear bombs can be obtained from nuclear power plants. The destruction of an active nuclear power plant can produce radiation that will cover over 100 miles and fallout that can drift for almost a thousand. Terrorists groups could capture a power plant and blackmail governments,steal the nuclear material then sell that material to rogue governments or other terrorist groups. Nuclear power plants if destroyed by terrorists, could kill thousands of people if large metropolitan areas are located within 20 miles of a plant."

"In closed-door huddles extending into Thursday night, diplomats at a nuclear treaty conference sought to break a deadlock between the Arabs and Israel's allies over a plan to turn the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free zone. A deal would likely clear the way for a broader consensus agreement Friday on doing more to check the spread of nuclear arms worldwide, successfully ending a monthlong, 189-nation conference to review and strengthen the 40-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). A draft final declaration would have the twice-a-decade treaty review session call for the convening of a conference in 2012 "on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.""

Amec has been chosen by Czech utility CEZ to manage radioactive waste at a nuclear power plant in Dukovany for the coming five years. Amec's Slovakian business will manage the contract, which already provides a range of services to nuclear power plants in the Slovak and Czech republics. Commenting on the contract win, Amec's managing director of its Slovakian nuclear division, Pavol Stuller, said: "This important contract confirms Amec's position as an important partner to both CEZ and ENEL in the area of radioactive waste management in the Central and Eastern European region". Amec says it will reduce the volume of liquid radioactive waste at the Dukovany plant, thereby cutting the cost of waste management. Earlier this month, Amec announced it was partnering with Energy Solutions in a bid to be appointed "parent body organisation" at Dounreay in north west Scotland. The decommissioning of Dounreay is one of the UK nuclear industry's most significant challenges, with Amec and Energy Solutions claiming that their joint venture would offer "unrivalled experience" and, thus, "the right recipe of global skills, experience, capabilities and culture to safely deliver the desired solution for Dounreay"."

"SIX people have been contaminated by a leak of radioactive cobalt in a foundry, French nuclear safety authorities said yesterday. The six were taken to a hospital unit at a nuclear plant near the foundry in Feurs in eastern France. Tests are being carried out to determine the severity of the contamination. The incident was ranked at Level 2 on a scale of 1-7. "

"Energy and climate change secretary "will take pragmatic approach" to new power stations, says EDF's Vincent de Rivaz Vincent de Rivaz: 'The commitments from the coalition government envisage a proper role for nuclear.' Photograph: Eamonn McCabe EDF Energy will announce today that it has received sufficient reassurances from the energy and climate change secretary, Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne, to continue planning for a new generation of nuclear plants in Britain. There were fears that the Lib Dems' manifesto commitment to halt the construction of any more nuclear reactors, and recent sceptical signals from Huhne, could derail its £20bn building programme. But Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of EDF in Britain, will tell a conference he is convinced that both sides are committed to the same goal: new reactors without subsidies and at a viable cost."

"Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction said Thursday that it has completed the negotiations to provide nuclear power plant equipment to the largest nuclear energy generating facility in the United States. "We've finalized the process. Doosan hopes for bigger penetration in the highly lucrative nuclear power plants-related sector in the United States," the company said in a press release. Doosan has been shipping control element drive mechanisms, or CEDMs, and replacement reactor vessel heads to the Palo Verde nuclear facility in Tonopah, Arizona, which has a capacity of 1,400 megawatts since May of last year."

"A leading Russian expert on North Korea said on Thursday he had serious doubts about Pyongyang's involvement into the sinking of South Korea's Cheonan warship. Relations between the two Koreas soured after Seoul accused North Korea of firing a torpedo from a submarine at the 1,200-ton South Korean Cheonan corvette. The vessel sank near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26 causing the loss of 46 lives. "I personally have serous doubts that it was North Korea that sank the ship. Why do this? For what purpose?... I don't see any logic," said Konstantin Pulikovsky, who maintained official contacts with Pyongyang while serving as presidential envoy to Russia's Far East in 2000-2005."

"But the most contentious changes would affect environmental impact reviews of thousands of major infrastructure and other development projects every year. Government infrastructure projects would be exempt from the environmental review process altogether. All environmental issues related to new nuclear plants and other major power projects would be left to the federal energy board and nuclear safety regulators. Most of which may not be as ominous as it seems. "

"Britain offered its first public accounting of its nuclear arsenal Wednesday, disclosing that it has a stockpile of 225 warheads in a move that offers transparency to non-nuclear states in hope of winning stricter global controls on the spread of atomic weapons. The announcement, made without fanfare in the House of Commons, follows the Obama administration's disclosure that the United States has stockpiled 5,113 nuclear warheads and "several thousand" more retired warheads awaiting the junk pile - the first public description of the secretive arsenal born in the Cold War and now shrinking rapidly."

"SCOTS are more in favour of using wind farms than nuclear power stations to produce electricity, a poll commissioned by EDF Energy has shown. * 69% of people polled were in favour of onshore turbines. Picture: Getty When asked in a YouGov survey about their support for different types of power plants, more than eight out of ten Scots backed offshore wind farms and 69 per cent were in favour of onshore turbines. However, fewer than half - 47 per cent - said they supported the idea of replacing existing nuclear plants when they closed in the poll, commissioned by the French nuclear power giant. Similarly, when questioned about their opinion of different energy sources for producing electricity, 74 per cent said their impression of wind farms was favourable, compared to just 43 per cent for nuclear."

"The National Assembly approved the $11 billion plan to build two nuclear power plants (NPP) on the coast of Ninh Thuan province late in 2009. Ninh Thuan NPP1 will be built in Phuoc Đinh commune and NPP2 in adjacent Vinh Hai commune. Thousands of families will have to move to make room for these plants. The local people don't protest the project itself, and no longer worry about living near nuclear power plants. They are prepared for the move. Six sites for resettlement have been suggested but the local government and local people have not reached agreement which should be chosen."

"Survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings met a wall of indifference from ordinary Americans and the U.S. media after traveling to New York to lobby a major U.N. nuclear nonproliferation conference for an end to nuclear weapons. About 2,000 Japanese, including 100 hibakusha from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, took part in demonstrations before the opening of the 26-day Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty review conference on May 3. But the campaigners said there was little interest in their calls for an immediate ban on nuclear weapons, from either ordinary Americans or the U.S. media. "

"I thank you for this special opportunity. I am here as a Senator from Kwajalein Atoll in the National Parliament of the Marshall Islands, the Nitijela. With me from Kwajalein are Iroij Senator Michael Kabua, Iroij Senator Christopher Loeak, Iroij Rod Nakamura, Senator Jeban Riklon, Alap Fredley Mawilong, and Alap Irumne Bondrik. We appear before you today representing the four Traditional Leaders of Kwajalein: Iroijlaplap Imata Kabua, Iroijlaplap Anjua Loeak, Iroij laplap Nelu, and Leroij Likwor Litokwa, all their elders, and all the people who belong to Kwajalein. This all inclusive leadership and grass roots delegation is unique in this aspect but is also reflective of our fervent desire to find a solution to the continuing disagreement which threatens to undermine the long and enduring relationship between our two countries. The story of Kwajalein is not new to the Honorable Members of this Committee. Kwajalein continues to play a significant role in America's quest for superiority in military technology as well as in lending support to the many diverse efforts of the United States to maintain international peace and security. Since 1944, Kwajalein has been an integral part of America's defense, from its early days of serving as a naval ah base, through its role as support base for the testing of Nuclear Weapons in the Marshall Islands from 1946-1958, to its present status as America's foremost testing facility for its missile defense programs. The Marshall Islands are a proud and reliable friend of the United States, and Kwajalein is an indispensable component of that friendship."

"The nuclear energy industry made several policy recommendations today to the blue ribbon commission counseling the U.S. Department of Energy on future management of used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. These recommendations included the value of centralized temporary storage of used fuel assemblies, the continuing need for a geologic disposal facility even if used fuel is recycled, and a new management and financing structure for the entity that oversees the program. "The greatest service that the commission can render to the nation is to develop a used fuel management policy that will endure, define a process for implementing the policy, determine the timelines to be followed to achieve the policy, and delineate the legal and legislative changes needed to make the policy a reality," said Nuclear Energy Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin Fertel in a presentation to the commission."

"The Dept. of Energy didn't have any immediate comment on the City of Oak Ridge's request that the next cleanup contract include a provision that requires the top managers with the contractor and major subcontractors live in Oak Ridge. The request was made in the city's comments submitted for the draft Request for Proposals. "I can't talk to anything related to the procurement at this point," John Shewairy, DOE's chief spokesman in Oak Ridge, said via e-mail. If the issue is addressed at the end of the comment period, Shewairy said he might comment then. Meanwhile, Bechtel Jacobs Co. DOE's cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge since 1998, didn't care to comment on where its executives live."

"Idaho Cleanup Project officials are continuing to investigate the cause of a fire that was confined to the engine compartment of a vehicle called a telehandler, Tuesday at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex of the Department of Energy's Idaho Site. There were no injuries and no release of contamination. The fire was believed to be caused by an electrical short in a telehandler being used to transport radioactive and hazardous waste that was buried in the 1960s in an area of the RWMC's Subsurface Disposal Area called Pit 5. A telehandler is a forklift with an extendable arm (or boom) utilized in the waste exhumation process to transport waste trays. Once the fire ignited, the telehandler operator activated the equipment's fire suppression equipment, which temporarily extinguished the flames in the engine compartment. "