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Nuclear energy sounds like the answer to this country's energy problems, but it isn't. For decades, nuclear power has been peddled as being an efficient and inexpensive energy. In the '50s, nuclear advocates loudly promised the world that atomic power would provide electricity "too cheap to meter." That promise dissolved with the reality of reactor construction costs in the 1970s and 1980s. But the price to consumers isn't limited to just the cost of the power usage that is listed on your monthly electricity bill. It goes way beyond that. Nuclear power is not cheap. Since the very beginning the government has been heaping subsidies, which come from our tax dollars, into the building and running of nuclear plants. But these cash payments and tax breaks are not the most valuable subsidies that they receive. The most important subsidies that the investors and owners can receive come from shifting the risks onto the taxpayers or the surrounding area's population.

Nuclear energy sounds like the answer to this country's energy problems, but it isn't. For decades, nuclear power has been peddled as being an efficient and inexpensive energy. In the '50s, nuclear advocates loudly promised the world that atomic power would provide electricity "too cheap to meter." That promise dissolved with the reality of reactor construction costs in the 1970s and 1980s. But the price to consumers isn't limited to just the cost of the power usage that is listed on your monthly electricity bill. It goes way beyond that. Nuclear power is not cheap. Since the very beginning the government has been heaping subsidies, which come from our tax dollars, into the building and running of nuclear plants. But these cash payments and tax breaks are not the most valuable subsidies that they receive. The most important subsidies that the investors and owners can receive come from shifting the risks onto the taxpayers or the surrounding area's population.

As CPS Energy continues to present its case to the public for spending billions of dollars on two nuclear reactors, community groups opposed to the plan are banding together to make their own case. A new organization, calling itself Energia Mia, is holding a press conference today before one of CPS Energy's neighborhood meetings that were set up for the utility to answer questions about its plan to partner in the expansion of the nuclear South Texas Project outside of Bay City. "We have noticed that there are a lot of groups in San Antonio that have different reasons for opposing nuclear energy, but all have come to the conclusion that it is not in our best interest," said Cindy Weehler of the Consumers' Energy Coalition and one of Energia Mia's organizers. "We decided that we are going to have a venue or a forum. CPS is going out and educating the community on their side of the issue. We would like to educate people to our side of the issue."

A number of peace groups are expected to join members of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance for Thursday's ceremony on the anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. A Names and Remembrance Ceremony is scheduled for 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the entrance to the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant which produced the enriched uranium that was used in the Little Boy bomb. Among the groups planning to participate are Footprints for Peace, Michigan Stop the Bombs Campaign, Episcopal Peace Fellowship and Buddhists from the Nipponzan Myohoji.

A recent letter advocated more nuclear power plants. There are too many problems with this technology. First, companies will not build nuclear power plants without the protection of the Price-Anderson Act which provides taxpayer compensation in case of an accident since no company in the world will insure them. Price-Anderson, however, only provides $500 million when the latest government report, states that depending on the severity of the accident, damages could run in the billions. Second, after 50 years of operation there is still the waste problem. Energy Secretary Steven Chu appeared before the House lawmakers on June 3 and declared the planned Yucca Mountain repository "dead." More than $9 billion have been invested developing this waste dump, which caused one lawmaker to say: "We got a mighty expensive dinosaur sitting there." This waste, which is lethal for thousands of years, now stays on site in fuel pools and dry casts for future generations to worry about. Minimum morality would demand that we, at least, stop producing it. Estimates as to the cost of this "eventual cleanup" are incalculable. Still the proponents declare nuclear as cheap energy. Third, uranium, like oil, is a finite fuel. Reprocessing, the separation of plutonium which can then again be used as fuel, was discontinued by the United States nearly three decades ago on nonproliferation grounds. Fourth, since 2005, cost estimates for building a new nuclear reactor have more then tripled. Nuclear energy, once declared to be "too cheap to meter," is now too expensive to pursue. Frieda Berryhill, Wilmington

USEC Inc.'s hope for a loan guarantee to complete work on the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon was given new life Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Energy announced late Tuesday afternoon that it plans to delay a review of USEC's application until several specific technical and financial issues have been addressed. Those issues had been cited in late July as reasons for DOE to request USEC withdraw its application for $2 billion in loan guarantees seen as critical to completion of the American Centrifuge Plant. The unspecified amount of additional time is intended to allow USEC to fully address issues identified by DOE relating to the readiness of the company's uranium enrichment technology. DOE indicated it sees promise in the centrifuge process, but that USEC's application for the loan guarantee does not meet all statutory and regulatory standards that would allow it to be accepted.

USEC Inc.'s hope for a loan guarantee to complete work on the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon was given new life Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Energy announced late Tuesday afternoon that it plans to delay a review of USEC's application until several specific technical and financial issues have been addressed. Those issues had been cited in late July as reasons for DOE to request USEC withdraw its application for $2 billion in loan guarantees seen as critical to completion of the American Centrifuge Plant. The unspecified amount of additional time is intended to allow USEC to fully address issues identified by DOE relating to the readiness of the company's uranium enrichment technology. DOE indicated it sees promise in the centrifuge process, but that USEC's application for the loan guarantee does not meet all statutory and regulatory standards that would allow it to be accepted.

(Host) State regulators may levy fines against Vermont Yankee for its failure to monitor radiation that comes from its high-level nuclear waste. The company was required to report the temperature and radiation from storage containers that hold spent nuclear fuel. State officials say they're concerned about the apparent violation. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) The monitoring was required as part of a state license that allows Yankee to store spent fuel in five steel and concrete casks near the reactor. It was supposed to begin last year, but Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said the company didn't discover until late June that it had never established the monitoring protocol. (Smith) "And it's an oversight by us. We did not catch that until an engineer who was assigned to the dry fuel storage project was going through a checklist."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to strengthen oversight of radioactive materials by limiting the amount of radioactive material allowed in generally licensed devices. "I believe this proposed rule is a positive step forward in increasing the accountability of these materials," NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko said. "I look forward to receiving input from the public on the agency's proposal." The proposed rule would require owners of approximately 1,800 devices, an estimated 1,400 general licensees nationwide, to apply for specific licenses for the devices. This change applies primarily to fixed industrial gauges. Requiring specific licenses for such devices would improve the safety, security and control over the gauges by bringing them under increased regulation, making it harder to accumulate a risk-significant amount of radioactive material or to procure a device through subterfuge.

China's nuclear chief is the latest in a string of high-level officials snared in a crackdown on graft which Friday saw the execution of the former head of the firm that owns Beijing airport. Kang Rixin is being investigated for allegedly squandering public funds and accepting bribes valued at up to 1.8 billion yuan (260 million dollars), the Chongqing Times reported. Authorities are probing the possibility that Kang took bribes from French nuclear power giant Areva to win a contract for a project in China's southern Guangdong province, said the report, which was posted on numerous government websites.

Through a massive outpouring of people in the streets, the Filipino people ousted the regime of the dictator Marcos in February 1986. The event, popularly known as the People Power Revolution, was the culmination of years of mobilizations, protests, strikes and welgang bayan (people's strike) that preceeded the fortituous date. Among these protests was the welgang bayan held in June 20, 1985 which was supported by workers, students, clergy and ordinary residents from Bataan in addition to multitudes of protesters from other provinces. For nearly three days, people from the nearby provinces of Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Pangasinan and Manila marched toward Morong as part of the people's protest against the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).

A military manual that was handed over to German campaigners has reignited allegations that the US used DU ammunition in Afghanistan. If true, it runs counter to repeated assurances given by the US military that no DU was used. The manual, a war-fighting guide for Bundeswehr contigents in Afghanistan is marked classified and for official NATO use only. It was written by the Bundeswehr's Centre for Communication and published in late 2005. Campaigners have long suspected that the US military has not been entirely candid over the issue and papers have emerged showing that DU munitions were transported to Afghanistan. The use of A10 Warthog aircraft -- one of the main users of DU ammunition -- remains widespread to this day, although the number of armoured targets is now much diminished. Estimates by Janes Defence in 2003 suggested that the Taliban had at least 100 main battle tanks and 250 armoured fighting vehicles at the beginning of the conflict. It would be unusual if the US Army had chosen not to engage these targets with DU munitions from the air. The section on DU munitions begins with:

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions Inc. is in a quandary about its proposal to share profits from foreign-waste disposal with the state. Company chairman and CEO Steve Creamer told investors, during a conference call Thursday, that EnergySolutions is optimistic about its legal fight with Utah and two radioactive-waste organizations, the Northwest Interstate Compact on Low-level Radioactive Waste and the Rocky Mountain Compact. He said the threat of a shareholder lawsuit might force him to withdraw the offer to split up to $3 billion in profits from disposing of Italian cleanup waste. "If you just out and out won it [the lawsuit]," he told investment analysts, "how do I turn to my shareholders and say, 'I'm giving away a large portion of [the profits] to the state of Utah.' I mean, it's a hard thing to say."

Authorities are trying to determine how a shipping crate labeled "radioactive" ended up today on a residential street in South L.A. Firefighters found minimal to background-level radiation in the 3-feet-by-3-feet container after they arrived this afternoon at 109th Street between Spring and Main streets. The package was not damaged nor were the contents leaking, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles city Fire Department. Before the radiation level had been determined, five people who had come in contact with the container were rinsed off and the area around it was cordoned off, he said. Humphrey said markings on the container will help investigators determine where it came from and where it should have been sent.

The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West. The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity. "In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard. There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.

The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West. The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity. "In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard. There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.

The name Poison Canyon offers a hint of what's faced by those trying to clean up abandoned uranium mines in the West. The area north of the village of Milan contains some of the 259 abandoned uranium sites in New Mexico that need cleanup. State officials are pressuring the federal government to direct more money to those areas because of their unique hazard of radioactivity. "In this case, a pile of rocks is more than just a pile of rocks," said New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division Director Bill Brancard. There are hundreds of thousands of safety issues at abandoned hardrock mines in 13 western states, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands of sites, many dating to the 19th century, also are considered environmentally damaged.

Nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium oxide will be shipped from South Carolina for disposal in Utah under a contract awarded by the Department of Energy. The 14,800 drums of Savannah River Site waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. The shipments will take place over 14 months, although it was unclear Wednesday when they would start. The announcement, made by the Energy Department in mid-July, comes as EnergySolutions fights an effort to place a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium in Utah.

Nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium oxide will be shipped from South Carolina for disposal in Utah under a contract awarded by the Department of Energy. The 14,800 drums of Savannah River Site waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. The shipments will take place over 14 months, although it was unclear Wednesday when they would start. The announcement, made by the Energy Department in mid-July, comes as EnergySolutions fights an effort to place a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium in Utah.

Nearly 15,000 drums of depleted uranium oxide will be shipped from South Carolina for disposal in Utah under a contract awarded by the Department of Energy. The 14,800 drums of Savannah River Site waste will be disposed of at EnergySolutions Inc.'s facility about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. The shipments will take place over 14 months, although it was unclear Wednesday when they would start. The announcement, made by the Energy Department in mid-July, comes as EnergySolutions fights an effort to place a moratorium on the disposal of depleted uranium in Utah.

In a positive step, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tightening its oversight of radioactive devices that contain potentially dangerous isotopes. A proposed new rule would give federal and state officials more muscle to regulate almost 2,000 items, mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material. Taken individually, these devices pose no great hazard, but there is the potential for a dedicated terrorist to assemble enough material to make a dirty bomb. Such a weapon uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material, rendering the contaminated area unusable. The NRC proposal, published Aug. 3, says, "A licensee's loss of control of radioactive sources, whether it be inadvertent or through a deliberate act, could result in significant health impacts, which could constitute a threat to the public health and safety."

In a positive step, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is tightening its oversight of radioactive devices that contain potentially dangerous isotopes. A proposed new rule would give federal and state officials more muscle to regulate almost 2,000 items, mostly industrial gauges containing radioactive material. Taken individually, these devices pose no great hazard, but there is the potential for a dedicated terrorist to assemble enough material to make a dirty bomb. Such a weapon uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material, rendering the contaminated area unusable. The NRC proposal, published Aug. 3, says, "A licensee's loss of control of radioactive sources, whether it be inadvertent or through a deliberate act, could result in significant health impacts, which could constitute a threat to the public health and safety."

Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Involvement With the Navy's Remediation of the Hunters Point Shipyard Site in San Francisco, CA AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of jurisdiction and future involvement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has decided that it will take a limited involvement approach to stay informed about the Navy's ongoing remediation of the Hunters Point Shipyard (HPS) site in San Francisco, California. NRC will rely on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) process and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 oversight. This notice discusses NRC's jurisdiction and future limited involvement at the HPS site and how it plans on staying informed about the Navy's remediation in the future.

Deceptions about our nuclear weapons have "threatened the survival of the human species." Two Years After Nisour Square Massacre, Blackwater Still Armed and Dangerous In Iraq Jeremy Scahill Holbrooke on Afghanistan: It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, It's How You Play the Game Danielle Kurtzleben The Tragedy of Our 'Disappeared' Veterans Penny Coleman Why Are U.S. Officials Protecting the Pakistan Military on Aid to Taliban? Gareth Porter Honduras: "People Are In The Streets Every Day" Jessica Pupovac A Statement On My Friends, Three U.S. Hikers Reportedly Detained at Iran/Iraq Border Shon Meckfessel More stories by Daniel Ellsberg RSS icon World RSS Feed RSS icon Main AlterNet RSS Feed Advertisement Upcoming AlterNet stories on Digg Digg What is Digg? * 62 diggs Burning Questions for the Authors of 'Marijuana Is Safer' The authors of a new book on misconceptions about marijuana respond to the torrent of comments on an excerpt published on AlterNet. On August 6, AlterNet posted an excerpt from the new book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving Americans to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009). Reader response was overwhelming. Within hours, the excerpt was.... * 58 diggs 10 Awesome Things Would Happen If Health Reform Passes Forget the fearmongering scare tactics of the right, here's how your life will actually be better. The truth about health care reform. * 45 diggs Lou Dobbs Tours Single-Payer Systems Abroad and Realizes... Has CNN's government-out-of-my-face bloviator actually had a change of heart when it comes to Obama's health plan? * 34 diggs Right-Wing Militias Haven't Always Been Racist- they are now There are growing signs that militias are on the rise again and now their target isn't just government, but Blacks and Latinos. * 29 diggs 7 Ways We Can Fight Back Against the Rising Fascist Threat | Why the right-wing extremism must be stopped in its tracks or else

Deceptions about our nuclear weapons have "threatened the survival of the human species." Two Years After Nisour Square Massacre, Blackwater Still Armed and Dangerous In Iraq Jeremy Scahill Holbrooke on Afghanistan: It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, It's How You Play the Game Danielle Kurtzleben The Tragedy of Our 'Disappeared' Veterans Penny Coleman Why Are U.S. Officials Protecting the Pakistan Military on Aid to Taliban? Gareth Porter Honduras: "People Are In The Streets Every Day" Jessica Pupovac A Statement On My Friends, Three U.S. Hikers Reportedly Detained at Iran/Iraq Border Shon Meckfessel More stories by Daniel Ellsberg RSS icon World RSS Feed RSS icon Main AlterNet RSS Feed Advertisement Upcoming AlterNet stories on Digg Digg What is Digg? * 62 diggs Burning Questions for the Authors of 'Marijuana Is Safer' The authors of a new book on misconceptions about marijuana respond to the torrent of comments on an excerpt published on AlterNet. On August 6, AlterNet posted an excerpt from the new book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving Americans to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009). Reader response was overwhelming. Within hours, the excerpt was.... * 58 diggs 10 Awesome Things Would Happen If Health Reform Passes Forget the fearmongering scare tactics of the right, here's how your life will actually be better. The truth about health care reform. * 45 diggs Lou Dobbs Tours Single-Payer Systems Abroad and Realizes... Has CNN's government-out-of-my-face bloviator actually had a change of heart when it comes to Obama's health plan? * 34 diggs Right-Wing Militias Haven't Always Been Racist- they are now There are growing signs that militias are on the rise again and now their target isn't just government, but Blacks and Latinos. * 29 diggs 7 Ways We Can Fight Back Against the Rising Fascist Threat | Why the right-wing extremism must be stopped in its tracks or else

The German and French nuclear industries face numerous challenges and criticisms. Seven German nuclear plants failed to generate any electricity in July due to technical breakdowns. They have about half the production capacity of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors, but Germany didn't suffer any power shortages. The plants have between them a 9,000 megawatt (MW) capacity, but Germany generates more electricity than it consumes, and has been exporting some of the surplus to France, which is heavily dependent on nuclear power. Early in July, three plants shut down automatically due to failures in their transformers. The other four have been out of service for months, and are undergoing expensive repairs.

Three members of the citizen board tasked with offering advice to the Department of Energy on its Piketon site submitted their resignations at a meeting Thursday night. Advertisement Lee Blackburn, Lorry Swain and Andrew Feight resigned at the start of a meeting of the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board (SSAB) at The Ohio State University Endeavor Center in Piketon. In addition, Board member Terry Smith left the meeting in frustration, and two residents who had applied for an open position on the board withdrew their applications. "Overshadowing all is our recognition that the SSAB mission has been obstructed by DOE's failure to abide by federal regulations and guard against conflicts of interest," said Swain, as she read from a letter the trio was submitting to Department of Energy Environmental Management Assistant Secretary Inés Triay.

Three members of the citizen board tasked with offering advice to the Department of Energy on its Piketon site submitted their resignations at a meeting Thursday night. Advertisement Lee Blackburn, Lorry Swain and Andrew Feight resigned at the start of a meeting of the Portsmouth Site Specific Advisory Board (SSAB) at The Ohio State University Endeavor Center in Piketon. In addition, Board member Terry Smith left the meeting in frustration, and two residents who had applied for an open position on the board withdrew their applications. "Overshadowing all is our recognition that the SSAB mission has been obstructed by DOE's failure to abide by federal regulations and guard against conflicts of interest," said Swain, as she read from a letter the trio was submitting to Department of Energy Environmental Management Assistant Secretary Inés Triay.

On the 64th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the focus of Burlington's Nuclear Disarmament Day observance wasn't limited to abolishing weapons. Doing away with nuclear power - as produced by the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which supplies about one-third of Vermont's electrical power needs - was also on demonstrators' wish list. Advertisement Jody Williams, Brattleboro native and 1997 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban land mines, tied the two nuclear threads together in a brief speech at a lunch-hour rally in front of City Hall. She opened with a memory of her Aug. 6, 2006, visit to Hiroshima, praised President Barack Obama's call for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and then urged that Vermont Yankee - whose owners are seeking to continue its operation for two decades after its scheduled closure in 2012 - be shut down.