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State Sen. Randy McNally, a Republican from Oak Ridge, was among seven Tennessee senators who signed a letter asking Energy Secretary Steven Chu to intervene on behalf of USEC in granting a loan guarantee for the American Centrifuge Project. McNally is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Others who signed the letter were Speaker Pro Tempore Jamie Woodson, R-Knoxville, and state Sens. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown; Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville; Mike Faulk, R- Church Hill; Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville; and Ken Yager, R-Harriman. In a statement, McNally said, "The American Centrifuge Project is one of those key opportunities where we can promote innovative American technologie, while creating good-paying Tennessee jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy."

A new study of older construction workers at four U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites found the workers have a higher risk of having asbestos-related disease. The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, the University of Cincinnati and other institutions, found that trades workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Savannah River Site in South Carolina or the Amchitka site in Alaska had significantly elevated asbestos-related cancers. The study was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a medical publication. The research was funded by the Department of Energy. The study tracked the mortality of 8,976 construction workers at nuclear weapons facilities who had participated in voluntary medical screening programs from 1998 through 2004. The workers were predominantly white and nearly all male. Researchers identified 674 deaths among the overall group -slightly less than expected-but noted a significantly higher death rate among those identified as asbestos workers and insulators. The incidence of cancer was elevated at all four sites with the highest rates at Savannah River.

A new study of older construction workers at four U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites found the workers have a higher risk of having asbestos-related disease. The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University, the University of Cincinnati and other institutions, found that trades workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Savannah River Site in South Carolina or the Amchitka site in Alaska had significantly elevated asbestos-related cancers. The study was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a medical publication. The research was funded by the Department of Energy. The study tracked the mortality of 8,976 construction workers at nuclear weapons facilities who had participated in voluntary medical screening programs from 1998 through 2004. The workers were predominantly white and nearly all male. Researchers identified 674 deaths among the overall group -slightly less than expected-but noted a significantly higher death rate among those identified as asbestos workers and insulators. The incidence of cancer was elevated at all four sites with the highest rates at Savannah River.

Fresh from its recent move of a giant transformer to the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant across Harford County last month, the State Highway Administration plans to take on another oversize move next week. On Tuesday, the first of two million-pound steam generators will be taken off a barge at Port Deposit in Cecil County to begin an almost three-week journey to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Facility outside Harrisburg. The next day, a second 510-ton generator is expected to arrive. For both humongous cargoes, the first legs of their journey will take them over the roads of Cecil County to the Pennsylvania state line. The equipment will first be transported along Route 222 to the former Bainbridge Naval Training Facility. From that staging area, they will be moved starting Sept. 13 along Route 276, through the roundabout at Route 273, then up U.S. 1 to Pennsylvania.

This Tuesday, about 30 people collected on the sidewalk in front of the local office of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Representing a diverse cross-section of area organizations, the group stood shoulder to shoulder to demonstrate their solidarity, to exhort citizens to comment, and to urge policymakers to decide now to fully clean up the West Valley Nuclear Waste Site. Speakers included: Todd Gates, Seneca Nation of Indians Tribal Councilor; Bill Nowak, representing New York State Senator Antoine Thompson; Bob Ciesielski, Sierra Club; Sister Sharon Goodremote, Buffalo Diocese Care for Creation Committee; Brian Smith, Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Diane D'Arrigo, Nuclear Information & Resource Service; and Lenore Lee Lambert, League of Women Voters Western New York's Citizens Task Force. The group brought mops, buckets, and brooms and called themselves the "Cleanup Crew."

A supervisor on duty at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon tested positive for alcohol Monday and has had his access to the facility revoked, according to a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, the plant's operator. Advertisement The incident was made public in a posting on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Web site Tuesday morning. Larry Smith, the Entergy spokesman, said the employee was a supervisor in the maintenance department for the facility. The 100-person department handles maintenance of the plant's electrical and instrument-control equipment and other duties. "He was not a licensed operator," Smith said. A licensed operator is someone who works in the plant's control room.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced today that applications for a 20-year renewal of the operating licenses for Salem Nuclear Generating Station Units 1 and 2, and Hope Creek Generating Station are available for public review. Both plants are located in Hancock Bridge, N.J., about 18 miles south of Wilmington, Del. The current operating licenses for Salem Nuclear Generating Station Units 1 and 2 expire on Aug. 13, 2016 and April 18, 2020; and the Hope Creek license expires on April 11, 2026. The licensee, PSEG Nuclear LLC, submitted the renewal applications on August 18 for Salem and Hope Creek, respectively. The applications are available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications.html. The NRC staff is currently conducting an initial review of the applications to determine whether they contain enough information for the required formal review. If the applications have sufficient information, the NRC will formally "docket," or file, the applications and will announce an opportunity to request a public hearing. For further information, contact Donnie Ashley, project manager, in the Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail Stop O11-F1, Washington, D.C. 20555; telephone (301) 415-3191 or email at Donnie.Ashley@nrc.gov.

Barely a week after an Indian atomic scientist raised a major controversy by claiming that the country's nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1998 were not "as successful as claimed", a couple of other top Indian scientists have also added fuel to the fire by calling for further tests to establish India as a true nuke power. Experts say that the claims of atomic scientist K. Santhanam, who was associated with the Pokhran nuclear tests, and P.K. Iyengar, the former head of India's main nuclear body Atomic Energy Commission, have only stirred up doubts about India's nuclear capability not only in the "volatile" South Asian region but also in the world arena.

RADIOACTIVE discharges into the air from Sellafield appear to have been breached. Source of the discharges is the Magnox reprocessing plant which was shutdown earlier in the year because it was in danger of going over the legal limits. But operators Sellafield Ltd told The Whitehaven News yesterday: "It seems likely that we will have exceeded the limit up to the end of August. We won't get confirmation for another six weeks after all the analysis has been done but we think we have gone through it and have written to the Environment Agency to that effect." Management have decided not to close the Magnox plant for a second time because there is no hazard from the higher levels of discharge.

Areva, a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world's most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion. The price tag of the plant in Olkiluoto, Finland - the first of a fleet of so-called evolutionary power reactors that Areva foresees building in coming years - was about $4.3 billion in 2003 and costs have steadily increased. The reactor was meant to have gone online early this summer but Areva no longer is committing to any dates for its completion. Patrice Lambert de Diesbach, an energy analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the latest developments were "bad news" for Areva and "should be sanctioned by the market."

Areva, a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world's most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion. The price tag of the plant in Olkiluoto, Finland - the first of a fleet of so-called evolutionary power reactors that Areva foresees building in coming years - was about $4.3 billion in 2003 and costs have steadily increased. The reactor was meant to have gone online early this summer but Areva no longer is committing to any dates for its completion. Patrice Lambert de Diesbach, an energy analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the latest developments were "bad news" for Areva and "should be sanctioned by the market."

After 10 years of sifting through thousands of pages of classified records and overcoming secrecy obstacles at the nuclear weapons lab, independent investigators have provided the first rough estimates of radioactive and toxic releases from Los Alamos National Laboratory dating back to its earliest operations and the potential health impact of the nation's first atomic bomb blast on ranchers and other nearby residents in New Mexico. Investigators for the Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA) project released a draft final report in late June that-while far from definitive in its conclusions-said there was persuasive evidence from spotty, decades-old emissions monitoring data that radioactive releases during Los Alamos' early years were so significant that they could dwarf the cumulative releases from all of the Energy Department's other early nuclear weapons production sites. In particular, the researchers said that although the lab did not monitor emissions from many of its earliest plutonium processing facilities, fragmentary records-especially "industrial hygiene," or worker safety, reports from 1955 and 1956-suggest plutonium releases in the late 1940s and early 1950s were much higher than has been acknowledged by the government to date.

The sideshow at the Public Service Commission is overtaking the historic consideration of a rate increase for Florida Power & Light. Today, PSC chairman Matthew Carter took the unusual step of offering a press release proclaiming his independence from utility lobbyists. It seems unusual for a commissioner who is considering a rate increase from a utility to specifically note his votes against that utility in the past. Here is Carter's statement, (and see below for FPL comment): Assertions have been made that the Florida Public Service Commission is too "cozy" with regulated utilities, FPL in particular. To the extent that these criticisms are directed toward me, I take great offense because they are false. An examination of the record, not some special interest's characterizations, demonstrates my independence and freedom from external bias. In nearly every high-profile issue that FPL has brought before this Commission, I have voted to deny or severely limit the company's request.

Neither the Army Corps of Engineers nor Southern Nuclear wants to pay for dredging portions of the Savannah River to allow barges to move new reactor parts to Plant Vogtle. "They had talked before about wanting the corps to maintain the channel with federal money, and we informed them we didn't have any," said Bill Bailey, the chief of the corps' Savannah Planning Unit. As part of the plan to add two new reactors to Plant Vogtle, located 110 river miles from the coast, the plant's parent company is exploring the use of barges to haul large components upstream.

Five months after President Barack Obama, with great fanfare, called for a world free of nuclear weapons, a crucial step toward that goal is running into resistance. There is little indication Obama will have the votes he needs for a cornerstone of his nonproliferation efforts: Senate ratification of a nuclear test ban treaty. If Obama can't get the treaty approved, he probably will have a hard time persuading the rest of the world to rein in nuclear weapon programs. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, an advocacy group based in Washington, said the Obama administration needs to "work faster and harder" to build support in the Senate.

The Utah attorney general's office said Friday it is not in negotiations with EnergySolutions Inc. to drop the state's objections to importing foreign nuclear waste for disposal here. The company wants to import as much as 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy through the ports of Charleston, S.C., or New Orleans. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in the desert about 70 miles west of Salt Lake City. If approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it would be the largest amount of radioactive waste ever imported into the country. The state is currently appealing a federal judge's ruling that the state can't use a regional compact to keep foreign nuclear waste out. EnergySolutions said in a statement earlier in the day it was in settlement discussions with Utah.

Opposition mounted this week against a federal court ruling that limits the power of a regional waste compact to restrict radioactive waste going to disposal facilities like the one operated in Tooele County by EnergySolutions Inc. Nothing short of states' rights are at stake in a federal court ruling on the government authority over radioactive waste headed to EnergySolutions Inc.'s Utah disposal site. In filing a friend-of-the-court brief Thursday in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, New Mexico joined a growing line of opponents to a May ruling by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart. It basically said EnergySolutions no longer has to answer to the Northwest Interstate Compact on low-level radioactive waste. Utah, the Northwest Compact and the Rocky Mountain Compact, which share a low-level waste disposal site in Hanford, Wash., are appealing Stewart's ruling, and they filed papers in the case last week. Six regional compacts, joined by New Mexico and the Council of State Governments, weighed in Thursday. And, with all the papers filed Thursday, eight of the nation's ten congressionally established compacts have weighed in the effort to overturn Stewart's ruling. Compacts represent all but six states. The two remaining compacts, which manage waste within eight states, have through Tuesday to join the fray.

NUNN - Hailed by a standing ovation Thursday night from a gymnasium full of Weld County residents distrustful of uranium mining company Powertech, a divided board of trustees approved a resolution opposing the company's proposed Centennial Project uranium mine. Advertisement Nunn joins the cities and towns of Fort Collins, Greeley, Ault, Wellington and Timnath in opposing the mine slated to be built on nearly 10,000 acres between Nunn and Interstate 25 about 15 miles northeast of Fort Collins. The resolution urges the state, Weld County and the federal government to deny Powertech its mining permits. The fate of the mine depends on both the state and county issuing it permits and on the final form of in-situ uranium mining rules state officials are now writing. Mayor Jeff Pigue warned town trustees that the resolution could expose the town to potential lawsuits from nearby landowners who may reap royalties from the mine. He invited the board to approve a resolution that takes no position on the mine as a way to avoid legal action.

State regulators and consumer groups grilled Florida Power & Light officials in the past two weeks about the utility's profits, costs it shares with its unregulated affiliates, executive bonuses and corporate jets, among other issues that could affect FPL ratepayers over the next few years. And it's not over. The Florida Public Service Commission extended hearings on FPL's proposed $1.3 billion annual base rate increase, with meeetings scheduled for Saturday and Sept. 16. The commission plans to vote Oct. 28 and Nov. 13. If the rate increase is approved, monthly electric bills could rise by as much as $12.40 per month for a typical household served by FPL. But FPL officials project that a decrease in fuel costs will reduce the typical bill by $7 next year even if the base rate increase is approved.

Those who worked at the Savannah River Site and other parts of the nation's weapons complex are at an elevated risk for developing cancer, according to a new study. This finding came from a study of older construction workers at four U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons complex sites. It found an increased risk of developing cancer for Site workers, especially for construction workers who worked prior to the 1980s. Conducted at institutions including Duke University and the University of Cincinnati, the study found that trade workers at SRS, Hanford in Washington, Oak Ridge in Tennessee and the Amchitka site in Alaska had significantly elevated asbestos-related cancers. The study was funded by DOE and was published in the current issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, a medical publication. DOE established medical screening programs at the four sites starting in 1996. Workers participating in these programs have been followed to determine their vital status and mortality experience through Dec. 31, 2004. According to the study, 8,976 former construction workers from Hanford, SRS, Oak Ridge and Amchitka were followed using the National Death Index to ascertain vital status and causes of death.

Duke Energy Carolinas is likely to delay construction of its proposed Lee Nuclear Station for up to three years. Duke's latest long-term plan, filed this week with N.C. regulators, says the startup date for generating power at the Gaffney, S.C., plant could be put off to 2021. The delay is particularly likely if Duke can't find a construction partner for the $11 billion plant. The utility is moving its target date as concerns mount regarding the project's cost. Also, demand for power appears to be growing more slowly than in recent years. Duke's updated plans also call for delays in building the utility's proposed Buck Steam Station and Dan River combined-cycle gas plants. Janice Hager, head of Duke's resource planning, says it appears that demand for electricity - not adjusted for the weather - has been flat the last four years. Duke's new projections call for demand growth to return to an average 1.5% per year in the long term. But the company isn't projecting a spurt in demand once the recession ends.

* Workers vote 96 pct to reject latest contract offer * Plan to strike at midnight, union says * Company says no meetings with union have been scheduled (Adds details) TORONTO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Unionized workers at Cameco Corp's (CCO.TO) Port Hope, Ontario, fuel manufacturing division voted overwhelmingly on Friday to strike, and will officially walk out at midnight, a union official said. Mohamed Baksh, a staff representative for the United Steelworkers, said the vote was 96 percent to reject Cameco's most recent contract offer. He represents 137 workers at the operation, formerly known as Zircatec, which makes up a bit less than half of the total work force at the facility.